More of Christmas break!

Saturday was Christmas Eve. December 24. I woke up early again for gymnastics. It was optional, but I just figured I’d go. Turns out I was the only one. It was kind of nice though. I didn’t have to share or take turns on the equipment. And best of all I got both of my coaches attention the entire time. I worked on my floor routine and on bars. I even got a long-hang pullover and came close to getting peach baskets.

We went to Christmas Eve mass at 4pm which was the children’s mass. Before mass started there was the children’s nativity scene/play. I could hardly see, but it was just so cute. There was also a children’s choir that was really good. We sat right behind them. It reminded me of the mass at Aly’s church at NCYC. During his homily Father asked all of the kids younger than 4^th grade to gather around him. He asked them what they wanted for Christmas. Most said DSI, playstation, iphone, ipads. Crazy. One said a car. And another said a big brother or sister. Aw. Then he asked what the one thing they wanted most a few years ago was. He told them to look around and look at how few of hands were in the air this time. He then went on to explain that we sometimes forget about things even if just a year ago they seemed so important. That is true for most gifts and presents. Besides the love of Christ and the fact that he died for us all. His love and grace never gets broken or lost or runs out of batteries. We never grow out of it and should never forget it.

After mass we had a big family dinner. Josue also joined us. We had pork roast and potatoes and rolls and cheese cake for dessert. Josue also brought some food from his mom. After dinner we all played Apples to Apples. It was really funny playing with everyone. We also opened a few gifts that evening. Josue and I exchanged our gifts. I got him a pair of Nikes and a cd I made him. He got me a white fuzzy Northface and an iphone dock. I love my jacket. It’s so warm and soft! My family drew names and we opened those presents from each other. My mom had me and got me a dvd called The Christmas Blessing. Which was a sequel to The Christmas Shoes. I received it last year because it had Rob Lowe in it! He was on the cover of this one too. But he was hardly in this one. It was still good. And still brought tears to my face. It was sad enough that the man remembered losing him mom, but it made me think of my own Grandma which was the source of my sadness. I just miss her.

Finally. Sunday was December 25. Christmas! I awoke at 7:30 to Michael shaking me saying “presents!” Maria and I followed him out to the living room. My eyes were hardly open as I ripped off the wrapping paper to my gifts. I got a lot of clothes, books, money, and an UP bracelet that tracks your sleep, steps, and what you eat. It was fun to watch everyone else unwrap theirs too. We tried out our new waffle maker for breakfast.

Than got ready for church. We went yesterday, but we figured we should go to the 9:30am mass with my dad. It was a lot less people compared to the children’s mass. During Father’s homily he mentioned one would need to light 2011 candles on a cake for Jesus’ birthday. Maria turned to me asking why someone would do that. She didn’t understand what lighting cigarettes on a cake even meant. I was confused what she was talking about and she clarified with me that “Father said 2011 camels on a cake. Wouldn’t that be cigarettes? Because why would you put 2011 camels on a cake.” After I explained to her that she misheard and father  said candles we tried to contain our laughter.

After coming home from church we played our new Just Dance 3 game for the wii. It was so much fun! Maria and I loved the new song selection. Then we got ready and went to my dad’s about noon.

When we got there we played a game of blokus before eating lunch together. And I won! For the first time. For lunch my dad made lasagna and garlic bread. The table looked so fancy. Then we had chocolate mousse type cake/pie. It was all very tasty.

Next, we opened presents. We all tried on our shirts and thanked my dad. Maria and I also got a coupon with money for shopping with my dad. We were excited to be able to use them.

We hung out at his house the rest of the day and watched Elf and napped and ate some more. Then we left and went back to my mom’s house at 9pm.

Monday morning yet again, I did not get to sleep in. I woke up at 7:15 to go to Lafayette with my dad. He wanted to hit the mall and miss the crowds. We went to Old Navy and Hollister to exchange sizes for Maria and I’s shirts. At Charlotte Rousse I bought two new dresses that I’m excited about. One is even purple! (well light purple). Then we went to Macy’s and shopped for my dad.

When we got back into town, I met my dad at the gas station and he washed my car. Then I drove it to his house for more work. I vacuumed it out, then we changed the serpentine belt. And by we, I mean mostly my dad. But I did hold the flashlight. I was a little scared, but my dad got it. He can really fix (or clean) just about anything.

