Too much to do

It's almost 10 and this is the current state of affairs:

- I just practiced bassoon (Have yet to touch the high school music. Will do that over the weekend)
- The bassoon is still out
- My room is a mess
- The bassoon water spilled and although everything's fine, the rug is still damp
- I have an algebra project due tomorrow that's MOSTLY done
- I have German homework due Friday that I'm going to wind up doing tomorrow as well
- Dad came home and I recorded Ginger flipping out. I'll probably cut the best and upload it sometime.
- I really wanted to shower and get to bed earlier than 10:30
- I also wanted to post on three various roleplays
- And that looks like it's not happening

At least tomorrow's Wednesday

Because I'm getting sick of long days at school. Seven weeks seems a lot longer on the post-side of spring break than on the pre-side of it. I'm also ready for those seven weeks to be over.

Feeling artistic

As today was rather dull, cold, and rainy, I decided to get Mike's MIDI keyboard and hook it up to GarageBand. I got fairly well into two projects: a cover of "Sally's Song" from Nightmare Before Christmas:



And "Falling Slowly" from Once:



No vocals yet, but I'm about halfway through everything else on "Falling Slowly". "Sally's Song" is going to be a lot more difficult, since it's a lot of arranging. Luckily, I have the sheet music.

Back from vacation

Tomorrow Mike and I go back to school, and I should probably be looking at my science notes and getting my lunch money. However, Aubrey is on, so that'll have to wait.

Out of FL and into AL

After eight or nine hours of driving, we made it to Alabama. We did actually consider spending an extra night in DeLand, but decided that a 14 hour drive would just be too hard.

Tomorrow we're driving back to Kentucky and getting back into the swing of things before school Monday. Spring Break went too quickly!

End of Florida Adventures

Though they technically end tomorrow afternoon.

Tonight I managed to upload about 40 songs to my iPod that I had bought forever ago but was never able to download because of Internet problems. They're all there, though, and now I need to sync them. I also need to charge my cell phone and put away my bassoon, now that I think of it.

T'was fun!

My favorite college picture

For those of you who know Avenue Q, you know that Princeton was looking to find his purpose after college. Look what I found at Rollins:

This blog will end tomorrow

...but not really. Happy April 1st.

To commence the see-all-the-best-picture-winning-movies-extravaganza and Mike, Mom, and I are planning on doing this year, we all watched Slumdog Millionaire. I liked it better in theatres, mostly because you could read the subtitles in the beginning for when they're all speaking Hindi. "Jai Ho" is still the most epic Bollywood dance, and I think that we should all learn it and dance that rather than "Soulja Boy".

On the way to Orlando

Today's college trip is Rollins in Orlando, and it sounds like we're having lunch at Blackbean Deli beforehand. Might be afterward, but it'll be 11 or so once we're in Orlando, and I didn't eat much for breakfast. Knowing that we spent all day at FSU, it'd be nice if it wasn't afterward. Lunch might be at 8 PM then.

Back from Karen Kastle

The high school shot down the idea of letting me shadow Karen at school tomorrow, and so today was the final day. We slept in until about nine and delayed really getting ready until about ten thirty or so. To sink into the day, we watched an episode of NCIS---Karen tried to turn me onto it, but it's not my thing.

We also failed at Guitar Hero. I played drums and could not believe that I was that pathetic after being in band. It looked like I had no internal sense of rhythm.

I still have to upload the latest Karen and Alicebelle Show, which I still have to put in its final format. T'was fun seeing you, Karen!

Karen Kastle: Day II

Today went just swimmingly! It started at about ten thirty or so, as Karen is a late sleeper and I myself am always happy to spend an extra hour lying in bed, wondering what to do next with my book/fanfiction/rough draft. We did manage to pull ourselves out of the vacuum that is sleep, and roughly an hour later we were ready to start the day's activites: shopping for Karen's trip to Disney.

I did wind up buying a couple things for myself, though. At Ross's I bought this amazing sleeveless white hoodie with various blue-and-pink splotches on it. It was a complete score---I saw one just like it at Kohl's (our second stop) for about $40. I managed to get mine for about $7. Score!

Much in the idea of getting a new swimsuit that really fits (Read: without WHALES on it) I looked around the selection at Kohl's and decided to try on a tankini and a bikini that were both the same style, the bikini just for laughs.

Oddly enough, I liked it a lot better than the tankini. The tankini "fit" in the way that it wasn't choking me or just hanging on my shoulders, but just stood there draped like a ghost costume. It had no form, and, to be blunt, was rather frumpy. Not quite as ugly as the infamous Whale Suit, but still not my cup of tea.

The bikini was actually amazing. It felt comfortable, much to my surprise. I thought it would be like swimming in my underwear or something like that. Actually, it really fit, and looked really good. Even though I had a nagging thought that I should check in with Mom (Who bought the Whale Suit back in October) I put it in my shopping cart and paid for it. If I come across a pool in the near future, I am so jumping into it to finalize the purchase.

Upon arriving home, Karen and I spent most of the afternoon editing the second installment of the Karen and Alicebelle Show, which we filmed TWICE last night after stupid iMovie deleted the original film before putting it into an event. We widdled down 34 minutes of footage into about nine minutes (Actually twelve and then we widdled some more) and I'll be posting that the next time I get Internet that might support a large video upload (I'm on Mimi's computer right now---with permission, of course.)

Tomorrow, Karen doesn't have school, so we're going to be alone in the house. We have plans of Guitar Hero, and Karen wants me to show her some of the makeup that I use, as we weren't able to get to that today. If all goes well, I'll be going to school with her tomorrow. If not, we're going to pull a Wicked and have our One Short Day in the "Emerald City" (DeLand) and pack as much best friendliness into a day as humanly possible.

Any pictures that we take will be coming with the video---once I have faster Internet on my computer!

Arrival at Karen Kastle

We are expecting several days of fun and mischief in our once-every-blue-moon-get-together! :-D

Movie marathon

Today started a good two hours later than yesterday, as we didn't have a college tour to go on (Our feet still hurt). The drive from Tallahassee to DeLand was a lot better than expected, especially since we were running away from bad weather. We got to DeLand at about 1:30---much better than 3, which we had originally intended.

I watched most of Phantom in the car today, after not seeing it for about two years. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't react to it the way I thought I would. By the final scene I was trying not to laugh, I have to admit. For one I was also half-listening to Little Shop of Horrors while Madame Giry lead Raoul to the catacombs. Then I noticed when he fell into the Watery Pit of Doom, it reminded me of King Aurthur in Holy Grail. Just gallop gallop gallop WHOOPS!

