In Which I Reduce My Body To Charred Remains...Almost

Today I was going to make chicken on the grill. I went out side, turned the propane on, opened the valves, and lit a match to light it. (The bottom of the grill is so full of charred remains of meat; it's too clogged or something.) Anyway, the match wouldn't light right away. I got it on the third try. Third try is the charm, right? I hate that saying... I tossed the match into the grill and WHOOMPH! A gargantuan amount of flame flew into my face. I shielded my face with my arm and stepped backwards. After the flames died down in about one nanosecond, I quickly checked my hair to make sure it was still there. It was. But then I smelled the stench of frizzled and fried hair. All the eensy weensy hairs on my arm are reduced to a half a millimeter. My mom told me to pray next time I start the grill. The End.

When I was in NY, Klara and I had fun dressing up...something I hadn't done in a looong time. She was Nanny McPhee and I was Mrs. Quickley, though you have to use your imagination to tell she's the person I'm trying to look like. Hurray for fake beauty mark and crocheted and yarn hair! The funnest part of dressing up was saying: "Behaive" and "Aw, look at the little small things."

Update

Vacation was wonderful. It was glorious to bask in the sun, not worry about school, run around playing and being crazy, and to just relax. Hurray for the summer.

I came home to a very different house and room. My walls are now a beautiful red, instead of the flowered wallpaper they were a few weeks ago. I have wood floor instead of rug, and that is perhaps the greatest blessing. I am very very hard on clothes, furniture, and things like that. My rug was well worn and had definitely payed for itself, but it was looking very sad and sorry. I also got a fan/light fixture installed. Three cheers for home improvements! Maybe I'll post pictures later.

I was gone the last few days to one of my favorite places. I had a wonderful visit with some of my favorite people. Thanks to the Holschers for a lovely relaxing time at their house.

Since War and Peace, I have read two Lemony Snicket books (I figured I had to read them sometime.), and half an Alistair MacLean. My reading skills are almost completely exhausted. However, I have the whole summer ahead to enrich my mind and vocabulary with other great literature.

Mission Accomplished

Last night at 10:30, Cara officially finished War and Peace. It took me approximately five weeks. The last part of the epilogue was the hardest. My dad says that I'm now officially a nerd. Ha. Now I can relax with a nice cosy Alistair MacLean. H.M.S Ulysses, here I come!

Fasting From Blogland

I have decided to have a blog fast for the next few days. I'll be working to get us ready for the Cape, to get the house ready for home improvements, and to finish up school. Because blogging is my #1 time waster, I'll refrain from the enjoyment of visiting each different site and seeing what people have to say. So tata for now, and perhaps you'll hear from me when I'm at the Cape.

Shoe Quotes

1972: The first woman falls of her cork sandals. Millions follow. ~Vogue

When a woman pulls on a great pair of boots, she not only walks differently--she behaves differently. ~Catherine Wilson



You want to fall in love with a shoe, go ahead. A shoe can't love you back, but, on the other hand, a shoe can't hurt you too deeply either. And there are so many nice-looking shoes. Allan Sherman

Give a girl the correct footwear, and she can conquer the world. ~Bette Midler



If shoes don't hurt, they don't have style. ~Emma Bombeck



If the shoe fits, it's too expensive. Adrienne Gusoff

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. ~Frieda Norris

A pair of shoes must be perfect like an equation and adjusted to the millimeter like a motor piece. ~Andre Perugia

Always wear expensive shoes. People notice. ~Brian Koslow

Stilettos--not combat trousers and pierced tongues--are a real source of girl power. ~Lesley Thomas

Something I Read Recently Which I Found Intriguing

In order to persuade the public to support a particular viewpoint, environmental activists often exaggerate some risks and downplay others. By using true but misleading statements, practically any substance on earth can be made to sound like a menace to society. For example, consider the following true statements about the chemical dihydrogen monoxide(DHMO):

• DHMO is a powerful solvent that can corrode many metals.
• At high temperatures, DHMO decomposes into explosive gases that can be used as rocket fuels.
• Chronic exposure to solid DHMO can cause severe tissue damage and gangrene; exposure to the liquid form causes temporary changes in the skin. Contact with DHMO vapors can cause severe burns.
• Laboratory animals fed large amounts of DHMO exhibit nausea, vomiting, edema, and electrolyte disturbances; only a few grams injected intravenously can be fatal.
• DHMO is used in the manufacture of pesticides, plastics, and nuclear weapons; it is also used as a general-purpose solvent and coolant in the chemical industry. Many industries dump DHMO into the environment. It is often stored near populated areas.

