Have a holly, jolly Christmas
It's the best time of the year.
I don't know if there'll be snow
But have a cup of cheer!

Holiday cheer is sorta like hot cocoa; kids appreciate it more than adults, and adults should appreciate it more. And it's easily shared, and brightens both people's days and warms their hearts when it is.

So, as predicted, school was incredibly useless today. I went in at 8, which is basically normal time anyway, and helped NHS collect the links from teachers' rooms. By "helped" I mean did it all myself with one other girl, because no one else was there that obcenely early. It was either that or walk to school through a foot of snow. LOL

I gave out the majority of my gifts. Some people weren't there, so I still have a bunch of cards left. Meh. What can you do.

My day consisted of 2 "holiday assemblies", one that I watched and one that the orchestra played it. We pretty much sucked LOL but the teacher was beyond the point of caring. I got miffed because the underclassmen where singing the last verse of the alma mater, which is the seniors only verse. I got yelled at as a freshman for doing that. Someome should tell them...

The assemlby was over at 11:40, and I left at noon for clinic. So I had a useless 10 minutes in Psych, and then left. I stopped by my English teacher's room and picked up the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I have to read it and do 10 dialectical journal entries, which isn't bad AT ALL. And it's not due until the Friday after we get back, so I don't feel pressure to rush through it. Which is good.

And, yeah. Clinic visit. It was okay, I guess... my lung functions only jumped up 10%!!!!!!!!!!! LOLz. From 45% to 55% in only 3 months. It literally made me giddy. I was giggling in the PFT lab. <3

I have gained weight back, too, and am 105 punds again. For some reason, they are still not happy with that. The doctor and nutritionist want me to try, during breaks and on weekends, increasing my feeds to 3 and a half cans. Which I guess is doable, just a bit of a hassle. Also, there's this: if I don't do that, and my weight drops at all (which it is prone to do), they'll automatically jump on it and be like "if you'd done this than we wouldn't have this problem." And if I gain weight then they can say "ha! we were right you've gotta keep that up!" So, there's no way out of it. Unless I stay at exactly the same weight... And, honestly, I don't know if I want to gain any more weight. I feel pretty and comfortable. Sure, I'd like a bit more fat on my hips, but feeds aren't going to do that; feeds send it to my stomach. But then it's like, if more weight would mae everything easier and all, then why not? Or definitely if it'd go to my hips. BUT then you have the fact that my mom doesn't approve of me gaining weight. Not one bit. She didn't say so outright (THIS time) but I know how she feels about it.

I wonder if we girls are like programmed never to think we're good enough. Like, I am thin but want to be fatter, and girls that are "fatter" want to lose weight. I don't know. It's interesting I guess.

So, yes. I also got my H1N1 shot at clinic today. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Mom disapproved of that, too. She seemed convinced that it would give me some horrible reaction and we'd be unable to sue for compensation. *shakes head*

At any rate, we got McDonald's on the way home, which was a nice treat. Mom dropped me off at the house and then went on her way to various appointments. I, meanwhile, spent the entire afternoon/evening reading HouseXWilson fanfic. LOLz. Or really one, really long but VERY VERY good story. <3 That one was fine, but I think that for future reference (discovered through the one-shots I read as well) I am setting a rating limit for myself LOL. I guess those rating-guideline-people know what they're doing. So, I think T/PG-13 is my limit. Which makes sense for me.

My grandmother was doing okay, Mom said. She was confused and thought it was 6am and not 6pm when Mom was there, but that was because she slept the whole day due to being very tired from her ordeal.

Mike was still insinuating (actually, he flat-out said it) that she was responsible for the problems and was being neglectful. He said, and I quote "At least her death will be quick." WHO SAYS THAT!?! What kind of person says something like that, about a human being that everyone around you loves? About someone's MOTHER. As if we weren't upset enough. Mom claims she's not mad about it... I don't know if the comment itself or that fact makes me more upset. Like, she really should be like screaming at him. Nothing. Not a word. Unless she's doing on of those passive-agressive things that annoys him but I haven't noticed yet. It's just completely ridiculous and heartless to say something like that, and I honestly lost a bit of respect for him because of it.

