Christmas "Miracles"

Well, we're not in Missouri, like I'd hoped we would be by now - but more on that later. This Christmas season has been one disaster after another. All of the problems started after my dad left for Missouri. The day after he finally left, there was a huge snowfall. My mom, sister, brother, and I all spent several hours digging ourselves out. It wasn't fun. But luckily, that, combined with the ice on the road, caused the superintendent to cancel school on Monday. The whole situation was kind of weird - they canceled school the night before, which never happens. It seems that everyone got the news at the same time, and they were all texting us. My mom had to make sure, so she called the phone number for school closings, and we all listened on speaker phone as it said that school was closed. Even though it didn't snow as much was expected, it was probably for the best because the roads were really bad. I don't know if it was because of cut-backs, but the roads weren't cleared nearly as fast or as well as they usually are. Our subdivision was completely cleared until about week later. Okay, the first problem that occurred was that on Monday, the wind blew so hard that it swung our storm door out, and something happened so that it wouldn't close. We texted my dad in Germany, and eventually fixed it. Then on Tuesday morning, when my mom was going to drive us to school, the car wouldn't start. My mom got our neighbor to drive over with her jumper cables, and my sister called her friend, and she drove us to school. Then, to top it off, our water coming out of the faucets turned brown, and then stopped working at all. Apparently, there was something wrong with the check valve of the well or something like that, but we didn't find that out until my dad came home, and the well people came out. Until last Monday, we had to take sponge baths and flush the toilets with snow that we melted on the stove. Not fun. But on Monday, we got it fixed, and we thought all our problems were behind us. Little did we know what was in store for us.
With our well fixed, we got ready for our trip down to Missouri to see my grandparents. Every Christmas, we go down there, and spend some time with my family, and as usual, my mom didn't want to go. We were all packed, and ready to leave - which we did yesterday about 7:00-ish AM. We ate breakfast at Panera Bread and picked up our call-in order at Zingerman's. From there, my family drove straight to this Fort Wayne Starbucks that we always stop at. We stopped there to go to the bathroom, and get some drinks, and left. Our next stop was a Steak N' Shake in Indiappolis, but when my mom went to get her wallet out of her purse to pay for the meal, she couldn't find it. We searched everywhere - and I do mean everywhere. We called the Starbucks to see if anyone had turned in, but to no avail. With no credit cards, license, and much more, we drove back to Fort Wayne to look for ourselves. That's a two hour drive between the two cities, so even if we found the wallet, we would be extremely late to my grandparents' house. But as (un)luck would have it, we did not find it. Mom mom called in to cancel her credit cards, which showed no extra activity, filed a police report, and left our name and number at everywhere possible. And that is how we managed to drive for 12 hours, only to end up in the same place where we started. Yeah! Now we're stuck in our boring house, with no Christmas spirit (even though it is Christmas Eve), all bored and grumpy. To cap it off, when we unpacked the Zingerman's order, we found they had messed up our order - instead of one four-pack of brownies, they gave us four four-packs of brownies. So now we have 16 brownies, 3 pounds of corned beef, and a whole sour cream coffeecake with no one to share it with. The last problem is that basically everyone is feeling sick, and my brother threw up several times last night. Merry Christmas.

P.S. I changed the background to the map, per the poll, which like the map background over the book.

Catch-Up

Wow. It's been a while since I last blogged. I know I said I would tell you about what happened during Thanksgiving, so I have some catching up to do. First of all, on Wednesday, my family went on our usual day-before-Thanksgiving-outing. We first went and got our turkey from this organic turkey farm. Usually, there are a bunch of turkeys outside when we go to buy ours, but not this time. I guess they were all killed or something. Maybe it was too cold. After that, we went to REI for an hour or so. Depending on the time we get there, we either eat lunch first at Papa Vino's, or go to REI. It was too early when we arrived, and no one was hungry, so it was an unanimous decision to go to REI first. Out of the several things that we bought, I got a new pair of snow boots (which I actually used for the first time today). Until this year, we've all been sharing one pair of boots, and my parents finally decided that it might be helpful to get some new ones. I tried on two pairs, but decided on the ones I got because the other ones, while better looking, weren't as practical. They were only waterproof at the very bottom - they were more for warmth and style than practicality in snow. Per usual, when we ate at Papa Vino's, my dad and I split the calzone of the day, which this time was three meat. And as usual, it was delicious. Now, let's continue onto the actual day of Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, working all day on the food was worth it. The turkey was juicy and flavorful, we had two different kinds of pumpkin pie - pumpkin chiffon in Graham cracker crust, and my dad's homemade whole wheat crust with regular pumpkin filling - my dad made throwed rolls (Lambert's Cafe recipe!!), and a bunch more. By the end of the night, I had definitely had my share of food - I was stuffed! On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and the last day of break, we went over to our family friend's house and helped put up their ornaments on their Christmas tree. It's been this tradition, that started waaay before I was born, to come over to each other's houses and put up decorations, and then just hang out. Needless to say, I had a good time.
And then just like that, the break was over and we had to go back to getting up at 5:45 in the morning. Surprisingly, though, even without any days off, the week after our Thanksgiving break went by quite fast. It was over before you even knew it. The next week, though, not so much. Maybe it was because some things actually happened, or the reality was just setting in, but this past week has felt like on of the longest. It just kept on dragging on, and I was always tired. The first substantial event was that on Tuesday, on the way to school, my sister and I crashed into the side railing of the road. It had just snowed the night before, and the roads were slippery, so when my sister went around a curve a little too fast, we lost control and hit the railing. The accident wasn't that bad - the airbags didn't even go off, and no one was hurt- but the car was banged up, and we were a little shaken. For the rest of the week, except one day when the roads were clear and we couldn't get a ride, our parents drove us to school. We don't get the car back until next Tuesday, at the earliest. Another event this week was that I went caroling with the French Club at a retirement home, which was really fun. We sang Christmas carols in French, and then sometimes in English, and I had a solo. I went last year, as well, and it's just nice to see all these elderly people made happy by our (sometimes off key) singing. It was really nice. The last main event of the week was that my dad, sister, and I drove all the way out to Kalamazoo (which is 2 hours away) to see the musical Wicked. We had to leave several hours early, and didn't get home until 1 AM, but man was it worth it! Even though I know all the lyrics from my sister's incessant playing of them, it was nice to actually see them acted out, and in context. I just realized while watching it that Fiyero, who turns into the Scarecrow (from the Wizard of Oz) sings about being "brainless", which is what the Scarecrow wants when he goes to see the Wizard of Oz. There is just tons of things that explain why things are the way they are in the Wizard of Oz, which was quite interesting. I would definitely recommend anyone to see it, if it is available. It was pretty awesome.
Last on my list of things to catch up on is that my dad departed for Germany last night for a business trip. He was supposed to leave at 7 PM, but that didn't happen. The first plane he was supposed to be on had some kind of electrical problems, and I believe the second one, as well. By the time he actually left, he was on his third plane and 4 (or more) hours late. It was lucky that he had brought his left-over sandwich from our lunch at Panera Bread right before he left for the airport. He was going to just leave it with us, but we said that we wouldn't eat it, so he brought it with him. At least he was lucky in that case. The last thing I want to mention is that we had our first big snow overnight. I'd have to say that there's at least 2 inches out there, and it's still snowing. Unfortunately, the roads will probably be cleared in time for tomorrow's school, and there won't be a snow day, but you never know. I'll just have to cross my fingers that the roads ice over or something weird like that. It truly is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! And that's it for now - until my next insanely long blog!!!!

Pictures from the DIA

P.S This is the book background. I like this one just as much as the other map background, so I would appreciate it a lot if you said which you like best.

P.P.S. Here are some pictures of my escapades below

Woman in an Arm Chair by Renoir

Zephyr Dancing with Flora by Giovanni Benzoni

Diego Rivera Mural

The Piazza San Marco, Venice by Canaletto

copy on the left, forgery on the right

Thanksgiving Break and Harry Potter!!!!!!

