spring break friday...

Today I wore shorts for the first time in 5 years. Be proud of me-it was terrifying. But SO awesome at the same time.

Rehearsal-It started out with another rehearsal for "The Valiant" (hereafter referred to as "T.V."). David wasn't able to come, so I had to do my first scene without him. Adam took David's lines and read them in I kid you not the flattest, most boring monotone I have ever heard in my entire life, once in awhile broken by an accent somewhere between Mexican and Middle Eastern. Try playing off of THAT. It was interesting, hard, annoying, AND a good learning experience because I had to keep in character despite the funky voices/boring. Then, after we ran through the show twice, we timed it sitting down reading our lines. 26 minutes. That's long for a student directed one-act. It'll be more like 30 minutes when we finally set everything. Longest one-act of the year. Jasmine is going to talk to Mr. Criman (drama teacher) to see if that's still okay, since he was the one who gave her the show in the first place. We shall see what happens.

And I just have to say-Adam makes everything awkward. On purpose. Because he can. And all the same, I pretty much love that kid. He is so awesome.

Soccer-Next came a soccer game over at the junior high school. Brad invited me, and this was who was there (at least those I know): Tiana, Rachael, Tucker, Brad (of course), Justin, Nick, Hugh, Jason (different one), Jared, and Kevin. I think I got everybody. It was fun-I'm in better shape than I thought I was. The only problems were that it was a little bit cold, and then Tucker fell on his wrist. I could tell that it was swollen, but nobody seemed sure as to what to do. It was kind of ironic; I was surrounded by Eagle Scouts and I was the only who thought to get him some ice and some pain killer with swelling reducer in it. He wouldn't go for the ace bandage wrap idea, so ice it was. Tiana, Tucker, and I drove down to the gas station, nearly getting hit in the parking lot twice by girls backing out without looking. >.<

Some interesting things happened with Kevin. I went and sat down by him because he wasn't feeling well, and he commented that instead of buying a bag of ice I should have just used a water cup and filled it with ice from the soda machine. "It would've been less of a pain, and it's free if you do it that way. Sort of obvious, you know?" It kind of bugged me a little bit. Kevin is my friend, but whenever I'm around him I feel like he thinks everything I do is stupid or silly or far below his level of intelligence and practicality. The only reply I can think of in times like this, such as with the ice, is "Yeah, I guess it was obvious. I'm just not as smart as you." And then he gets this sad look on his face and his eyes go to the ground. He shakes his head and says, "You put yourself down a lot. You shouldn't do that."

Whatever.

Eagle Project-I invited the boys and Ruthie to come over to my house to watch Surf's Up, and Jason and Jordan said they would come "on one condition-that you come to the movie theater tomorrow at 3:00 to help out with Jordan's Eagle Project."

Well, seeing as Jordan is pretty much one of my best friends, there is no way I would miss his Eagle Project unless it was completely unavoidable, so their conditions for a movie party at my house were rather useless. I left a little bit early from the soccer game to go over to the theater where Jordan had planned to plant flowers, trees, and bushes. The older boys/men were also going to be removing some dead trees (chainsaw time). Several of my other good friends were there: Adam (different one), Andrew, Paul, Joseph, Ann, Jane, of course Ruthie, her sisters and mom, and Jordan's family. I was the first one there after Ruthie. I sat down to tell her about the soccer game while we were taking pansies out of pots to put into the ground. I heard someone behind me, and I looked at Ruthie and said "Jason's going to come scare me, isn't he?"

Yep. And even though I knew he was there and heard him say, "What if I came up behind you and did this?" I was super scared and totally screamed when he grabbed me. Pretty much the most outrageous thing he has done since the ice fight (did I ever say anything about that? *smirk*). He's pretty shy, most of the time. Somehow I managed to "chip that shell", as Ruthie called it, and now he teases me like crazy. I think it's funny, and it's kind of fun at the same time.

Anyway, the girls at the project were put in charge of planting flowers in the garden, and the boys got to plant the trees. Jason and I planted four juniper bushes in the time it took Ruthie and Jordan to plant two. Not to mention ours looked nice; they weren't crooked and they were spaced evenly. One word of caution-junipers are pretty but they bite. Seriously, those things are so poky. Then Ruthie and I were assigned to take down some Christmas lights that had been left up on the fence from winter. Problem: Ruthie and I are both under 5' 5". The fence was six feet tall. Tip toes!! To pass the time (we couldn't talk because we had to start on opposite ends of the fence) I practiced my songs for the Ariosa recital at the end of the month. Apparently the man in charge of the musical theatre part of the movie theater (they do a lot of live productions, especially in the summer at the outdoor stage) could hear me through the fence and wants me to come audition. Exciting? Yeah...pretty much. :)

All of the work got done in under 2 hours. Excellent.