So, yeah. Way to ruin an otherwise PERFECT day.

Frosty the snowman, is a fairytale they say.
He was made of snow but the children know
How he came to life one day.


I am running out of songs to use! LOL. But I like Frosty because the song is telling a story (a ballad!!), which relates to the topic of tonight's entry. Instead of giving you an account of my day, which was laughably dull, I'll go into a little discourse about storytelling and my thoughts on it and such. Should be a fun read (I hope).

All cultures use storytelling to convey messages. Mostly they're about like how to live your life, what not to do, and virtues are rewarded and all. The morality play and all that. And while those are good, and I think a certain amount of that is necessary, it's a bit naive. Like, in the real world, virtue isn't always rewarded (at least in a tangible way), there are many different ideologies and things about how to behave, and the like.

Which is one reason I like modern television so much. Honestly. They deal with real issues, relevant issues, and often the unsavory side of life. Prostitutes, gamblers, addicts. Serial killers! Like, Dexter is one of my favorite shows now. The character is just so real, you know? And we all deal with those violent urges and such. I think there's something noble about taking the hand you're dealt (for Dexter, being a serial killer. It's like an urge for him) and making the best of it (only killing other serial killers and in so doing saving others. And being a detective.) And, I watched an episode of Criminal Minds that made me cry. It was about a serial killer who killed young blond women, and he befriended a blind boy whose mother he killed. And just the way he was so sweet to the boy... it was touching. The guy died in the end, which was why I cried. Because he wasn't a bad person, just someone who needed help, and in his own special way the boy was doing that. Shows like that, that make you see things from the other side... they promote kindness and understanding better than any morality play or fairy tale ever could, in my opinion.

And you have shows like House, which completely draw you in and make you CARE so much. And have characters so real and multi-dimensional that you can write a thousand different things and it's all plausible, like for real people. I've been reading fanfiction, and the realy good stuff is like, it's playing on the TV in your head as you read it. It's so amazing.

Which transitions nicely into writing. It's an art, it really is (and that's not just the writer in me talking). You read things and you're like "WOW!" and literally that is all you can say. The author has taken the world inside his mind and transported it onto the page, and from there to YOUR mind and thoughts. I've learned so much about the world and myself through reading and writing. Like, you find a character that you realy get, and really relate to, and then it's like "WHY is this character so meaningful?" And then you learn something about you, or your world view.

And sometimes, just escaping from reality is enough to learn. I delve into the world of Alagaesia or Hogwarts or even PPTH and just BE there, you know, not thinking what I'm going to say or do next. And it's a little respite for my mind, and some new outlook or idea or solution can come. It broadens your thinking, because you start to think like the characters. Or the author; I do that more than the characters. And it's just nice.

People that are truly gifted storytellers- writers, comic book artists, actors, dancers- are doing this world a tremendous service. Not even the ones that do those "this-is-an-allegory-let's fix-this-real-life-societal-problem" things (which are awesome, don't get me wrong!), but all of them. They offer perspectives, escapes, understanding, and new ideas. And the stories they tell resonate with all of us, because, if you think about it, aren't our LIVES a story? And don't we wish it for it to be like what we see or read? Adventure, true love, obstacles overcome. It's uplifting, because that's HOPE. And isn't it conveyed beautifully in all these stories?

It doesn't show signs of stopping
And I've brought some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! *twirls happily* I love snow. I've mentioned this LOL. It is currently snowing now. And it is forecasted to continue well into tommorrow, for a total of 10-20 inches. This is the biggest snow storm in many many years. We had a big one once when I was in elementary school, and now I'm a high school senior. LOLz.