I can't believe that it's already the fourth day in my Thanksgiving vacation! As you know, this year we get the whole week off for Thanksgiving break, while normally, we would have to go to school today and yesterday. On Friday, my family and my sister's friend went to see the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1. We came 45 minutes early to ensure our good seats. The show started at 5:45 PM, but my sister and I came straight from school. We stayed after for Green Group, which is the club at our school that does all the recycling. What with it being Thanksgiving break and the Harry Potter movie, there were only about six or seven people. It was also the week for collecting paper (we do it every other week), so that added even more time. I don't know if it was just the lack of people, but there seemed to be a ton more bottles to sort out and paper to collect than usual. It was strange. We were supposed to meet my mom at home, then pick up my sister's friend, but we ended up not having enough time, so we picked up my sister's friend (which we had never been to before, and hadn't had time to look up the address) and drove straight to the theater. We actually got there before my mom, brother and his friend. Let me tell you, the movie was well worth the wait and confusion! It was exciting and almost nothing was left out. Many of the sets were just as I had imagined them when I first read the book (which was when it was first released). And even though I knew when they were going to split the book into two films (I read the spoiler on the Internet), my dad didn't, and it kept him guessing. As my friend put it, I won't be complete until the second part comes out in six months! I can't wait!
On Saturday, we didn't really do anything exciting, but on Sunday, my sister, mom and I went out to see the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art). We had tickets to see this new exhibit about Forgeries and how the museum catches them, which was pretty interesting. It explained the difference between a copy, in the style of (both not meant to deceive), and a forgery (which is meant to deceive). Let's just say that some were better forgeries than others. After that, we walked around and viewed the permanent exhibits. There was a ton of stuff that we didn't have the time to see, but we did see the European art, Impressionism, Modern art, African American art, and the Diego Rivera mural, which is my favorite. I must have been a guard/docent magnet, because was told twice that I wasn't allowed to take picture. Apparently, you can't take pictures on temporary exhibits (although they were all fakes... I mean, really!) or pictures in the permanent exhibits that are on loan to the museum. After my first telling off, I didn't know that I could take pictures of the permanent exhibits (at least what the museum owns, but I didn't know that either, at the time), so I would sneakily take pictures of the ones I liked, making sure that there were no guards around. By the end of our visit, my feet hurt! Even with some unpleasant experiences, I still enjoyed viewing all the art (especially the Impressionists). After we left the museum, we went to this crepe restaurant called Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes. At first, we couldn't find it because the address we had wasn't totally accurate, but once we were there, it was nice. I got the "Liz", which has nutella, blueberries, and strawberries. Yum!
After the excitement of Sunday, Monday was relatively boring. My sister invited a friend over, so that they could work on some AP chem take home test, which they work on for several hours. After she left (and my sister went to work), my parents and I went to the mall. Apparently, they wanted to buy two more place settings from Williams-Sonoma, but I still ended up getting a pair of jeans from Gap. Score! We arrived at home just as my sister was pulling in the driveway. She was none too happy that we went to the mall without her. In the evening, we watched a bunch of episodes of Glee (from the first season) while eating dinner. So, now you are officially caught up until today. This morning, my mom woke us up at around 11 AM. I don't think that I've ever slept that late. Maybe once when I was up until the wee hours of the morning, but I don't remember it. The plan was to go to Ann Arbor to buy some groceries from Whole Foods, drop off our recycling, and get some stuff from Zingerman's, and get back before my sister had to go to work at 3 PM. It didn't really work out that way. All we accomplished in that span of time was shopping at a vintage store called The Getup (which I had weaseled into the plans) and Urban Outfitters (which was right next to the vintage clothing store) and going to Zingerman's (which my parents did while my sister and I were at the vintage store). I ended up getting two vintage dresses from the 50's, a blue and white polka-doted skirt from the 60's and a pair of cat-eyed sun glasses. Although some people without refined tastes (Ahem! my sister and brother) think vintage clothing is weird, I enjoy wearing it. I was quite happy with my finds, and the people at the store were very nice. Once we were able to drag ourselves out of Ann Arbor to get my sister to work, albeit late, my parents dropped me off at home, and went back out to do the grocery shopping and drop off the recycling, which they are still doing. As far as tomorrow and Thanksgiving goes, I'll explain our tradition after the fact, as to not extend this post any longer. Happy almost-Thanksgiving!!!

Harry Potter and Anonymous 4

Today was one of the many days that we have off in the month of November. This time it was for parent-teacher conferences. Both my parents went, and, no surprise, my teachers were glowing about me. My french teach practically loves me; she even said that when I ask questions, I anticipate what she's going to teach. I'm not sure that I remember that, but okay... They all said that I was quiet, too. Is that really a bad thing? Do they really want loud, rambunctious kids? When my dad was talking to me about it he wondered how they thought my sister and I were quite. We just laughed. But even though I had the day off, it seems that I didn't really accomplish anything. I have been working on my honors homework all day (surprise, surprise). We had to answer a bunch of question about our personal concepts of Transcendentalism, like "How do you demonstrate that you are an individual" or "How are you affected by nature?" Very philosophical stuff, which is the kind of stuff that I don't really like. But, what are you going to do?
Last weekend was kind of busy, but interesting, as well. On Saturday, we had the usual Science Olympiad practices all day. After everyone left, my family and I went out to Target and the grocery store. I swear, commercialism has taken over Christmas. Target was fully decked out in their Christmas decorations, and I wanted to scream. I hate all these Christmas songs and decoration even before Thanksgiving. Christmas should stay in December!!! If you haven't already noticed, this is kind of my pet peeve. At Costco, they had Christmas things out before Halloween!!! I know, it's crazy! Anyway, on Sunday, I had piano for the second week in a row so that we were totally free during the Thanksgiving break. Usually, we go every other week, but not this month. We were going to stay in Ann Arbor because we had tickets to see the Anonymous 4 concert in a church in Ann Arbor, but we decided to go home, and then come back later. For those ignorant of what Anonymous 4 (as I was a few weeks ago...), it is a group of four women singing medieval songs/chants. When I described it to my friend, she said it sounded like a cult, but I swear, it isn't! The concert was pretty cool, although it was in Latin and the church pews were really hard - my but hurt afterwards. After the concert, we went to Zingerman's to get some half priced bakery goods, and then walked around a few stores around there that were still open. I got to drive home.
Now that we are done with past events, let's talk Harry Potter! As you probably know, the first half of the last movie is coming out this Friday, and we are going to see it. My dad is taking off work early so we can go right after school gets out. My parents wouldn't allow us to go to the midnight showing, which some of my friends are going to, and I wouldn't really want to anyway. By the time everything is said and done, you only get a few hours of sleep, because we do have school on Friday. If it was over Thanksgiving break, then I might have considered it. As you can tell, I'm super excited!!!! I can't wait - I'll make sure you get all the details of that momentous (too strong a word?) night.

