Lately, I have started thinking about the mistakes, goofs, and misfortunes in life. Most of the time, all of the above end up being unhappy embarrassing events, but I have experienced a few in my life that have actually worked out all right.

Mistake 1: a few years ago, Michelle ordered a toy horse barn for our friend’s birthday. This friend just so happened to live in Hollister, 3 hours away, so having the barn come on time was important. It didn’t come on time, so the company just sent it to the friend’s house instead while we were there. Then, as an apology, they sent us another one free!

Mistake 2: my mom put in an order to a makeup place, and they accidentally sent her a ton of makeup that she didn’t order! She called, and they said they would send someone to come pick it up, but they never did. So she ended up getting lots of makeup free!

Mistake 3: About a week ago, we went to starbucks. I ordered a chi frap, but they accidentally made me a different kind of frap. They said I could keep the wrong one and see how I liked it while they made me the right one. Turned out, I liked the wrong better than the right! Not to mention I got a free drink.

Misfortune 1: last month while we were in Disney land, the Indiana Jones ride stopped while we were on it, and it took about ten minutes to get it fixed again. When the ride finally finished, the people working it asked if we like the ride, and if we wanted to go again? So we all got to go on the ride a second time with out waiting in line!

So even though not all mistakes end up benefiting us, there are the occasional times were you end up getting more for your money... or time.

Once again, I apologize for my long inexcusable delay in posts. What with Christmas, Christmas vacation, Christmas presents, Christmas food, debate tournaments, and my mom’s birthday, I just couldn’t find the time to let you all know about what’s going on in my life. Currently, my latest interest is in hamsters. But not just any hamsters, Dwarf hamsters. In the past, I would suddenly and spontaneously ask my mom for a pet, normally in the rodent category, ranging from rats to rabbits. The answer was, of course...NO! This time however, I took a new approach. Rather then just asking for a pet, and then giving up after the first refusal, I
persisted valiantly. I promised all sorts of tempting offers, such as paying for the hamster and all it needs myself, and paying her to watch over it when I am away from home, or paying someone else to, keeping it in my room, and feeding it and cleaning its home every day!!! Unfortunately, my mom has gotten pretty stubborn over the past 14 years, and once she has made up her mind, it generally stays that way. So after about 17 NO!!!'s, I tried my dad. When the question was thrust upon my next victim, he stated he loved hamsters, but not in his house. Even though I promised to keep it in my room, and never let it out, the answer remained, and I was left to find a new tactic. Some of you may be thinking how I could keep a hamster in a house with two cats and a dog, but I have that all figured out. in my room, I have a large shelving unit, with 16 box shelf’s all joined together to create on large box/shelf thingy. in one of the top boxes, I would place the hamster cage, and then attach a removable screen to that box, thus protecting my hamster within. This idea however, met with ridicule from my family. finally, I drug out the real fact my parents don’t want me to have a hamster. they don’t think I am responsible enough!! The nerve of them!!! >:( They told me if I can prove myself more responsible, then a hamster would be considered. *Sigh* so now, all I can do is dream about hamsters, and be painfully responsible. I was wondering if all my readers could vote on whether or not I should get a hamster, and any advice concerning my dream pet. Many thanks, and don’t expect another post anytime soon!! I will be too busy being responsible.

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! sorry everyone about my absence in posts! I was very displeased about how few comments my last post racked up, so I went on strike. Well, striking is out, posting is in! And sooooo issssssssssssss CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!! I am crazy for chocolate. I am eating a piece of fudge while I write, and it gave me the idea to dedicate this post to chocolate. I can eat just about any chocolate, dark, white, milk, nutty, fudgey, carmaly, melted, frozen... you get the idea. One of my greatest memories of chocolate was a few weeks ago at the Santa Rosa debate tourney. Some of you know, and some of you don’t, but I am in a debate club, and each year we host a Round Robin debate tournament. This year, we served dinner after the last round, and the highlight of this was the chocolate fountain. OHHHHHH yes, we had not one, not two but THREE luscious fountains welling up from their depths a sea of melted milk chocolate overflowing the brim and flowing down in a chocofall of creamy goodness. Next to this masterpiece was several bowls full of strawberries, marshmallows and pieces of angle food cake, all ready to be dipped and eaten. I loaded my small paper bowl with chocolate dipped goodies, and found a good place to sit and eat. By this time, my pizza which I had been served quite some time ago was stone cold, but that didn’t matter because I had my chocolate. Indeed, I might have continued to go back for more and more, but after my thirds, I found out people had been dipping their pizza into the fountains, so I ate my last, and left to go to the awards ceremony following the dinner. Another brush with chocolate was my birthday, in which I received a gift certificate for one pound of see's chocolate. That morning, we headed to the mall, and I selected my chocolates. I still have one left, hiding away in a secret place, just waiting for me to make my move. and lastly, each year we purchase advent calendars from trader Joes, and each day you lift up a flap and eat the chocolate stored inside. speaking of which, I still have to eat mine for today, so... That’s All Folks!

Here it is! sorry about the delay. Tell me what you think.

