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!