Look at the yites!

In case anyone is wondering about my awful spelling in the title, when I was very little I called Christmas light, "Yites!"

Well, however ridiculously early it may be, we put up our Christmas lights today. And when I say we, I mean I. Johnny came out to help me, but in the end, all he did was jump off the roof onto the trampoline and take random pictures of himself. I am still not done, as there are more lights to be put up, but I got most of it done. It looks very nice. There is one slight problem however. Despite the fact that I tested each strand before putting them up, one strand won't light up. I might be able to fix it with my dads help, but then again, I might not. Once all the lights are put up, I will probably put up a picture. Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope your day is filled with food, friends and family. For me, today also happens to be my 15th birthday. I had a wonderful breakfast of toaster strudels, bacon, and orange juice. I also received many nice presents from everyone except Johnny; he hasn't gotten me one yet. After breakfast, my dad, Johnny and I played flag football at a high school event. My team won, and I even scored a touchdown! It wasn't that great or anything, but we were at the one yard line...I think, and OJ. told everyone but me to run left, and I would run right. The plan was that I would be open for the pass because everyone would be over on the left field...and it worked! Amazingly enough, I caught the ball and scored! We would have won without my touchdown, but it was pretty cool all the same. So, once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

I Have Nothing to Say, That is All.

I am at a loss of what I should write about. Other than my birthday falling on thanksgiving this year, nothing exciting has been happening. Do you have any suggestions? I would appreciate any and all feedback on the matter.

Cheers!

Why don't you girls do the dishes?

These were the words that struck fear in my heart every time I heard them. This past weekend, Michelle, Kayla and I all volunteered at HeartStone (Which is a camp near Ukiah) during the Father Son Fishing Trip. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. The only downside was dishes. And when you are cooking food for 50+ people, then there are going to be...a lot...of dishes. Us girls weren't the only people volunteering, we just happened to get stuck with dishes the most.


First day: We arrived at camp at around 4 o'clock, and went to work right away in the kitchen. I helped set up tables and make pizza, and Kayla and Michelle offered to start with dishes. Little did they know how often their hands would be submerged in greasy water. After dinner was basically taken care of, I helped them with the drying and putting away.

Next day: Us three girls were scheduled for lunch and dinner, meaning we didn't have to wake up super early to make breakfast. At around 8 we got up and went to go get breakfast and start on lunch prep. When we showed up, everything was basically taken care of...except dishes. So we donned the aprons and spent the next half hour or so scrubbing, rinsing, and drying while the other three girls finished cooking and cleaning up other stuff. They finished about 15 minutes before we did, and spent the rest of the time chatting.

That night: We did the dinner (which was delicious I must say) and at first, I looked like we weren't going to have to do any dishes, for Mr. Walker and Mr. Regalia were doing them. After they were about halfway done however, they asked if we could take over so they could have dinner. Of course we didn't refuse. Except for frequent bathroom trips on the part of Kayla and Michelle, we remained at the sink and the towel till all was clean. Guess who gets to get up at 6 the next morning??

Third day: We arrived at the kitchen.....almost right on time due to a silent alarm clock, and prepared breakfast. As the time neared for the other girls to show up and help, us three made sure to find occupying jobs so as to not get stuck with another round of dishes...and it worked. When at 8:30 the other three came in, Mrs. Walker set two of them to dishes, and the other girl to helping us with lunch. Ahhh how sweet it was to slice oranges and package cupcakes rather than to scrape off food from mounds of dirty plates. Since this was the last day of the camp, we had to clean up EVERYTHING and pack up for winter.

I and another girl cleaned up the snack shack...Michelle and another girl cleaned out the cabins...And poor Kayla had to help clean up the kitchen, which meant finishing the dishes. It was so cold, I almost envied her with the warm water as I dug can after can of soda out of a refrigerator.

All in all, I had a wonderful time, and if anyone is interested, there will be a workday up at HeartStone this Saturday. I will probably be going, and I would love to see some of you there!

Cheers!

Touché Tourney

Hey everyone, sorry I have not posted recently. I have had a cold all week, and just haven't had much inspiration for a post. How about I talk about the Touché tournament?


