If You're Pushed for Time, Just Read the Italic Portion at the End

Wow, I've been terrible at posting. Like, really awful.

My birthday was great, I got four new books and the movie "Brigadoon." The books I got are "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," "Tex," "Incarceron" and "Across the Universe." I've read "Forest" and "Tex" and I'm on "Incarceron." I plan on posting some review-esque posts soon :)

I used to LOVE the movie "Brigadoon" when I was really little and we haven't been able to find it for years and years. We watched it the night of my birthday and it was really sweet :) Some lines and especially some songs brought back waves of childhood memories. The dancing in the movie is really great, too. I guess I was too little to appreciate that when I was five XD

Last Friday was the Father-Daughter Sweetheart Dance. It was basically like prom only with better music and dads instead of awkward guys. I had a blast :D Pictures possibly soon, my friend's dad took them and they haven't appeared on Facebook yet...

Yesterday, in case you don't know, was Valentine's Day :D I had a good one. We went out to dinner as a family + my grandma. The restaurant was actually the same one my dad and I had gone to before the Father-Daughter Dance. We saw the same cute waiter :3 He told me to have a good night. That may or may not have MADE my night...

I got to drive home :) Yes, in case I never officially said so, I got my permit :) I plan to post more on that later also...

So basically my life has been fine. Up until tonight. When something devastating happened (don't get too upset, I suppose I'm probably being a little melodramatic). First, a little back story.

Have you ever heard of the show Happy Days? If you haven't, you should watch it, because it's genius. It's set in the 50s and 60s and it's about this teenager named Richie and his friends. My personal favorite character is Fonzie, the greaser who's a shocking blend of freaking TOUGH and surprisingly profound.

Anyway, I started watching Happy Days every night at 10 o'clock around Thanksgiving when I was going through some internal crap XD It was so hilarious and fun and took my mind off things. I watched the two episodes and went to bed neatly at 11 o'clock. I went to bed happy and laughing over some of the lines.

If I was having a bad day, it was okay because I could watch Happy Days at 10 o'clock.
If I was stressed about school, I could make it through because I could watch Happy Days at 10 o'clock.
If I was struggling with what to do about something, there was a chance that I'd find wisdom in Happy Days at 10 o'clock.

Happy Days was something happy, something constant, something perfect and reliable that I could count on every night to make every day happy. Lately I've actually said during the day, "I'm so excited--Happy Days comes on tonight!"

XD I know, I'm a complete dork. But a happy one. This evening was great because I was looking forward to my daily dose of Fonzie and my close-second-favorite ChaChi. Good ol' reliable 10 o'clock rolled around and--

Holy mother of feathered cow gerbils. No Happy Days.

Yes. You read that right. No. Happy. Days. The show does not come on at good ol' reliable 10 o'clock, just in time for me to go to bed neatly at 11. No Fonzie. No ChaChi. No wisdom. No laughter. No happiness. Nothing to get me through the day or cheer me up.

I realize that it is only a TV show. I realize that it is not the end of the world. I realize that I really need to get a life outside of watching actors who are now pushing 50 years old IRL. But when I read "Next: Family Ties" I died a little inside. I am way more devastated than I should be.

I thought I could never hate Michael J. Fox.

I was wrong.

~Kendra

Finally

Y'all know I've been having kind of a rough time lately. Well, these past few days have been just what I needed :)

Sunday:
Play practice went great! My dad took me and we talked a lot in the car. I love that. I don't really talk to him like I used to, and I miss that.

After play practice, I came home and just sat in the living room with my mom and dad :) Sometimes it's nice just to be around. We watched some TV and I colored XD [Shut up. You're never too old to color.]

After dinner, my dad and I walked down to the lake to feed the fish. The sun was shining just right and you see the little swarms of gnats near the water. A boat motor made a loud sound and all the gnats JUMPED! It was the funniest thing! My dad wondered if you could make them jump with your voice. He said "JUMP" in a low voice and...

They did! It was really weird, and equally hilarious.

We went back to the house and Daddy watered the grass while I kicked the soccer ball and played basketball. When he was done, he played with me. I got six shots in a row, which was good for that night. I was missing like 80% of all the shots I took XD

I picked daisies for my mom.

It was a great day.

Monday:
Memorial Day!
"I'm proud to be an American, Where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, Who gave that right to me."

