5, 7, 5

Yesterday was pretty spontaneously jam-packed. Mass times were moved half an hour earlier, so I had to get up at an indecent hour in order to get to choir on time. Funny thing, though. During Mass I noticed that my voice felt a little scratchy. Is it a bad thing that the first thing I thought was, "Yeah! Now I can get out of talking in Religion class tomorrow!" and promptly began belting out the hymns at the top of my voice. It didn't go exactly according to plan. I'm talking now AND have a sore throat. What goes around, comes around...

After Mass we went to watch some friends' basketball game, and then--surprise surprise!--invited everyone over to my house afterward! It was super fun. I taught almost everyone how to play canasta (a really cool rummy-like card game), beat some people at fooseball (okay. And got beat), and failed miserably at pool. Actually, that was a little annoying, but since all of you read Josie's blog you will already know about that whole episode.

After The Episode we girls (Merc, Josie, and I) retreated inside to play cards and when the boys invaded to play too Josie challenged me to a haiku contest. It was glorious. Haikus are so wonderful. It's like poetry, but without the committal. And, because you're SO interested in all of this I'll show you the fruits of our labor.

Round One: Fandom
Josie:
An army doctor,
Craning his head to the clouds.
A final goodbye.

Abby:
Trench coat and Converse
The man of many faces
Lands his TARDIS here.

Round Two: Fandom
Josie:
A scheming spider
Smiling into a teacup:
"I owe you a fall."

Abby:
Screaming as we watch
Sherlock fall; John cry; Smith leave
We are the fangirls.

Round Three: Fandom (notice a pattern?)
Josie:
Smiling and timid,
Deserves more than a simple
"Black, two sugars please."

Abby:
We're not exclusive
BBC amuses us
Moffat for the win.

Round Four: Random
Josie:
We talk for hours,
Way too much time on our hands,
What about "real life?"

Abby:
We're five, Seven, Five
We hardly ever make sense
Then end suddenly.

Round Five: Excitement
Josie: 
Close enough to taste.
Only one more week away,
Just THREE episodes.

Abby: 
Squeals squeak from lips
Bubbly butterflies inside
Beaming face tells all.

Round Six: Avengers
Josie: 
Battle for New York
This is the day of heros
Victory for the Earth!

Abby:
Some men have powers
They meet in times of trial
Save the day again.

Some of my personal favorites are Josie's round 2 and my round 4, if I do say so myself :) That one was especially fun to write.

Other news:
Another week till Sherlock.
A week into school I'm starting to repent of my post about liking school.
The seminar got moved to Saturday so I have a whole week to finish the Virginian.
Going to a dance on Sunday.
That is all. Till next time!

Cowboys and Youth Group

I started the Virginian today. It really isn't the sort of book I'd pick up off the shelf and read of my own accord,  but there's a seminar tomorrow so I'm giving it a shot. I'm a slow reader, but it gets depressing to see that, after four hours of almost straight reading I've only gotten a third of the way through the book. Looks like I'll avail myself of spark notes tomorrow night...

Let me just point something out. The Virginian is exactly like Sherlock Holmes. I noticed it about thirty pages into it, and it's still bugging me after a hundred more. But seriously, it's uncanny. It is written about an idealized character from the point of view of his "side kick." Sherlock and the Virginian are both set apart from human beings normal people. And...and...that's all I've got. Just the feel gives off that sort of feel.

And now for a totally unrelated subject.

Before I begin, let me give you some backstory. Back in 2012 (it's really weird to type that) my local parish started our very own youth group. It was a hit, and brought together a lot of different groups of friends (aka not only homeschoolers :) ) to discuss our faith, pray, and play hangman. And musical chairs. A lot of musical chairs. Well, lately I've been noticing that the general populace has been not entirely thrilled about how the whole thing is turning out. No, nothing scandalous, but just not perfect. Actually, I've been noticing from both sides of the spectrum. I'm friends with one of the leaders sisters, so I've known her all my life(ish). She was unhappy that some of the kids were so uninterested in the more serious aspects of youth group. Another leader wasn't happy also, and started being super uptight about everything. Now, some of my friends are, shall we say, utterly insane and immature. They may or may not have been the trouble makers in question. But they have their own story too. The uptight leader is very touchy-feely and sentimental (we spent almost a whole hour coloring one time). My friends were getting bored of discussions (which hardly ever got off the ground) and playing hangman and took to...well, troublemaking. 

And I was getting stressed out because I didn't want to be a pain, but it would be so much more fun to goof off the whole time. So I proposed a plan. A few weeks ago I shot off an email to my leader friend, and today we me at Rabalais' to hash it all out. We brainstormed and came up with some really cool ideas. All I can say is that I'll be lobbying with a few others to take a more active role in the community. Helping with the soup kitchen, praying at the abortion clinic, going on mission trips and cool stuff like that. And, hopefully, even the regular meetings will be more fruitful. I know it'll take some time to readjust (especially because none of these leaders have the same idea) and even longer to put most of these plans into action, but there's always the possibility, and now the probability!

