I am so excited for 4:00 when the party starts! I am going to have so much fun! Wahoo! I'll need to have my mom take pictures.

Meddy Chreestmas

My mom has developed a strong opinion about Christmas season. And she's told us that there might not be one this year at all because of financial problems and all that good stuff. But she says it's good, because we are learning something. I mean, isn't Christmas kind of gradually turning into a second Black Friday?  

The real meaning of the holiday is disappearing, I'm afraid. People have one question around this time of year: "What do you want for Christmas?" That question is somewhat depressing. I'm just thinking, doesn't Jesus not want all this greed? We are supposed to be celebrating His birth--but I guess some people have invented a new definition/title for Christmas: Want Day.

I'm not saying I'm not guilty of the "greed plague", of course I want an iPod or a pet cat or a Nintendo DS. But I'm really trying to resist it! 

My mom wants us to donate to Family Crisis Center this year for the people that don't have as much as we do. We aren't considered the most fortunate family in the world, but there are people in greater need than us. So I guess we are going to donate, I think!

Mostly I'm sick of Santa Claus. He gets on my nerves! For one thing, he doesn't exist, for another, he goes around spoiling snotty kids rotten, and for one more thing he's just bribery. Pure bribery. He's an excuse. I suspect parents can't think of any other way to get their kids to behave!

I'm really trying to think more about the meaning and/or spirit of Christmas this year. Looking back, I feel rather guilty about everything I've always wanted. For me and Ethan's b-day party tomorrow, we asked the guests not to bring presents. A kid's parent said they were surprised, quote: "I thought kids didn't know the difference between want and need." That hurts, actually. Really hurts, right here. (Motions to heart.)

I am very excited to see my Grandmas and Grandpas and all my relatives. I am thinking about the gifs, I can't deny it, but I'm trying! I want to be more mature like my Mom. I got the idea of this post for her.

I hope y'all have a merry Christmas. Enjoy the time with your family! Play games! Sing songs! Donate to charity!

(And if you were confused by the title of this post I was just saying Merry Christmas with a weird accent so r's sound like d's and i's sound like long e's and w's sound like v's. It's a little confusing but I think it's funny!)

Mommy & me time

So we went to Salt Lake (again) last weekend as a birthday present for me. We went to see Ballet West's Nutcracker and we ate yummy Indian food and we got me fitted for...................

POINTE SHOES!! They are Grishko 2007.

And I am so happy for me.

The ballet was so fun to watch. The costumes were gorgeous! They must have taken forever to make.

The Cavalier kind of stumbled once or twice, but if you compared and contrasted him to Cache Valley Civic Ballet's Cavalier from a few years ago he did absolutely stupendous. I was told by Mom that the other Cavalier fell over...several times.

Then after that we went to get me fitted for.........POINTE SHOES!!! And the lady there was very good at fitting. She told us that this one time a teacher came in with her student and the student wasn't ready so the fitter told them she wasn't ready and the teacher called back and said "I don't care if she's ready; I just buy the shoes." And we were like, Wow. We are in the midst of a professional.

Then we were at the Indian restaurant and it was so deliciously savorily yummily good, that I ate nearly all of it. It was spicy and the mango pudding was sort of like vanilla but sooooo much better.

Then we got stuck in traffic trying to see the Christmas lights in Temple Square for something like an hour. The pedestrians were moving faster than us!! 

We finally got out and parked a few blocks away on a cliff! Our van was just about hanging over the edge! I'll need to upload pictures.

So we saw the lights and they were pretty and I goofed off because I was really hyper, like I am right now because I'm all excited telling you this. 

Then I saw a building and it had A WATERFALL on the WALL! It was crazy.

Then we got in the van and we drove and drove until I fell asleep and Mommy got so tired she started seeing things so we had to pull over in Pocatello and we slept in a comfy bed in an 8 Motel.

Then we ate at iHop in Idaho Falls and it was good because I really like eggs and bacon and pancakes. We were so hungry! We finished in five seconds!

Then we got home all happy and greasy because we needed to take showers.

I know it's not a very in-depth description of the trip but I'm not in the mood to write a novel write now. OH! Speaking of novels I finished Twilight and it was both weird and good. And I'm almost done with Orson Scott Card's The Memory of Earth and it vaguely reminds me of the Book of Mormon. Just kidding! It is a total rip-off of the Book of Mormon! I always can predict what is going to happen! It's just like the story about how Nephi went to get the Plates of Brass from Laban. Except Nephi's name is Nafai and Laban's name is Gaballufix and Sam's name is Issib and Laman's name is Elemak and Lemuel's name is Mebbekew. And there's like this computer thing called the Oversoul and it really is a way cool book but you can just tell he's stealing these ideas from somewhere... I love the book though! I can't put it down! Except for right now, of course, because I'm typing on the computer. Ha.

