Been Busy These Last Few Days...

So, I think I forgot to mention that sometime in the week before Christmas (I cannot for the life of me remember what day), I did manage to watch White Christmas, which was really cute and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like all holiday movies are supposed to do. So, anyway...

Dad's home this week, which is throwing me off completely...but whatever. I didn't do much on Sunday or Monday, just sorta hung around the house. Although I did watch part of The Sound of Music on Sunday, which I love...we've been to Salzburg, Austria, where the film is set, and the Do Re Mi montage, with the Mirabell Gardens and the big castle on the hill in the background, is pretty cool to see, because we got to see it when we went there. And I love the whole story...so yeah. :) (Quick note...rest in peace Agathe Von Trapp, the eldest daughter of the famous Von Trapp family, who passed away yesterday. She was protrayed as Leisl in the movie.)

On Tuesday, Sylvia and her parents picked me up, and we went over to the mall. We met up with Anita, and we did some shopping at Hollister and American Eagle before we met up with Anita. I ended up getting a couple of things from American Eagle, which is definitely my favorite place to shop. This time, I got a lavender and grey striped thermal sweater/long-sleeve shirt, a light coral (pinky orange) colored sweatshirt top, and a black dress, which I have no idea why I bought, because 1) I don't wear dresses all that much, and 2) I don't have any use for a "little black dress". But whatever, I liked it, so I bought it.

The two shirts I bought. (Sorry...the pic is pretty blurry.)

I swear it's black...it looks purple with the lighting in my room.

And me in the dress...not a great pic but I was took lazy to try more than a couple times...

Then, we met up with Emma, and we had lunch (I had Chick-Fil-A as usual), and finished exchanging our holiday gifts to each other, which was really cool. Then, we went off and did a ton of shopping, and everyone had a lot of fun. We went into practically every store we wanted to, and by the time Emma left, Anita and I were both super-tired. So, while Sylvia went to exchange a shirt at Aeropostale, Anita and I sorta walked around, and stopped in Aerie. During our walk, we were on the hunt for a bench to sit on, as our feet were killing us. But, we couldn't find an open one, so we went back to Aeropostale and waited on Sylvia.

So, Sylvia wanted to stop in Aerie, so we all trudged back inside, and low-and-behold, there was a freaking couch in Aerie that Anita and I had totally missed when we had gone in before. So, we sat around while Sylvia looked at a few things, and then we headed back to Forever 21 so Sylvia could purchase the shirt she had on hold, and we were in line when Anita headed out. So, we got the shirt, and then headed to The Body Shop, where I got a thing of tea tree oil for my mom, and then we went through Belk to meet my dad so he could take us home.

And we dropped Sylvia off, and then had to back-track a couple minutes back to her house because she had left her phone in my dad's car, and then we headed home. And we spent the evening watching tv and I let Ella out and all that good stuff.

Today was one heck of a day though. I had to go to the orthodontist to pick up my retainer. So, I got back there, and the lady came over with my new top retainer and popped it in...and guess what? It totally does not feel right. Like, I can't even get it in easily. So, I tried to complain to her about it, but I guess she just wasn't listening. So, Dr. Chermak came over and did his usual two-second check, and then it took me, like, a full minute to yank the stupid top retainer out of my mouth.

So, right now, I'm trying to figure out why it's so tight. The only thing I can come up with is that the molds for the first retainer were taken before I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and that maybe things shifted after I had them removed, but I don't know if that's it or not. So, I'm planning on just wearing them for a couple of weeks and seeing how it goes. And hoping that I don't accidentally break the stupid thing trying to pull it out of my mouth in the mornings...ugh. And my next appointment, to check the retainer? January 31, my birthday. Which is a Monday, so Mom might have to change it because of work, which would be nice.

Anyway, enough of that. Dad and I went over to Lowe's Foods to get some stuff for dinner with my grandmother tonight...he wanted something different, which is kinda hard to do when you didn't start thinking about the meal until this morning. So, we spent forever walking the aisles and finally settled on this chicken parmigiana pasta thing, with breadsticks and salad, and some filled croissants for dessert. We'll see how it turns out tonight.

So, tonight is basically prepping dinner, picking up my grandmother, eating dinner, watching tv, taking her home, then I'm planning on writing my Christmas/holiday thank you cards sometime before I go to bed.

And May All Your Christmases Be White...

You know what? It actually happened! We got measurable snow on Christmas! Amazing! (Haha, can't you tell I'm on a snow-induced high right now? Just kidding.)

So, anyway, last night we ended up reading The Night Before Christmas and then setting out the milk and cookies. Then, we filled each other's stockings, and headed to bed.

In the morning, I woke up, took a shower, and put on my makeup, and then went into the living room. We did stockings first, and I ended up pulling out some candy, a bookmark, a ring holder, and a few other things, which was all very nice. Then, we opened gifts from our family up north - money, which was really nice.

Gifts from each other were next...we got Dad some clothes, earbuds, and a DVD. Mom got a video game and a ribbon organizer for her scrapbooking area. Quinn got, among other things, a video game and some toy sets. And I got all four of the items on my list, plus some really neat other things, including a Despicable Me minion plush from Quinn, which is adorable. One of the gifts Mom and Dad gave me was heavy...it ended up being a video game weighted down with bags of shredded coconut and powdered sugar in the box. Haha.

Then, Santa gifts, which were neat. I got the Despicable Me DVD, an American Girl outfit, a Lego Christmas Village bakery to go with my toy shop that I had set up, and a DaVinci Code fully-functional cryptex, which is amazingly cool. So, then we had breakfast - Mom's special breakfast casserole, orange rolls, and orange juice, and then I put together my Lego set.

We started on the food preparation shortly after I finished, and I helped Mom with some of the peeling and stuff, and then we all got dressed (I think I stayed in my pajamas until close to three in the afternoon). The family came over between four and four-thirty, and we finished the food, and then had some fun talking and eating and just being together. The food was awesome...Mom made bacon-wrapped shrimp, steakhouse bruschetta, canoli dip...well, a lot of food, and everyone else brought a few things, and by the time it was all said and done, we still had a ton of food left over.

So, after everyone left, we went out and took a few pictures in the snow, and then headed inside. Quinn and I had our usual "mysterious" post-Christmas-morning gifts on our beds...mine was an American Eagle gift card, which I am absolutely thrilled to have, because I shop there all the time, and they always have the coolest things.

Right now, Mom is playing the Wii game Quinn got her, Tetris, while Ella runs around at her feet. We're planning on watching A Christmas Story tonight, because we have it on DVD, and it's technically a tradition that we have to watch it each year.

Other than that, we're trying to figure out the best time to go to the mall tomorrow, since the snow kinda messed up our 10:30-3:30 plans. So, we will probably go in the afternoon, weather pending, of course. Not much else on the agenda for the week, other than going to the orthodontist to pick up my retainer on Wednesday. And then, New Years. Hard to believe it's almost the end of 2010...

Christmas, Christmastime Is Here...

So, maybe I have The Chipmunk Christmas song in my head right now. Hence, the title...

Oh my goodness, it's Christmas Eve. Holy moly, how did that happen? It only felt like yesterday that it was the beginning of December, and now...whoa. So, anyway, I'm a bit tired, so this post should be pretty short.

Mom and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 on Monday, which was cool, and I can't wait for the last installment, even though I never read the book itself. On Tuesday, I went to the orthodontist because I cracked my retainer, so I needed to have molds taken so they could make me a new retainer. And then, Dad and I went to the Wake basketball game in the evening, which was cool. The Goodmans, our seatmates, gave us a box of homemade fudge at the game, which we determined the next morning was the absolute most delicious fudge we'd ever eaten.

Anyway, on Wednesday, Emma came over at around 8:30 in the morning, and we had breakfast and hung out and then had lunch and hung out some more. And then, we hopped in her VW bug (so jealous) and she drove to the movie theater. We met up with Anita, and saw The Tourist which was really neat. Kinda mindblowingly cool. (And I found out later that our neighbors thought Emma's bug was my car...haha, I wish.)

