By All Appearances...

Okay, so it looks like I've been so busy that I haven't posted in forever.  It only looks like it.  In reality, I'm completely bored because my schedule is empty and I'm just ignoring you guys.

SAR-caz-im.

I have been so totally rushing around everywhere.  Just a brief peek at my schedule

1. Communicators for Christ Conference by the Institute for Cultural Communicators two weekends ago, which meant I was out of town three packed days.
2. Work, four hours in one day last week and three hours today.
3. Debate...
4. Speeching...
5. Algebra 2...
6. Chemistry...
7. Literature...(Shakespeare, by gum)
8. Uh...it seems like there's something else that I'm forgetting.  That's a bad thing, because two weeks from now I'll remember it but forget to blog about it and you guys will never know.  Oh yeah...
9. NaNoWriMo.  So, I told myself I wouldn't do it this year because I was way too busy.  And then on October 31, I just got this terrible, lonely feeling whenever I thought of a November without writing crazily.  Yeah.  Crazily.  Craz-IL-y.  CRAZ-il-y.  Craz-il-Y!

I don't have anything profound to say, except even during all the rushing-ness, I have really been happy.  Which is good.  Nobody likes a grumpy, busy Izori.  Everybody likes a cheerful, busy Izori, and Izori likes a cheerful, non-busy Izori.

Bye-bye,

Izori.  IZ-or-i.  Iz-OR-i.  Iz--- okay, I'll stop now. 

Junior Year

Yeah, I'm in 11th grade. I'm a little shocked that high school is going by this quickly. It seems like I'm still recovering from my freshman year. And now all of a sudden I'm a junior.

I guess we humans are so surprised at the passing of time that every single expression of the feeling is cliche. I can't say "wow, it's going by so fast" because that's what everyone says. "It seems like yesterday" is really accurate, but all the meaning is completely worn out of it. I guess something more original would be "I feel like I'm reading the book that Lucy found in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, the one where you can't turn the pages back to look over what you just read". And even that's unoriginal, because I'm calling on Lewis to describe it for me. Man, I guess I'm just an unoriginal gal today.

So...today was my first official day in 11th grade. Technically, I started last week, but now I'm actually putting myself on a school schedule (i.e. I get up at 7:00 am instead of 8:00 am). As of now, just after lunch, I'm not as busy as I thought I would be. I wrote down the hours per week I would do school work and then divided it by 5, and I figured out I had 7-10 hours of school work a day, depending on whether or not I had papers due. Uh, I guess I over-calculated. Now that I'm actually in the thick of things, I'm not as overwhelmed as I had originally anticipated. Which is good. Very good.

I am very suspicious that once school really gets going I will have less and less time to blog. So I'm squeezing one post in today. Adios!

School Year Resolutions

To be honest, the school year's start seems to have more of a sense of change and beginning than the calendar year's start. I mean, on January 1st, the only thing that changes is the year. When school kicks in, your entire life kicks into a whole new mode. And that's why I tend to make School Year Resolutions. I actually have a lifestyle change with which I need to align myself (horrors of horrors...I almost wrote "a lifestyle change that I need to align myself with", but luckily I caught that preposition at the end. Winston Churchill would have been ashamed).

I love writing lists. Therefore, I am going to put my resolutions in a list, which is the commonly accepted format for resolutions.

1. Don't regularly stay up any later than 10:00 pm
2. Get into the habit of regular devotions
3. Get responsibilities done as soon as I can, not as late as I can
4. If I can't find time to study, then I also shouldn't find time to watch baseball or hockey
5. Perform some form of exercise every other day (yoga, running)
6. Prefer fruit to sugary snacks
7. If my schedule's too tight, I need to skimp on free-time, not schoolwork

A lot of those resolutions are more like reminders, and I think all of them were ones I needed to acknowledge last year.

I find my brain power is greatly reduced if I keep on getting to bed late. I actually found that out this summer in a debate mini-camp with my public speaking group. Let me tell you, I went to bed early that night because I didn't want a repeat of the bleariness and brain-fog (which, dare I add, does not help in debate).

I'm sure that by reading through my blog you have discovered I am a worrier, a stresser, and an anxiety-er. I find that regular devotions really help me get my focus back on the eternal. I'm a big-picture type of person, and I think best when I have a broad view, so when I'm busy pondering God rather than the messy details of my life I become less frustrated.

For #3 on the list, I'm actually not a huge procrastinator. However, I have become wonderfully talented at making excuses...

...such as, wasting a couple hours watching sports. 'Nuff said.

Ah, now here's an interesting topic. Exercise. I love running, but it takes so long to get ready, get out, run, come back, shower, and get my mind on track again. Yoga is much more do-able in a tight schedule, I find. I can do it for fifteen minutes in jeans and a t-shirt and then go back to my work.