We can't forget :)

To celebrate Memorial Day, we went down to the lake! My friend Brianna and her little brother Michael came over, and we went down to the beach. Before long, lots of other people had joined us. A few hours into swimming and having fun, a thunderstorm came up! We got a canopy up just in time.

I love thunderstorms. And this one was cool. Not the most amazing one ever, but it had a giant crack of thunder that made me grin.

Some of the kids, including Matt, were actually in the water when lightning struck nearby. Matt said he felt like someone had kicked him in the chest. I wasn't in the water when it happened. I was jealous XD

The whole day was just amazing. Hanging out with friends, doing random things, I even got to DRIVE MY DAD'S CAR. In the neighborhood, but still, with just me and Brianna in the car. Please don't have me arrested.

Tuesday:
I slept late and just kind of chilled around the house. My mom and Lizzy are at a practicum, so it's just me and Daddy at home. We went to this new frozen custard place, which was awesome. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get stuff on a massive list I had just made XD I also got CHEAP CLOTHES! Who doesn't love cheap clothes? I got a skirt and a shirt for a grand total of $9.70. Alriight XD

We ate at Subway.

Play practice went amazing. I'm learning the dances better than I thought.

Daddy and I watched episodes of The Office :) I love that show.

Today:
Another sleeping in day. It felt great.

I laid outside in the sun for a while. It felt soo nice out. I'm not really one of those girls who can just "go out and tan". I get really bored really fast XD But I'm pale. So, I took notebooks, books, and my iPod and managed to stay quite happy for about an hour. Then I got up and played basketball until I satisfied myself with a beautiful three-pointer.

After dinner tonight, a thunderstorm blew up. It was so beautiful. Daddy and I went out on the screened-in porch and watched the bright lightning and listened to the thunder. I love those peals where you can hear where the crack starts, and then follow it as it rips around the sky :)
Daddy had to go to band practice for our church, but I stayed outside and listened to the storm. God is so cool, you know? I think thunderstorms are one of his finest ideas :) It even inspired me to write a little. A beginning of a story that will never go anywhere, but hey, I like it.

So basically, I've been having an amazing past few days. It's finally starting to seem like the best summer ever.

~Kendra

50 Word Friday: Bad Day

It might be funny.
It might be wise.
A comment about living,
Or someone’s demise.

It might be scary.
Or even something gross.
Maybe something personal
Or something quite morose.

My posts are typically long;
Your eyes soon float away.
So once a week for you,
There’s 50 WORD FRIDAY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know those days when school work won't die, your dad makes plans for you, you're forced to go out when you'd rather stay in, your hair looks like crap, and you’ve got a headache?

Well, it's been one of those days.

But, hey, at least I was PRODUCTIVE.

*grumbles*

Episode II of Fortuna Kendrae (Kendra's Luck)

So, my mom got home a couple of weeks ago from her trip to Florida. She travels sometimes because of her position in Classical Conversations. Well, she had a lot of work that had accumulated over her week-long trip. The next day, she wanted to get right down to business.

That would have been much easier if her computer would turn on.

She pressed the "on" button of her laptop, and the cheerful Windows screen appeared along with the spinning mouse-arrow that's computer code for "Please-Hold-Oh-Impatient-One-Or-I-Will-Freeze-Up-For-Twenty-Minutes". Her computer's fairly new and fast, so that screen usually lasts all of seven seconds anyway. Not the case this time.

That cheerful Windows screen and Hold-On arrow continued to stare at her for minutes on end. Needless to say, ten minutes later, the screen was no longer cheerful, and neither was my mother.

She called in my dad, the family's Computer Superman (although he's not *especially* tech-savvy). I'm not really sure what they thought was wrong, but they tried all morning to get it to fix itself.

That afternoon, they moved on to looking for the computer's programming disk or something. I honestly have no idea. I think my dad explained to me why they were looking for it, but I can't remember. Maybe you geeks--I mean, computer lovers (XD just kidding) will know what the heck I'm talking about.

My dad looked ALL OVER THE HOUSE for that disk. We're a really organized family, so whenever we can't find something, it's a big deal. Major tension. My dad looked all in his and my mom's office, all upstairs, in the cabinets behind my Mom's Chair, in the unfinished part of the basement (a VERY large area), these drawers under this thing ('cause you totally know what I'm talking about there), EVERYWHERE. That stupid disk couldn't be found.

So they moved on to another solution. Don't remember what it was, but it was some kind of installment thing or something that took forEVER. It took about another whole day (so we're been trying to fix this stupid machine for two days), and the stupid thing still didn't work after that.

