And the Mr. Brown quote of the day...

"I wanted to jump through the TV and strangle her for being stupid. But I didn't."

-Mr. Brown

(I just decided that I would start doing this. Because we all could use a bit of BJ Brown wisdom in our lives. FTNITK - for those not in the know - Mr. Brown is pretty much the coolest teacher in the world. He teaches Ancient World and Modern World History class, my two most favorite classes that I've ever had, at Concordia Academy Roseville. He is also the football coach there. And generally snarkie. And complete awesome-sauce.)

(PS- I feel that if I'm mentioning super cool teachers, I have to mention Angie Carroccio. Much to my regret, I've never had her as an actual teacher *le sob* but I'd bet pretty much anything on her being amazing awesome-sauce as well! Ok, end of story.)

---> Currently listening to: 'Outline of Love' by Run Kid Run

Can I just say "Muahaha Pocky!"? OMG! x3

My mom is super cool. And pretty funny, too- What was it she was saying the other day? How she sees these hair salons with pictures of young models with really modern, funky hairstyles, but the only people she ever sees go in or out are like, 80 years old? It made me laugh. 

I really like our little excursions out too- Like yesterday, we drove into the city and found a British bookstore. Hooray for books in English! Oddly enough, the area we were in, a major shopping area, also had some um, X-rated places. Like, on the main street. It was pretty weird. (And awkward. Uh, yeah.) 

And today we went out for a walk, and we decided to go to Ten Bosch Park again. Well, I had my camera with me so of course I started seeing all these perfect shots that I just had to get. I think mom got bored pretty fast, although I sure had a grand old time! Ha. Then we went to Delhaize (Am I spelling that right?) and got food for our trip. And we got guacamole! AND POCKY! Hence the title. Because it just makes me want to say "Muahaha, POCKY!" Yeah, I'm weird I know. :]

Anyways. Today is 'Something on a Stick Day'. I think that's pretty neat. I'm supposed to be packing or folding laundry right now. Have I mentioned that we're going to Austria tomorrow to ski with some families from church? Yeah, we are actually. We're leaving early tomorrow morning and driving 9 or 10 hours there, although I don't think we're staying the whole week, I think mom and dad and I are going out adventuring somewhere. I'm pretty sure mom told me where at some point, but I don't remember! Oh well. I'll take plenty of photos and tell you all about it when I get to a computer, which will probably be next weekend. Although, mom said there's a pool where we're staying, so maybe they'll have internet as well. Who knows?

Oh, here are my favorites from this morning:

I LOVE this one! You know what mom said about this picture? "I can tell that it was Daddy who dressed her this morning." 

And here is your random factoid for the day:

Daytime dramas are called soap operas because they were originally used to advertise soap powder. In America in the early days of television, advertisers would write their stories around the use of their soap powder. (courtesy of The Book of Useless Information)

It's National 'Joe' Day.

So I really must insist that you call me Joe today. And hug anyone named Joe that you happen to run into. I know that it isn't 'Hug anyone named Joe, Joey, or Joseph (And José is acceptable) Day' yet, but I still think it's appropriate, don't you? 

Ha, I guess I just feel like blogging today. I want to express all these things that are jumping around in my brain and causing a stir in my heart! But I'll spare you dramatics. Not to mention it's a looooong story! Oh man. This is sure driving me crazy though....

Speaking of kids.

These are some of my favorite names for my (possible) future children:

For a girl:

Aelfabah (Of 'Wicked' fame)

Taegan (Tae for short? Eh, I guess I'm into nicknames. Ha)

Andromeda (Andy for short! The constellation, FYI. Not the scifi series or HP character....)

Talia/Taliesin (Tal for short!)

Lysandra ('Xander for short, I think.)

Valerie (Val :D)

Luna (Loony Luna? Hm)

Malorie (I don't know, I just like it)

Katrina (Unfortunately, the name's popularity has gone down a bit since the hurricane....)

Ophelia (Couldn't resist!)

Raven (Rae)

Ellanora (From 'Girl of the Limberlost' by Gene Stratton-Porter)

Freya (Frey)

For a boy:

Tancred (Tanc!)

Ezekial (Zeke/Zeik)

Omri (Was a king in the Bible, and also from 'Indian in the Cupboard')

Taylor (Hey hey Taytay!)

Kael (:D Laura will get it.)

Lucius (NOT because of... Ok, no. It's a cool name, ok? Very under appreciated.)

Lysander ('Xander!)

Neal (Or Neil, I'm not picky.)

Virgil (Why? No clue.)

Nathan (I just like it. :D Not to mention that every single 'Nate' I know is freaking awesome!)

Archie (Why? Again, no clue)

For either:

Cooper (Coooop<3)

Indigo (I loveloveLOVE this name. So much.)

Lee (One of my kids WILL have this name!!! OMG. Yes.)

Trey (It's cute, ok!?)

Robin (The bird, or boy wonder? Not sure...)

Quinn (Because Q is my favorite letter!)

Basically there are two ways of looking at it. The way I look at it, my children will have awesome unique names. The other, probably more common view: "Those poor kids..." Ha!

Oh, and please don't steal these names, start a trend, and make 'em super popular and common. They won't be unique anymore if everybody has them! :[ (Although I doubt that many people would have the gumption to name their daughter 'Aelfabah'! LOL!)