Um...I was going to offer more commentary/footnotes/long-windedness on my list, but it's about time to get a-move on in the real world. Oh well. Be happy I actually posted something.

And I'm Back!

We're back on the air, folks.  Sorry for the inadvertent delay.  In the face of technical quandries, we had to push back the return date by a tad.

Okay, so I totally forgot. 

In my defense, I have been very busy.  I just love reading back on my posts in the spring and seeing that I was looking forward to the summer being a time of relaxation and refreshment.  Oh, I'm so funny and I don't even mean to be. 

I made some changes to the blog.  Basically, all I changed was the title and the layout. 

Hopefully, I will have something more profound to impart upon you at a later time. 

Announcement

Blog under construction!  I'm making it inaccessible for the general public for a couple of days for renovation.  I'll be back!

Lightning-y

We've been getting thunderstorms every night--very impressive thunderstorms.  Just last week, we had this terrific show of lightning.  Here's a comparison that's applicable to the recent holiday: if you've ever been to a firework show (put on by professionals), recall the grand finale when a bazillion fireworks go off rapid-fire.  Imagine that, but with lightning, and over the span of about half an hour.  Yep.  That's what the sky looked like a couple nights ago.  There was literally no space between lightning eruptions, and it was really impressive but kinda scary.  I've never been afraid of lightning/thunder, but it had also started to get pretty windy, so I turned on my radio to listen to the weather report and they were all like, "Um, we suggest you unplug all your valuable electrically operated items and continue to listen to us on a battery-operated radio..."  Hmmm, if the weather man sounds concerned...

And then, of course, the very next day it was announced that "our emergency call system is down county-wide, so if you have an emergency the typical 911 call won't get you anywhere..."  O.O 

But, anyhoo.  We actually didn't lose power...at all...compared to my grandma, who was without power for several days.  I hear that many still don't have power, as well.  After, like, 5 or 6 days without AC in this kind of heat...yikes. 

Here's another interesting tid-bit: I think I might have broken my arm. 

You know me.  If I do anything at all dramatic, it will always be in an anti-climatic, comedic fashion.  LONG LIVE THE KLUTZ!!  Ahem.  So no, I didn't get flung off a galloping bronco or anything like that.  I...

...well, I...uh...opened a...door.  And my arm...uh...started to hurt.

Okay, I didn't just open a door.  This door happened to be incredibly hard to open, to the point where it becomes necessary to jerk the door back and forth and ram your body against it to open the thing.  And as I opened it, my left arm hit against the door-post.  Which kinda hurt.  However, it mainly felt more like when you bang your shin, and it does really, really hurt but then it fades.  So, I mainly said 'owch!', rubbed my arm, and then continued with life. 

However, after it still continued to hurt and started to swell a wee bit, I got a little concerned and sought professional advice immediately.  Okay...I googled 'how to identify a broken arm'.  I read through the symptoms, and was concerned to find some part of the description fit. 

Now, before you start lecturing me about how 'a broken bone is a medical emergency and you need to go to a doctor and have it x-rayed', let me put things in perspective.  Yes, my arm hurt, and yes the info that I came up with definitely hit on some aspects of my injury, but not all of them fit.  I still have very good range of motion with that arm (for cryin' out loud, I'm typing at my normal rate without pain!).  While my arm hurts, it's not a splintering, tear-jerking pain.  It only hurts if I move it very energetically, just like it would if I only bruised it when I hit the door post.  Now, if I had bones sticking out of my skin and couldn't move my fingers...yes, to the doctor's we would go.  But pain and a little bit of swelling can also fit very well under a bruise...which is expected if I whack a limb against a door post.    

All that to say, I may not have a broken arm.  Which would be really sweet, because I've never broken a bone before and I'd like to leave that record intact, thank you very much.   However, we're taking precautions with ice and such, and x-rays if we must (just so y'all don't worry). 

So.  Such is life.   

Happy Independence Day!!!

Ahhhhhh...what a great country!  I <3 USA!

Wow, I did not think I was capable of using such blatant texting language as above.  Scary.

 

Happy Memorial Day!

Remember to remember! 

Royal Conservatory Testing...and something else =)

So, I had my big piano test today.  I got up at 6:30 am (after a night in which I hardly slept a wink...so much for 'good night's sleep') to drive out, along with Mom (the driver), Galdor, Kara, and my music teacher, Mrs. R, to the testing center.  Turns out the testing center was in someone house, and not a public building as I had imagined it.  Also turns out that it's a little bit more informal than I had originally thought.  Mrs. R was told that the only thing the judges were allowed to say to you was 'Thank you' after you play your piece--they're not allowed to give you any feedback.  Of course, that gives you a mental image of these frog-faced officials who don't smile and clear their throat every time you mess up. 

