I'm it!!!
Soooo, I got tagged, by Kayla...to do this.
Seven Things You Might Not Know About Me
1. I like shoes. Heh heh...Psych! No, really, this is hard. There's not a lot people don't know about me. *think* *think* I absolutely love climbing trees. It's embarrassing how much I like it. The harder the tree is to climb, the more I enjoy it.
2. I've always dreamed about opening up a restaurant..or a cafe...next to a local highschool or college. Most likely it'll never happen, but it'd be so much fun if that would work out. I love cooking and baking. :D
3. I'm not nearly as clever as I look.
4. If given the opportunity, I would seriously go skydiving, or bunjee jumping, or something really extreme.
5. When I was younger, my heart's desire was to have curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. I hated my name, and was forever bemoaning the fact that my parents didn't call me something like Emma, or Hannah, or Madison. Aren't you glad that wishes don't always come true?
6. My record for journaling is 1 week straight, if that. I have a journal graveyard in one of my cubbyholes. It's hilarious. Almost every single one of my entries begins with me apoligizing to "Betsy" or "Anne" about not writing sooner. (My Aunt taught me to name my journals...)
7. I have a teeny, tiny mole (junctional nevus) on the outside corner of my left eye.
Part II of Tag Duties
1. Have you ever ridden an elephant? Well, shockingly, we don't have many elephants wandering the streets of SoCal. That would be a no.
2. Have you ever eaten squid? Yeah, it's great. Once you get past the tentacles and the rubbery texture, it has a surprisingly robust flavor.
3. What is something crazy you have done with your friend? Ha ha...just ONE? Well, this girl I didn't like very much and her boyfriend were walking down the street...being all lovebirdy. My friends and I were at the church playground when they sat down right next to the fence that separated the playground from the sidewalk. The nerve! I couldn't take it anymore...especially when they started whispering and giggling together like...like...two people giggling and whispering to each other. (Creativity sometimes reaches an impasse.) Anyway, I suggested we all start throwing sand at them. So we did, and it worked very well. I wouldn't reccomend it, but in case of a dire emergency, it's a useful trick to have up your sleeve. Do yourself a favor and don't use this if your sister is courting. (Jimmy, Johnny, Marky...you have been warned.)
4. Have you ever held an alligator? What do you think?
5. Have you ever let a snake slither through your fingers? Ehm, WHY would I do that?? Why? Gross. No.
6. What is your first and foremost dream in life? Well, in death I don't want to regret my life. That's one of my biggest fears.
When I die, I don't want to meet my Savior face to face, and tell Him that I've accomplished nothing with the life He gave me.
7. What is your dream vacation? Going horseback riding in New Zealand. I'd throw dirt clods at all the sheep around there while the farmers yell at me in their funny accents. Hey, it ain't called a "dream" vacation for nuthin'.
8. What is the funniest movie you have ever seen? It's a toss up between The Philadelphia Story and My Favorite Wife.
9. What is your favorite song? "Short people...ain't got no reason to live."
10. If you could change the world in just one way, what would you do? I'd make sugary food good for you. (I'm feeling guilty, because I just had a huge piece of leftover pie...so much for my diet.)
(Do this if you like, if not...'so 'kay.)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Of Straightjackets and Lifeguarding
Well, here I am again, and this post is going to be all about me...because the others usually aren't. ...Wow, that was fast.
Ah, there you are.
You do realize that when you enter my blog, you're going to read my posts, which, unfortunately for you, are about me. And hasn't your mother ever taught you that it's rude and inconsiderate to leave someone abruptly at the start of a conversation? Shocking. As I was saying...
...The dreaded CHSPE. Have you ever been so nervous you've felt like you've swallowed a brick? Welcome to my world. A lot is banking on my passing the CHSPE; so much so, that my sweet mother has threatened to disinherit me if my results are less than satisfactory. (i.e. I fail.) Some days, I go to bed absolutely knowing that I've failed. And other days, I wake up with a song, a skip, and a spring in my step with the intuition that I've passed. Yesterday, I felt like someone had rammed a brick down my throat, and added a bowling ball for good measure. It was nearly 5:00. If you're a seasoned CHSPE veteran, like myself, you'd know that a month after one takes the CHSPE, his or her results are posted online. Yesterday's results could either free me from my mental anguish, or propel me over the cliff of uncertainty into the depths of despair. And, just as I hit "enter" my computer crashed.
Haha....just kidding. You should have seen the look on your face. But I digress...
I've a good mind to sue the government, for gross procrastination concerning this matter, and/or whoever is in charge of, or responsible for, correcting the CHSPE and distributing the results. I'm charging the defendant with causing prolonged emotional distress, mental pain and anguish, and intentionally inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on a minor.