I don't do French.

jamais Dieu est Fidelé

jamais Dieu est fort

jamais Dieu il est nous

a jamais a jamais

That is roughly one of the songs that we sang last night. Basically, it's

Forever God is faithful

Forever God is strong

Forever God is with us

Forever, forever

You know, that one. I'll admit though, I really miss worship led by Danny and Angie. (Danny = best youth pastor EVAR!) Songs like 'Centuries' and that one that I can't remember the name of, the one that goes like this:

I lift you high and bow down low

how high can you be? How low can I go?

You must increase, I must decrease Lord

I'll bow down and you will be adored

I really like that one, it's one of my favorites. Worshiping in French is quite the new experience, but it's ok. Just harder than in English, you know? I have a new respect for people who worship in not their first tongue. And I've decided that I'm going to become fluent in at least one language before I have kids, so they can grow up multi-lingual. It's gotta be a lot easier that way!

(Last night, and still today. I am.... excited. Elated? Full of warm pink fuzzies. Butterflies are discoing in my stomach. I feel kinda scared too. But that's normal, right?)

Here it comes...

You know, that one post in every blog where the writer talks about this amazing religious experience they had.

No?

Well. It wasn't religious, actually. Nope. I definitely can NOT describe it that way, because it was completely too personal to be classified as religious. That's the crazy thing about Jesus, how personal he is. It's absolutely insane how much he loves ME, loves YOU, loves us ALL! 

I don't know about you, but I would totally take a hit for a friend. Many people would, I think; They'd put up with a fair amount of pain and trouble for a friend or family member, somebody they loved. Well, ok. That's what Jesus did, except times a thousand. Unimaginable pain, suffering and trouble (And ultimately DEATH!) for... you. For me. For us. 

Even though we were totally breaking his heart by doing bad stuff. (AKA sin!)

Isn't that amazing? I'd take a punch in the face for a friend, but maybe not if they had been like, totally stabbing me in the back for an extended period of time. But Jesus.... he did. And so much more. The love he showed to those who were killing and condemning him? Amazing. He really defines 'unconditional love'. Agape, I think it is in Greek. Ah-gop-ay. "The greatest love we have seen is this: that one should lay down his life for his friend."

Love. Crazy love. LOVE. Like, he knows the exact number of hairs we have on our head, and designed every single little thing about us, and has had an amazing perfect plan for our lives since he knit us together in our mother's womb. He delights in us. That just boggles my mind, that he could love little ol' me THAT much. But it's true, and can I just say how that makes me feel? Special, loved, and HAPPY. 

It's late. I just got done talking to a friend of mine, which also makes me pretty happy. (I might explode with excitement!)

But more on this later. 

xxRiss

PS I love you

Tuesday Afternoon...

That's a Moody Blues song, I think.I love how I know that. I mean, most teenagers don't like some of the same music their parents did when they were teenagers, do they? Well, I do. Go me. Dad liked The Moody Blues when he was my age, and now I like 'em too!

But now dad wants the computer so he can watch Band of Brothers while he eats dinner, so I'll wrote more later I suppose. I AM feeling kinda thoughtful. Um, introspective? Ponderingish? Pondersome? I don't know, something like that. You get the point.

xxRiss

PS

I added things to the sidebar, check it out! Links and a poll... Vote please, or COMMENT!

It seems like nobody comments this anymore.... :'[ *emo tear*

I wish you a very happy...

Dyngus Day

When : Always the Monday after Easter

Dyngus Day, also spelled Dingus Day, is a Polish Holiday.  It is very popular in Poland, and in Polish communities in America. After the long Lenten holiday, Dyngus Day is a day of fun. And, perhaps a little romantic fun. It is always celebrated on the Monday after Easter.

There area all sort of ways for boys to meet girls. But, this one takes the cake.  

Guys, on this day you get to wet the ladies down. Sprinkling or drenching with water is your goal. Chase after the ladies with squirt guns, buckets, or other containers of water. The more bold and gallant boys, may choose to use cologne. Hitting (gently, please) the ladies on the legs with switches or pussy willows is also common.

Yes ladies, you can strike back. Ladies , you get your revenge on Tuesday, when tradition has it that you throw dishes or crockery back at the boys. It has become increasingly popular for the ladies to get their revenge on Monday, tossing water back at the boys.

Note: Dyngus Day is also called Wet Easter Monday. Hmmmmm, I wonder why!?

Why does black nail polish chip more quickly than any other colour?

Man, it feels good to be a teenager. 

Slept for 12 hours last night.

Ate a ridiculous amount of cereal.

Am still in my pajamas....

it's been quite a week.

Sunday, March 16th:

We had our first mega-rehearsal today. I did a lot of homework before it, and none after, mostly because it was from 4-8pm. I was wearing pretty much the only pair of plain white socks I own as an orphan, and kept slipping around when we were rehearsing... I even fell down once. Started rehearsing Death for the first time; It turns out that Tobias, who was going to play opposite me (As the dying, ha) backed out at the last minute. So Jose played the role instead. He's good though, so that's nice. I get an awesome huge black hooded cloak and an extendable scythe! It's pretty much amazing. 

