Of Friends, Dancing, Sledding, and Skating: Part 4

Monday & Tuesday, February 23-23, 2009
I woke up dreading saying good-byes. Now that I had finally met “my people”, I didn't want them to leave. We took many pictures together before Jason and Klaus had to head out. Just before they left, we were able to rope Jason into playing “Blest Be the Tie that Binds” while we sang. After they left, some of the people played the piano and guitar and some went out and shot guns. Michael, Bekah, Anna, and Charlyn were the next group to leave. And so our numbers dwindled. We ate a lunch, then went outside to watch Matt and Jake make The Works bombs. It pretty much bombed. :P They had two and, after several false alarms, neither blew. After this, the Orths had to leave. At the same time, Mark and Susan also left. Immediately, I went in and began uploading photos. We were very tired and everything was funny. :P Just ask Kim and Mike about our hysterical laughter over nothing. :D That night, we stayed up and chatted in the chat room. But we got to bed considerably early, I think. :)

I woke up Tuesday, also dreading saying good-bye. Out of all the people staying with us, Kim and Mike stayed the longest, and they became like family to us. Luckily, they had to leave in the evening, giving us quite a few hours together. We played Dutch Blitz, which was extremely fun. Then after the guys left for work, we went outside and built miniature snowmen. (The snow wasn't sticking and we didn't have a whole lot by then.) Then Poppy took us to the airport. And they left. I could've cried right then and there, watching my “siblings” leave me. But they left me with the promise of seeing each other again in April.

I miss you all very, very much. Thank you for coming. It wouldn't have been a snow party without each one of you.

Of Friends, Dancing, Sledding, and Skating: Part 3

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sunday morning we were slower to get up than Saturday morning. We were supposed to leave for the archery club again at 9:30 for church. Klaus got up at 9:20, just as we sent the other guys in to get him up as he was to be one of our drivers. So we raced out of here, only to discover that everyone else was late. :P Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time singing and reading and discussing. I'd do it all again the very same way. In fact, I might even leave more time to do it all more.

After church was done, we managed to dance Mairi's Wedding, just one more time. :D I have to admit though: my calves were sore before but afterward I could barely walk. I didn't know that I was that out of shape just from the wintertime. But anyway, our next destination was the ice arena. Mark got stuck in Florida rental car. :P And Carrie spun some but other than that, we got everyone out and on the road. Then Carrie needed to buy gas so we stopped at the gas station, and Mark kept going but he circled back and that was fine. Then some of our caravan got stuck in traffic lights so we pulled into a parking lot and we timed it well enough so that our caravan was back together again.

When we got to the ice arena, Hannah and Gordie were waiting for us. They thought we had decided not to go and we had abandoned them there with no car or phone. :D Boy, does she know me well. :D :P Anyway, while everyone skated, I decided to take a bit of a break, since I was beginning to run low on social graces. Gotta love being an introvert. So I hung back and took pictures, not only with my camera but with Jason's and Charlyn's as well. I had fun even doing that. After we did that, we had to say good-bye to our Ohioan friends. :( And the rest of us came home and I almost crashed right then, but I didn't. I hung on. Played Rummy, and Dutch Blitz. Stayed up late. :D

Of Friends, Dancing, Sledding, and Skating: Part 2

Saturday, February 21, 2009
Slowly but surely, we woke up. Some of us used our laptops while we ate breakfast, because we are perfect geeks. :P :D Mark and Susan got here. Our kitchen ceiling began leaking because water was running out of the upstairs shower and seeping through. Quite the adventure it was. Then the Ohioans began arriving. Within no time at all, our house was jam-packed with people. Pretty soon, we needed to head out for the archery range so we could start sled-riding. We had decided on the archery range because our first choice – well, let's just say the hill was way too steep to have a patch of gravel at the bottom. So we shipped 'em out! Charlyn needed to print her dance instructions so some of us (Charlyn, Bekah, Michael, Melissa, Katie, Mom, Dad, and I) stayed behind. While Mom and Dad got the food around and packed up, we got it printed. There's a story in and of itself here sort of. Charlyn has a Macbook. It didn't like our printer, so she emailed it to Michael. Of course, the word processors weren't compatible so the page count and margins were messed up. So it ended up a little different than intended, but all is well that ends well. :) So after we fed the pets, we took off.

Katie and I immediately tramped our way to the top of the hill they were using and took pictures and went down a few times. The hill was considerably wicked. :P At one point, Carrie, Jake, and Anna B. went down in our big black sled and went straight into the creek. Many people tumbled and it turned out rather hilarious at times. After Klaus was wrestled a few times, we decided to go in because everyone was beginning to freeze. So we went in and thawed out and ate. I think some changed into their dancing clothes. Some played games. Then we practiced one or two ECD dances before taking group photos because some had to leave. :( After the photos Michael and Bekah taught us swing. Having been thoroughly exhausted, we ate dinner. Then we danced Mairi's Wedding. Twice. :D Then we danced and danced and danced and danced. We were taught rumba, waltz, and polka. We danced the Virginia Reel, and the Duke of Kent's Waltz. I, for one, enjoyed myself thoroughly. If you didn't, your loss. :P Then we had to leave. :( And I cried. :P Just kidding.

