More Koolaid, Please

I have this tendency to put great sentimental value on things that very few other people do. Or on things that don't really deserve any, and then people think I'm crazy when I get emotional about them. Want to know what I mean? Here we go...
Last year, there was something super special about our Sophomore Dream Team, those boys that were talented enough to "play with the big boys." Tonight, sitting in the brand new gym to watch a basketball game for the very first time, B.F. scored the first (amazing) points of the game, and it brought a tear to my eye. (yeah, I cry a lot, did you catch that?) Why? Because they're not just playing with the big boys now, they ARE the big boys. And that's just so cool. How pathetic is it that I take something as simple as basketball and make it into that?? Very. I should be embarrassed for writing, that, actually.

Now that the embarrassment is out of the way...

I just spent the evening con el objeto de mi afecto, (I think you'd agree that it's just cooler to say stuff like that in Spanish) and now I'm trying to get really tired so I can go to sleep at a decent hour and not sleep all day tomorrow. Because I've been sleeping way too much lately. Maybe tomorrow I'll go RUNNING. Oh, how funny that would be. I'd actually be afraid for my life, because heart attacks are just no good.

Well, enough writing, time to get tired. G'night. ;)

Oh, P.S.
I HAVE MY OLD RING BACK! Well, not the exact same one that shattered in Florida, but a new one that's exactly like it. HOORAY!

Ok, goodnight (for real).

SO it's almost 7:00 p.m., and I feel like I should be doing something semi-productive with so many hours still left in this wonderful day. However, as you can see, I am sitting here on the computer instead.

I hope everyone has tons to be thankful for today. Friends, family, food, you name it- none of it should be taken for granted. Not only today, but the other 364 days of the year as well. Sometimes it's really hard to be thankful for things, isn't it? In the past year some pretty heavy stuff has happened to many people, and it's often very difficult to look back on the year and pick out the things you're fortunate to have. Just from reading my blog and knowing how whiney I am, I'm sure you're wondering what on earth I was able to come up with today. Well, let me make a list for you! (I like lists. I'm THANKFUL for lists.)
1.) I am so very thankful for my family. I consider myself so lucky to be part of a group that's so caring and welcoming. Even though our traditions have changed, and some of them have even been lost, we've stuck together and been strong when it wasn't very easy to. I love them all so much.
2.) My friends, oh, my friends. Where would I be without them? Too many things have happened to me in the past year that were hard to understand, and fortunately there have been several people who have been by my side the entire time. I owe them so much for what they have done for me and I'm so thankful that they're in my life.
3.) I'm very thankful that my parents chose to raise me here in Wausau. Even though there's not much to do here all the time, I've recently come to realize what I great childhood I have had because of where I live. And come to think of it, there are actually plenty of things to do here. Not so much along the lines of parties and clubs and whatever else teenagers look for, but we have beautiful parks and buildings and are fortunate to live in a city where things like that are plentiful.
4.) Going along somewhat with where I live, I'm thankful for my education and the school I go to. The new building is gorgeous and anyone that goes there to learn everyday is receiving a better education than most other high school students in this country. Living in WI where our quality of education is incredible, as well as attending a state-of-the-art high school, we really couldn't ask for anything more.
5.) I'm thankful for my past. Yes, all of it. I wouldn't be exactly where I am today if it weren't for every event that has happened in the past. And I'm certainly thankful for where I am today.

There is a much longer list than that, but those are the highlights. I was also thinking that Thanksgiving is the day to be thankful for what you discover on Leif Erickson Day. Because, you see, Leif Erickson discovered America, thus Leif Erickson Day, and then the Pilgrims all gave thanks together when they landed here, thus Thanksgiving. So there's a direct connection, plus the fact that I'm just really thankful for the discovery I made on that day, as well as what has come from it. Hopefully everyone participated in the whole discovery process and is able to share in that joy along with me. ;)

Well, with all that said, Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Hope the day has been great. REMEMBER TO BE THANKFUL!

This is the quote of the day, just adding a little to what I said yesterday.

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does.
Love is a battle, love is a war.
Love is a growing up.

~ James Baldwin ~

Don't you hate it? Sometimes I feel so cool because I'm getting older, and having more freedoms and responsibilites. At the same time, though, I wish I was still the age when a bandaid or some Elmer's glue would fix all my problems. Things were so much easier in those days; there weren't any secrets, I had plenty of people to trust, and I thought that getting stabbed in the back involved a knife. Oh what fun it is to grow up.
My thoughts are all over the place today. I'm moving on. It's official. I'm no longer going to live in the past, regretting and worrying about things that have already happened. Is it ok then to go back and try to change things? Not change anything, really, but just alter them a little so that things fit together better now? Is it worth the risk? Does that make ANY sense? It hardly makes sense to me, so I completely understand if you don't quite get it. Coincidentally, I was listening to Natalie Imbruglia very much out of the blue today, and she was singing about exactly how I feel.

