usually, that's what i am asking myself while walking down the sidewalk past the construction on the way to praise practice at 6:55 am 3 mornings a week.
however, this time the question didn't come from me, instead it came from one of the construction workers... and then he added,
"you are always the first student i see walking, and it's so early!"
tell me about it.
i love mornings, but not school mornings, so its a bit tough. however, today was our last chapel, so no longer will i be going that early (except tomorrow and next thursday.)
play practice was from 5pm to 11pm today.
killer
and we still haven't EVER gone through the entire play without stopping... so for those of you who will be coming to opening night, you will witness the first time ever going throught the play without stopping. oh the fun : )
ciao ciao my friends
the show must go on!
and DONT tell me to "break a leg." we all know what happened last time!
Thursday, May 31
Tuesday, May 29
what do you get when you mix tears and clay?
MUD...
and i am pretty sure that's what Andy Roddick is sitting in right now... mud... stinkin mud.
and you know why?
it's because i am at school, and i didn't get to watch his match live.
it's the french open by the way.
and he lost in the first round.
FIRST ROUND!
unacceptable, andy.
this is the fourth time he has lost in the first round at the french open.
and if he's not sitting in mud, i will fly to france and make mud for him.
okay, that's a little weird.
Monday, May 28
i hope i am not wearing socks
i witnessed a car accident a few months back while in manhattan beach. i had a red light and was just waiting , watching the traffic go by in front of me. the cars trying to turn left were yielding to the oncoming traffic. i was watching, and being the first car in line, i had a clear view of something that the car starting to turn left did not see... there was a car going about 50 mph or so coming from my right, and the car on my left started to turn. both cars didn't see it coming, and slamming the brakes did nothing for the speedy oncoming car... a momentary screech and then a crash. shattered glass, messed up cars, but thankfully both parties got out of the cars with no major issues at that moment except for the crunched metal entwined in front of them.
i've been rushing. i have got college dangling in front of me, and i am just rushing so fast to get there, and i have this image of the car not having time to hit the brakes and going right through it's destination (or more so the obstacle in its way). i think it has come to the point where i am kind of like, hmm, there is more to this, there is more i have to do before i reach this point, time to hit the brakes a bit, but nope, no time, crash.
here's a better, less dark, more relatable analogy, and i can sum it up in two words:
-socks
-linoleum
add running really fast and trying to stop to the equation, and there you go... a pretty sufficient analogy of what i fear to happen come graduation and come college.
i really don't want to just slide through college... i mean, i have this plan to slow down and finally just stop rushing, but i am worried that maybe i am wearing socks and i won't be able to stop. maybe not worried, just a little thing that i think i need to be really intentional about and concious about. i think most likely it'll take me a while to slow down, but eventually, like in the case of the socks and linoleum, you come to a stop whether by the law of friction/gravity or by the law of "objects in the way".
just some thoughts.
mmhmm
i've been rushing. i have got college dangling in front of me, and i am just rushing so fast to get there, and i have this image of the car not having time to hit the brakes and going right through it's destination (or more so the obstacle in its way). i think it has come to the point where i am kind of like, hmm, there is more to this, there is more i have to do before i reach this point, time to hit the brakes a bit, but nope, no time, crash.
here's a better, less dark, more relatable analogy, and i can sum it up in two words:
-socks
-linoleum
add running really fast and trying to stop to the equation, and there you go... a pretty sufficient analogy of what i fear to happen come graduation and come college.
i really don't want to just slide through college... i mean, i have this plan to slow down and finally just stop rushing, but i am worried that maybe i am wearing socks and i won't be able to stop. maybe not worried, just a little thing that i think i need to be really intentional about and concious about. i think most likely it'll take me a while to slow down, but eventually, like in the case of the socks and linoleum, you come to a stop whether by the law of friction/gravity or by the law of "objects in the way".
just some thoughts.
mmhmm
old faces in odd places
when i say old, i do not mean wrinkly, sagging, aged faces... i mean faces from the past.
first the odd places... affordable treasures (thrift store), and television.
it really is a trip when you see a face you haven't seen for 5 or 10 years, but immediately recognize them as if you saw them yesterday... it's even crazier if they recognize you first, because for sure you remember them, but there's no way that they remember you... they look exactly the same, but you have changed so much that they probably don't recognize you.
do you ever play that game? i play it all the time, especially when dealing with old class mates from elementary school... i see someone, totally remember them, but i don't go up and say hi because there is no way they remember me, and i'll just look like a freak and make them feel uncomfortable because they don't remember me... come on, i know you are ALL guilty of playing this game at least once in your life.
in fact, i've got a GREAT story for this... it was such an incredibly awkward situation, i actually crack up just thinking about it.
my junior year, maybe sophomore year, while at house church. there used to be another guy in the same grade as me that went to our house church, and one night he brought a friend along... daniel was his name. the friend was i guy i went to elementary school with, and in fact was strangely good friends with in 3rd through 5th grade... interesting friendship. anyway, the moment he walked in, it got really really really awkward. i totally played the game... i tried to think that he didn't remember me, and the entire night, we did not say a single word to eachother, in fact, i think we completely ignored eachother's existence. and i didn't even tell anyone that i knew him. ya, awkward.
wow that was a tangent.
anyway, i saw my BEST friend from 2nd and 3rd grade on tv in the track CIF masters meet!! it was so cool! i wish i could say hi to her and stuff, and she is one i wouldnt skip the game with and just go up and talk to no matter what, however the fact that she was on tv kind of prevented that from happening.
and the other was the mom of a girl i played soccer with, not as exciting a story, but it was really neat because she called my name from across the place, and it took me a moment to place who she was, but then it clicked.
what a trip.
no point to the post... may be a dull corner, but no point...
just some stories.
hooroo
first the odd places... affordable treasures (thrift store), and television.
it really is a trip when you see a face you haven't seen for 5 or 10 years, but immediately recognize them as if you saw them yesterday... it's even crazier if they recognize you first, because for sure you remember them, but there's no way that they remember you... they look exactly the same, but you have changed so much that they probably don't recognize you.
do you ever play that game? i play it all the time, especially when dealing with old class mates from elementary school... i see someone, totally remember them, but i don't go up and say hi because there is no way they remember me, and i'll just look like a freak and make them feel uncomfortable because they don't remember me... come on, i know you are ALL guilty of playing this game at least once in your life.
in fact, i've got a GREAT story for this... it was such an incredibly awkward situation, i actually crack up just thinking about it.
my junior year, maybe sophomore year, while at house church. there used to be another guy in the same grade as me that went to our house church, and one night he brought a friend along... daniel was his name. the friend was i guy i went to elementary school with, and in fact was strangely good friends with in 3rd through 5th grade... interesting friendship. anyway, the moment he walked in, it got really really really awkward. i totally played the game... i tried to think that he didn't remember me, and the entire night, we did not say a single word to eachother, in fact, i think we completely ignored eachother's existence. and i didn't even tell anyone that i knew him. ya, awkward.
wow that was a tangent.
anyway, i saw my BEST friend from 2nd and 3rd grade on tv in the track CIF masters meet!! it was so cool! i wish i could say hi to her and stuff, and she is one i wouldnt skip the game with and just go up and talk to no matter what, however the fact that she was on tv kind of prevented that from happening.
and the other was the mom of a girl i played soccer with, not as exciting a story, but it was really neat because she called my name from across the place, and it took me a moment to place who she was, but then it clicked.
what a trip.
no point to the post... may be a dull corner, but no point...
just some stories.
hooroo
Saturday, May 26
Thursday, May 24
DID YOU FEEL IT
the earth quaked!