Monday, March 17th:

I woke up today and knew I'm getting sick. Sore throat, drainage from my nose dripping down... I pretty much ate a gabajillion vitamins and finished the orange juice. I REFUSE TO GET SICK. I slept on the bus, too. As awfully as I usually sleep, I need all the rest I can get. Ha, before advisory Nathan asked me if I could declare it 'Sleep Day' or something. I wish. Ugh, and then double maths right away after advisory. It actually didn't go that bad, though I worked with Kal and we got through almost all of the homework. By the time it came around to geography, though, I had an awful headache, was SOOO tired, was feeling really hot then really cold.... Yeah, I turned in my assignments and went to the nurse's office, where I slept for the next two periods. Woke up just in time for lunchtime rehearsal for Annie. Let's see, then what? We were taking more notes on the digestive system in Biology and I asked why all these things sounded like they were named by somebody who was high. English was more fun that it had been because Parker was back. He really kinda just brightens my day. One of the songs he recommended to me is stuck in my head though- Our world is grey by as cities burn, it's super good. It's also St. Patrick's Day today. I wore green purely by accident, but thank goodness I did. 

Here is my favorite line that Jose and I have:

Jose: "Got your nose!" *steals nose*

Me: "Got your SOUL!" *pulls scythe across his throat*

Tuesday, March 18th:

I slept in today. A LOT. Like, until 9ish. And then I had a fever of about 101.7, so I stayed home until 3ish, when mom drove me to rehearsal. 

Quinn is amazingly awesometastical. I just had to mention that.

Wednesday, March 19th:

It's the day of the musical review. I wore sweatpants and it was wonderful. I had like three tests and that was not so wonderful. I still am sick, coughing and hacking up the endless stream of snot dripping down my throat. Mom is going to have to bring me a decongestant. 

Choir. It was loooong. I couldn't really sing. 

Then after choir but before calltime Stef and I fell asleep on a couch in the drama room. It was wonderful, but then Lucy woke us up not so nicely. 

The show went wonderfully, although very quickly. I mean, it was over like *that*. If I had had time to think about it, I would have been very nervous having the second line of the show!

I have like the quickest costume change ever, though- I have a death scene right before Tango de Roxanne. So basically I finish the death scene then run back through the opening curtain to get into position. So I have to pull off my cloak and black dress-thingy while running in the dark in heels, then hand my stuff (including my huge scythe!) to somebody backstage and quickly get into position with Danny on the side of the stage. This takes place in about 5 seconds. I just about clobbered Lee in the head with my scythe, and was still taking out my hair by the time the curtain was open, but I made that look deliberate. And then it went fantastic, as I knew it would. We got SO much applause. :D 

So there was supposed to be a cast party after the show ended and we took down the set, right? And Stef asked her parents if I could sleep over because it would undoubtedly go late, you know? But then it turned out that there was no cast party because Chris (who was organizing it) was sick. But my parents had already left.  So I lugged my backpack and costume and 9 library books back to her house. We stayed up past midnight talking and got up six hours later. 

Thursday, March 20th:

I lugged my stuff back to school. Parker and a few other musical people were butts and skipped school, lucky them! Had double PE, hockey again. As usual, my team tried to stick me in the goal, but this time I let them because I was still sick. I stopped the puck (We used a plastic ball, actually. It was kinda bouncy...) about half the time. And then one time Tom (Or was it Ludwig?) hit the ball close range super hard through the air towards the middle of the goal and I was sure I couldn't stop it... But I did. With my FACE. Ha.... Of course, getting hit in the nose makes your eyes water, so I looked like a total wuss. Ok, so it actually looked like it hurt A LOT but I felt like a wuss. And it did hurt. But whatever. And then Coach Rita was gonna send me to the nurse to get some ice or have me sit out, but I kept saying that I was fine so Coach Jacobs asked me whether I wanted to play still, and I said I did so he's like "She's a tough cookie" then I shoved out the person who was gonna replace me as goalie (ignoring his protests that I should take a break) and got back in the game. Unfortunately it didn't swell up or make a big black bruise or anything, for which I was rather disappointed. I guess that's why we don't use an actual puck, eh? Ha. Then we had a long boring assembly and then we were supposed to go to advisory but our advisor didn't actually show up (Surprise surprise) so we just kinda wandered around. But then Ms. D (geography teacher) found us and we had to take the test that I really thought I got out of until after break and therefore had not studied for. Also, I had missed the last three class periods and had absolutely what half of it was about. Oops.... After that, Stef and I hung out with James and Sasha and Erianna and Beth. And James gave me a temp. tattoo of a seahorse that had been in his bubblegum wrapper. Apparently the bubblegum tasted nasty, but the tattoo is cool. We got out at noon-ish. Our bus was late; all the other ones were gone when ours came. And then I got to lug my backpack full of books, my costume bag, and my gym bag all the way home from the bus stop. I felt retarded, and it was all so heavy it was painful. But whatever. Was on my fourth book by that night.

Friday, March 21th:

We picked up Stef at about 3ish, and we had loads of fun. She slept over and we stayed up super late talking, OF COURSE. And we watched Juno.

Did I mention the INSANE weather? I swear, it's changed 29 times today. Like, it was raining. Then a couple minutes later it was snowing, then sunny, then hailing, then raining again, then more snow.... CRAZY!