On Saturday Touché hosted its annual debate tournament. Holly and I were running the timers booth. All we really had to do was set up the timer numbers each round, and make sure they were all taken for each round. This may not seem very hard, but we also had to sign in every timer. We had a sheet with the names on it, but they weren't alphabetized, sometimes the last name was first, sometimes the first name was first and sometimes the name wasn't even on the sheet! In between each round, I had no assigned jobs, thus leading to near fatal cases of boredom. I hung out with Michelle Kayla and Jocelyn, but they all left before the tournament was half over. I also hung out with Holly when she was around, but most of the time it was just me. Michelle was signed up for the kitchen, but she got permission to leave early. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ortiz forgot that Michelle was the only one scheduled to help in the kitchen in the afternoon. So Madeline and I began working in the kitchens. I didn't mind, and was glad of something to do. So the day passed rather slowly, until came time to announce the finalists. Yay for Patrick and Jonah for making it to the finals!!!! So I watched them debate, and during dinner, Holly taught me how to swing dance. During the awards ceremony, I sat in the sound booth with Michelle and my dad, so I got a pretty nice view. All in all, it was a pretty good tournament, and at times I found myself quietly wishing I was debating. TTFN!!!

My a-MAZE-ing Night

Last night I had an awesome time up in Ukiah. Our high school went up to this guys house that makes a big maze out of different stuff each year. And it isn't just some ordinary maze; it has tunnels, slides, secret doors, stairs, a rope swing and more! A ton of youth groups came out for this, and we had an absolutely amazing time. After we finished the maze (my group was one of the first ones out!) we listened to a guy preach for a little while, then did the maze again! This time it was much easier, but it was still fun. We left at about 11. Erin McAllister, a girl named Karen, and Cassie (Our pastor’s wife) were all really thirsty, so we stopped at Cassie's parent’s house in Ukiah for something to drink. Her mom was awake, and we got sparkling cider and pumpkin pie. Not bad! We ate and drank for a while, then left. By this time, our car was way behind everyone else, but we didn't worry too much. As we were going along on the highway, suddenly Cassie stops and pulls over. I then realized that there was a cop right behind us with flashing lights! Uh oh.... we were in trouble! Apparently, she was going 80 with a 60 speed limit, and one of her headlights was out. We already knew about the headlight, but Cassie was surprised at the speed, because it was set to a certain thing. She thinks her speedometer is off or something. Fortunately, he let us off with a warning. So we finally got home at one in the morning. I should have slept soundly, but I didn’t. Instead, I was up almost all night battling a stuffy nose and a sore throat. This morning, I slept in instead of going to church, and I basically feel awful right now. So I probably will not be at Journey tonight. Hopefully I will feel better soon!

Where is She?

Ok, so last night, I let Lucy out to play on my floor while I got ready for bed. I usually just let her run around with my door closed while I brush my teeth and wash my face and stuff. When I went into my room, she didn't run over to sniff my feet, like she normally does. I closed the door and sat down, calling her name. No Lucy. A little concerned, I checked behind my drawers in my dresser. She got back there once and got stuck, so I figured she was just waiting for her mommy to rescue her. She wasn't there. Beginning to panic, I called her name over and over again, while looking everywhere! This actually wasn't very easy, because my room is a mess. But normally, she will come running over to me if I call her. I wondered if a cat had gotten into my room and... But of course not. I had already looked everywhere, and there was no cat. I called my mom, dad and Michelle and told them I couldn't find Lucy. My dad said she could have crawled under the door. This really scared me, because with two cats, a dog and a big house, a rat could be anywhere! We began a rat hunt, looking all over the house calling her name. My mom rounded up Beamer and stuck him in Johnny's room. Apparently, he was concerned about her disappearance. Yay, he does care! After several minutes of searching and calling, I grabbed a flashlight and shined it under my dresser, just in case I had missed something. Suddenly, Michelle who was on her stomach searching screeched out that she saw Lucy! All that time she had been hiding behind some stuff under my dresser! I still wasn't done worrying, though. She NEVER just hides from me; she loves to be with people. And when we tried to bring her out from hiding, she would just scoot back under. At last, my mom managed to bring her out, and we put her in her cage. She had a sort of wild look in her eyes, and sort of darted around the cage nervously. We are pretty sure something scared her really bad for her to be acting this way. This morning, I held her for a bit, and she seemed fine except for some reddish goop coming from her nose. This is a bad sign for rats, and I am really worried about her. Please keep my adorable little rat in your prayers!