3.8 for the first (6 minutes ago)
3.9 aftershock (4 minutes ago)
i am newscaster stina, and thats all for tonight
back to you, bob
3.8 for the first (6 minutes ago)
3.9 aftershock (4 minutes ago)
i am newscaster stina, and thats all for tonight
back to you, bob
fun site
www.sketchswap.com
it's really cool... you draw a picture of whatever you want, then you press "swap picture" and you swap pictures with some other random person who drew a picture... it's a lot of fun!
it's really cool... you draw a picture of whatever you want, then you press "swap picture" and you swap pictures with some other random person who drew a picture... it's a lot of fun!
Wednesday, May 23
fabulous... you need to get flashed
remember my dead phone?
well, it's actually officially dead... actually, the term might be "vegetable."
we charged it for an entire day since the battery was dead, and when i got home from school, i unplugged it to turn it on and call someone.
a white screen came up:"starting... please wait."
i waited.
finally it was on, but something was a bit different. i am going to wait to tell you what all is wrong with it... i want you to experience this like the gal at the verizon store experienced this.
I walked in to the verizon store this afternoon, and you could say i had a smirk on my face. i had this smirk because i knew i pretty much had the most awesome phone trouble any one phone could have.
"hi, how may i help you today?"
"Hi. Well... i recharged my phone for the day, but when i turned it on after it was done charging, i found that all my settings had been erased. also, all my contacts have been erased, and my phone is on analog roam, and i can't make any calls cause it tells me i need to talk to an operator, and i can't recieve any calls, and oh ya... the battery is about to die... it's in the red."
the lady looks at me, pauses to take it all in as i stand there smirking... she replies, "fabulous."
so we spent some time sitting there trying to figure things out. another thing we discovered that it randomly changed it's phone number to some number with a 619 area code, and then 5 minutes later, it changed the number on its own again to a 000 000 0000 number (my second encounter with this creepy phone number). she was online with customer service the whole time trying to figure it out, but nothing worked. she even used the expression "for crying in the mud" ... you know, like "for crying out loud," but different. i thought it was hilarious. she had one last suggestion...
"you need to get flashed." hmmm, never thought i would hear that... "your phone that is... your phone needs to be flashed."
so we went to another store where they had phone technicians, and we walked in with my phone, "i was told i needed to get flashed... my phone needs to be flashed cause its really really messed up." he asked what was wrong with it... and i proudly gave an account as to the coolest phone complications my phone was enduring. he laughed. "flashing will not work, but we can try anyway."
he tried.
it didnt work.
my phone is dead. bummer part? our contract upgrade thing is on june 24! it almost made it to the 2 year mark, but unfortunately it came up short. good thing is that verizon will probably allow us to move up that date so that i can get a new phone, but it will probably take a week. so as of right now, don't call me, cause i won't answer. i dont even know if i can get messages anymore.
poor phone... rest in peace.
well, it's actually officially dead... actually, the term might be "vegetable."
we charged it for an entire day since the battery was dead, and when i got home from school, i unplugged it to turn it on and call someone.
a white screen came up:"starting... please wait."
i waited.
finally it was on, but something was a bit different. i am going to wait to tell you what all is wrong with it... i want you to experience this like the gal at the verizon store experienced this.
I walked in to the verizon store this afternoon, and you could say i had a smirk on my face. i had this smirk because i knew i pretty much had the most awesome phone trouble any one phone could have.
"hi, how may i help you today?"
"Hi. Well... i recharged my phone for the day, but when i turned it on after it was done charging, i found that all my settings had been erased. also, all my contacts have been erased, and my phone is on analog roam, and i can't make any calls cause it tells me i need to talk to an operator, and i can't recieve any calls, and oh ya... the battery is about to die... it's in the red."
the lady looks at me, pauses to take it all in as i stand there smirking... she replies, "fabulous."
so we spent some time sitting there trying to figure things out. another thing we discovered that it randomly changed it's phone number to some number with a 619 area code, and then 5 minutes later, it changed the number on its own again to a 000 000 0000 number (my second encounter with this creepy phone number). she was online with customer service the whole time trying to figure it out, but nothing worked. she even used the expression "for crying in the mud" ... you know, like "for crying out loud," but different. i thought it was hilarious. she had one last suggestion...
"you need to get flashed." hmmm, never thought i would hear that... "your phone that is... your phone needs to be flashed."
so we went to another store where they had phone technicians, and we walked in with my phone, "i was told i needed to get flashed... my phone needs to be flashed cause its really really messed up." he asked what was wrong with it... and i proudly gave an account as to the coolest phone complications my phone was enduring. he laughed. "flashing will not work, but we can try anyway."
he tried.
it didnt work.
my phone is dead. bummer part? our contract upgrade thing is on june 24! it almost made it to the 2 year mark, but unfortunately it came up short. good thing is that verizon will probably allow us to move up that date so that i can get a new phone, but it will probably take a week. so as of right now, don't call me, cause i won't answer. i dont even know if i can get messages anymore.
poor phone... rest in peace.
Tuesday, May 22
vocabulary nemesis
it was one of those days...
you know, where you are so tired, that everytime you blink it takes about 4 seconds to refocus? or when blinks turn in to prolonged periods of your eyes just "resting".
it was also one of those days where it has come to my attention that i am not yet fit for graduation. i have a new arch-Nemesis, and it is the word "interpret".
i gave my government presentation on the Wallace v. Jaffree supreme court case, and the biggest point of the whole thing was the fact that it all came down to the interpretation of the Establishment clause. so every slide, the word "interpret" came up at least twice in my talking.
HOWEVER
i did not learn until yesterday something very important. as i was creating my power point, and writing what i thought was the correct way to spell "interpret", i came across those red squiggly lines that told me my spelling was incorrect. i looked at the word, studied it, and i swore it was right. i right clicked to see the spelling suggestions, but to my dismay, it said "no suggestions." now, i must have typed this word at least 20 times thourghout my research and about 10 in my actual presentation. so, what word was i spelling...
interpretate... interpretated, interpretating. say them outloud, it actually sounds quite ridiculous to those who know that is not the right word.
i however, did not figure that one out until yesterday, and i did not practice saying the right word. in fact, i completely forgot that i say it wrong, so in my presentation today i said either "interpretated" "interpretate" or "interpretating" at least once or twice per slide.
no one said a word during the entire presentation. i had a few confused looks, but i had no clue as to why... until after my presentation, someone politely mentioned "um, interpretate... do you mean interpret?"
i stared... did i seriously just go through my entire presentation saying that??? i completely forgot that i said it wrong!!
everyone laughed... and i couldnt help but laugh too... i am graduating in three weeks, i should know "interpret". oh well. my amiga told me it was hilarious because i said it soooo many times. i must say it is embarassing, but in a good way that makes me chuckle... chuckle indeed!
you know, where you are so tired, that everytime you blink it takes about 4 seconds to refocus? or when blinks turn in to prolonged periods of your eyes just "resting".
it was also one of those days where it has come to my attention that i am not yet fit for graduation. i have a new arch-Nemesis, and it is the word "interpret".
i gave my government presentation on the Wallace v. Jaffree supreme court case, and the biggest point of the whole thing was the fact that it all came down to the interpretation of the Establishment clause. so every slide, the word "interpret" came up at least twice in my talking.
