Forgetful Me

The other day, my grandpa came to pick me and my brothers up to take us over to their house for dinner. A simple event that should surely have no complications involved. Think again (after all, when you're dealing with the likes of me nothing is simple). Anyways, my mom (who had been at my granparents' house all day), had called me earlier to tell me to bring some brown rice that we had over to my grandparents' house so that she could fix it for dinner. Easy enough for a person who remembers almost everything (note the word "almost") she's supposed to. (I particularly have an uncanny knack for remembering names and birthdays, so don't feel creeped out or think that I'm a freaky stalker or something if I remember your birthday after only having been told once...)

Moving on, my grandpa showed up a little earlier than usual. So flustered old me grabbed my purse, ran out the door, ran back in the house to grab a book (that I've read about a million times just for the record) and ran back out again. Then I ran back to the door again to lock in. When I finally made it to the van and we pulled out, I did something pretty stupid. I started reading in the car. You'd think that I'd know better by now...If you don't know this already, I get carsick rather easily. (When I was little I threw up twice in the car. Just thought that needed to be said....). So me + reading in the car = disaster. I don't puke or anything, but I start feeling really wierd. The words spin in front of my eyes, my head feels like it's going to explode with nausea, and I have to close my eyes, curl up in a ball (all while buckled up) and pretend I'm anywhere but the vehicle. Well, like a true dunce, I told myself that I'd be fine. Well, I wasn't. I started feeling very ill, and when the book went into a discussion of food I had to shut the book very quickly....So it was sitting in the car, hunched up in a ball, feeling not so well at all, that I remembered something crucial; I had forgotten the brown rice. Impossible. How could this be?? I never forget anything. (Really. It's true.) I determined that I must have forgotten because my grandpa had showed up so early and flustered me. But that didn't really solve the problem. I really didn't know if my Mom would really kill me for forgetting the brown rice, but I didn't really want to find out. So my poor grandpa had to drive allll the way back to the house (we were about 20 minutes out). He probably wanted to kill me at this point, but he's too nice to say anything....

When we arrived at the house, I opened the garage door and raced inside. It was then that I realized I had done it again; I had locked the door leading to the house from the garage, which meant I had to use a key to get in. My grandpa had my mom's key ring at this time (long, unimportant story) so I figured the house key had to be somewhere on it. So my grandpa and I spent the next five minutes attempting (and mostly failing) to locate the correct key to that door. I think we tried about every key on the dang key ring. It's a good thing no random pass-er-bys happend to see us. They probably thought we were burglars or something. A pair of pathetic burglars at that, but you never know who's a burglar and who's not these days....Anyways, we finally got in, and I raced for the pantry. I searched that pantry high and low, and still no sign of the brown rice. The only thing I knew at this point was that my stomach was growling ferociously, and a box of all natural chocolate cake icing sitting in the pantry was staring me right in the face. I figured my grandpa would think I had really lost it if I started making cake icing at such a time as this, so I quickly shut the pantry door. I then called my mom, who informed me that the brown rice was in the refrigerator. As I grabbed the brown rice and headed for the door, I muttered to myself, "This brown rice sure as heck better be excellent."....

So there you have it. Another one of my endless stories about how dumb I can be sometimes....;) Aside from that, nothing much else has really been going on, but this week is going to be really busy. For one thing I'm starting school tomorrow, plus our homeschool group is having an orientation thing tomorrow. Then Thursday I'm finally starting voice lessons again! =]

Later

A Few Things You May Not Know About Me....

*I can not stand to stay up late. (I know, I'm a wierd teenager but I just can't help it). I can make it until about 10:45 at the latest, and then I'm just plain out. If people in my family are making noise at that late an hour, I will stick my head out of my bedroom and tell them, (in a very nice voice), to please shut their mouths. On youth trips I am always the first person to go to bed. Sorry, that's just me. If I don't get my full 8 hours,....well you don't want to know what I'm like then. Really and truly stuff of nightmares....I will make exceptions for slumber parties however. I can get pretty hyper when it comes to those, but my hyperness normally lasts till about 2 AM. Then you can just plain forget me staying up another second. I really don't know how I'm going to make it in college....*sigh*

*I hate most modern TV shows that teens are addicted to (please don't write me off as a wierdo.) I like the oldies: Andy Griffith, Cosby, Columbo (I'M MAJORLY ADDICTED TO THAT SHOW), and stuff like that (though I will confess a weakness for So You Think You Can Dance. Great show, great show ;) ).

*I've become a bit more health conscientious over the last few months. I try to avoid all processed junk food, try to eat organics, use all natural products as much as possible, and get sunlight (which I desparately need. I'm so pale I could probably pass as a vampire). I think health is fascinating, which is probably a reason I want to go into the alternative health field. I could really talk about that kind of stuff all day. ;)

*I get frustrated very easily. I have zilch patience levels.