Left and Right

Well, no one seems to be checking my blog (yet again!) so I am at a loss as to what I should write about. Sooo... here is a little thing I wrote last year for my journal writing.

It is odd, when you think of having a right hand, and a left hand. Why is it that one is better then the other? Why are some right handed, and some left handed? I have puzzled over this for many a day, trying to unlock the mystery of the right/left hand. I know part of it has to do with your brain, but why does your brain do that? It really is hard for me to figure it out. Plus, some people are both right handed, and left handed!!! I suppose that would have its disadvantages as well as its advantages. For example, what if you broke your wrist. You wouldn’t have the wonderful excuse that you couldn’t write anything because you hand was broken! Also, you might be put in a freak show were people could make fun of you for being able to write your name with both hands! This most likely wouldn’t happen, and people probably wouldn’t call you a freak for having two right hands, but it could happen. I am trying to get my left hand as strong as my right. If I succeed, I shall have the advantages of both the right/left hand people, and the people who have two right hands. I believe that people with right hands are smarter, because it is the RIGHT hand to have! I wonder why people say right and wrong, when is should be right and left. Oh well, not all right handed people are as smart as I am. Someday, when I have equally strong hands, I might rule the world, but I know a kid who already wants to do that, and I must say, listening to him list off the way he will execute his different enemies does cause one to look toward world peace and freely elected democracies with a kinder thought. Oh well, if in about ten years the world is owned by a man named Jonah, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Beware, The Monoblog!

For some of my adoring fans, the following post will make no sense whatsoever. But for others, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

When I go onto the computer, there is little I enjoy more than new emails, and new posts. Unfortunately, there are some of you who think it is fun to create a new blog, post once, and then completely abandon it. Imagine the tragic feeling in my heart when I click on a blog link in hopeful expectations, but then realize that the post in front of my eyes is the same I saw three months ago. I am not saying any names, but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Those of you who have blogs with many posts, but don't post very much anymore, you are free from my criticism. See all you Touché people on Wednesday!

Oh dear...

For everyone that saw the singing penguin here on Life of the Teen Drama Queen, that was Michelle. Yes, my little sister put up a ridiculous post on my blog without my permission, damaging my reputation and possibly putting my blog in jeopardy. It was not me, it was Michelle.

A Tribute to Rain.

I like the rain. That is all.

Lucy Again!

Sorry I have not been posting for a few weeks. No one was commenting, so I figured no one cared about my blog anymore. (Jk) Actually, I got kinda busy, and got grounded from the computer for a week, and just wasn't very inspired. But now I am inspired!

I suppose you all are wondering how my rat Lucy is doing. She is absolutely wonderful, and we have been having lots of fun. But I got worried that she didn't have enough to do in her cage. This led me to the decision to surf the web and find ideas for rat toys. I came across this AWESOME website that has tons of ideas for rats. The link is at the bottom for all you rat lovers. (That means you Holly!) One of the ideas they had was a rat piñata. No, you don't fill a cardboard box full of rats and whack it senseless; it is merely a piece of paper towel filled with Cheerios or other small treats tied up in the cage. The trick to keeping the rat occupied is making the piñata with a few layers of paper, so the rat won't chew through to quick. Soon, I had a cute little bundle of Cheerios hanging in Lucy's cage. She was instantly interested, but I had to go upstairs for a minute, so I didn't get to see what she did next. When I came back down, my cousin (who was staying at our house) told me that instead of tearing through three layers of paper towel, Lucy simply snipped the string holding it, and brought it into her little house to demolish the piñata there. This led me to the conclusion that..................... Rats are smart!!!
http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm

~Catie

Talk Show... Part Three

Welcome back to this weeks episode of… Talk About Something Exciting, or LEAVE!!! Yes, thank you, thank you very much. Man we have a great crowd today, can I get a camera on these people? Yes, there we go… FIVE, people in the audience today. That’s a record, isn't it? Yeah, I think it’s a record. So, anyway, our guest speaker today is Billy B. Bob, let’s give him a hand folks!!!!