Based on the above facts, would you think DHMO should be banned? Carefully regulated? Or not regulated at all? Actually, banning dihydrogen monoxide would be a grave mistake. Even though all of the above statements are true, human life would be impossible without DHMO--which most people call water.

Although no one seriously proposes to ban water, many current environmental debates--from chlorine bans to the elimination of pesticides--are based upon similar exaggerated fears. Although there are many legitimate concerns about pollution, keep in mind that not everything that sounds ominous is a threat to the environment.

Movie Which Guarantees Enjoyment To Almost Everyone...

Check out this amazing movie I just came across. ;) Here it is...

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Leanne Lou Rambler

Hillbilly Name Generator

Drawings by Cara

Here are my two most recent drawnings. Thought I'd share them with you...

Driving

My first days of driving have gone really well. Wednesday was spent anstily waiting for my Dad's automatic to be available for me. I worked hard on school and even cleaned the house a little. Then I called Daddy to see if his car was ready for me to use, and guess what? He had to go to Portsmouth. Well, that left three options.

Option #1: To wait till he got back
Option #2: To illegally drive the uninspected GMC Safari
Option #3: To attempt the standard.

Option 3 being the most appealing to me, I decided to drive the standard. (Here's where I heave a long sigh.) Mama graciously set aside somet ime for driving with me, and we set out in the Camry. Starting went really well. I smoothly started, got out of the driveway and accelerated on our road, and then...I forgot that there's more than one gear. Yes, I know, it's embarrassing, but I totally forgot that I had to shift and then I did it really hasty and then I freaked out and decided to have my mom drive me to the parking lot and to practice driving there. Some more humbling things happened which I'll leave to your imagination...

The parking lot was good. I practiced shifting between gears, and starting on hills. It all was good, until little kids started to run in directly in front of me. Then I had to back down a hill to let someone pass me, and from there on it was downhill...no pun intended. I had difficulty starting up again. Lots of mothers at the playground nodded their heads sympathetically when they heard me stall. They all knew what it was like...argh. After a while I got tired of people watching me, and I had Mama get me out of there.

When Daddy came home around nine he asked if I still wanted to drive with him in the automatic. We decided to give it a try. I got the crash course (my dad laughs when I say that, then he starts making jokes about the "crash" course...) in driving that evening. We went on some back roads, jumped on the highway for a few minutes, took some shortcuts to a gas station, Daddy had me pump the gas, then we went to Hannaford and I parked, then we got back on the highway and went home. It was all so unbelievably easy and uncomplicated. I want to drive to Fairwood and visit Bria now...

So that is my saga about my first day of driving. I have attempted the standard one more time since then. I drove it to my house from my grandfather's, about two and a half miles. It was a magnificently flawless ride. My spirits were boosted and now I'm ready to shift again.

Onto other things--

Highspeed Internet is the most glorious thing in this world. A few hours after we had it installed, Aaron was looking up some stuff online. I needed to call mom, so I was hunting around for the cell phone. Then Nancy pointed out to me, that I didn't need one. I could actually use the phone and be online at the same time. Thank God for wireless and highspeed.

I've been chipping away at War and Peace for the past couple of weeks. I had expected it to be a totally baffling, boring book. On the contrary, it's very easy to read. It also has an enjoyable story line. The most daunting part is the length. My copy is 1384 pages. The Russian names are sometime difficult to remember. I get Anna Pavlovna and Anna Mihalovna mixed up now and then. But for the most part, it's a straightforward book. I wouldn't say that Russian literature is my favorite stuff to read, but it definitely isn't too bad.

The pool is open! Come on over and swim, everybody! The majority of the leaves have been skimmed out, but there is still a layer of dirt which needs vacuuming. However, with a little zap of the heater, and a little warmer weather I'll be in it, dirt or no dirt. I can't wait to start this year's lap chart. Last year I started counting laps in the end of July/beginning of August. (A lap is there and back across the pool) I got 200+ something in, but I've already blogged about that. Maybe I'll get 500 in this year...