*I hate talking on the phone. Please just text me instead. (Notice: I will make exceptions for particularly awesome people).

*I am a proud Harry Potter addict.

*I have bad allergies. Dust, dairy, cashews, salmon, you name it and I'm probably sensitive in some way to it....*sigh*

*I love to drive. Heck, I'm even a little nostalgic for the driver's ed days *sniff sniff*

*My birthday is November 15 (repeat it to yourself until you can say it in your sleep).

Gtg, so that's it for now. ;)

The Chorus

Well, I passed the chorus audition. Let’s just say it was about the easiest audition (okay it was the only audition) I’ve ever done. The lady in charge had told me to prepare a hymn to sing, so I prepared one and worked diligently on it for days. Let’s just say that when I work diligently on a song you can hear loud screams, bizarre sobbing noises, and the loud bang of piano keys coming from the music room (yes, I’m a bit of a perfectionist). Anyways, I brought my book of Italian arias along, just in case she decided to let me sing one of those instead. Well turns out she did. (All that diligent work on that hymn for nothing. Sorry to my poor family who had to listen to me ;) ). I sang through one page, and then she stopped me. After that she had me sing some sirens and do some echo singing. Then she gave me the thumbs up and said, "You’re in." I was pretty dang relieved. For a minute there, I was afraid she had stopped me on the Italian song because of the torture involved with listening to my voice....

The good news is that the singing was a lot of fun. We worked on Christmas carols (from the Dicken’s era) for our Christmas performance (it’s never too early to sing Christmas songs in my opinion) and the director was very good. However, there was a negative side. Virtually everyone there was younger than me. The group mainly consisted of middle school girls (and a few ones even younger). Now I’m certainly not knocking girls younger than me. Not at all. The thing is, when you’ve been taking voice lessons for 3 years and have had a lot more experience than everybody else in the group, you kind of get the feeling that you don’t fit in. So when I got home I decided to just forget the whole thing and save myself some heartache.

Well, a few days later my mom happened to be talking to the director on the phone (for some reason or another that is really too complicated to explain). My mom said that the director said (a bit confusing I know, but bear with me) that I should give it another try because 1: New things should always be given a second chance; 2: One of the girls there was actually 18 (I did not see that one coming, but oh well. I guess I shouldn’t be talking because I’m kind of young looking myself.); and 3: There was another girl who was closer to my age (15 to be exact) who was in the choir, but just didn’t happen to be there that day. Soo the bottom line is that I will be giving it another try. I hate to back out of things after only the first day, and who knows. Maybe something miraculously wonderful will happen that will end up changing my life forever. ( Well I kind of doubt that, but you really never know. ;))

The only thing I have left to say is that I can’t believe it’s the last week of summer. This really has been the fastest moving summer I can remember for a while. And you know what’s funny? This has actually been the longest break we’ve ever had from school over the summer. Odd. *sigh* ;)

Update on My Grandma, and a Few Other Things....

*My grandma is now HOME, which is a really great thing if you've ever been anywhere near a hospital. Don't get me wrong; hospitals are great and (most of the time) are very helpful. However, it looks like it's just plain not fun being in one. How in the heck are you supposed to get any sleep when nurses come in every few hours to poke on you?? Anyways, I think my grandma is in a little better shape, and is moving around (which is good). She's not as weak, but is definitely not in what I call good condition. Not only is she battling cancer, but she also has a heart problem which is giving her problems as well. Plus, a nurse will have to come by her house every day for a little while to drain more fluid off of her lungs (who would have thought such a small woman could have so much fluid). So the bottom line, she is definitely in continued need of your prayers. Thank you much.

*For those of who don't know, I hate volleyball. I really really do. Not only do I stink at it, but I am just plain terrified at the thought of playing it. I cringe away from the ball everytime it comes my direction, and whenever my old youth group suggested playing a "good ole" game of volleyball I almost started crying. So I thought it was rather funny when the volleyball coach of the homeschool group we are joining (yes, this homeschool group has a girls volleyball team and a boys basketball team) called me up earlier today. The minute I realized that she was calling to try to convince me to come to volleyball practice tomorrow, I almost busted out laughing. Trust me, no volleyball team wants me anywhere near their vicinity. Five minutes with me and they'd be running me out of town with giant knives. Anyways, I immediately started to explain to her that I was really really (beyond words) bad at volleyball. She immediately went into a long speal about how it didn't matter how good you were as long as you were having fun and getting some good physical exercise (I'm sure she would change her mind about that after seeing me play). I suppose I should have just told her the truth about my hatred of volleyball. However, I was just plain stunned, and sometimes when you are just plain stunned you don't think logically. So I told her that I would think about it, and that I would call her back if I decided to give it a try. Let's just say I won't be giving her a call back...She seemed a very nice lady, but volleyball's just not for me. Sorry folks.