I left my car in his workshop garage, and my mom picked me up. I showered and got ready, then Dan, my mom, Maria, and I headed to Circle Center in Indy around 2:30. They let Maria and I walk around which was pretty fun. I discovered that Delia’s has a size short in jeans as well as a shorter size-petite. Good to know. I ended up spending some of my Christmas money from my Grandparents and purchased a belt, a headband, a skirt, a sweater to wear with leggings, a pair of jeans, and a pair of shoes. All, of course, on sale. Like the sweater was originally $44 and I bought it for $9. I just find that things are so expensive they generally aren’t worth buying at full price.  

We ate dinner at Circle Center at Johnny Rockets. I had a grilled cheese and oreo shake. It was so cute. The chairs and booths and thing that the shake was served in. But mostly our sweet waiter. When all of the waiters lined up in the front and were dancing a girl that must have been about 2 or 3 got out of her chair and started to do the moves they were doing. It was so cute. And our waiter was helping her out and trying to show her what to do next. He was precious, as was she.

Tuesday December 27 was like a personal day. A day of cleaning and decluttering. Bringing happiness and relief and room to breathe. I unpacked my big blue duffel bag from my dad’s house as well as my new Christmas clothes. Then I did lots of laundry. Lots of loads. And I watched as Maria placed bag after bag in the hallway of clothes she was getting rid of.

Oh! And I woke up to white! It snowed! I do love the first snow. It just makes things look so pretty. I took advantage of our first snow and good thing because it didn't stay long. I went outside in my pajama pants and boots and took lots of pictures. Maggie and I even played some soccer. Because nothing stops her from playing.

Around 3pm Sarah came over. She’s been in California on break visiting family, and hadn’t been to our house in a long time. Too long. She is part of the fam basically and even my mom was starting to ask about her and missed her. We played lots of rounds of Just Dance 3. We were both full of energy and excited to play. It gets intense. Then we sat on my mom’s bed while Maria tried to help her get rid of clothes (more like tried to throw out my mom’s clothes). It wasn’t really a joint effort. Sarah and I and my mom just laughed and laughed. At Maria’s persistence. At some of the clothing from my mom’s closet. And at my mom’s reasons and defense for keeping things.

Practice was a bitter one. Well I guess practice was alright. But afterwards we had to take down the floor (well and everything else. But the rest isn’t such a big deal). I was a little skeptical about it because Kim had a family emergency and wasn’t able to be there. And he has a very important role. Luckily Ally’s dad and Marka’s nephew filled in. North’s team was also there to help us and everything went well. We actually got it down faster than I anticipated.

After practice, as promised, my mom sat on my bed in my clean room and helped me go through my clothes. I was so inspired by Maria’s success and reminded multiple times by my mom that, “decluttering makes you feel better and happier and also leaves you with a less messy closet of all things you like” that she read in her my new book called The Happiness Project. I didn’t think I would find many things to let go of. But I pulled out each piece from my closet and each piece from my drawers a few at a time which really helped. I ended up with a big pile that consisted of 23 tshirts, 3 skirts, 11 dresses, 7 sweatshirts, 11 long sleeve shirts, 9 tank tops, 5 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of capris, 1 pair of leggings, 4 pajamas, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 belts, 2 hats, and one swim suit. I haven’t gone through all of my jewelry or shoes yet but I did find a necklace and pair of shoes to give away. I am just so proud of myself and really do feel better. Some of my clothes (and Maria’s too) we are going to see if Plato’s closet will take. And the rest we are going to donate to the Well Baby Clinic or somewhere else that will take them.

Wednesday I woke up and drove to the Parks house at 8:30 to babysit Jensen! I was excited to spend the day with such a fun 2 year old. When I got there his dad, Nate, was still feeding him breakfast. I sat down too and observed Jensen eating an omelet and cereal with blueberries mixed in. I also watched as Nate questioned Jensen a lot. Not that he was skeptical or anything. But he was trying to get Jensen’s mind to grow. For instance, when Jensen said he was eating a plant (just kidding around clearly) Nate asked what did it taste like? I don’t know how to explain it, but asking questions rather than just accepting what a kid says seemed to spark creativity and let them express themselves and learn on their own. All I know is I liked it. You can’t just teach someone the facts, sometimes just asking the questions and letting them think through the answer is a muchhhh better result. Even questions that push them in a clear, straight direction to the answer.