Oh garsh, ah am Exhilarated to be on this here show. Yup, ah watch it near bout’ every day after ah’m done feeding tha hogs out in thar pen.

Interesting, Very interesting, so let’s hope what you will be talking about today is just as exciting, or else you will have to LEAVE!!!

Well garsh, ah sure don’t wanna leave, so ah better git to ma talking. Today, ah will be giving all you folks animal impersonations. Tha first one is ah sheep. BAAAA. There we go, and tha next one will be ah little ole’ Billy goat. BHAAA. Now then, ah will move on ta the next one which is ah-

DING DONG!!!

Oh dear Billy, it appears that the ding dong complainer just rang.

Weall now what does that mean?

One of out spectacular audiences has a complaint to make about your talking. Ahem…yes…..oh yes, I see. She wants to know what is the difference between a sheep sound, and a goat sound? They both sounded the same to her.

Ya see, the sheep sound is ah B-A-A-A-A, and the goat is a B-H-A-A-A-. There is a slight difference in the sound. Sure is hard to tell, but when ya live on’a farm, as do I, it is nigh well obvious.

DING DONG!!!

Wha now?

The audience is not satisfied with your explanation, which means you get to play the comparing game.

Ah, ah do?

Yes indeed. See that dunk tank over there?

Yes, ah do.

Well you will be seated in the dunk tank, and will do your animal impersonations into the microphone inside. If the automatic decider decides they are truly different, then you will win ten dollars. If they are the same, then you will be dunked, and have to leave. But you will not fall into water. You will fall into a delicious steak sauce. Are you ready?

Weall now just wait one cotton picken minute. You expect me to- WHO, hey I can walk just fine, now OUCH! OOF!!

Start impersonating!!!

Well, uh… BAAAA. BHAAA………AUGHHHHH!!!!!

SPLASH.

Oh, I am sorry, the automatic decider did not think they were different, so you have to leave. Tune in next week, to see another person talk, OR LEAVE!!! That’s all folks!!!

Talk Show... Part Two

Welcome back to Talk About Something Exciting, or Leave! I am your host, Allan P. Sherman, and today we have a very exciting plan. We will have Miss Ally VonShuben as our guest talker!! Lets give her a hand!!!

Oh thank you! I am absolutely thrilled to be talking today. I love to talk. Talking is my passion in life and when I heard about this show, I-

Yes, yes, that is very nice. So, you may begin TALKING!!!!

Oh, very well. But it is very rude to interrupt me when I was talking. After all, this is a talk show, and I am the guest talker, so when I am talking- oh, yes… I am supposed to be talking about my subject I prepared? Oh very well. Today I will be talking about how to get rid of stains. The first stain I will be discussing is wine. And we all know how hard it is to get out wine stains. The way you do it, is by letting the stain sit undisturbed for 24 hours, then lightly scatter rose petals over the stain. Afterward, sprinkle with salt, let sit for 15 seconds, and PRESTO! No more stain. I remember one time, when I had an AWFUL wine stain, and I tried everything! Except for the rose petal and salt trick. My mother told me about it, but I had to go to a party, and they had the BEST cocktails, so I ate some, then started to dance, when-

BEEP!!! BEEP!

I am sorry, but you started to get off topic, which means you get to play, THE STAY ON TOPIC GAME!!!

Oh dear, what is that? It sounds dreadful. I don’t like dreadful things, why just last week I-

The off topic game is not dreadful. You must simply walk across the topic bridge while talking. If you stay on topic, you win ten dollars. If you don’t stay on topic, then you fall through a trap door, and land in a pile of uncooked spaghetti, and leave. Annnnnnd START!!

Well, um.. the second stain is the ink stain, and when you… OH MY!!! I just had a horrible thought! I forgot to brush my teeth this morning! They must look- AUGGGGG!!!!

CRUNCH!!

OH, im sorry, you didn't stay on topic. Sooooo… YOU MUST LEAVE!!! Tune in next week folks to see another person talk, or leave!!!