HOWEVER
i did not learn until yesterday something very important. as i was creating my power point, and writing what i thought was the correct way to spell "interpret", i came across those red squiggly lines that told me my spelling was incorrect. i looked at the word, studied it, and i swore it was right. i right clicked to see the spelling suggestions, but to my dismay, it said "no suggestions." now, i must have typed this word at least 20 times thourghout my research and about 10 in my actual presentation. so, what word was i spelling...
interpretate... interpretated, interpretating. say them outloud, it actually sounds quite ridiculous to those who know that is not the right word.
i however, did not figure that one out until yesterday, and i did not practice saying the right word. in fact, i completely forgot that i say it wrong, so in my presentation today i said either "interpretated" "interpretate" or "interpretating" at least once or twice per slide.
no one said a word during the entire presentation. i had a few confused looks, but i had no clue as to why... until after my presentation, someone politely mentioned "um, interpretate... do you mean interpret?"
i stared... did i seriously just go through my entire presentation saying that??? i completely forgot that i said it wrong!!
everyone laughed... and i couldnt help but laugh too... i am graduating in three weeks, i should know "interpret". oh well. my amiga told me it was hilarious because i said it soooo many times. i must say it is embarassing, but in a good way that makes me chuckle... chuckle indeed!
Monday, May 21
(no) time to recharge
the status of the electronics in my life can pretty much sum of the status of me...
like i mentioned earlier, my watch... it's had a dead battery for three weeks. my cell phone... it's been dead for two days now... i don't feel like recharging it. my photo camera... went to take a pic of my dog's new haircut... dead (the battery, not my dog). video camera... i need to get my grad announcement done, but i haven't gotten a full charge on that yet, so i can only filmed while its plugged in. my laptop... well, i ran that thing til it was dead, and seeing as how it's kind of essential to get work done, i've got it plugged in to a wall and it's been charging.
and that's what i realize i really need... a wall someplace to go plug in to... and a few hours to just stay there and not do anything else but charge.
here's the catch that kind of scares me and drains my battery even more... usually when i am in this situation, i can go to a wall (usually manhattan beach or even just time to just chill with amigos) and just recharge... i'll usually decide the weekend ahead, that way i have something to look forward to. however, i am looking ahead, any night, any day, weekday or weekend... there's nothing... and i even have a few days off coming up, but i have a ton to get done.
don't get me wrong, these days off are huge blessings, and i will be doing some fun stuff, but like we talked about in house church today, i just need some time to "be", and not "do". time to recharge...
it's hard to recharge when you know that you've got like 10 things to do and remember in the next 24 hours...
y'all ready for a cheesy Christian joke that deals with recharging?
who needs AC adapters... it's all about the JC adapter...
haha, get it... i guess you need to know what an AC adapter is... if you don't, it kind of kills the joke.
hmmm
well, my dad's camera's battery isn't dead, so we took some pics of what i did today with tippy's hair... i am not quite done yet... i am trying to define his mane a bit more, but this is it for now. you can't really tell in the picture, but in person, he looks stinkiing hilarious!
Sunday, May 20
"is my sexiness distracting you?"
um
barf
i just stared, utterly confused, and he stared back, looking for an honest answer...some sophmore boy in highschool asked me that question in the middle of a set when i was down love-5. there are a few key words in that sentence that should give you a clue as to what the outcome of that set was...
the biggest give away is the word "boy", and "sophomore" just explains his stupidity. the next clue is the fact i used the word "middle" even the score was love-5... for you tennis players, you know that love-five is not normally the middle... in fact, it's pretty much already putting your rackets away.
if you can't put two and two together... i ended up coming back and winning 7-5.
i said during the handshake "did i distract you with my hotness... that is, the hotness being the heat of my serve?"
that sad little boy... ego is a bad thing... as are eggos... but not eggs.
so it's official... i have absolutely no time, both literally and figuratively speaking. i have been wearing a watch, held together by a bandaid, and it's had a dead battery for almost three weeks... why do i wear it still? every time i look at it, it reminds me that i need to get a new battery.
so why don't i have a new battery yet? hmmm
no time... really, i am trying to get one last tennis tournament in before i leave, but i's not looking so hot. i've got grad parties to go to starting june 2 (i know, counting the chicks before the hatch... really, i think some of these people won't graduate, what a shame : ) speaking of party... june 23... save that afternoon... details to come, but just do it...
no time... i have to pack for college... i just realized that... packing for more than two weeks is something i have never done before. now, i quite a light packer, as you wilderness challenge buddies know, but i am not so sure how that'll play out in this situation. i need packing advice from those of you who feel you are skilled in such an area
tomorrow's going to be fun... i've got this really exciting government project power point presentation (love the alliteration there) and then i get write this really cool paper for english, and the cherry on top of it all is all the laundry and cleaning that i have been patiently waiting to do all weekend!!!
you are no longer allowed to read this blog if you took the above statement seriously *cough* shiloh *cough* tuna
barf
i just stared, utterly confused, and he stared back, looking for an honest answer...some sophmore boy in highschool asked me that question in the middle of a set when i was down love-5. there are a few key words in that sentence that should give you a clue as to what the outcome of that set was...
the biggest give away is the word "boy", and "sophomore" just explains his stupidity. the next clue is the fact i used the word "middle" even the score was love-5... for you tennis players, you know that love-five is not normally the middle... in fact, it's pretty much already putting your rackets away.
if you can't put two and two together... i ended up coming back and winning 7-5.
i said during the handshake "did i distract you with my hotness... that is, the hotness being the heat of my serve?"
that sad little boy... ego is a bad thing... as are eggos... but not eggs.
so it's official... i have absolutely no time, both literally and figuratively speaking. i have been wearing a watch, held together by a bandaid, and it's had a dead battery for almost three weeks... why do i wear it still? every time i look at it, it reminds me that i need to get a new battery.
so why don't i have a new battery yet? hmmm
no time... really, i am trying to get one last tennis tournament in before i leave, but i's not looking so hot. i've got grad parties to go to starting june 2 (i know, counting the chicks before the hatch... really, i think some of these people won't graduate, what a shame : ) speaking of party... june 23... save that afternoon... details to come, but just do it...
no time... i have to pack for college... i just realized that... packing for more than two weeks is something i have never done before. now, i quite a light packer, as you wilderness challenge buddies know, but i am not so sure how that'll play out in this situation. i need packing advice from those of you who feel you are skilled in such an area
tomorrow's going to be fun... i've got this really exciting government project power point presentation (love the alliteration there) and then i get write this really cool paper for english, and the cherry on top of it all is all the laundry and cleaning that i have been patiently waiting to do all weekend!!!
you are no longer allowed to read this blog if you took the above statement seriously *cough* shiloh *cough* tuna
Thursday, May 17
my cousin's first lemonade stand!