And then on Thursday, I got my nails painted, but that was really the only thing. Except that we watched Toy Story 3, which we got from Netflix. I'd already seen it before (at the theater with Sylvia, actually), but it was fun to see again, and I think everyone loved it.

Today was pretty cool. Mom and Dad were home from work, and I ended up doing my homework, and then helping clean the house for a little while. And then I kinda got sucked into a Criminal Minds marathon (all reruns) on A&E, and ended up glued to the couch for about four hours. But, they were all really good episodes, so I guess it was worth it.

And then, we all got ready, and I drove over to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas Eve dinner. We had goulash, and shrimp and rice casserole, and salad, and then opened gifts (we pretty much always exchange gifts with them on Christmas Eve, even though we see each other Christmas Day. We got my uncle a gift card, my aunt a green glass tray that matches her house colors, and we got them both some wine and crackers and different spreads and stuff.

Mom got the bath towels she wanted/needed, along with some bubble bath and body wash and stuff like that. Dad got a Kohl's gift card. And Quinn and I got money, which was what I wanted, since I go shopping quite frequently. Then, we had dessert - canoli dip and a cherry and chocolate bread pudding, which were both amazing. And then, we headed home.

Right now, Mom is starting on some of the desserts for our Christmas Day get-together with the family (we're hosting this year), and Quinn is absolutely bubbly in anticipation of Santa Claus, and I have no idea where Dad is, although I would guess watching tv.

As for tomorrow, I think I'm more excited about getting together with the family than about the gifts. My parents, as usual, asked for a Christmas list, and I could only come up with four things...two video games, a DVD, and a video editing program. And even then, I didn't really even need all of those. So, my idea of Christmas is more swayed toward the socializing aspect than the presents aspect this year. Which I think is nice.

Anyway, that's about it. I'll probably do some sort of post-Christmas post later tomorrow evening, but for now, I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday! Merry Christmas!

He's Making A List, and Checking It Twice...

So, let's see...what have I been doing? Well, let's just say I'm in one of those holiday rushes, so I've been pretty busy.

So, the 15th was my mom's birthday, so we all wished her Happy Birthday and all that good stuff, even after celebrating the night before. And that was pretty much it until Dad and I went to the Wake basketball game. Thursday was much of the same, or at least I think it was. Like I said, holiday rush. Which means I'm very likely to forget things. Friday was uneventful, and we all just sort of chilled out and watched some of the recorded stuff we had on our DVR, The Sing Off being one of them, which I think is just awesome.

Today was fun. Mom and I went to Target after my dad got back from getting gifts for his co-workers. (His car is in the shop, getting fixed, so we're down to one car right now.) And Mom and I shopped around, and I got myself a new belt, and a pair of longsleeve pajamas (which I was very much in need of...I've been sleeping in my summer set - shorts and t-shirt - and putting about four blankets on my bed at night.). And we found a couple of little stocking stuffers for Quinn, and I needed body wash.

And then, we went over to Cato's, cuz Mom needed a nice shirt for the parties they went to this evening. (She absolutely waited until the last minute...duh.) And then we came home and chilled for a while, and then Mom and I went out to pick up McDonald's because she wanted something easy to eat before they left, and because Quinn and I kinda needed to eat, too. :)

So, we ate, and then they left, and I cleaned Ella's cage, and Quinn and I played Mario Kart (on the Wii, which I'm pretty bad at) for over an hour. And then we came upstairs and watched Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, which we had recorded. I swear I watch it pretty much every year, and this year was the first time I could put faces to names of the actors who voiced the characters. Never had I payed attention to the fact that Fred Astaire is the mailman who narrates the whole thing. And to think I've been watching that movie and listening to him speak since I was little...oh, how did I miss that?

Anyway, little tidbit of note - we go into McDonald's, and what music is playing? The version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" from the movie, which I have not heard on the radio all season. [Ugh, I really cannot figure out this embedding thing...the video doesn't seem to want to shrink down to fit into the space I have. Well, here's the link if you want it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jQy_ppY2bI]

Oh, and I've been on a holiday movie kick. I finally got to see It's a Wonderful Life, which was amazing, and I watched Holiday Inn, which was really cool, (it's also the first film in which Bing Crosby sang "White Christmas"). And then I saw The Shop Around the Corner, which really isn't technically a holiday movie, except for the fact that it takes place around Christmas. And btw, if you've seen You've Got Mail, that's a remake of The Shop Around the Corner...pair of people who are corresponding with each other anonymously and think they're falling in love with each other, but they quarrel all the time in real life. Still have White Christmas to watch, as well as Miracle on 34th Street...maybe I'll get to them sometime this week.

Okay, anyway, I'm getting off track here. I've got a busy week coming up...we might be decorating at my grandmother's on Sunday, Monday will be pretty normal, then Tuesday, Dad and I have a Wake basketball game. Wednesday, Emma, Anita, and I are planning on getting together, nothing on Thursday, then Friday is dinner at my aunt and uncle's for Christmas Eve, Saturday is Christmas, and then on Sunday, Emma, Sylvia, Anita, and I are going to brave the crowds at the mall for some shopping. So, busy week! :)

Little Kids Are So Fun!!!

Okay, first things first, before I forget, I am super-psyched. Why? Jeopardy just announced that in February, they're going to be doing a couple of special episodes pitting the player with the longest winning streak, Ken Jennings (74 games) against the player that has won the most money, Brad Rutter ($3.3 million)...against "Watson", an IBM computer! So amazing!

So, anyway, on Saturday, we got up early and went over to Messiah Moravian Preschool for the Santa Breakfast. Mom, Quinn, and I were manning the Reindeer-Food-Making station. So, we got to help the little kiddies mix together oats, sugar, and sprinkles, and then put it into a bag. Mom handled the oats and sugar, Quinn helped with the sprinkles and shaking it up to mix it (shake it nine times, one for each of the reindeer), and I helped them pour the mixture into the bags and close it off with a sticker. And it was really fun, and all the little kids were adorable! This is my brother and I in our aprons (kneeling...cuz the tables have to be super short for the little ones) at our station.

Then, we came home and relaxed, and I'm pretty sure I laid around most of the day. And Sunday was pretty much the same thing, except that we went to the grocery store, and then Dad, Quinn, and I went shopping for another birthday gift for Mom. And after poking around at Target, and then going to Party City, and to Panera (just for a gift card), we headed home. Monday was pretty normal, too.

So, today, I got up and got ready, and then I dusted, and cleaned the bathroom, and decorated because we celebrated Mom's birthday this evening, even though her actual birthday is tomorrow. Dad and I have a Wake basketball game in the evening, and Mom didn't want us missing it just for her.

So, Dad and I took Mom's car over to pick up my grandmother, since his is leaking antifreeze and needs to be fixed, and when we got back, we had dinner, and watched a little tv. Aunt Lynne came over, and we watched some of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and Minute To Win It, and then Mom opened her presents - Estee Lauder "Beautiful" dusting powder, a Panera gift card, and Aunt Lynne gave her a set of soup mixes (lobster bisque, she crab soup, and creole shrimp, I think).

And then, we sang "Happy Birthday" and had cake and talked for a little while before Dad and I took Granny home, and Mom and Quinn went with Aunt Lynne so they could borrow her truck while Dad's car is in the shop. And, then I let Ella out for the evening, and sorta watched The Biggest Loser finale.

I Love Fridays...

Well, I wanted to get on and post this while I can...

Today was really cool. I did my homework this morning, and then played around on the computer and had lunch and washed the dishes. And then I waited around until Mom got home, and then I drove her to the post office so she could mail a few things. Then, we went to the nail salon near our house, and I got my nails painted. This is what they look like:

I decided on a white tip with a red candy cane stripe. I'm thinking about going back and getting something different for Christmas.