Oh, and the facial expressions and some of his Captain-Obvious lines cracked me up. The finale used to be my favorite scene and if Emmy wasn't singing a reprise of "Angel of Music" I think I would have broken the silence.

In DeLand we had dinner at Bellini's as the usual Welcome-To-Florida dinner. Much to everyone's suggestion, I watched Red Eye, which was claimed to be a sort of Wait Until Dark. I think I like Wait Until Dark better, but Red Eye was pretty amazing. It was oddly connected to my misadventure in Chicago, right down to the fact that Jackson Rippner kind of looked like the person I sat next to on the way from Chicago to Louisville. I never want to fly again, I think.

But now the final movie for the night is Drop Dead Gorgeous, which is lightning the mood a fair bit. I think it might be one of the funniest movies I've seen in awhile---aside from Phantom, that is.

DISCLAIMER: I still love the show Phantom and the movie is great too.

Spring Break: Day 3

I think I want to start renting this hotel room and just live in Tallahassee. I've never met so many freakishly nice people in one place, and I absolutely loved FSU. Mike took a lot of pictures, and I took a few that I have yet to upload and go through. I'll probably edit them in the car tomorrow so as to have something else to blog: tomorrow will be mostly "Drove 5 hours. Got to DeLand. Bellini's is good."

Spring Break: Day 2

Greetings from Tallahassee! The university is beastly (touring tomorrow) and the people at the front desk are awfully friendly. They gave us a choice of 2nd or 3rd floor, and when stated that there was no real opinion, decided to give us 3rd so we wouldn't be disturbed by "noisy people above". And the waitress at Outback returned the credit card that Mom accidentally forgot. I have a feeling my social studies teacher would approve of Tallahassee for said reasons.

Spring Break: Day 1

After a somewhat-better day at school, we finished packing up our various belongings and hit the road at about 4:40. Closer to 8 eastern time (7 central time) we got to the hotel after a lovely drive of sunflower seeds and Avenue Q.

Getting ready for Florida

I just finished my clothes and putting together my bundle of DVD's. I need to finish my book at school tomorrow, and in the morning I'll sync my I-pod. After school I'll throw together the bassoon, my makeup, and my bag-o-surprises, and then we'll hopefully be on the road.

I can't wait to see you all, Florida peeps! And uber-excited to make Episode II of the infamous Karen & Alicebelle show. I'm looking at you, Karen! ;-)

About a blog

This is my 500th post! I remember being so excited when I reached my first hundred, and since then I haven't payed much attention. A couple days back, though, I noticed the post count at a ridiculous 496 and it struck me: apparently, I'm persistent. At least persistent in the way that I can blog for over a year straight without having a midlife crisis before I'm out of middle school.

In other news, my video Schwimmen! has been selected to compete at the state level of Foreign Language Festival in the German category! Mike snagged 1st in the regions competition and I got 2nd, which I thought booted me out of State...until my German teacher told me while she checked my homework (Kapitel Sieben vocabulary cards).

What I actually did last night

- Watch Tarzan on YouTube

Possibly one of the greatest animated movies ever---with music by "Rockstar Phil Collins", as they would say on Disney Channel back when it came out ten years ago (Was it really that long ago? I remember getting it on VHS in my parent's room back in Hawaii.)

I'm going to make it very clear, like I did to Aubrey, that despite how much I obsess about how amazing Kerchak was, I most certainly do NOT have a crush on an animated gorilla. And I'm like, being serious. My friends and I would know all about animated crushes, and I do not have one. Right now, at least.

Bad news? I stayed up until three watching it, as I found the first part on YouTube at about one and only planned on watching the first sequence. Don't ask why I didn't just search "Two Worlds".

Plans for tonight

Things of note that have already occurred:

- Played piano for about an hour, figuring out a lot more of Sun & Moon
- Watched Kramer vs. Kramer with Mom

Things I'll be doing until bed:

- Reading the synopsis of Carmen
- Catching up on AOL news
- HOPEFULLY writing a chapter or so in my fanfiction

Oh, and today will be my final winter post. Tomorrow will legally start "spring"!

A night on the town

Typically, it doesn't involve orthodontist appointments, picking up dog food from the vet, getting your order wrong at Panera (but only slightly wrong) and going to Youth Orchestra.

Rehearsal tonight went by oddly quickly, and most of the pieces seem to be pulling together really well. About five minutes before the actual rehearsal began, a few of my friends and I decided to have a mini-rehearsal, where we played random bits of songs we liked and did one of our favorites that we rarely get to go over---the medley for "Pirates of the Caribbean" (To include the songs "Singapore", "Hoist the Colours", and "Drink Up Me Hearties"). It was only the second time of me playing it with a group, but it went a lot better than it did the first time! I do admit to playing "Singapore" in band when there's nothing better to be done.

Tomorrow is the Recruit the 6th Graders concert with the high school. I represent the one-chair bassoon section to convince people to play the bassoon (even though I doubt they will, and either way I'd want to be able to keep the middle school bassoon next year). For my instrument demo, I'm playing a section from the Davy Jones theme. The music we're playing is stuff that I actually had to work a little bit on, which is a welcome change from the Christmas concert, where we had no percussion and thus had...limited choices, one might say.

Splash of today's roleplaying

Presenting my character Eli from Aubrey's Swords and Shields:

"Thank ya, ma’am,” Eli said, nodding and taking the seat. True, he could have just sat down there anyway—he had enough power over enough of the slums to which he could likely find and claim a chair…

His eyes surveyed the hideaway with a quick left-to-right before settling on Triston. “So,” he pondered, “I know you well enough to know you didn’t just call me up for a visit.”

Sleep: what keeps me awake

Today was the Foreign Language Fest, which was actually a lot of fun! My two events (Writing and Oral Proficiency) were right next to each other, so I was able to enjoy myself for most of the day. I met up with several of my YTHC friends at the student center for lunch (Chick-fil-A) and it was nice catching up with them. Then, I waited outside for about an hour with about eight of the other Fort Knox-ers.

My results were okay, I think. I got 2nd place in Level I Writing and 2nd place in German Videos: All Levels. Mike snagged first, but I personally liked his video better than mine so I'm not too upset. And he pointed out that maybe we should make movies together as we're (apparently) the "best" German filmmakers in the region. I do wonder if anyone else even made a video though.

We all got back to school for the final ten minutes or so, and then it was the school dance. To put it bluntly, I could have done without going to the dance. It was two and a half hours out of my afternoon (and I have three tests tomorrow!), and I spent two hours of that against a wall, being anti-social.