My Ode to "Sherlock"

Last night, we watched the third and last episode (so far??) of Sherlock, on PBS Masterpiece Mystery. For those who don't know what Sherlock is about, can't deduce what it's about, or have been living under a rock for the past month or so and have missed the raving reviews in the newspaper, Sherlock is a modern re-telling of the classic detective story Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock and Dr. Watson live in modern-day London as flatmates at the same address, 22B Baker Street. Because they live together, it is always suggested that they are gay, which they (mostly Dr. Watson) refute every time. Sherlock is the world's first consulting detective, as he calls himself, and helps the police solve crimes using his powers of observation, as well as modern-day technologies, such as cell phones and the Internet. They have only made three episodes, but the ending of the last was such a cliff-hanger that there has to be more episodes!!!! Yes, those four exclamation points were necessary. Sherlock is that good. I would definitely recommend it. The actor who plays Sherlock, Benedict Cumberpatch, was in this other Masterpiece Contemporary show, The Last Enemy, which I thought was stupid, but his acting in both have been superb.
In other news, we had our second Science Olympiad Friday practice/pizza night, where we watched Prince of Persia. It was very interesting, albeit quite inaccurate for the time period, but hey, it's fiction. Spoiler Alert (skip to next paragraph if you don't want to read): The ending was kind of stupid, though. Basically, the whole movie, except for the very beginning, didn't happen because time was wound back, and only the main character knew that. But it was good from the point that the bad guy died before he could have killed all the good people (the main character's brothers, father, and girlfriend), which happened in the course of the movie. We all had a good time watching it, though.
I don't think I've mentioned it before, but we had school off today for the end of the marking period. I love November. It's the only month in the school year where we don't have any full weeks of school, and have more days off than we go to school. We even have a whole week off for Thanksgiving break, which is something that we've never had before. Usually, we get off the day before Thanksgiving, but this year we also have the Monday and Tuesday before that off, as well. My mom, sister and I are driving out to Pittsburgh on Sunday so that my sister can check out the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. While we're there, we are going to visit my cousin, who attends University of Pittsburgh. My dad and brother are staying home, which is going to be weird. I think we've only traveled once without my dad, and never without my brother. Finally, we'll get some peace and quiet (kidding). And that's pretty much the extent of what I know about these plans. When I know more, you will know more.

P.S. I will be changing the background every so often. Although I like the grass/dandelion one, it seems too summery. I've changed it to a map background for now. There is also a book one and a few others that I might try before coming to my final choice. I would be extremely appreciative it if you would comment or vote on which background you like the best. Thanks.

Spamalot and Halloween

Happy Halloween! But before I start talking about today, I have to recap the past week or so. Well, on the Friday before last, my family and I all went up to see Monty Python's Spamalot in Flint. It was hilarious! For those who don't know, Spamalot is based off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We drove up a few hours early, so that we could eat dinner at this restuarant called Fudruckers. We go there after every Science Olympiad Regionals event, which is why we knew about it. Their specialty is their hamburgers, which is what I ordered, along with a cookies and creme shake that was so big that I shared with my sister. When we were done eating, we plugged in the address of the theater, and drove for a few minutes until we found it. I thought that Flint wasn't very well off, but we drove past some really nice homes. When we finally got to the theater, we were probably an hour or so early, so we just waited around. My mom bought me a t-shirt that had the Black Knight on the front and "It's Just a Flesh Wound Tour" with all the cities they are going to on the back. When I wore it to school on Monday, all my friends (except the one who had never heard of Monty Python - can you believe it?) loved it. Anyway, the performance was wonderful and very funny. It was nice to actually see it after just listening to the songs over and over. The only problem was that the person who sat next to me kept on swearing when there was anything funny and there were some people behind us that would stop talking and laughing really loud. But other than that, I enjoyed the play. I thought that the funniest part was when King Arthur asks Patsy, his servant, why he didn't tell him he was Jewish, and Patsy replies that you don't really tell that kind of thing to a heavily armed Christian. I had a really good time.

As for the past week, in Art class, we started printing the prints that we drew and etched onto Plexiglas. Mine turned out really well. Now we are working on coping a famous work of art in oil pastel. I chose Renoir's Madame Stora in Algerian Dress (would that be italicized or have quotations or neither??). Also, on Friday, was our first Friday Night Practice/Pizza Night for Science Olympiad. We watched the movie Killers, with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, which was really funny. There were some new and some old team members there, and we probably had too much fun. I'll just leave it at that.

For Halloween, my sister invited over a bunch of friends and so did my friend, who is coming over to my house, as well. I don't know if we're all going together, but it should still be fun. I'm pretty sure that I'm going in my Renaissance dress, but I might wear what I wore on Friday to school, which is a vintage 50's-ish outfit, complete with a hat and gloves. It really depends on the weather and my mood. We still have to put up our decorations and carve our pumpkins today, so I should better get cracking. But as a closing note, for my pumpkin, I'm going to have it say "pumpkin" and then have the pi symbol with the numbers around it!! Isn't that exciting! I'll have to blog later and tell you how everything goes.

Pictures

The sign of Cafe ZincCafe Zinc

Pumpkins at the pumkin patch

donuts and cider at the cider mill

apples at the cider mill

the cider mill

the roof of the front part of Dow's home, from the back

View of Dow's house from the side

the front of Dow's house

A Lot of Stuff.... Read it All!

Um yeah, about updating more often... Anyway, I have a lot to write about, so you better be prepared for the long haul. Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, Homecoming. Well, everyone except my mom went to the homecoming game on Friday, October 1st. I sat with my friend and her family. My dad was all alone, which I kind of felt bad about. If I'd known he was alone, I would have invited him to sit with me! It was actually a pretty exciting game. We were losing for the whole game, until the last minute, when we tied it up at the last second. From there, we went into overtime, where we lost. But the most interesting part wasn't the game, but some guy running across the field with no shirt on. The police ran after him, but he jumped over the fence. It was pretty exciting. I heard later that he was caught. The introduction of the homecoming court was pretty funny. Almost all the girls said that shopping was a hobby, and one even said that she enjoyed being tan. No joke, that's what it actually said! By the time we got home, everyone was pretty exhausted and my sister and I had to get to bed because we were going to the Tech Day at University of Michigan the next morning.
On Saturday, we had to get up about 6 AM. Yeah we got to sleep in for 15 minutes! Apparently the program was offering breakfast for the girls attending, which we went to. It was actually pretty good - much better than I expected. From there, we were split into groups and joined the people who hadn't eaten breakfast. The first thing we did was listen to this lady lecture about getting into college. She kept on saying that if we didn't do so or so, they didn't want us, which was a pretty interesting thing to say to prospective students... Anyway, we then went on a tour around North Campus. The next thing on our schedule was a building contest. In advance, let's just say that my team failed. We broke what we were going to use, which wasn't that good to begin with. So, we were given a few extra minutes to figure something out. We actually did pretty well considering (not last place!!). It was just too early for thinking. After that, we were left to our own devices to look at the different displays that were set up about different degrees you could major in and clubs. My sister and I went around with a few people that we had met there and some we knew from school. We were done early, so we ended up talking with random people. They offered lunch, but we had just packed it. But unfortunately, my mom had our lunch because we thought we were going to eat together. It turned out that we weren't, so my mom had to figure out a way to get it to us. Let's just say that lunch wasn't fun, seeing that we were outside and it was about 50 degrees out and sprinkling. From lunch (which seemed really long) we went into different groups, depending on what degree you had signed up for. My two were Chemical Engineering and Civil/Environmental Engineering. Chemical Engineering was interesting; we toured the labs. They talked about their experiments of using algae as a fuel source. Unfortunately, though, they went over 15 minutes, so I missed being taken to my second part. So, I never got to see Civil/Environmental Engineering.
We drove as fast as possible home, because Saturday was also the Homecoming Dance. I went over to my friend's house, where I got dressed and put on makeup. Then all the parents came over and took a bunch of pictures. You know the spiel. There were two people there, that I didn't expect and didn't exactly know why they were there, but no matter. The dance itself was fun, and the dancing was much less disgusting than last year. They still had to turn on the lights several times during the night, though. Although I was dancing appropriately, it still cramps my style, so to say. If no one can see who you are, then you can dance as weird as you want. I enjoyed myself, still. Afterwards, we went back to my friends house and hung out and ate desert. When we got home, all the dads were downstairs playing Rock Band, which was kind of disturbing.
On Sunday, I had to wake up early once again because we were driving to Midland to tour the house of the famous architect Alden B. Dow. It was very modernistic, much like Frank Lloyd Wright, which Dow studied under. It was also huge; I would have gotten lost, if there wasn't a tour guide to take us around. My favorite room was his office, which was partially underwater. It was very relaxing. Overall, the house was very interesting. Afterwards, we went into Midland and ate lunch at Cafe Zinc, which is part of group of buildings that are owned by Dow Chemical Company. The hotel is called Hotel H (as in Hydrogen), there was a bar called O2, and another restaurant called Table. I thought that was really cool. The town itself was weirdly deserted. We were walking around and some guy told us that they had the best food in the universe as we were passing that restaurant. It was quite funny.
Now fast-forward two weekends (nothing interesting happened between October 4-15). Last Saturday, my sister took the PSAT in the morning. She had to get up early, so I was awoken by the alarm at 6:45 in the morning. Not fun. When I woke up around 9ish, I started working on my Honors English project. The part that I was working on took forever. I was working for 3 hours straight, with no breaks! Once my sister got back home, we went out and ate lunch at Panera Bread. We were going to go to Ritter's Frozen Custard, but my sister decided that it would be better to eat it later. We eventually decided to skip dinner and eat ice cream instead. Around that time, I got a call from my friend, and when we were done with the ice cream, I went over to her house for the first time. It was 7:30 PM, but what does time mean? I stayed to about 11 PM, and had a lot of fun.
Finally, we get to Sunday. Yesterday, the whole family went out again to Parshalville Cider Mill and the pumpkin patch. At the cider mill, we got 2 dozen donuts, some fresh apple cider, and 2 bags of apples. Man, oh man! Those donuts were soooooo delicious. With a capital D. It's kind of our tradition to go to both the cider mill and pumpkin patch, but last year we missed it. After the cider mill, we picked out our pumpkins. I've decided to carve the pi symbol onto mine. And that's pretty much it. Whew! If you've made it to the end, I applaud you! Until the next time I remember to write!