And then, we came home and chilled for a little while, and when Dad got home, we went to the mall. Mom went off on her own so that we could get her the birthday gift that she wanted from Estee Lauder, and then we poked around the in Deacon Shop, and Dad talked with some of the people he used to work with there.

Then, we went to TGI Friday's for dinner, and I had the sizzling chicken and cheese, which was good. And then Dad and Quinn went to look at video games across the way, while Mom and I went up to Belk to look at the Free People section, which we always pass by and see cute stuff in. Except it's so expensive. So, Mom thought it would be cool to get me a Christmas or birthday present because she had a 20% off coupon for Belk.

So, we looked around, and there, of course, wasn't really anything wintry that I thought was cute. But, we poked around in the sales racks,and there was this really cute summery top, that I tried on and loved... (Excuse the busy pattern of my hammock chair...it was the only thing I could hang it on where the light was sufficient enough to catch the color decently.)

It's cuter in person, and you really can't tell, but the sleeves are really fluttery. So, anyway, we walked out of the dressing room, and we realized we hadn't even checked the price tag....

Don't know if you can tell, but the sale price on the tag was $17.98, and it marked it down an extra 40%. Mom couldn't use her coupon, but it really didn't matter because it only came to $11.63 with tax! It was originally $72, and then it got marked down to $35.99, and then to $17.98, and then again to $10.79, which I think we figured was an 85% total markdown. I don't think it gets much better than that. :)

So, anyway, that's what my day has been like. I'm getting up at 7:00am tomorrow to go to the Santa Breakfast at Messiah Moravian. I think I'm supervising one of the craft tables, which should be pretty easy, considering that most of the kids will have their parents with them. Quinn and Mom are working the reindeer food-making station. So, I should have some fun with all that...

Nothing Much Going On, But I'm Posting Anyway...

Well, I told you I'd post again this week. Not much has been going on though, so this should be a fairly short post.

We didn't do much this weekend, just sort of sat around. If we did something, I obviously don't remember it. Haha. Days start to blend together. I think I forgot to mention in my last post that we finally got our Christmas tree up that Friday. Mom loved how clean the house was after Thanksgiving that we didn't put up the tree the day after like we normally do.

As for the other decorations, it's kinda funny. We've got the lights on the house, the wreath on the door, the garland up the stairs, the stockings, the tree, and a few holiday handprint/footprint things Quinn and I made when we were in preschool. But, that's pretty much it. Normally, we'd have our array of nutcrackers, a light-up village set of some sort, stuff like that. I don't even have my mini-tree or Precious Moments village set up in my room. And I'm debating whether or not to even bring them down, considering that there's only a couple of weeks until Christmas...

Um, nothing much else going on. I started Emma by Jane Austen this week, and so far, it's pretty good. There's a lot of characters, so it gets a bit confusing at times, but it's all good. I'm trying to get it all read and all the work done by the end of December, which is going to be a challenge, but hopefully, I'll be able to do it.

Yesterday, Mom and I watched Get Him to the Greek, which was sorta funny, but not something I'd recommend. I think the best part was the random fight in the hotel between the main characters, which wasn't even that funny. So, yeah...don't know why I thought it was going to be funny.

I've finally got back into watching my movies. The second hundred seems to be going slower than the first, but whatever. I saw my first Hitchcock film a few days ago, Suspicion, which was pretty good. I also saw The Thin Man, Sunset Boulevard, and You Can't Take It With You (which I was able to check on my Best Picture list - 1938), which were all neat, too.

I've got a nice little line-up to be taped this weekend - It's A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and Holiday Inn - all holiday films, which should be cool. I was listening to the radio a couple of days ago, and apparently, the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro is showing all three of those films on the big screen this month...and if it weren't for the fact that it's almost an hour drive one-way, I'd totally ask my mom to let me go. But maybe next year...

Anyway, we're going to be running some errands on Friday, and then on Saturday morning, Mom, Quinn, and I are going to help out with the Santa Breakfast that her co-worker has been working on at their church or school or something, I can't remember. So, I'll be helping little kids with crafts from nine to eleven that morning, which should be fun. So, that's it, I think. If not, it can wait until the next post...

And Since We've No Place To Go...

...Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

So, yes, we got snow today. Totally awesome. Dad and I went to the Wake game this afternoon, and it had been snowing for maybe half an hour when we got there, so it didn't really look all that "snowy" outside, but when we came out two and a half hours later, everything was covered in white, which was amazing.

Other than that, today has been pretty easy. Mom and I watched Law Abiding Citizen (one of our play-through-the-Wii Netflix movies), and it was pretty good. There were some parts that you totally knew were coming (Mom and I kept saying, "So-and-so is next," as in next to die), but we still jumped when it actually happened. So, anyway, good movie. And then we came up and had dinner and watched some tv show about JFK's security detail, which was neat. And then I cleaned Ella's cage and watched some football with Dad.

The past few days have been interesting. Dad was in Dallas, TX from Wednesday until Friday for work, so the three of us brought Chick-Fil-A over to my grandmother's for dinner on Wednesday, and then came home and watched Criminal Minds, even though it was a re-run. But, it was one we hadn't seen before, and it was a pretty darn good one, so it worked out.

Then, on Thursday, we went to Olive Garden for dinner, because whenever we go there with Dad, something always happens. One time we waited for forever for our food because they only could get one oven/stove to work in the kitchen. So, now we go without Dad. So, the meal was good, and we came home and chilled for the evening.

On Friday, Mom took the day off, so I drove her to the DMV to get her license renewed, and then we went to AC Moore to look at a few things. We stopped at the mall so  I could go to American Eagle and get a few more long-sleeve shirts (I ended up getting three), and then we went to Enchanted Cottage and picked up a few things.

When we got home, we had lunch, and then chilled for a while before going to pick up dinner. We ended up watching Iron Man 2, which was pretty good, and then watched CSI: NY and Blue Bloods while we waited for Dad to get home. And I put together the Holiday Toy Shop lego set I got last Christmas and never put together. And it's adorable.

Before:



After:



So, anyway, that's what's going on right now. Nothing much on the schedule for the next few days, but I still hope to post at least once during the week.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Things have been just a tad bit crazy the past few days...here's my recap.

Friday - Mom and I went to Enchanted Cottage with Aunt Lynne, and I picked up some stuff to make Christmas cards. (My goal for the next week is to hand-make holiday/Christmas cards to send to all my friends and family.) So, we finished up shopping and then had lunch at Coppola's, which was yummy as usual.

Once we got home, Mom, Dad, and I went to Lowe's (the home-improvement store, not the grocery store), and picked up a few things and looked at pricing on garage doors and new flooring for the kitchen. And then we came home and chilled for the evening.

Saturday - We chilled for the morning, and then went over to my Aunt Carol & Uncle Bob's for dinner. Our family always gets together and makes chaotzes (pronounced 'jowsas'), which are these meat-filled dough packets boiled in water (kinda like ravioli, but totally different). So, we spent most of the afternoon and evening over there, and I had so much fun.

Then, we came home and watched Extraordinary Measures, which was great. I loved movies that are based on true stories. And stories with happy endings, too. And then, I cleaned Ella's cage, as usual.

Sunday - We didn't do much all day. Went grocery shopping with Mom, and then hung around. We watched Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and then The Wizard of Oz on tv in the evening. I hadn't watched The Wizard of Oz in years (apparently we didn't watch it much when I was little because, according to my mom, I was afraid of the flying monkeys).

Oh my gosh, I forgot how crazy that movie was. And I feel so dumb, but I never knew that the people in the Kansas scenes are all in the main part of the story as well. The woman who tries to take Toto turns out to be the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy's three friends/helpers on the farm are the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, and the fortune-teller is the Great Wizard of Oz. So cool.

Monday - I did all the usual stuff in the morning - homework, washed the dishes, etc. and then when Mom got home, I buried myself down in the basement and worked on my cards. I got five done in well, quite a long time. I took my time, and had to retry a few stampings and cuttings and things. But, I ended up with five pretty little snowflake cards. And hopefully, I'll be able to do some different ones this week, with some of the other colored paper I bought in reds and greens.