Needless to say, my judge (only one judge, thank goodness!) was neither frog-faced nor unsmiling. 

I actually think it went pretty well.  I must say, though, there were days when I thought it would be a pretty even bet whether or not I could be prepared on time.  I spent Tuesday and Wednesday playing the piano, trying to get those darn repertoire pieces memorized!  Honestly, just after posting about Joshua 1:9, you think I would remember not to get so stressed out.  But I was really frustrated, especially on Tuesday.  I hate being frustrated, particularly because it doesn't even help.  And I'm happy to say that with each time I get stressed out, I grow a little and find it easier to get un-stressed.  It feels really good to tell y'all that by Thursday I had completely committed my test to the Lord and was therefore completely calm.  Okay, almost completely calm.

So, yeah.  It went well.

I cannot believe I completely forgot to tell you guys this...but my birthday was this Sunday!!!!  I am...wait for it, wait for it...SIXTEEN!  WOW!  CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!  I had an awesome birthday, thanks to my bff who came over for a sleep over.  She's a really awesome friend, so it follows that I had a really awesome birthday. =)

freedom is within my grasp!

It is incredibly, unbelievably, awesomely exciting to be almost done with school!  Spanish, history, lit, and math (all of which are a huge chunk of my schoolwork) are d-o-n-e, and all I have left are church history/bible survey, government, geography, writing, and a few other subjects that escape my mind right now...which is kinda bad.  But those subjects are super fun, except for government.

I think the biggest thing that looms between me and summer is piano.  I'm doing Royal Music Conservatory testing (I think that's what it's called), and I am super nervous.  This is my first time doing it, and all the requirements--chords, scales, repertoire, etc--are really...um...scary.  I'm still trying to memorize my repertoire, and the testing is this Thursday.  So, it would be really cool if you guys could pray for that. 


But I'll only have five more days, and then I'll be completely free!!  Yay! 

encouragement

I am a person who stresses and stresses and stresses and stresses.  I was a nervous wreck before my limited prep. speech tournament back in February.  I was a nervous wreck before giving my persuasive speech at an event this March.  And, of course, (some things don't change) I was a nervous wreck earlier today.


Let me explain.  Last Thursday (i.e. one week ago) a person I knew mentioned that the students at the school she works at will be doing a play for their end of the year presentation.  She was wondering if myself, along with other students from our public speaking group, would be willing to come in and spend 45 minutes with two different groups (1 1/2 hours in all) to show them some acting skills.  I love working with kids and it sounded pretty awesome, so I was like: "Oh, we'd love to!  Let me see if people are willing to come, but it sounds awesome!  So...when will it be?"  And she was like, "Oh...how 'bout next Thursday?"  And I was like, "Thursday?...*gulp*...Sure!"


If you have ever put together an agenda for 45 minutes for 1st and 2nd grade students, you know how much time needs to go into that.  And so all of the sudden, my weekend/early next week turned into scheduling.  It got to the point where on Wednesday I was still having trouble remembering what I was supposed to say.  Now, even if you're a relaxed person you would be a little concerned.  If you are a stresser, like me, you are going to be so high-strung that you pull a muscle in your back [I am not kidding--I did]  


So, fast-forward to this morning, when I'm sitting on the bench outside of the school waiting for it to be one o'clock, the scheduled starting time.  And all the while I'm trying to run through my line-up and feeling more and more like I couldn't do it.  If you have ever tried to run something through your head when you are stressed out, you know that the only thing that happens is that you get more and more stressed out.  


All of a sudden, a Bible verse popped into my head.  I had used this Bible verse to calm myself during limited prep. in February and my speech in March, and it's a real whopper of a verse:


Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.~Joshua 1:9

It is unbelievably amazing how much God uses that verse to minister to me.  Just the thought of God being with me wherever I go is an incredible concept.  And don't think that God doesn't care about little things like presentations in front of grade-school age kids, because He does.  He really does.  He knows that every single opportunity is a way that we can glorify God.  Honestly, the thought that every moment can make or break an opportunity to witness can be a little intimidating if we don't realize that God will indeed be with us wherever we go.  All we have to do is be strong and courageous, and God will take care of bringing glory to His name.  


So, it went really well.  I had a clarity of mind that I really had not been expecting, and I can genuinely say that it was a lot of fun.  Seeing little kids involved and enjoying themselves and being willing to stand up and act something out is such a huge blessing.  It's still incredible to me how God uses these moments to teach me how to trust Him more.  


The verse Joshua 1:9 has encouraged me so many times, that I thought I should share it.  I have committed it to memory (really, it's not that hard to memorize something when you are frantically repeating it over and over again in your head =)  


That's my thought for the day.       

rainy day

It's been pretty gray and rainy around here.  But the gray goes really well with the vivid green on the trees out front (which I can see when I look over my shoulder, which is not suggested when you are typing). 