*I'm kind of nervous about tomorrow evening, because I'm auditioning for a community chorus thing. Even though the auditioner said the audition would be pretty laid back, I'm still nervous because I get nervous about pretty much everything. Hey I would get nervous singing in front of stuffed animals. ;) I just hope that I make it, because the first rehearsal is right after my audition. Soo at least I won't be kept in anticipation for very long. *sigh* Sometimes I feel like my whole life is one nervewracking endeavor right after the other. But oh well. Guess I'll just get over it. ;)

Later

Happy Late Birthday, Dad

Last Saturday (August 15th) was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 47 years old....I just wanted to post a few things I remember and treasure about my Dad seeing as how it's his birthday and all.

*My Dad was truly one of the most supportive people I've ever known. Whether it was a voice recital, a church performance, or a 2-hour dance recital, he was always there (along with my mom of course). When I first took dance, he was always up for the adventure of carting me and my friends to rehearsals. He even worked out a carpooling schedule with some of the other moms (and didn't seem to mind at all). He always encouraged me in every hobby I did, and always told me I did amazing (he was probably prejudiced, but oh well. ;) ).

*My Dad was one heck of an amazing driving coach. Not only was he a fantastic driver himself, he also knew just how to whip me into shape and scare me out of making a really dumb driving error and killing myself. He always said that if I was ever in a wreck and it was my fault, my license would suddenly vanish. Same thing if I was ever caught talking on the phone or texting while driving. Given the fact that he was giving me one of those stare downs while he was telling me this, I went right along with him. (Just so you know, Dad, I never ever use the phone while I'm driving, and I haven't had a wreck yet ;) ). He also worked effortlessly to help me with my dreaded Achille's Heel of driving: parking. To put it bluntly, I stunk. He tried everything. We went over to the church parking lot, he got out of the car and stood at the edge of a parking space, and then attempted to direct me into it. He sure had a lot of patience with a nut like me. Even though he was pretty tough, I would give anything to be sitting in the car getting yelled at by my Dad right now about a pretty dumb mistake I made (even if it was as simple as not stopping at just the correct time when coming to a stop sign).

*My Dad was funny, and had a knack for cheering me up. I'd come in the house, ranting and raving about something, and swearing the whole world was out to get me and that my life sucked. After five minutes with my Dad, I'd feel pretty much just fine. Even if he couldn't solve my problems for me, he sure did make them seem pretty and unimportant. He also could make everybody laugh really really hard. Some of the stories he regaled us with from his earlier years just about killed us (and they never got old now matter how many times he told them). He also was pretty spontaneous. One summer he announced that we were going on vacation, and he wasn't telling us kid where we were going. When we showed up at Biltmore House, I was about the happiest person alive. I'd always wanted to go there, and was pretty dang happy to say the least.....

*My Dad was strict when he needed to be, encouraging, kind, understanding, and just about one of the greatest guys I know (not to mention my ever faithful blog reader. If I stopped blogging for any period of time, he'd let me know and tell me that I needed to start up again). There are sooo many other things I could say about him, and so many things I just can't begin to put into words. He was great, and if you had the opportunity to get to know him then you know what I'm talking about.

I miss you, Dad.

Crazy Friday

Yesterday was pretty crazy, and not all that fun. It started out at the dentists’s office (not a great way to start an afternoon). I had already had to go in the week before, because I was having some serious mouth problems. I had two odd lines on the side of my tongue, my jaws ached, I felt pressure and tightness in my face, I had some pretty awful headaches, and my neck was stiff. Basically, when I had a headaches and aching jaws at the same time I felt like I’d just gotten out of a particularly cruel boxing match. My mom had been pretty sure of what my problem was all along, but like the hypochondriac I am, I had to get a professional’s word for it. The dentist told me I had TMJ. No surprise there. Then the surprise came. I had gotten this condition because when my orthodontist put braces on me he completely went wrong. He had "fixed" my problem by forcing my upper jaw backward. The real problem had been that my lower jaw had been behind. Thus, the orthodontist never should have pushed my front jaw back in the first place. It had been doing its job correctly, minding its own business. Plus I never should have had two teeth extracted. So, for the price of having a perfectly straight smile, I now am stuck with a screwed up mouth and all kinds of problems. Thanks a lot ortho.....