Surf's Up-So my youngest sister is a total flirt. And if kind of bugs me. A lot.

THAT aside, it was a BLAST!! Jason is hilarious, Kyle is so sweet, Jordan is adorable, and Ruthie is a doll. Ruthie fell asleep halfway through the movie because she was super worn out. She and Jordan are so cute; he takes really good care of her. I mean, they're "just friends" in a sense, but they really like each other. Then Jason-what am I going to do with him? He's crazy!! Amanda kept slamming me all night, and everytime he'd hit her in the face with a pillow. She'd try to retaliate and miss. And they all spent a lot of time trying to get me to blush. It's a favorite past time of the two oldest boys. They think it's so funny. Well-it's not. Just because "it should be illegal for somebody to blush as much as you do!!" (thank you, Jordan). Gosh. Haha.

Oh, and tonight was the first time that Jason hugged me voluntarily. He's done it once before, but that was only because we'd just gotten home from a date and Jordan kept looking at him like, "Come on. Do something!" It was quite hilarious. Tonight was nice though. It was just a hug, nothing more. Yay, we're friends!! :D

Basically it was a good day. I love my friends.

job search...

So...

It's January 2nd of 2010 (whoa, weirdness) and I have officially begun the job search. Yeah, I quit my job at the Scout Shop because a) I needed better hours and b) I wasn't really liking the inner workings of the whole corporate environment going on there. But mostly for better hours. I mean, telling me that I can have Christmas break off in April when I applied and then corporate saying in November "No WAY!" ... Not happening, especially since my family had plans since like...last January.

So far I've tried to apply at two places online (aka Build-a-Bear and Petsmart) only to find out that you have to be 18. Not a problem-that's in less than three weeks anyways (wtheck?). The problem was that they didn't tell me that until after I'd filled out the entire application. Bothersome. The other two places I've applied at are California Pizza Kitchen and Macey's Grocery Store. The other two I'll apply for in two weeks after my birfday, and we'll see what else I can find.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and church isn't until 1:00 (first time in about two years...our wards are not very good at the whole schedule rotation thing). I think I will write about the last "Night at Carisa's" that we had this week (including photos of plucked chickens, opinions about Barbie movies, and a loverly dress for Preference), the New Year's Eve Stake Dance (aka church dance [which kind of wasn't fun for me...but more later]), and other random adventures that have not been explained before. *smirk* Lots to share, peoples. :)

happy 24th...

Pioneer Day in Utah, celebrating the day the Mormon pioneers viewed the Great Salt Lake Valley for the first time from the mouth of Immigration Canyon (state holiday and I still had to work-at the Boy Scout office, no less, where we're supposed to be all patriotic-pffft-but hey, we only had 12 people come in, so next year we will probably not be open). My neighbors are setting off fireworks. Loudly. I don't go to watch-I feel like I'd be intruding since I wasn't invited and I didn't pay for them. Instead, I wrote something and found something from the 4th that I wrote. I didn't post it then, because Q had done the same thing and I didn't want her to think I'd stolen her idea. So now it's 20 days later. I think that's long enough. :)

Fireworkings
on July 24, 2009
Cannon shouts stop my heart,
relieving the constant drum
and creating a discordant
rhythm.
A rest from the steady beating.
Shells explode-
spill sparkling, streaming ribbons
of light-
Red as blood.
Blue as tears.
Proof that all darkness must end.
I cling to that.
Let it wash me away;
peace among the chaos.

Fireworks
on July 4, 2009
Explosions of color
paint the night
black canvas.
Streams of red, drips of blue,
splattered patch of white.
Green, yellow, purple, orange
burst loudly into life-
popping colors,
shining colors,
colors in the night.
Bold summer flowers-
flashing shades and tints
of every kind
in a garden of stars
and darkened air.
Blasting outwards into
giant blossoms,
showing off their
finery before
wilting slowly
downwards
back to Earth.
Wisps and tendrils of
gray-the only ghosts left
of streams of red, drips of blue,
splattered patch of white.
Softly, softly fading
from the black
canvas of night.

I don't know if they're any good, but again, I like them. The second one seems a bit happier though, doesn't it?

Summerfest Fireworks Show in June 2009

more like walking...

