Pictures of Paint

The past few days have been pretty uneventful. I started a new medicine that's supposed to help with headaches. So far, I'm not impressed. It dissolves on my tongue, and tastes awful. It's peppermint flavored, so I won't be able to go near anything minty for a while. I still hate all cherry flavored things from when I was a kid and I had to take cold meds, before I was old enough to swallow pills. Do you have any flavors like that? Some people have a strong aversion to grape, or orange. I think it just depends what kind was easiest for our parents to force-feed us.

We have a big exercise ball that my doctor told me to sit on, because it improves posture. (Which has to do with my tongue being in the right place, which is really complicated. Take my word for it: you don't want to know all the details.) I have found it is quite challenging to do anything while staying on the thing. And the landing on hard-wood floor is just that: hard. I am determined to continue trying, but maybe not with anything valuable on my lap. Like this computer, for example.

Last night I slept in the hobbit hole for the first time in over a year. It is very cozy, and confined, which I like. My cat isn't a big fan; she must be claustrophobic. I love it! It feels great to have accomplished something and have such a tangible final project. Here are some pictures (Sorry about all the weird angles; it is a very small space!):

The view from the door

The floor (Most of this is covered up, but I knew that would happen, and I think that's why I was able to be so free with it, and not worry what it would look like.)

Underwater

Flags

Flowers

(Inspirational) words

Palm trees

Ceiling

 

And the door (I sleep facing this way, so this is what I see when I'm in bed.)

I really loved painting it, and I am sure I will love being able to spend time in there.

A Lazy Weekend

Both computers are now up and running. The laptop was having issues connecting to the internet, but that got figured out. The big problem was that we had the wrong password. An anti-virus software might also have been causing some problems. We think it was slowing down the processes so much, that the computers just locked up. Anyway, we're all good now.

I have managed to get another cold, so I haven't been feeling so hot the last three days. The tutor came on Thursday for the first time, and came again yesterday. She is very nice, and more importantly, a good teacher. I think we are just going to try it, and I'm going to do what I can for a while. There are definitely still kinks to work out, but hopefully they will solve themselves.

Yesterday was the yearly check-up for our furnace, which meant I had to get up earlier than usual. I live on the bottom floor, and the entrance to the crawlspace (where the furnace lives) is through my room. It wasn't too horrible, and it actually worked out pretty well because I got most of my homework done super early. That always makes me feel good about myself!

Today has been a very relaxed, lazy day. It is finally sunny and warm, so my parents have been busy doing yard work. We have all split up now, and are doing our seperate things. I finished the math worksheet from yesterday, and it was surprisingly painless! I guess it's not too surprising that I remember most of the material;  I worked through the summer, so everything is pretty fresh in my mind.

Even Smokey looks relaxed. (And very tolerant of the camera!)

I wasn't too excited about doing house-related tasks, so I came inside and started flipping through cookbooks. We have an international cookbook that tends to be forgotten behind the other cookbooks. I found two yummy looking recipes for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and Tikki Chicken. The cake came out pretty well, considering it had to be flipped over. The chicken is marinating; we will cook it closer to dinner time.

My dad is watching two football games. I usually like to watch with him, but today I just couldn't settle down. (Don't ask me why I can settle down to write this, though.) Neither game is close, which makes them pretty boring for me. And seeing as I don't follow or root for any teams, I guess it isn't that surprising that I don't feel like watching.

The Divison of Wildlife called today, with an update on the hawk we had in our backyard. Remember him?

He is doing well, and yesterday was the first day he was put in an outdoor cage. He flew the length of it twice, which is excellent news. (Both of his wings were broken.) When he is ready to be released back into the wild, we will get to help. I will keep you updated on his progress.

As I write this, my parents are plotting something (I would say something evil, but I'm almost positive it's for my birthday, and that's definitely not evil). I am very curious as to what they are doing. This morning my mom was doing something secret on the computer....

Any plans for the weekend? Do you have anything special you are looking forward to?

Crash! Boom Bang

Yesterday, there was a message from my dad (who had already left for work) telling me to make sure everything on the computer was backed up. I promptly freaked out, because, like a good child of the electronic age, almost everything of mine is on the computer. And only about half is backed up. I spent a good portion of the morning grinding my teeth and yelling at the computer.

I was able to recover everything except some of my music, that I hadn't already transferred to my ipod. I guess it was probably a good thing I had to go through all my files, because now I am mostly organized, and I have sworn to myself I will be better at backing things up in the future. (You know I'm going to break that promise.)