In case you were wondering, this dentist is not your average conventional dentist. He’s a biological dentist (and a certified orthodontist as well) that doesn’t push x-rays down your throat every two seconds, won’t use mercury or other toxic metals to fill cavities with, doesn’t push fluroide treatments, etc. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. When I first heard this I was pretty dang shocked, and then I got pretty dang mad. I mean who wants to have a messed up mouth for the rest of their natural life? Plus, did that mean I went through all that horrible pain with braces for nothing?! The good news is that the dentist said I could get a special mouth guard to sleep in at night that would relax my jaw, thus allowing me to function like a normal individual. So yesterday I got the impression for the mouth guard, which I should be getting next Friday. All I can say is, that it had better work or else I’m going to get very very upset (and you know what happens when I get very very upset ;) ).

After the dentist yesterday, we had to go over the hospital to see my grandma, who had to go there late Wednesday night. For those of you who don’t know, she’s battling breast cancer, and was supposed to have a routine procedure Wednesday to get rid of some fluid on her lungs. However, the procedure didn’t go as planned. She started coughing up blood and got very breathless. Thursday, they got some blood clots off of her lungs, but she is still in pretty bad shape. She is extremely weak, can hardly eat or talk because she is so breathless, and just really needs your prayers right now. As far as I know, she’ll be staying in the hospital for the rest of the weekend, and I have no idea when she’ll be going home. I’ll keep you updated....

Finally Moved

It's me again, and I'm finally here in my new house. I must say it's been a crazy last few weeks, and there are so many things I could write about that they probably won't fit all in one blog. Well they might, but then you'd still be reading two weeks from now and I really don't want to mess up your life like that. Sooo here is just some of what's been going on...



We left town last Tuesday, the 28th, and all four of us (plus one extremely annoyed, terrified, wide-eyed cat) arrived that evening at my grandparents house. We planned to close on the house the next day, and the movers were going to be bringing our things that Thursday the 30th. So the next day my mom and I set off to closing. I should have know something would have to go wrong...



As we set off, I started feeling kind of funny. I kind of felt like something was stuck in my throat. I shrugged it off, assuring myself that it was nothing, I was fine, and I wasn't going to let any dumb physical ailment ruin this momentous occasion. We got inside the room for the closing, and my throat wasn't getting any better. It started to feel like someone had shoved a knife down there while attempting to strangle me at the same time. On top of it all, my chest suddenly started feeling tight. I gulped rather loudly, and kept telling myself not panic. (I'm rather prone to panic attacks if you didn't know that already). In the meantime, there was really nothing I could about my problem. I was right in the middle of a huge legal event, if I complained to my mom about it she'd probably kill me (or get ticked at any rate), and if I ran out of the room everyone might freak out or call an ambulance or something and then I would be so embarrassed I'd have to move all over again. So I just stayed put and hoped the symptoms would go away....

They didn't. It didn't help matters that after the meeting our realtor and a few other people kept talking to me, and it's hard to smile back and act like you're in a good mood when you feel like all the air is being sucked out of your lungs (a slight exaggeration there, but I did feel pretty dang bad). When we finally got out of there, I told my mom, and then started pacing up and down the sidewalk outside the building while we waited for my grandpa to come pick us up (the wild, rampant pacing didn't really help the symptoms any.) My mom just told me to calm down, that she was sure it was nothing, and that there was no way it could be anything serious. However, I don't think anything she said could have phased me at this point. My throat and chest felt so tight I was afraid I'd stop breathing or something, almost die, and then ruin the entire move for everyone. Well, by the time my grandpa got there I was feeling a little better, and several hours later my symptoms finally vanished. But never fear. They didn't leave me alone for long....

The next night I decided to have a great, big bowl of chocolate ice cream. A few minutes later, the strange tightness returned, I got panicky again, and then something clicked in my brain. The day before when I had had my first attack, I had just eaten some strawberry yogurt. Aha. I had a dairy allergy. At first I was so relieved that it was just an allergy and not some serious disease that I was almost happy. Then it hit me. No more ice cream. No more yogurt. No more butter. No more cheese pizza....The more I thought about this the more depressed I got and was nearly on the verge of a panic attack again just at the thought of not being able to eat all that great food. I'd always been able to eat those foods, so I figured that I must have simply developed the allergy from eating too much of them. Yep that's just my luck for you....

So now yours truly is stuck without half of her favorite foods, and is pretty ticked off at these moving people because she can't find her awesome Bible with her name on it that she really really loves. If I don't find my Bible soon, I'm gonna kill those packers! (ahhh irony). ;) I am pretty upset about it, but hey. It's bound to turn up some time. Soo that's just a small (negative) taste of all the crazy things that have been going on here lately. Luckily there have a lot more good things than bad going on. I love our new house, our new neighborhood, the people I've met so far, the town,....basically it's all amazing so far. ;) I also tried out a new youth group yesterday (which was really really awesome) and on Friday I think I'm going to check out a possible dance school (in case you didn't know already I'm getting back into the wonderful, drama-filled world of ballet ;) ). Oh and I have to go to the dentist Friday as well because....well that's really a whole 'nother story I'll have to tell you later. ;)