I'm reading it! I am no longer an enemy

I have started reading Twilight and I am about 162 pages into it. It may be good, but it is a very easy read. I am natuarally a slow reader; I like to really take in what I see in the words on the page and try to understand it. I can just skim through this book. That's all I have to say.

Thanksgiving, happy, happy day

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

I was at my Grandma Coco's house on the 27th and she seemed to be doing better than when I saw her on her birthday. She recognized me and was walking okay.

Over the past couple years we've applied a new tradition for Thanksgiving. We bring paper, glue, markers, pencils, and scissors to the family gathering place so that we can make paper dolls! I made a few that were very good. I had my backpack stuffed with supplies!

The food was savory. My Aunt Nancy prepared most of it. During dinner, my Uncle Ben showed us an inside joke within his family that he uses on his coworkers at his job! What you do is you do the "made you look" thing--where you point at something and say "Look at that!" Then when they look back at you you have a weird expression on your face and it gets everyone laughing like crazy!

We went to Aunt Angell's house at 3:00 AM after the celebration and went straight to bed, we were so tired! Then I woke up at 11:30 AM and I ate pancakes and eggs. We made more paper dolls and we played a safari game when it got dark. Didi used Anna's camera and pretended to be an Australian explorer: "This is explorer Didi, and I'm in the Australian Outback. Look, It's a koala bear, he's so cute. I believe that's a leap frog."

Now we are at my Daddy's house. I am typing, yay!

Also my Mommy and I saw Twilight and it was cheesy. And I haven't read the book yet, still! There was a part of the movie when Bella's in the car and they're running away from the freaky cannibal vampire. Then Edward jumped onto the car and he looked in the window and a bunch of teenage girls behind us screamed--LOUD! And so did I. Then we realized it was Edward and everyone in the theater was laughing hysterically in that suspenseful section of the film.

I'm gonna go to bed now. Night night. And Mom, don't pay any attention to the time that this post was written. Pretend that it's really noon on the 28th of  November.

End of trimester one

It is the end of the trimester so I am allowed to do anything I want in computer class! This is fun. I'm going to go to YouTube and Yahoo and all that good stuff. But I will miss my teacher next trimester.

My Birthday! Oh, yeah! Hallelujia!

I have not posted in a long time. I'm at school in the computer lab, hoping Mrs. Kalco doesn't get mad at me...
I did a PowerPoint on Idaho and it's pretty cool... just kidding. I'm bored. I have ballet today at 4:15, I guess that's cool. I hope Kelsie can come today. She has been gone. I think she had the flu.. It's becoming an epidemic here! I have never had the flu or flu shots... isn't it weird that people that get flu shots are more likely to get the flu?
Sigh... still bored.
My birthday is coming soon, though! It's in December. My little brother and I are having a double birthday party at the clubhouse by the condos where my daddy lives. We will go swimming and watch movies and play games and eat junk food! Yum! All of my friends will be there.. I hope. Both Ethan and I are inviting almost fifteen people... so there will be almost thirty kids there! Ahh! But it will be very fun. I'm really anxious and excited for it!

President Barack Obama

My mom is crying. This is so amazing. He did it. He's taking over in January to guide our country to a better future.

Holy cow.

 I am so happy and so is my mommy and she's crying. We are so happy! We've made history! The first African American president. But that's not the only reason we voted for him! I believe he'll lead our country away from Iraq and stop all the fighting and the economy will be fixed. We will have a great country! (I still think the field was a sign.)

Oh My Gosh He Got Ohio!!!!

OMG he got OHIO!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He got Ohio, he got Ohio, he got Ohio!!!! THERE IS NO WAY MCCAIN WILL WIN NOW!! YES!! That sign was real, with the golden field. I interpreted a sign! YAY! OBAMA! BARACK ON! BARACK-N'-ROLL! YESSS!!

Pennsylvania Whoop Whoop!!

YES!! He got Pennsylvania!

I saw a sign. It was a golden-lit strip of field beneath a dark gray cloudy sky. It symbolized hope! (Just a wild guess. Could have just been weather.)

Please win Barack, please!

HOLY COW IT'S ELECTION DAY!!

Please vote for Obama if you are old enough because he rocks my world. McCain gives me a gargantuan headache and also the heebie-jeebies. And everyone at my school thinks he's going to raise taxes on everybody, but isn't it only the people that get 250 grand a year? I put a picture of him on my locker this morning and someone ripped it off. Arrg!

I'm sitting in the basement. HOLY COW, 5 MINUTES UNTIL THE FIRST POLLS CLOSE! My mom told me that's over eastward, so I guess they haven't closed here yet. I don't really get the whole polls thing.