With the exception of eating a snack at 10:30 and lunch at 12:30, Jensen and I played all morning. We played cars and did puzzles and played legos and then went upstairs and played with lots of trains and also catch with his blue and orange ball. I still can’t get over the fact how advanced he seems to be. Like when I thought he said “the fans turned on” he was actually saying “the furnace.” What a big word for a 2 year old. We played a little more after lunch, then went upstairs for his naptime. He picked out two books, The Little Engine that Could and Corduroy. Then he sat on my lap in the rocking chair and listened intently as I read them. I love reading out loud. It reminded me of my childhood and made me feel mom-like. I just love when parents read to their kids. I don’t actually know if it makes a difference, but I assume it makes a big one. And I just love the idea of it. I guess really I do love reading.  I felt bad leaving him in his crib, but that’s what his parents instructed me to do. Plus he wasn’t alone. He had the whole gang. Cookie, Big Bird, Elmo, Bert, and his blanket. While Jensen napped I may have done the same. The couch in the living room was so comfy and the blanket was so warm. Plus I woke up early and hadn’t stopped playing. I slept light and continually had an alarm on my phone so I frequently woke up listening for Jensen. But he never did. I used the rest of my time to work on my last blog post. The night before I had gone through my days in my head and figured out what I’d done all the way back to the 17. I wrote it all out on sticky notes. I’m all about list making. Then, Nate came home around 5pm and I left.

Things were kind of in my favor that we didn’t have practice. Though I feel guilty saying that. It was canceled due to the death of my coach’s brother-in-law. My heart breaks for them and the rest of their family. I could not imagine losing someone so young, in his 50s, and especially during Christmas time. Not to mention from an unexpected car accident. Death is just so hard no matter what the situation. I am continuing to pray for them and their family, and extra prayers are welcomed.

Not having practice gave me time to breathe and not rush as I grabbed a few dresses and pair of heels to bring to my friend Clancy’s house. I believe there were about eleven senior girls gathering at her house. We were all looking our best in curled, or straightened hair, dresses, high heels, and cute coats. We took turns getting ready in between eating candy that Clancy bought and drinking sparkling grape juice and soda. We were going to dinner in Indy at the Cheesecake Factory. Not for anyone’s birthday. Just to get everyone together and for a reason to get dressed up!

The ride there was interesting. We took two vehicles. I am still in awe at Clancy and Grace who drove. I just don’t think I could drive to Indy. Especially during the heavy construction that is all over. They did great though! When we got there around 10pm they weren’t able to push tables together that we could all sit at. So 5 or 6 of us had to sit in a booth. They decided we would just sit with the people in our cars. I was a little upset because I felt like the night was an outing with the 4 girls I was with rather than all of them. But I was happy to spend time with such great friends regardless of how many I actually got to hang out with.

        

The first half of my [much needed] Christmas break

Picutres to come. You should probably wait for them before trying to read it. Done!

December 17^th was the first Saturday of break. And how did I start it off? Going to CHS at 8:00am. We had plans to set up the floor (the spring floor for gymnastics which consists of 2 layers of boards totaling 100 boards, strips of foam, and carpet type rolls). When we arrived there, we were informed that basketball was going to practice at 10 am in the aux gym, and we couldn’t start setting up until 12:00pm. Ally, Sami, Marka, Kim, and I were the only ones there. We sat and talked for a while in the hallway. Then Marka and Kim left. Ally, Sami, and I checked out the wrestling meet-but they were still just warming up. Before deciding to go back home for another round of sleep, Ally, Sami, and I came up with an idea to do secret santas! We were so excited!

I hardly woke up in time, but made it back to the high school by noon to set up the floor and all of the other equipment. North’s team also came to help because they were going to use our equipment over break too. Usually we have to put up and take down everything every practice. But during winter break there is a stretch of ten days where we get to leave it all out, and put up the spring floor. It is so so nice to be able to keep things out. I wish we could all year. The basketball teams have the main gym. And the decks. They could even go to the Andy Robinson gym or Tuttle or something. But we literally only have one spot that we can practice in. Because our bars connect to the floor in that gym only.

I went back to my dad’s and decided to paint my nails similarly to a picture I saw on Pinterest. I used a tooth pick and a steady hand and painted white polka dots as snow flakes and then snowmen on my thumb nails. I

love them. And was surprised at what I was capable of!