The snow falling is glorious, too. It's a gentle snow, even though it's falling heavily. The flakes are small and even spaced, and they float serenely down instead of plummeting. Some flakes are even doing flips and revelling in their descent. And it nestles down into every small indent in the ground, covering everything in a blanket of white. Few things are as pretty as freshly fallen snow. Unless it's snow that's lain just long enough to get that thin coating or crust on it, that glistens and sparkles like ice with mica in it. Or confetti. It's confetti from some heavenly party.

<3 Hooray for snow. Seriously. Except Mike is coming home at 2am or probably later due to road conditions, so the snow will have big tire tracks all in it to ruin the perfection.

The whole school was buzzing with excitement for the impending snow. We didn't have our test in orchestra after all, which was kinda for me. Not that I would have done badly, it's just always nice to have more practice.

The Econ test was still on though. Multiple choice was so easy I breezed through it in like 5 minutes. I completely BSed my answers for the short answer part though. No lie. They were actual released AP test questions, so that's disconcerting to me.

We continued The Dark Knight in French class. It is turning into a really good movie. There's a good amonut of action, but a lot of psychological, internal battles in the characters (who are complex). Very interesting movie. I can't wait to finish it.

The debate in Psych was very fun. Everyone had really good points and the pace was very fast and hard-hitting.

We got the Stat tests from like a month ago back. I got 102% on it *squee*

In Engineering, we watched Mythbusters instead of doing productive work on the project. SO I made it a productive time by doing my Stat homework and some of the Hamelet reading. Yay!

I was right about the essays in English! The Dr. Faustus ones. Mine got 117/120 or 97.5% *squee* I was so happy. The only thing I lost points on was "Faustus'" which should apparently be "Faustus's" and on commas. Unlike most people, I underuse them, not overuse them. Meh. I really don't have naything to be upset about, though. That's a darn good grade.

While Derek was at tae kwon do tonight I did my Christmas shopping. I got stuff for my mom and my friend. So all that's left is 3 or 4 people.

YAY SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on
our troubles will be out of sight

For some perspective on life...

So. I have a cold. A fairly bad one too. My family has been passing it around for the last week or so, so it was about time I got it. It just sucks that it comes a WEEK before clinic. *le sigh* Hopefully it'll bbe gone by then? *crosses fingers*

It started two days ago, with that dry cough I was complaining about. Everytime I get a cold or anything it always impacts my respiratory system first. Which is probably to be expected. So, yeah, Tuesday was the coughing, and yesterday was a LOT of cough and a stuffy nose. It sucked. Mom gave me a Sudafed pill, because that's what she took to get over it. Have you ever had that stuff? It's like, WOW! *knocks you out* LOLz

I woke up in the middle of the night, and my arms were so heavy! It was a lil scary. Probably the darn Sudafed... and I realized my sore throat was independent of the coughing and not caused by it.

Today, I overslept by like 40 minutes *cringe* And I was still very groggy and out of it until close to 11, and I was never 100% right all day. Which is either the cold or the medicine, I can't tell. My nose is now runny, thanks to good ole saline. Before that it was all backed up in my sinuses, but just the one side cuz I didn't sleep on my back.

We had a fire drill in orchestra today. In freezing cold December weather. BUT for once I didn't have to go first on the playing test; I didn't go at all today. I am playing tommorrow though.

In Econ we went over homework that I didn't know we had (oops) and did multiple choice practice for the test tommorrow.

I have mixed feelings about French class. I was feel very yucky, which sucked. BUT we watched The Dark Knight (in English), which didn't. And, OG moved his seat to sit next to another girl. I'm like 95% sure it was just to see the TV better, but I still felt jealous and hurt. I'm trying so hard not to care, too. :(

In Psych, we are preparing for our intelligence debate. I think that the triarchic theory is, if not correct, then the closest to correct that the theories are now. So that group has to go and debate our points to prove why ours is the best.