The parade was fun; I'm glad I decided to be in it with my dad. I met a lot of people and was able to play with the youngest Cub Scouts. Little boys like me for some reason (when I say little I mean ages 2-10). The weather was nice and cool with sunshine, not at all wet and soggy as it had been earlier during the day.

The pace was so slow. It wasn't because of the younger members of our group, but because of the older men. The pro-scouts and volunteer adult leaders walk so slowly! I had to keep yanking my dad along. I bet a snail could have outstripped us.

We had a lot of different flag types that the parade manager asked us to carry, so instead of one color guard we ended up with about three. There was a 1776 flag, a Union Jack, a flag from the 1800s, one for each of the military branches, troop flags, the 100th anniversary banner, and of course the present US flag. I didn't carry one; I was too busy taking pictures for Brother Jefferson (and myself). It was cool to walk past the standing, silent crowds as they saluted the past, present, and even the future. Technically they didn't have to; the actual parade color guard had all ready gone past. Still, it was neat. It was only at the beginning of the parade that it was like that (fewer people), but it was cool to be a part of.

I saw a lot of people that I knew. Sister Brewer, one of my good friends and wife to a Scoutmaster, yelled to me from the crowd, "Yay, Georgie!* It's about time you were allowed in scouting!" My dad's been involved as a leader since I was tiny, and even before I was born. Now it's my turn! I saw friends from school, too. Tiffany and Michelle were there with their families. Abbey and Amy (in my Ceramics and Adult Roles classes) saw me first and called to me. Brookelynne from first term Spanish was there, Meghan from Seminary was there, Whitney and Patrick were there. A lot of people in my neighborhood said hello, too.

The best part was seeing Tony and Alex. I saw Alex first; he was leaning up against a fence watching and I called hello. Then I saw Tony. I think he was happy to see me. I was glad to see him-I've been thinking about him for a couple of days. Just wondering how he is and what he's up to.

After my group finished, dad and I walked back up the route to find mom and my sisters. I took pictures of the floats as we passed by. I wish I'd gotten one of the Pirates float-it was a giant replica of the Black Pearl towed by a big truck. There was smoke coming out of the cannons, and Jack was at the helm. His crew were tiny kids dressed as pirates as well. I think that was my favorite-it was so cool!

I'm home now (duh) and it's pouring again. I wonder if the fireworks will be cancelled. A pity, really. They're usually quite good. Even if they aren't cancelled, I don't know if I'll go. The grass will be soaked! Besides...I'm tired and have a good book to read. :)

marching on...

I'm headed off to be in the Orem Summerfest Parade. I'm marching with the group of Scouts celebrating the 100th annniversary of scouting in the United States. Seeing as I'm now a "professional scouter" because of my work position, I'm allowed to join in.

I hope it doesn't rain. It's poured off and on all day. Maybe I'll get lucky. After all, my dad did give me his lucky "Button Gear" pin. He said that I need it.

Get it yet? :)

confidence...

I love bowling.

(I only took this picture because I liked the colors of the balls next to each other. :) )

I went again with my sister this evening. I got a strike!!! I also got over 100 points for the first time ever! Highest score in my life: 120! Amanda also got over 100, bowling 104 points. Her highest ever, too. It was so much fun. Before we went bowling, we went to Christopher & Banks so that I could look at the shirts that were on sale. I got two shirts and a vest. I'm excited. We also went to Hogi Yogi after bowling and got smoothies. She got Watermelon Wave and I got Peach Treat. They tasted a lot better until my mom told me that they were actually not very good for you. :P Dang it.

Work was all right. Mostly boring and at times nerve wracking. I did data entry a lot for something like inventory (reassigning items in the computer?). And then there were all of the people who came in to get stuff for the camps. It was crazy, and then dead, and then crazy, and then dead. Oy. I almost got yelled at by customers twice (one for prices, one because she had no money left on her account. like it's my fault) but Michelle saved me. Thank you, Michelle.

After work I sort of took a nap, watched more Bewitched, and watched M*A*S*H. Please enlighten me. Does the title have an asterisk after the H, like so: M*A*S*H* :? I can't remember. The one with it after the H looks better. I don't know.

Let's see. Did I do anything else? I forgot to take my camera with me. I missed out on so many cool shots. *kicks herself* Stupid! I'll just have to go back. Too bad-more shopping and bowling. That just sucks, you know?

So I keep thinking about somebody. Not that one. Another friend of mine, named Kevin. I woke up thinking about him, and I haven't been able to get him off of my mind. He's a good friend of mine, and I haven't talked to him in forever. Should I send him and email or call him tomorrow? He just keeps popping up in my head randomly. No lovey-dovey, gooey stuff. He's just circling in my thoughts. Kind of annoying, actually. Hm. I'll shoot him an email or something.