Birthday and Spirit Week

Wow! I haven't realized how long it has been since I last blogged -- 12 days! Well since then, I've turned 15, I went to the movies, and now it is spirit week. Let's start with my birthday. Two Fridays ago, I turned 15 without much pomp or circumstance. I didn't have any friends over, because they couldn't make it, but the food was good. My mom made white chocolate chiffon cake, and my dad made deep-dish pizza and pumpkin chiffon pie. Yum!! The gifts that I received had a cupcake theme. I got 2 cupcake bookmarks, a cupcake notebook, and cupcake pajama pants. The other un-cupcake related gifts were note cards, a few books, and a puzzle from my parents, and a t-shirt from my grandparents. By the end of the night I was stuffed. I had to try both the cake and the pie, along with a scoop of ice cream, and that deep dish pizza was no walk in the park, either. But regardless of me feeling like I was about to throw up, all was well. On Saturday, I went to the movies with my sister, mom, friend, and I. We went and saw "Easy A", which was really funny. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I think that it's kind of ironic that I had just read the Scarlet Letter this summer for Honors English, and here we are, and a movie come out that is based on it. Afterwards, my friend went home with us and we drank tea and ate cake. I also invited another friend, who couldn't make it to the movie because of a cross-country meet, to come over whenever she was available. And for all my complaining that I didn't have a party, an impromptu one was created. They even came baring gifts; makeup and nail polish from one, and 10 dollars from the other.
Fast-forward a week, and you come to today. If you missed it above, this week is Spirit Week, which is what the week before Homecoming is called. Every day is a different theme. If I do say so myself, the ones that they came up with this year are pretty stupid. Today was Denim Day -- people wear denim every day. I saw some boys going around with jean cut-off shorts, which was pretty disturbing. They were just a liiittle too tight and a liiitle too short. Tomorrow is #1 Fan Day -- a person could just wear any t-shirt and say that they are the #1 fan. Wednesday is Music Day, and for my grade specifically, Jazz. What am I supposed to wear for jazz? They don't really have a particular style or anything. My sister was luckier, because her grade is Heavy Metal. She and her friends all got together and made t-shirts with different heavy metals on, like off the periodic table. Creative, isn't it? Nerdy, yes, but still very cool. Her heavy metal is europium. Thursday is Raid Your Parent's Closet Day, which I just find kind of stupid. I think that I'll just wear a tie or something because it's not like my parent's clothing is any different than mine, just a different size. And Friday is Black and Orange Day, as usual. See what I said about not being that creative. Now if it was Vintage Clothing Day, I would go all out, the whole outfit. But it's not, it's #1 fan day. Yeah. All my complaining aside, I still plan on participating every day. I know, what a hypocrite, but whatever.
Not only is this week going to be exciting. This Saturday is the Homecoming Dance, which I'm planning to go to with a couple of my friends. I'm wearing a vintage dress of my mom's, but other than that, I haven't really thought it through. It seems like the dance is extremely early, at least compared to last year. Anyway, the theme is Around the World, which is cool. Unfortunately, my mom signed me up for this campus thing at University of Michigan, which is all day. So, my preparations will be a little rushed. Speaking of this weekend, on Sunday we are going to tour this house for my mom's birthday. Apparently some famous architect built and lived there, so it should be interesting. And that's as far as I know in advance. I apologize if this all seems kind of random or haphazardly put together, but I'll have to get used to blogging more often.

School...

It is only the second week of school and I'm already tired and longing for the weekend. Funny how that works, isn't it? So far, my classes have been, if not great, then okay. And surprisingly, I've already had several quizzes and tests. Which is kind of sad... school just isn't what it used to be. There's no place for dilly-dalling, I guess. I'm really enjoying my art class so far. We're working on an accordion folded mini-booklet. In the inside, we're supposed to draw stuff about ourselves, anything is acceptable. Some of the things that I've included are biking/Mackinac Island (you'll like that Aunt "Rose"), reading, tea, and much more. The covers are made by stamping a design we are creating by carving out a linoleum block. Our initials are supposed to be creatively incorporated in some way. I'm really excited how my project is turning out. When I'm finished, I promise to post some pictures. Or several. The rest of my classes are so-so. In chemistry, we're learning stuff that I already learned in Science Olympiad, so that's a breeze. And today in math, my friends and I debated the merits of Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Darcy instead of getting our work done, which was fun. *On a side note, I feel obligated to mention that when I say we, I actually mean they. I have all my work done up until Friday.*

Last weekend (the first in the school year) was really busy. On Saturday, my mom, sister, and I drove the two hours to Grand Rapids to see the this exhibit of Chihuly glass at the Mejier Gardens. It was raining the whole way there, and and was still drizzling when we got there. We still walked around outside to find all the exhibits. Rain, Shine, Sleet, or Hail doesn't stop us from looking at art. We also ate lunch there, and it was delicious. In the cafeteria, they have a permanent exhibit of the glass and it is really light because of all the windows. Both my mom and I got this one wrap, which turned out to be huge. Although mine was a little spicier than I would have liked, I enjoyed it. I was also eying the hummus and pita dip and some good looking deserts,, but didn't get either. It was a lot of fun. By the time we got back home, it was around 8 or so and we were exhausted.

Anyway, this Friday is my birthday!!! I accept all wishes of a happy birthday. And gifts. Money's nice, too. Jokes aside, I'm looking forward to it. My mom is going to make her famous white chocolate chiffon cake and my dad is cooking a deep dish pizza especially for me. Delicious!!! I was going to invite some friends over, but no one was available, so I'm thinking about going to the movies with a few of them on Saturday. Even though that is three days away, I haven't really thought that much about it. I should probably get a move on. Although I'm sure all my would drop anything for my birthday, I think that they might like a heads up. Just maybe.That's all for now, lest I spoil your appetite for more. Until my birthday!