We learned about the means of large groups of data which uses probabilities. It was as fun as math gets lol

I didn't like Engineering. I was scared to use the band saw because of the Sudafed :( But all I have left is to cut my last 4 pieces out, drill two holes, and assemble it all. Yay.

English was awesome! We analyzed Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy. I am loving English more and more as each day goes by. <3 And I think we'll get our Doctor Faustus essays back tommorrow too.

So... yeah. I am feeling very lazy this week. I am like a full day behind with Psych notes, which doesn't happen. I'm hoping it's just the cold causing it. So, yeah. I just learned a big snow storm is forecasted for this weekend! Isn't that amazing?? I love snow. *fingers crossed*

For every year the Christmas tree
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me

We put our tree up this weekend ^_^ Look how pretty. The decorations really make the tree; without them my tree looks really really lame and gross. But with them it's so pretty and inspiring. ^_^

I am exhusted today. It's depressing to me that it's only Tuesday, because my level of exhaustion is that of Thursday or Friday. Yesterday's church council meeting went to nearly 11pm. We had to do budget stuff, and then it was elections. No one wanted to be president or treasurer, because no one wants to take the blame for the budget issues and the cuts/changes that are happening. We STILL don't have a treasurer... the outgoing president said that he would nominate me for treasurer if they didn't have an age requirement. I was really touched by that. Because he wouldn't have said that if he didn't mean it. If he had nominated me I don't think I would have accepted, because it's a huge responsibility and a lot of work. But I felt good to be nominated.

So, that sorta explains the lack of entry for like... what, 5 days? *cringes* Sorry. Although (and this is the only time I'll say this for a while) it would be more of an incentive to post if I got comments...

At any rate... I am really getting Hamlet! It's exciting. I got 11/12 on the reading quiz, and I had all of the answers on the discussion worksheet today correct on my own before even talking about it.

My mouse trap car in Engineering is really taking shape. I have one of the axles ready for wheels, and after that all I need to to find the correct height of my wood pieces for the back wheels (which are plastic plates!). So that is exciting.

Um... lemme see... I got to do my food packing Sunday! The Christmas session instead of the Thanksgiving one. I was in chrage of apples, and then Derek needed help with the onions so I went and helped him. It was really tiring, so I eventually asked one of the adults to help me shove the boxes down the line.

Which reminds me... I heard somewhere that onions have B. capacea on them. My doctors have never said anything to me, and if it was true it seems like someting they'd share. Have any of you CFers heard that? Know if it's true?

Final bit of CF news: Even though I was out til 11 last night I did a treatment, and I was proud of myself. But today I woke up with a dry cough. My throat is currently killing me, no lie. I did clearance anyway, and it was an interesting neon color, and I couldn't really tell if it was yellow or light green... I would get sick the week before Clinic lol. Although I might not really be sick. It could be a fluke, from changing weather, or because of exhaustion, and it'll go away soon. Hopefully. But I'm fairly sure tyhis is how my other infections started. Even if it is an infection, it's still really early in the process, and so Cipro should work (or mino...)PLUS if I'm just getting sick now it puts me in good standing for my goal of a year out of the hospital. ^_^

So, yeah. That's it. Things are pretty chill right now, but I can't wait for Christmas break!! (Which I am kicking off with a clinic visit, but whatever.)

Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Let the Christmas spirit ring!
Later we'll have some pumpkin pie
And do some carolling

This is just exactly my mood today. Very festive, not to mention I was just randomly dancing through my house this evening.

I accidentally turned off my alarm, so I overslept by 20 minutes. So I didn't go to It's Ac today.

The playing test in orchestra went very well! I played the etude that actually sounds like a song, which is the one I know best. I got an 85% on it, which is actually higher than average. I was very happy.

I did 4 rooms today for the link sale instead of 2. It took more time, but I collected more money and talked to different people.

The Econ test was actually sorta tricky, which annoyed me. But I think I did okay on it.