I understand most of the German for the chapter six test, though. There's one thing I need to look over for social studies tomorrow, and we get 15 minutes to study in science. I think I'll be good.

And now to go to bed. Sorry for not posting as Eli or Jack today, Aubrey and Maya, but maybe tomorrow.

Setting the default

Today at school could have been better. So rather than complaining, here's a picture that I set as both my MySpace and Facebook defaults of me in my element tonight:



(That's an F# I'm playing if you wanted to know)

Airport update

I missed my flight back to Kentucky, so I'm waiting in the airport for another hour until the next Louisville flight starts boarding. I'm dropping everything at three, even though boarding starts at about 3:10. Last time, they didn't make an announcement (or if they did it was in Jibberish) and NO did not page me, despite what they said (again, maybe in Jibberish?) So if I miss this flight, I think I'm going to go insane.

I'm not impressed by Chicago.

Blogging from Harrisburg Airport

My flight back to Kentucky (by way of Chicago O'Hare) is delayed, so I have about and hour at the airport. On the plus side, though, there's an outlet in the terminal and free WiFi. I'm IMing with Maya, and just catching up on my Internet rounds. There's nothing terribly exciting to report, but free WiFi makes me happier than almost anything else, and so I figured I might as well get one thing out of the way.

I'll be back in Kentucky late afternoon, though.

End of Carlisle Adventures

Dad and I just got back from the evening's activities. We went out to eat at one of his favorite local places---AliBi's, which is this really nice pub-restaurant. I had perhaps the largest burger I've ever had, and most likely one of the best.

After dinner, we headed over to the theatre at Dickinson College to see the youth theatre perform Mulan. It was really well put together! They only had 19 rehearsals before dress rehearsal week, but it was more or less flawless. Mulan herself was a freshman at one of the high schools, and had a lovely voice with a lot of vibrato that, as I know, people her age typically only dream about. Mushu was also quite adorable, and she seemed to be having a lot of fun.

To top off the evening on a sweet spot, we had a bit of ice cream. I had strawberry, which I haven't had in awhile. I was craving a change from vanilla---so this is to you, Mom! I had a flavor for once! So I believe I did you proud.

Carlisle update

I landed at about noon, and after spending a little time exploring around Hershey, Dad and I headed over to Carlisle. It's a really nice little place, awfully quiet and everything's so close together.

We had dinner at this really cute Italian place called "Vinny's Italian", much like a neighborhood version of Fazoli's. Then (after a brief stop to CBS to get some cough drops and batteries) it was to the movies to see Slumdog Millionaire. To put it in a word?

EPIC.

Off to see the Wiz---er, Dad

In ten minutes we'll be off to the airport (by way of McDonalds for a quick thing of breakfast) so I can get on my flight to go and see Dad. I need to turn the computer off, though, so to be short and sweet, I'll post when I get there! (Or several hours afterwards.)

PS- Aubrey, since there is sadly no WiFi in the middle of the sky yet I still have my word processor, you can bet your lucky stars that I'm going to write a chapter or so.

How I spent my sick day: part 4

All right, this had best be the last part of the saga. I'm sick of being sick.

I actually did wake up at six this morning with full intentions of going to school. Mike pointed out that grades were pretty much done and that I sounded horrible, so there wouldn't be much of a point going. Still, I had some German homework that I needed to turn in---rather wanted, actually, because my teacher kept telling me to stay home and not to worry about it---and some algebra.

So I went to school long enough to figure out it was a bad idea to come, turn in my homework, and get ten minutes into algebra. By then I decided to call my mom and tell her I felt like crap. Upon returning home, I spent the rest of the morning napping with the dog.

Tonight I was freaking out because I felt as if I were going to pass out again, even though I had eaten AND drank ample amounts. Before it worsened, I decided to lay down on the couch----good move, and everything turned out just swimmingly.

I just finished all the packing I can do tonight for my trip tomorrow. Since I'm going to have about four hours total of flight time, I'm going to try and get some good writing time in, since I'll have no Internet.

Now that I think about it, I'm grabbing my DS and charger. I've been into the Poke-craze again, and in Sapphire version I just got to Slateport (Don't worry if that means nothing to you.)

How I spent my sick day: part 3 (but carrying on from part 2)

Today, I believe, is the final installment for whatever cold or fake-flu I have. I'm feeling a lot better, but that didn't come without a couple bumps and bruises (literally).

To start out from last night:

- I hardly ate or drank because it hurt my stomach
- I did the dishes and cleaned my room so I wouldn't feel guilty about it
- I began feeling nauseous and was about to ask my mom to finish them for me
- Rather I just said I'm going to bed...and walked to the stove
- Stood there for a few seconds
- And blacked out
- Hitting my arm on the stove and my tailbone of the floor

I literally thought it was a dream. I had some song from Aladdin in my head (I think it was "Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me" put to the animation for "Prince Ali") and my mom sounded completely distant. I didn't open my eyes immediately, thus seeing more Genie. When she asked what I was doing, I meekly said "...washing dishes" and apparently began crying. It HURT!

So we went to the hospital despite my insistence of just letting me go to bed. We waited for three hours, watching The Biggest Loser, Law and Order SVU (Which was actually hospital related, surprise surprise) and Jay Leno. After another three hours of both treatment and MORE waiting (with an IV in my arm, despite what my mom said that there wouldn't be any needles involved) we left the hospital at 3:20 and were in bed by 3:30.

To put it short, I didn't go to school today.

But I did feel a lot better. Breakfast WAS kind of lunch, as I was asleep when one would normally eat breakfast. But I ate a Popsicle and had a root beer as my "ice and fluids" and my stomach actually didn't hurt as bad. I'm not eating as much as I normally would, but I'm not anorexic. Just not hungry.

So for part three the agenda was:

- Wake up at eleven and sign on to AIM (where I told Aubrey about my Adventures-In-Babysitting-like hospital stay)
- Eat said Popsicle and drink said rootbeer
- Listen to Julie Atherton sing various Avenue Q songs on YouTube

And currently I'm writing chapter two in my fanfiction. I think I'm going back to school tomorrow, in which I need to run to the high school and do my binder check and turn in homework that was due Monday and was gone over today but for certain reasons I wasn't able to. I also get to fill in my lunch group with the various happenings of my week ("You'll never guess what happened to me in the kitchen the other night...")