Saturday, March 22nd:

Stef and I messed around all day. We even fried cookie dough to see what would happen. It turned out rather tasty, actually... We also made random videos and put them on facebook. I encourage you to watch them if you like laughing. Well, WE thought they were funny, anyways. I mean, we made a PARODY. Parodies are FUNNY. And a video about how wonderful marriage is... Ha. It's awesome.  Then we stayed up late watching the first 2 episodes of Lost, that show which I have never seen. (Gasp!) Everybody says it's so amazing, but... I don't know if I will keep watching or not. It depends how bored I get over break here... Oh, and then we were lying in bed and I was trying to teach Stef how to roleplay... You know, it's just like writing a story except out loud and with more than one person. Well, the result was kinda entertaining, and even more so because we were so tired. Her character.... Well, we did a run-of-the-mill school for the gifted RP, right? So we're lying there in bed and I'm describing my two characters who come up to the door and Stef's character opens the door. And he's big and blue with black hair and is like, "Hi my name is Parker and you better not annoy me or I'll eat you." I pretty much DIED laughing!! OMG. It was SO funny. And my character made a smart remark so 'Parker' ate them. But then they exploded him. And that was the end of the whole thing. Hahahahahahaha.... I can't wait to tell Parker about that, we'll laugh so hard.

Sunday, March 23rd:

Today does NOT feel like Easter. Easter is being home with all your family, eating Ham and Frozen fruit salad and too much candy and talking to the cousins and all the guys watching football downstairs and complaining because everything is much too soggy to play outside. 

Chocolate - check.

Soggy weather - check.

Family? - Not so much.

I'm super homesick today. I wanted to go home for spring break, really badly. Still do. Or even go on the Romania trip with Parker and people and do that awesome service trip. That would been awesome too. Instead I'm at home blogging and being pathetic feeling sorry for myself and eating orange tictacs. I'm already halfway through my library books. 

This could be a long two weeks.

Durrrrrrr....

I'll blog on this week later. Don't worry, I wrote myself a note so I won't forget. ;] I just am procrastinating right now.... Stupid Health project!

And I miss my guys. ;[

xxRiss

Whhhhhyyyyy am I still up???????

Power in a little black box.

I now have a new lease on life in Belgium.  It came in the form of a portable GPS which my husband purchased on Saturday.  Today I had committed to drive Marie-Claire to the hospital for her physical therapy & didn't have to have one second of anxiety wondering whether or not we would arrive on time, if at all!  After also having an evaluation today in occupational therapy, she was told of a store in the city that carries implements that could help her do more of the daily living tasks on her own being she only has the use of one hand/arm.  So I told her I had the whole day free & if she wanted to go, we would.  Without the GPS, there would have been ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE of finding the said store.  So you see, now I have the power to go, to do.  

So about this whole 'Love' thing.

I guess I should explain something, yes? Something that's a big part of who I am that you might or might not know about. So, here's the deal with me: God has given me this incredible love for people. Like, so much love that I'm filled up and overflowing and really don't know what to do with it all! My friends, all the time I just want to hug them and tell them how utterly amazing they are and how much I love them and how glad I am that we are friends.

I just love saying "I love you." 

But I don't that often. Because it makes many people feel awkward. And if they took it the wrong way.... I value certain friendships far too much to say how I really feel. Which, of course, causes some internal turmoil. But I don't really want to talk about it anymore. 

 xxRiss

Where do you go when you can't get back home?

What do you do when the broken heart is you?

What do you see when you've been blinded by your grief?

What you hear when you've been deafened by the fear?

Look me in the eye and say that you won't go, never, no

Look me in the eye and promise we'll stay together

Look me in the eye and tell me that you won't go, oh no,

Look me in the eye and promise you'll never leave

Oh, don't you see that the love we share

Is too good to break and tear?

don't you know how much I love you,

how much I love you?

(I had 'Where Does the Good Go' by Tegan and Sara stuck in my head, but couldn't remember the words so I made up new ones. :P)

Wake up exhausted, it's not morning, it's back to sleep, to dream of thee....

Do I ever NOT have a song stuck in my head?

Anyways. It is now Saturday. (My last post was wednesday, right? Right. Ok.)  Um. I don't really recall much of what went on this week since wednesday. It's been slightly dull, with people (Including Parker and Boone) gone in London or something for honour choir since wednesday afternoon, and Stef gone since Friday. :[ I miss her. There was an insane sub for Religion and Geography yesterday. I nearly died.  I also got my script for being Death yesterday. I am still extremely excite about that.

GrrrrrrrrCHOMP. I guess I'll just tell you about Sadie's, which was last night. Well, James didn't end up being able to go because he had to babysit his brother suddenly or something. Lucky him! To sum it all up, the dance was LAMESAUCE. For one thing, all the posters said it started at 7pm. So I arrived at like, half past and about 10 people are standing outside. I recognized a couple of them, so I got out and mom and dad drove off to go to whatever they were doing. But it turned out that the dance didn't start until eight, which was why they were all standing outside. So I stood around with a bunch of freshmen while we waited for it to start. And then it did. And no one would dance and it was super lame. After awhile Quinn arrived, which was good. He pretty much got the party started, and although dancing to Techno and Rap takes pretty much no skill whatsoever, it was ok I guess. You know how people will form a circle and then people show off their dancing skills inside? Well, Quinn and I did the baby-maker. And it was pretty awesome, everybody clapped. (Baby-maker as in the swing dancing move, people. Geez.) Then it was slow dance time, the time when everybody who DOESN'T have a date stands by the wall and feels awkward. I decided that that was not an option, so I dragged Taehwan out (literally dragged), placed his hands in my waist, and put my hands on his shoulders. This was our conversation:

T: I don't like this kind of music.

M: I don't either, but whatever.