Holy cow I am so scared. Who's going to be the next president??
When I was on the bus, they were complaining about having to wear uniforms at school. They were mad that Obama wants to pull us out of Iraq! How can you be mad at someone for not wanting war? They said, "There will be war no matter what." Uh... OK. Whatever, dude.
And they said he has no experience and Palin has more than him! That's preposterous! Palin would SUCK as a president if McCain were elected and something happened to him while he was in office. Hopefully he doesn't make it to the White House at all.
So we were at Maverick to get some snacks and the cashier was talking to the customer and he was like, "Yeah, I wish Sarah could be elected." The cash lady agreed and I said, "Yeah, sure OK."
My mom got really mad because this is a Republican county and if you say things like that, you're basically shredded into a zillion pieces.
So yeah, I want to be a Democrat when I grow up. It's funny because my mom is a registered Independent and my dad is conservative, and together they made a Democrat... it is a little weird. Usually a kid sides with one of their parents. I do on the Obama thing with my mom, but I ended up a Democrat when neither of my parents are??
My mom said I'm too young to make these decisions yet though. I mean, I am against gay marriage and abortion (actually in some cases I think it's necessary), so I guess I can't be aa Democrat. So maybe I sould be an Indepentdent. I dunno.

Novemburrrr...Cold!

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!

It's November??

I completely forgot that November was after October! Happy November?? WEIRD!!

I'm gonna barf from all these Tootsie Rolls

Happy Halloween! (Er, late Halloween.)



I have a HUGE amount of candy in a floral pillowcase. In fact, I'm chewing on a large chocolate Tootsie Roll as I type this. The pillowcase is on my lap.

My costume, an orange turtleneck with black felt for a face and a green hat, kept me very warm. I was a jack-o-lantern. We were all jack-o-lanterns, and every house we came to had a person that said, "Aw, cute little matching pumpkin triplets!" (Ethan had gone home with Dad not even halfway through our trick-or-treating.) It kept me very warm during the night, but it was unusual because it was warm last night. We've never had a warm Halloween, until now!

We watched Corpse bride last night. It scared me when it first came out, especially the part with the guy that splits himself in half. But it was cool last night. (For one thing I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't really see Tim Burton's animation flickering on the wall.)

Leigha is watching it again on the projector in the living room. I'm still stuffing myself with Tootsie Rolls.

I guess this is my last year of trick-or-treating. My mom said no more candy past my twelfth birthday, but then we agreed on thirteen from my arguing. So one more year!

10 things I love most...about my best friend

This is a total copy of my mother's most recent post. My mom. What a wonderful person. Not just because she's my mom, she has other good qualities too. She hot-glued a costume together for me this year when an old ally of hers didn't return the pedal for her sewing machine. (It's a jack-o-lantern with a Moutain Dew cap (for my stem.) I could make a list of all of the things I like about her, and I will, because that's what the title says.

1) She has an aptitude for writing. You could give her something to write about and she would have a story in 5 seconds. If you don't believe me read her blog. But she doesn't talk the way she writes, in my opinion.

2) My mom has a killer sense of humor, though I may not understand it sometimes because she's a grown up and has learned more stuff than me and uses it in her jokes.

3) She is really pretty.

4) She helps me when I'm sad and consoles me when I am encountering a tough situation.

5) She is always willing to help. She helped us practice songs in Primary when Sister King was absent and she made fun games. She volunteered to help in Physical Education in my sister's class and was surprised to hear that she had to take over the whole class with no help. Second-graders!

6) My mom is very artistic. She paints robins and made a creative journal with peices of colorful paper and paintings, BUT IT IS NOT A SCRAPBOOK! It's a journal.

7) She is an awesome dancer and ballet teacher. She's taught me well and I can intimidate my friends with my knowing of French ballet words.

8) She takes me to see rodeos and concerts with her.

9) She makes fun of Sarah Palin and McCain adn is one of the very few supporters of Barack Oobama in our red county.

10) She's my mom. Who wouldn't love their mom for going through hours of labor to have them? NO ONE!!

Yes, she is the best mommy I could have. She's funny and watches Saturday Night Llive and other comical news reports with me and she supports Obama. SHE IS THE COOLEST MOM EVER!!

Boasting.doc; Microsoft Word

I usually write free-verse but I think this poem is funniest if it rhymes. I know this isn't, um, professional, but someday I'll write as well as the pros. I was inspired by Shell Silverstein and my mother's good friend, Guy Mayhem.

Boasting

I can fly

Seven feet high

On my trapeze.

So you can go eight

Well, that’s just great

But you really have to hear

That I can wiggle my ears.

Oh, no.

You can wiggle your nose

Back and forth and up and down

Side to side

And all around town.

That’s quite swell

But everyone knows

That I can balance

On my toes!

Oh, dread.

So you can balance on your head.

That is quite an amazing thing,

But I can dance and I can sing,

I can stomp and I can shout

I can laugh and run about.

These things you can do, too

Instead of sit

And brag about you.

What?

What is that terrible thing you say?

You think that I should go and play?

