The End is Near

Kelsey Museum of Archeology

The end of August is nearing, and you know what comes with that...school (gasp of horror)! Yes, the school year is drawing near, like it does every year (can't you just sense my excitement). Once again, the district has decided to make the first day a full day, which I, personally, find stupid, because you don't do anything on that day - why draw it out longer than you have to. But let's stop dwelling on negative thoughts and look back on this year's summer. As summers go, it was nice - I slept in, spent a lot of time outside, read a lot, and did go on vacation once. Yet, I cannot say it was any better than any previous summers. I always find it interesting that at the end of the school year, you (or at least I do) always tell friends that you are going to see each other over the summer and keep in touch, but except for one of my friends, I have only seen my friends in passing. But other than that depressing fact, I've enjoyed myself lately.
On Friday, August 19th, my mom, sister, and I all went to Ann Arbor for the day, which is quite a bit more exciting than the usual fare. First, we went to the Kelsey Museum of Archeology on the University of Michigan campus. When you first walk up to the museum, you see this cool, old building that doesn't look that large. I didn't think that it would take more than an hour to look at everything. Little did I know that the museum is entirely in a newer addition, and quite extensive. I find history to be interesting, so not only did I have to look at everything, I (as well as my mom) had to read every sign, which stretched things out a bit... I think my favorite things were the Egyptian mummies and this recreation of the "Hall of Mysteries" - a room from a house in Pompeii that was buried in the historical volcano eruption. The room was really colorful and had paintings on all the walls, but the interesting thing is that archaeologist aren't really sure who owned the house and what the paintings on the wall are supposed to represent.
After spending a few extra hours than expected in the museum, it was time for lunch, so we went to this relatively new restaurant called Sava's. I got a turkey Reuben, which was pretty good - other than it had a little too much dressing - but the most memorable was the hummus appetizers that my mom and I split. As the name suggests, the appetizers had hummus, as well as delicious pita chips and fresh vegetables. It was very good. From the restaurant, we went to this vintage store across the street, and I got a bunch of vintage dresses. Unfortunately, one of them turned out to be not so nice - the hem was coming out, and there were stains, as well as being see-through (we tried to find a slip, but couldn't find any good ones) - but the rest were very pretty. We also went to Urban Outfitters, where I got this purple lacy dress that I had seen earlier, but had sold out when we went back. After that shopping spree, we briefly visited the University of Michigan art museum, and then drove over to Zingerman's/Kerrytown, where my sister and I got milkshakes from Sweetwater Cafe (I think that's the name...). By that time, it was pretty late, and we still had to pick up our CSA (community supported agriculture) food from the farm. When we finally got home, my dad made homemade deep dish pizza. Words really can't describe how delicious that pizza was.
In addition to that outing, I have been working my butt off at my neighbor's house for five hour stretches, went on a bike ride with my sister and friend, and studiously preparing for AP Chemistry by reading and taking notes in two (not one, but two) of the suggested supplemental chemistry textbooks for the summer. I've also went to registration for last Tuesday, but didn't see really anyone, which was a bit of a disappointment. I have no idea if any of my friends have the same classes as me, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. At least I (and when I say I, I really mean my sister) decorated my locker. In the near future (tomorrow), I am taking segment two of driver's ed. That should be a blast. The only reason why I will be able to endure the pointless classes - not to mention the early wake up - is that it will get me closer to getting my driver's license - not that I really have anywhere to go. Either my sister or my mom will be driving me to and from school, I don't really go over to friend's houses, and I work across the street. Maybe I'll change my mind about the usefulness of a license when I actually have one. And that is pretty much how the rest of my summer is going to play out - sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Totally Awesome!!

If it really is the thought that counts, then I should get some credit for all the times I thought about blogging, then got distracted by other things. As it is, I haven't blogged for some time, so there is some catching up to, into which I will dive headfirst. The first eventful thing that happened to me since my last post occurred on Monday, August 1st. Some of you might be wondering what happened the six days between my last blog and that day. In one word - nothing, or at least nothing worth noting. But back to August 1st - the day that my sister, friend, and I went bike riding. The bike ride itself was pretty uneventful. It was a bit warmer than would be considered comfortable, and my sister (as usual) was speeding up in front, forcing my friend and I to go faster than we wanted, but other than that, we had a good time. What was interesting about this outing is that, after calling my dad to figure out how to put the bikes back on the bike rack, my sister accidentally left her phone on the bumper of the car. Unfortunately, this mistake was not realized until we reach home, at which point a frantic search commenced. We (my sister and I) even retraced our path, hoping that we would be able to spot the phone on the side of the road. We had no such luck. But I guess that God was smiling upon us (or at least my dad), because, later that day when my dad came home from work and he and I went out searching for the lost phone, we (or should I say my dad) found it on the side of the road. Needless to say, it did not survive being flung off the bumper at 30 mph - more specifically, the screen was cracked. Since then, my sister has been using my dad's cell phone with her sd card inside, and until she gets a new phone, that will be the case.

Other than that exciting adventure, my life has consisted of a few high points. Most notably, my sister had a A Very Potter Musical party on the Thursday after our Monday adventure. Originally, she had invited quite a few people, but by the time the day rolled around, only five or so attended. Even with the reduced number of people (or maybe because of the the reduced number...), we still managed to have a good time. For those of you who don't know what A Very Potter Musical is, I will enlighten you. It is a very humorous musical that was created by University of Michigan students a few years ago that combines most of the novels into one storyline. For those of you who are Glee fans, Darren Criss (who currently is in the aforementioned TV show) plays Harry Potter. I would highly recommend looking it up on Youtube, as well as its sequel, A Very Potter Sequel. Anyway, back to the party. I dressed up as Ron (minus the red hair), who, in the musical, wears a gray sweater over a white button-up shirt, black pants, and a sweatband - which is where he places his rather over sized wand. We had hamburgers for dinner, and ate s'mores, cookies, and Red Vines (which play a starring role in the sequel) for dessert/snacks while watching the musical. All in all, the evening was quite enjoyable. If anyone is interested, here is the link for Act 1, Part 1 of A Very Potter Musical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmwM_AKeMCk. Watch it; it's good.

Other exciting news from my life is that I finished all my summer reading stuff a week or so ago. I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in one day, if you can believe it. And now that I've finished reading all the books that I checked out from the library (for my own pleasure), I am going to start looking over the chemistry books my mom bought me to look over during the summer - better late than never, right? Going back to specific activities, my sister, mom, and I went on a college tour at Michigan State University. From all my trips there for the state competition of Science Olympiad, I knew my way around, but the trip wasn't completely useless - I learned some information about the school itself, and I also got ice cream out of the deal (not during the tour, though). Also, I've been working quite a bit lately (sometimes 5 hours a day) helping my neighbor clean her house and have been bringing home the bacon. If you add in taking multiple walks each day and reading like there's no tomorrow, that's pretty much been my life these past few weeks. That's all I have to report for now. Hopefully the hiatus between posts will be a bit shorter next time.