The 1st Day of School

The time has come around once again... happy first day of school! The first thing that I must mention is that waking up this morning was so hard!! Since we only have one bathroom, we all have to take turns. That meant this morning that my sister had to get up at 5:45. I didn't want to wake up that early, so I was permitted to push the snooze button and sleep in late(r) to 6 in the morning. I know, 15 minutes, but it still was nice. We left on time, but my sister left her cell phone in the house, so we had to turn around (luckily, we didn't make it out of the subdivision), and I had to run up and get it. She also said that she left her Ipod in the house as well, and I was frantically searching for it, but couldn't find it anywhere. It was in her purse. In the car. Anyway, all these shenanigans made us leave 10 minutes later than we had planned on. When we finally got to school, the road were clogged up with our fellow students. I made it to class on time, but I would have liked to have had some extra time.
My classes were all okay, and it turned out that I had some friends in classes that I didn't know about until I walked into the class and saw them sitting there. But really, a full day on the first day? Who's genius idea was that? They should just be lined up against a wall and shot. The day seemed to drag on forever. It's like going from 0 to 60 instantly. And to top it off, quite a few of my teachers decided that it was a good idea to give homework on the first day of school. See what this full day did? Now we actually have to do work on the first day! Jesus! By the end of the day, I was tired. Am tired. Then I had to ride the bus home, which was a nightmare. My sister works on Mondays and Tuesdays after school, so I'm left to ride the bus home, and until November, my brother has cross country every day after school, which means no ride home from the middle school for me. I don't have a problem with riding the bus home, but when you have to go to the middle school to pick up students there, and then drive home, then you get out of school at 2:27 and get home at 3:30. Add on top of that a bus driver who's screaming at us that there is no bus number 74 (which we were told at registration was our bus) and that this is the right bus and you can begin to see why I would have preferred to been picked up instead. Sounds fun, doesn't' it?
After getting home, I went out with my dad to the AT&T to find a phone to replace mine (that died on me a month ago). When we finally decided what phone to get, it turns out, they aren't in stock. So we had to leave empty handed. I've been working on my homework since then, which is no small feat, what with the wind blowing my papers around outside. I had to go get a giant eraser from inside to use as a paperweight.
After reading what my day has been like, you might come to the conclusion that I haven't enjoyed myself, which would be wrong. This day hasn't been that bad. I may have had some minor mishaps and complained about the early start time, but I did enjoy seeing all my friends again and beginning a new school year. I might not have been as excited to begin school again as in previous years, but today has been alright. Now I just have 179 days left to deal with.

Registration and More

For the past few days, my computer has been MIA because of a virus it contracted while I was on the Internet. But thanks to my dad (let's have a BIG round of applause), it is now up and running. What happened was that this security system pops up and says that there are a bunch of viruses and trojans on your computer. I closed out of it, but it still downloaded itself on my computer and turned off the security system that is supposed to be on my computer. Every time you clicked on something, it would pop up and say it was infected and asked if you wanted to screen for an infection. It was extremely annoying. So, my dad backed up my files on a external hard drive and then wiped my hard drive or something like that, so that it was set back to factory settings. We transferred my files back onto my computer, and now it works perfectly. PTL! I guess that you don't know how much you use something until you can't. Seriously, I would think to myself, "I should look something up" or "I would like to email so and so," but then I'd realized that I couldn't. All I have to say is a big thank you to my dad, who spent time fixing my computer that he could of used to work on the bathroom or just relax. I know, gasp!
In other news, yesterday I had my registration for school. There, I got my school picture taken, paid for my yearbook/class t-shirt/agenda, and received my schedule. My picture turned out okay, but my smile is a little weird. I guess everything can't be perfect (although I come very close). Unfortunately, my schedule is all messed up, just like last year. I have the same teachers for all of my classes, except World History, but the hours are all different between the two semesters. I also have different lunches in each semester. While at school, I put up my pictures and magnets in my locker and looked around at my classrooms. I only saw 2 of my friends, and so far, I don't think I have any classes with them. I'll have to wait a few days to find out if any of my friends who are in band share any of the same classes, because their registration is on the 31st. Apparently, they are still at Band camp. School starts in a little more than a week! Yikes, I'll actually have to wake up before 10:00! I'm starting to dread it, kind of like the above sign that I found on the Internet. Funny, isn't that. But really, all you have to do is replace the 4 for a 7, and it would fit perfectly! Until then...

Cupcakes, Hazardous Material, Oh My!

I haven't really blogged in a while, but then again, nothing has really happened. Currently, I am studying for my health test, which I am testing out of. I figure that I've already had health in 5th and 7th grade, as well as being on the Anatomy team for Science Olympiad, so I already know most of the stuff that I would have been learning. And the other stuff is probably about "managing our feelings" or something of that nature, which I don't need to spend any time learning, let alone a whole semester. The test is tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning. Talk about early; I'm usually not even awake by then! Unfortunately, the only friend that I know was testing out, decided to take the class instead.

In other news, yesterday, I was out driving around with my mom, when we ran into this huge commotion. We were getting off the highway, and traffic was backed up for a long time. We had to wait 10 minutes or so to even get off the exit ramp. Apparently, there was an overturned semi on the overpass that we would have gone on, if we hadn't have gotten off the highway, except on the other direction. There were police all over, a helicopter, and I even spotted a Hazardous Material Response car! The reason we had to wait was that the police were directing traffic around the accident, and off of the highway. The situation seemed pretty nasty. When we finally got through that mess, we drove to Staples to pick up some supplies for the upcoming school year. Since I reuse a lot of my supplies, and searched through the house for extra folders that were hiding in cabinets, I only needed 2 binders and some pens. But that didn't stop someone (not mentioning any names) from spending at least an hour there. After we finally left, we made couple more stops at Target (where I bought a button up t-shirt, some cute socks and underwear, and my mom got a bike picture frame and more hangers (really, how many of those does she need?)), Starbucks, etc. I managed to get an hour of driving time, which helps somewhat (even if I still need around 46 more).

In the past week or so, there hasn't been that much activity, but there are a few more things to mention. One, I made these really delicious peanut butter cupcakes with peanut butter icing. The recipe came with this milk chocolate glaze, but I decided that I'd much rather have more peanut butter to go with my peanut butter. Apparently, all you have to do to modify a normal frosting recipe is to replace the butter (or in our case, margarine) with peanut butter and add some more milk. Who knew it was so simple. I thought for sure that I was going to have to figure out how much I needed to replace, and write it down, but no. On top of the cupcake, I placed some of the peanut brittle that we had left over from our trip to Mackinac Island. And before you ask, they were delicious. They may even be the best cupcakes I've made. The second thing I should mention is that my sister made sugar cookies to compete with my cupcakes. She doesn't like frosting (I know, what a sin!), so the cookies were her substitute. I tried helping her, but basically just managed to get in the way. As expected, those were also good (although, one batch was cooked a little bit long). The last thing I want to mention is that we watched the movie The Right Stuff, per the recommendation of my oldest uncle. I must agree, it was very interesting movie. Although, it was more than 3 hours long, I enjoyed watching it immensely and would definitely recommend it. And that's pretty much it was far as excitement goes.