This lady from our church who's apparently computer-talented looked over the problem and didn't know what to do. So we called in our last resort:

COMPUTER GUY EXTRAORDINAIRE! From church. Very nice guy, very good with computers. He agreed to come the next day. So, it's now been THREE days of Tech Hell.

I wandered into my mom's office that night. She was leaning on her desk, just looking so depressed. I felt so bad for her. I went over and massaged her back a little. I sat down at her desk and glared at the stupid machine who was wreaking havoc on our family dynamic. The Windows screen was up and the arrow was spinning obliviously. Evil little creature.

Then I got this Feeling.

I sometimes get this Feeling. It's really hard to describe. It's like this happy, curious, confident, contented feeling. Like everything's all good, let me just try one thing...I usually get this feeling right before I do something weird. Good weird. Really unexpectedly-good-weird.

I cocked my head at my mom's computer, arrow still spinning. I got the Feeling and poked Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

Nothing happened. I honestly didn't expect it to. My subconscious seemed to only have tried that for kicks. All the sudden I pressed F5 (refresh).

The Windows screened cleared immediately, revealing Momma's account.

I looked up at her innocently: "I think I fixed your computer, Momma."

She looked. Eyes bugged. Jaw dropped. Whoa.

F5. Who woulda thought? Not Momma. Not Daddy. Not Computer Lady. Not Techie Man.

Not even me. I just did it. Didn't mean to; didn't think about it.

The computer is still running smoothly. Ta-da. Thank you, thank you very much.

And this has been another episode of...

FORTUNA KENDRAE!


P.S. Going to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3D tonight! I'll let you know if it sucks or not XD

Long Life Lessons

FOLLOWERS SAY ON CARPE NOCTEM HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!! :O :O
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Well, today is Question Day, but I won't be able to do it for lack of a question, lol!
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So, justagirl4god awarded me in the Honesty Scrap thing! Instructions:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

Thanks, Rachael!!

Okay, 10 honest things...

1. I don’t (usually) like to eat.
2. I like the moon better than the sun.
3. I have a strange fascination with thieves, assassins, etc.
4. Although my blog is named ~Carpe Diem~, I totally suck at carpe-ing my diem.
5. My goals for my life include becoming a writer, lawyer, kindergarten teacher, and mom.
6. The author I admire most (aside from the obvious like Tolkien and stuff) is Hilari Bell.
7. My hair is naturally this weird mix of corkscrew curls and waves (maybe it sounds pretty, but it’s not, lol).
8. My eyes change color.
9. I sometimes bruise/get scratches/have pulled muscles from dreams.
10. My #1 wish of ALLLLLLLLL time is to have an older brother.

Ta-da! :D I now tag/award...
Jaynine
Seth
Steven
Cassie
Mr. Puddle
Meggie
Gabrielle
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Okay, so today has been weirdly awesome.

First of all, let me start out by telling you how a typical school day goes for me.

9:30am: Get woken up by mom.
9:45am: Actually get up.
9:40am: Go upstairs and eat breakfast (and read Dear Annie in the paper, catch my favorite comics in the funnies section, read a chapter or two of whatever book I'm reading..."
10:10am: Come down stairs and "start school"
10:11am: Check all my many emails, check my blogs, check Facebook, stalk some people on Facebook (maaaaaybe...)
10:30am: Repeat.
10:40am: Actually start school. Fiddle around with some research for Western Culture, glance at biology, check off twice as much stuff on my list as I actually did.
11:05am: Repeat what I did at 10:11.
11:30am: Do a math lesson.
11:55am: Well, I've been hard at work all morning, so I guess I can just read or goof around until lunch.
12:30pm: Lunch.
1:05pm: Write a paper...or at least a couple of paragraphs...okay, four sentences maybe...
1:10pm: Check Facebook.
1:30pm: Finish paper...or at least a couple of paragraphs...
2:00pm: Check Facebook, emails, blogs...
2:20pm: Do some logic.
2:40pm: Glance over some reading for Art History...
2:50pm: Get side tracked by this old story I found in my room...
3:10pm: Oh, wow! A whole day gone! Guess I'll call it a day.

-.-

Long schedule short: My work ethic sucks. Absolutely SUCKS. I know that, and the people that I admire the most do not have sucky work ethics. I would like the people I admire to think well of me, too.

So.

Today, I decided to exercise the self-dicipline I KNOW I have (...don't I?) and work HARD. Actually HARD.