Okay. I'm done now. Sorry the poem sucks. I'm running out of ideas. This poem-a-day thing is hard.

appreciation...

From Q.


From Danielle.

Thanks so much to Q and Danielle for the "Fabulous" Awards. I really appreciate it, and this poem is dedicated to you both. It isn't much, but it's how I felt.

I now nominate Kate, decor8, Jewel, and Summermoon.

I keep getting the feeling that my Seminary teacher is trying to get me to repent or something. All General Conference I felt like I needed to change some things, but I could maybe wait until later. Well, Seminary this week has been all about repentance and godly sorrow, sins and the Atonement (for more info, email me at wannabkenobi at gmail dot com or check out the LDS official website at www.lds.org) Maybe it is a hint or something.

The Alpine School District Language Fair is tomorrow. Yikes! I'm in charge of a skit, called "The Red Bench" or "La Banca Roja". I'm so nervous, because one girl didn't show up to practice today and another doesn't know her lines. Oh, well. Since it's a Judged Event, my teacher is giving me the automatic 100 points for the term project we have to do, no matter what score the judges give us. Sweet.

I struggled in Science today. Not because it was hard. No, it was because I kept falling asleep, or almost falling asleep. I still don't want to hear the famous "Go get a drink" from Mr. Clark, so I forced myself to keep my head up. I about cried with happiness when he told the class to go take a break.

Lunch consisted of something that was supposed to be spaghetti. It was more like rubberized yarn smothered in an extremely sweet red sauce, which tasted more like Kool-Aid than tomatoes, and chunky imitation ground beef. At least I think it was imitation ground beef. I have no idea what it might have been. At least the roll was good. School food generally is palatable, if only just. I mean, it totally isn't worth $1.75, but hey, it's better than not eating anything.

Ceramics was interesting today. We're starting a new project, meaning we wasted the day. That's just what happens. Mr. Steadman showed us how to make plaster molds of objects that we can use for sculptures; I brought a tape measure. Brad, an amazing and I mean aMAZING ceramicist (that seriously is a word? It didn't show up as misspelled or anything), brought a lightbulb. Awesome, no? So we made molds from oil based clay (yick) and then filled them with plaster. Double yick. It was fun, I guess. Just messy.

I accidentally double charged a lady at work today, and she was mad. She was even more mad when she found out I was new, and told the full-time employee (Paul, at the time) that they shouldn't have a new person running the cash register. When he asked her how else I would learn, she walked out. *sigh* I don't mean to cause problems. Problems just seem to follow me around. Other than that, it wasn't bad. I kept dropping things because I was scared to mess up again, and finally the other Paul (part-time) sent me in the back to get belts. I'm good at stocking belts. And merit badges. Good at that, too.

Well, today wasn't bad, I guess. It could have been worse, and it could have been a little better. That is my analysis. ;)

I'm done.

merit badges...

Had my first major merit badge transactions today. Talk about a nightmare! Luckily the man knew all of them, so he told me the name as I held them up. I don't understand why the Radio merit badge has a lightning bolt on it; it makes no sense. I also was left all by myself on accident in the front of the store, and at that moment about fifteen people came in at once. One of them wanted stuff from the back room, which I could not find. Another needed help with uniforms, one needed merit badge help, on had questions, one didn't know what she wanted and stayed long after closing (meaning I got home late), et cetera. It was crazy, and I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily Michelle (I work with another Michelle! Cool!) was able to come out and help, and so was Scott. Paul came out, too. I was so glad for the help!

I don't really remember what happened at school, except that I dressed up in bell bottoms and a shirt with a peace sign on it to look like Jane Fonda for History, even though the actual roundtable thing was last week. Maybe he'll still give me extra credit. *crosses fingers* Oh, and Tony, Brian, and I totally wasted all of Multimedia by sitting in the middle of the room talking. The entire time. No joke. It was awesome. But it was weird when Tony asked me if I thought he was attractive. 'Course I do, but I wasn't going to say that! Weird! Adult Roles was pretty lame; we're doing a virtual stock exchange game thing that is a huge and pointless assignment. Oh, well. It's not hard.

Got some homework done, and then wrote that poem. I'm now going to bed.

'Night!

reach out...

I love this picture. I really, really do.