That's about all the news I have right now. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

The Long Awaited Day

The big day has come! The moment we've all been waiting for! I start driving today! Unfortunately, the long awaited moment has to wait for a few more moments. My parents are gone for the afternoon, and Mama still has to dig out my birth certificate. Anyway, I now can drive on the road without breaking the law. Hurray! No more furtively avoiding eye contact with policemen in case they'll read my inner thoughts...just kidding. Just you wait tomorrow! I'll be cruising New Hampshire's roads.

A Story For You To Enjoy

The Dinner Party
by Mona Gardner

The country is India. A large dinner party is being given in an up-country station by a colonial official and his wife. The guests are army officers and government attaches and their wives, and an American naturalist.
At one side of the long table a spirited discussion springs up between a young girl and a colonel. The girl insists women have long outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-sight-of-a-mouse era, that they are not as fluttery as their grandmothers. The colonel says they re, explaining that women haven’t the actual nerve control of men. The other men at the table agree with him.
“A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis,” the colonel says, “is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, yet he has that ounce more of control than a woman has. And that last ounce is what counts!"
The American scientist does not join in the argument, but sits watching the faces of the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, the muscles of her face contracted slightly. With a small gesture she summons the native boy standing behind her chair. She whispers to him. The boy’s eyes widen: he turns quickly and leaves the room. No one else sees this, nor the boy when he puts a bowl of milk on the verandah outside the glass doors.
The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means only one thing. It is bait for a snake. He realizes that there is a cobra in the room.
He looks up at the rafters—the likeliest place—and sees they are bare. Three corners of the room, which he can see by shifting only slightly, are empty. In the fourth corner a group of servants stand, waiting until the next course can be served. The American realizes there is only one place left—under the table.
His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others. But he knows the commotion will frighten the cobra and it wills strike. He speaks quickly, the quality of his voice so arresting that it sobers everyone.
“I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will count to three hundred—that’s five minutes—and not one of you is to move a single muscle. The persons who move will forfeit 50 rupees. Now! Ready!”
The 20 people sit like stone images while he counts. He is saying “...two-hundred and eighty...” when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cobra emerge and make for the bowl of mil. Four or five screams ring out as he jumps to slam shut the verandah doors.
“You certainly were right, Colonel!” the host says. “A man has just shown us an example of real control.”
“just a minute,” the American says, turning to his hostess, “there’s one thing I’d like to know. Mrs. Wynnes’ how did you know that cobra was in the room?”
A faint smile lights up the woman’s face as she replies: “Because it was lying across my foot.”

Books

A few weeks ago I read my 50th book of the school year. I thought I'd celebrate the wondrous occasion with listing a few of my favorite books on that list.

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. War of the Worlds
3. Wuthering Heights
4. In This House of Brede
5. Far From the Madding Crowd

I read a bunch of heftier books, but they weren't quite as wonderful as the previously mentioned. I'd planned on reading m any many more books this year, and I enthusiastically started books like Anna Karenina, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserable, Crime and Punishment, etc. However, I didn't finish any of them because I felt that I wasn't enjoying them and giving the attention they deserved, so I put them aside for later reading when I can throw my heart and soul into it. So for now I'm just finishing up Dickens and such.

A few nights ago, I was feeling the need for some light, enjoyable reading. I scoured the house, Bria's room and basement mostly, but nothing jumped out at me. Then my brilliant mother came up with a brilliant idea and a brilliant book. The BFG by Roald Dahl. Growing up, I strongly disliked Roald Dahl's books (except for Charlie and the chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator) especially James and the Giant Peach. I never would have thought that when I was fifteen I would love them and be reading all of Dahl's books. Yes! It's true! I've finished the Charlie books, The BFG, now onto Matilda, The Twits, the MinPins, etc. Roald Dahl has the most wonderful imagination. He comes up with such lovely creatures. (e.g. Vermicious Knids, Sausage lipped giants, the unforgettable Oompa-Loompas, humplecrimps, wraprascals, crumpscoddles, and the great squizzly scotch-hopper...the last few which area ll mentioned in The BFG.)