Really, the test in and of itself is not that difficult. If you study hard and do your level best, I'd say you've got an excellent chance of passing it. So, you make a few mistakes here and there...not bad, you'll still make it. Or so you think!!!
A week after the test.
You've developed a curious habit of biting your nails and sneaking covert looks over your shoulder. Surely you'd remembered the formula for quadratic equations. It's got a negative 'b' in there somewhere. You're positive...sort of.
3 weeks after the test.
You've chewed your nails down to the nail bed and have taken to shouting random equations at innocent pedestrians. Sleep is a thing of the past as every night you analyze every math problem you'd taken, and curse the fact that you didn't study more analytic geometry. You've lost about ten or fifteen pounds because you refuse to eat anything, claiming you feel like you've swallowed a brick.
2 days before your online results are available.
Your parents find you under a blanket in the fetal position blubbering and shaking uncontrollably in the early morning hours. You've finally fallen into a restless sleep as you mumble over and over "two plus two is..." They try and shake you awake, to no avail. At around six o'clock in the morning you jump out of bed and run around the neighborhood screaming "Two plus two is THREE!" at the top of your lungs. Your eyes are bloodshot. At this point, you could have passed your CHSPE with flying colors and received a letter from the governor commending your superior academic prowess and it wouldn't have mattered. Some lovely people driving a white van come up and put a white sweater on you. They nod and speak calmly and soothingly to you as they sew you up. You have gone stark, raving mad.
It's the waiting period afterwards that really gets to you. But, hey, guess what...I'm home free. I passed. :) Good luck to the rest of you taking the test in 2010. Heh, heh... "Two plus two is THREEE!"
~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~
SCUBA diving is super fun. We've come to the part of the program where they teach us how to swim...properly. There are three programs we can choose from. In Community Water Safety, they teach you basic strokes. Or, if you are a fairly good swimmer, you can take the Swimming Instructor course. (To become a swimming instructor, duh.) Jimmy, Dad, and I are doing Lifeguarding. Well, Jimmy and I are. We've at least got a shot at it. :-P The only reason Dad is still in the class is because Scott(one of our instructors...he's awesome) is a nice guy and wanted to keep the family together.
On Monday Scott tested our stamina, and our swimming strokes, neither of which were much to boast of. We did 500 yards of the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and the sidestroke. We're all in such horrible shape, that it took us (20 students) about an hour to swim 500 yards. And we were real proud of ourselves, too. Of course, Scott had to burst our bubble. He told us that competitive swimmers swim 5000 (FIVE-THOUSAND)yards every single morning. That's nearly 3 MILES!!! And then, they DO IT AGAIN!!! At night. Another 5000 yards....nearly 6 miles every single day. Wow. We've got a lot of work ahead of us.
The funnest(I've taken the liberty of adding this word to the dictionary) part about Monday night was watching everyone swim. More specifically, watching everyone swim the butterfly. There are few things more entertaining than watching people who have never swam the butterfly flounder around pathetically in the water nearly drowning themselves trying to execute it perfectly. It's hysterical. Just when you think you're about to pass out from laughing....it's your turn. Scott gave me a big, fat 'E' for Effort. He was being generous. Judges invented the butterfly because it got boring sitting in a chair for hours on end, and they needed some entertainment.
There was this one girl, though, Ashley. My word, she was a machine. She swam competitively, and played water polo. Not only did she do every stroke perfectly, but during the entire 500 yards, she didn't touch the wall. She treaded water for an hour and a half. This was after her three hour practice earlier that day. *cough* *cough* She was so good, we were like, "Scott, please, no, don't look this way...no, not the Butterfly!" He finally put us out of our misery, telling us that in his entire life he had never seen such a nauseating, abominable excuse for a butterfly stroke, and that if we had any pity for him at all, we would just stop trying. Overall, it was a blast, even though I drowned my brick. In one exercise you have to swim to the end of the pool, dive down, pick up a 10 pound brick, and swim back using only your legs and keeping the brick above the water. So, yeah...I was kinda tired and I drowned my brick. R.I.P. Bricky.
Anyhow, that's all for now, faithful reader(s) :) Have a wonderful day, and remember to be a blessing!
Ah, there you are.
You do realize that when you enter my blog, you're going to read my posts, which, unfortunately for you, are about me. And hasn't your mother ever taught you that it's rude and inconsiderate to leave someone abruptly at the start of a conversation? Shocking. As I was saying...
...The dreaded CHSPE. Have you ever been so nervous you've felt like you've swallowed a brick? Welcome to my world. A lot is banking on my passing the CHSPE; so much so, that my sweet mother has threatened to disinherit me if my results are less than satisfactory. (i.e. I fail.) Some days, I go to bed absolutely knowing that I've failed. And other days, I wake up with a song, a skip, and a spring in my step with the intuition that I've passed. Yesterday, I felt like someone had rammed a brick down my throat, and added a bowling ball for good measure. It was nearly 5:00. If you're a seasoned CHSPE veteran, like myself, you'd know that a month after one takes the CHSPE, his or her results are posted online. Yesterday's results could either free me from my mental anguish, or propel me over the cliff of uncertainty into the depths of despair. And, just as I hit "enter" my computer crashed.