T: *sings super high to music*

M: *laughs*

Special, huh? Ha. Then there was ANOTHER slow song (Agony!), Taehwan escaped (Ha) and I ran into Quinn. So we danced, and discussed how awkward it was, laughed about how awkward it was, and whatever. Kinda funny. (Um. I decided that I like how tall heels make me. I danced in them all night and didn't fall down ONCE!) So, even though the middle part of the dance was tolerable, everybody started leaving at about 10-ish. Mostly to go to Snug (The pub). Then it was stupid. I waited outside and chatted with Ms. DeLazarri (My geography teacher) for about a half hour until mom and dad finally showed up. Didn't get to bed until midnight. Then I slept (Not that well, but better than usual) for 11 hours.

It is my opinion that a dance is not cool enough to call itself a dance unless they play YMCA at least once. The most they broke free from the crap-rap and techno repertoire was playing Cotton-Eyed Joe or whatever once. And I think a country song. But that's it. They played soldier boy or whatever (That one super popular crap song with its own dance) twice. I nearly shot myself.

So that's about it. I should get to my massive amount of homework now. :P Urggggg. Of course my teachers are having everything huge due next week, because it's right before break. But of course we're having the musical review next week, 'cause we gotta have it before break. Both of these things make sense. The unfortunate thing is that they are happening simultaneously. I'm pretty much gonna die, I think.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

Quinn wants me to play Death (The Grim Reaper) in the musical review!!! It's the in-between parts, the thing that will connect all the different songs. And I'll just be my cheery happy self, it'll be great! I'm pretty sure I get a huge ol' cloak and scythe, too! Awesome!

WHHHHHHY DOOOOES MYYY HEAAAAARRRRRT CRYYYYYYY???

"Why does my heart cry? Feelings that I can't fight...

You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me-

And please believe me when I say I love you!"

Yeah, I pretty much have Tango de Roxanne stuck in my head. :P

As you can probably tell, haha. Two and a half hours almost non-stop is a long time, though, I'm not gonna lie. It would have only been 2 hours, but I had PE last period, so I can add that to the total. We played hockey; I was the only girl on the team again, and they really tried to stick me in the goal. Again. SO not cool! But Taehwan volunteered to be goalie, so I got to play.... It was pretty fun, but Dance was more fun. As always! :D One of the moves we do is where the girl wraps her leg around the guy, but it's more of a glorified hug, really. Apart from the guy catching our leg behind his back. And so then, Quinn and I were talking about how one of the best kind of hugs is when you jump up and use your arms AND legs to embrace the other person. Then I gave him a piggy-back ride (Although at first he thought he'd squish me, ha! As if.) and then we decided to see if I could carry him princess-style. So I picked him up, and he's all "OMG, carry me over the threshold!" So I carried him for a a couple feet... then dropped him. (Hehehe) Accidentally and quite dramatically. Oh, good times, good times.... 

Have I said anything about this loverly 4th grader on my bus, Maesha? She's really bright, in more ways than one. Oh, and the younger kids on the bus (All who sit near me, anyways) think I'm an alien from outer space. I of course completely encourage this, and am greatly amused by the notion.

This is a traffic light. After Valentine's Day, I noticed that a few of the lights were like this, and needless to say I thought/think it was/is completely amazingly awesome. I mean, come on- It's a traffic light shaped like a heart! 

Today we had assembly, and part of it was a thing about dress code and PDA. Because nobody really follows those rules. First they had a little bit of a fashion show; Fanny showed off sagged pants, Danny showed of a belly shirt, Robin (he is REALLY tall!) showed off a short shirt, and um, Boone showed off a plunging neckline. LOLZ. Stuff like that. Oh, and Quinn and somebody else showed inappropriate/distracting hair, aka major bedhead and crazy colours. (After Assembly I promptly put a purple streak in my hair, of course. Haha, I like being a rebel!) Then Boone and Fanny (Probably two of the most frequent PDA rule violating people in school) said how PDA was not cool in school while they held hands and stuff. And stuff. Ha. 

Oh, another thing about my magical colourful hair- James kissed me on the top of my head yesterday and accidentally got some marker in his mouth! Hahahahahahaha.... It was absolutely hilarious. Heh, every chance I get I sneak up behind him and put his hood up. And every time I do, he says "Ah, Marissa, you got me again!" It's funny. 

In English class, we're studying Anglo-Saxon poetry. And today we read some riddles, and one of them... well, I totally did NOT pick up on it until somebody pointed it out, but the last one was quite "Holy complete-sexual-innuendo, Batman!" I mean, REALLY bad. Ha, but that's life I guess. xP

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

Ok, no, never mind, this news deserves its own entry. :P Ha, suspense!

Yes, I am still here...

Although I'm sure some of you may be wondering...

I just haven't had any earth shaking news to share!

Now that Marissa is taking the bus to school, I have a scheduled 30-40 minute brisk walk each morning & another one for about 20 minutes in the afternoon.  I escort her to both bus stops, each a distance of about 1 kil. ( one a bit more, one a bit less). In the morning I add 10 or 15 minutes to the return home.  So that is a positive change in 2 ways. we both get more exercise. And I find it is saving me at least 8 hours of driving time each week, with more added if you count the wait at school in the a.m. to let the return traffic settle down.