*Insert Something Clever About School and Break and Stuff*

My short lived three weeks of freedom have elapsed, and I am officially doing school again. I thought I'd hate it, but honestly, I was starting to miss it. I'm such a people person that if I don't have a legitimate occupation I need to be with friends. School is said occupation. By the end of every break I begin to worry if everyone's tired of me begging them to come out of their lives to go shopping or play soccer or watch a movie. School's probably a nice break for my friends :)

It was quite an amazing break, though, while it lasted. For Christmas I got soccer goals and since then we've played three times. I've been shopping way more than is good for me, and would say the same about frequenting the local coffee shop, except that it's been closed for Christmas vacation. There've been lots of spontaneous parties and trips to the movie theater, usually resulting in an after party at my house. Tons of foosball and pool and staying up way too late for anyone's good. It's been so great, but I was starting to run out of ideas. It'll be nice to have the regularity of school for a while.

Ah, school school school. I really don't know what to do with you.

Speaking of school, talking to frenemies acquaintances can be majorly demanding, especially when they're adults. Call me an anti-social homeschooler, but that's the thing I dread most about the holidays. "What grade are you in?" "What college are you going to?" "What are you doing when you grow up?" They ask them every time. Literally. It really wouldn't be so bad, except that I'm having a really hard time deciding that myself. I'm not academically inclined at all. Nothing like that really holds my interest. But nothing that actually interests me would be something I can make a living out of. Swim team and soccer are fun, but I'm not good enough to even get a scholarship, let alone use them as a career. I like baking, but there's the same problem. I love organizing things, but that really isn't specific enough. Whenever those questions come up I basically flounder around for a few minutes trying to defend my decision to go to Catholic (synonymous with "closed minded" doncha know) college and that I'll wait and see where to go from there.

Uhg. The trials of an undecided homeschooler.

These posts have been getting randomer and randomer. I think what I'll start doing is just posting a lot of really little posts instead of covering so much ground. And I suppose this doesn't affect you at all. Oh well. Sorry for wasting ten seconds of your time.

Happy school!!

Happy Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Sleep Day- what?

While trying to come up with a name for this post I googled January 3rd holidays, just for fun. With my new-found knowledge I'd like to wish you all a Happy Sleep Day.

Instead of talking about my Christmas presents and New Years resolutions I have this random blurb for you. 

I am theoretically opposed to swearing. I'm not sure if it was ever a conscious choice, or if I've always stretched the second commandment a little out of proportion, but that's the way things are. But I'd be the first to admit the usefulness of the common exclamatory remark, and of it's benefits. For one: sometimes you just need to vent your surprise/anger/mood. I, personally commandeer the term "darn!" (and variations thereof) as much as is physically possible. The second positive attribute, though related closely with the first, needs its own paragraph altogether.

One of my least favorite character flaws is my inability to think and act simultaneously. I can rest on one extreme or the other, but have never been blessed with the happy medium. 

When I'm in my "thinking" mindset I often toy with the idea of cussing, not from a legitimate compulsion to do so, but for its results. Let me paint you a picture.

There I am, in any given setting, being dwarfed by my surroundings, looking altogether peaceful and innocent. My mom comes in and strikes up a conversation. I smile and nod, then BAM! She's rolling on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes. Unpredictable!

I think it has something to do with the spontaneousness of it all. If you know me, then you have most likely never heard me utter anything less G rated than "darn". In fact, if you don't know me than you probably haven't, either.

Now, let me lead you to the other, far-off extreme of my personality. It is, to put it in a nutshell, my blond side. Who actually thinks before they speak anyway? Obviously not me...

There have been two memorable experiences of me swearing. Scratch that. I can hardly remember the first, so I'll just tack on the interesting bits of that story onto this second episode. Kind of like when you tell a dream.

Well that escalated quickly.

Ahem.

We're loosing 17 to 23. It's tense. The cold, California breeze picks up, sending shivers up my arms. I shift my weight nervously from foot to foot.

"SerVICE!"

The ball sails effortlessly over the net and my team repulses it. The rally has begun.

Bump. Set. Spike. Kill.

It bounced giddily from player to player. Our sad excuse for a spike is caught easily and sent soaring to me. It's perfect. I don't even have to run. I follow the ball's progress until it lands...on my elbow? A word escapes me as the ball shoots off the court.

I look around me. The faces of my teammates echo my own surprise, disappointment, amusement. Sorry, what? Why is he laughing? IT'S NOT FUNNY.

I realize that I'd not actually *heard* the word I said. The feeling of utter shame had simply escaped me in the form of a word. I do a speed rewind in my mind of the past two seconds. I can hear the word lingering in my mind, said with so much passion even now it makes my blood run cold:

*Darn* it".