How I spent my sick day: part 2

- I watched Aristocats on YouTube (Greatest. Disney. Movie. Ever)
- Aubrey was on so I IMed her for most of the late morning-early afternoon
- I wrote about eleven "drabbles"
- I did NOT play Pokemon
- I didn't eat until almost 3 this afternoon (and have not eaten since)
- I watched the special features for Mamma Mia! and Return of the King

I still felt like crap today, so it was Sick Day II. The way I'm feeling right now is iffy, so I'm not sure what tomorrow will be like. Even if I do stay home again, I'll want to go in for German to turn in some homework, get my notebook checked, and take my vocabulary quiz. I would so totally be doing it in my sweats, though.

I really need to practice bassoon, though. I'm about to clean my room so as to hopefully get myself back in the swing of things. If I feel like crap tomorrow...eh, at least I won't feel like crap because of the sickness and because my room is a complete mess.

Musical Theatre might be off tomorrow whether I go to school or not, depending on if the feel-well-enough-to-slog-through-classes is equal to feel-well-enough-to-sing-and-dance-for-ninety-minutes. I'd probably be able to dance if I put my mind to it. I doubt I'd be doing any singing, unless they decided to make me a tenor. From all the hacking and wheezing, my voice is probably three or four full steps lower than it typically is.

I mostly want to be fine by Thursday. I have Youth Orchestra for the first time in three weeks, and don't want to miss that. It is miserable playing bassoon while you're sick, though. It's also miserable to be sick and fly, so at the latest Friday would be acceptable.

Time to clean room and do algebra homework. Oh, and to look over German vocab.

How I spent my sick day

- Trying to fall back asleep at 6
- Eventually doing so at 7
- Having to wake up at 8
- Watching 101 Dalmatians on YouTube
- Playing WarioWare
- Spending two hours playing Pokemon (Sapphire version, for all you fellow Poke-geeks)
- Watching Billy & Mandy on my DS

And I still feel like crap. Since I want to get better by Thursday or Friday, I'm staying home again tomorrow. I plan on watching special features for Mamma Mia! and Return of the King, playing another two hours or so of Pokemon, and WRITING. Aubrey has been bugging me about this fanfiction and all of these drabbles for my various roleplay characters.

Sick again

This is major suckage, as tomorrow will be the first time I'm back in German after a week of staying at the middle school. Either I'm going to be at school and feeling like crap or I'm going to miss the second-to-last German class for the quarter. Yes, this is the last week of the third quarter.

And then there's the going-to-see-Dad-in-Pennsylvania-at-the-end-of-the-week to take into account. I haven't even flown sick, and I don't especially care to.

I hate moments like these, where you have two daunting choices.

Accomplished

I got up at about 7:40 this morning so as to leave the house by 8:30. There was a post-Ice Storm yard cleanup for the Marsee's, who have been the presidents for Youth Theatre for thirty-some odd years. Since they've done so much for the theatre, some of us decided to go over and help out with the yard work. There was a lot accomplished, and halfway through we celebrated with drinks and brownies, courtesy of Mrs. Marsee.

Ginger had to go to the bet today for some sort of renewal of a shot or vaccination. She was not the most thrilled to be there, but aside from trying to refuse to go into the back office, she was rather cooperative.

Mom and I were both insanely tired when we got home, so she went to sleep and I MEANT to...but rather watched Road to El Dorado on YouTube. Not DreamWorks' best but it woke me up.

And now I just finished my playlist for a fanfiction I'm writing. Things were accomplished today.

Another show done

Tonight was the final night of Cats & Dogs. It went really well! My microphone didn't go out in the middle of "Twilight Bark" like it usually does---"Twilight Bark" was probably the closest thing to a solo I've gotten so far, as I sang REALLY loudly. And in chest voice, even on C#.

I got a CD full of pictures from "Pongo" (James)'s mom, and I'll need to look through those tomorrow. Now I'm just sitting around in my sweat pants, considering playing Pokemon. Or writing chapter two in my fanfiction. Either way, just relaxing.

The cake is a lie!

No, I'm not sure what that means. But apparently it has something to do with Portal, which is the game this song is from:



I just found the sheet music for it, and I want to record it sometime.

Helping the little guys

Who don't have major film companies backing them:



This guy wants to go viral!

Missions accomplished

Tonight I found my glasses (with Mom's help...thanks for suggesting I look on the side of the bed) and transposed the opening section of "This Is Halloween" for electric bass of request of my friend Ian.

The shows went well, and there's not much else to say besides that I need to print out said transposed music in the morning. It's almost 10 and I want to go to bed.

Tired

Check mom's blog for pictures and some video from rehearsal tonight. Link's in the sidebar.

So...tired. Going to bed.

Happy March!

I really wish this was the first day of Spring. However, if all goes right, in exactly three weeks it will be. In twelve days it's the end of the quarter, which will leave us in the final part of the school year.

This week, though, is TerraNova and 101 Dalmations/Aristocats. Then remakes of TerraNova. One step at a time, I suppose.

There Will Be Blood

I just saw it on YouTube (In fifteen 10:44 minute increments) and it's officially on my infamous List of Favorite Movies. Sure, it's about two and a half hours long, and Daniel Day Lewis DID beat Johnny Depp in the 2007 Academy Awards for Best Actor in the year I was all Sweeney Todd...

But it was pretty epic. I'm not sure which part I liked better: the Oil Derrick Fire or the finale ("I drink your milkshake!!!") Probably something that I'd buy sometime if I randomly had the money...and my mom. Apparently it's R and as I learned with Sweeney Todd I can't buy R movies. At least at Wal*Mart. The people at Hot Topic seemed pretty dead-set on selling me a copy last year.

Appropriate chatspeak for today?

And it couldn't be here sooner.

Ice Dance

Did not turn out well.

At all.

Even if people claim it did.

Haiku Time

O no Internet!
It does make me very sad
To be without you.

Piano crunch

That's what tomorrow will be. Apparently, I have to have my talent show piece memorized, and the performance is Thursday night, sooo...

I have a plan of attack. I'm going to study the music tonight before I got to bed so as to possibly infuse it into my mind. In the morning, if I have time, I'm going to play it before I get on the bus. The music is coming to school with me, and I'm going to ask my band director if she'll let me have one day to work on it with her keyboard (I'll bring headphones). She's really excited about the competition and hopes that I get first or something, so I'm really hoping she'll channel that (along with the "I already know all your music") into giving me the day.

When I get home, you know what's going to happen before and after Musical Theatre? You guessed it: piano. Apply the "study" factor tomorrow night, and play through it several times on Thursday.

