New Template

I want to change my template. However, I don't want to risk having to redo the html. I like to have links, but I don't know if I could rewrite part of it again. :-S. Help me!!

Just kidding. I'm sure I will be able to do it. However, if you don't see links soon...

UPDATE: Well, I changed my template a lot of times and even changed the colors. Changing the colors was actually the reason I wanted to change my template, and it's what took t he most time. I love blogger's FAQs! They made it so much easier. Actually, they made it possible.

It's still not done yet, but I'm going to stop for now. You'll just have to suffer through it. :)

Random

²⁶ Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, ²⁷ a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land." ²⁸ Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth. ^{[b] 29} And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.
[b] 23:28-- Sela Hammahlekoth means rock of parting

1 Samuel 23: 26-29

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The Thanksgiving psalm sing in Winchester was really good. I enjoyed it a lot, even though I still couldn't sing. I did croak out a few "notes," but every time I tried, I started coughing, so I gave up and just listened. It was still really fun; I enjoyed it!
After the psalm sing, I was talking with Sarah B., Lisa, Jackie, etc, when Sarah's little sister came up and was trying to tickle everybody. She tried to tickle me, too, but it didn't tickle. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to tickle and she just wasn't a very good tickler, or if everbody else was pretending. So I pretended, too. :)

Chenga

This is what we did this evening. Eric wanted to play chess, but I wanted to play Jenga, so we compromised and did both. :)

Jacque and Becky left this morning. :( Jacque left her four decks of cards. I didn't really think she would, but I'm guessing she forgot them. Oh well. I'm not upset except for the fact that the jokers to two decks are missing, and so are the boxes that hold each deck. I like to keep it all together.

It's really warm outside. I went to town this afternoon, and I stupidly put on my winter coat. I could have worn flip-flops. Oh, I just looked, and it's 61 outside. That's really warm compared to what it has been. Well, okay, it's been on an average of 59 upstairs all week, but it's so much nicer when it's that warm/cold outside. I actually think it's warm in here right now, which is weird, because basically the temperature doesn't change. My perception of such merely varies.

The Thanksgiving Psalm Sing is almost here! I'm looking forward to it. It's in Winchester, and I know for certain that Lisa probably won't skip out on that. She's missed a lot of other stuff due to play practice and school, but the play has happened, and her church is hosting the psalm sing, so she'll be there. Also, others will be there. Yay!

It's kind of fun watching other people clean. Mom and Lydia (note the names here) are cleaning the computer room so that Eric (note this name) can have his friends over tonight to play Warcraft II. Why they're playing that, I don't know, but he is, and those boys are building grand plans. Eric's kind of in here supervising, but he's not really cleaning. Mom and Lydia are actually having a little trouble cleaning because it's a bunch of Dad's papers, and they really can't throw those away. Mom has this huge box that she's piling everything of his in. That's interesting because most of it is junk, and that's what I do when I clean the computer room. Unfortunately, it's not going to be sorted through for a long time, especially if nothing there is of any importance. Eric just found some money of his and said, "Hey, it does pay to clean!" Mom replied, "Well, Eric, if you'd just take care of your stuff...!" Well, this room is actually looking better. Eric might be able to fit everybody in this evening.

Hm, I think I'm going to see what I can do to help. I might go brush my teeth or clean up the kitchen a little. We are going to have company!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Grandma and Grandpa were surprised to see Jacque. It was really funny to watch Grandma. Dad and Eric parked the car behind the garage, and then Jacque and Becky ran into the house. Kristin saw them running, but Lydia hushed her pretty quickly. Kristin was shocked. Then Jacque came in, it actually took a moment for the fact that Jacque wasn't really supposed to be there. She said, "Jacque!" then "my, my, my!" We were guessing she would say, "Oh, oh, oh!" but it was good anyway. :) Grandpa was surprised, too, but I didn't see his reaction. He really enjoyed it, though.

So, I'm going to eat now.

History Test

What is going on here! Do you remember that history test that Mom said I flunked and had to do over? Well, the story's not over. The first time, I didn't really flunk it: I didn't even get a D! That really, really bothers me. I wasted all that time retaking a test?

Now, weeks later, I'm preparing to take the next test over the chapter I haven't touched in two weeks.

Interesting

I have a cold, and I've finally entered the really disgusting Phlegm Stage. Wanna see what I blew out of my nose this morning? :)

We have a new washer. I'm so glad. Now we can do the laundry that's been piling up for the last two weeks. Yesterday on the first out of nearly a dozen loads, I was leaning on the washer reading the owner's manual when this really loud buzzing went off. It was really loud! I jumped. When Mom and Dad went to get the new washer, they learned that someone else had bought the same model as the one we had and had exactly the same problems. If Mom and Dad weren't already set against that model, they were then!