Driving Home

For all of those who were worried about me, worry no more! I arrived safely home on Thursday night. There were a few snafus along the way, but we all made it home in one piece. On Thursday morning, we woke up on Mackinac Island and ate our last breakfast at the Metivier Inn. I wanted to bring a bag up to the breakfast room, so that I could scoop some of their delicious granola into it to take home, but I decided that that might not be the best idea. Instead, "Sacajawea" got the name and number of the place where they bought the granola from. From there, we packed up all our clothing and rode down to the Shepler's ferry dock on Main Street. The plan was to take the 10:00 ferry back to St. Ignace, and from there drive home the scenic route. We were running a little early (can you believe it!), and arrived just as the 9:30 ferry was leaving. As it turned out, we had the boat to ourselves. I guess no one leaves the island on a Thursday at 10 in the morning. I would have to say that this was one of the more interesting ferry rides that I've been on. Right as we were leaving the harbor, we went over this ginormous wave that rocked the boat, and then the wind picked up. We had to hold onto our stuff so that nothing would blow overboard, not to mention that my hair blowing all over the place, mostly in my face. It made taking pictures quite hard. When we got back to dry land, we had to put all the bikes up and pack all our luggage, which took a while. But after that was accomplished, we were on the road again, and everything was pretty much uneventful.
The first stop on the route home was Harbor Springs, where we stopped to get lunch. My family has been there several times before when we went camping at Petosky State Park, but no one else had. It's a really pretty town, right along Lake Michigan. It's a little stuck up for my taste, but there are some nice stores there, and the view out to the lake is gorgeous. We ate at a restaurant named Turkey's, which was delicious. There was a little mix up on the seating and ordering, but when we got the food, it was all forgotten. Just like the last time we went there, my mom and I shared a garlic and cheese pizza. When we ordered four pizzas, my mom was worried that we were going to have a ton of leftovers, but as it turns out, only four pieces were left after everyone was done eating. I ate two pieces of my own pizza, and also two more of OMY and Aunt "Rose's" pizza, which was a ham, pepperoni, and sausage on a thicker crust. It was funny to count down the number of slices that were left, which went down quickly as people kept on grabbing more. When we were waiting for our food, some of us went down to look at this bookstore called "Between the Covers", which was actually in the basement of another store, and my mom visited the American Spoon store across the street from the resturant to stock up on jams and jellies. After leaving Harbor Springs, we drove ten miles away to Petosky, so that we could stop at this place called Roast and Toast to get some coffee and such. Unfortunately, there was traffic between the two towns, so it felt a lot longer than ten miles, especially with my cousin in the background complaining that she had to go to the bathroom.
The next stop on the road home was Charlevoix. The main attraction here were the mushroom houses. For those of you that don't know, mushroom houses are houses that have these undulating roofs that look like they should belong in a fairytale. After driving through this one area where most of the houses are, we got back on the road again. Charlevoix to my house is 4 hours away, and it was already around 4 PM. We had told the people watching Kingsley that we'd pick him up at around 8, so we had to hightail it out of there. Again, things were pretty uneventful until my oldest uncle, who was driving the car with all of us girls in it, stopped to get some gas. We were around an hour away from home, but when we tried to start the car again after getting gas, it just wouldn't. It would sound like it was starting, and then would just die again. After several calls to my dad, who was in the other car, and waiting for around 10 minutes or so, the car just started on its own. Just like that, as if nothing had happened. We called my dad back and drove home. After arriving back at home, we still had to pick up Kingsley, so we got back into the car and drove and got him. When we picked him up, his tail had been groomed so that it no longer looked like a bottle brush. It still looks kind of weird, but in the opposite way (I think it's too short).
Yesterday, my sister, OMY, mom, Aunt "Rose", and I piled into my aunt's pick-up truck and drove all the way to Kalamazoo, which is two hours away. The reason was to pick up these copper gutters that we had ordered for our house. We didn't want them to be shipped to us, that was too expensive, so the only other option was to drive over there and pick them up ourselves. On the way there, we texted questions to cha cha (a free question answering service), which amused us. Some of the things we asked were school mascots of towns around here, and other stupid stuff like that. We wanted to figure out if it was worth it to stop at a nearby Walmarts to buy some of the local school t-shirts. My favorite mascot that we found out was the Sturgis (South Dakota) Brown High School Scoopers. Really - look it up! Anyway, my aunt ended up buying a Kalamazoo Central High School Maroon Giants and a Paw Paw Redskins t-shirt. On the way back, we had to pick up our produce from the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). After that we just ate dinner and watched Star Trek (the new movie). I picked two cucumbers from our garden that were huge. They're basically the only thing that actually grown this year, everything else was either eaten by deers or just didn't turn out. As for today, there isn't anything exciting planned. My mom did make her branberry muffins for breakfast. Aunt "Rose" likes to call them "colon blow muffins" because of all the fiber in them, but they are actually really good. "Sacajawea" invited us all to her birthday party tonight. I might go, but other than that, nothing exciting. And for now, that's all I have to report.

Our Last Full Day :(

Up until this afternoon, today was pretty much the same as the past few days. "Sacajawea" and I woke up at 7 in the morning and rode around the island with my mom. Unlike the last two times, we stopped and took some pictures along the way. Some of them turned out really nice, I guess the time and lighting was just right. When we returned to the bed and breakfast, we ate breakfast, which, once again, was delicious. In addition to the normal granola and oatmeal, I also had some sausage links and tried this one coffeecake like thing that turned out to be too sweet for my taste buds.
Like yesterday, one group went horseback riding. This time, though, it was my dad and "Sacajawea" along with my cousin OMY. According to my sources ("Sacajawea, my dad, and OMY), the ride was relatively uneventful, but fun. The other group, which consisted of my sister, mom, and I, went on another bike ride around the island. It was a little later than usual, so the road were all clogged up with the day tourist that come in from the ferries around that time. One of the interesting things that we saw on the ride was this group of about 30 or so boys running around the island. I think that it was some cross country camp or something like that. Anyway, some of them didn't have shirts on, and I wasn't complaining! Hehe. After that ride, my mom and I met up with Aunt "Rose" at St. Anne's, a Catholic church on the island. Seeing as it's a Wednesday, there weren't many people at mass. It was kind of funny because you couldn't understand a word that the priest was saying. It was obvious that English wasn't his first language. The only time you could understand what he was saying was when he was singing the one song, for which he pulled out a guitar to accompany the music. It was actually pretty cool.
We kind of just sat around after we got out of mass for a while until we decided we were hungry enough to eat lunch. We decided on The Gatehouse which is another one of the restaurants run by the Grand Hotel. The food was okay, but we had a fiasco in the ordering. My sister's hamburger got messed up, but other than that, everyone was satisfied. My "trapper burger" was huge and delicious. After that, I wasn't very hungry.
Now we get to where the excitement starts; my dad, OMY, and I went mountain biking. After walking our bikes up Fort Hill, which exhausted us before we began, my brother decided that he wanted to go with us. So, my dad had to go down and find him, and go up Fort Hill for a second time. When they finally arrived, we went and saw Arch Rock. As the name indicates, Arch Rock is an arch of rock that was eroded a long time ago. From there, we went on the actual bike trails. For the most part, they weren't paved and had a bunch of rocks and roots in them. It was fun thought. We went and saw the Sugarloaf (another big rock), this cave, Friendship Alter, and Fort Holmes. I don't know what the name of the cave was, but it was really cool. It's not marked and to get there, there is a steep embankment. When my dad got down there, he found a geocache, and we weren't even looking. We had looked at the possibility of doing it before we left, but it didn't come to anything. As my oldest uncle said, "It's cache, not geo-cache, since they didn't use the geo." My brother left us early because he was complaining the whole time about getting dirty. I don't know why he came in the first place. Before he left, though, a tree fell on top of me. Really. I was quite a bit ahead of everyone else, and there were these branches in the road. I thought that I would just ride through them, and maybe get poked in the face or something. But apparently, the tree had other plans for me. When I rode through, I closed my eyes so I wouldn't get poked in the eye, and all of a sudden, I feel all this weight on me. When I open my eyes, the tree is on top of me. One branch was wrapped around my foot, and it pinned me down. OMY was the first one to reach me after the tree fell on top of me, and at first she was confused. I certainly would be if I came upon someone with a tree on top of them. I eventually got out of the entanglement, and my dad had to wrestle with the tree to get it off my bike. That was about the time my brother left.
After he left, we were trying to find Friendship Alter. When my dad and I went biking the last time we were here, the trail to it was obvious. This time, not so much. We eventually found it, but it was after much searching. After finding it and taking a bunch of pictures for posterity, we rode up British Landing Rd. to go see the highest point in the island, Fort Holmes. I wanted OMY to see it before she left, but man, it was exhausting. Not to mention the 119 steps we have to climb up to see it. The view, though, is definitely worth it. By then, we were thoroughly overheated and thirsty. We decided that we didn't really want to see anything more, and rode downhill back to our bed and breakfast. I don't think I've ever exercised so much in my entire life! Of course, we had to have ice cream for dinner. All the children went and got ice cream from Kilwin's on Main Street while the adults went to dinner at some restaurant we've never been to called Village Inn. Most of the excitement of the day had already passed by that time, and we haven't done much since then. I'm so sad that today was our last full day; tomorrow we take the ferry back to St. Igance. And now I must say goodbye (or hello?) to our last night at Metivier Inn.