I am writing this from our other computer, which is painfully slow. Something to do with an older hard drive that is very full. It also doesn't have the ability to do pictures, so until the other one is up and running, there will be a lot of Google images.

You might have noticed, I made a few changes to my blog. You can now feed my fishies by clicking anywhere in the water. Hopefully they will stay alive longer than my real ones tend to. (Who are not looking so good today.) I also put up a banner in support of Iranians getting their votes counted and their voices heard. It is a very worthy cause, but the president was sworn in for a second term a few weeks ago, so I don't know that anything will change. At least for another four years.

I am going to have a tutor for at least the rest of the semester, since my doctor doesn't want me in school around all my germ-y classmates. I talked with my tutor today, who sounds really nice and  a little hyper. It looks like she will start later this week. I have been doing my best to stay up in two of my classes, but communication with teachers has been hard. My parents have taught me for the past year or so; it will be sort of strange to have someone else. But hopefully good because it will all be one-on-one time.

My hobbit hole painting is going really quickly. I am working on the flag wall, and after that, I'll be pretty much done. I had some serious issues with the Canadian flag. Who knew a maple leaf could be so hard? My straight lines are getting straighter, and some are actually recognizable as flags! (My mom wanted me to add that she convinced me to start painting, not the other way around, like I previously mistakenly stated.)

My mom's birthday is less than a month away, so I am making plans for that. Our two birthdays are only five days apart (I was due on her birthday), so we will celebrate hers the week after. Maybe go out to a new restaurant with some live entertainment?

Any ideas? What do you like to do for your birthday?

A Mish-Mosh With Some Twilight

The book I just finished was....interesting. It was good writing, with good characters, but something was off. It was realistic fiction (this could happen to you), but it was almost like the author got so carried away with telling the story that it became totally unrealistic. If that's how it really worked when you gambled and dropped out of high school, there wouldn't be any teachers left.

I am finally getting over my most recent cold (knock on wood). Today I had a little busrt of energy, but I used it all up and then some. We went to the library, the bank, and the doctor. I love going to the library, though. Libraries have always been my happy place and it is worth any amount of energy to go. (Well, it's worth more energy than a lot of other things.) The best is when the librarians recognize you and pick out books they think you'll like.

I also got a few movies; we'll see how scratched they are. I love watching good movies that I've seen before. It's really relaxing because you don't have to pay as much attention to the plot, just enjoy the movie as a whole.

Speaking of movies, the holiday release season is coming up (yay!). So, I'm trying to track down some good movies to see. Or for my parents to see on a date. You know, same thing, right?

I know the release of the second Twilight movie is coming up. Honestly, I'm not too impressed with the books or the movie(s). Please walk away now if this is going to horribly offend you. I'm much more excited that they are releasing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in time for Christmas!

I have read the four Twilight books and seen the first movie. I liked the first book; I was actually impressed and excited for the rest of the series. I was, however, deeply disappointed. The plot is dull and seems to repeat itself, and at the end, we have a perfectly happy, married, mother, (vampire) 17 year old! Really? (And the writing wasn't even that good.)

Okay, so that's my rant, and I'm sorry if you were offended, but now you can go back to drooling over Robert Pattinson.

What movies have you seen recently? Any you would reccommend?

Rain, Really?

It has been raining here like crazy, which is really strange. Good though; all the plants are loving it, and it is surprisingly green for this time of year. Some things are turning, which is sad, but there's something so peaceful about it. Maybe I just like that it's so predictable. Anyway, it makes for lots of pretty colors.

 

  

 

On Monday coming back from the doctor (who is conveniently located across town) it was pouring, and for a while you could barely see the lines on the road. But we got home just fine, and only saw one accident.

My doctor has recommended that I not go to school for a while, at least until flu season is over. Apparently everyone has been unusually sick this year, not to mention the swine flu.

Down in my room there is a little storage space we call the hobbit hole (that's a Tolkien reference, for all of you non-Lord of the Rings people out there). Last summer I convinced my parents to let me paint it. It is still a work in progress, but I think I'm ready to wrap it up soon. Even before I painted, it was a really cozy space where I could sleep and read. I'm missing being able to do that, so I hope to be done (ish) by my birthday (Oct 15). I will definitely post some pictures once I'm done.

My parents think I won't be able to sleep with all the crazy colors and different things, but I think it'll be great. I'm normally not an artsy person, but this has been really fun and relaxing for me. It's a lot of abstract shapes, with some flags (which are very square) and very simple fish (made with ovals and triangles).