I was at school by 9:30. I attacked biology with ferver. I got a lot more done than usual, and OMG I UNDERSTOOD IT??????? I did!

Then, I got to work on the bibliography that I'm supposed to have been keeping for six weeks but haven't. It is no easy task tracing down every website you used to find research on the Renaissance, Albrecht Durer, Jan van Eyck, Michelangelo, El Greco, Leonardo da Vinci, the "Pieta", "The Resurrection", and "Arnolfini's Wedding".

But I did it.

Then, I got to work on the vocabulary list I'm supposed to have been keeping for six weeks but haven't. That was a bit easier.

THEN, I FINALLY started working on my Art Grant Project. (Basically, we have to put together a presentation to apply for a "grant" for an art project. We give a presentation to the class, and then the class votes on whether or not we get the grant.)

Step One: Decide on a project.

Yeah. My work strategy basically sucks.

So, anyway, I got up to date on the Grant Project.

Next, a math lesson.

Next, attack a chapter in logic.

By this time it's 3:30pm, and I've only checked Facebook once. I've also had the most enjoyable (NO sarcasm!) and productive day I've had in a long time.

Then, I attack the Art History paper on Leonardo da Vinci some more.

By this time it's 4:15pm. Busy day, crazy, day, but a really fun day! :O :O :O Weird, huh?

So, my dad comes in and tells me that if we want to grab a bite to eat somewhere before the special play practice at 6pm, we should go. (It takes us 45 minutes to get to the play practice town). The special practice was for me and the other people who are working with the Hun puppets.

So, we go eat at Pizza Hut, just me and my dad, which was awesome. I get along with him so well. We always have such a fun, easy time. We're a lot alike.

Play practice went well. Working with a big, heavy-ish puppet is a challenge, and my arm is a tad sore (lol), but I think I'm getting it, and I had a lot of fun. I'm really getting to know people better, and I'm getting to be more of myself around them.

We came home, and watched two episodes of this spy-mystery-action-freaky-action-spy-mystery TV series we got on DVD called Alias. It's so awesome, but this last episode had some stuff set in a creepy, bad-conditions mental institute...do I even have to say that I am a little creeped out?

So, after an awesome day in all ways possible...

I still have to read a ton of "Gulliver's Travels", do some Latin, and read some Art History stuff.

*SIGH*

SLACKING DOESN'T PAY, PEOPLE! And actually doing the work can be more enjoyable than doing nothing all day...

I am a bit worried about getting those three last things, done, though...Tomorrow's schedule:

8:00am: GET UP.
8:30am: Eat something (c'mon, just oneeeee bite...)
9:00am: Get self looking...decent.
9:30am: Leave for play practice.
10:00am: Play practice.
1:00pm: Lunch break.
2:30pm: Resume play practice.
5:00pm: Get out of play practice.
5:30pm: Babysitting
11:00pm (hopefully): Come home, sleep.

...

And WHERE am I supposed to fit in reading "Gulliver's Travels", doing some Latin exercises, and reading loooooong chapters in the Art History books?

Ohh, right, I should have been doing that instead of posting...

XD Ah, well. Some things never change.

Carpe diem, everyone! And sorry for this epic-long post...

Awards! And a Crappy Day :(

AWARD DAY! I'm going to give out two awards a week, I think. I want to get to everyone eventually, so this will make it happen quicker, lol!

Well, it's a full moon, and I LOVE the moon, and Moon Shaw has been very comment-y lately, so...

The Moon Award goes to Moon Shaw! :P

And to Crescentise, the Awesome Name Award!Sorry Crescentise's is bigger. There is no reason for that other than the size of the pictures, lol!----------------------------

Hi! Short post today.

My day was crap. How was yours?

Why My Day Was Crap:

1. I felt uneasy for NO REASON.
2. My mother presented me with a giant list of chores.
3. My father got mad at me at the dinner table (with good reason, but the way my day was going, everything was just a million times worse).
4. I offended my mother and now she isn't talking to me.
5. I didn't feel good this afternoon.

And the day started out with such promise! I woke up, it was sunny, I felt great! I even **DID A MATH LESSON EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE WEEKEND AND I WASN'T BEHIND**. Yeah, that's how good it was!

And then it just had to go and roll down hill from there :-/ *sigh*

Well, guess they can't all be winners.

Mary and Martha: God's Custom-Made Love

So, today was definitely a cool day.