Talk Show... Part One.

This is a random little thing I wrote for my journal writing last year. Expect more to follow!

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to… Talk About Something Exciting, or Leave!! Thank you, thank you very much. On today’s episode, our speaker is Mr. Joe Shmoe.!! Let’s give him a hand folks!!!

Thank you!! Thank you all very much. You know, I am HONORED that I would be accepted on this very wonderful-

Yeah yeah, we all know that junk, now get talking, or LEAVE!!!

Ok, weeeelll, the topic I will be talking about today, is the benefits of random thoughts.

Sounds, exciting, let’s hear it for Joe Shmoe!!! Nice name by the way.

Oh um, thank you. Now, when you hear something totally random, there are several different possible reactions. For example, the other day, my cousin and I were talking about how many pounds of edible fungus can be grown in Arkansas in one year, when she suddenly asks me if I like spaghetti! I stopped, stunned for a second, and then asked what made her think of spaghetti, when we were talking about fungus? So as you can see, one of the more common reactions to randomness is the stun movement. The second one is-

BING!!!!!!!

What- what was that?

EERRRR!!! I am sorry Joe Shmoe, but it appears that one member of the audience did not think that you are talking about something exciting. And we all know what happens next.

What?

YOU GET TO PLAY THE EXCITING TALKER GAME!!!!

What’s that?

You see that small swimming pool filled with chocolate pudding?

Yes…

Well, you must step on that platform, and continue talking into that microphone for one minute. If the automatic exciter decides you are exciting enough, you win ten dollars. But if you are not, you fall in the pudding, and LEAVE!!!

But, I don’t want to- Hey stop pushing! Ouch… ok, here we go. The second common reaction for randomness is the burst-out laughing-technique, and when this is applied the person who started the randomness usually,-

BEEP!!! BEEP!!!

Hey, why is that red light flashing, what’s going on? HELP!!!!
SPLOOSH.

Oops, looks like you weren't exiting, so you have to LEAVE!! Tune in next week to see another person talk, or leave!! THAT ALL FOLKS!

Rat Pictures

Ok, here are the pictures of Lucy, the rat. Enjoy!

MY RAT!!!!!

Well folks, day before yesterday was the big day! I received my own rat. I had just walked outside to take out the trash, when I happened to glance in the direction of the driveway, and imagine my joy when I discovered a strange car was parked there. I was even more overjoyed when, upon further examination, there next to the car was a girl with a large wire cage in her hands. After I had thrown out the trash, and pieced together the clues, I deducted that this, was in fact, Katie Donovan and she had come to give me her rat! (Of course I knew all this immediately! Mrs. Donovan came out and we went over a few guidelines, and instructions for care. After they left, I made haste to bring the cage and it’s occupant up to my room, where I had prepared a place for him to stay. Except of course, Michelle and I found out that Ratatouille, was a she. I decided to name her first Rheumy, then Lint, and finally Lucy. She is absolutely adorably! Even though she is not as cute as hamsters, you can do a lot more with her. She found and old cloth dog house, and kept crawling into it. This led me to the decision to put the dog house into her cage for the night. Next morning my mom discovered she had torn through it and removed the foam padding inside! So much for the cloth dog house. We took her cage downstairs, and let the other pets get a look at her. Beamer and Squiggy were fascinated, so much that Beamer didn’t even go into the kitchen to finish his breakfast. Unthinkable! Jinx didn’t really think much of her, and ran off instead to fight with Squiggy. Oh, our funny pets. I think we are going to really enjoy my little rat. She even has a tiny harness and leash! But the best part is, she doesn’t really mind being held, so long as you support her and are gentle. I am thrilled at the thought of finally owning my own rodent, something I have wanted long before I became serious about my campaign. Once again, to all you rat haters out there, even my mom likes Lucy. That is saying A LOT. So you all need to come over and see how cute and sweet and funny Lucy is. That’s all for now!!! Tootles!

I will be putting up some pictures shortly. At the moment, it is not convenient to do so.

A Pet, at Last!