Tuesday - Again, I did all the usual stuff, and played around on the computer until Mom got home. Then, we went to PetSmart (I needed hay for Ella) and Walgreen's (I needed a couple of things), and when we got home, we chilled for a little while and then Mom and Quinn left to go to New China Buffet for dinner. Dad came home a couple of minutes later, and we went to the Wake basketball game against Iowa.

And, wow, it was a crazy game. Wake started off horribly, and at one point was down by eighteen. They were losing at the half, and then all of a sudden, everything turned around. Iowa started missing shots, Wake started getting the rebounds, and a couple of minutes later, they've taken the lead. Iowa came back, of course, but Wake kept it alive, and Wake had the ball with just over 30 seconds left. And of course, the stadium is going crazy, because it's all tied up at 73, and Wake had just blocked an Iowa shot, and they hit a 3-point shot with 2.7 seconds left. And the roof nearly came off the building. Anyway, totally amazing win...76 to 73.

And now I am really tired, and I feel like I've been writing for forever. So, I'm going to end it here. It's not like there's much else to talk about anyway. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

*takes a deep breath* Okay, so I am officially super-tired, but very happy... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So, yesterday we did a bunch of cleaning and straightening and all that jazz, and then we ended up making the desserts in the evening. And I'm not going into much detail because I'm both super lazy and it was all such a whirlwind that I can't really remember it all. What I do remember was that a firetruck, lights on and sirens blaring, came down our street and stopped in front of one of the houses a few doors down. I never really did figure out what was going on...the firemen left after a little while and the kids who live there were out playing afterward. But, it was kinda interesting.

And I dusted and cleaned for hours yesterday, which I guess wasn't as bad as it sounds, because I had my iPod on and was jamming along while I worked. When Mom got home, we cleaned some more, and later in the evening, we went to the grocery store for a few last-minute things and picked up McDonald's for dinner. And Dad hung the Christmas lights on the house, so now our house is all pretty and holiday-ish.

And today...well today was cool. I got up at 7:30 this morning and helped Mom make the stuffing. Then, I took a shower and put my makeup on and got dressed, and then we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was fun. Not as good as last year's, but still fun. Mom made pancakes, and then once the parade was over, we started working on the sides and setting the table and stuff.

Once we had everything sorta ready, Dad went and picked up Granny and Alfredo, and we hung around and snacked and watched football until 4:00, and then Mom and I finished the cooking and Aunt Lynne and Uncle Herb came over. And we all sat down and had a really nice meal, and I stuffed myself. And then I stuffed myself even more with pumpkin cheesecake that my aunt made, which was so good.

And then, we hung around and talked and watched tv and Quinn, Alfredo and I played Mario Kart. And then we watched some football, and a show about pumpkin chucking contests (Punkin Chunkin), and then Dad took Alfredo and Granny home, and Mom and I watched the Taylor Swift: Speak Now special on tv.

I think I've washed and dried about half a dozen or so loads of dishes and bowls and serving platters. But, I think I've earned my keep for the evening. Not to mention that I didn't get into bed until after one in the morning yesterday, so I was running on six hours of sleep all day...but it was fun. And now, I'll be eating turkey and stuffing and veggies and desserts for the next few days...and sleeping, too. Haha, not really.

And omg!!! They're redesigning the VW beetle! Mom and I watched Oprah's Favorite Things: Part 2, and they freaking gave away cars! And not just any car, but a VW bug (my dream car), and not just any VW bug, but the 2012 redesigned version! So neat!

Okay, anyway, I'm done typing for the evening. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

And Here Comes The Holiday Season...

You know the holidays are right around the corner when 99.5 WMAG starts their Christmas music...and I was driving down Reynolda tonight with Mom beside me and Dad and Quinn i the backseat, and flipped onto the station because all the other preset channels were on commercials...and there was a Christmas song!!! And now, I'm in my room, listening to "Here Comes Santa Claus"...so awesome.

So, anyway, I just wanted to note that we didn't go to the Tuesday basketball game. Dad had a meeting that ran late, and by the time we would've gotten there, we would've only seen the second half. So yeah, and the Deacs lost anyway, so it was almost better that we didn't go.

Well, the week has been kinda normal, just working on schoolwork and stuff. But today was cool. Mom and I went out to the bank, and then we came home, chilled for a while, and then the four of us went out to The Loop for dinner.

And then we went across to Edward McKay...none of us had ever been there before, and it was really cool. So, we were looking for a chemistry textbook, and found one that looked pretty good. And we just poked around a little bit, and then I drove home, because I really like the drive from Thruway to Reynolda.

When we got home, we watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy and then we watched today's episode of Oprah, which was her Favorite Things specials...and it is obscene how much stuff those people get. And yet it is so fun to watch everyone go crazy. And then watched the CSI: NY that we had recorded, and then watched this week's episode, and headed to bed.

This weekend is going to be crazy. We're hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year...just Aunt Lynne & Uncle Herb, Granny, Dad's fraternity brother's son, Alfredo (the one who goes to Wake...his family lives in Panama, and he's never had a traditional Thanksgiving meal, so we invited him over), and the four of us. So, we've got a ton of prep-work...cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, etc, and with Mom working during the week, we really need to get some stuff done this weekend.

So, I probably won't be posting until early next week...partly because of the amount of stuff we have to do, partly because I don't really think anything we do will be worth reporting on here in detail. But, hopefully, I'll be able to do a Thanksgiving or even a pre-Thanksgiving post. :)

I Haven't Posted In Over A Week, So Here's My Recap...

Oh crap, I haven't posted in, like, a week. Oops! So, let's see...important events since I last posted...

 - We went to view and order our photo sculptures on Tuesday, and that was cool. We ordered some sculptures and a couple of magnets and a couple of photo packages to put in our 'school picture' frames on our wall. And I got to drive around in the real dark, which I don't do all that often, and now with it getting darker earlier, I should be able to do that more.

 - Dad was home on Veteran's Day, and so he started the painting of the basement/playroom downstairs. It was supposed to be all red, but the red that we had originally bought (and this was all years ago) was so hard to get even or whatever, so we ended up with a couple of red walls and a couple of white walls. So, Dad primed and painted this weekend, and now it's the same light brown as our living room and hallway/stairwell, and it looks really good.

 - Dad and I went to the Wake vs. Stetson basketball game on Friday, which was cool. I got to wear the new coat Mom bought for me since it was going to be cold that night. Because we park in the lot by the football stadium and walk across to LJVM, so it gets cold. Anyway, Wake lost, which sucked, considering that Stetson wasn't even that good. But whatever.

 - And Mom and I went out on Saturday to look for an acorn cookie cutter (we never did find one), so we stopped at AC Moore and Michael's to look around. And in the parking lot at Michael's was the cutest VW bug...in turquoise blue! Even the inside of the tire rims were blue! It was adorable! Haha, so, anyway, then we went to the grocery store, and we watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that evening, since we wanted to refamiliarize ourselves with the plot in time for the upcoming release of the first part of the seventh movie.

 - And Sunday was sort of lazy...I hung around and watched movies on FX (Zoom, Daddy Day Care, and Kung Fu Panda). And then we had dinner; Mom made this really awesome taco bake casserole thing, and it was so good. And then I cleaned Ella's cage, and came upstairs and Mom and I watched What Happens in Vegas, which we'd already seen before but really wanted to see again, on FX.

Today, I'm just chilling for now. My homework's done for the day, except I still have to figure out when I'm going to watch the 1931 movie version of Frankenstein, because I finished the book, and this week's assignment is to watch the movie and then write a 500-word compare/contrast essay on the book and the movie. Except I think Quinn wants to watch it with me (no idea why), so I'll have to work around his schedule, too.

Dad and I are going to the Wake/Hampton basketball game tonight, and another one tomorrow vs. either VCU or Winthrop, so I have two days in a row of basketball, which should be cool.