Instead of sit and tell great lies

Of how I can go

Seven feet high?

Well, where did you hear

Such trashy talk?

I think you should take a walk!

Go cool off and get some air

And let us never go back to there

To that state

Where best friends hate

And never, ever congratulate

Each other.

Even still you seem to think

That my brain has got a kink.

I’m sick of you, I really am, you’re a mindless, stupid dope

You think that you are better than me

(Well, you only hope).

So go away

I want to play

Alone.

I’m going to find a new friend

And our friendship will never end.

Oh look, here comes someone now

I think that I

Shall take a bow

Then I’ll look up

And I will say:

“Hi, do you want to play today?”

And they’ll reply, “Yes,

Of course I do,

I was hoping

That you’d play, too.”

Then we’ll trot off together,

Like best friends do.

I’ll then jump up and down

And I’ll touch the sky,

And I’ll nudge my friend and say:

“Bet you can’t go that high.”

box.txt; Microsft Word

Hiding inside my little box

Concealed by these stone walls,

Slipping away with each minute,

Trying to pull myself out.

I call to them, "Hey,

Grab on to my arms

And release me from my gloomy cell!"

But scoffing, they turn away.

And still,

I lurk in the dark,

Not knowing what awaits me.

All I see is pitch-blackness,

Surrounding my trembling body.

I reach out

Expecting warm, welcoming hands to grasp me,

But I feel cold ice,

I feel only dark, gloomy air

Not moving.

Still.

I walk,

And wait,

For someone,

Anyone,

To relieve my pain of not knowing.

I desperately need to escape

This unwelcoming pit,

This box

Which has swallowed me up.

I always ask questions,

Maybe too many,

And that is why they have banished me

Into this world

Of sadness,

Sorrow,

Treachery,

And deceit.

No one but me is here,

Struggling to understand

The meaning of things,

Feeling, feeling

In the dark.

I wish,

I wonder,

And never know.

Freezing stone walls

Block my access to the outside world.

There is no comfort

When I am lost.

I can't see,

Or hear

Let alone understand

What is happening.

But someday, I will step out of this box,

And light will fall upon everything,

And I'll see everything,

Hear everything,

Understand everything.

Nothing will be nothing,

I will be something.

Pathway

I have finished a new painting of a pathway leading to an open sky. My friend thought it was a mountain and so I'm not as proud of it as I was last night while painting it as the third presidential debate played on television.

I asked my art teacher about it and she said that if she had been the artist she would have drawn the mud and stone path going diagonally across the paper. It would have made more sense that way.
I learned about anatomy and proportions in my lesson today and I drew a sort of map of the face. It is scary and cool.

Costume

I'm trying to think of what to be for Halloween--October seems to fly by so fast! Originally I wanted to be Barack Obama, because we found this freaky mask of him at Wal-Mart. But my mom took my idea and said, "No, you get to be Joe Biden." I don't wanna be Biden! As cool as Joe is, I still wanna be Obama!
So then I decided that I should be a pumpkin. But then I thought, Crap, I got rid of my orange turtleneck last year! I was thinking that I could wear green pants, the orange turtleneck, and an orange hat with a stem on it and then stuff my shirt with pillows. I thought it would be cute... but then Mom said I might look pregnant. My idea was spoiled.
I have no idea what the crap to be!!
When we got the Obama mask my mom was bummed that there wasn't a Palin one so she could make fun of her on Halloween. Since there wasn't one she "had no choice" but to take my Obama idea. Errg!
Last year I was a medieval princess thing with a green dress and a white veil. But about three other people had the same costume! The year before that I was this dumb mermaid with pink hair. I looked retarded. I wanna be something cool this year!
I remember years ago that I had a plan to be Alice in Wonderland, but I think I ended up being Elmo or something. I could be Alice this year! I could totally get the whole blue dress, black bow, and I won't even need a yellow wig because I already have the right hair color!
And the way Alice is illustrated in Lewis Carrol's book is about the way she looks in the Disney film.
Then all I need to do is go find some random lost cat and say it's Dinah. Yes! I'm finished.
Where am I gonna find the cat?
I really wish Dustpelt were here. He'd be perfect!
I've never been something scary for Halloween. I remember last year in school there was this girl dressed as Edward Scissorhands... no, way too scary and old.
I was a bat one year, maybe I could be one this year?... no, that was five years ago, the costume won't fit anymore.
Hmm.
I think I'll settle for Alice. Better go find Dustpelt!... er, Dinah!

I finally found a pic on Google that looks a little like Dustpelt. He was as old as the other cat but his eyes and fur were like this.

My New Drug

This is supposed to be my best friend now.