1. Cavender came to my church.
2. The sermon really spoke to me.
3. I had the first play practice.

I'll talk about the second cool thing last; it'll be my thing for God Day.

So, Cavender came to my church today! That was cool. He said he really liked the music, which is my favorite, too. I think our church really does have awesome music, and the band members are all really into.

Play practice went well, I think. We just did a read-through of the script and listened to the songs on a CD. Mushu (the little dragon) is played by a girl who definitely does it justice. The girl who plays Mulan is awesome. The guy who plays Captain Shang (Shang + Mulan = falling in love, duh ;D) is pretty good. He can sing pretty well. If he can just hide that southern drawl a little...Lol! No, really, he did fine. Mulan's father is...not good, and neither is the Emperor. I think the guys were just nervous, though. And it was the very first read through.

I'm, just in case you didn't know this, doing the voice for a big Hun puppet -.- Lols, I'm okay with it now, though. I'm also in the Ensamble (yay for singing and dancing with everyone else), and a hairdresser. I forgot to mention that last night. The hairdresser is going to be my favorite, probably. It's a tiny part with no real lines, but in a song, a have a quick singing-line all my myself, and then some with the other hairdressers and stuff. I picked out a couple of harmony parts, so I'm looking forward to being able to do them. I really hope I get a harmony part and not just the melody...
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God Day!

So, the sermon today was about Lazarus. Let me just do a quick run-through of this story. It helps me to do that. So, Jesus and his diciples are just kind of hanging around, and a messenger comes and says to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

The messenger is talking about Lazarus. Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary are good friends of Jesus', so they figured Jesus would want to know that Lazarus was sick. Really sick. Like, about-to-die sick.

Instead of going right to Lazarus' house, Jesus is just kind of like, "Oh, yeah, okay" and he hangs out in the little town where he is for a few more days.

Finally, he says to his diciples, "Okay, let's go see Lazarus. He's fallen asleep, and we'll just go wake him up."

The diciples are like, "Uh, but isn't sleep probably the best thing for him?"

Jesus: "I mean he's dead."

They go to see Lazarus, and when they're close to his house, Lazarus' sister Martha comes out and says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you want."

She's pretty much saying, "I know you're the Messiah, so why didn't you DO SOMETHING?"

She's kind of mad. She's like, if you're so amazing and powerful, why didn't you stop this from happening? Why didn't you FIX IT?

*cough* That might sound just a little familiar...maybe...

May 24th: "Then four years later, God takes him away. Uh, ouch. Thanks a lot, God."

July 17th: "WHY COULDN'T I HAVE HAD BROTHERS? IS ONE BROTHER TOO MUCH TO ASK? ONE? ONE??"

August 2nd: "Why had God taken Him away from me? Why on Earth would a good God do that? It's like someone punching you in the face."

March 23rd: "God created the Heavens and the Earth, surely he could give me my older brother!!"

...

Hmm.

A little later, the other sister, Mary falls at the feet of Jesus and says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died."

The way she says it is more like, "How could you be so unkind to your friends?"

Don't you love me, God? Why would you let this happen? Don't you care?

Of course, Jesus ends up raising Lazarus from the dead, but only after he meets both sisters where they are. With Martha, he takes the logical route.

Martha's argument is a simple Modus Ponens:

If you are the Messiah, then you could have saved my brother.
You are the Messiah.
Therefore, you could have saved my brother. (And yet you didn't.)

Jesus talks to Martha about how her brother will rise again. Martha is kind of like, "Yeah, thanks, I know he'll rise again at the ressurection and all."

Jesus says, "I am the ressurection!"

He's like, Martha, listen to me! I AM the ressurection! It's me, it's here! Your brother will rise again.

Mary comes to Jesus not from the logical and theological angle, but from the emotional, friend-to-friend angle. Jesus cries with her. He's really sad! Lazarus was his friend! He's upset. He cries with Mary.

Jesus meets us right where we are. Right where we need to be met. Whether it's logical or emotional, or somewhere in between.

As my pastor said in the sermon this morning (ALL of this is borrowed STRAIGHT from him, by the way), "God's love is not one size fits all, or most. God custom fits his love for us."

That was a great sermon anyway, but add on my whole issue with God not giving me a brother, then giving me one and taking him a way, and the sermon is flat out AMAZING.

It COULD NOT have been more spot on. I come to God from Martha's angle, as demonstrated in my post excerpts. God, you created the Heavens and the Earth. And you didn't give me a brother?? If you're so great, fix this injustice!