The Empress Arrives

Our second day on the island has been action packed. First, my mom "Sacajawea", Aunt "Rose", and I went on a bike ride around the island before breakfast, waking up around 7 AM. When we rode around the island, there were almost no people because the first ferry hadn't arrived yet with all the day people. For most of the ride, I was on my own, in front of everyone else. I enjoyed just being by myself, riding as fast as I wanted to. We arrived back to the bed and breakfast for the excellent breakfast that I have been waiting to eat for a while. They have the best granola that they apparently buy from some Amish people in Wisconsin. Delicious!!!! After going on that bike ride, the food was especially tasty. From there, we split into two groups; my Aunt "Rose" and my cousin OMY went horseback riding, while everyone else (minus my oldest uncle, Aunt "Rose" and brother) went on another bike ride. We were going to stop at all the attractions, but since all the first timers on the island weren't on the ride, we decided that we would go tomorrow. By the end of the ride, my legs were sooo sore. Two rides back to back can to that to a person's legs. For those who went horseback riding, my aunt rode a horse named Jewel, and my cousin rode a horse named Oliver. Apparently, all Jewel wanted to do was eat, but other than that, and horse flies, it went okay. They came back around the same time that we did from our bike ride.
The main event today was going to visit Fort Mackinac. We went and ate lunch at the Fort Tea Room. The people around us and below us must have thought we are a pretty dysfunctional family. You see, we had bought two family passes on Fort Michilimackinac, but for that to work, OMY and "Sacajawea" had to pretend to be oldest uncle and Aunt "Rose's" children. As usual, they took it a little far. Actually, a little would be an understatement. They were yelling all sorts of things out, such as that OMY was an accident and "Sacajawea" was actually wanted, seeing as she was adopted. I ate a roast beef sandwich, which was the sandwich special of today. It was okay, but for this meal, it wasn't as much the food as the experience that mattered. After eating, we went around video taping tours of the buildings and such. We even found another black hole!! "Sacajawea" and OMY joined in on this dancing demonstration and OMY got to dance with one of the soldiers who had this pointy hat that we decided was used for stabbing people in the stomach. It was fun just walking around making stupid comments about stuff.
In between visiting the fort and dinner, we didn't really do much. The past few times that we don't eat dinner, but instead get ice cream. But this time, we decided to go out. Dinner tonight was at this fancy restaurant called the Woods. It's right next to this inn that used to be a mansion and apparently, the restaurant used to be the play house for the daughter. That's one lucky daughter. I was going to ride my bike there with my dad, but the roads are all wet because of the rain. So, I was forced into take the carriage there, which turned out to be not that bad. A little slow, but nice. On the way there, "Sacajawea" decided that she was the empress of the world. From then one, she has had two personalities- the empress and "Sacajawea". In her first, everyone is a servant or body guard or something of that sort. But in the second personality, we are all related. The guy who drove the carriage back to the bed and breakfast really had to put up with some, well, interesting behavior. "Sacajawea" was waving like a queen/beauty queen to random people on the street- her minions. It was pretty funny. We (and when I say we, I actually mean OMY and "Sacajawea") even fed the horses, Daisy and Bruce, an apple that was taken from the restaurant. The driver's probably still wondering what was wrong with us.
A few random things to mention are: you have to watch this one video on YouTube called "Jane Austen Fight Club." If you know anything about Jane Austen, it's really funny. Also, we saw a police car driving around our street! Yes, you read that right, a car! I know, gasp! We were taking some pictures in front of the bed and breakfast when all of a sudden, my brother yelled out, "Car" and we all had to look around like dogs to a squirrel. There were a few other funny things, but that pretty much raps things up for today.

More Up North Pics

"If they are all men, is it still Peeping Tom?"

"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to shoot you in the head"

"The Beginnings of Homosexuality/Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Up North Pics

At Java Joe's

Pasty

Up North

Yesterday was the start of our trip Up North. We left at around 7:30 in the morning and ate breakfast at Panera Bread. A few weeks ago, the plan was to go the scenic route along Lake Michigan, but my uncle (who wishes to be called "oldest uncle" to differentiate from my other uncles) had mentioned that he wanted to see some reenactments. So, we decided to drive straight to Mackinaw City and visit Fort Michilimackinac, which is right on the water. We bought some pasties ("Pah-stee", turnovers with meat: a UP specialty) and cookies from this one restaurant, and ate them on the park. We've gone there before, and they're really tasty. When we went into the fort, my camera decided to die, so I couldn't take any pictures inside the fort. It was really fun looking around. Some of the more interesting parts were the 8 person lavatories, and the many black holes (what they called these dark closets that misbehaving soldiers were put). There was also this house with a bunch of beds put together where the soldiers all slept together, and a bunk bed that was supposed to fit 2 solders in one bed. We took a picture and captioned it "the beginnings of homosexuality/don't ask don't tell".
After that we drove over the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace. We checked into the hotel that we were staying the night and walked into town. After walking around town and buying some gossip magazines at the bookstore, we went and got ice cream from Mom's Ice Cream. I chose almond joy, and it was delicious. We all went swimming in the pool, and then went to eat dinner at Java Joe's. Everyone ordered pizza; Smoked whitefish for my sister's friend "Sacajawea" and I; ham and bacon for my sister and OMY; deep dish for my aunt "Rose", oldest uncle, mom, and dad; and pepperoni for my brother. Then at night, there was also a bonfire at the hotel where we toasted marshmallows.
Today, we woke up early so that we could get breakfast from Java Joe's. My sister, who never eats breakfast food, was a little grumpy because she couldn't get pizza for breakfast, but the rest of us were happy with our pancakes, omelettes, and french toast. It has been raining all day, so we had to sit on the bottom level of the ferry to Mackinac Island. We couldn't sign into our rooms at Metivier Inn, so we walked around looking at the shops on Main Street. "Sacajawea" bought some stuff for her siblings at this toy store called Caddywampus. I believe they included a microphone shaped sponge and finger moustache tattoos for her brother and bacon lip balm and a cat butt coin purse for her sister. Haha. We went and ate lunch at the Ice House, which was good as well. I ate a chicken Cesar wrap, which was the special of the day. By the time we were done, it was pouring outside, and even with my rain coat, I still got wet. We plan on getting ice cream and maybe see a movie later, and that is the extent of our activities today.
On a different note, we've been seeing a bunch of people that we recognize. First, we saw this bicycle guy at the Panera Bread that we ate breakfast at, who, apparently, comes there often. And then we saw him again at Fort Michilimackinac!! We also saw my pre-school teacher at Java Joe's and my sister's friend's family (minus the friend) here on Mackinac Island! Not to mention that my mom swears that she saw the same people at the fort and here on Main Street and my brother said he saw someone from school. Creepy!!! Anyway, we've decided that it's "dry" enough to go on a bike ride, so au revoir!

Praise the Lord (PTL)

It's been a few days since the last time I blogged, but I swear, I have a good reason! On Saturday, my uncle, Cousin OMY, and Aunt "Rose" arrived about 5 PM or so. Since then, several things have happened. Some rather interesting things.