Haha....just kidding. You should have seen the look on your face. But I digress...
I've a good mind to sue the government, for gross procrastination concerning this matter, and/or whoever is in charge of, or responsible for, correcting the CHSPE and distributing the results. I'm charging the defendant with causing prolonged emotional distress, mental pain and anguish, and intentionally inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on a minor.
Really, the test in and of itself is not that difficult. If you study hard and do your level best, I'd say you've got an excellent chance of passing it. So, you make a few mistakes here and there...not bad, you'll still make it. Or so you think!!!
A week after the test.
You've developed a curious habit of biting your nails and sneaking covert looks over your shoulder. Surely you'd remembered the formula for quadratic equations. It's got a negative 'b' in there somewhere. You're positive...sort of.
3 weeks after the test.
You've chewed your nails down to the nail bed and have taken to shouting random equations at innocent pedestrians. Sleep is a thing of the past as every night you analyze every math problem you'd taken, and curse the fact that you didn't study more analytic geometry. You've lost about ten or fifteen pounds because you refuse to eat anything, claiming you feel like you've swallowed a brick.
2 days before your online results are available.
Your parents find you under a blanket in the fetal position blubbering and shaking uncontrollably in the early morning hours. You've finally fallen into a restless sleep as you mumble over and over "two plus two is..." They try and shake you awake, to no avail. At around six o'clock in the morning you jump out of bed and run around the neighborhood screaming "Two plus two is THREE!" at the top of your lungs. Your eyes are bloodshot. At this point, you could have passed your CHSPE with flying colors and received a letter from the governor commending your superior academic prowess and it wouldn't have mattered. Some lovely people driving a white van come up and put a white sweater on you. They nod and speak calmly and soothingly to you as they sew you up. You have gone stark, raving mad.
It's the waiting period afterwards that really gets to you. But, hey, guess what...I'm home free. I passed. :) Good luck to the rest of you taking the test in 2010. Heh, heh... "Two plus two is THREEE!"
~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~
SCUBA diving is super fun. We've come to the part of the program where they teach us how to swim...properly. There are three programs we can choose from. In Community Water Safety, they teach you basic strokes. Or, if you are a fairly good swimmer, you can take the Swimming Instructor course. (To become a swimming instructor, duh.) Jimmy, Dad, and I are doing Lifeguarding. Well, Jimmy and I are. We've at least got a shot at it. :-P The only reason Dad is still in the class is because Scott(one of our instructors...he's awesome) is a nice guy and wanted to keep the family together.
On Monday Scott tested our stamina, and our swimming strokes, neither of which were much to boast of. We did 500 yards of the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and the sidestroke. We're all in such horrible shape, that it took us (20 students) about an hour to swim 500 yards. And we were real proud of ourselves, too. Of course, Scott had to burst our bubble. He told us that competitive swimmers swim 5000 (FIVE-THOUSAND)yards every single morning. That's nearly 3 MILES!!! And then, they DO IT AGAIN!!! At night. Another 5000 yards....nearly 6 miles every single day. Wow. We've got a lot of work ahead of us.
The funnest(I've taken the liberty of adding this word to the dictionary) part about Monday night was watching everyone swim. More specifically, watching everyone swim the butterfly. There are few things more entertaining than watching people who have never swam the butterfly flounder around pathetically in the water nearly drowning themselves trying to execute it perfectly. It's hysterical. Just when you think you're about to pass out from laughing....it's your turn. Scott gave me a big, fat 'E' for Effort. He was being generous. Judges invented the butterfly because it got boring sitting in a chair for hours on end, and they needed some entertainment.
There was this one girl, though, Ashley. My word, she was a machine. She swam competitively, and played water polo. Not only did she do every stroke perfectly, but during the entire 500 yards, she didn't touch the wall. She treaded water for an hour and a half. This was after her three hour practice earlier that day. *cough* *cough* She was so good, we were like, "Scott, please, no, don't look this way...no, not the Butterfly!" He finally put us out of our misery, telling us that in his entire life he had never seen such a nauseating, abominable excuse for a butterfly stroke, and that if we had any pity for him at all, we would just stop trying. Overall, it was a blast, even though I drowned my brick. In one exercise you have to swim to the end of the pool, dive down, pick up a 10 pound brick, and swim back using only your legs and keeping the brick above the water. So, yeah...I was kinda tired and I drowned my brick. R.I.P. Bricky.
Anyhow, that's all for now, faithful reader(s) :) Have a wonderful day, and remember to be a blessing!
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