I also come to God from Mary's angle a little. God, if you love me, why would you do something so unkind? Why dangle my life's desire in front of my face, and snatch it back? Don't you care for me?

I know this has been a very long post, and sort of jumbled and probably at parts unclear, but I just needed to get in writing how much this morning's sermon hit me. Everything was exactly fit to ME! This story is, literally, ANCIENT, and I've heard it, probably also literally, A HUNDRED TIMES, and it's never been so clear to me.

Every detail fits me. It's even about losing a brother and being mad at God because he could have prevented it and didn't.

It takes my breath away, y'all.

I could elaborate more, but I know you must be tired of the ranting, so I'll stop. I just want you to know that I KNOW that God is watching out for us. He knows what he's doing. And every once in a while, he might throw an tired ol' Bible story at you and revel a whole new meaning.

Thanks, God.

Checking In

Camp was great! I'll update more tomorrow. I just wanted to check in and tell everyone that I'm back and I didn't die or anything (lol, Kyle ;) ). Camp was fun, I had a great time, and I met some nice girls. Unfortunately, at least one of them did, in fact, think I was a total dork.

Fortunately, I really didn't like her at all either, so it's all good :D

I also want to thank "Abby" and "David Bailey" for following!! Just so you know, David Bailey is my awesome daddy :)

Well, I'll catch ya later! I hope I'll be able to post tomorrow, but I'm not sure. We have to clean the house because some people are coming to stay with us for the next practicum. And, it's Father's Day, of course, so I'll be spending time with my dad.

Carpe diem! TTYL!

A Little Bit of Everything

VERY GOOD EXCUSE: My grandma had a heart catherazation and we had to go and see her and then bring her home and spend the night last night. So, I didn't just ditch posting or whatever :) (My grandma is okay.)
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But I do have a Challenge!! Bwahahaha. Eat a War Head candy without making a face. Hah. Let me know how that goes, because I've never been able to do it. I love those things.
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No Carpe Noctem thoughts today :( Sorry.
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Okay! So...I finished driving!! We just have to call the Department of Non-public Education and have them send me some certificate of elegibility or something and then I can get my permit! *gasp* :) AWESOME!!

"Mirror" is okay. I'm back to writing it, but almost half-heartedly. I went back and read it, and I'm going to have A LOT of editing to do -_- There are so many things that are just unrealistic and almost silly. *sigh* Oh well.

Dang, I feel boring again. I'm sure I had something to say...DARN, WHAT WAS IT??

Well, I changed my profile picture on Gmail, and it randomly changed my picture for some other blogger stuff...*shrugs* It's been dong weird things like that lately. So annoying. So far on the pole, the second picture, the universe one, is winning. I agree. That one is my favorite, I think. So, I'll be changing my profile picture to her as soon as the poll is closed. If anyone hasn't voted who actually cares, vote now! Lol :)

My daddy is still in Jamaica, and he's having a good time it sounds like. He and the other guys went to the market today. How cool is that? In some ways, I wish I were there, too. In others, I'm glad I'm not. I'm weird that way. I love to travel, but I hate trying new food and the traveling part (the car ride or plane trip), I don't like. *shrugs* But Jamaica sounds SO cool.

Well, I don't have any more news, so I won't keep blogging about nothing :) Talk to ya later! Carpe diem!

Pictures!

I'm thinking of changing my profile picture to one of those. And since this is Picture Day, that just works out perfectly :) Which picture should I change my profile picture to? Fireworkds, universe, or eye? Lol! Or should I just keep the one I have? Comment and tell me!

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Well, Daddy is on the plane on his way to Jamaica. I hope everything goes just right and nothing bad happens...yikes.

I feel incredibly boring. I haven't written in forever, and I feel like my imagination is fading altogether. I honestly think it has something to do with my being on the computer ALL DAY LONG. I really think it cuts your creativity and semi-melts your brain. I'm not trying to sound like a granny, it's just something I've noticed. Hmm...I won't if I can discipline myself enough to restrict my computer time...it's possible. Maybe...

Well, yesterday was fun!! At my dad's birthday/Going-Away-To-Jamaica party, there were all the funnest people there: Matt, Katie, Daniel, and Kaitlyn. I probably spelled her name wrong. I always do.

Anyway, we got out this giant bubblewrap pouch that the new couch was brought in. Matt got under it and we just ran around and stuff...then we took turns sitting on the bubblwrap and being pulled down the hill in my yard. And it rained on us...