My mom got the prescription today, on the twelfth of August, although your screen will differ. It is probably at least a few months after I started taking this medicine. If my dad looks at my blog and sees that I'm taking Fluoxetine he'll freak. He has some sort of grudge against meds. When Ethan started taking Risperdal we had to keep it a secret from my dad. He was so mad when he found out. He chewed my mom out last week in our living room. I hate to think of what he would do when he found out that his other kid was taking meds. So I'm going to wait to post this, until he figures it out. I don't want him to freak again...

Now it is the seventh of October, and I told my dad about the Fluoxetine last month. He was probably mad but he hid it pretty well. I told him not to be mad at my mom for getting the prescription and he said he wouldn't. When I told my Mommy that I told him about the medicine she said yeah, he was probably mad.

But I still take it and it works. I don't worry half as much as I used to. It's generalized anxiety disorder and it sucks. But sometimes I want it back--as I have told my mother, I feel like it is a big part of me that can't leave.

I used to worry about ticks and how people thought of me and my appearance and all of those teensy weensy things that don't matter to a lot of people. Okay, maybe the appearance thing does, but all of the other tiny things.

I describe it as a box. Well, I described the depression that came in the package labeled "anxiety" as a box. To be more precise, I call it a purple box because depression is the color purple. I am trapped inside the box and I can see out of it but no one can see into it. I am invisible, but nobody else is invisible.

So no one can see me. So I get sad. So I get so sad that I become depressed. So I have low self-esteem. I feel that everyone is better than me. I get jealous. I get even sadder. I never socialize outside of school. I feel lonely. I get sadder.

This is what the anxiety does.

I distinctly remember the day my mom learned about the box. we were pushing Barrett in his stroller down to Second East and somehow the subject of worrying came up. We talked, and my mom inferred that the box is anxiety. I thought it was just depression and I didn't know what was making me sad. But she explained that the disorder was the cause of the depression which was the cause of the box--it all lead back to my disease.

I love being rid of the box. It is definitely gone. But only with the help of my "best friend"--Fluoxetine.

To express my sadness back in he "box days", I wrote poems about it. I might post one. Nobody ever read them, except for my dad when he came to visit. He, of course, had no idea what I was trying to say. The wording was vague. It hardly made sense to me, the authoress. It had only made sense when I was writing it.

At the end of the poem I wrote about escaping from the box and being happy. And that has happened!

I just really hate the taste of the liquid medicine I take. I don't take a pill because--ha ha--I'm scared that I will choke on it. An example of my many ridiculous worries.

I'm almost writing this like I'm writing about another person. It's kinda weird. Because I laughed at myself for being worried.

I feel safe taking liquid medicine, so I guess the idea of changing to a pill still scares me because I know that there is liquid meds available that I won't choke on... I guess that still doesn't make sense.

But the best thing is that I have escaped the box and am happy, all thanks to my, er, "best friend."

Cave Falls

Barrett is telling me to stop taking pictures because the batteries are almost dead in the camera.

We visited Cave Falls in Yellowstone National Park this weekend. we originally planned to see Horseshoe again, but my mom had that "I need to see somewhere different and explore" feeling, I guess. But it was so beautiful there! The trees were so orange. I mean, they were just these masses of orange leaves, they were so beautiful. My mom could only say "wow" throughout our drive. I loved the quaking aspens. They looked like they were shivering and their bright orange pigment was so pretty.

Sorry that Ethan isn't in the pictures; he didn't want to go so he stayed at dad's house. He was being a little mean to Leigha and me anyway.

Me. I look a little silly in these pics because I was too tired to bathe that weekend. I didn't bother putting my contacts in either which only added to my greasy ugliness. But hey, at least I brushed my teeth.

This is Leigha, the more cautious member of our team of travelers.

One of the many cows we saw. It's pretty funny because we were so entertained by them even though you see them on farms every day. they got right up close to the car and we took pictures of them, giving us an hour of nonstop entertainment on the drive to Yellowstone.

Mom in front of the falls. She was really happy to be out there considering how sad she's been lately. She always is a little happier if we go out near Horseshoe. Nature is her source of happiness. Look at that smile!

I am so glad that she is a little happier now. I ask her frequently after family expeditions if she is a little happier than she was before. each time she replies, "Um, a little," but this time I think she was a lot happier.

And Mommy, I'm sorry if you feel that I copied your post.

Lodgepole pines. We drove by them on the way there and it looked like rows of bars. It gave you a sense of... isolation.
This is the road to Cave Falls; sorry it is so blurry but I took this picture through our bug-coated windshield. Look at those orange leaves!
Barrett and me. He was being funny because we were taking photos and we had taken a really cute one and we were saying "awww". So whenever we took a picture of him he said "awww!"
Me in front of the cave. Leigha was too scared to go close to it and we had to hold her hand or carry her to get her anywhere in the forest. It was a little hard to see next to the waterfall because of the mist--that's why I'm squinting.