So, what has my life been?  Coughing, tissues, public speaking, allergy meds, and hockey, in a nutshell.  Anyone else out that a hockey fan?  I looooooooove the Washington Capitals (dude, I'm wearing a shirt that says in big letters "Washington Capitals" at the moment), and recently we've been in a tight playoff battle with the Boston Bruins.  We just lost. =(  But for anyone who doesn't know how the playoffs work, it can get up to a seven game series.  So game seven is on Wednesday, and it'll be really exciting!...but I won't be able to watch it.  =( 

This Thursday we entertained some children in childcare for our public speaking chapter.  It was a lot of fun.  We gave presentations and played games for two hours.  What was really cool was that we only expected one child to show up.  We were super disappointed, because a lot of work goes into planning each presentation, but we went ahead and did it anyway.  Guess what.  Six children, plus younger siblings of presenters, were present...and six compared to one is a lot. 

Uh...and those two things have been the few positives of my week.  I didn't have problems with seasonal allergies until a couple years ago, and even then they weren't really bad.  But this year has been ay-yay-yay-yay-yay (proper pronunciation of that last work is in a sing-song voice, with the italicized syllables on the musical pitch 'fa' and the regular syllables on the musical pitch 'doh').  If you do not know Izorese, that means 'monstrous'.  I think it's oak pollen, but whatever it is it's been driving me oranges.  Oranges, I tell you!

So, yeah.  That's life.    

Courageous and Soccer

We watched Courageous on Sunday night with my great-grandma, who's visiting this week.  I was so encouraged and helped by that movie.  My hands-down favorite movie genre is usually the animated kids movies (think Up and How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story), but I think Courageous was the best movie I have ever seen...ever.  It's funny and ends really well, but it's also thought-provoking, and it deals with very real, dark circumstances in a beautiful and comforting way.  If you have not watched it, do so.  I command you.  You will seriously not regret it.   

On an abrupt topic switch, today was our second soccer practice of the season. =)  I played goalie in scrimmage.  =(  I have not played goalie since U-8, and *ahem* there's a reason for that.  But I have two great coaches, a great group of teammates, and it was a great day (meaning it didn't thunder and rain, which is what we thought it would do).  I am an avid sports fan--particularly baseball and hockey--but soccer has always been my #1 favorite to play.

I should probably stop procrastinating and go do my school work.  =)

   

Blog Anniversary!

On March 9, 2009, I posted for the first time on this blog! 

Now, you might notice that I'm about a month late.  After all, it's April, and not March. 

Really?  I hadn't noticed.  All this time, I thought we were still in March.

[the above was sarcasm]

So, Happy 3 Year + 1 Month Anniversary to this blog!  I can't believe it's been this long, and I can't believe it felt so short.  =) 

This is why we don't have to fear death anymore

I wish I could share with you all something inspiring and well-written and beautiful.  However, really, today is not about being inspiring and well-written and beautiful.  It's about shame and agony and death.  It's about justice carried out by cruelty, like a king with a crown of thorns.

Today we received news that both an extended-family member and a friend died.  One was very old and in poor health for a while, the other was a wee tyke who departed suddenly.

How apt that this should happen now, because it's about this time of year that Christians are reminded strongly of how weak the grip of death has become.  It's when, even as we remember Christ being beaten and nailed to a cross, we remember the tearing of a curtain and an empty tomb.  When Jesus said, "It is finished", He really meant it.    

Someone turned 4 today...

...and I assure you, it was not me. 

Happy 4th Birthday to Galdor, my four year old brother (insert statement by Captain Obvious)

Big day today for all of us, as the soccer season started. =)  Lots of fun, and I managed to get a sunburn of course.  It'll be interesting this year.  My age group is 12 to 18, but it seems this year we hit a wave of new kids/12-13 year olds.  Of course, this is the season we had a mass 18-year-old exodus.  What's even more interesting is that one entire field in the park has been closed for the next few week, meaning my age group has to share one field with the u-12 team.  There are...oh...'bout 36 or so kids in my age group, so we're a little tightly packed.  Just a little, though.

Has anyone else switched to the new Blogger layout thingy?  I really don't like it.  I just figured out how to use the old one (after, like, four years?), so the new look really confuses me.

That's just the way I am.  Confused.

Anyhoo, the only reason I brought up soccer (which morphed into the new blogger look) was to mention that this season is Galdor's first!  This is a snippet of my interview with him on the event:

Izori: So, how was soccer?

Galdor: *evil glare*

Izori:  Did you like it?

Galdor: NO!

Izori: *unfazed*  Did you kick the ball around?

Galdor: NO!!

Izori:  Are you Negative?

Galdor: YES!  I mean, NO!  I'm GRUMPY!!

Peter (from the front seat):  But I thought you were Galdor.