When we got home, I had to feed the indoor pets and Matt, Jake, and Brian went to Wal-Mart. When everyone got back, we all rehashed and looked at photos and crashed. We didn't stay up very long, needless to say. :P And I slept hard. I don't think I ever moved that night. :)

Of Friends, Dancing, Sledding, and Skating: Part 1

Friday, February 20, 2009

Butterflies fluttered about my stomach as I woke. It was actually going to happen. All these people I had never met before were coming to my house to spend the weekend here, doing the activities I had planned, and eating the food my mom and I had prepared. Especially nervous about meeting Kim and Mike as they were arriving first, I scurried about my chores, obsessively checking HSA and my IMs. Then came 11 AM. We had to leave to pick them up from the airport. I don't remember much of the drive there. I do remember stopping at Radio Shack to pick up a cable so the microphone would work Saturday evening. The guy at the counter annoyed me, if I recall correctly. He watched Katie and I and he had face piercings. The worst part of picking them (Kim and Mike) up was sitting outside the doors and watching and waiting. I thought I had spotted them and I started shaking. Finally, by the time they came through the doors, I had settled down some. We greeted each other then we went outside. Kim is so cool. I love her accent and she tells interesting stories. Mike is quiet, but fun. Kim wanted to go around the revolving door again, so we let her. :) Then we started toward home, interrupted by a quick visit to Wal-Mart.

When we arrived home, our guests had a house tour, then we ate tacos. After that, we sat around and played Apples to Apples some. Junior Monopoly came next, at which Mike beat us all and Katie lost. :P Before we could actually finish Klaus and Jason pulled in. My first impression was rather the same as Kim's: Klaus is very giant, especially compared to me. Deep voiced, but good hugger. Just a great guy all around. :) Jason is so fun. I love this guy. :) Great dancer. Then came Michael, Bekah, Anna, and Charlyn. Michael straightaway appeared to be very cheerful all the time, which turns out, he was. :) Bekah – ah, Bekah. She's a darling. I love her. She's beautiful, elegant, calming. I could just sit with her for ages and listen to her voice and be in her glow. Anna is fun. Very peppy and happy. Just watching her makes me grin. And Charlyn is a love. The second she stepped in the door, she hugged me and I could tell it had been worth the wait to see her.

Mark and Susan came next. When they pulled up outside the house, I think it was Mike who said, “Mark's here” and someone added, “I can see the beard”, to which my mom replied, “Who? Emilie?” Much laughter ensued. Thus, Mark was greeted with being called a “bearded lady”. After he greeted me, he said, “You look just like you do in your webcam.” I'm so glad to have been properly represented by my lovely webcam. :D Mark seemed to me to be a thinker, and although I didn't think of it until after everyone left, looking rather like how I imagined a dwarf from The Hobbit. :) Susan is lovely and feminine in every sense of the word. Yet she manages to play and have fun and keep up with all the guys. I guess well-rounded is the word I'm looking for. She has an awesome balance of femininity and tomboy-ish-ness. Patriot absolutely loved Mark. Why, I don't know, but he did. :) Then my dear “IRL” friend, Emilie, got here. (She did not have a beard, thank goodness.) Things stayed pretty quiet as we played Apples to Apples. We ate pizza. We used our laptops and some even webcammed with each other. :P Some of the people played Dutch Blitz.

Eventually the Orths arrived. Love, love, love these people. Carrie is so lovely and sunshiny. Jake is hilarious, but knows how to be serious, and pretty much “awesome”. :P Emily is great. Such a sweetheart. As soon as they got here, the noise level shot straight up. :) Then we played Uno, at which Katie had a tendency of winning. And we played Apples to Apples again. Then Mark, Michael, and Jason played instruments and we congregated in the kitchen and dining room to listen and snack. Some of the girls sang. :) 'Twas lovely. I can honestly say I had live music at my party. :P Dutch Blitz ensued, and some of the guys had an interesting discussion about the necessity of college. I sat in on it, and enjoyed listening to the many points each person had to add, as well as the different viewpoints. (It also was a wonderful opportunity for me to practice eye contact. :P) Then after I chatted a little in the chat room, I hit the hay at about 2 AM. Even though I was tired, I was still a little wound-up, so I had a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep.