Ok, so I admit it, I have no clue what to blog about today. But I was getting really sick of visiting a non-updated blog and I'd like to think that maybe some other people are just itching to read a new entry as well.
Frankly, this week has been like running on a treadmill. I run and run and sweat and almost die, yet when I stop, I'm still exactly where I started. I've studied and worked and done homework and the outcomes have been nothing to be proud of. Ugh. Hopefully it's just a bad week, because I'm not very pleased with it. I need a homework-less weekend so I can go out and have a good time. (As if it's not unusual for me to "go out and have a good time." Ha, that's funny, isn't it?) I don't want to have to study or write bibliographies for another good week or so. But, should I really be complaining? A week from tomorrow I'll be knee deep in turkey and cranberry sauce, and that is nothing to be upset about. (Except for the fact that if I was literally knee-deep in it, that would be kind of gross, and such a waste of good food) So, I'll just suck it up and get these last four school days out of the way. Ugh again.
Mother Nature is really being a bitch lately, and I'm getting kind of depressed with nothing other than foggy wet darkness surrounding me. No sun, no snow, no nothing. How terribly sad. What is there to do to make gloomy day depression go away? Not much I can think of, but feel free to leave some suggestions.
I finally got to go to the chiropractor today, and it was such a relief. Still not feeling 100%, but it helps soooo much. The weird thing about that visit was that my chiropractor was wearing a hemp, shark tooth necklace. Most likely you don't know him, so that really means nothing to you, but trust me, it was amusing and slightly disturbing.
Today after school we went to Evolutions to look at flower arrangements for Junior Girls, and that place is just so super cool. I really want to work there, because it seems like a place that would prevent you from ever being in a bad mood. It's all decorated and pretty and wonderful, and they're around flowers and other colorful stuff all day. Sounds like a good job to me. We decided on some really sweet things to be put together for the arrangements, and we go back in 2 weeks to make the final decision. It's been a little more stressful than I was anticipating, but the harder we work, the better the night will be. (And it's already going to be just about the best night ever without all the little details, so just imagine how it will be after everything comes together. ;) How special.)

Ay, even after talking about good things, I'm still feeling a lack of cheer. Hopefully the bad week ended today, and if not, hopefully I'll have two at least slightly more positive days. Cross your fingers.

Hug, anyone?

I'd just like to share with you a conversation that took place today, at approximately 7:15 p.m., between Jack (2 1/2 years old) and Allison (Jack's babysitter).

Jack: "No sleep tonight."
Allison: "Really? You aren't going to go to sleep at all?"
Jack: "No. No. No."
Allison: "Well then what if I fall asleep? What are you going to do without me?"
Jack: "Play marbles."

LITTLE KIDS ARE SO CUTE! They know exactly what they want to do all the time. Hmm...people who AREN'T little kids could maybe learn some lessons.

That's really all I have to say tonight, because I'm tired, and I miss someone but I can't find him, and I just ran out of Cheetos, and it's all just rather unfortunate. *Sigh*

Goodnight.

In more ways than one.

"4 more years." Gag me. But what is there to do? Make my own difference, that's what. And I'm not alone on that one, either. We all have our own contributions to make, and it's about time we start to think about putting them into action.
I've begun to realize that little things make me so happy. Not even just happy, but downright giddy, actually. When it takes just a couple words or a simple action to make you smile for hours, life is damn good. AND THAT MEANS I'M MOVING ON! Holy cow, and I thought the day would never come. But here it is, and I'm welcoming it with open arms. It's amazing how long someone can pretend to be ok before they actually are.

It's also amazing how sad it is when you get used to missing someone. Does that make sense? ( I didn't mean to change from happy to sad so suddenly right there, but hey, it happens.) My aunt moved to New Zealand, and was only supposed to stay for a year, but she's now starting her third year there, and I've just...gotten used to missing her. The first time she came back to visit it was a big deal, but now I'm just so used to her being gone that this last time she visited, it wasn't very special. It's not something I'm always thinking about, but it was on my mind a little bit tonight so I thought I'd share in case anyone else can relate.
Speaking of missing people, I miss Gesala SO much. I've gotten two letters from her recently and have yet to find a good chunk of time to sit down and write back to her (feeling guilty about that), but I hope she knows how much I miss her. One person can change the world, let me tell ya. Maybe not the whole world, but mine for sure. Germany is too far away.