Galdor:  No!  I'm Grumpy!

Obviously, he really enjoyed his first day of soccer.  His enthusiasm is an inspiration for us all. 

'Cause it's so much easier if someone else is wrong

While watching hockey last night, I had an interesting thought: the world would be better if people stopped trying to correct everyone else and focused on correcting themselves. I realized right after that I needed to edit that thought, due to the irony.

Do you know someone who just frustrates you, and you're not sure why so you begin picking apart their whole personality to find the speck you find irksome? I wish I didn't, but I do. And it seems every single time I dissect someone, I feel more and more dissatisfaction with them.

I guess there's something humbling--a little too humbling--about realizing that the problem is within yourself. It's a whole lot easier if our issues are not our own fault, but that of someone else.

That's my philosophy for the day.

Spring Allergies, School Work, Yadiyadiya

Ah, 'tis spring! The sweet smell of budding flowers fills my nostrils with pollen, the charming cold-like symptoms throwing me into a mound of tissues like most people dive into a meadow of daisies!

Sarcasm, in case you haven't noticed.

So, you know how I do public speaking? Well, that's, like, my life for the past month or so. I was so proud of my ability to think and plan ahead and be organized last school year. This year, I've been doing things like realizing I have to give a speech in about two days and, gee, I have to memorize the thing. Plus, for an event coming up (this weekend) I have to wear red+black one day and purple+black another. Took me up until Sunday to realize that, guess what? I have no suitable red or purple! Which means today I meekly murmur to my mother if I can pretty please run over to Salvation Army this Wednesday and buy clothes. Suffice it to say that my planning ability has...uh...fled.

I've covered spring allergies and schoolwork, so now it's on to yadiyadiya. However, I have to leave in ten minutes as I haven't brushed my teeth yet, so this might be short. I have been writing again. Last week or so, I sporadically flipped open my laptop and began (wait for it) another draft on the book that I have been drafting for, like, the past three years. Ever since I was thirteen. Or maybe four years, because I thought I was twelve.

No matter. Spring allergies, school work, and yadiyadiya. The whole shibang.

Can I have a shoulder on which to sob?

After her piano lesson today, Kara said something that struck me, because it was the exact same thing I said when I was her age after my piano lessons: she sighed and said, "I wish I could take violin."

Isn't that so reflective of human nature? We have piano lessons, but we want violin lessons. Why? Is it any easier? Any more fun? Just different?

I compare myself to people. All. The. Time. I see someone with "in" clothes, and then I think of how pretty much every article of clothing that I own is either hand-me-down or Salvation Army. I see someone who is a grade 7 pianist and I think of how I'll be testing this spring for grade 4. I see someone who is brilliant and talented and skipping grades and taking all honors classes and think of how I struggle with just the average stuff and average grades and average assignments.

Today was a really bad week. Not necessarily anyone else's fault but my own. Not even super huge catastrophes, but little ones that just stack up. The kid I babysit asked me a question about the Civil War because she was studying for a test in school and I gave her an answer. I thought my answer and explanation were brilliant, and then later in the day I realized I completely botched it. I've spent the next couple days wishing I wasn't such an idiot.

So, with all my own stupidity rising in my face, I ask myself: "When will I be content? When will I learn to know that my life, with all its flaws, is mine and I can't ever have anyone else's?"

It's so easy to look on our own pianos and wish we had violins.

I guess we won't be really content until we get to heaven. And seeing as heaven will last a lot longer than earth, I'll give myself an energy boost by looking forward.

Happy Valentine's Day

So, I don't have much to say today. Other than Happy Valentine's Day. I didn't wear pink, I didn't cut out hearts, but I did get a box of tic tacs (orange ones) and a heart-shaped cherry lollipop. I taught 3/4 of my piano students today, and I fed my turtle. That is nothing new, because Tintin's always eating. (the turtle, not the cartoon-character.)

Here's to a Happy Valentine's Day, and may you have many chocolates!

Post Script--I didn't get any chocolate today, except for two Hershey's kisses. One I gave to Kara. I believe I shall go eat the other one now.

Post Post Script--on second thought, I've had lots of chocolate today. We have chocolate fondue at our house, and my favorite is the angel food cake. And the strawberries. And the bananas. And the apples. But I don't like the marshmallows.

Post Post Post Script--I'm sorry for such a senseless post, but my fingers and my brain are both really tired. I'll try to have something a bit...more sense-full?...soon.

Post Post Post Script--I'm sorry, but I keep on thinking up things. I'd like to ask prayer for a speech tournament that I'm doing this Saturday. I'm kinda nervous, and I kinda am afraid of messing up, and I kinda don't want to do it right now. Thanks.

The Re-Writin' Queen

So, guess what.