A random tree stump I saw. It was just cool how it was uprooted from the ground.
Sweet little Barrett (awww!) He's in a very cute pose on that rock.
Bear and Leigha (Barrett's saying "awww" again).
Mommy and Bear. I love this picture!
The river by the falls. This was just about when we first saw it. It came into view and all we said was "Whoa..."
Overlook of the forest. You need to go there to see it yourself!
All 4 of us, trying to crowd into the picture.
The exploring trio! (All with different odd expressions on their faces.)
Bear Bear, Cave Falls explorer going home, laying on the shoulder of his almost happy mother.

Dustpelt

I went to basketball camp today! A I was an hour late because we couldn't figure out where it was at. It was at the high school and so we went there and I played basketball and I practiced and had a lot of fun.


Oh, and on Thursday when Mom was working om Bye Bye Birdie at the high school we found a cat and he was so cute. At first I thought it was a girl so I called him Willow, but then I actually checked and it was a boy. Then I called him Dustpelt for his gray-brown fur. He sort of looked like this, but his coat was a lot paler and his eyes were more green-yellow. He looked a lot tamer than this cat too...so I guess this picture isn't that good to describe him. It was the one that looked the most like him on Google. He had short fur like this, though.

for his brownish-gray fur. I wanted to keep him so I put him in the van. Ethan told Mom and she get all mad and I was forced to leave Dustpelt on the sidewalk. *sniff*.

Then I told my Dad about him and he said that he wished I could've kept him so we could have a pet kitty. I'm sad I don't have a kitty.

Nooooooooooooo

Since I wanted to take 4 classes I tried the extra one I was going to do today. I was a sort of evaluation to see if I was good enough. So I stretched and I plied and I tondued and I pirouetted and I glisaded and all of those things in vain, because John said "You have the ideal body but you don't use it or think hard enough".
I have no idea what I did wrong. I cried for a small minute and the lady that gave me a ride to Idaho Falls bought me an enormous ice cream cone which I devoured in a matter of minutes. It was my favorite kind, Oreo. It looked like a snowy mountain with mud. And I ate it. It made me sort of happy but not enough.
I use my brain! I just get a little confused on the eight positions of the body. My mom said that she will work harder with me to get them right. I have to go now, the library's closing.

My Potential Famous Saying

I made up a saying because I was bored!... And I'm gonna post it!

"There are the advantages of sharing a name with a peer; you might not be the person the teacher is yelling at."

It's freakin' awesome! Honestly, though, don't make fun of me because it doesn't sound like the ones that Dr. Suess and Martin Luther King Jr. made up. I'm not old... I'm not dead, either!

You make Sunny scared, Barrett

Sometimes I feel like this cat.

The other day my mom was leaving the house in the van and Barrett was watching her leave from the window. Now, Barrett was playing with toy cars and he can't talk very well, and he pretended that his cars were crashing. So he comes downstairs and says, "The car crash!" And I got all freaked out that mom had crashed in the car and I was like, "Was it your toy car or Mommy?" and Barrett says, "No, my toy car crash."

Farm Pictures

These are actually some pictures that I took. They are sort of dark, so you can open them in a different window to see them bigger. The first one is a house and the second one is a tractor thing.

4 Classes?

Okay, I am loving ballet classes. I don't mean to brag, but I am getting pretty good. I have these terrible pains in my thighs and that means that I have been turning out the correct way. If I'm lucky I'll go en pointe wen I turn twelve in December. I still need to work on strengthening my ankles. And my toes. 

My class took evaluation tests to see how well we were doing and what our feet were like. Of course, the tests were given by my mother. 

And today I got an e-mail from my mom and she asked me if I wanted to take ballet 4 times a week instead of 2 times. She said it would be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'm not sure if I should, though, because I have after school on Tuesdays and I play video games and sports there. I must admit, though, that after school classes are really boring. Especially the video games. So I wouldn't mind quitting that. 

But then again, sometimes I get really frustrated in ballet classes. My Mom wants to enroll me in classes in Idaho Falls. I think they might be harder than the classes I take here, so I'm worried that I'll be even worse there. 

I really really really want to go en pointe, so taking more lessons will help me develop my arches in my feet and stuff better. I want to do other things too, though. I've always wanted to play basketball, and ballet might limit my talent in that area. My Mom enrolled me in basketball I think. If ballet interferes with that I can't do the 4 lessons. 

And so I really don't know I should. I really really want to, but I don't know. I think I will.

P.S. I am the one with their leg at 90, sort of in the middle

Wait! Don't leave! I thought of something!

I had a very good ballet class on Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

I still can't think of anything

I'm still trying to think of good things to write... but I can't!



Well... My brother's friend is visiting our dad's house this weekend, and they're playing video games right now. I'm not done with my homework yet and I go on the internet almost every day. I write in my journal and I'm trying to think of what I want to be when I grow up. I either want to be an artist, a writer/poet, a basketball player, a ballerina, or something else. I'm really not sure.