I had something else to insert here, but I've been thinking about this post for a while without writing anything down, so I don't have anything right here. Yesterday I was going to post, but I felt really lousy.

We went skating the other day. Well, not very many people actually skated. It was mostly the younger ones. There really weren't very many people there. I met a couple of new people, and that was cool. There's really quite a few homeschoolers in the Sabetha area. I don't think I know half of them! Well, maybe I do, but I don't know more than that.

I'm hungry.

I'm going to go do more laundry in our precious new washer. Then I'm going to find something to eat. Hopefully Mom and Eric will be home soon.

It Stayed

The snow stayed. I couldn't believe it. The temperature is currently 22 degrees Fahrenheit. Three guesses whether I think that's warm or cold. I didn't wear my winter coat outside today.

When I woke up this morning, I had four e-mails in my inbox. That was sooo neat. Then I got one more this afternoon. I like it. I like it a lot. Now I have a lot of e-mails to reply to. I'm so bad about replying to a lot of people. Pretty soon I think I'm going to start writing shorter e-mails.

Hey, people, I want to know who goes to my website. I know that if you got here because of my website, you do go there without me prompting you. I'm proud of you. Unfortunately, I doubt there's any of you out there. And I put all those jokes up! I'm actually about to go put another one up. Eric sent it to me. :)

Andrew always says that a person loses most of his body heat through his head. I read that somewhere, too, but I beg to differ. I was just fine when I was wearing my shoes. Well, this morning I wasn't because my tennis shoes aren't very warm, but I changed when I got home, and I was just fine. Then a little bit ago I took off my shoes, and now I'm really cold. What's going on here!

English wasn't that boring the other day. I was studying punctuation. I got to that chapter and thought, "Oh no. I hate studying commas." However, first I had to go through the end marks. I didn't realize that I could just end an exclamatory question with an exclamation mark. I have quite a few of those sentences, but I've never known how to end them. So now I'm using a lot of emotion in my questions. :)

Yum

I love my nose. It made me change my mind about winter. Mom brought home oranges from the store. I love the smell of oranges. It made me feel that snow was alright. Oranges remind me of church Christmas parties because I would always get an orange in my candy bag. Also, winter is the only time Mom ever brings home oranges. I love them. So I got to peel one to put in the salad that Mom's taking tonight. I was almost done before I put a hole in the skin! I discovered that glasses are good for another thing: they protect my eyes from the deadly acid of orange juice.

I had a bite of orange, and it tasted really good.

I also smell sausage. We're having biscuits and sausage gravy for supper. Yum!

Something's weird, and it's not me!

I haven't updated since, um, saturday, and i remembered something that i was going to post for lydia:

• 1000m=1km
• 1m=100cm
• 1m=1000mm

that's all i'm remembering right now.

this chair squeaks a lot. i don't like it.

it snowed today. i was sad: i didn't want it to snow for a couple of weeks. i wasn't going to admit that it's time to wear a winter coat or that the ground was going to be messy for a while. i don't like mud. i also don't like wearing heavy coats. i didn't wear one today, anyway.

ew, yuck, in that last paragraph, all my sentences began with i.

my toes are really cold.

i made it through chemistry last night!! of course, i got lost when andrew started talking (i have a habit of doing that-- he doesn't exactly do it the way the book does), but that was okay because i understand the chapter. i wish i did before the last test...

we didn't have piano lessons today. mom has a moms' meeting tonight @ rippes' with a surprise baby shower. mom's taking the refreshments (donut holes and a fruit salad, which i'm supposed to make as soon as she gets home with the honey). and lexi's birthday party was cancelled because wendy's sick. lexi surely isn't happy about that, but mom took her birthday present down this afternoon. that should soothe her troubles some!

i did a math lesson today. i don't think i'll finish the book by august next year. i also had geometry class this morning. it was boring because we didn't go over anything new, but some of it was confusing. after most of the papers were handed back, which took about 45 minutes, we went over the worksheet that we were supposed to hand in today. however, we didn't. >:(

anyway, i'd better start laundry before mom gets home. at least all i have to do now is fold, and fold, and fold...

life is so complex.

it's almost thanksgiving! yes! only 11 more days until the actual holiday, but things happen before then. like NO SCHOOL.

in cy tonight, eric and tim couldn't decide how to spell hospitality. they couldn't decide if it had one or two ls. that cracked me up.

it feels really good not to be using capital letters. tomorrow i have to go back to typing like i'm supposed to, but it feels good. sometimes i forget that i'm not typing right and start capitalizing letters, so my sentences look weird. and when i start leaving out spaces-- that's just weird.

i watched charlie and the chocolate factory the other night. it was weird. go to my website sometime tomorrow (i'm not writing the review tonight) to see what that was about. be forewarned, if you don't like the "w" word, i don't think you'll like it-- the review or the movie.