from and article:
"Alana Espinosa, her little brother Dimitri and neighbor Greyden Massey raised $64 for the Los Angeles Orphanage Guild this last Tuesday, May 15th. When asked why she chose an orphanage to receive her charity money Alana answered, “I want to give to kids who don’t have anything for themselves.” Roscomare Kindergarteners, Alana and Greyden also used calculators to add up their expenses, and tended to the cash register with only a little help from their mothers."
blows our lemonade stand out of the water... i am so proud of her!!!
viva italia
i am terrible at scheduling...
my schedule has more conflicts than the middle east... i have actually managed to triple book myself... this is where cloning would come in handy. however, i have managed to see these conflicts before they come and have prioritized and made things slightly better.
i tried the whole pocket organizer/schedule thing... and i did well, at first, you know, had it in my pocket ready to use and put appointments in... the only problem with me and a pocket schedules is that it tends to stay in the pocket of the pants i wore yesterday which were at home in my laundry basket.
that's why i use the good ol' noggin to remember stuff. i've gotten through 18 years with it, so for right now, i think i am good.
tonight was NHS ceremony thing, and it was quite fun... tape and drawings and all :) i recieved a scholarship for calvin from the kok family... and i am proud to say that they informed me afterwards that i am the first NON-dutch recipient of this scholarship! italian/greek pride!!!!
and yes, that is a fist pump... that was out of pride for calvin college (they had just mentioned that i'd be attending calvin college)
Monday, May 14
calvin sweatshirts and golden spoon
the two new tools for spreading the good word!
actually, maybe more like the two new tools for awesome conversation starters with an old couple.
at golden spoon, there is a table that no one really sits at, it in the back by the water fountain that gets me everytime i try to drink out of it. as i walked in and the welcome waa-waaaa made it's noise, an old lady (not the same nice little old lady that i conversed with at my ap test) who sat with her old man husband at the back table quickly and loudly asked, "calvin college... now, where is that college?" i was proudly sporting my new calvin college sweatshirt that arrived on friday (that's what the picture of me and the UPS man is from on friday's post). "grand rapids, Michigan."
"oh wow, so do you go there?"
"no not yet, but next school year, yes" (of course i said this with a HUGE grin)
"oh wow..."
so thus the conversation started and i let about five other people ahead of me as i sat and talked with this old lady and old man in the back of golden spoon. they asked what calvin was known for, if i was ready for the cold, how i knew about calvin, why i chose calvin, if i was a native californian, and then we talked about where she was from (ohio) and how the one thing she misses the most is the trees... she talked of how she absolutely loved the trees. and i chimed in about how there is too much cement here... me and her started gangin up on the city together, and her husband chuckled as we shared why we prefered the other part of the country.
i quickly ordered my golden spoon, but before i had the chance to walk off and pay, they started talking to me about house church... so as my golden spoon patiently waited (and kind of melted) they quickly started another conversation. i had mentioned house church briefly while talking about why calvin. so they were curious about house church and wanted to hear about it. so that conversation went on for a bit, and then it came time for the good bye. this old lady from ohio told me that when i saw the trees in autumn turning gold, think of the old lady i met in golden spoon who missed all the trees and take a moment to enjoy them for her.
so i shall...
actually, maybe more like the two new tools for awesome conversation starters with an old couple.
at golden spoon, there is a table that no one really sits at, it in the back by the water fountain that gets me everytime i try to drink out of it. as i walked in and the welcome waa-waaaa made it's noise, an old lady (not the same nice little old lady that i conversed with at my ap test) who sat with her old man husband at the back table quickly and loudly asked, "calvin college... now, where is that college?" i was proudly sporting my new calvin college sweatshirt that arrived on friday (that's what the picture of me and the UPS man is from on friday's post). "grand rapids, Michigan."
"oh wow, so do you go there?"
"no not yet, but next school year, yes" (of course i said this with a HUGE grin)
"oh wow..."
so thus the conversation started and i let about five other people ahead of me as i sat and talked with this old lady and old man in the back of golden spoon. they asked what calvin was known for, if i was ready for the cold, how i knew about calvin, why i chose calvin, if i was a native californian, and then we talked about where she was from (ohio) and how the one thing she misses the most is the trees... she talked of how she absolutely loved the trees. and i chimed in about how there is too much cement here... me and her started gangin up on the city together, and her husband chuckled as we shared why we prefered the other part of the country.
i quickly ordered my golden spoon, but before i had the chance to walk off and pay, they started talking to me about house church... so as my golden spoon patiently waited (and kind of melted) they quickly started another conversation. i had mentioned house church briefly while talking about why calvin. so they were curious about house church and wanted to hear about it. so that conversation went on for a bit, and then it came time for the good bye. this old lady from ohio told me that when i saw the trees in autumn turning gold, think of the old lady i met in golden spoon who missed all the trees and take a moment to enjoy them for her.
so i shall...
Sunday, May 13
"so, when did you say you are leaving?
i've been asked that a lot, and i don't blame them because the date has been changed about 4 times for when i will be leaving for michigan... and as of today, everything is finally set in stone... so i will officially let ya guys know whats going on.
i have pretty much decided that my true calling in life is to be a travel agent... well, not really, but putting humility aside, i must say i am pretty stinking good at planning travels. my adventure as "cristina the travel agent" started saturday morning. my goal was to map out every stop and site along the way from bellflower,ca to holland,mi. ideally, i would have had a massive map the size of our dining room table and a red marker, but i made do with mt apquest and a pad of paper, and a pencil, and this cool website that helped me keep track of my stops. the thing for me was to stop at as many national parks along the way as possible... we would be taking 7 or 8 days to get to michigan, so we will have PLENTY of time to see the sweet stuff. i am now going to walk you through what "cristina the travel agent" has set as the route for this awesome road trip. keep in mind that every place we will be going (except for nevada) will be a first-time visit for me!!! oh, and i will be driving with mi amiga jenny, and my parents will be following. jenny and my parents will be flying back from michigan... anyway, here it is!!!
SUNDAY JUNE 24: leave bellflower, ca in the morning making a straight shot for springdale, UT which is where Zion national park is... i have been wanting to go to zion for soooo long, so i am excited to have this as our first stop. on the way we will most likely stop in vegas for lunch.
MONDAY 25: leave zion and head for moab, UT, the location of both canyonlands national park and arches national park... both awesome places!!! we are debating spending an extra day here.
TUESDAY 26: leave moab, UT for crawford, CO where Black Canyon of the Gunnison national forrest is... since this is a short drive from moab, after hanging at the national park we will drive two more hours and stay in glenwood springs, CO.
WEDNESDAY 27: leave glenwood springs, CO and head to Estes Park, CO where the rocky mountain national park is. this place kind of marks the end of the national parks and the start of, well, not much. so from here on out, i literally just chose cities that were along the highway that we'd be taking, and then checked to see that they had some sort of accomodations for sleeping/camping.
THURSDAY 28: leave glenwood springs, CO for Brady, NE. sounded like a fun city, so we'll see.
FRIDAY 29: leave brady, NE and go to Newton, IA... again, we'll see!
SATURDAY 30: Newton, IA to Indianapolis, IN. now, you geography buffs may be thinking, Indianapolis... that's no where near your route you should be taking! however, this was a recommendation put in by my father... so i checked it out, and turns out that Peoria, IL is totally on the way to Indianapolis, right off the highway!!! why peoria, IL? come see the senior play and listen closely to my 3rd line in the play.