Anyway, I think that's pretty much it, for now at least. :)

It's Already November...

Okay, so, wow. It's November already. And a week into it at that...

So, anyway, nothing big going on right now. I'm currently looking at my wall calendar and laughing at how busy this month is...or at least it feels like it to me. Most of it is Wake Forest games, but whatever.

Well, since I last posted (on Halloween), my brother and I had our pictures taken for photo sculptures, which was fun. We did a purple and black theme (my profile picture on Facebook is actually from that night, after we got home), and I think they're going to look really great. We had dinner with my grandmother that night, and watched Criminal Minds like we normally do on Wednesdays, and all that good stuff.

On Friday, Dad and I went to our first Wake basketball game of the season, an exhibition game against Guilford College, which was cool. Kinda boring, since Guilford wasn't that good, so the score was like eighty-something to forty-something when the game ended, but still. We have some nice seats this year...we're still not downstairs, but we're like exactly center court upstairs, which is cool. The Goodmans, our seatmates, weren't there that night, but I look forward to seeing them at the game on Friday vs. Stetson.

Then, I went, like,  everywhere on Saturday. Dad took me to the mall in the morning, and I found a pretty nice Wake Forest long-sleeve shirt I can wear to the games when it starts to get really cold outside, and we stopped at the drug store to pick up a few things afterward. Then, we got home, and I had lunch.

And then Mom and I went out to Mt. Tabor to pick up barbecue from a fundraiser her boss' son's baseball team was doing, and then we took that home, went back out to pick up some pictures at Walgreens, then went to Enchanted Cottage to match up some papers for a scrapbook page Mom wants to work on. And then we dropped everything off at home and went back out to the grocery store to get what we needed for the week.

When we finally got home, I was so tired, so we had the barbecue for dinner, and Mom and I watched Changeling, which was amazing. Mom had watched it the night before while we were at the game (she rented it through Netflix), and she told it I had to watch it, so we did, and oh my gosh, it was so good! It's kinda hard to explain, so I won't try it here, but I would absolutely recommend it. And then, I cleaned Ella's cage and worked on setting up all the details for a get-together with Emma, Sylvia, and Anita for Sunday.

So, on Sunday, I went over to Mi Pueblo for lunch with Sylvia, Emma, and Anita, and I got to see Emma's yellow punchbug! And I'm so jealous...it's adorable! So, anyway, we had a good lunch (I had chicken soft tacos, by the way), and then Mom came and took us over to Carmike to see The Social Network, which was really neat. Except that the heat wasn't working in the room we were in, so none of us could feel our feet by the time the movie ended, but it was all good.

And then, after we dropped Sylvia off at her house, Dad and I went to pick up a rat at the pet store, and then went home, and we worked on the crossword puzzle and watched a little football. I had dinner, and then let Ella out for a little while, and then watched the last two hours or so of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie on ABC Family. And I remembered how much I love that movie...it is just amazing.

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Upcoming events for the week: photo sculpture picture viewing/ordering session on Tuesday, dinner with Granny on Wednesday, and a Wake game on Friday.

Happy Halloween!!!

First of all, Happy Halloween everyone! As I'm typing this, my mom is outside taking pictures of my brother in his costume, and then they're going to go out Trick-or-Treating. My dad and I are watching football.

So, everything's been going good. A couple of random points before I get into my story for the night.

 - I am loving Frankenstein, and I can't wait to read the next few chapters tomorrow.

 - My aunt and grandmother came over to visit today, and that was fun.

 - I had a YouTube video break 100 views a couple of days ago, which was awesome.

And now, my story. So, my brother is going Trick-or-Treating as Link, from The Legend of Zelda video games. Now, there isn't really a store-bought costume for that, so my mom has spent the last few days making him a costume. And I got to sit there and make pop-top strands for a sort of chainmail-ish look.

And so I was up until 2:30 in the morning last night, threading pop-tops onto silver yarn, and Mom was up finishing off his undershirt and making his hat. So, in total, she made: one green tunic, one pair of gray pants with attached faux boots, one hat (with felt hair), one belt, and sewed long sleeves onto a t-shirt and then sewed my pop-top strands onto the areas that would show under the tunic.

So, my brother just left, and is apparently very happy with his costume, and I'm so freaking tired...I stayed up until close to 4:30 in the morning, what with doing the pop-tops and then answering Kate's civics poll, and checking blogs and stuff like I do before I go to bed.

So, tonight is just going to be relaxing now. Once Mom and Quinn get back (probably around 9:30 or 10), we're going to watch the Halloween episode of The Office, and the Criminal Minds episode that we missed this week because of the weather programs that interrupted our Wednesday shows. And I still have to take Ella out at some point tonight...

But, anyway, this week is going to be a little crazy because we've still got to get Quinn a few things for photo sculptures on Wednesday evening. So, we'll probably be going to the mall and looking for a couple of things. And then our first Wake basketball game is on Friday, so Dad and I will be going to that. It's just an exhibition game, but still, it's a game nonetheless. And then I think Emma's coming into town on Saturday, so we might be getting together...

Okay, well, that's about it for the night. Happy Halloween everyone! Boo! :)

I Did Nothing All Week, and Then The Weekend Comes...

I have thoroughly neglected my duties as a blogger for the past week, and for that, I am sorry. I was planning on posting on Sunday, but things got out of hand. [See below for explanation.]

Now, anyway, not much has been going on since I last posted, although this weekend was interesting...

So, Saturday was crazy. I got up, and had something to eat, and then Mom, Dad, and I went over to my grandmother's to clean her house. And I spent quite a while dusting all the tables and chairs and knick-knacks and such, as usual, and I got to see my aunt, which was awesome. And after we finished, we headed home, and Mom and I went out to run a few errands.

We went over to AC Moore, because Mom does these little photo-board-things that she puts up in her office at work, and she was making one for her skydiving pictures and needed some blue paper for the background. So, we got that, and then headed to Barnes and Noble to look at some of the homeschool stuff. And I ended up getting a couple of review books. Technically, they're ACT prep books, but whatever. I got chemistry and world history, so I'll be able to add a little more to my studies.

Then, we went to the mall, and I picked up a couple of things from Clinique that I needed, and Mom got a few shirts at Belk. And then we headed home, and watched the first two Harry Potter movies on tv, before I cleaned Ella's cage.

And on Sunday...well, Sunday was not very fun for me. I logged onto my laptop in the morning, and low-and-behold, there was something wrong. I was getting a message from one of the anti-virus programs that kept saying I needed to restart for an update to work, and it wouldn't shut down properly, and I had been getting a "blue screen of death" for a few days. So, anyway, pretty much my whole day, with the exception of lunch at Coppola's with Mom and Quinn (Dad was at a Wake soccer game to do some fundraising for Komen), working on fixing all the problems.

When everything finally did get solved, I let Ella out and that was all I had time for. I barely even got to watch Get Smart, our latest Netflix rental, but what I manage to catch was funny, but sometimes a little to much for me.

And today (Monday), I woke up really, super late. As in, like, noon. And I flipped out, because I never do that. I'm going to blame it on 1) the fact that I had pretty much been freaking out the whole day before, because of my laptop, and 2) it was raining, so therefore, it was dark outside, so it didn't feel as late to my body.

So, I got up, got ready, and ate lunch, and then washed the dishes. And then I went back into my room and started on my homework. I started Frankenstein today, and even though I've only read the prologue (really, it's a few "letters" from a character to his sister), I'm really excited about it. I read the unit introduction in my literature book, and it says the novel is actually nothing like any of the film portrayals; that Frankenstein's monster is not the clunky, ugly, stupid thing that the movies make him out to be, but a thinking, breathing, eloquently speaking person. So, I think that's why I'm so interested...it could also be the time of year, with Halloween being right around the corner.

Tomorrow will be much of the same, but that's cool. And now, I think that's it...

Weekends Are So Much More Fun Than Weekdays...