Presto, instant piano cramming.

Gaaandalf!

Oscar Results

I feel like a bit of an idiot. The only Oscars that I predicted correctly were:

Actor in a Leading Role: NOT Brad Pitt
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Documentary Short: Smile Pinki
Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger
Live Action Short: Spielzeugland
Costume Design: The Duchess
Animated Film: Wall-E

Seven. That's actually not bad. I'm especially happy about Slumdog, Smile Pinki, and Heath Ledger.

I did think that the acceptance speeches for Milk were especially good, my favorite being adapted screenplay. Hopefully it'll be on YouTube sometime.

Oscar Hopes/Predictions

The Oscars are tomorrow, so here's who I hope wins based on reviews and plots, since I haven't seen many of them from '08. These are not legitimate predictions.

Actor in a Leading Role: Not sure, but probably not Brad Pitt for Benjamin Button
Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger, Dark Knight or Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Actress in a Leading Role: Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Adams, Doubt
Animated Film: Wall-E
Art Direction: The Duchess
Cinematography: No opinion
Costume Design: Australia or The Duchess
Directing: Benjamin Button
Documentary: The Betrayal
Documentary Short: Either Smile Pinki or The Conscience of Nhem En
Film Editing: No opinion
Foreign Language: The Class
Makeup: Dark Knight
Music (Score): No opinion
Original Song: No opinion
Animated Short: This Way Up
Live Action Short: Spielzeugland
Sound Editing: Wall-E
Sound Mixing: No opinion
Visual Effects: Iron Man
Adapted Writing: Doubt
Original Writing: No opinion
Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire

Agree? Disagree? Well I suppose we'll find out tomorrow.

Blog365: Day 51

The weekend could not get here any quicker! Today was a little hectic at school, but simmered down by fourth period. Still, I was completely ready to come back home.

I spent the afternoon attempting to write my latest fanfiction (Which I have finished the prologue to and have begun writing the first chapter) and IMing Aubrey and Maya, who are also fanfiction-ing away. Tomorrow I'm going to the 2nd YTHC workshop---after this there'll be one more and then auditions!

Video

Youtube didn't do a good job of copying the quality, but I suppose it's okay. Special thanks to Iris and Jutta for helping with the translations!

Done!

That's what my German project is right now.

It took a little over an hour and a half to get it fully burned and not stuck in my computer, but it looks great. I have my little paragraph written out and everything. In the morning, I'm going to take a sharpie and just write "Schwimmen!" on the front cover of the DVD, that being the title of the movie.

I'll be posting it soon, and in the next week or so I'll hopefully have an English-dubbed version up.

Freaked much?

Tomorrow I have algebra (Which is altogether not fun) and a physics test that I'm not at all prepared for. After school, I have to JUMP on my German project, as it's due on Thursday and I just found out that I have all these holes poked into it. I'm really nervous about how it's going to turn out, cause it just doesn't seem to fit the criteria very well. I mean, yeah, the movie itself is great. But it's more of a me-thing than something I'm doing for a fourth of my grade.

Then I have Musical Theatre (Which is getting easier) and go over my orchestra music for Thursday evening. So yeah, tomorrow is kind of going to be hell in a handbasket. I wish I could stay home and just get some stuff DONE.

I could use another day of weekend

But I think I'm okay for school tomorrow. I mostly just want to sleep in again, and I also want to finish my German project, which is coming along quite well.

I also need to clean my room. Again, that can wait. And laundry...I should probably do some of that in the morning if I have any time.

Glad there's another day of weekend

Because I honestly don't know what I'd be doing if I had school tomorrow. I've been at my computer nearly all day today, and not posting, IMing, or writing fanfiction (Though I did drag Aubrey in IM along). Rather, I was working on my German project. I have to make a video that's between 6 to 10 minutes long, and I've mostly finished mine. All the film is in place, as is the music. All I need to do is make two dubbings: a German for my entry, and an English for myself (and for YouTube, although my latest favorite YouTuber speaks German).

I need to clean up my room and do all my recording tomorrow, as well as fitting in a four-hour rehearsal. Then there's the whole practicing bassoon and filling out my practice time sheet, and I've been meaning to watch Edward Scissorhands for awhile.

I'll get started now: time for Edward.

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing happened today that was of much interest. I went to a four-hour rehearsal, ate some chocolate (Thank you mom & dad, Katie, and "Haldir"!) and IMed Aubrey. I think that I might have would up setting off a chain mail for today, but I doubt it'll go viral.

As for you, my readers---love you all. Yes, even the ones that I don't know. I'm "72% sure that I love you."

A papercut.

That's what I got for Valentine's Day. Yes, school decided that we needed to make it a public affair again, so this is V-Day: Part One.

This is by far my least favorite holiday.

Wie ist das Wetter heute?

Sehr warm für die Winterzeit!

But now I need to memorize 10 lines of German weather that's simply talking about the weather of Dublin. I could probably memorize the weather itself easier and translate it, but I might not. So I'll take a few minutes and roleplay instead.

Late Night

It's 10:10 and I'm waiting for Aubrey to read this one-chapter fanfiction I just wrote. Normally, I'd post it here, but it's based on a roleplay so chances are nobody would really get it...which, thus, would ruin the point.

Op. Aubrey finished it. I best go see what she thinks.

2nd bassoons, play!

No, I still remain 1st (and only) bassoon in orchestra and band, but we DID get a 2nd bassoon! Apparently, the middle school owns one, and the only reason I didn't know about it was because my band teacher figured that after years of not being played, it would be uber-damaged. It wasn't---it's absolutely beautiful. The keys are shiny and don't stick. The sound is clear and crisp, with a nice vibrato. And it's the most gorgeous shade of dark cherry I've ever seen.

I attempted taking a MySpace mirror shot, but my camera died before I could get a good picture. Therefore, here's a suck-tacular one I took with the computer's webcam:



It's going to be strange going to the bus tomorrow and only have to carry my reed and bocal. Strange, but nice!

Blog365: Day 40

Today I did my homework in Mom's room, with her helping me on direct variation (Algebra has been confusing recently and I've personally been hating it) and finally filling out a form that will let us check out the middle school bassoon so that I don't have to drag the high school bassoon back and forth. Now, I finished cleaning my room and am watching some of Prince of Egypt to wind down. All in all, a fairly good yet boring day.

The regionals report...

...is on my mom's blog. I have footage, but I want to cut around my movie before posting any here. I finished all filming for that tonight, by the way, and just need a picture from each of the other people in Mike's 200 medley relay team.