I'm not sure why, and I'm sure you don't know either, that was such a fun, amazing evening. But it really was. It was like being with my family for the first time in a long while. I think of all those people as being my family. I have some really close friends (Ellie, Gabrielle, and some others), but they don't really feel like family, you know? Matt, Katie, Maddie, Ryan, Daniel, David. They feel like real family.

*shrug*

I'm reading a book called "Dragonspell" right now. It's okay. I don't like it A LOT, but it's pretty good. The reading level is below mine, I think. But the author--I forgot her name--has weekly online classes and mentoring sessions or something. She's also e-published four of her fans novels. Interesting, right? I might have to look into it. Maybe.

Well, I'm really boring right now, so I'll just stop. Carpe diem.

Love is a Verb

Word of the day: love.

How unoriginal, right? Well, maybe, but this DC talk song has been in my head all day, and it just seemed like the right word to use. The song that's been stuck in my head is called "Luv is a Verb". This is the first verse to the song:

Pullin out my big black book

Cause when I need a word defined thats where I look

So I move to the L's quick, fast, in a hurry

Threw on my specs, thought my vision was blurry

I looked again but to my dismayIt was black and white with no room for grey

Ya see, a big v stood beyond my word

And yo thats when it hit me, that luv is a verb

Cool, huh? I think we all need to remember that. Love isn't just something you say to people; it isn't just a mushy emotion. It's a VERB. If you love someone, don't just tell them. Show them.

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Well, today is my daddy's birthday!! Happy birthday, Daddy! Although, he rarely reads my blog anyway, so he probably won't see that...haha :)

Tonight we're having his "party". Tomorrow, he leaves for Jamaica. Crazy, right? I can't believe I haven't told y'all this before: he's going on a misison trip to Jamaica with four other guys from our church. I hope they'll be safe. And have fun. And help people learn about God. And be safe. And meet lots of new people. And be safe.

I'm such a worry-wart. I'm not super worked up or anything, I just really hope nothing goes wrong. That would be more than awful.

I have a really bad headache. Owww...

I've read ten books in two weeks. Wow.

My head hurts. And I have nothing more to say. Carpe diem! :)

P.S. Seth, you're awesome! Thanks for following!!!

Tights and Tight Spots

Darn. I missed another day of posting. But I did post twice on Tuesday (was it Tuesday?), so I guess that makes up for it :)

Okay, so here's the quote for yesterday: “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.” Shakespeare

I agree. Whenever I'm guilty, I'm constantly afraid that so-and-so is going to "find me out". It's an awful feeling, don't you think?
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Okay, today is...NAME DAY!! Simple, fun, I love it! :)

Today's name: Kendra.

Why not? Y'all should know what my name means. Pretty soon I'll probably start doing your names, so watch out ;)

Kendra means "fair one" or "fire sprung". Pretty awesome, huh? I feel okay with bragging about this name because I actually picked it. It's not my real name. Orrrrrrrr, it might be, and all the other names I use are fake...lol, I'm not saying one way or another. If I use one of my names for the Name of the Week thing, I'm going to pretend like I picked it whether or not I actually did.

Sorry. Unnecissarily confusing. Anyway...

That's what I always thought it meant. But just now when I double checked, I also found "greatest champion", "knowing", "chief hero", "keen power", "water baby" and "magical".

O.O

WOW!

I'm pretty sure "water baby" and "magical" are incorrect. I happen to know that the name Kenda, no "R", means that, so I think it's probably a mistake. But I might be wrong. It happens occasionally ;)
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Lizzy's dance rehearsal was last night, as you know. I got to put make up on her. She's really gorgeous WITHOUT make up. It was like having a life-sized Barbie doll to dress up, lol! I actually did a good job on the make up. She looked like she was about sixteen, when she's actually twelve and a half. *shudders* THAT was weird.

**WARNING! LONG STORY COMING UP!**

The rehearsal went well, she looked beautiful, no one messed up, we went out to grab some Wendy's afterwards, and everything was going great. All we had to do then was run by Wal-Mart to get some tights for me to wear for MY rehearsal (which is tonight). I know I should have gotten the tights before then, but I just...didn't.

So anyway, we went to Wal-Mart to get my tights (suntan and pale pink). I had a mental picture of the tights display, but I had no idea where that place WAS. So Lizzy and I hunted all over the store while my dad got a hose bolt or something. We didn't find the dance tights (there's a big difference between "tights" and "dance tights", by the way).