So, I'm kinda bored right now, as usual with me...haha.

Um, I've had some fun this week. Mom and I went to the mall on Friday to exchange her sneakers, and we ended up going into American Eagle to look at the black jeggings, because photo sculptures are coming up soon, and we need to be thinking about our outfits for this year. And Mom knows that Quinn wants to do green, and doesn't like jeans, so she wanted me in a pair of black pants.

So, I ended up getting a pair of black jeggings, and I think we're pairing that with my black boots, a purple cami, and my long, black knit cardigan for photo sculptures, with whatever Quinn is going to wear. So, we did that, and went out to La Carreta that evening when Dad got home, and had a nice meal, and then went over to my grandmother's to visit. And then we came home and watched tv like we always do.

And on Saturday, Mom and Quinn went with Aunt Lynne to the New River Bridge for Bridge Day, which is the one day of the year where they close the bridge and let jumpers parachute off of it. So, they got up early and ended up spending most of the day up there walking and hiking and all that good stuff. I figure I can go next year when Dad comes with us.

Speaking of Dad, he had a Wake Forest soccer(?) game to go to for Susan G. Komen, since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (hence all the pink stuff you're probably seeing everywhere), and so, I got to spend a couple of hours of that evening alone, which was cool. I ended up watching a silent film that I had recorded, and just sat around and watched tv until everyone got home. We ended up watching Fool's Gold again, which is the cutest and funniest movie starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. And then, I cleaned Ella's cage.

Today was rather fun as well. I got up, and had a doughnut and worked on the crossword puzzle, and then Mom and I went to the grocery store. And then I came home, and worked a little more on the puzzle, and then Mom and I went out and picked up some chicken wings for dinner, and we had those, and now, I'm just kinda killing time until eight when we watch Prince of Persia, and then I'll take Ella out afterwards, and then comes Monday...blegh.

I'm slowly uploading my videos to YouTube. I'm trying to pace myself by only uploading one every Wednesday and one every Sunday, so that I don't end up uploading them all at once and then having nothing to upload for a while. So, yeah...

This Is How Bored I Was Today...

Okay, short post, but I just wanted to show you how utterly bored I was today...and no, I am not vain. Just bored, and really wanted to see what I could do with my hair now that it's actually long enough to style different ways.

Normal hair.

With sunglasses.

Swept to the side.

Parted far to the side (& clipped in place).

Parted to the side, clipped in place, and clipped up.

Random one...and probably the only one that's not blurry. Because my camera phone sucks...

And man, I wish I could actually handle contacts, because the glasses, even though they don't really look that bold and drastic, really change the shape of my face. But, I'm weird about things touching my eye...maybe I'll get over that soon. :)

Okay, stupid post, but whatever...

Well, I Take It Back, I Guess...

Well, I guess my YouTube account is staying where it is for the time being. It hasn't been deleted...of course, I've read that it could takes days, weeks, or even months to delete, depending on where you are in the line of deletions. So, I'm just going to keep uploading videos, and so I'm hoping that if I'm still logging in, YouTube will assume that I don't want to delete my account anymore. And all of this because I got a comment on my video. I'm such an idiot...

So, I'm in the process of uploading my Top Hat - Crazier tribute right now, and then we'll see how it goes. My channel views and upload views are all screwy now, but I guess I don't really care anymore. I'm trying this "don't worry, be happy" approach. Haha.

Anyway, back to more interesting things...I have no life. Lol. School and that's basically it, except for the usual dinner with Granny tonight. Which was good...Mom made beef stroganoff, which we don't have very often, so it was really, really good. And then after Dad and I dropped her back off at her house, my Dad randomly decided to stop at Food Lion for something sweet, which turned out being Frosted Flakes.

And then we watched Criminal Minds, which was good, and now, I'm down here letting Ella run around as usual, and I'm pretty bored.

Um, what else can I talk about? Ooh, fave songs at the moment: So Happy I Could Die by Lady Gaga, Welcome to My Life by Simple Plan, Happy Ending by Mika, Last Friday Night by Katy Perry, What If by Colbie Caillat, and about a bazillion others, but I'm going to stop there because I could go on forever.

And Everybody's Fine was so good. Sad, but good. The Lovely Bones just came from Netflix, so we'll probably watch that this weekend, since we've got tv shows Thursday and Friday, but whatever.

And ugh, I'm rambling again, so I'm stopping right here, and not posting again until I have something better to talk about.

YouTube Adventures

So, I'm currently involved in my own little YouTube battle...and I thought I'd come over here and vent.

You guys know I'm like super-perfectionist, right? So, the first time I uploaded a video, I realized the ratio was wrong, and everything looked sorta out of proportion. So, I deleted it, re-converted it to a different ratio, and uploaded it again. And guess what? I didn't like the way it looked, so I deleted it and re-uploaded it...again.

Long story short, my 'upload views' count on my channel went from 0 to 23 just from me trying to figure it out, because YouTube doesn't reset the count if you delete a video. So, I'm currently waiting for YouTube to submit my account deletion request, and then I will re-submit my info with the same username and everything, and try it all again. Maybe this time it will work a little better.

So, if you find that my channel is no longer there today, you know why. I'll sign up again as soon as I can't see my channel anymore, which will mean that my account has been deleted. But for now, I wait...

Not much else going on...Mom and I went over to Cato's yesterday so she could look at clothes, and I ended up buying a necklace that matches my teal cardigan, so that was cool. And I got a new purse from Target, cuz the one I have right now is pretty summer-ish. So, I got this black one which Mom and I really like cuz it's edgy-looking, as Mom said last night.

Mom and Quinn are going to the fair tomorrow, so I'll have a couple hours to myself during the day, which will be pretty nice. I'm not much of a fair person, anyway, so they can go and have fun, and I can hang around the house. Cool.

And oh my gosh, where have the past few weeks gone? It felt like yesterday that I was getting back from the beach, and starting school...and now it's October. Another year almost over...

And now I'm rambling, so I'll sign off, maybe go convert a couple of my videos so that I can upload them to YouTube this week...or maybe I'll just chill today. :)

YouTube, Clothes, Movies, TV, and Anything Else I Can Think Of...

So, I had a wonderful post typed out and ready to go, and then Blogger screws up, and I have to rewrite the whole darn thing. Ugh...

First of all, let me say that I am now on YouTube, so no more video posts on here; I'll just post the link and a short description, and you can determine whether you want to invest your time or not. So, here's my channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/jsaqricha

Anyway, the past few days haven't been all that exciting, with the exception of a few days during the week.

On Wednesday, Mom had a hair appointment, so Dad picked Quinn and I up from the house, and we picked up some McDonald's and headed over to Granny's for dinner, which was cool. I had been making paper cranes that afternoon, so I took some over to hang on Granny's chandelier, to replace the old ones that had been there for years. So, I made so many of them that it's become muscle memory or whatever...lol.

And then we came home and watched Criminal Minds, which was awesome as usual. The actual case wasn't all that interesting, but the focus was mostly on JJ (played by AJ Cook) because it was her last episode. And they wrapped up her character really nicely with this little montage of JJ's memories of the team, blended with her walking through the BAU where she worked. So, cute, but sad at the same time.

Thursday is our comedy line-up night. My favorite of the night was 30 Rock, mainly because of the guest appearances...Brian Williams, Andrea Mitchell, the guys from Cash Cab (Ben something-or-other, I think). Too funny. The Office and The Big Bang Theory were pretty good, too.

Friday, Mom and I went to the mall to exchange my boots, since someone *coughSylviacough* stretched one of the pair when she tried them on. So, we exchanged them, and then Mom and I went shopping for some of my fall/winter essentials. We stopped in American Eagle for a pair of jeans and a couple of long-sleeve shirts, and then went to Forever 21 because I was looking for another knit cardigan, but in some other color than the teal one I bought. And we found a black one, so I bought that. And then we stopped in Justice for a couple of camis and a couple of long-sleeve henleys.