For now, I have a bit of German homework. And some band.

Regionals report tomorrow

When I don't feel so fried. For now, here's "Lothlorien" from the West End production of Lord of the Rings, which I have been listening to a lot recently:



Michael Rouse (Legolas---first soloist) now sits comfortably alongside Craig Parker and Amy Lee in my List of People I Could Listen To All Day.

Regionals

Today was day one of swim regionals! I think I got a lot of filming done, and will do more tomorrow. I'll transfer it to my computer in the morning, as I'm so tired...even though I did nothing all day but listen to my iPod on Shuffle, eat crap, film, and scream "GO MIKE!" or "GO MACY!" or Thomas or Matt or whoever at the top of my lungs.

C is for cookie

Every night before Youth Orchestra, mom and I go to Panera for dinner. I ordered my usual (chicken noodle soup, Jones root beer, and french bread slice) and sat down with a magazine. A voice came on the intercom, sounding rather Germanic at first.

"Iiiiiiiiit's cookie time! There are some fresh baked cookies that are 99 cents. First one to the cash register gets one free."

For some odd reason, people weren't racing like I thought they would. I glanced around a good five seconds later...nobody was there. After a little prodding (I was a tad confused) I went up to claim my prize. I think they were relieved to get that finished and accounted for.

The cookie was...huge. Like, the size of a cereal bowl and about a fourth of an inch thick. It was warm, fresh, soft, and chocolate-y---I chose chocolate chip as my flavor. I don't think I've ever had that good a cookie before.

Blog365: Day 35

I have two tests tomorrow, both in subjects that I actually have to really have to think in (German and Science---we're doing PHYSICS). And I hate physics. Because it involves math, and I typically have two hours of math every other day, and I don't particularly want a third hour.

I would much rather be posting as my dear Elves or sleeping, but I have to stay up and memorize formula's and vocabulary words. Ughhh.

EDITED TO ADD: It's 9:47, and I finished studying about 3 minutes ago. I understand it about as well as I'm going to, I think. For now, I'm going to post that thing with the Elves, so if you're reading this, Aubrey...it'll be beastly.

Animal Crossing: School Life

This morning at school felt like a big episode of Animal Crossing. And I'm not kidding.

First, during homeroom, I needed to renew a couple of books that became overdue because of the ice days. And so, I go to the library. The following scene begins:

Librarian- Okay, due on the 18th.

Me- Thanks. (Walks out)

Librarian- Annabelle, wait! (I come back in) Can you take this to TEACHER A's room?

Me- ...sure? (Goes back to homeroom. Tells my BAT teacher that I have to go to TEACHER A's room. Goes out to TEACHER A's room.)

TEACHER A- Thanks. Oh, and can you take this to the librarian?

Me- Ooookay. (Goes from TEACHER A's room back to library) Here's the...newspaper, I guess.

Librarian- Thanks.

Me- (Goes back to homeroom)

And I didn't get any Bells out of it, either.

Blog365: Day 33

We had a 2-hour delay today, which made it a little less painful waking up this morning. Tomorrow will be back to 5:45 AM, and right now it's almost 10. I'm afraid I'm falling back into the roleplaying-is-love trap.

Blog365: Day 32

We're 1/12 of the way through 2009! After this month, technically speaking, we'll be 1/6. Two months later, 1/4. How "Slipping Through my Fingers All the Time"-ABBA-Mamma Mia! of us.

Today is the last day of our 6-day, unplanned ice-week. It's really nice inside the house today, so if it could have been like this (Internet, heat, light, etc) the entire time, I think it'd be the best 6 days ever.

However, today is the day to do all the stuff I've put off since...Monday. That is, if you'll pardon another one of my infamous lists:

- Do my German homework (some cornell notes...I hate cornell notes)
- Bassoon, as its been too cold to do so comfortably for quite some time
- Clean my room
- Finish reading Fellowship of the Ring and How to be Popular

February's NaBloPoMo theme this month is "want". Therefore, here's a list of what I want to do, but sadly can't:

- Roleplay
- Watch Lord of the Rings, Breakfast Club, or Mamma Mia!
- Keep reading this amazing Sweeney Todd fanfiction Aubrey found

And I usually am not a fan of fanfiction, especially for Sweeney Todd. It all seems to just be "Ohhhh Mrs. Lovett loves Sweeney so naturally he should love her" and with a flick of a switch and the rattle of some keys typing, volia: Sweeney Todd can be your dream Casanova. (He can also take pity on the Judge, try and break up Johanna and Anthony, or legalize Toby's adoption papers)

The good thing, though, is that there's a 2-hour delay tomorrow. That means that at earliest I have to get up at 7:30 to catch the bus at 9. With that, I can go to bed at 10 tonight at still have 9 1/2 hours. That's more than I typically get when I try and be in bed by 8:30!

It'll be nice being able to see what's outside when I wake up, though. It's pitch black when I catch the bus at 7 most mornings.

TIGHT tights!

Corduroy

At Ann Taylor Loft, I got these three pairs of the same style of corduroy pants. I have them in green, yellow, and red, and I love them. The greens are my favorite, as they were my first pair.

I went over to Katie's yesterday to sleep over, and I wore the yellow pair. That morning, I came back home to shower, and changed into the green pants. That was all fine and dandy...until the seam randomly ripped during dinner. I was going back over to Katie's that evening, so I had no choice but to wear the red ones.

I don't think I've ever worn three pairs of pants on the same day before. Well, now I have.

See the lightbulb?

The electricity came on about twenty minutes ago, after spending 20 hours without Internet, light, or heat. Last night was not what I would call fun.

We planned to escape off to Alabama today, but the power came on just as we were halfway done packing (and actually, I was pretty much done by then). It's kind of bittersweet, I guess. I was really looking forward to not being lodged in a giant block of ice that is Fort Knox.

Content created on Wednesday, serious

My thoughts on this no electricity thing?

"NOOOOO!!"

"Ohhh Baxter"

"You're my little gentleman. I'll take you to foggy London town why? Because you're my little gentleman."

Fort Knox became trapped in a sheet of three-inch thick ice last night, and it's a little dangerous out there. We've heard a couple branches falling, and walking the dog ISN'T fun. We actually just take her out for as short as it takes to get the job done, actually.

It looks like snow, so when I stepped in it (and slipped) it wasn't pleasant. The ice is still coming down, so school is canceled again tomorrow. That's a really good thing---even if the streets are getting a little better, the steps aren't. My bassoon would take me down the ice and then not let me up.