 So what am I doing with all of my spare time you ask?   I have been researching places to go, what to see, how to get there, where to stay, etc.  All I can say is,  being a travel agent is not on my 'hope to do someday list'.  I have also been spending more time reading & studying.  It is such an amazing thing to be able to go through an entire week without feeling like there were 29 or more things I didn't get finished that I had on a list.  I am learning to approach life in a different manner.  Being in an apartment, with fewer things to take care of, has given me the opportunity to do this.  I have also spent a good amount of time reflecting on what is really most important to me, how do I want to spend the next several years of my life as far as those priorities are concerned, & how will that look once I return to Minnesota.  I have too many different things rolling around in my mind right now to be able to be more specific than that at this point, but as things progress, I'm sure I will be able to share more.

Kevin has just returned to Brussels after 5 days at a conference in L.A., & 4 days at home to work on income tax & other misc., plus a few days flying.  It seems like a long haul, but he looked younger to me when he returned last night!  Maybe seeing Kaytlin & Tommy reenergized him somehow.

As far as adjusting to life here....

I still don't know any more French than the basic greetings, (& am not trying to learn either)

still don't have the different coins memorized by sight,

still don't like driving,

getting more CALM WHILE driving,

think parking in the garage with its barn doors is easier than circling round & round & round to find a parking spot on the street, 

have a VERY BASIC method of cooking & limited menu, (& not very motivated to change it)

am able to ignore the dungeon when going to do laundry (except if I HAVE to go down at night-I still have to summon up extra courage!)

have gotten pretty good at just going out to do whatever errand needs doing-in spite of the weather

seems like I'm doing okay on a day to day basis, but I am counting the weeks as they pass, as well as counting the months until school is out & we can return home

very much appreciating a simpler season of time to be more reflective

enjoying the opportunity to expand my world & thinking via getting to know people from so many different backgrounds & life experiences totally different from mine

having second thoughts about all of the travel & adventure Marissa & I were going to do over summer break-it is more intimidating than I thought it would be

looking forward to a holiday with Kevin & Marissa over Easter break

looking forward to our first visit from friends at home (end of April)

Mmm, catch up time.

Sunday:

On sunday, I went home with Stef after church to hang out until the Swell meeting, because we were going to have a meeting with just the leaders and it was gonna be at Stef's house at like, 5:30 or so. So naturally we were excited to be spending most of the day together... We took off our jeans and coloured on them with markers, it was way fun. ;] Well, we were about halfway done when Parker called and asked if it was ok if he and James came over early, like at 3:30ish because that's how the driving was working out. And so we're like, oh, ok. Better hurry up and finish these jeans! So we did, and they arrived, and we all hung out in Stef's room, and it wasn't too awkward. Ha. No, we were laughing and joking around and stuff, so it was good. And then we had a mini tickle fight, and I totally owned James once I found out his feet were ticklish... mwahahaha... Oh, and Stef told them about her funny awkward dreams, including the one where us four were all hanging out and then James and I ran off and Parker and Stef found us making out! Man, her mind goes crazy places.... Ha, when she told us about that one, James and I pretended to run out of the room, it was funny. Slightly awkward, but funny. At least nobody died this time!

Then everybody else started arriving, we had our meeting, and then... Well, because Parker's parents were at some church service, they couldn't pick him up until late, and mom was late, so Parker and me and Stef basically just hung out for quite awhile longer... ha, we counted how many serious crushes we had each had, and told funny embarrassing stories. I stayed until 8:30, and Stef told me later that Parker didn't get picked up until 10:30! Wow. But yeah, it was quite a day. (That is Parker in the picture. :P Hehe.)

Monday: 

I didn't have an especially good day, not until Dance. But dance always is fun and makes me happier. At dance we all wore our costumes (hehe, fishnet tights ;D) and finished choreographing it! It is SO freaking cool! It gets a little, um, scandy, but it's so freaking COOL! Ok, more like hot. ;] Heh heh heh.... 

Also, Jean (the dance teacher) said I had a talent for Tango, and should pursue it. He already does a higher level class type thing with a couple other peoples, and he invited me to join them! I'm pretty sure that I'm already as good or maybe even better at Tango than I am at Swing, which is crazy. I suppose it helps having a teacher! Ha. 

Tuesday:

Today is Rainbow Coloured Sock Day! Naturally, I celebrated, and Stef even helped me colour a rainbow in my hair before school! It's neato supremo, I'm talking super chilly legumes. (Aka cool beans. Ha!) But I still didn't have that great of a day, I was feeling pretty crappy. Stef and I wrote notes to each other, and one of hers almost made me burst into tears during biology. Oh joy. I got to talk to James for awhile, which helped. He's pretty amazing. Oh! And then, during Geometry, the fire alarm went off and so we all got to go outside and stand in the cold, rainy, windy weather while they counted us. It was... well, at least it took up half of math class, right? So, it was quite the day. No rehearsal, but the next week or so will make up for it, no doubt. Let's see what the next week looks like:

Wed- Annie at Lunch, Tango after school until 5:30ish

Friday- Annie at Lunch

Saturday- possibly tango?

Sunday- show run-through 4pm to 7 or 8pm

Mon- Annie at lunch, show run-through right after school until 7pm

Tuesday- show run-through until 7pm

Wednesday- Annie at lunch, Show at 7pm!!!!

So in other words, pretty much no time at all to work on the numerous projects I finally find myself saddled with! There's my Health project, which is due the 20th. Fail the project and I'll fail the class, so no pressure there, right? Ha. And then there's this English paper on Doctor Zhivago, aka the weirdest movie ever. And an article for Writing. And prolly some other stuff that I can't remember right now. Agh, CRAPOLLA! I just remembered I have a presentation in French tomorrow! ...oh help. That's not nice.