I've been working on this book since I was twelve. I was inspired three years ago in December to write this book when my friend and I started playing with the family humidifier. Our humidifier has since... *sniff*...passed from this life (i.e. the thing was, like, twenty years old and finally went ka-chunk), but its constant stream of refreshing mist emitting from its little vent-thingy inspired an epic idea.

My epic idea turned into the story of a fourteen year old serf/peasant/slave named Ehra who could control water (inspired by the steam from our late humidifier) and banded together with five other folks--mostly kids--to overthrow an evil tyrant. Okay...like that's an original plot.

I wrote the whole thing in one notebook that I got for my 12th birthday. I still have that hallowed notebook--its cover is just about ripped off, but it has this beautiful illustration of a horse coming out of the ocean at sunset. All throughout the margins are my little doodles and drawings.

So, I typed it up and thought I was done. I was so proud of myself.

About half a year later or so, I read my story through and I realized what a badly written, cliche thing it was. Which led to...rewrite number one.

I don't think I got very far with rewrite number one. I guess it just peetered out, but even that small snipped was an improvement. The plot was slightly more original and the writing style was much improved.

Well, like I said, I didn't get very far with rewrite number one. So onto rewrite number two. By this time, I decided to completely ditch the plot I had started out with. Ehra was no longer Ehra, and she was no longer fourteen, and she was no longer a serf that had control over the element of water (thank goodness!). She was Ehrathiwel (which sounds much more noble), she was a pagan priestess (don't worry--she was headed for reform!), and she was nineteen years old. I also ditched some of the original characters, sticking with the ones that fit in my new plot.

I think I tried to write the new-and-improved version about four times. Each time, I got about to the same point before I gave up. Something was missing from the story. I first imagined Ehra as this happy, quiet, optimistic, nice girl; now Ehrathiwel was this angsty, depressed, semi-emo sorceress.

Just yesterday, after pondering my story long and hard, I decided to start all over again. And basically, I'm back to plot number one with some definite improvements.

In one way, I'm really glad for all these rewrites. I experimented with all these different plots, and now the plot I'm going with is kind of a mix of them all. Ehra's back to being a serf again, but guess what--I also have some semi-emo sorceresses in the mix as well. I'm making Ehra slightly less angsty, but definitely with enough issues to fully round out her character (as opposed to making her Miss Sugar and Spice).

Ehra's not the only character to benefit from all these re-writes. One of my favorite characters, Maethar (who appears often in this blog if you look back at some older posts), is greatly improved upon from my very first draft. For instance, his name. He was actually called 'Maki' in my first book, and 'Maki' is an awful name. It reminds me of, like, macaroni and cheese or some kind of fish. Or a Big Mac at McDonald's.

Why did I post this here instead of at my writing blog? (pull up my profile and click on 'Traveling Tales' if you want to go to it because I'm too lazy to link it up). Because my story, inspired by our angelic humidifier, may it rest in peace, is as much a part of me as myself is apart of me.

Gee, that sounded confusing. What I meant to say is: that story, whether or not I publish it and become all famous and stuff and have screaming fans paying a hundred bucks for my autograph (like that will ever happen), has really grown on me.

Any of you all have a story that's grown on you?

Tagged by Morgan J.

I'm getting nostalgic. I remember when tags were, like, all the rage back when I first joined blogger. My dream for months was to be tagged, and when I finally did I just about cried for joy.

Oh, to be back in the good ol' days.

Here are the rules, which I copied from Morgan's blog.

1) post these rules
2) you must post 11 random things about yourself
3) answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
4) create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5) go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged

My Eleven Random Things

1. I am re-reading The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. I am wearing a Washington Capitals hockey sweatshirt
3. I am also wearing socks
4. My watch is on my right wrist
   
5. I have a headache, for which I just took pain meds five minutes ago
6. I am learning about stereotypes in Spanish
7. I just realized I left our Christmas Wreath on our front door
8. I participated in a shooting match last night
9. I got mixed up about the date, also last night
   
10. I get mixed up about the date often

Morgan J.'s questions for me:

1) When do you think you will finally be "grown up"? I pretty much am right now.
2) History or Math? Uh...usually I'd say history, but I'm having a really hard time on a history paper and math was really easy last week. So I'd say math for now.
3) Coffee lover or no coffee love? Are ya kidding?!? Of course I love coffee! I can't live without it! Seriously, I can't. I get raging headaches if I skip for one day, which I unfortunately did on the day I took standardized tests last year. I think it affected my scores, unfortunately.
4) Shopping with friends or going for a hike? I don't like shopping, so I guess hike.
5) Do you have lazier vision to, or are you gifted with amazing peripheral vision? I guess peripheral. Last night during the shooting match the light out of the corner of my eye was bugging me to an incredible extent. See, someone a couple spaces across from me holds their air-rifle in a shooting position that blocks the main glare of the light, but when they move it there's this sudden flash. Does that make sense?
6) Chess or Checkers? To be honest, I don't like either. But I guess I prefer checkers.
7) If you could be a great artist or a famous musician which would you be? I'm more on track for musician.
8) Read or write? I prefer to write
9) If you could would you be taller? Hah, NO.
10) Which is scarier heights or public speaking? I don't mind either.
11) Do you get random words stuck in your head or is that just me? Yeah, and random pictures bother me as well.