Howdy ya’ll..........enough of the hick accent, lets move on. Most of you know that for the last 9 months or so, I have wanted a hamster. Originally, if I could keep my room clean, and display overall responsibility, I could get one. Everything went great….except for the clean room. And now, nine months later, my dream is finally coming true……………. Except I’m not getting a hamster. I am, in fact, getting a rat. A RAT!?!?!? Now, now, now…. Don’t get all upset or anything like that. I know most people turn their noses up at rats, but please don’t for this one. A family in our church was looking for someone to take their pet, Ratatouille. He comes with a cage, food, toys and more, and it won’t cost me a cent. Plus, according to Michelle, he is EXTREMELY cute, and loves to be held, something hamsters don’t appreciate so much. So, I am willing for the reasons above to get some experience in the care and keeping of rats, and then, after his life is at an end, I can decide if I am up for getting a new rodent companion, or am not quite ready to have a pet in my room. If you still wonder why on earth I am going to get a rat, then obviously you are not a rodent lover, and can’t be reasoned with under any circumstances. I pity you. Tootles!

Our Friends...

Hello friends! This is Catie, your host for as long as you wish to remain at my blog sight, and I hope you have a great time!

In my last post, I promised to write about two of our very good friends from Hollister. This Hollister happens to be a town near Gilroy, (home of garlic, I might add!) And is in no way, shape or form a popular clothing store. Emily and Kelly are two of me and Michelle’s best friends, and we have known them since before I can remember. (Kinda odd to not remember meeting you lifelong friend…) About four years ago, their dad found a job in, or maybe it was near Hollister and they had to move. I was heartbroken of course, but then, it really wouldn’t make sense for their dad to make a three hour drive twice a day to go to work, and then come back, so there was really no escaping their moving. Many a day did Michelle and I go to their house, whether to play house or dress up or to walk up to pollywog pond and catch…you guessed it, pollywogs. (We named the pond, and I haven’t the slightest idea what its real name is, if it even has a name!) (And none of our pollywogs ever lived by the way) Some of you may remember the Whitelys. (Did I mention their last name was the Whitelys?) So anyway, they moved, and in the first year of their absence, we went up and visited them quite a lot, about once a month I recollect. (Oh, and before I forget, Johnny came on one or two of our hikes when the Whitelys lived here =D) Good times I tell you, GOOOOD times. The Whitelys have always been animal lovers, before they moved they owned two dogs, two cats and a bunny. As of to date, they own one dog, two cats, one bunny, two miniature horses and a dozen chickens. Quite a farm, don’t you think? Sadly, one of their dogs passed away, she was only a few months younger than me!!! They are soon to get a new one however. The new house has… I don’t quite remember, but I think it has a few acres, giving them plenty of room to care for and abundance of animals. Kelly, the younger of the two friends used to want a pot-bellied pig, but I think she is past that, and has now devoted her love to chickens. Emily, the older is fonder of the mini horses… I think. Michelle and I always get quite the farm experience each times we go see them. Just this last visit we… Mucked out the stalls, collected eggs, rode and groomed horses, feed the chickens and more! So, despite the distances, us and the Whitelys have managed to stay close. But before I go, I forgot to mention we even got baptized the same night. Pretty cool huh?

This has been, yours truly, Drama Queen.

I sewed my finger!

Well, thank you all for your ideas for my blog. For this post, I shall go along with my mother’s idea about.....

SEWING MY FINGER

Last night, I was sewing a skirt for one of my smaller dolls. (Yes I sew, and I still LOVE dolls) all was going as well as could be hoped for, until after one stitch, I noticed that in trying to pull the thread, it tugged slightly on one finger. After further examination, I realized I had passed the needle through a tiny bit of skin on the side of one finger. (There was no pain at all.) After showing my mom and dad how cool it was, I tried to pull the thread up and out of my skin. But the needle was in a little deeper than I realized, and it took a tiny bit of effort, but in the end I succeeded!

There, now you know about my sewing of my finger. Tomorrow Michelle and I are going to the Whitley’s, our best friends who live in Hollister. (The town Hollister, not the store.) I promised months ago about doing a post on them, and I will SOON! So stay put and come back in about a week or so, and hopefully I will have a new post up!


And one last question: Who is Lightsider???