I'm gonna celebrate being alive

Tuesday February 28 the creative juices continued to flow! Friday our English teacher threw one of the biggest projects of the year on to us and said we will be presenting on Wednesday. Oh how that class just drives me crazy! And how much I can not wait for it to finally end.

We had just finished reading Macbeth (in a week's time. again-too much for me). And the project was Macbeth fest. I had talked to Mrs. Harms (my yearbook teacher and the teacher I am a student assistant for. my English tutor. my life counselor. my at-school-mom.) about Macbeth and she told me how closely Coldplay's Viva La Vida fit with the plot. If you are familiar with Macbeth already you should totes check out the similarities! If not, in my opinion its not worth reading Macbeth to compare it to the song. But I decided this could fit perfectly into Macbeth fest.

Hilary, Hannah, and I joined as a group. Our assignment (of course was very vague and with no rubric or even handout) was I guess to make a presentation using a skill/talent that correlates with Macbeth. We decided to use the lyrics from the song and to also make collages. After looking at the song, we found 4 ideas we could make on canvases to explain the connection to Macbeth.

(the "silver platter" was eventually glued on and able to stand like that on its own without the hand there)

It was so much fun putting our ideas together and finding different pictures through Hilary's many magazines. We had them all planned out during school. Then found magazine images and laid them out. But Hannah and I had to both leave for dance practice and gymnastics practice. Leaving Hilary and her mom to finalize the projects. Though I would rather have just skipped practice and stayed. But they did such a great job painting the backgrounds and gluing everything together.


Wednesday the 29 was lovely! A lovely day indeed. Mostly because it was in the high 60s and sunny! Not only did this seem to make everyone cheerful, but it allowed me to wear my new dress finally. After clinicals I changed into the dress I bought from Pacsun with Sami. It is tan with coral strips, a thin braided belt, and lace on the back. I love it. And the sandals that I found in my closet to match.

The Macbeth fest went well. We had groups that brought food of that time period, made a cake with a scene on it, did a puppet show, created a music piece, drew a portrait, made a poster, and ours. I believe for once, our group exceeded in English. I was so proud of us. I was also proud that someone I admire so much was there to witness it-Doc Hudson. She was my freshmen year English teacher (and would have been my junior and senior teacher had she not retired) and just so wonderful. She is so delighted by our work and always expresses it. I love it. I also got to bring Mrs. Harms to Ms. Race's room and show her our collages during the passing period as she was trying to leave for a meeting. It meant so much that she took the time to come see them.

Then for lunch it was so nice out that I ate outside! I loved feeling, and seeing the sunshine. I sat with the same girls who sit at my lunch table, but I sit at the other end of it. It was nice getting to sit and chat with them. Most of them I hadn't really talked to and they were so pleasant and funny and confident. I loved that Channing didn't want to waste anything and let me use her ranch for my carrots. And how Sydney opened up her lunch box and shared everything with those who wanted it.

I heard this song called Blessed by Brett Dennen and instantly fell in love with it. Not only with the happy sound of it, but the words and how exact that fit to my Wednesday:

I welcome the sun
The clouds and rain
The wind that sweeps the sky clean and lets the sun shine again
This is the most magnificent life has ever been
Here is heaven and earth and the brilliant sky in between

Blessed is this life and I'm gonna celebrate being alive
Blessed is this life and I'm gonna celebrate being alive

 

I get the mail almost everyday when I get home from school. In hopes that there will be something for me. But sometimes, the mail man is very slow and when I check the mailbox is still empty from when I got it the day before. This happened Thursday March 1 and no one got the mail until I had gone to practice. When I got home from gymnastics my mom ran to me with a big white envelope. I knew it was hard for her to stare at it and not open it. When I did, we were both so happy to see what was within. I won a scholarship! Not just a scholarship, the Hoosier Hero one where I wrote the essay about my Grandma Ludwig. I was so honored and so excited. It was especially fun calling my grandparents and hearing their reactions and congratulations. At one point my Grandma asked me what my middle name was- that she was just so excited she couldn't remember!