Saturday night my dad, Michael, Maria, Emma (Maria’s friend), and I headed to Indy for dinner. Little did we know how crowded and crazy it would be. My dad called Buca di Bepo on the way there to try to make a reservation. But the earliest they could get us in was 9:30! We got up there around 7:30ish, but by the time we found a place to park it was 8:00pm. I loved when we drove by the corner with someone playing Christmas songs on his saxophone. We went to Circle Center and just as Maria was finding an armful of clothes to try on at Delia’s, my dad called us and said they have a table for us.

We all shared garlic bread and cheese pizza. I love Italian food, but I can’t say that Buca di Bepo compared much to my Grandma’s cooking or Mama Leone’s in Florida. I did love all of the pictures that covered the walls, especially the black and white ones.  Oh! And when Maria and Emma went to the bathroom during dinner they secretly found our waitress and told her we were celebrating my dad’s birthday! So before we got the bill all of the wait-staff came singing. Kudos Maria.

Sunday December 18^th I went REINdeer shopping with our youth group at Wal-mart. I was with Leslie Warren and Emma Servies. Emma and I both had girls under 3. We got cute outfits and winter coats then went to the toy section. I was so happy when I found the package of two baby dolls and a stroller. I loved playing with dolls when I was younger and hoped this little girl would as well! When we checked out we all had to be together so Leslie could pay for the presents for the 6 kids all together. Our cashier was named Alisha and couldn’t have been more helpful or sweeter. She was very interested in the project we were doing and said it was just so great to see people still doing this. She also said that she loves living in a small town like Crawfordsville where people come together to help others out. She even numbered each bag for us so we could keep each kids stuff separate. Alisha looked about my age. But I believe she had a wedding ring on, so I’m not sure. But we were all touched by her sincerity.

We made it back just in time for 5:00 mass. While everyone headed into the church, I jumped in my car and picked up Josue really fast. I loved that he came with me to mass! I liked sitting beside him, and trying to help him understand and follow along. Father talked about Tim Tebow in his homily and I was glad because I figured Josue could relate to that connection. I love the connections that Father Dennis uses during his homily. It just makes me grasp the ideas better.

Monday the 19^th was a fairly slow day. I went to gymnastics practice. And afterwards I picked up Josue and we hung out at Colby’s house. Hilary, Nathaniel, JD, Amit, Taylor, and Tyler were also there. We watched Horrible Bosses which flashed me back to OLAB.

Tuesday December 20^th, Maria and I met her friend Emily at the animal shelter. First we washed two dogs. I felt so bad for them because they clearly did not like it. Especially the second one, who was shaking.

Then, we decided it wasn’t too cold out and we could walk them. The three of us picked out to Labrador shepherd mixes that were in a cage together. They were so cute and so playful! Before leaving, Maria and I spotted the cutest boxer puppy. It was only like 12 weeks old. We couldn’t leave without holding it. My heart breaks for all of the dogs and puppies that are caged up there. Adoption is definitely going to be in my adult future. It’s so hard for me to even imagine that there are orphanages with kids that need to be adopted and loved. I just want everyone to be saved and feel loved. Including all the animals!

After gymnastics it was finallllly time to frost the Christmas cookies! We do this every year at my Grandma Demeter’s house. It was so hard to know that we were doing them at our house this year because she passed away and wasn’t at her house baking them this year. My dad used her sugar cookie recipe and frosting recipe. But the frosting just wasn’t quite the same. She made the very best. My Aunt Helen, Maria, and I would always sneak tastes of it as we frosted.

Josue joined us for frosting! He had some difficulty at first, but we helped him. It turns out he wasn’t a stingy froster, he was just struggling. There are two kinds of frosters. Those who stretch the frosting as much as they can, and those who pile it on. Thankfully, our family has Maria, Aunt Helen, and I who know how to frost. Everyone wants to eat our frosting filled cookies! We had lots of colors of frosting and lots of different cookie shapes and also sprinkles. My dad was a very neat freak about it. Like I mean paper covering the table. And paper-lined pizza boxes to frost and sprinkle inside of. And as if that wasn’t enough a sheet on the floor under the table. Wowzers. My Grandma used to just put newspaper down.. But I guess. Things are different now. Including the tradition of frosting sugar cookies. Kind of.