Sorry all you people about the long delay between posts. I warned you! anyway, as you all probably know, last tuesday was Halloween. my sister and I went trick-or-treating with our friends, the McAllister’s. We walked over to their house around 3 in the afternoon. We had fun making caramel apples and quilling pieces of paper. I made a funny looking tropical bird, but I accidentally left it at their house. Later, we played Twister, and I was first out each time. After dinner, we got our costumes ready. my sister and I were a Siamese twin bum. After we got in the two very large shirts, we gave each other smears and smudges with a burnt cork, to make us look dirty. After tying a scarf around our necks, and pinning a cardboard sign that said, Need Halloween candy. Please help, God bless we were ready to go. Unfortunately, we had both brought backpacks, and as we weren't coming back, it was very uncomfortable to have a heavy load slung across one shoulder. My candy bag had no handles, making it very hard to hold, and keep my backpack on at the same time. Even harder to grab candy. After we had gone for a little while, we were joined by our friends, the Halpin’s. Atalie was an Indian, and Michaela was a hippie. They both had very large bags to hold the candy. We worked our way down Badger road, but when we reached our court, Michelle skipped houses to go get our dog and dress him up. He was a cute little fisherman. We then went to all the houses on our court, but no longer as a Siamese twin. At our house, Michelle got sick of being attached, so she just went as herself, and I was left as a single bum in very large clothes. After we were finished trick-or-treating, I had a paper lunch bag full of candy. After Michelle and me got out pajamas on, we watched the wizard of Oz, and went to bed. I got enough candy that night to last me about two months!

Due to difficulties beyond my control, I was unable to present a picture of my coustume. mabye some other time.

This post is dedicated to the one and only favorite aunt on my mothers side...... drumroll please............................ MY AUNT JODY!! Always have I admired the wonderfulness of this great woman. She was always there for me before they moved to Indiana. I was horrified when I heard that they might actually be moving, and tore my clothes and put ashes on my head when she left. Okay, that last part didn't really happen, but the point is I couldn't have made it through the first..... ah, about the first 9 1/2 years of my life. THIS IS MY LIFE I'M TALKING ABOUT!!

Plus, I admire her for her unique abillity to always have a funny story for her blog. Things just seem to happen to the Graves family, providing ample material for a blog worth reading. Just read The Indiana Update, and see what I mean. Oh, and make sure to leave plenty of comments. It's worth it, trust me. http://indianaupdate.blogspot.com/

If you happen to be reading this, and you happen to be my Aunt Jody, I CAN'T WAIT 'TILL YOU COME TO VISIT!!!!!!!!!!!! TTFN.

Due to technical difficulties, I could not provide a simply marvelous picture of my wonderful Aunt. Maybe some other time.

I have a new cousin!! Actually, I think its a second cousin. Oh well, I dont care cause SHE IS TOOOO CUTE!!! we went sunday night to see little Rebbeca in the hospital with her mother, Sarah. Oh yeah, and Chris the father. My uncle and aunt were there, and I found great pleasure in calling them Grandpa and Grandma. I nearly got a clonk on the head from grandma! Anyways, back to the baby. I am sooooooooo happy she's a she. Girls are better at being the oldest child then boys. I got to hold Rebbeca, and she was so CUTE!! Sarah wrapped her in a blanket, so she looked like what my mom calls baby burrito. I cant WAIT till i get to baby sit Little Rebbeca, Becca, or Becky. So many options! TTFN!!!!!

Sorry to my four fans out there about the long delay between Posts. As I said in my first post, I probably wouldn't be able to be committed enough to get several a week, but the past few days have made it even harder. On Wednesday, I didn't feel very good, and later I got a fever. I had to miss Debate class and AWANA. Thursday, I had a light serving of fever, with stomach pain on the side. We had to reschedule house cleaning, and postpone a Makeup lesson with Mrs. Church and my friends Claire and Bethany. Today, I woke up with no fever, but the stomach pains are still here and I still feel rotten, so we had to cancel piano lessons, writing class, and reschedule Makeup lessons again and find someone else to take over my babysitting job for tonight. Whew! I had a busy week! Wouldnt ya know I would get sick the week things happen! :(

Life of the Teen Drama Queen

At last, a blog of my own! to anyone out there who might possibly ever read this, please do not expect me to be dishing out a new post every day! I am not THAT dedicated! I do hope that I can at least manage once a week. Just this past Thursday I got braces. To all you past/present/future metal mouths, I can now sympathise with you fully. IT AINT FUN!!!!!! so far, I only have the little metal nightmares on my lower teeth, which may not seem so bad, But I also have a anoying little thing stuck to the roof of my mouth called the penguin. It's like talking with a hard pice of candy stuck to your mouth, and for all you who know me, enuciating is somthing I struggle with. NOW ITS EVEN HARDER!!!!!!!! WHY DOES IT ALL HAPPEN TO ME!? WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!! Not forgetting that pieces of food constently get stuck in the little wires sticking out of it. As bad as it all may seem, my nutty little sister WANTS braces! as I said, shes a nut. TTFN!!!