I loved French today. OG and I studied for his Econ test a bit, and then we all watched the movie Elf I've never seen it before, but found it really funny and awesome. When we left, OG was whistling Christmas tunes. It was adorable <3

In Psych we did a group test on the reading from last night. My group rocked, as usual, and we're in the running for highest score and therefore extra credit on the test. Yay!

Stat was boring. We checked HW and the drill the whole class. Random problem practice for the test which is Monday. I hate Monday tests because you become unsure of yourself over the weekend.

I spent all of lunch discussing senior week stuff yet again. Just when I think a decision is almost made, something else comes up to muck things up. NOW it's getting parent permission, in addition to the money thing. *le sigh* But I really really want to go with my friends. A lot. And it's at the point where I'd be really disappinted if we couldn't go.

I actually used the bandsaw in Engineering today! I was very proud of myself. I am afraid of power tools LOL but I did it. I just epic failed and cut really crooked and gross. Hopefully I can sand it straight? Or use it on the part no one will see. So yeah.

In English we got our Hamlet books. The first act has to be read by Tuesday, but I'm doing it all this weekend because of church council Monday night. It's a budget meeting so it's going to run long into the night. *sigh* I'll just take a nap that afternoon.

At any rate, we also had a class discussion about random things like family and friends, related to expectations and duties which relate to Hamlet. She also said that we won't get essays or timed writings back for another week. *sad face* I really want to get them back, and soon.

I watched several episodes of Criminal Minds, which were really really good! The one with Frankie Muniz especially (True Night). I also watched Jeopardy and knew a great deal of the answers.

I am excited for tommorrow and the airing of the It's Ac episode featuring me and the team surging to victory!! Awesomeness.

Altho' it's been said many times,
Many ways
"Merry Christmas to you"

From "The Christmas Song". Sometimes the simple things are the most meaningful. Like newly fallen snow, or the soft brush of a hand.

To COMPLETELY change topics, a few days ago I all of a sudden got the urge to go down to the beach for Senior Week in June. Like, it seems like a marker of independence or something, plus it's normalcy for my life, and hello! the beach=awesome. It's gonna be so much fun, and I'll make AWESOME high school memories to carry with me. That week they have all kinds of free activities, too, to keep kids off of drugs. Not that I had any desire whatsoever to do them to begin with, but it's still nice.

I need a place for like 5 or 6 of us. We found a place that's AWESOME, with everything we wanted in a place, if they accept senior-weekers. And if they don't, there's a place I'm sure does but it's $100 more for each of us, but we also get more nights, BUT then again it has no Internet... IDK. I keep forgetting that even though we don't have too much money, a lot of my friends have even less. But, like, I figure maybe they could really save up and put Christmas money and birthday money and all towards this? Perhaps? IDK it's like, if you want stuff as an adult you have to save up for it. So it's practice.

Other, mundane stuff happened at school, none of which is worth talking about in the limited amount of time I have on here. I got distracted watching clips of CSI with Warrick and all... just a random urge of mine.

In Econ, we were finished EVERYTHING we usually do and 3 extra graphs to test comprehension of everything. We still had like 10 minutes free time too. The other teacher is so much faster than my teacher, and better at explaining! It's insane. Where has she been all year??

We had a timed writing in English. It was our first one about poetry, so I'm really really nervous. I took a lot of time planning, more than usual, and I think maybe I put too much detail into the answer because I wasn't sure what was important and what wasn't. So I dunno. As long as I get at least a 7 I'll feel okay.

The Colistin is maknig my chest tight yet again. It had stopped for a while... :( I wake up breathing WONDERFULLY and enjoying it, then after that it's like I'm out of breath just walking to the car. Not cool. albuterol only helps a little bit, unfortunately. But again still afriad to stop taking it. So I shall deal for the 6 months of the year when I'm on it. But that doesn't make it suck less.