Wednesday the 21^st Maria and I brought cookies to Homestead, a cute store downtown where she works. We also finished up our Christmas shopping. We went to my mom’s for a bit where we wrapped presents. I also wrote and sent a Christmas card! To Sarah Wright! I was so excited to have someone to send one to, I never have before.

 

Thursday December 22^nd was an early morning. I woke up, showered, and headed to babysit my first time for Jensen. My friend Alex worked for them on their organic farm this summer. When I was without a job all summer she recommended me as a babysitter. Things were just hectic, and Emily never needed me. But she got in touch with me a little while ago and I went to their house as an “interview.” Their whole family is just so precious, but especially Jensen. He is two years old. But you would probably never guess it. He really is so aware of what’s going on and knows a lot. His colors and letters and where Indiana is on the map. Not to mention Texas, Mexico, and Brazil! He also knows a lot about his toys that we played with all morning. Most of them are trucks and cars and tractors. He reminds me a little of my cousins Seth and Brody who are also fond of similar toys. His parents are doing such a good job with him. They clearly spend a lot of time with him and do not baby him. He also does not watch tv. I definitely feel like kids learn and grow so much more from playing and making up games than they do from watching tv.

Before we left for gymnastics practice, guess who arrived at our house! Aunt Elaine! She lives in Tennessee and stayed the night before heading to Iowa. I just love my dad’s big family and was happy that I atleast got to see one aunt during my break.

I finally had floor music worked out. My music is from the song Just a Dream by Nelly. Samantha Williams had been coming to practice with Lisa who is coaching Turkey Run’s lone gymnast. Lisa also has a gym that some girls from my team go to. But she doesn’t have a vault or a floor that’s the size of the one we compete on. So they came while we had equipment up. Anyways. Sam graduated from Southmont in 2009 and does gymnastics in college. She worked with my basically the entire practice and came up with a floor routine for me. But I kind of wish she could just do it. She’s so good at all the dancing part and makes everything just look so pretty. Hopefully I can get it down as good as she has it. I was really intimidated, but she was so sweet and didn’t even laugh at me or get frustrated when I just didn’t get it.

After practice we made lots of things. We frosted gingerbread men and other cookies. Even Michael and Lexie showed up and joined in. I don’t think I’ve really ever decorated gingerbread men before but it was so fun making them look like people, or other characters. Michael and Lexie came from my mom’s house and brought my mail. A big packet from Depauw and one from Xavier. My acceptance letters! Yay! It is just going to be so hard to choose where to go. My heart may be set in St. Louis University. But Xavier is second.

Friday December 23 was not only my cousin Seth’s birthday, but also my Grandpa’s! I called him to wish him a happy birthday, though he wasn’t able to talk long because he had to finish vacuuming. I did call them a few days before and talked to them for a while. I felt bad I hadn’t been keeping in very good touch with them. I just love them so much and miss them when they spend the winter in Florida.

We had morning practice and did our secret santa gift exchanges! I gave Ally her’s, and she was excited especially about the socks. Marka drew my name and I got a blanket, cute socks, life saver gummies, lotion, and headbands! So cute. I just really do love the gymnastics team.

Aunt Elaine left in the afternoon and afterwards Maria and I left my dad’s too. We thought we were there until Christmas day, but I guess not. We came to my mom’s. I picked up Josue a little later. Not long after he got there, we went to Wal-Mart and bought Elf. Then, we came home and watched it with my family. It’s just such a great movie. Really.

I survived finals.

Wednesday December 14 was our first day of finals. The schedule went review periods 1, 2, 6, 7, exam 6, lunch, and exam 7. I lucked out and got to sleep in an extra hour and come to school at 9:15 in time for review period 6. My first two periods are health careers and Crawfordsville students didn't have to go to class. Both the review periods were pretty pointless. There isn't much that can be done in 30 minutes. My sixth period is honors government. For our final we had a packet with information about religion in school and a case dealing with religion in a graduation speech. We had two essays we had to write arguing whether each incident was constitutional or not. I wasn't even really sure which side to pick or what to say. But I know that it was much better than any test he could have given us. Then we had a white elephant gift exchange. I brought a tin full of Reese's and ended up getting a mug with hot chocolate, candy canes, and a bead necklace. Other people received a bar of soap, a boomerang, old CHS football dvds, a painting of a cat that someone's grandpa did, and "the ultimate survival kit." This was the perfect class to do it in. The setting couldn't have been better. Mr. Gerald and Mrs. Roman were in their second annual decorating contest. Mr. Gerald won last year, and held onto the trophy this year as well. He had a fireplace, at least 10 Christmas trees, and tons of lights.