Today, my cousin OMY, Aunt "Rose", mom, sister, and I all went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn. For those who don't know what Greenfield Village is, I'll explain. It's a collection of old renovated or reproduction buildings such as Noah Webster's home. We've been going forever, but this was my cousin's first trip there. We left early because the forecast was that there were going to be severe thunderstorms around 1 or 2 PM. Luckily, the downpour didn't start until after we left at around 3 PM. While there, we walked around and looked at all the houses and such. One of the buildings was a country doctor, whose "extract of wahoo" you can see in the picture. My cousin and aunt wanted to go on a horse-drawn carriage ride, so they went and got a "ride pass", which lets you go on unlimited amounts of carriage/Model-T/carousel rides. My mom, sister, and I went and got ice cream in the meantime. I got a vanilla cone dipped in butterscotch, but since it was about 90 degrees F outside, quite a bit of the ice cream dripped onto my hands, arms, around my face, and surprisingly, my legs. I had to lean over so that I didn't drip anything onto my clothing. After that, everyone, minus my mom, rode a Model-T around the village. It was the second time that I have rode them, but this time it seemed shorter. Also, the driver wasn't that talkative, either. Because they had free rides to the merry-go-round, Aunt "Rose" and OMY decided that they couldn't pass it up, and rode around once. It was pretty funny. By then, the rain clouds were coming in, and we decided that it was time to leave. Speaking of funny, both my cousin and aunt wore their "Effingham Hearts" t-shirts that they picked up at a Walmart's in Illinois on the way up. I swear, they must have been stopped 5 or 6 times and asked about it. One guy even hesitated to pronounce Effingham, which is pronounced just as you would imagine it to be. Hilarious!

Since my relatives arrived, we have been playing either Apples to Apples or Mexican Train Dominoes almost every night. Last night, I won two out of the three games that we played of Apples to Apples. Let's just say that the experience was... interesting. Most of the times that we play, it's after desert, so we're a little hyper. We now have this new catch phrase that we randomly burst out and say: "PRAISE THE LORD". Just like that, in all caps, while raising your hands, palms out. You would probably recognize it if you saw it. Anyway, we've shortened it to PTL, which I texted to a bunch of my friends, who returned my message with equal parts confusion and bemused. For now that's all, but I'm sure that there will be many more interesting to report in the next few days.

Duck Crossing

Not much has happened in the past few days, but there were a couple of occurrences. A few days ago, we were out shopping or something, and we came to where there were a bunch of cars were stopped on the road for no apparent reason. Well, when we got to the front of the traffic jam, we saw that there was this gaggle of geese taking their sweet time to cross the road. It was hilarious! As soon as one crossed our lane, a new one would start the journey across the road. We were probably stopped for at least 5 minutes. And this wasn't on some deserted country road. No, this happened on a busy road, and traffic was stopped in both directions. Pretty funny-not something you see everyday.

Today, my mom and I went to the Secretary of State to get my driver's permit. We had to bring in a bunch of things in, and I had to take an eye test, but now, I can drive with authorized persons (by my parents) above the age of 21. While out, we went everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I swear, after getting my permit, we must of criss-crossed all over town 5 different times. Exhausting. The weather has been really mild here for the past few days; the mid 70's, partly cloudy. My mom called aunt "Rose" (who FYI is still in the family picture, "watching in SD" ) to tell her how hot it is up here, seeing as it's around 100 F where they are. Apparently, she responded by telling my cousin, who is coming up to Michigan with my (and her) aunt and uncle, to make sure she packs a coat because it's going to be cold up here. I can just imagine them being bundled up in 70 F weather. Anyway, they are supposed to arrive here on Saturday. The date used to be Friday, but the widow people who are re-doing the windows decided that they are coming on Thursday. That's all for now... until my relatives come up.

Coming Home

We got back home safe and sound on Monday. At midnight. We wanted to leave around 7 in the morning or there abouts, but it didn't quite turn out that way. First my brother lost his phone, and we had to spend an hour or so looking for it. Unfortunately, it was on vibrate, as phones always are when you lose them. We searched all over the house and called it a few times, but it didn't turn up. So we left without it, or so we thought. It turned out to be in my brother's suitcase the whole time. Funny how that works out. The plan was that we would eat at Panera Bread a while down our route. But before we ate, we had to stop at a fireworks store and stock up on firecrackers and fountains before we left Missouri. We didn't even get to St. Louis until 1 PM, and there's still 10 hours after that. Before we continued, we had to stop and get ice cream at Ted Drewes. I got a brownie and cookie dough concrete (which is like a blizzard), which was so big that it served as my lunch, as well. Even Kingsley got a doggy dish (he was so full from the ice cream that he didn't eat dinner). Add in a few more stops, and a spilt tea, you get home at midnight. Much hasn't happened in the past few days, we're just recovering from vacation. We have been watching episodes from The Man from U.N.C.L.E, which is really funny, even if it's not trying to be. My dad wanted to see it, since he remembered watching it as a kid, and we rented the first few DVDs from the library. Apparently, there's always an attractive woman who helps, but she has to get her hair mussed up. It's like a rule, or something. I also finished my third book for summer reading, The Pearl by John Steinbeck. It was an easy read, and I found it quite interesting. Now I only have one more to read.For now, that's pretty much it.

One More Video

I forgot to put the best video that I took of the fireworks. This is either the beginning or the finale, I can't remember.

Summer Lovin'

I have a lot to catch up on since I haven't blogged in a few days. The first thing I should talk about is our trip to Monett, Missouri on Tuesday. My grandma, mom, sister, two aunts, and I went along for the ride. Our first stop was going to be a restaurant to eat lunch, but the first one we went to was only open Wednesday to Saturday! In fact, almost none of the stores in Pierce City were open on a Tuesday. Strike One. So, we decided to try this restaurant that my Aunt "Rose" had seen written up in the Monett newspaper, a Cajun restaurant. But when we drove to where it was supposed to be, there was a "for lease" sign on the window. Strike Two. Feeling a bit discouraged and saying that we could always eat at McDonald's (yeah right) we decided to try this restaurant that we had seen driving to the first restaurant. It was called The Bayou, and it actually turned out to be the second restaurant that we had tried to find. The story behind it was that the owners moved up to Monett from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (I think), where they had been chefs. I got this "po-boy sandwich" with roast beef and debris gravy. Although it was extremely messy, with gravy dripping down my hands, it was soooo delicious. While there, my aunt threw up in the bathroom from backseat car sickness (she drove after that), and we saw this sign with the daily specials on it that said "1/2 off whole muff," as in muffeletta. After eating, we went into Monett to see this house where my great-grandparents lived when they were alive. We wanted to take pictures of it, but someone was on the porch. We didn't think that it would be appropriate to take pictures. We also stopped a really cool coffee shop called Mocha Jo's. I didn't get anything, but it was very interesting.

Other than that, there have been a few incidents. There were several spectacular falls off the wave runner. Uncle "Frank" went on it for the first time in two years or so, while doing donuts, fell off. He couldn't get back on, so he tried steering from the water, but he only accomplished going in circles. My brother had to go out and save him. The other one was when my aunt and my cousin went on. For the first few minutes, they went really slow. As soon as they picked up the pace, my aunt, who had the key, was thrown off the wave runner and it stopped immediately. My cousin had to drive it back in by himself while my aunt swam in. It was about that time when I saw lightning, and we had to go in.

Yesterday differed a little from the other days. My sister, parents, and I all drove up to Kansas City to take a tour of UMKC (University of Missouri - Kansas City). It was a four hour drive up from the lake house, but I was bribed with Hi-boy's. For those who don't know what Hi-boy's is, let me enlighten you. It is a 50 year old chain of 3 fast food restaurants in the Kansas City area that have the best hamburgers, onion rings, and tater tots. I got a plain hamburger and a cookie dough cyclone (which is an ice cream treat like a blizzard). The tour of the campus itself was pretty boring, but it was a nice campus. There was some mix-up with the tour, so we got a private tour, which was nice. I got a t-shirt with their mascot the "angry kangaroo" on it. Sounds vicious, doesn't it. We also went by my grandparent's house, but no one was there. That's pretty much the summation of my activities in the past few days.