And I have to admit that I don't write nearly as much on my blog as I do in my journal, because some stuff is personal, right? So you need to give me a break and wait for something cool to happen. That isn't secret or anything. Uh, see ya!...



This is a cute frog

I thought of something to post about...

But it's also sad, really. I thought of posting something that had to do with September eleventh, but now I can't think of anything to say at all. I feels as if the event happens every year... over and over.

Of course, I was rather young when the World Trade Centers collapsed, and so I didn't understand very well... but looking on YouTube and seeing those planes and the buildings burst into flames... I almost cried.

Some person in my class asked why they didn't make 9/11 a holiday...

Ugh.

It's like Pearl Harbor. You just don't celebrate those things, imbecile.

It just happens every year. Over and over.

My mom said something on that morning. I forgot what it was. I think it was something about us continuing to use our talents... or something like that. This is the last year that people can come to where the towers once stood to mourn for the lost... there are going to be new buildings there. And I still am sad about the incident, but it's good to embrace the future.

I think that we need to move on...

Lazy lazy me...

I am so sorry that I haven't posted in a long time! As sad as it is for me to admit it, I hardly ever have time. I have had a lot of homework since school started...Argh! It's actually really frustrating.
Yes, so I have neglected both my blog and my personal journal, I don't do many outdoor activities, and all I do after school is watch television or something else that would be considered "lazy".
I don't really have much to report. Leigha, my seven-year-old sister, is escorting the homecoming king at tonight's football game. I guess that's something... at least it takes up some space on this page.
I get all my homework done, and so far I don't have any F's in school (I think)... I'm actually pretty glad about that.
I found my old PSR's blog. That was happy... it was a happy time.
I want to keep a kitty that we found. I call her Yellowfang. My dad says that she looks too mangy to keep, but she's really friendly.

And I'll think of something else to post in a while. See ya!!

My Kitty Pictures!!

39 Things To Do Before You Die

I was inspired by my mom and her friend at Bottomless Lakes to construct a list of 75 things to do before you die. Obviously I said only 39 on the title of this post, but considering that I am a third of my mother's age, I should be allowed to write about a third less than she did. 

There are a few qualifications in writing the list:

1) The list can only be comprised of things you've done. This is not  wish list. 

2) It must be a one time thing, not a life changing beatitude. This is not Seven Habits for Blah Blah Blahs. 

As put by my mother and her friend, try to shoot for something high, at least 25. 75 is difficult. My mom stayed up for hours writing hers. If you only have 10, you need to live. 

My list:

1. Climb a rock climbing wall without the rope. 

2. Sled down a hill in the summertime. It's a little  hard, but if you get the hill wet with a hose you should slide pretty easy. 

3. Skinny dip in a potentially dangerous area. Let's say a red zone for bears, or something like that. 

4. Be a flower girl in a wedding. 

5. Swim the length of a small pool underwater. I admit that this is a small feat but just knowing that you can do it is quite satisfying. 

6. Write your own alphabet and memorize it. 

7. Stick to a particularly poorly written book series without stopping. 

8. Float down a river in an innertube. 

9. Go on a safari in a dense area of trees. It doesn't have to be an actual safari; I haven't really been on one. Just get in a jeep and drive up hills and through trees. 

10. Feed a hungry person. Just grab some McDonald's and give it to him. You can even give them spare change; anything to help.

11. Bodysurf in the ocean. 

12. Watch someone have a baby.

13. Experience an amusement park ride that you wouldn't generally take lightly. 

14. Follow an unfamiliar trail through the woods without a proper guide. Ethan and Winston and I went through a forest in the mountains without any idea where we were going. We walked dangerously close to ledges that fell to a fast-moving river. 

15. Collect the corpses of crabs on a beach. 

16. Visit a city much larger than your hometown. Think of how tiny you are. 

17. Grow some sort of plant. When it sprouts flowers or veggies you get so excited. Enjoy the reward! 

18. Get a pet and care for it as though it were family, even if the landlord doesn't  allow it.

19. Go to a wedding reception and dance like the world is going to end. 

20. Play along with your family and pretend that something is real for the little kids. Even if it gets on your nerves. 

21.  Help paint a demolition derby car by finger painting. 

22. Go to a rodeo and really watch it. Scream for the competitors, say "aww" when the riders go to slow. 

23. Perform for a large audience. 

24. Explore your neighbor's backyards. Be careful not to get caught; you don't want them to think that you're doing graffiti or ruining their gardens. Just explore. 

25. Make cookies and go doorbell ditching. 

26. Walk in a parade. 

27. Make a list of 39 things to do before you die. 

28. Create styrofoam boats and float them down the creek. I did this with my cousins. We put candy in the boats because they thought that fairies would receive them. This was what I meant by "play along" on number 20. 

29. Stick up for someone badly outnumbered. 

30. Visit a friend who decided to be home schooled  in the middle of the year. Tell them how much you miss them. Ask why they left. See how they've changed. 