After school I chilled for a bit and did Stat homework, and then NHS was doing gift wrapping at Barnes and Noble. Mom volunteered to be the parent chaperone from 5-6 so the advisor could run home to let her dog out. No one had signed up for the 6-7 shift so I stayed for that as well. We had a lot of people there, which was good. But not a lot of customers, which was not. My mom bought a present for Derek there, and some random patrons came over, but overall it was rather slow. I was`gonna do homework but couldn't concentrate in the atmosphere there. This girl from orchestra gave me a santa hat to wear, and I felt festive. <3 The title is something the lady making announcements said to advertise the gift-wrapping. I just like the word avail, LOL. You don't hear it very much.

I think wrapping gifts (for free, but people could leave donations) applies to my "spread holdiay cheer mission". I also wrote a nice message on a card for a girl in my class who's been out for 2 weeks now. We're really worried about her.

I like how I have once again gone over my set time frame for blogging I gave myself. *sigh* But it's so much fun! I try to write the types of entries I like to read, long newsy upbeat onces with random info thrown in. I do that with letters too; write long newsy ones in the hopes of getting the same back. It's interesting.

Have wonderful dreams, guys!

From angels bend near to earth
To touch their harps of gold!
Peace on the earth, good will to men
From heaven's all gracious King!


The song is "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", and the WHOLE SONG is perfect for the state of the world right now. It really is. And, like, God can still make miracles happen, even small ones like "good will to men". The "harps of gold" part is in there because that phrase will not leave my head. I keep picturing these angels plucking, and a shower of gold dust floats down and coats people (invisibly) and spreads peace and lvoe and all. It's nice.

Alrighty. So I woke up at 5:40, because I was lazy yesterday and didn't finish my Econ reading. So I did that. And I was going to go back to sleep, but it was 6:04 and my alarm was set for 6:05 so I could shower and all. So, I got...oh, maybe 6.5 hours of sleep. And I am definitely feeling that, lemme tell you.

In orchestra, we had a playing test on this etude. I honestly hadn't looked at it AT ALL except like 5 minutes before. I am good at shifting, though, so I did really well. I only messed up on this one measure that I get like 75% of the time. So yay! But I actually have to practice tommorrow, because the second half of the etude is harder.

The link sale for Johns Hopkins is going amazingly well. My homeroom raised $146 Friday, and today the teacher matched that. That's like UBER links, and a lot of money for the hospital. So that made me feel good.

My Econ teacher is out on paternity leave; his wife had twin girls yesterday. So we have a long-term sub filling in. Today, though, the other Econ teacher came in and taught us because this is a really important chapter.

My French teacher is also out on leave, hers is medical leave. The long term sub is AWESOME and lets us do pretty much whatever. Like, I left my English homework at home and I called Mom during that class to ask her to come and drop it off to me, to which she agreed. I have the most amazing mother EVER. I'm so so blessed to have her.

We also made a giant card for her, wishing her "Bonne sante!" (good health). OG was so thoughtful and sweet; he wrote "J'ai vole un voiture", which is an ongoing joke in our class presentations. It will make her smile, which is so sweet. <3

In Psych, we watched a video. It was actually nothing too interesting. The only thing is I find the concept of prototypes fascinating. Like how the mind does that. A prototype is the quintessential member of a group, like birds, and your mind instantly compares new creatures to those prototypes to see where it fits in. It's awesome. Seems realy complex and all.

We took a quiz in Stat, which was easy, refreshingly so. I was worried it was going ti be really hard.

In Engineering, I finished my design for the mouse trap vehicle (MTV lol). I have to start construction tommorrow, and i'm nervous. Me+machinery=extreme anxiety and fear of injury. I am just so terrified of getting hurt I dread going NEAR the machines, even when they're off. I suck, I know. But I need the class to graduate... maybe a friend will do the machining for me?

Apparently, I got a 9 on my English timed writing on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and loss of faith. I say apparently because several people told me that, but we didn't get them back in my class. She apparently made copies of it because it was so good. And she leaves names on them unlike my 11^th grade teacher. So I am really excited to see for myself, and hear her comments. hopefully we'll do that tommorrow.