I could write more thoughts about how I feel about this picture, but I'm not going to today. I'm too tired. And since nothing much happened today, except going to school, work (met the entirely archaic vacuum and do not wish to shake hands with him again) where I ended up helping people and stocking shelves, going to the library for a lecture on the Passover with my family, and coming home to have dinner, this isn't a waste of a post. Maybe.

If I forgot something and remember it tomorrow, it will be noted when I post.

'Night.

work day 2...

All right. Second day at the Scout Shop, and I got there around 8:40. Door was locked, so I stood out in the snow until I realized that I could probably knock on the door and someone would let me in. Duh. Andrew, one of the people I work with, showed me around the store. In detail. It took about, hm, two hours? He knows tons about all of the products. It was actually really helpful, and pretty interesting. My back did start to hurt, which happens when I stand/walk around on hard surfaces for a long period of time. I didn't have any problems at the register today, and no one yelled either. I did have to work through the first session of Conference, which really sucked. I'll read the talks when they come out online on Thursday, most likely. Oh, this one lady came in and she seriously talked a mile a minute. I had to work so hard to understand her, because it was like IneedthisbookdoyouknowwhereitisandIneedthisshirtdoyouhaveitinthissizewhat'stheprice?
No joke. I don't think she took a breath the whole time. And Alexa, the girl I work with and went to East Shore with (no, we weren't messed up kids-we were taking extra packets to get more credits and I was taking PE so I didn't have to do the stupid test stuff at school for the government), and I had to watch this training movie called "Give Them the Pickle!" ... Wow. Talk about lame. Oh well, it was funny and I did laugh a couple of times. The most lame thing was that the captions were spelled wrong a lot. Sheesh.

I hurried home to listen to the last half of the second Conference session, which was good. After that, my mom, sisters, and I went to the mall at about 5:00. *cough* We didn't get home until 8:30. ARG!!! A little boy had a seizure outside of the store where my mom was trying on clothes, and my sisters and I were the first or second ones there to help. I went out just to make sure that he kept breathing, because if he didn't I needed to know that someone else might know CPR besides me. If not, I was there all ready, and if so, there would be two of us to help. The boy kept breathing though and came to shortly after the paramedics arrived. They took him to the hospital. I hope his parents are okay; they were freaking out, especially the dad. The mom not so much; she was just crying and telling her son that he would be okay. A lady who has epilepsy stopped to help as well, and she helped to get the boy on his side so he wouldn't choke. A registered nurse stopped as well, and she made sure that his vitals were good. The paramedics had the easiest job, to be honest. I'm just glad he was okay, and that he got help. Scary stuff.

Oy. I'm so sore. And I think I'm done...nothing else really happened today. Yep, I'm done.

work day 1...

Started work at the Scout Shop today, after staying home from school for a mental health day. Mom told me to, so it's all good. It went all right; it's just super confusing. I don't know all of the codes and numbers and blah blah blah to ring stuff up. Then this lady and her husband started screaming at each other right in front of my till, complete with the man picking up a neckerchief slide and throwing it down on the counter, then storming out. *sigh* So awkward. And rather frightening. It reminds me of how my parents sometimes acted last year, but it was always at home and my mom did the throwing.

Filled up the gas tank for the third time in my life for a grand total of $19.73. Sweet sauce. And went to the mall after picking up my sisters from their junior high school, where they saw the school play "Alice in Wonderland". It was finished around 8:30, so we stopped by Christopher and Banks (no, they do not sell old lady clothes, Meghan :P) and I'll be going back because they've got pants on sale, which I need. Then we went to Bath & Body Works. Talk about allergy factory. I just go there to buy conditioner for my hair; it's the one time I totally spoil myself. *smirk*

Let's see, what else happened today...oh! I almost got hit while driving four times. And no, it was NOT my fault-they all ran red lights. Or stop signs. Grrr. But my sister was more mad than I was. Pretty funny.

Interesting tidbit that I overheard while at the mall:

Relationship Girl-I mean, he hasn't even kissed me yet. What kind of a relationship is that?
Friend-You base a relationship off of kissing?
R Girl-Sure.
Friend-*snort* Seriously, one kiss and pretty soon that's all you do.
R Girl-So?
Friend-Fine. If you want to be one of those stupid, slobber mouthed, soppy eyed girls on the cheer squad, that's all right with me. I'll just sit back and laugh.

I didn't hear the first girl's answer. I just thought it was funny. No offense to any slobber mouthed, soppy eyed cheerleaders out there. ;)

All in all it was a pretty good day. Mom hemmed my uniform pants for me, so thanks mom! Dad's sick, so Get Well Soon dad!

I'm done.