Oh, and as for the quote---we watched Anchorman tonight.

Hoozah!

First school listed on the "School Closings" list is Ft. Knox. Hardin County, LaRue, Jefferson...none of them yet. I think I'm going to laugh incredibly hard if we get off and Hardin county doesn't. That'll show them what it's like to go to school when someone else have a snowday. (No offense to any of my Hardin County friends or reader)

I have some algebra homework I need to do tomorrow, but I think it's going to be really nice just being able to stay home.

Blog365: Day 25

I finished my anthrax project! I'll spare you of a picture (the graphics are kind of disgusting---I'm wondering how I'm going to sleep in the same room as it) and just tell you that the title is "(Not the castle of) Anthrax".

For all of those who are Monty Python fans, you'll get that. For all of those who AREN'T Monty Python fans...well, ask a Monty Python fan.

Over the rainbow

Today was the first YTHC workshop. It was really fun seeing my friends again (And debating who is better---Haldir or Legolas) and trying the different readings out. For instance, I read for Uncle Henry, and I think I did pretty well.

However, I've had "Over the Rainbow" in my head all day. Therefore, here's my favorite version:

Blog365: Day 23

Today was the weekly get-together with Sarah and Katie. Typically, we go over to Katie's house and watch What Not to Wear. We decided to shake things up this time, and so we watched West Side Story. Next week will be Fiddler on the Roof, and over time I'll bring over Les Mis, Phantom, and Cats.

Blog365: Day 22

Awhile back, my friend Matthew and I were voted "Most Likely to Turn in Homework" as part of the Class Favorites for the yearbook. Okay, so it wasn't quite the big deal as "Best Hair" or "Most Stylish," but I was voted something, so that was a change.

Yesterday, they made an announcement that today (Thursday) would be Favorites Picture day. They mentioned that we could bring "appropriate attire" to change into. For "Best Hair," that meant doing your hair all nice and pretty. "Most Stylish" isn't too hard to guess on. I had "Does Homework".

Rather than hiking my pants up four inches and buttoning my polo to the top button, I brought a pair of jeans and a shirt that I really like and think I look really nice, dare I say "hot" in. I wasn't subjecting myself to humiliation.

That apparently went in vain. The photographer (or the Art Teacher, I'm not sure who) had decided on our pose, and there was no negotiating. There was a single piece of paper, the "homework". Matthew and I were to do a tug-of-war over it, because we're obviously so keen on our homework and want to be the first to turn THAT particular paper in!

Well, with one piece of paper, it looks like we're being violent and trying to cheat by stealing the other one's paper. One would normally think that it would be a picture of us doing homework or holding papers that had A+'s on them.

But that's beside the point. My point is that people generally remember the class favorites in their pictures. Never forget Wylder as he climbed to the top of the bleachers while they were stacked up (I saw this, and it was actually kind of funny). Kari and Julian, always seen with a book or some sorts.

Never forget me, fighting over a piece of paper so much that it ripped. According to them, I love my homework that much.

It was mortifying. I'm already enough of a nobody at school, so that picture (in FULL COLOR, mind you, as this yearbook is in color) is not what I need to finish off the school year, nor to be remembered by. You can't see my face, as I had to face Matthew and look incredibly pissed, as to say "That's MY paper! Let me turn it in first! I spent ALLLL night on it, as I have no life!"

I can't wait for middle school to be over.

Outage

We just sat in the dark for about 45 minutes, and it was COLD. Thankfully, at about 9:38 or so, it finally turned back on, and we could all go to bed.

Time for a list

Things that come around every four years:

• The Olympics
  
• Leap Year
  
• Inauguration
  

This year turned out to be the third on the list (Inauguration), and it's the first time I've watched it. It's also the first time I've been consciously aware of it, and another first being the first time I remember being happy about the result.

I was going to post a video of the Bob the Builder theme song because I thought all the "yes we can"s would be fitting now. However, YouTube is down right now (on my computer at least), so I suppose you'll have to manage without.

So here's something else for you:



And yes we did.

Obsessed

It was sad to know that I already had a blog post titled "Obsessed", but nothing else suits the situation. Tonight, I have come up with a new hobby.

Aubrey and I were looking through Google Images (I think glancing at pictures of The Strokes for some reason) and I stumbled across a picture of them at the red carpet:



We weren't terribly impressed.

And so, I spent about thirty minutes flipping through pictures of Evanescence, Green Day, and other people to see how they dress for occasions like that. I came up with better pictures.

Who's doing it right:







If I have nothing to post, I might wind up giving my critique on some red carpet outfit.

Reason 14952 I'm happy there's no school tomorrow:

I'm wasting time watching a 3-hour documentary on Two Towers. That's almost as long as the movie itself!

I pulled out the GameCube for the first time in 6 months. I stayed on "Animal Crossing" for awhile, but did a lot of "Harvest Moon" as well. I wish I had more time to open it up, as I really do like video games and over geek-chic things like that. I probably do have the time, if I think reasonably. I just need to control it better.

Back to my documentary.

Blog365: Day 17

Mom, Dad, and Mike spent a fair chunk of today at the Brown Bear Sprint meet up at Shawnee. I didn't do much while they were away, so maybe you should catch up with them on mom's blog?

Blog365: Day 16

Today wasn't incredibly eventful. However, if I cheat with another one-liner this week, I'm not going to have moral comfort, so I suppose I can probably muster some sort of summary that'll take at least a paragraph or so.

We're doing projects on infectious diseases in science, and today we were in the computer lab. My disease is Anthrax, chosen mostly because of my huge addiction to Monty Python. Fellow fanatics will remember the scene in the Quest for the Holy Grail when Sir Galahad visits Zoot and Dingo at the Castle Anthrax. I'll probably draw from that in my title.

I need to pick one type, though. I'm stuck. Which type of Anthrax is your favorite, inhalation or cutaneous?

No more stitches!

I just got them removed. Blogging from Mom's Touch, so this is kind of hard. Better post tomorrow!

Blog365: Day 14

I have a German quiz tomorrow, so I need to study for that. Otherwise, I'm headed to bed as soon as possible. I got to sleep at 11 last night, and that ISN'T happening again.

Sorry for the lack of post recently. This has just been a long, boring, kind of painful (OW my mouth) kind of week.

Before Mom steals it

Bedtime!

Why do people stay up until all hours?

I mean, I have my homework done. I'm about to have my blogging done. It isn't even eight. Which is exactly why I'm going to sleep early tonight and, hopefully, for the rest of the week.

Happy Birthday, Harlow!