Since we are seniors we got the full lunch hour, instead of eating half the time, and being in homeroom the other half. We ate in the aux gym where ping pong was also set up. I just watched though.

Seventh period I have yearbook. We had a big party. Everyone was assigned food to bring-and everyone came through for once. There was cookies, homemade chex mix, fruit trays, carrots and ranch, a cheese ball and crackers, puppy chow, and popcorn. The 6 staff members left, the student assistant, and our teacher turned the desks to make a table and shared our food. We also shared gifts. We each drew a name a few weeks ago and got that person a present. It was a surprise who everyone had until we gave each other our gifts. I had Kym's name and got her nail polish and a necklace. Brittnee had me and I received a mug and chocolate, nail polish, lotion and body wash, gum, chapstick, and kit kat bars. It was so sweet. -And she definitely exceeded the around $5 limit. Then, we continued to eat food and watch Remember the Titans. This class is basically like a family. We are all close. I'm not sure if Mrs. Harms would be like the mom figure or just one of us. She is one of my favorite teachers. She just understands kids so well, maybe it's the loving mother in her. She is also really funny and a good teacher.

When I went home-after stopping by Kecia's office and ordering a pair of black shoes for work- I was too excited and filled with the Christmas spirit to take a nap. Instead of sleeping, I organized and cleaned out the pantry. There were so many items that we had more than enough of, and hopefully the organization will help to eliminate buying duplicates.

Thursday December 15 was my dad's birthday. He turned 50!! We were supposed to be at his house Wednesday night, and I would have woken up at his house to tell him happy birthday. But he was working in Illinois. So I called him instead. Not quite as good.

Then, I went in the kitchen and started cooking baked oatmeal for my health careers class. It was really warm this morning for some reason. It was 60! So I took advantage of it and wore a skirt. Because sometimes I just get tired of pants. Since health careers final was our 3 1/2 page paper, we had breakfast and watched the end of the movie To Save a Life. Breakfast was delicious and there was so much to chose from: cinnamon rolls, breakfast pizza, keesh, breakfast casserole, baked oatmeal, smoothies, breakfast casserole, biscuits and gravy, and seven layer bars. There was also milk and orange juice.

After eating and watching the movie, we were going to play games. But no one really remembered to bring them, so I ran to my house and grabbed what I could find. We ended up playing scategories. I love that game. Marlee and I were on a team and did pretty well, but were not the overall winners. I also love the class. It is my very favorite. I love what we learn about and am so excited for clinicals next year. But I also love all of the girls (and one guy) in the class and that we are from different schools and that it is at a neighborhood clinical and not a typical classroom and our teacher and that she is an RN and teaches us.

Our schedule for Thursday was exam one, break, exam two, lunch, review periods 3, 4, and 5. However, my teacher had to go to work at 10 so we just had class our normal time. From 7:45-9:40. This left the Crawfordsville students free to do as we wished until 1:15 when we had to be at school for review period three.

I went to Hose to hang out with my mom in her classroom. We got the kids from the library. Then, I took two at a time into the hallway. One had a tiger paw pointer and pointed at words hanging up in the hallway, the other kid had to read the word that was being pointed to. Some of them were really good readers. Others were really good at sounding out each letter and wanted to be challenged. I never thought about how there was a point when I didn't know how to read. I think it would be so hard to teach the basics and fundamentals of anything. Basic math or basic reading or the alphabet or how to write. I would want to just be an art teacher. Hands down. Then, I helped Jacob with a worksheet that everyone else had finished. He was working contently at his desk, but he needed a little more guidance. We put zoo animals in alphabetical order together. He was so sweet. Before I left it was time for self read. Aaron read a book about Mud to me. Many other kids wanted to, but I didn't have anymore time.

At 11:30am I had a library date with Hannah and Marlee. We went upstairs to one of the cubicles.We were meeting to work on our stats review assignments and thinking of things to write on our half sheets that we get to use during our final. I just couldn't concentrate. I didn't do anything really the entire hour. Hannah had info for her half sheet all written out and said we could copy it. We didn't have much time though-so we took the easiest way possible and copied it with the library's copy machine. Hey whatever works.