SUNDAY JULY 1: leave indianapolis and head for our final destination, Holland/Grand Rapids, Michigan!!! we'll spend two days in michigan so we can just hang out.
TUESDAY JULY 3: mother, father, and jenny depart from chicago, IL for long beach, ca.
so i planned all this out, and even compared over 30 different airfares. i found that ultimatefares.com has the best rates. $77 for a oneway non-stop ticket from Ohare international airport in chicago to the long beach airport. seriously, if someone need some vacation planning done, call me, cause i am good.
so i have a file, 16 pages long, of our itinerary (thats a difficult word to spell)... it first has a step by step location to location, how long each drive takes and how many miles. and then the remaining 14 pages have maps and directions from each to location to the next. good stuff...
but the exciting part is that there is SOO much room to take detours and go off the itinerary and see other things that catch out eye on the way. i made the itinerary for more as a strong guidline... i am not super obsessesd about staying on track for every single minute. that is how life is, isn't it?
okay
blessings to your mondays... if you are worried about it, i recommend wearing a helmet.
oooo.... i have just added bryce canyon as a stop after zion!!!
fun stuff
i have pretty much decided that my true calling in life is to be a travel agent... well, not really, but putting humility aside, i must say i am pretty stinking good at planning travels. my adventure as "cristina the travel agent" started saturday morning. my goal was to map out every stop and site along the way from bellflower,ca to holland,mi. ideally, i would have had a massive map the size of our dining room table and a red marker, but i made do with mt apquest and a pad of paper, and a pencil, and this cool website that helped me keep track of my stops. the thing for me was to stop at as many national parks along the way as possible... we would be taking 7 or 8 days to get to michigan, so we will have PLENTY of time to see the sweet stuff. i am now going to walk you through what "cristina the travel agent" has set as the route for this awesome road trip. keep in mind that every place we will be going (except for nevada) will be a first-time visit for me!!! oh, and i will be driving with mi amiga jenny, and my parents will be following. jenny and my parents will be flying back from michigan... anyway, here it is!!!
SUNDAY JUNE 24: leave bellflower, ca in the morning making a straight shot for springdale, UT which is where Zion national park is... i have been wanting to go to zion for soooo long, so i am excited to have this as our first stop. on the way we will most likely stop in vegas for lunch.
MONDAY 25: leave zion and head for moab, UT, the location of both canyonlands national park and arches national park... both awesome places!!! we are debating spending an extra day here.
TUESDAY 26: leave moab, UT for crawford, CO where Black Canyon of the Gunnison national forrest is... since this is a short drive from moab, after hanging at the national park we will drive two more hours and stay in glenwood springs, CO.
WEDNESDAY 27: leave glenwood springs, CO and head to Estes Park, CO where the rocky mountain national park is. this place kind of marks the end of the national parks and the start of, well, not much. so from here on out, i literally just chose cities that were along the highway that we'd be taking, and then checked to see that they had some sort of accomodations for sleeping/camping.
THURSDAY 28: leave glenwood springs, CO for Brady, NE. sounded like a fun city, so we'll see.
FRIDAY 29: leave brady, NE and go to Newton, IA... again, we'll see!
SATURDAY 30: Newton, IA to Indianapolis, IN. now, you geography buffs may be thinking, Indianapolis... that's no where near your route you should be taking! however, this was a recommendation put in by my father... so i checked it out, and turns out that Peoria, IL is totally on the way to Indianapolis, right off the highway!!! why peoria, IL? come see the senior play and listen closely to my 3rd line in the play.
SUNDAY JULY 1: leave indianapolis and head for our final destination, Holland/Grand Rapids, Michigan!!! we'll spend two days in michigan so we can just hang out.
TUESDAY JULY 3: mother, father, and jenny depart from chicago, IL for long beach, ca.
so i planned all this out, and even compared over 30 different airfares. i found that ultimatefares.com has the best rates. $77 for a oneway non-stop ticket from Ohare international airport in chicago to the long beach airport. seriously, if someone need some vacation planning done, call me, cause i am good.
so i have a file, 16 pages long, of our itinerary (thats a difficult word to spell)... it first has a step by step location to location, how long each drive takes and how many miles. and then the remaining 14 pages have maps and directions from each to location to the next. good stuff...
but the exciting part is that there is SOO much room to take detours and go off the itinerary and see other things that catch out eye on the way. i made the itinerary for more as a strong guidline... i am not super obsessesd about staying on track for every single minute. that is how life is, isn't it?
okay
blessings to your mondays... if you are worried about it, i recommend wearing a helmet.
oooo.... i have just added bryce canyon as a stop after zion!!!
fun stuff
Saturday, May 12
building a sukkah (sue-kuh)!!!
so on this coming tuesday, me shiloh jim and rebekah are doing a presentation on the jewish festival of Sukkot (sue-coat)... sukkot is the most joyous festival that is celbrated to give thanks to God for the harvest and to remind them of the wandering in the wilderness... and to celebrate God's faithfulness. they celebrate by building a sukkah which is a hut that has three walls and a roof made of greenery like palm branches.
so for part of our presentation, we wanted to put together and show a sukkah... shiloh and i went to home depot and figured we'd be able to figure this all out. we needed something we could build for practice, take it down, and build again on tuesday. at home depot, we stood in the lumber section and just kind of looked and thought, hmmm, how are we going to do this. honestly, our approach was, nail hear, hammer there, and vuala... a sukkah... but as we thought about it more... mmmm, not gonna work. so i called the one person i know that can pretty much build anything and has the tools to do anything...devin. i tried to explain to him over the phone what we were doing and what we were going to buy, and then asked him if we could go to his house and he could help us out. he ended up coming to home depot, coming up with a better plan while we were there, helped us get the materials we needed. as he did this, shiloh and i looked at eachother thinking, ya, we were no where near this plan in our heads, and this new plan (is much cooler) and makes much more sense. after finally managing to get the materials (which were actually larger than my car) inside my car, we went to devin's house where he pulled out the power tools. i personally am not the best with power tools (actually, i had never used them before). but today, i learned to use a jigsaw and a power drill, as did shiloh. jim came by and helped out too. but this sukkah is awesome!!! we had so much fun building it, and it came out great. check out the pics!!!
so for part of our presentation, we wanted to put together and show a sukkah... shiloh and i went to home depot and figured we'd be able to figure this all out. we needed something we could build for practice, take it down, and build again on tuesday. at home depot, we stood in the lumber section and just kind of looked and thought, hmmm, how are we going to do this. honestly, our approach was, nail hear, hammer there, and vuala... a sukkah... but as we thought about it more... mmmm, not gonna work. so i called the one person i know that can pretty much build anything and has the tools to do anything...devin. i tried to explain to him over the phone what we were doing and what we were going to buy, and then asked him if we could go to his house and he could help us out. he ended up coming to home depot, coming up with a better plan while we were there, helped us get the materials we needed. as he did this, shiloh and i looked at eachother thinking, ya, we were no where near this plan in our heads, and this new plan (is much cooler) and makes much more sense. after finally managing to get the materials (which were actually larger than my car) inside my car, we went to devin's house where he pulled out the power tools. i personally am not the best with power tools (actually, i had never used them before). but today, i learned to use a jigsaw and a power drill, as did shiloh. jim came by and helped out too. but this sukkah is awesome!!! we had so much fun building it, and it came out great. check out the pics!!!