Plus, I won't even have Parker or Stef to cheer me up later this week! Parker is in honour choir, which is going somewhere from tomorrow afternoon until sunday, and Stef is doing a math competition in Vienna friday through sunday. They get back just in time for rehearsal, actually. Bet they'll be super tired! Yikes.

So there's this stupid thing about scheduling. Like, turn in our class registration by tomorrow, and once you do that, there's no changing ever for the next two years. IB, aka the International Baccalaureate Program, aka Academic h-e-double-hockey-sticks! It's gonna kill me, probably. It's a European thing, and you pretty much need it if you want to get into a university. I'm doing it to keep my options open, although I need to take the same classes the whole two years to get the diploma, plus write a huge extended essay, and do 150 CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service) hours. As things stand, there IS a school in Champlin, which is basically the same distance from our house as CA is. And the school has the IB program, but not the same courses. So I don't know what the future holds. Which is annoying. I mean, it's more uncertain than the usual. But I have to go murder my brain (Aka do homework) now, so ttfn, ta ta for now! :P

It's Be Nasty Day....

So I will start this entry out by being nasty. 

Geography is a majorly stupid class!!!!

There, I was nasty. Maybe if I see Stephanie today I will bite her too. She bit me, several times in fact... It was even slightly painful. Last night was reasonably fun though, not because the artsy exhibition type thing was all that interesting, but because I was hanging out with Stef, Katie, Nathan and Quinn. We talked for quite a bit about Opposite Gender day, and that was greatly amusing.

Oh, and Katie finally conned me into getting a Myspace. I'm so ashamed of myself! Gah. Can't believe I caved... (But I did. So add me as a friend. ;D)

Um. Oh! Right! Thursday, double P.E.! We started a new unit. Here I will relay a conversation between Mike and I over AIM. m= mike, r=moi

switch457 is now online.

m: happy one half 33 birthday

r: MIKE!

m: yo

r: I thought of you bunches today

m: really

r: yep because we started a new unit in PE today

guess what it is?

m: hockey

r: Yep!

m: how was that?

r: So I strove to make you proud but when we finally started playing...

m: would I have been?

r: ... I was the only girl on my team and the boys were all sexist so hey made me be goalie even though I am woefully depth perception challenged! So I didn't get to hit anybody!

m: haha

that wasn't really allowed in our unit

r: yeah, there's this 'no physical contact' rule I don't get it

m: physical education, no physical contact

yea, I don't get it either

r: hockey isn't hockey without physical contact, in my opinion maybe the teachers were just scared that I'm hurt everybody

that must have been it

m: had to have been

r: for sure

m: well could you stop the ball?

r: as a goalie? not really

but otherwise, yeah

m: so as a blob of cells, you got in the way enough? but when trying, it somehow slipped past you?

r: I'm pretty good at dribbling or whatever it's called

m: oh no please take that back

r: I take it back?

m: that was close

I almost had to sign off

r: What is the term?

m: I don't think there is one

r: oh, ok

m: carrying the puck? stick handling

r: yeah that. I seriously scared like three people today

m: I would be too

r: they jumped back and screamed I laughed really hard it was hilarious

m: if you had the puck, I'd probably let you keep it

r: ya right, Mr. I've-played-hockey-since-before-I-could-walk

m: there is something else though, something more terrifying when a female has the puck, especially during floor hockey. it's almost like all reguard for life goes right out the window

r: HA

m: it's true

r: well, actually I didn't even have my stick or the puck at the time. I just looked at them and growled a bit and they jumped and screamed

m: see, terrifying

r: I don't get it. what is so scary?

m: serious?

r: I can't even do a handstand push-up!

m: those are hard

r: I can go down 4 inches, that's it! then back up of course

m: I be sorry, but I have to get going

r: BOO

m: Yea I know

r: >:{

m: sorry

r: it's ok, it's not your fault. or did I scare you too, LOL. GRRRR!!

m: yea but you're not 3 feet from me swinging a stick so I feel a tiny bit more safe

r: I suppose. although for the record I didn't even have anything in my hands at the time

m: uh huh whatever you say dear

m: I DIDN'T! I swear on... Batman!

r: if you say so. have a good eveining

m: you too, have a good day!

r: thanks

m: bye

r: bye

switch457 has gone offline.

Hap hap birth, hap hap birth, hap hap birth to!

That's the half birthday song, because it's my half birthday today. I'm exactly 16 and a half, which is exciting I guess. Kinda makes me feel old! :P Just a bit, though, ha.

More later, I gotta go to bed!

ROOOOOOXAAAAANNNNNNE!!!!!!

No school today. YES! It's multiple personality day, not that we're celebrating. Oh no, precious. Not us.

Ha. So we had practice for Tango de Roxanne today, and it went pretty well. Yes, the Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge, AKA that very, um.... scandalous movie. Eh. Yes. About a guy who falls in love with a prostitute or something like that. Quite. Anywho. So we have to be 'in character', right? Well, we were kinda having trouble having the right expressions apparently, so Andrew (Who's directing-ish) had us all pair up with our dance partners and look each other in the eye without smiling. The girls were supposed to look, uh, seductive? and like they were just betrayed or something? I dunno.... And the guys were supposed to be pretty much impassive. It was not so easy to keep a straight face, and Boone and Quinn made it quite a bit harder. The exercise helped though, somehow it's less awkward to look Danny (my dance partner) in the face/eyes during the tango. Although it's still kinda weird, considering the roles we're supposed to play! 