Hannah left to go eat lunch with her dad and Marlee and I were off to Little Mexico for lunch. We debated the idea, and ended up walking there and leaving our cars parked at the library. We were proud of ourselves and decided the walking and the whole entire schedule of the day felt like we were college students. And we loved it! At Little Mexico we met Tyler, Clancy, and Laci. All from our Health Careers class. We all love the restaurant. The workers. And the food. Yum! Way better than eating school lunch food in the aux gym.

We were tight on time by the time we finished. We were going to ride with Laci back to our cars-but her car was too messy. Marlee and I weren't going to be able to fit. So we decided we would walk back. Well I actually decided we would run. And we did. It was pretty funny. It was maybe 3 blocks away? But we were both pretty winded when we got to our cars. And we beat Laci and Clancy who drove! Crazy.

(these were taken while running. It's hard to hold a phone and take a picture while running.

I was a little late to my third review period. Ms. Race's class. I was just so happy from all of the events from the rest of the day. I had done so much and had so much fun. When I got to her class I was still winded and couldn't sit still. She asked me if I was okay. Probably because I never smile or seem alive in her class. (Unless of course Hil and I are talking and making jokes). But maybe it was because I was out of breath. We basically did nothing that period.

Fourth period I have stats and for our review we were give a half sheet of paper and allowed to write anything on it. I copied down the info from the paper we copied of Hannah's.

Fifth period I have psych and we went over our review guide and asked Mrs. Rainwater questions. We also started watching A Beautiful Mind.

After school, and after driving home with Maria and I screaminggg because of the spider in my car, Josue came over. We watched a Hallmark movie with my mom while I worked on my stats review. Then I took him home on Maria and I's way to gymnastics practice. In the car Maria and I talked about how he is so sweet and how it's so cute how much Maggie likes him and how she always runs right to her soccer ball.

(it won't let me rotate these pictures. And I'm tired of trying to figure out a way to trick it into letting me. But they're too cute to leave out. Props to my photographer Maria.)

After practice, I came home and studied the rest of the night. I was pretty worried about stats because when I did the review assignments I had to look up how to do each problem. I was also worried for English.

Friday December 16 I had a full day of school and a full day of finals. When I got to school I went to my third period for our exam. First we broke into two groups and discussed an article about Walmart in China from our Atlantic magazines.  This was really frustrating to me. Partly because I didn't exactly read the whole article, which was my fault. But also partly because the other members of my group just spoke way too fast and I could never get a word in when I tried. But Cole always listened to me. And one time he raised a hand for me to talk. How nice of him. Then we all went into the classroom to take our blue book. We had a question about Chaucer- and the thing we were supposed to read of his we didn't even need. That would happen to me. I also didn't have my book with me and wasn't able to use it like the other kids were. That was frustrating. But I figured I wouldn't need it because she never told us-plus the tale that we were supposed to read (and I did) wasn't in our book. Whatever. We also had an essay about two random poems about stars. And of course-she didn't have our portfolios graded to show us. Doc always did. I miss Doc.Clearly.

During our break I sat with Hannah and tried to figure out the other stats problems that we didn't get. Soon it ended and we went to stats to take our finals. They were 50 multiple choice questions. I wasn't quite sure how well I did, but I ended up doing really well! I got an A on it. Which was unexpected. And exciting!

Lunch we had back in the aux gym. I didn't really eat. But I helped Clancy study our multiple choice part of our psych study guide.

Then I went to psychology for our last final. There were 100 questions. Matching, fill in the blank, and multiple choice. We were allowed to use our study guides on the test-but not the page with the matching. It made it really really easy. I was so thankful for that final. Then, we continued to watch A Beautiful Mind.

I got a pass from the office saying I had to go down there at 3:04. Which meant I was getting something. I was really excited, because it is always exciting. And unsure of who it could be from. Because my sunshine lady had already given me something Christmasy. But it was from her! I got a super soft and cute snowman blanket, a loofah with a Santa on it, bath and lotion stuff, and candy. She is so sweet. Oh-I also brought a present for her. A jar with cookie ingredients and a snowman ornament.

Maria, Ally, Sami, Alyssa, and I stayed after school to workout for gymnastics. Ally led us in a workout for a little while, then we went home. I packed for my dad's for the week and went to his house. Once Michael and Maria got there too we had cake and ice cream for his birthday and he opened up his present. Then we hung out the rest of the night.