Much Ado About Muffins

Okay... obviously there's no serious 500-word post this week. I have 12 people staying with me and we're having a blast. =D So, maybe I'll be able to make up for it next week with a conclusion of all our Roundtable discussions. =P

If At First You Don't Succeed...

I've been thinking a lot about persistence lately. I seem to have a pretty good dose of it, despite my lazy and procrastinating nature. But I have been thinking about it very much lately because of a few happenings in my life.

First, I put together a get-together of homeschool alumni through HomeschoolAlumni.org. "Dreamer" describes me well, but I've hardly ever had to actually go through with my dreams yet. So it has taken a lot of persistence on my behalf to help my parents organize it, as well as communicate with my guests. Some days, I'd really like to quit. "False alarm, y'all, I've decided not to have a get-together." Yet, I keep going. Day after day, level after level of excitement and nervousness. It will all come together, we will pull it off.

Secondly, and what feels like most importantly, is my novel. I usually do get mid-novel blues, which is when one feels very disappointed in themselves and the novel as well as discouraged enough to think about quitting. Basically, it's a period in which the author drags his or her feet in finishing it. So, I've got mid-novel blues. On top of that, the trial run for the word processor I was using to write it ran out. I started to switch the document over to OpenOffice, and discovered the page margins and sizes and whatnot are all different. That gives me a totally different page count. I know, I know, I should be going by word count, not page count, but I do things the hard way the first time around. Let me tell you, it's not paying off. But I finally got it close enough to make me happy, and started writing, after I had writer's block. I was feeling good about it and was eager to finish the chapter. However -- dumb me -- I forgot to save the document. While I was reading English Literature (and feeling good about getting caught up there), my laptop restarted because of updates. When it came back to life, I went through the recovery steps to get all my work back and it didn't give it to me. Read that? The recovery system recovered nothing. So I researched the problem to see what I could do to get all my beautiful writing back. Absolutely nothing. OpenOffice had a bug, and I needed to update if I wanted the recovery to work properly. Of course, that doesn't help the stuff I lost, so I updated and restarted today. I haven't had nearly half the success I had yesterday, but all my material will come back and maybe it'll be even better this time around. Unfortunately, I've been having my doubts.

Needless to say, I've perfected my sigh lately. All this keeps me looking to Him, ever constant, always recovering lost material. It's comforting to know that even if I quit, He never will. It also strengthens my resolve to keep going. Might take a little longer than I expected, but I will reach the finish line.

[Insert Title Here]

On January 21, 2009, our rabbit Elizabeth gave birth to six beautiful kits (baby bunnies). I was able to witness the birth of three of them, reminding me yet again how miraculous babies and birth are. Four of them were brown, and two were black. This was the first time we had ever had that ratio of colors.

January 29, 2009: One of the kits found dead underneath the water bottle.

January 31, 2009: One kit found dead under the basement sink, because someone had left the cage door unlatched and the kit crawled out. Another kit found dead between the nesting box and litter box.

February 5, 2009: One kit found dead in the cage. Another kit found dead in the nesting box.

As of 3 PM EST on February 5, 2009, that leaves us with only one surviving kit left. Being a rabbit owner and breeder, I am exasperated. What on earth could be wrong with the kits? Was it something I did? Elizabeth did? Was it just the way the kits were born? Whose fault is it? At this point, there is no clear answer. Chances are, it's a combination of incidents and situations and whatever else.

In other news, I have been extremely lazy, as well as productive. I have been seriously slacking in school. I am currently reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis which could take me about a day to read, but instead it's been almost two weeks and I'm not even halfway through. I haven't even begun to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I haven't touched Emma in weeks. I need to finish Consumer Mathematics and Science before May. I have about 15-20 books to read by then as well. Hand, meet Forehead. *whack*

But! I did say I was productive. At least that's what I call baking 156 gingersnaps, 197 chocolate chip cookies, 50-something brownies, and making 60 Oreo truffles.

My entire family has had the flu. I have escaped it so far. Chances are, I'll get sick tonight or tomorrow, but at this point I could care less. I've finally come off the sugar-high from last night and I'm feeling slightly irritable, at the moment, although very composed and apathetic. The oddest things are annoying me right now is all.

I got contacts on Friday and have been wearing them every day since. They're pretty spiffy. I like being able to see without glasses. My eyelashes are long and a pain, since if I don't hold them out of the way, they poke my contacts when I'm trying to put them in and flip the contacts or knock them off my finger. Yesterday, this happened and the contact landed on the toilet brush. I cleaned it very thoroughly, needless to say. And yes, I can feel them. Yes, I have put them in inside out and attempted to drive myself to insanity -- more than I already am, that is.

Life is good. The sun rises, the sun sets. I'm not sick with the flu yet. My parents love me, I love my family. And God still reigns. Tomorrow is another day, a day in which I will actually accomplish something. The time for lists is now.