I've decided that I like to tango. It's fun if you've got a partner who can do it well! :] Yay.

Um, more later maybe. I gotta go to bed.

Do a Handstand Push Up - wikiHow

Do a Handstand Push Up - wikiHow

Hahahahaha

so. these are hard.

try it and comment saying how it went, I'm curious...

because I'm wondering if I am weak 'cause I can't do even one, or maybe it's just really really hard... somebody please tell me! Ha. Life is funny.

I didn’t cry during The Notebook, but I did during The Last Samuri

PS

My hair is magical! It changes colours daily.

Then again, a lot of you knew that already, eh? Ha.

Okay, so it isn't magical.

Okay, yes it is!!! It IS, because the colour is from MAGIC MARKERS.... that makes it magical, right?

At St. John's, we're not allowed to have 'unnatural' hair colours or mohawks. It makes me sad.

But then again, I had purple and red streaks in my hair yesterday, and green today, and the only time a teacher yelled at me was for throwing snowballs in the hallway! Hahahahahahahaha. I feel like Boone. (Except he kept a perfectly straight face, something I have yet to master.)

"I violate the school dress code."

....

"I violate the student dress code."

.... 

"I violate the student dress code."

....

.... ("Can we be done now?")

Snow = Awesome!!!

So it snowed last night! Not so much in Brussels, but definitely in Waterloo. There was about an inch... haha, what a great way to start my day, throwing snowballs in school! I got reprimanded, but whatever, it was SO totally worth it! I got... Quinn (Owned in the FACE!), Taehwan, Lucas, and uh... Boone. And somebody else. I don't remember who. Maybe Lawrence? haha, I am not what one would call a lady, I'm much too mean to boys. But it's okay, because I'm nice too. Somehow. (?) Um. I give free hugs? Ha. I went up to Parker today and said, "Here, I am going to give you a hug now, because I may have to beat you up later, because Stephanie keeps having dreams in which you brutally kill her and it's causing her great psychological and emotional distress." Then I hugged him. It was somewhat amusing.

I think Stephanie would have less violent dreams (AKA dreams in which Parker doesn't brutally kill her? Oh my.) if she would stop reading morbid/depressing books. Like the one she just read about this guy who goes psycho and poisons a bunch of people and it takes forever to catch him and a bunch of people die... Yeah, wow. No wonder she has nightmares, yeah? One of them was kinda amusing though.... Parker had this rubber Jesus pencil topper, and Stephanie borrowed it but then lost it, then had a dream that night that Parker was so angry about it that he murdered her and then at her murder trial, the judge asked him why he killed her, and Parker said because she lost his rubber Jesus, and the judge said "Oh, okay, that's fine then. You're free to go." Hahahahahaha somehow that amuses me, but it's still kinda "Um, okay then."

Oh, and my favorite letter of the alphabet is Q!

Just in case you wanted to know.

But it was hailing, sleeting, and snowing intermittedly all day today, really. It's still going in random spurts. Odd.... So on the bus, I sit near the front (Because the Mafia sits in the back. I'm not even kidding, this guy is totally scary!) and near the younger kids. And so me and of them were talking, and we decided that I'm bad with names, and should go back to 3rd grade because they give out stickers. It's pretty fun, I didn't know it was so fun to talk to like, 1st, 3rd and 4th graders! And then there's Esteban, but he usually misses the bus in the morning. (Oops!) He's a senior, and I actually sat with him for a little while during lunch. He's really nice.

Oh, and I am almost finished with a hat to match the scarf I knit! Ha, I'm so proud of myself. :]

There was a contest at the school's library, and I was one of six winners. Hehe, I got chocolate and candies. :] The candies were like, gummi-hearts though, so since I don't really like gummi-things, I gave those to James. He's uber sweet, and gives good hugs. Frequently. Actually, we're going to Sadie Hawkin's dance together. It's kinda funny how that happened, though- 

So on Friday, the last class was math but Mr. Van Rijn said we could go watch the basketball games instead. I guess a few of the teachers did, 'cause I ran into Parker and James on my way... And they were gonna go practice in the music room because they had a show that night and would rather do that then watch the games. I tagged along, because it sounded like a lot more fun to listen to them practice, especially since I didn't know if I was gonna make it to the show that night. (I didn't end up going, and I'm not even going to say how I felt about that.) Plus I had forgotten my knitting in the same wing of the school. So they played while I knit and listened. So what happened was that James left to go to the bathroom or something, and then dialogue went something like this:

Parker: So I heard you're thinking about asking James to Sadie's.

Me: Where's you hear that?

P: Stephanie.

M: Oh. Yeah, I was thinking about it, but I don't know if I'm even going or not because I don't know what it'll be like- if it's just gonna be like, a grind-fest, then I don't wanna go.

P: Oh, I've been to plenty of school dances here, it's not like that at all.

M: Oh, good. 'cause that would just be icky!

[Insert about a minute of somewhat random conversation, partially pertaining to who was asking whom. Both Parker and Stephanie are going to be gone @ Honor Choir and Math competition, respectively. FYI.]

P: So are you going to ask him?

M: I guess, possibly. Sometime.

P: You should. Do it. 

[As James walks back in]

P: Do it right now!

M: Ok, I WILL! Hey James, will you go to Sadie Hawkin's with me?

J: Sure.

And that's about how it happened.