The moral of the story: "darn it" is not as bad as you can get while trying to swear.

Twas the Day Before Christmas

First of all, thank you for the prayers and well wishes; they worked! The show went off without a hitch AND it was pleasant to boot!

When I say "without a hitch", though, I'm pretty much lying to your face. The major contributors to my overexcited stress levels may have been caused by: a)the fact that four kids didn't show up for the performance (2 ended up coming just as we started, though.) b) in the first dance of the recital I totally blanked on the end of the dance and pretty much free styled Irish style to center stage to bow, or c) when, in our last dance, I accidentally started the beat way too fast (but that *did* pan out because the audience loved the tempo.) But, in spite of all that (and maybe because of it!) it was a brilliant performance, if I do say so myself.

Now for a drastic change of subject.

CHRISTMAS IS TOMORROW PEOPLES! I can't believe it! I'm waiting with both a childish wonder (insert creepy "North" face from Guardians) and a more mature horror. The former because, well, DUH, it's CHRISTMAS! The later because I in my possession every single gift for the holidays and not one of them is wrapped. So, in addition to all my family's baking (which we conveniently left till Christmas eve to do) I get to spend hours on end on the floor trying to make the presents look nice. No sweat.

Our family's main Christmas tradition is our lack thereof. I've tried (with various degrees of success) to institute my friends' cool traditions in our own family, but they never pan out. Our own traditions don't even pan out. For example, for four years running the movie Elf has been our standby Christmas movie. This year, however, we've all been reluctant to watch it because, as the years go by, it has become gradually less and less entertaining. Also, for years on end we've had variations of the same Christmas tree fiasco tradition.

It was a dark and stormy night. Not. We live in California, peoples. Well, it started three years ago, when, in our trademark spontaneousness, we rushed to the Christmas tree farm on the night of December 24th. The moral of the story is that it takes more than half an hour to decorate a tree. Fast-fore-ward a year. This time we're looking ahead, and we plan out the week of Christmas. You know how the holiday seasons are: BUSY. Fortunately, we saw this way ahead of time and were able to make the conscious choice to buy our tree on the 24th, and we planned accordingly. There we go, all bundled upto dear old Mupu Christmas tree Farms, when low and behold! there's a silly little scribbled sign on the closed gate saying that the owner was at a Christmas party (of all places!). Luckily, it had his cell phone number scrawled at the bottom, which we proceeded to dial and tell him our sad tale. I'm not sure how much of it he actually heard (my dad said it sounded like a pretty fun party in the background) but eventually he offered to give us the tree now, and pay him for it later. Last year we arrived late in the season, late at night, but, to everyone's chagrin, THIS year we purchased the tree over a week ago. Even the owners noticed and asked if we were coming a little too early.

So, that's all I have to say. I can almost guarantee that I *won't* post on Christmas, and even if I do, I hope you wouldn't tear yourself away from your new toys and families to read the post, so don't bother. Have a Merry Christmas!!

Wish Me Luck!

I don't have time for a full-fledged post right now, but I'm about to perform in my Irish dance recital. Not sure how we'll do, but some prayers would be much appreciated.

I promise to say more later. I have a lot to talk about!

That Moment When...

That moment when you sing off key IN YOUR MIND. Or maybe that's just my moment. All I can say is that last night, while imagining blaring out "Let it go" from Frozen, probably my least favorite song from the whole movie, I suddenly realized that my air guitar wasn't playing the notes I was singing.

I haven't been posting my writing on here for the sad reason that I haven't been writing. Ever since Thanksgiving break school has been consuming my every waking moment and I haven't been able to get a word in edgewise. But there is hope. For the next three weeks I'll have a ridiculous amount of time on my hands, so I'm sure I'll be able to scribble something out.

I honestly did have a subject for this post ten minutes ago. OH YES. Now I remember.

Last night I watched The Desolation of Smaug. It was...exciting. Sure, the effects weren't perfect, and some of the dialog wasn't great (read, "I AM FIRE. I AM DEATH.") but the big picture was impressive. And intense. Well, maybe that was just me. I get way too into movies, and throughout the whole show I was huddled up on the movie seat whispering silently to the characters. "No. No! Don't go in there!" "You're not supposed to die yet!" "AHH! That's Benedict Cumberbatch's voice!" I think my friend and I pretty much lost circulation in our hands because we were squeezing each other pretty much whenever Kili came onto the screen. And sometimes for Thorin. And whenever Smaug spoke. Yeah.

Okay, now for something more legible. Christmas is coming! And what's more, it feels like Christmas is coming. Usually a few days before the big day it kind of hits me and I start belting out Christmas carols around the house, but it's more than a week till and I'm already in the mood! It probably has something to do with the unCalifornian weather we've been experiencing, or maybe it's because we're getting our tree on Sunday, but it's here none the less.

Outta time and outta money, as my tennis coach used to say, so so long, farewell, avida say, and goodbye.