Karen informed me yesterday that today is Harlow Winter Kate Madden's first birthday. For all those unaware of who Harlow is, she is the daughter of Joel Madden and Nicole Richie.

It's strange knowing she's a year old now. She's like Suri Cruise---she never seems to get older. I could have sworn that she was eight months old for forever, just as Suri will probably be three for the rest of her life.

Happy Birthday, Harlow! Eat a little cake (or ice cream, if one-year-olds aren't supposed to have cake), open some presents, and enjoy your day.

A warning to all Mac users

Do not download the program "NVU". It's a WYSIWYG editor, and my friend Aubrey---who uses Windows---loves it. The Mac one kept opening and closing, wouldn't respond to anything, and wouldn't quit after Force Quit. I had to restart and carefully delete it.

Just a warning.

Blog365: Day 9

Tonight, I said to heck with my tooth pain and went over to Katie's house for a night of TLC. We watched "What Not To Wear", which was a review of trashy wardrobes from the past, and some Miss America show that was kind of interesting.

Aside from that, we messed around in Google image search, looking for pictures of various people such as William Moseley and Robert Pattinson. All in all, a good time.

Defy Gravity

My mom and I just got home from Wicked. Oh my God. One of the best things I think I've EVER seen.

I pride myself in being a huge fan of the show, knowing almost all the lyrics to the songs. I thought I'd just be following it along in my head---I wasn't. There's so much dialogue that they were able to cut out of the songs for the soundtrack, and so much that wasn't even in the Wikipedia synopsis.

Our Glinda was adorable, and Boq was awesome. Still, I was mostly impressed by Elphaba, my fellow mezzo-soprano. Guess who she was?

The original Young Cosette on Broadway.

I got a shirt for the show (I <3 OZ), which I'll take a picture of sooner or later. However, today I'll just say that I don't think I've seen special effects quite like that---ever!

Dentist!

Or more Oral Surgeon!

Today was my appointment, and it went fairly well, I think. It was kind of nerve wracking at first---I was listening to "Dentist!" from Little Shop of Horrors, and the door opened for the nurse to call my name just on the downbeat after "Now SPIT."

The IV kind of hurt---cold stuff and pinching aren't my ideas of fun. However, after being drugged up (and on my beloved happy gas), I was apparently hysterical. The last thing I remember was the surgeon saying that I should be feeling tired soon. That apparently wasn't the last of me---Mom says that the last thing I said was "I LOVE oral surgery!" just before I zonked out. And hey, the prep work is actually kind of nice.

If someone didn't lead me around after I woke up, I think I would have broken something---that being my arm or a vase is beyond me. I discovered that I had stitches in my mouth, which is kind of gross. They stitched up the piece of gum that's been bugging me, though, so I almost feel better.

I got the most vile liquid antibacterial medication. Really---I might as well be drinking sweat. Tonight I had both teaspoons of it in a shot glass, a normal glass of water in the other hand. I think I took an equal time to drink both.

We got my teeth to go, planning to blog them. And blog them we will. Here they are, along with the one tooth that they mostly pulled at the dentist's office:



Aren't the three down the middle (and especially the middle one) MONSTERS? And just to think---what were those things doing in my mouth?

I had my mom take this picture for Quinn, great Corpse Bride lover that she is:



"I'm his wife!"

Speak the chat

I finally really learned how to text! Aubrey and I exchanged numbers, and thankfully, we both have unlimited, so we're not going to be spending all our pocket money. I still need to exchange numbers with a lot of my friends, but I think I really like being able to send a quick message.

Blog365: Days 5

I just uploaded my photos from the pizza party. They turned out well enough for me to keep them in my secret stash on iPhoto, but none of them turned out well enough that my friends would totally appreciate me posting them on my blog. Oh well. There's always next time---I really need to work on my photography, though.

Our phones actually arrived today. We're not allowed to take the little sticker that says "Rant---Sprint" yet, because my mom wants to find screen protectors. I hope it's sooner-ish, because it's a little hard to see around the images.

My bassoon reed hasn't come yet, though.

Blog365: Day 4

Obviously, I'm not going to be able to post the pictures today. I'm going to go through them sooner or later and send the good ones to the writer of the Youth Theatre blog. I'll provide a link to the album from there.

Today was spent cleaning my room, finishing thank-you notes, and watching Fellowship of the Ring. I've had an obsession with the LOTR movies recently, and actually have been watching pieces and parts of the different movies, so as just to watch my favorite characters (Haldir and Pippin).

Sorry about the pictures, though.

Blog365: Day 3

I just got back from the YTHC new year's pizza party! I'd normally post pictures, but I'm not sure how well any of mine turned out, so I'll do them tomorrow. Nothing's happening tomorrow.

Blog365: Day 2

How odd it is to go from Day 365 back to Day 2!

Today was a low-key day mostly at home. I had an appointment with the oral surgeon ("Yep, you need surgery") this afternoon, and it was fairly in-out. We arranged a date, time, and all that good stuff. I only had one question---will I get good pain medication? This was a big deal, bigger than how much school would I miss. Recently, Motrin has been my BFF Jill. And the answer was yes, I will.

I'm on for Wednesday at around ten in the morning. I don't think I'll be able to go to Musical Theatre that afternoon (Perdita can be out for a day). I hope I get better soon, though---Thursday, we're seeing Wicked. I guess I'll just have my Pain Meds just before I go. I promise not to pull a Rocky Horror and belt "Defying Gravity" right along with Elphaba and the rest of the gang.

We were SUPPOSED to get new cell phones today (We've had ours for about three years), but Sprint was apparently wrong when they said we'd get them today. I really hope I get mine tomorrow, as that's the Youth Theatre Pizza Party. It'd be really nice if I were able to get everyone's phone number somewhere I could actually find!

And so we spent tonight eating fondue (The cheese is actually REALLY GOOD) and watching Downfall. It was long and confusing enough to challenge Lord of the Rings, but also measured up in amazingness. It was epic in its own scary-creepy-Hitler sort of way.

The Magic Forest

It was strange waking up this morning and knowing that, technically, I didn't have to blog. However, if I don't blog today, then I won't tomorrow. Or the next day. Or for the rest of the month, actually.

We were taking down Christmas decorations this afternoon. I came out of the kitchen after cleaning off some Reindeer Stakes (we have light up reindeer) and saw this in the hallway:





I think I'm really learning how to use my camera---hopefully most of the pictures from this year will be taken with it! (And I want to buy Photoshop soon---iPhoto is fine for storing photos, but not much else)