Friday, May 11
Abalone Cove
are you ready for this??? TONS of pictures... we went to abalone cove today... we actually kind of stumbled across it as we were driving through palos verdes on our way to redondo beach. i had actually been there before many many years ago when i use to go to camp mattel in the summer... so here are a ton of pics...
MY MUSCLE IS BIGGER THAN YOUR MUSSELso we walked all over the rocks and tidepools barefoot because flip flops weren't working out for us. so i must say my feet are a bit sore, but i actually really enjoyed going on a barefoot adventure... good stuff... there was even a sweet cave, which you will see in the pics, that i went in... i just love finding these cool places.
the new foot acessory... starfish...
That starfish was eating a crab... it was pretty stinkin crazy!!! and the other starfish pic looks like a person :)
Wednesday, May 9
"Oh, Dear!"
I smiled and replied, "yes ma'am, oh dear is right... it's super tough."
i was having a nice little chat with a nice little old lady. I had just walked out of the testing room for a 10 minute break before going back in for the written portion of our exam. as i was about to walk outside, i stopped to chat with this nice little old lady who was slowly making her way through the door. i said "hello" and "how are you?" to her as she walked in, and after responding with a bright smile, she said "good morning" and asked how my day was. i explained to her that we were in the midst of a big test and were on a break right now, and she curiously inquired as to what type of test. the moment i uttered "calculus" the nice little old lady put her little hands to her face and exclaimed (as much as a nice little old lady could exclaim) "Oh, Dear!" i laughed a bit, and she put my hand on my shoulder and told me she was sorry to hear that, but then bid me good luck. we then chatted about the weather a bit, since it was so incredibly beautiful... had we had some tea and crumpets, our afternoon tea party would have been complete. what a nice little old lady :)
after saying good bye, i went outside and enjoyed my snack while enjoying the sun outside for the remainder of the break. by the way, our testing was taken at a church, so this nice little old lady wasn't just wandering around our campus... it was at a church... ya, anyway.
so this test... incredibly long... let me break it down for yall
55 minute non calculator multiple choice (about 20-some questions)
50 minute calculator multiple choice (17 questions)
45 minute calculator written response (3 questions... yes, it takes 45 minutes for these 3 monster questions)
45 minute non calculator written response (again, 3 monster questions)
sound pretty crazy? it was, but i must say i was not stressed at all... nothing to lose or gain, so i just kicked back and took the test... literally, i had extra chairs next to me, so i put my feet up, got comfy, and took the test. twas rather nice. and on my last question on the non calculator written, i had exhausted all my different ideas on how to solve it, and after finding absolutely no solution, with 5 minutes left, what do you do???
draw a picture.
a math related picture... taking the integral of spider man on the interval from 0 to spidey... which is the anti-derivative... and the solution is peter parker + C... i'll try to replicate it so you can see what it looks like.. all you math geeks in calc should laugh... all you others can laugh at my ridiculous drawing skills:
and then we had an hour for lunch afterwards so me and two friends went to subway and golden spoon, and then back to school for an hour, and then school was out... easy day... easy day. and then coaching of course, which it was a good day for that too.. the kids are getting so good!
i am so proud of them :)
later gator
Tuesday, May 8
So I says to Mabel I says...
silence is golden, but duct tape is silver...
santa ana winds... i love em, my nose hates em.
i am loving the weather otherwise... seriously, you walk outside and it's almost like a warm hug.
speaking of hugs, my middle schoolers informed me that they are not aloud to hug... and not just the opposite sex, but the same as well. no hugs aloud at VCMS. i am outraged.
lets start a petition.
i will officially be dead tomorrow as i take my ap calculus test. actually you know what, i am not that stressed... and you know why? because i have absolutely nothing to gain (and nothing to lose) from this test. it is actually quite pointless, affects me in now way. so why stress? plus we drive ourselves there and dont have to be back to school til 6th period (test ends at 11:30)... so i have over an hour for lunch... i am just gonna go home for lunch, dude.
and day after that is thursday... which is like friday, because friday is senior ditch day. mmhmm
i have four video projects i am in the process of doing right now... crazy stuff, crazy busy.
i hope yall are enjoying the warm weather, finally feels like summer.
hooroo, my friends
santa ana winds... i love em, my nose hates em.
i am loving the weather otherwise... seriously, you walk outside and it's almost like a warm hug.
speaking of hugs, my middle schoolers informed me that they are not aloud to hug... and not just the opposite sex, but the same as well. no hugs aloud at VCMS. i am outraged.
lets start a petition.
i will officially be dead tomorrow as i take my ap calculus test. actually you know what, i am not that stressed... and you know why? because i have absolutely nothing to gain (and nothing to lose) from this test. it is actually quite pointless, affects me in now way. so why stress? plus we drive ourselves there and dont have to be back to school til 6th period (test ends at 11:30)... so i have over an hour for lunch... i am just gonna go home for lunch, dude.
and day after that is thursday... which is like friday, because friday is senior ditch day. mmhmm
i have four video projects i am in the process of doing right now... crazy stuff, crazy busy.
i hope yall are enjoying the warm weather, finally feels like summer.
hooroo, my friends
Monday, May 7
bummer numero dos
i just read news that one of my favorite tennis players, Kim Clijsters, has just announced her immediate retirement. she announced at the end of last year that she would retire at the end of the 2007 season, but she has cut it short and has hung up her rackets.
i am so bummed.
:(
i am so bummed.
:(
Sunday, May 6
stair slide
with a lack of sleep comes weird actions...
here's what we did the morning after daniell's sleepover...
here's what we did the morning after daniell's sleepover...
Saturday, May 5
through eyes half open... (or half closed?) and with a nose on the verge
oy ve, that's what i have to say...
starting thursday, not a moment's rest since until now. although it was a really full weekend from thursday on, i must say it was time spent well.
-went to the midnight showing of spiderman 3 on thursday night... awesome movie, you must go see it. my only issue was i finally got to bed at 3:30am, and then woke up at 5:30 am to...
-friday morning... went to breakfast at the incredible burger (delicious and perfectly sized breakfast burritos,,, not massive chipotle murder size). then we went to special games at cal state fullerton which was a total blast. however, i was so exhausted after only two hours of sleep, and my allergies were insane. i must have sneezed, no joke, at least once every 5 minutes. and anytime i wasn't sneezing, i was on the verge of it, thats a torterous feeling. and these sneezes were mighty powerful too. anyway, the girl who i was paired with was a TON of fun... she was so funny and always smiling, loving all the games. she was totally into the whole "tap the other shoulder and 'it wan't me'" game. a lot of fun. then after that i got to hangout and babysit some pretty cool kids! they are a fun bunch, but also and energetice bunch. and then after that, a night of fun on 2nd street with my friends from bible study. we did this progressive dinner thing... we had appetizers at this indian food place, dinner at open sesame (delicious as it always is) and then went to peets coffee afterwards for hot drinks (cause it was really cold). we all dressed up as "missionaries" because we were doing this dinner thing because the copelands are leaving soon for indonesia, so "missionary" was or dress up theme. it was definitely a night of fun... and of firsts... some of which i have pretty much decided to be a last :)
then after that i went to mi amiga danielle's party (which was a sleepover) and we all know that no one sleeps at sleep overs. so that was another late (but very fun) night.