Anyway, the BFG is about a Big Friendly Giant with huge ears who is nothing like the other nine giants int he world who hunt little children and eat them every night. He's a sweet, runt giant who catches dreams and gives little children nice dreams at night. One night he finds a little girl who has seen him and takes her way and together they save the world from the awful giants. And he talks in a loverly way. This is not the best example of his amazing speeches and words he comes up with, but it will do. At this time in the story, Sophie is very worried about little children in England because the giants have just headed their for a midnight snack.

"We've absolutely got to stop them!" Sophie cried. 'Put me back in you pocket quick and we'll chase after them and warn everyone in England they're coming.'
'Redunculus and um-possible,' the BFG said. 'They is going two times as fast as me and they is finishing their guzzle before we is halfway.'
'But we can't just sit here doing nothing!' Sophie cried. How many girls and boys are they going to eat tonight?'
'Many,' the BFG said. 'The Fleshlumpeating Giant alone has a most squackling whoppsy appetite.'
'Will he snatch them out of their beds while they're sleeping?'
'Like peas out of a poddle.' the BFG said.


Maybe my description of the book doesn't make it sound as glorious as it is. But I suggest you read it. Especially on a Saturday afternoon when you feel the need to laugh.

I Must Have Been Bored...

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

Here's How I Scored!

You scored as Cara. You are Cara. Bouncy and happy (most of the time), you love art (whether it's creating it or critiquing it) and movies. Especially movies...and art. Cara 100% Alison 92% Duncan 92% Aaron 83% Ryan 75% Bria 50% Earl 33% Ian 33% Which Sandford are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Webshots!

community.webshots.com/user/carabethie

Catch-Up Time

Everybody~

I am so sorry that you've had to see my little annoying dinky post about Christmas fuzziness every single time you've gone to my blog. That is absolutely pitiful. If I'd realized it was such a short silly, nothing-really-to-sat-but-saying-something-for-the-sake-of-saying-something I would have written something else sooner. Enough said.

The youth weekend we had last weekend went very well. There were many amazing adventures we had...(Meredith's nose being ripped open, sort of, Me being slammed to the gym floor by the force of a flying ball which hit me in the head,...) but all was grand. I took another two rolls of film, mostly of people jumping around playing football, or girls in the sleeping attic.

I have lots of fun pics from when the Holschers stayed here the first week of January. Lots of shots of us skating. Speaking of skating, I used a snowblower for the first time yesterday. It made me feel nice and macho and tough. Heh heh. But then I got really cold doing it so I had Aaron take over while I shoveled. (Oh yes. I forgot to say I was snowblowing the snow on the pond.)

My newest hobby is snowboarding. I had some Christmas money to spend, and I was wondering what I should use it for. Aha! Snowboard and boots! So I went to the store, picked up a nice blue and purple snowboard and am braving my hill. My first time down was exhilarating. I was so awesome. And then my second trip down was on my back with my legs in the air from time to time. I had a bad start and then I couldn't get up because my board kept slipping further down down down. The rest of my attempts were more similar to the second one than the first, but my excitement and determination is as steady as ever! I need to find a place to do the half-pipe...Eventually.

Well tata and thanks for reading! I shall post again within the next half a year!

I am really looking forward to Christmas! I think that the best part of Christmas is when people like the gifts you give them. It makes everyone get the warm and fuzzies. I finished my shopping yesterday, but it was so tempting to buy more for everyone. All of the nice thngs that I knew people would love would jump out at me...but I'll write more later. An older sister whose name I shall not mention wants me to call and order pizza now so she doesn't have to wait for it to be made. Must free the phone line!

One of Many Conversations in My Busy World of Babysitting

With Christmas coming the kids I'm babysitting are getting increasingly excited and anxious about Santa's arrival. Here's what Dylan and Raina had to say about it:

Dylan: (In a very loud, melodramatic voice) Look what Santa gave me! SPIDERMAN and his motorcycle! *pauses to see my reaction and shakes with joy*

Me: Wow! I love Spiderman! When did you see Santa?

Raina: At my cousin's Christmas party. But the reindeer were scared, so they stayed on the roof and Santa came in a car.

Dylan: They weren't scared of me! (Triumphantly) And Santa gave only me a present, Raina didn't get anything!

Raina: (Heatedly and Belligerently) LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! You didn't see any reindeer, and Santa gave me a present too!

Dylan: (for the rest of the evening, mumbles) Liar liar pants on fire, liar liar liar, liar liar pants on fire...