School lately is, well, school. I'm really not into the bitch-and-moan method of getting work done though, so I'm not really going to complain. All my grades are decent, and the homework could be a lot worse. The only thing that's always in the back of my mind is this stupid author presentation, which wouldn't even be an issue if I had the books I needed. Does anyone have any Edgar Allen Poe books just lying around? I'd like to borrow them, if you wouldn't mind. Someone (I think I might know her, actually....) checked out the library's entire selection. Grr. Hopefully HMMS has some useful stuff I can use, because I just happen to have some connections there. (Aren't you all so JEALOUS? Don't YOU wish that you knew some super cool middle school librarians?! HA! I knew it.)

Well, because I have to go to sleep now, and that was a fairly dull entry, I'll share with you the most amusing website EVER.

grouphug.us

Prepare to be addicted.

Goodnight. ;)

...and has said that 51% of our country is, well, ignorant. As the front page of The Daily Mirror, out of Britain, read today (accompanied by a picture of the moron himself), "How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?" Before I take this post to vent, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I do have fairly loyal readers who are, indeed, Bush supporters. You are all entitled to your own opinions, and I apologize ahead of time to any of you that may be offended. This is MY blog, however, and I will try my hardest to take only this one post to display my feelings about the events of this past week.
Basically, there is so much feeling regarding this issue that I don't really know where to begin. Being unable to vote, all I was able to do was get out the word and display my support for John Kerry and other democratic candidates. I started out, right before the war began , not supporting any candidate in particular. I had my own set of opinions and values, and I was really just an "Anoyone But Bush" supporter. I began supporting John Kerry already knowing what I wanted and didn't want in a president. When I saw him speak in Appleton, I knew that as president he could be trusted, and would be an honest man that would do good things for our country. He made me feel safe, and for the first time in several months, I was proud to stand for the National Anthem and the Pledge of Alliegance.
There were so many issues involved in this election, the war and gay marriage being my top two concerns. Several people have said that John Kerry had no plan to resolve the war in Iraq. I cannot deny that, because I don't recall hearing a set plan to fix things. However, George W. Bush has also failed to mention how it will all be handled, and is also, if I remember correctly, the man who sent us to war for an undeclared and unjust reason, that has, to make things even worse, changed several times over the course of the war. Killing people, especially those that are innocent, is never justified. NEVER. If he is capable of starting a war in which over 1,000 soldiers have died for no cause, I do not at all trust that he is capable of solving the conflicts that now exist.
On the issue of gay marriage, it totally disgusts me that an amendment has even been considered to ban it. If anything, living in America, the land of the free, efforts should be made to ensure the happiness and equality of those couples. I understand that some people have moral issues with homosexuality, and I respect that. However, just because it is disagreed with does NOT mean that it will dissapear, or that homosexuals deserve any fewer rights that heterosexuals. I do not see how two women getting married affects anyone but the two involved. They will not start recruiting other people to become gay, and just because it is allowed does not mean the population of straight people will at all decrease. Wherever that idea came from is beyond me. It is also NOT a threat to the "sanctity of marriage," because what "sanctity" does marriage have in our society the way it is? Those who believe homosexual married couples are the ones who would destory that have been living in a cave.
Referring back to something I said earlier, I formed my opinions before I chose a candidate. In these past two days following the election, it has become obvious to me how many people believe what they do and support who they do because they have been TOLD to. By the age of 18, it is assumed that young people can form their own opinions in a decent enough manner to be responsible enough to cast a vote that's worth something. The only reason I am glad that there are 4 more years until the next election is because at 16 and 17 years of age, several people have yet to become informed about what is really happening in the world around them. I can only hope that in the next presidential election, both candidates will be competent enough to actually hold the position, and that the more capable is elected.
On another unfortunate note, Elizabeth Edwards has been diagnosed with breast cancer. That woman signed my young dems shirt; she is an incredible, kind person and hopefully she will be in everyones thoughts and prayers as she fights strong through this battle.
Finally, to end this positively, Russ, Donna, and Dave all came out of the election victorious, and I couldn't be happier. I've actually met all three of them, in person, and I'm proud that they are representing us.
It's been a tough race, and unfortunately the democrats have not all come out on top. This time. Can't wait until 2008.