Finally, I was like "Let's just ask someone." So Lizzy's all like "There's a guy! There's a guy!" I was really looking for a female worker since I didn't figure the guys would know, but I asked the guy anyway. He didn't really know. So finally we found a lady and asked her. She pointed us to the display without blinking. Halelujah!

We went to the display, located the right colors, and looked for my size.

No size 12-16. In pale pink OR suntan.

It's like nine-thirty at night, my dad has to get up early the next day, my mom is home from being out of town and waiting for us at home. DANG IT!!

Lizzy and I meet Daddy at the check-out empty handed. Daddy pays for the hose thingie and we speed over to Target.

"This is where Momma got my tights," Lizzy says as the two of us run into Target. "So I know they're here. Hope they have your size." I didn't say anything. We looked in the Women's department, but all I saw were regular tights and hose. So I go the dressing room area and ask the lady,

"Where are the dance tights?"

"We don't have dance tights."

*blink*

"Are you serious?"

Lady tried not to smile. "I'm serious."

"WELL. That really sucks. Thanks anyway."

Lizzy and I went back to the car. It's now after ten o'clock, and I was still tight-less. My rehearsal was the next day, and my tight size was no where to be found.

Reeeeeeeeeally not a good situation.

Daddy told me we could go to a different Wal-Mart in the morning. Hopefully they would have my size.

So this morning I woke up stressed, at breakfast stressed, got on the computer stressed, and did some math stressed. I was putting off the trip to the store for who-knows-what reason. I also really didn't want to tell my mom about the situation. She can get a little...tense about that kind of thing. Daddy and Lizzy seemed to think the same thing, because neither of them mentioned our little shopping frenzy either.

After I did some math (GAHH!), I decided to check my top draw again for tights. I checked a week ago, and they weren't there, but sudden random miracles have been known to happen to me.

So, I dug through years of dance costumes, panty hose, soccer jerseys, knee socks. Nothing. With a sigh, I started putting everything back.

That's when I saw them.

Neatly folded in the corner of the drawer was a pare of pale pink tights. Beside them, a pair of suntan.

Go figure.

:)

So now all that's left for this evening is to get excited and nervous, get dressed, and go! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. I hope I don't mess up. I know this is only the rehearsal, but I'm still excited! :) Talk to you later! Carpe diem!

Spring Hormones

I did yard work today :D Sort of. Not, like, extreme labor or anything, but I did plant flowers and stake out a spot for my vegetable garden. I'm having crazy cravings for growing things lately. I want something to take care of. So I'm going to have a vegetable garden with tomatoes, squash, zucchini, spinach, and possibly some kind of bean or something. I'm excited :D :D

There was a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon!!! :D I LOVE thunder storms. They're so awesome. They're like power and beauty incarnate. So awesome.

My dad was fixing the invisible fence for our dog today. You know, burrying the wire in the woods and stuff. And while he was doing that, his cell phone slipped off its little clip on his belt. He didn't notice until he was finished and his cell phone was missing. He was going to just walk around the woods with another cell phone, calling his phone, and listening for his ringtone, but he was afraid he might not be able to hear it ringing. So, he asked me to come help him listen for it. I grabbed my cell phone and we went to the edge of the woods. I called his phone, and heard it ringing. It was far away. He said he couldn't hear it at all. It was really kind of fun because he had to totally rely on me since he couldn't hear the ringing at all. We did find the phone after a while, and it was about seventy-five feet from where we'd started. It made me feel good that he'd needed me so much :)

I had this awesome dream last night that I was part of a HUGE family. With, like, ten kids. I could only remember two names when I woke up, though, and none of the plot. Darn. It would have made a great story, I remember that much. I might try to pull something together for a story anyway since Creepy is going so crappy (crappily??). Oh, and the two names I remember were Penelope, who was my older sister, and Evangelina, who was my oldest sister's daughter. So, my neice. Weird.

Well, that's all mostly. I helped my mom cook today. Voluntarily. Something is wrong with my hormones or something. I'm all into cooking and taking care of stuff lately. It's kind of freaking me out. 'Cause I'm so not the cooking, house-keeping, planting type. *frown* It's weird. Oh well. I'll let you know if anything really DRASTIC happens. TTYL! CARPE DIEM!

And don't forget to read Carpe Noctem. The topic for this week is...Weird vs. Normal: Does the Problem Even Exist? http://toseizethenight.blogspot.com/2009/04/weird-vs-normal-does-problem-even-exist.html