And then we hung around for the evening, and watched CSI: New York, which was neat. Well, the storyline was neat. I haven't really warmed up to Sela Ward yet; she just doesn't fit in with the group, so idk if I'm ever going to like her. But, anyway, it was cool, and then I went downstairs to let Ella out, and ended up watching part of The Green Mile, which I absolutely love.

And today, we're just hanging around the house. Dad is helping out at the Wake football game this evening, and so Mom and I are going to watch Everybody's Fine in a little while. And then I'm just going to hang around until later, and clean Ella's cage and whatnot...

Fun With The Family...

Ah yes, back to the daily grind...Sarah and Aunt Sharon left this afternoon, and we miss them already. But, we had a ton of fun this weekend...

Basically, our Friday was kinda lazy. Mom got home from work, and we dusted and cleaned and all that good stuff, and then had dinner. At around nine, we drove to Greensboro to pick them up at PTI, and I got to drive on Business 40 in the dark, which was super-scary, but also super-neat. So, we waited around at the gate for a few minutes, and then we ran up to meet them, and hugged, and shared plane stories. When we finally got to the car, Mom drove back to Winston, mainly because I really didn't want to drive home, but whatever.

So, we got home, and talked for a while, and then headed to bed, and the next morning, we had breakfast and went over to the pool for a while, and then came home and had lunch and chilled. In the evening, Sarah and I got ready, and picked up Sylvia, and went to Coppola's to meet everyone for dinner. And then the group of us went over to Carmike to see Easy A, which was really good, and super funny, too.

Then, Maggie, Sylvia, Emma, Sarah, and I went home, and had chocolate eclair cake and talked for a while before Maggie's dad picked her up. And then the four of us played around on Facebook and watched SNL before going to bed. In the morning, we had breakfast, and Sylvia and Emma left, and then we sort of hung around for a little while. We went over to Aunt Lynne's for lunch, because she wanted to get rid of some of the leftovers from her pool party the night before, and so we had lunch and hung around over there. Apparently, her cats love me, because all Jessie wanted to do was sit in my lap, which was great until I started to smell like wet cat and noticed the tiny holes from his claws in my practically brand new jeans. So, anyway, we went home, and really just chilled for the evening, watched some football, played with Ella, things like that.

On Monday, we went to lunch at La Carreta, and Mom's co-worker, Jeannie, joined us. And we had a great time, and then food was awesome, and it was all good. Then, we went home, and dropped Sarah off, because she had to write a speech for school, and Mom, Quinn, Aunt Sharon, and I went to Enchanted Cottage and Accessorize This. We didn't get anything at the cottage, but we got drinks at Casanova's next door, and I had this Mocha Banana smoothie, which was really good. And Accessorize This was so cute, and I ended up getting a bracelet and a wallet.

When we got home, we rented Letters to Juliet on Movies on Demand, and I laughed at how many times they thought "Oh, this is going to be her Lorenzo", all the while having seen the previews that show exactly where she meets him. It was so good to see it again, and it's probably going to end up on my Christmas list. Anyway, that evening, Aunt Lynne came over for dinner, and we had barbecue chicken sandwiches and a bunch of sides, and we talked about a bunch of stuff before Aunt Lynne left. Then, Sarah and I let Ella out, and we pretty much went to bed after that.

And this morning, we got up, and headed back to Accessorize This, because Mom had gotten a ring, and Aunt Sharon wanted one of her own. So, I drove back out there, and ended up returning my wallet, because it just didn't quite work right for me, and I got a ring instead. It's just a really simple silver one with a flower and a leaf coming out from either side of it, but it's really cute. And so, we got back and had lunch, and then Mom drove to the airport. We dropped them off at the terminal entrance, and said our goodbyes and gave hugs all around, and then I drove home.

And I ended up having nachos and watching Dr. Phil and part of Oprah before crashing on the couch for what ended up being a two hour nap. And so, we watched out normal news/Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy lineup and now I'm going to head down and let Ella out and watch Parenthood this evening, but that's pretty much it.

Moms Say The Darndest Things...

I have to laugh right now, because my mom is just a little weird. She sometimes just says stuff...stuff that isn't really all that nice or appropriate to a situation. Like tonight, as we're saying goodnight, she goes to hug me, and the only thing she can say is that my hair smells. And not the good "your hair smells nice" thing. No, the other "your hair smells" way.

Which wouldn't have bothered me as much...except she actually had to stand there and describe just how bad she thought my hair smelled. Which as a semi-insecure teen, is not the most pleasant experience. So, I kinda flipped out at her, and she kinda flipped out at me, and we went to bed. Until about five minutes later, when she comes back in, and apologizes, and I apologize, and now it's all good. But, I thought I'd preserve this moment...haha.

So...anyway, now that I'm done ranting, I thought I'd just let everyone know that I did indeed get a pair of boots on Monday, although they weren't what I had originally planned on getting. The slouch ones at Belk were like half a size too big, so we went looking elsewhere, but couldn't really find anything that looked as good. So, we stopped in Payless, and I ended up finding this cute pair of black boots, that almost look kinda biker-chicky, but kinda not. But I like them, and so now I have a pair of boots for the fall and winter. :)

And Monday night, Mom and I watched Nine, which was pretty good. We both wish that it would have been a real musical, instead of just the sequences being inside his head. But, it was really neat to see, because all the main spots were filled with big names - Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Fergie, Judy Dench, Sophia Loren, etc. Kate Hudson's number was, in my opinion, the best of all of them...it was just so fun.

But anyway, tonight was kinda a boring night. We watched our normal news/Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy line-up, and then I brought out my laptop, and we re-watched last season's finale of Criminal Minds online, since they weren't replaying it on TV. And I have to say that I forgot how creepy Tim Curry's character is...*shudders*.

So, I thought I'd post the two videos I've made from episodes of Criminal Minds. The first one is set to "Secrets" by OneRepublic, the second to "Hands of Time" by Rachel Diggs. (You know, if I wasn't so shy and insecure and all, I'd totally get a YouTube account to post these on...maybe if I get the courage to, I'll sign up. Just maybe.)



So, yeah, that's pretty much it. My grandmother is coming over tonight, and we've got the Criminal Minds season premiere, which I am really excited for. (Can't you tell? Lol.) But that's pretty much it right now...

School, and Movies, and Everything Else...

Okay, guys, I'm going to skip the usual "I'm so lazy and I really should post more" statement, because I think you get that by now. So...

This past week has been fun, I guess. Homeschool has been good, and you don't know how thankful I am that I'm past geometry and back to algebra. My first Wordly Wise lesson went well; I did really well on the test, which we're now doing orally this year because the book tests just weren't cutting it. And this year is British lit, which should be cool, but I've got a lot more books to read than last year's American lit, where I only had to read three novels. But, some of them I'm excited to read,  like Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Emma by Jane Austen. So, that's good.

We rented Cop Out from Netflix, and oh my gosh, I loved it. The whole interrogation scene where Tracy Morgan is quoting movie lines is hilarious! And there's about a billion other parts that had me laughing, but I'm not going to list them all. And the other movie we rented was No Country for Old Men, which I watched mainly because it's a Best Picture winner, and my goal is to see all of them. So, the movie itself was pretty good, but the ending was a bit disappointing, but whatever. It was a cool movie anyway.

And yay for this week being premiere week for all of our normal tv programs! Because this summer has definitely sucked when it came to tv viewing for me, with the exception of Pretty Little Liars and Wipeout and maybe a few other shows. But now, we've got The Big Bang Theory, The Office, CSI: NY, and Criminal Minds (we watch others, but these are my faves) are back on. Which makes me happy. :)

Today was one weird day, mostly because I spent it on the computer, but not in the way you'd expect. No, today was the day my mom sucked me into trying to capture screenshots from her skydiving videos. I'd already gotten some decent pics from the videos I took of her landing, but I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to get screenshots for the actual video of her falling out of the plane, which was shot and edited by her tandem instructor, Bob. So, I went down at like, two this afternoon, and didn't finish until close to six. But, after trying multiple programs and updating, and then uninstalling that same update, and a lot of googling, I managed to get some pretty good shots of her flipping out of the plane and falling through the air.