...and that's about all the complexity i'm revealing to you.

It Is Chaos.

the auction tonight was very boring.

i told lydia that since she didn't want to, i would post certain math concepts on my blog. it's like taking notes-- sort of. however, i forget which ones she was having trouble with the other day, so i'm not doing it right now.

Fever Pitch is soooooo stupid. i don't think i'm going to finish watching it.

Saturdays...

I don't like Saturdays. Do you know why? It's the only time that I can wake up feeling like I've gotten enough sleep, and Andrew spoils it by stomping up the stairs as I'm waking up. He always says, "IT'S TIME TO GET UP, MARTHA!" I'm not impressed.

So today after that happened, I was somehow delegated to do laundry. No way am I doing laundry. The washing machine is broken, and it's not fixed! No matter what you try to tell me, it is not easy to do a load of laundry. If you think it is, you each do a load-- all the way through-- and tell me it's just fine. That includes cleaning up your mess.

Beyond that, I think my Saturday is okay. We're hosting a ton of people for dinner after church tomorrow, so we're doing a lot of cooking today. I think I'm supposed to make something pumpkin. Then tonight I have to accompany Eric. He really doesn't like to practice or even prepare in any way, so it shall be interesting. We'll see how that goes.

Then tonight, I'm hoping that we can see The Wizard of Oz. Hoping. I don't know if we'll be able to, but Dad said we might not have to stay for the whole auction. Eric and I could probably leave after we're done playing. However, he doesn't think the auction will be long, so we'll see.

In concluding my evaluation of this certain Saturday, I have ascertained the day to not be bad-- just not great. I'll enjoy the baking, but I would enjoy the cleaning more if the washing machine worked.

Oops. I forgot. I need to do chemistry today. Aaaaaaaaaw! Just kidding. I'll probably put it off until Monday.

A very good evening

I'm so excited. I didn't think that I would be able to go to Winchester for Hello, Dolly! but I did. It was fantastic! Lisa did a very, very, very good job, and so did everybody else. Joel was Dolly's prize (I forget his name), and Daniel was Cornelius. Boy, did that role ever fit! It almost made me want to be in drama, but not quite. I refuse to do Les Miserables. However, JCN gets a standing ovation from me.

I'm going bungee jumping!

I figured out why Blogger has a space for titles. When I was the 4-H reporter, the guy in at the newspaper office gave me some tips. He said that when I write something, I write in the order of interest. The title is usually about the most interesting thing. It's supposed to attract attention. Do you think my title attracts attention? :)

I'm supposed to be painting the porch. Mom gave me the choice of going to work with her or painting the porch. I chose the porch. It sounds kind of fun, especially since it's nice outside and I really need a break from school. I did retake my history test, and I think that I'll get a better grade. It's hard to remember all the poets' names and what they wrote!

School Rant!!

I hate school. Actually, I don't, but right now it seems to fit.

I felt like a bum today, so I didn't even start school until 11:00. That was a dumb idea: I had several long assignments today, not excepting the chemistry homework that I put off all week. Now I'm tired of school. It's dark outside, and that immediately puts me out of the school mode. However, I still have chemistry class tonight. :(

So here's the deal. A couple of weeks ago, I had a history test to do. So I studied for it, just as I had the previous ones. Unfortunately, I didn't take it. The next day, I didn't take it. A week later, I gave up waiting for *my teacher* to be around to ask her for it, so I just got it and took it. The whole thing was a dumb idea. First of all, I forgot everything, and so I bombed it. Secondly, I have to retake it. That bothers me. Mom and Dad said that the grades don't matter as much as the learning. So why do I have to retake the test? It will put me back yet another day (or three), and there's no guarantee that I'll do better. I don't want to retake the test. I want to just take the 40% or whatever I got on the test (I'm pretty sure I got at least half the credit for the essays) and go on. It'd be a waste of time to go back.

I'm supposed to be helping Lydia finish Algebra 1/2. That's an adventure. I don't like it because she has trouble understanding it, and I am very inadequate at communicating her problems. Very. I get so mad when she doesn't get it because I run out of ways to explain. I wish I could help, but I am not the one for the job. The problem is that she won't let Andrew or Dad help her, and nobody besides me really has the time. Eric does, I guess, but he gets so wrapped up in doing nothing that he wouldn't be of any help; besides, Lydia doesn't want a male math tutor. Maybe she thinks that it's in the chromosomes that the mathematic mind comes, and she wants none of it. So she wants either me or Mom, and Mom is never home. Last week, the only time Mom graded anything was at piano lessons. That bothers me that she's gone so much. We are supposed to be independently studying for the most part, but not all the time. That leaves the tutoring to me.