Onto eleven questions I must make up for the tagee.

1. If wishes were fishes, what would you eat for dinner?
2. Do you carry many bags with you? (take that to mean whatever you want to)
3. How long have you been blogging?
4. Do you wear a watch?
5. If yes to the above question, on which wrist do you wear it?
6. Are you left handed or right handed?
7. Are you a believer in duct tape?
8. If you called a dog's tail a leg, how many legs would a dog have? (hint: look up quotes by Abe Lincoln)
9. How many staplers are in your line of vision?
10. Are you a paper person or a glowing screen person?
11. How many Easter Eggs are in your line of vision?

I tag:

Milisande at Little Miss Simplicity

Kendra Lynne at Magnificent Obsession

Anyone else, feel free to do it! Just leave me a comment so I can see your answers! =)

Checklist Woes

I am in the habit of making check-lists for myself. I write down every single thing I need to get done that day, putting a box before each item, and then I do them.

Correction: I try to do them.

I honestly wish you guys could see my checklists. They are loooong. Someday, when I have less things on my checklist (ha-ha), I'll take a picture and share it with you. Usually, I'll have ten or fifteen things that need to get done, and these aren't ten or fifteen measly little five-minute tasks. These are ten or fifteen 'read half of 1 Kings and one third of Proverbs makes up one single item'' things.

It's a huge stretch for me to get them all done. And I'm not procrastinating (I say as I type on blogger). The only takes I break [I mean breaks I take--seriously, I did not do that on purpose and now I am laughing hysterically as I read it over] are for the sake of my sanity (what's left) and my concentration (what concentration?). Everything else is work-work-work, from one mega task to the next, until it's late at night and it's time for me to construct the checklist for next day.

Actually, I suppose I have it easy. My next door neighbor is my age, my grade, but goes to public school. Evidently, she has ten hours of homework each day. I did a double-take when I first heard it, because that means if she gets home from school at 2:00 and hits the books right away she'll be done at midnight. Yikes. Okay, maybe my checklist ain't so bad.

Quiet Sunday

Church...football...sleeping in reasonably late...friends...waffles (for dinner, which will hopefully be soon)...um...quiet?

As I'm typing, every few seconds I look over my shoulder at Tintin, the extremely brilliant family turtle whose stupidity is unbounded. But hey, he's cute. Cute people get away with just about anything.

So, as I'm alternately watching Tintin and the computer screen, I'm trying to see if there's anything worth reading that went on today.

Of course there's church. Excellent sermon (as usual!) on being uncompromising and united on the Gospel, lunch afterward with some really yummy desserts...

Oh, there's something interesting. Food! So, when it comes to lunch at church, usually all the young folks pick their friends and they all claim one table. No different today. There's usually an older-teen table, a young lady's table (where I was at, of course), a girl's table, and a boy's table. Of course, it's nothing official. It's just where the different groups of friends sit. And so I was at the young lady's table, and we were right next to the boy's table. Incredibly boisterous lot right behind our backs. So our pleasant, lady-like conversation is interrupted every few seconds by 'HAH!' or 'GIVE THAT BACK!' or 'TAKE THAT!' or 'OUCH!', and then cackles of laughter.

So that's how lunch went. I hope your Sunday was just as pleasant.

Strangely Calm

I was preparing for a huge jolt as I screwed up my stamina to touch the electric barbed wire of school work (okay, that's quite a simile), getting ready to feel like 'butter spread across too much bread' (or is it 'scraped' instead of 'spread'?) as I get back into all the busy-ness and chaotic-ness and so-many-things-in-my-head-I'm-going-insane-please-just-let-me-go-to-sleep-ness of life after Christmas Break.

And so, because I was bracing myself for impact, I was surprised when things weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be. In fact, I feel relaxed. I feel like I can focus, and do things because I want to instead of rushing on because I don't have time to stop.

My most time-consuming courses are probably History and Literature, but my classes didn't meet this week. I also didn't have Spanish or Geography to worry about. Which is, y'all, pure coolness. Not that I don't like Spanish or Geography.

See, I really enjoy my classes, but when they all pile up it's hard to enjoy all those subjects that on their own are fascinating but with a gazillion and two more things to do become brain-grinding.