Which brings me to my next thing, because I told her that she owes me big time for this. Because not only am I doing the screenshots, I'm putting together a slideshow/video in Windows Movie Maker of some of the pictures I took of her and Uncle Mark getting ready, and being loaded into the plane, and the plane taking off, and them landing, and so on. So, anyway, she owes me big time, and my reward is that she'll buy me a pair of boots. Because we were over at the mall on Saturday (Mom needed new sneakers), and I kept seeing really cute slouch boots on the table at Belk as we came in and out. So, I'm getting boots for this, which I am extremely happy about. :)

This week is going to be pretty busy, because we'll be getting ready for my aunt and my cousin to come down from New York on Friday. So, I'm going to be cleaning, and tidying, and all that in addition to homeschool. But it should be fun when they get here; we'll be doing lots of hanging out and watching movies and swimming and all that good stuff, which is going to be a nice break. So, I may or may not get back on here to post later in the week. Hopefully, I'll find time maybe Friday afternoon, since their flight isn't arriving until ten or so in the evening.

So, that's pretty much all for now...I'll post again soon! :)

Let's Face the Music and Dance...

Okay, so, let's see...what can I talk about this time? Lol.

Well, I had a dentist appointment on Wednesday morning, and I hate the dentist, so you can guess how that went... But, anyway, I came out with cleaner teeth, especially my back ones, because I apparently still had cement from my braces on them that the orthodontist didn't get off. So yeah.

And then we went home and chilled for a while before heading over to my grandmother's to clean her house and have dinner. So, I dusted, and then messed with Quinn while Mom and Dad finished up. And then, we picked up McDonald's and had dinner (fish sandwiches...yum!) and then headed home.

Today, I ended up getting up at 8:30, and since Quinn was still asleep (and ended up sleeping until 12:45, even though he went to bed at a decent time last night), I went downstairs and watched a movie, which happens to be my fifth of ten Astaire/Rogers films, Follow The Fleet. Which was oh so cute. My favorite line - Fred: "Let's kiss and make up." Ginger: "No, let's just make up. That'll give you something to work for."

The best part, besides the dancing of course, was the adorable little monkey that Fred seemed to have with him for most of the movie, an apology gift to Ginger apparently. And what made the whole thing that much cuter was the fact that the monkey was dressed in a sailor's suit and hat, too. Unfortunately, I can't find a picture of said monkey, but I'll substitute it with a pretty color photo of Fred and Ginger in their sailor duds.

Okay, last pic, I promise, but I love this dress from the "Let's Face the Music and Dance" number...

Now, anyway, back to the recap. So, I had lunch, and then washed the dishes, and Quinn finally got up. And then I started my homeschool work for the day, which was just a math review and some language arts. I'm taking it easy this week, mainly because I like to start lesson one on Monday, and be on lesson five on Friday. Don't ask me why I have to have it that way, because I really can't answer it.

And then Mom got home, and then went for a walk, and then Dad got home, and took Quinn to get haircuts, so I was in different stages of "home alone" all day, which was neat. And then we had meatloaf for dinner, and Dad and I watched the Saints/Vikings game downstairs afterwards, which was funny because we really weren't watching it all that closely; we were more interested in each other's Facebook pages. Lol.

Now, again, I'm back on Windows Movie Maker. Haha, annoying, right? So, here's my latest creation, and it's not Fred and Ginger... Clips from Gone with the Wind set to Kelly Rowland's "Rose Colored Glasses".

Because Rhett was just so mean to Scarlett, and Ashley was just so...blind. Again, please excuse the black flashes. I hate them, but I don't know how to get rid of them.

So, that's it for right now. It's late, and I really should be sleeping, but I'm not. :)

Labor Day Weekend

Oh, boy. Well, I just changed over to the new post editor. (Yes, I know it's been available for a while; I was just kinda slow on changing it over...well, really slow on changing it over.) So, we'll see how this goes.

Um, well, the one fun thing we've done this weekend was that we had Granny over for dinner Saturday, and Dad invited Alfredo over, too. So, we had a lot of fun. Quinn was watching Little House on the Prairie all day, which was absolutely hilarious, because it's such a sappy show, and Mom was all "Oh, let me know if the episode where they dig for gold comes on!" Which it didn't, but whatever. So, anyway, Mom made lasagna, which we don't make that often, so it was a real treat for us, and we talked and joked around and had a ton of fun.

The swimming thing never did work out; everyone was really busy, and had other plans. But, Mom, Quinn, and I ended up going over there anyway, and my uncle showed us how to turn on the hot tub, so we got the water all heated up and got to enjoy the hot tub for a while, which was cool.

Today, Mom and I went to the pool again, and there was this humongous spider on the curtain in the gazebo, and so Mom and I left our purses somewhere else. Because who wants a spider (that had to have been a good three inches in diameter) in their stuff? Creepy. But anyway, we got some sun, and swam around, and watched the frog that seems to now be living within the rocks near the edge of the pool.

And then we came home, and changed, and went out to Applebee's for dinner, just because. And it was good, as usual, cuz I really like Applebee's. And then we went over to Gamestop so Quinn could get some Legend of Zelda game or something, and we stopped at CVS to pick up a few things before heading home.

Tonight is Dad's fantasy football draft, which I never did 'study' for. Oh well, I can read the ratings as we pick. Nothing for tomorrow; Mom's at work, so I'll be relaxing, but when she gets home, we'll be going over the schedule and textbooks and stuff for homeschool. Which we will be starting on Wednesday, after our dentist appointments.

I've just begun to realize how fast the past year or so has gone by. This past August marked a year since I got my braces taken off, and in a few days, it will be a year since I had my wisdom teeth pulled. Time really does fly...

It's Been Way Too Long...

Oh, wow, I am so horribly lazy. I haven't posted in forever! But, in truth, there hasn't really been much going on anyway, so it's not like I've had anything important to blog about.

- We ordered the homeschool stuff on Tuesday, and it had already arrived, so...ugh. Mom says that we're starting this coming Tuesday, which is...ugh. It's not that I don't like homeschool, I just hate school in general. Haha.

- My mom got her skydiving video in the mail a few days ago, and I think if she watches it anymore, the DVD player is going to go on strike. But, I have to admit, it's really pretty funny seeing my mom scream like a little girl as she tumbles out of the plane...haha. There's one part in the free-fall where's she mouthing "Oh my god, this is SO COOL!!!", which I found especially hilarious.

- We (as in my dad, my mom, and myself, because Quinn never does anything around the house) ended up spending our whole day today (Friday) cleaning the garage, because it's become a nasty, dirty, messy, well...mess in there. So, we did some cleaning and rearranging and stuff, which was neat, but it was extremely hot. But whatever. It looks a whole lot better now.

- We just watched a movie called Enemy At The Gates, which we ordered from Netflix and was pretty good. Jude Law and Ed Harris play Russian and German, respectively, sharpshooters, whose mission it is to kill the other during the siege and fall of Stalingrad in 1942/43. Good movie, neat concept...

This weekend, my job is to read up on as much fantasy football stuff as possible, seeing as Dad has asked me to partner with him in the other league he's competing in. This one is just a bragging rights league, as opposed to his other league, where you get a cash prize if you win, which is good because if I give him the wrong advice on who to put in, it's not like it's going to cost him the season.

And on Sunday, Sylvia and Anita might be coming over to the pool, but 'might' is the operative word here. Seeing as Anita's going to be coming back from Tennessee and, well, I don't know what Sylvia's plans are, but whatever.

And I have to figure out how to make a copy of Mom's skydiving video, so that she can send it to my uncle. Oh, and one for her co-worker, and one for her, so that she doesn't destroy the original from overusing it. Lol.

But, really, that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll have something more interesting for the next post! :)