After school, I bought Mom some peanut M&Ms form the vending machine as a thank-you gift. I did homework, as per usual, and ALSO went back through my LJ and read my old prose stuff. I have to make portfolios of writings for scholarships at Washington and Wanyesburg. Waynesburg just needs assorted "fiction and nonfiction" works but for Washington, the way I read it is that I have to pick prose OR poetry, and I only get 6-8 pages' worth. SO I'd do prose, because I'm better at it. And, yeah. Some of these on here are pretty good, especially considering they're just first drafts. So I might take and edit selected pieces for the scholarships. YAY free money!!

We also had a 4-H meeting/party tonight. It was milling around and eating some sweets LOL. We also talked about more ways to make a difference and spread holiday cheer and the Christmas spirit. Mom tried the pay-for-the-person-behind-you thing today, apparently. So YAY! Small things ripple out to make big waves. Yep yep. <3

I feel God smiling down on me and my life, which is so calming and amazing. I'm STILL singing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear".

God bless you all!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.

I like this because it's SOOOO perfect to how I'm feeling now, and this season in general, but also because no one knows that verse! Seriously, did any of you actually know that part of the song? But, anyway: sing the carol in your heart OUT LOUD! Share the joy with the world.

Alrighty. So, I DID get my Saturday snow! It snowed all day, but it was really pleasant and beautiful. Love snow, so very much. I went out shopping at the mall with Mike for a few hours. It was surprisingly pleasant. I got a very,very nice pair of jeans from PacSun. It's the exact color and cut of the amazing pair of jeans on which the zipper broke. The only thing I'm iffy about is that it doesn't hug the back of my legs as tightly as I'd like. There's some wrinkles and I can't decide if it looks dumpy or not. Mom and Mike both adore them, though, so I guess they don't? I'm really hoping they shrink in the wash. They are a Christmas present from Mike, which is so nice of him. Plus he bought me pizza and a drink. So that was good.

Today it was icy, and FREEZING. Very, very cold. I went to Sunday School and we talked about myriad topics, like JFK and Herod, and a lot about John the Baptist. I didn't really get anything out of it, but that's okay. I had fun.

I went home instead of going to service because I had WAAAAAAAY too much homework left to do. Honestly, I didn't even finish the Econ reading; I decided to pull an APUSH-esque trick and finish the last 3ish pages when I wake up from my feed going off. So, yeah. BUT I promise I won't make a habit of it.

While doing that I watched this movie called The Invincible, about a Jewish strongman in 1930s Berlin (before Hitler officially took power, but when the Nazis were very much in control). It was a really touching story, a bit psychological but that's totally fine by me. I enjoyed it, but I missed chunks of it due to reading and eating lunch.

We went over my grandmother's house, and my uncle and cousins were there. He was just "blowing through" as my mom says, fixing my grandmother's TV and having her cook for the cousins. They were all riled up, with sucked for me. I felt bad, though, because my girl cousin was trying to talk to and interact with me, but I was busy analyzing Shakespeare sonnets for English class. I talked to her a little, and she seemed happy enough when she left so hopefully she wasn't upset by it.

I finished with the poems, and then my cousins left (after being there for maybe a half hour). Mom and I set up my grandmother's Christmas tree for her, and then Derek joined us to decorate it. I love decorating trees. It's so fun, making it pretty- seeing the light dance off the glass baubles, the twinkling of the string of lights, the glowing quality of it all. Yeah... this season makes EVERYTHING seem poetic.

So, I can't wait to set up the tree here! We have a purple garland and an ecclectic mix of ornaments. Mom originally wanted red and gold, but then we came and wanted to pick ornamanets ourselves. Kids change ALL plans, apparently. LOL. I want to have a gold and silver tree, or perhaps all gold, or gold and white. A lot of gold on it, obviously.