-saturday, today, went straight to work from danielle's, and i don't know if i posted this, but i did give my two week's notice this week, so today was my second-to last day of work.
and today, work was TERRIBLE. i had dining room (again) and today i have concluded that the human kind is not only generally stupid, but also insanely MESSY. worst experience today: i was changing one of the trash cans, so, as is the normal routine, i covered the whole through which you throw out your food with another tray and a trash bag (so people wont throw away stuff in it when there is not trash can), put up a wet floor sign, and then removed the trash can itself and took it back to where we empty the trash and put a new bag in. i get back, and from the closed door of where the trash can is held (trash cabinet), there is a puddle of mint cookies n cream milkshake, and the source of this puddle? leaking from the the trash cabinet. the tray was still covering the trash hole, but i went over and opened the cabinet to see the nastiest mix of half a salad, nuggets, the remains of a chicken sandwhich, all soaking in a melted mint shake, melted icecream, mixed in with some mayonaise, ketchup bbq sauce, and soggy napkins. the smell alone was enough to send you running, but the sight just made me want to puke. and then i became very angry because someone had the nerve to lift the tray covering the trash hole, dump all their crap into an empty cabinet, put the tray back, and not mention a word. so how does one go about cleaning that up (the "one" of course being me) well, put some plastice golves, which only protect them from getting dirty, not protect from the revolting feel of chicken and lettuce soaked in milkshake. had to pick all of it up by hand, and dump it in the trash can... pretty much the grossest thing ever, (except for the time the mystery liquid by the dumpster got all in my face two weeks ago). i did my ususal stocking-stall when it was slow, and then my shift was over. it was a tough shift not only because of the multiple messes, but because i was so STINKIN tired. i went to fernando (my boss) to check which shift i would be working next saturday, my last day at chick-fil-a. fernando's response: "well stavro, i didn't need you next week, so your done. we'll see you friday to come pick up your check." what? i am ending my chick-fil-a carreer today? on a day as unpleasant like this? and hey, there's a reason it's called a two week notice, and it is not just out of courtesy for the boss, but also to give yourself two weeks to prepare for it to be over... i was NOT ready to stop working at chick-fil-a.
so completely caught off guard, i left and just went to golden spoon.
and then, i finally got around to taking a nap, and i went into such a deep sleep, that when i woke up, i thought it was sunday morning, however, it was only an hour later.
naps totally throw me off.
and i am still tired.
so i am going to go play tennis now...
thatll make me feel better.
but so ya, these entire past few days, my eyes have just been totally tired and half open... i almost feel like i have only seen half of whatever is going on... its weird.
oh so tired.
ciao
starting thursday, not a moment's rest since until now. although it was a really full weekend from thursday on, i must say it was time spent well.
-went to the midnight showing of spiderman 3 on thursday night... awesome movie, you must go see it. my only issue was i finally got to bed at 3:30am, and then woke up at 5:30 am to...
-friday morning... went to breakfast at the incredible burger (delicious and perfectly sized breakfast burritos,,, not massive chipotle murder size). then we went to special games at cal state fullerton which was a total blast. however, i was so exhausted after only two hours of sleep, and my allergies were insane. i must have sneezed, no joke, at least once every 5 minutes. and anytime i wasn't sneezing, i was on the verge of it, thats a torterous feeling. and these sneezes were mighty powerful too. anyway, the girl who i was paired with was a TON of fun... she was so funny and always smiling, loving all the games. she was totally into the whole "tap the other shoulder and 'it wan't me'" game. a lot of fun. then after that i got to hangout and babysit some pretty cool kids! they are a fun bunch, but also and energetice bunch. and then after that, a night of fun on 2nd street with my friends from bible study. we did this progressive dinner thing... we had appetizers at this indian food place, dinner at open sesame (delicious as it always is) and then went to peets coffee afterwards for hot drinks (cause it was really cold). we all dressed up as "missionaries" because we were doing this dinner thing because the copelands are leaving soon for indonesia, so "missionary" was or dress up theme. it was definitely a night of fun... and of firsts... some of which i have pretty much decided to be a last :)
then after that i went to mi amiga danielle's party (which was a sleepover) and we all know that no one sleeps at sleep overs. so that was another late (but very fun) night.
-saturday, today, went straight to work from danielle's, and i don't know if i posted this, but i did give my two week's notice this week, so today was my second-to last day of work.
and today, work was TERRIBLE. i had dining room (again) and today i have concluded that the human kind is not only generally stupid, but also insanely MESSY. worst experience today: i was changing one of the trash cans, so, as is the normal routine, i covered the whole through which you throw out your food with another tray and a trash bag (so people wont throw away stuff in it when there is not trash can), put up a wet floor sign, and then removed the trash can itself and took it back to where we empty the trash and put a new bag in. i get back, and from the closed door of where the trash can is held (trash cabinet), there is a puddle of mint cookies n cream milkshake, and the source of this puddle? leaking from the the trash cabinet. the tray was still covering the trash hole, but i went over and opened the cabinet to see the nastiest mix of half a salad, nuggets, the remains of a chicken sandwhich, all soaking in a melted mint shake, melted icecream, mixed in with some mayonaise, ketchup bbq sauce, and soggy napkins. the smell alone was enough to send you running, but the sight just made me want to puke. and then i became very angry because someone had the nerve to lift the tray covering the trash hole, dump all their crap into an empty cabinet, put the tray back, and not mention a word. so how does one go about cleaning that up (the "one" of course being me) well, put some plastice golves, which only protect them from getting dirty, not protect from the revolting feel of chicken and lettuce soaked in milkshake. had to pick all of it up by hand, and dump it in the trash can... pretty much the grossest thing ever, (except for the time the mystery liquid by the dumpster got all in my face two weeks ago). i did my ususal stocking-stall when it was slow, and then my shift was over. it was a tough shift not only because of the multiple messes, but because i was so STINKIN tired. i went to fernando (my boss) to check which shift i would be working next saturday, my last day at chick-fil-a. fernando's response: "well stavro, i didn't need you next week, so your done. we'll see you friday to come pick up your check." what? i am ending my chick-fil-a carreer today? on a day as unpleasant like this? and hey, there's a reason it's called a two week notice, and it is not just out of courtesy for the boss, but also to give yourself two weeks to prepare for it to be over... i was NOT ready to stop working at chick-fil-a.
so completely caught off guard, i left and just went to golden spoon.
and then, i finally got around to taking a nap, and i went into such a deep sleep, that when i woke up, i thought it was sunday morning, however, it was only an hour later.
naps totally throw me off.
and i am still tired.
so i am going to go play tennis now...
thatll make me feel better.
but so ya, these entire past few days, my eyes have just been totally tired and half open... i almost feel like i have only seen half of whatever is going on... its weird.
oh so tired.
ciao
Wednesday, May 2
a penny per flavor
yes, a half clay-half grass court!!!! pretty stinking awesome!!!! so federer (in all white on the grass side) is the king of grass and #1 in the world... and nadal (with a little blue on) is the king of clay and #2 in the world. nadal has been undefeated on clay for the past two and a half years, totaling 72 strait matches won so far, and he is still adding to that now. plus this is the biggest rivalry (with nadal winning more than fed) so they decided to have this exhibition on this specially made court jus for the event. they switched sides and everything on chageovers, and they even had to change shoes on changeovers since clay shoes and grass shoes are different. i wish it were televised!!!! anyway, ya, way cool
what fun it is... i have never stood in line for an extended period of time to buy ice cream before.
in fact, i honestly can't remember the last time i had ice cream... it has to have been over a year.
but it was fun cause i went with a bunch of friends and it was only 31 cents for a scoop.
so that was the story for today...most of it :) but it ends here.