I have a public speaking Chapter meeting this Friday, and currently we're working on impromptu. In competition, this means you are given a topic and have one minute to prepare a two minute speech, which you give to the judges immediately afterward. It requires a large amount of training, and to be honest I am really not comfortable in the limited-prep speaking field. If you think about it though, this is the type of public speaking that we use the most (conversations, for example). But to structure something entirely in your brain, without writing it down, and then giving a speech, is a lot harder and a little more pressurized than just talking to someone.

The impromptu is probably the only thing that has caused some stress this week, but I really think it's under control. We have a great group in our Chapter. I'm one of the student leaders--SLs--, and usually I get out of the homework because I (and others) are the ones who lead and prepare the meetings. But our sponsor (i.e. adult leader in the Chapter) wanted us SLs to do it this time because we all need impromptu practice. Extemporaneous speeches, interpretations...yeah, we do that all the time. But impromptu...let's see. The only time I've actually done an impromptu assignment is last year in Chapter before I was an official student leader. Yeah, so I'm expecting to bomb. But like I said, we're all friends at Chapter. =) If it won't kill me, it'll make me stronger.

Looking forward to watching Cars 2 tomorrow night for the first time ever! Cars is one of my favorite movies, so this one had better be good!

What I'm Trying To Do This Year

As our pastoral intern at our church said last Sunday School, "the date doesn't effect our heart issues" [or something along those lines]. He was mainly talking about certain kinds of resolutions like, "I resolve I won't get angry at my siblings this year" or "I resolve that I'll think before I act this year". If it involves a heart issue that needs to change, we're going to need more than a date to make those resolutions.

Not to say there's anything wrong with those kinds of resolutions. But so many people make those kinds of commitments on January 1 without realizing that it would have been just as well as if they decided not to get mad at their family or act foolishly on March 1, or November 1, or June 26.

Then again, there's something about the new year that makes things seem like a clean slate. But it's not a real clean slate. The only clean slate we could ever get is if God overlooks our sins because we're covered by His Son's blood.

And because I have that real clean slate, I'm going to really try this year to keep my resolutions. Some of them are practical, some are pretty typical, and some deal with those certain heart issues that really can't be fixed by the date alone.

1. Time with God every day. I've been trying to get into that habit for sooo long! For my birthday, my grandparents gave me a year-long devotion plan by Charles Spurgeon (as I recall--forgive me if I got that wrong). Each day focuses on one particular Bible verse, and the devotion itself is very short. But it's also very rich and thoughtful, and encouraging. It literally takes just a minute, but it's encouraged me to set aside that time for God. I guess something that short and uncomplicated really doesn't leave me with the "I don't have time--I guess you'll wait, God" excuse (which I've used in the past *sheepishly* =)
2. Exercise as often as I can. I absolutely refuse to let myself get caught up on what I'm eating/how I look. I exercise because it's fun and because I love it and because I find myself in a much better mood afterward and because it helps me on concentration. This is not connected to me trying to lose weight in any way, because I'm not. Yeah, I'm not very slim, but that doesn't matter. As long as I eat wisely and I'm not experiencing health problems, I'm going to let my body settle on the weight it feels comfortable at.
   
3. Try out makeup. Okay, I've always been known as the unfashionable, un-girly kid. I played baseball, love sports, hang out with my brother...but that doesn't mean I'm a tomboy in the slightest. I just want to try using a little bit of makeup for a few weeks and see what happens. I want to see if it makes me uncomfortable or if it's really a pain to put on/wear/take off. So it's really an experiment. =)
4. Stop wasting time. My biggest idol is entertainment. Like sports. And animated movies. And I think I'd be scrambling about trying to get school work done less often if I waited for the fun stuff after I get everything done that I have to.
5. Keep my room clean. Honestly, this isn't a huge problem with me. I'm the list-maker, neat-freak, organized-person in my family. You will often see me going around the house when I'm bored cleaning up. But I'm so busy, and I do so much in my room, that things can build up. Let me see...clothes, binders, papers, sequins that I ripped out from a skirt because they were annoying*, more clothes, books, socks...and I'm sure there's more.
   

That's my neatly numbered New Year's Resolution List with commentary and footnotes.

What are y'all's resolutions?

*[footnote for #5 on the Resolution List] The sequins were actually falling out of the skirt. All around our house is a trail of silver, glittery sequins from that thing! I got it from Salvation Army, and at first I thought "Who on earth would get rid of such a comfortable, pretty skirt!". And then I realized that every time I moved or caught a thread, it would shed half a dozen sequins. From some of the stitching that attached them on the skirt, it looked as if the original owner had tried hand-sewing them back in, got tired of it, and donated it. The original, machine-attached sequins were sewed on so that if you pulled at the right thread absolute scads would fall out! So yesterday I had fun pulling every single one of them out, and then I vacuumed them all up (took a while because they clogged the vacuum cleaner). [end of footnote]