We went right from my grandmother's house to the church youth group meeting (after a brif stop for pizza). The atmosphere was so relxed tonight, and I think it was my favorite meeting EVER. We all stayed together in one room the ENTIRE time instead of running off and doing hide-and-go-seek. They had good food (I ate mostly Oreos LOLz), and we talked about (guess what?) spreading the Christmas spirit!! Derek mentioned my Christmas mission, and that made me feel really good. Having such a positive impact on my little brother is one of my greatest accomplishments thus far. So, yeah in summary, the message was encouraging, and the fellowship atmosphere was AMAZING.

And... that'd be it. Everything I needed to say. Hope your day was awesome ^_^

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.

May your days be merry and bright. All year long! ^_^

I'm dreaming of a white Saturday actually LOL. I love snow. It is my favorite weather condition. Everything takes on this magical quality, and it's so clean-looking, the snow obcscuring all imperfections. And crisp lines for clear sights, icecylces glinting in sunlight, the bits of snow that look like silvery confetti... <3

So... I haven't been on in a while. Sorry about that. Wednesday I had my orchestra concert which ran late (to 9:30). And yesterday, I? went and posted my wishlist to holiday_wishes. You might recognize #10, LOL. If you wanna pop over there and check it out, feel free ^_^ My goal of spreading cheer is going okay. I've taken to cleaning up/straigtening up the cafeteria tables I pass on my way out at lunch, to make it easier on the cafeteria ladies. No one's noticed, but that's alright. It's kinda more fun that way.

Alrighty. So, school. I got angry during It's Academic practice today. The new member was confused about what tournaments involve and no one would explain it to him! He's the ONLY non-senior on the team, so he's like the future of It's Academic at the school. I stopped listening to questions and tried to quietly explain to him what they involve and things, but no one took the hint. Then the kid stood up and told them that they don't make him feel welcome at all, only I and my guy friend do. And the captian's like "change your attitude and maybe we will." There is nothing wrong with his attitude. At all. I have no idea where he was coming from. It made me very angry.

In orchestra, the director was talking about the concert. Pretty much he said what I already knew, that the concert was mediocre. He yelled at people because many of them wrote about not liking the selections we played instead of how they played them, and a lot of people were "too nice" in their reviews. Anyway, we had a party for the one bass player who gets to be a soloist at this prestigious concert with the BSO. I ate donuts ^_^ Then I went over and studied a bit with OG for the Psych test. That was fun. I made a joke and he laughed!

We had a test in Econ. Despite being EXHAUSTED, literally half asleep, it was so easy. So that made me feel good.

We watched a movie, Home Alone, in French class. It's my teacher's last day before break; she's going on medical leave and so we get a long-term sub. But he's an AWESOME person, so we're super excited to have him for a teacher. It will be very interesting.

The Psych test was also very easy. The essay required some thought, but it was just challenging enough that I really enjoyed it. I think I did superbly well on it ^_^

In Stat, we had a very relaxed class. We watched a clip about the Challenger explosion and how independent events' probabilities caused it. We also got grade reports (I have 96.1%), and our chapter tests from like forever ago.

In Engineering, I worked on my blueprints for the mouse trap vehicle. They're actually done, but I still have to add the dimension lines to them, to make construction easier.

English was really fun. We read poetry by John Donne, who is AWESOME by the way. I got 100% on the one from today, as opposed to 14/16 on yesterday's poem. It turns out this set of books we have upstairs includes some poems by Donne. So I read "Death (be not Proud)" and this AMAZING poem called "A Hymn to God the Father". It's so, so good! Check it out, seriously.

I feel very loved. Waynesburg University sent me a Christmas card. Just saying "Merry Christmas". It contained this awesome Bible verse, John 1:16, "From the fullness of His grace we have all recieved one blessing after another." I've never heard that one before, but I really like it. ^_^

So... yeah. That's about it. Things are still pretty much amazing, and it makes a nice change.