I'd better go show Lydia that parentheses do matter when algebraically adding.

What was lost has now been found. Yay!! (That means I found my history book.)

We played Capture the Flag tonight. It was so much fun. I even got a flag! Of course, I also made a ton of blunders and let a lot of people out of jail, etc.. I'm terrible on the defensive end.

I really thought I'd like Robots, but it was just another really lame, animated movie. I do not have a passion to watch animated movies. In fact, with few exceptions, I'll even watch a dumb chic flick first! I guess Robots was okay, but I'm willing to let it go and move on to other movies.

I was sooooo unproductive today. Andrew, of course, came up half a dozen times -- before 8:30 -- to get me out of bed. So I went and hung out in the bathroom until he left. Then I stayed in bed until about 2:30 and read There Is a Season, the newest book in the Cheney & Shiloh series. It was okay, but I think every time Lynn and Gilbert start a new series, their writing deteriorates. The Cheney Duvall, M.D.series was delightful (for lack of a better word); however, 30 books (the House of Winslow series) is way too many. I enjoyed There Is a Season, but I think someone needs to explain to the Morris pair what that phrase really means.

After Supper

Supper's over. I know that you already know that because the title of this post says as much, but I figured it was an appropriate introduction. :D

Lydia and I got two movies to watch, and we're not telling Eric and Brandy what they are. It's so much fun! Eric has gone almost mad with curiosity. Eric says, "Secrets are bad, but not so bad if you don't know about them." Ha ha. Well, I'm not telling, even if you do know there's a secret. It wouldn't be a secret if you knew what it was. Besides, you'll find out soon enough when we all sit down to watch them.

I want it to be December! The retreat's in Clay Center, so I can go!!!

Never mind, I want it to be the end of November. It's Thanksgiving!!!

You know, Eric says that I have too many secrets, but I can't keep a secret for what it's worth. Remember, I just blew one. Yes, Jacque, I know you remember very well!

Should I talk about school? I should. In geometry, Mr. Hall was upset with the class because most did pretty bad on an assignment (Eric and I both got 100%), so he gave us all a quiz that was totally over proofs. It was pretty boring: everything that was on there was something we'd already done on one homework assignment or another. We're not progressing very quickly-- at least that's what it seems like to me.

Then I came home and got mad at Eric-- again. Eric, I really wish you would get your stuff done. I've been waiting for a week to do that vocab quiz. Do you expect me to forget everythng before we take it? Also, I don't like the fact that you're always too busy to discuss literature. I'm sure you wouldn't be nearly as busy if you'd just read the chapters. Because you didn't do that, and because you suddenly got out your violin that you hadn't practiced since your last lesson (excepting the session you and Austin had last night), Mom and I talked about a chapter. It's not as much as I'd like to have done, but it's a start. Be warned, I'm steamed up at you right now.

So then I discovered that I lost my history book. Oh no! That's really bad because I promised myself that I wouldn't borrow Eric's book. I always get so mad when he "borrows" mine that I decided that I would do unto another as I would have him do until me. Well... I broke my promise. However, I returned it in the same condition that I borrowed it: I didn't write or underline in it at all. You should be proud of me. Actually, you should be ashamed of me because I did borrow your book, and that wasn't nice of me.

English seems to be a static subject. I don't get excited about it at all. I don't even work at it. Something's not right because I've always claimed that it's my favorite subject. Oh well. I just can't find it within me to get worked up about it. :-S

Here is an abrupt end to the cross-examination of my subjects. I might provide more later, but I doubt it.

Passing Time

I'm just passing time until Mom and co. show up. Supper's waiting on the table, getting cold. I wonder where they are. And we got two movies to watch tonight! We're not going to have time if they don't get here soon because Brandy has to work tomorrow and therefore must go to bed early to get her beauty sleep. :)

So... I guess that's all I have to say because I suddenly realized that I do have things to do unti... they just drove in the drive. Toodles! I'm off to eat my lukewarm supper. :D

Retreat

The retreat was so cool! There were 44 people there; that's a lot! I met new people and got to know those I'd already met a little more. So that was fun. Attendees were from Stillwater, OK; Morningside, IA; Minneola, Quinter, Dension, Winchester, Shawnee (duh!), Topeka, Lawrence, and Clay Center, KS; and CO Springs.

The sessions were really good. Now I want to get Praying with Your Eyes Open, the book that the retreat's topic was based on. I'm interested to see what it's like.

We played Capture the Flag in the dark. However, we could see where everybody was and what team each player was on because we had glow sticks. It had good and bad sides to the story, but I think it helped. Our team 50% of the time, and it took the blue team longer to win than it did ours (yellow).

I stayed up way too late. But it was worth it.

Now I'm recovering. I can't wait until the next one, which is in Clay Center.