----
have you ever heard a sound, or smelled a smell that triggers a memory and momentarily puts you in that time and place?
today, the sound of my flip-flops clapping my heel, although something constantly in the background of my everyday travels, caught my ears. i was no longer walking to 7th period spanish but instead i was instantly back in palm desert, towel in hand and on my way to the pool. sun shining, absolute silence save the sprinklers in the distance making their rounds as if they could make the vast green grass any greener. absolute silence, except for a few birds chirping and chasing from tree to tree. absolute silence only broken by the sound of my flip-flops clapping my heel as i walked on towards the pool... the clapping half natural, half intentional... i remember loving the sound so i would clap them louder on purpose.
and a second later i was back on my was to spanish. i tried to clap my flip-flops louder again to bring me back to the moment... i wanted to go back to that so bad... it's such a peaceful memory. and it's old palm desert, before my grampa moved to a different house in palm desert, so that makes it even cooler.
it happens to me a lot... memory triggers. however, for me its most often by smell. i will have to tell you of my memory trigger everytime i smell sunscreen (coincidentally it is also dealing with palm desert). but it is so crazy though, because i have absolutely no control over the flash backs... and they are so real, and the trigger is so strong... but i find it totally cool! maybe you guys don't have these so you can't quite relate to how crazy cool these are.
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i am so stupid... at the beginning of this post, i saw a big black spider up above one of my rackets that are hanging on the wall. wanting to keep the writing juices flowing, i decided to wait till after this post was over to scream like a scardy cat and call for my father.
i am so stupid.
i looked up... spider is gone. spider is somewhere in this room because i procrastinated. i better not get bit tonight... i am not really in the mood to deal with spider bites right now.
i'm impressed by the spider's capability to move without me seeing it... i have this crazy spider radar, where i can point out a spider from across the house, no matter how small... and if it moves any one of its 8 nasty feet, i see it.
this one is rather sneaky sneaky... which scares me even more.
oy ve
in fact, i honestly can't remember the last time i had ice cream... it has to have been over a year.
but it was fun cause i went with a bunch of friends and it was only 31 cents for a scoop.
so that was the story for today...most of it :) but it ends here.
----
have you ever heard a sound, or smelled a smell that triggers a memory and momentarily puts you in that time and place?
today, the sound of my flip-flops clapping my heel, although something constantly in the background of my everyday travels, caught my ears. i was no longer walking to 7th period spanish but instead i was instantly back in palm desert, towel in hand and on my way to the pool. sun shining, absolute silence save the sprinklers in the distance making their rounds as if they could make the vast green grass any greener. absolute silence, except for a few birds chirping and chasing from tree to tree. absolute silence only broken by the sound of my flip-flops clapping my heel as i walked on towards the pool... the clapping half natural, half intentional... i remember loving the sound so i would clap them louder on purpose.
and a second later i was back on my was to spanish. i tried to clap my flip-flops louder again to bring me back to the moment... i wanted to go back to that so bad... it's such a peaceful memory. and it's old palm desert, before my grampa moved to a different house in palm desert, so that makes it even cooler.
it happens to me a lot... memory triggers. however, for me its most often by smell. i will have to tell you of my memory trigger everytime i smell sunscreen (coincidentally it is also dealing with palm desert). but it is so crazy though, because i have absolutely no control over the flash backs... and they are so real, and the trigger is so strong... but i find it totally cool! maybe you guys don't have these so you can't quite relate to how crazy cool these are.
----
i am so stupid... at the beginning of this post, i saw a big black spider up above one of my rackets that are hanging on the wall. wanting to keep the writing juices flowing, i decided to wait till after this post was over to scream like a scardy cat and call for my father.
i am so stupid.
i looked up... spider is gone. spider is somewhere in this room because i procrastinated. i better not get bit tonight... i am not really in the mood to deal with spider bites right now.
i'm impressed by the spider's capability to move without me seeing it... i have this crazy spider radar, where i can point out a spider from across the house, no matter how small... and if it moves any one of its 8 nasty feet, i see it.
this one is rather sneaky sneaky... which scares me even more.
oy ve
Tuesday, May 1
getting dizzy on may day
may 1...
wow
today is a big day for the senior class... college decisions were due by today, so now everyone (hopefully) knows where they are headed next fall... it's interesting to hear where everyone is off to. i have been having fun telling people that i changed my mind and am now going to BYU hawaii.
i had someone tell me that they missed my helmet today... i must confess i miss it too.
you can call me "coach"... i forgot to mention that i am the jump coach for the middle school track team... it's kind of cool, them calling me coach stavro/coach cristina. it's been about two weeks now, and it's fun to see them having fun jumping and all, and they are actually some pretty cool kids.
today i am going to chick-fil-a after school to talk to my boss about my two week notice... it's weird because technically i am quitting, but i don't look at it that way, its just kind of like, well, i am done working. there's no harsh reason why i am "quitting," it's just i want to have the last 4 weekends (which is what i will have after quitting) before graduation to be free to hang out and do stuff.
"--the past is clear, and the future blind... how can we keep from letting the present getting blurry?--"
chew on that
trident
one reason why i am sad april is over... when writing the date on homework or papers, ialways write numbers, like for instance today is 5/1/07. however, in the month of april, i will always write "april" and not use "4" (April 1, 2007)... no idea why, i just like how the world april looks... it's a mighty fine looking word.
may is an ugly word... as is august... i really don't like writing august... probably my least favorite.
wow
today is a big day for the senior class... college decisions were due by today, so now everyone (hopefully) knows where they are headed next fall... it's interesting to hear where everyone is off to. i have been having fun telling people that i changed my mind and am now going to BYU hawaii.
i had someone tell me that they missed my helmet today... i must confess i miss it too.
you can call me "coach"... i forgot to mention that i am the jump coach for the middle school track team... it's kind of cool, them calling me coach stavro/coach cristina. it's been about two weeks now, and it's fun to see them having fun jumping and all, and they are actually some pretty cool kids.
today i am going to chick-fil-a after school to talk to my boss about my two week notice... it's weird because technically i am quitting, but i don't look at it that way, its just kind of like, well, i am done working. there's no harsh reason why i am "quitting," it's just i want to have the last 4 weekends (which is what i will have after quitting) before graduation to be free to hang out and do stuff.
"--the past is clear, and the future blind... how can we keep from letting the present getting blurry?--"
chew on that
trident
one reason why i am sad april is over... when writing the date on homework or papers, ialways write numbers, like for instance today is 5/1/07. however, in the month of april, i will always write "april" and not use "4" (April 1, 2007)... no idea why, i just like how the world april looks... it's a mighty fine looking word.
may is an ugly word... as is august... i really don't like writing august... probably my least favorite.
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