31. Eat expensive chocolate. Learn to accept how much better than us the Europeans are at making it. 

32. Keep a journal. Express yourself and confess as much as you can to it. 

33. Commit to writing a book. 

34. Play on a team in a competitive sport. 

35. Go dune diving. Roll in the sand! Just try to keep it out of your socks. 

36. Visit Craters of the Moon. Feel the cool air on you're face in the caves, what a relief it is to escape the heat of the sun outside. 

37. Enter a contest and do something you're good at. 

38. Get really good at something ridiculous. For example, I entered a talent show and did a hula-hooping act. The audience really liked it, too. 

39. Go to a caucus meeting. Get involved with politics even if you're not old enough to vote. Rejoice when your favorite candidate get the most delegates.

My mom's lake

My mom found Horseshoe Lake, her lake. When she needed it it had disappeared, but after driving around for an hour we saw it. Lily pads cover its surface and the water is dark and murky, but it's beautiful. I waded through the water for the half hour we had to stay there, mud gushing through my toes. We didn't get to stay there long, but we found it all the same. 

Those rivals of mine are really getting on my nerves

Still working on the roses. As I was drawing them earlier in the evening as the sun was setting and the light was growing dim in the kitchen, I realized that they were mocking me. They seemed to say, "Do you really think that you can copy us, you pathetic wannabe artist? Do you think that you're that good? It's to difficult for you to draw us." 

I was pretending, of course. But that was what they seemed to be saying. And I felt rather discouraged by the roses' discourteous remark, and I wanted less and less to finish my drawing. And I'm afraid that I won't, but I'll try. 

I feel strangely depressed when I draw. I'm totally absorbed in the drawing; I sort of feel trapped, sort of claustrophobic, and that's most likely the reason I dislike it. It's like I'm stuck in the paper. And if it gets too smudgy I feel even more stuck. It's odd that I'm good at something that frustrates me so much. I guess I like it a little, but I've noticed that I don't draw as much as I used to. Imagine what the roses would look like if I practiced more! And if you think I'm bad at drawing, well, that's your problem. Too bad. I know I'm good at it for my age. My mom even said so, so ha! 

Mom has enrolled Ethan and I in art lessons. She says that I have the talent, but no technique. That's why my rival always beats me... her dad passes all of his knowledge on to her. Mom said that I have more talent, much, much more talent than she does. She said that if I learn the technique I can finally be better. 

I draw in black and white all the time. Never in color. But I need to lear color scheme, and especially balance. 

I didn't get a place a in the fair contest for the water lilies picture or the picture of a baby named Hannah. Of course, my rival and her siblings all got first place. One of my enemy's brothers did a pastel piece of glass bottles, one that looked exactly like a piece his sister did in water color. They aren't original with their art--as I recall, her older and younger brother have both entered several almost identical works featuring irises. They most always get first place. Ugh!! Urg... 

I am gonna be so good... no one will beat me! I will not falter! I shall not! 

My Graphite Rose

I wanted to enter this in the county fair but the deadline was two hours ago and I haven't finished yet. My mom says that it's pretty good. She said that I can enter it next year when I'm done or enter it in another contest. And on her blog she said that I drove everyone nuts. Fine. I admit it. I did. (But if they'd leave me alone while I'm drawing I might not get so crabby and frustrated with them.)

It looks a little different than what appears on your monitor. My picture doesn't look like that. The lighting is different.

Considering what happened at the most recent art contest I entered, I'm not very encouraged to enter any other competitions besides the one at the fair. I haven't tried it before and maybe it's different the ones I've been in. The whole "let the ugly drawings win" thing is getting on my nerves. 

I copied the roses that my mom got from Rodeo, which went considerably well. I think that the first performance was a little better than the second. My mom's friend's choreography scared my cousin Natalia a little bit. The dance was called "Critters", a.k.a. "spider-monkey-swamp-things". It was a modern piece. The dancers wore pantyhose on their heads (yes, pantyhose) and plain black leotards and tights. Natalia thought they were demons at first, but farther into the dance she started to think that they looked like bunnies. They held onto their "ears" and did the movement.  I thought it was awesome. 

My Grandma Maddie took us to JB's and Anna and Cora and I made up daydreams. They're stories about things we want to happen when we grow up, like happy things that can be little or big.

I get a really bad stomachache when I eat a lot. I definitely got a stomachache then. And the gunk on my face felt really gross. I hate face gunk. 

We showed my cousins and and all the other dudes my dad's new condo, which is spacious (enough) and air-conditioned and has a decently-sized living room, unlike his old house's one. We played there for a while and then they had to leave, but Winston stayed to visit for the weekend. We went swimming the next day and Ethan and Winston squirted Leigha and teased her with a Spiderman hand they found in the lost & found. And then the weekend was over and we went home. 

THE END