I hope the weather treats you well.

Do you like to paint? Is there somewhere special you go to relax?

Mountain Climbing and Peach Eating

It's been a pretty low-key week. I'm on my third cold since the start of the school year (impressive, I know), but my spirits are pretty good. I'm not going to school most of the time, which has been very confusing to my school. I feel like it might finally be getting worked out, and that everyone sort of knows what's going on.

My mom climbed a mountain with two friends today. She is already in bed, exhausted. It was pretty bad weather to do anything, let alone climb a mountain over 14,000 feet.

My dad and I had fun while she was gone; football season has started (!), so we got to watch a few games while she was away. My dad played in high school, so he explains all the many, many rules to me. I still don't really know what's going on, but I know it's big when they say something like "92 yard punt return".

My mom bought a huge box of peaches on Friday and we've already eaten our way through a peach cobbler and about 10 plain ones. They're wonderful!

Tomorrow we are having a few families over for a potluck dinner. We meet every few months at a different house, and just catch up and play. It's at our house, so everything is sort of creepy-clean. (Well, my room is.) Several of them have the sniffles, which is kind of scary with my immune system being so low. I think I'll attack them with hand sanitizer before they walk in the house.

Any big plans for the weekend?

A Celebration and....

On Sunday my parents and I attended my mom's friend's daughter's wedding. (Or you could say my dad's friend's step-daughter's wedding.) Anyway, a nice wedding here in town. It was a good excuse to get all dressed up and feel pretty, which everyone should at least once a month. I got around to painting my nails which really needed to be done. I ended up not really liking my toenail color, but being too lazy to change it.

I just stayed for the ceremony a little bit of the reception. My parents brought me home and then went back for a few hours. They came back three hours later having just finished the main course! I'm glad I didn't stay that whole time; I am tired enough as it is.

 

Monday we had no school because of Labor Day (I have never gotten what that holiday actually is, but if I have no school, it's cool with me). Today I have another cold of some sort, so I stayed home. It doesn't sound like I have the H1N1 virus, but that's definitely on my (mom's) mind.

I think it is pretty safe to say that every room in our house has an instant hand sanitizer dispenser in it. We have become a little obsessed. Well, given that so far every time I dare to step out of the house I get sick, I guess it makes sense.

I did some homework, and realized I am really very messy. I was just working on chemistry. We have our first test/quiz Thursday, so I was getting ready for that. The first test of the year is always the worst, because I never know how hard it is going to be. I usually stay up half the night studying, and then get really irritated when it turns out to be really easy. You can tell I haven't changed:

I also filled my pill case, which is always a rather big task. I should really write all my meds down, but I still haven't, so I have to double and triple check everything. But I haven't made a mistake yet. (That I know of.)

 

Before getting too freaked out, please remember that most of these are supplement/nutrient sort of things.

What did you do for the long weekend? Do you have an obsessed that rivals mine with hand sanitizer?

Bird Rescue

We had something exciting happen yesterday; a hawk with a broken wing was in our backyard. It's unclear exactly what happened, but it was under our plum trees for about an hour before the rescue people got here. Two volunteers from the Department of Wildlife came by to get it. They took it to a bird rescue center where they will eventually release it back into the wild. 

The birds and squirrels in our yard were going nuts. They sat above it and were making a huge racket. 

Here are some pictures I took. We couldn't get very close; every time we opened the door or went outside it moved further away.

 

Smokey was fascinated:

 

And then the rescue people came:

  

 

Grandparents

 

This picture of my mom has nothing to do with my post. I just really like it, she looks so happy. (Even though she's going off to work.)

Over the weekend my grandparents spent a few hours at our house. They both have Alzheimers disease, so we have gotten really good at answering the same questions over and over, and over.

My grandfather really enjoyed seeing pictures of one of my dad's trips. My grandfather was in the second world war and loves talking about anything to do with that. He wasn't in direct combat, so he actually has really good memories of that time. It's amazing all the details he remembers from then, but he doesn't know anything about the present.

My mom got my grandmother to help her cook some dinner. They made peach cobbler and scalloped potatoes. She kept saying stuff like, "I don't remember" and "I don't know what I'm doing", but here hands seemed to remember just fine.

 

They just moved here from Massachusetts in the spring, so we're still getting used to them being here, but it's great to be able to see them more often. I feel so lucky that I get to spend time with them. They still remember me, (although they know me as "Junior"), which is great. 

Do you have grandparents? Do you get to see them?