Day Eight

Got up at nine again, but woke up a few hours earlier. Just being lazy I guess. I got up and made breakfast. Ate breakfast while watching one of my favorite movies. Ran to the bank at ten. Took care of all my "church funds" that I'd set aside for "later", now just seemed to be a good a time as any. Came back home. Ran to the store to buy some milk.

Then, on the way back, I got a phone call from my boss. He asked if I would come in to work early. It was eleven thirty then. I had work at five. He told me that one of our guys pulled a "no call, no show" thing and that he needed someone "Bad!" -I'm horrible at saying No. ...But I had no real, hard reason NOT to go to work. Of course I had my talk. And a bunch of reading to catch up on. I also had a few things to take care of around the house. But nothing that absolutely HAD to get done... So, of course, I went to work. I started at eleven-fifty-six and ended at ten-twenty-seven. According to my time-sheet thats nearly eleven hours. Good money.

Of course, I'm practically dead with exhaustion. Our store's AC is broken and when you're working with hot bread and ovens and junk, it gets pretty hot. And the fact that it's Fast Sunday tomorrow didn't help any either. I thought I was gonna faint! Well I went in at lunch time -which I didn't have time to eat, due to my call-in and my stupid rubber-bands. So yeah. I was Very hungry and very hot. Totally dehydrated. But I'll survive. On the bright side, I'll get to eat after church, instead of having to wait 'til dinner. Oh and there will be refreshments after the graduation. I'll be sure and let you know how it goes...

Day Seven

I got out of bed at nine, but woke up a few hours early. I was hoping to squeeze in a little more sleep before it became too ridiculous. I caught up on my scripture reading. Did my hair. Got ready for work. Went to work. And while I was at work I got a phone call from my seminary teacher. She asked me if I would give a talk at the seminary graduation on Sunday night. Of course I consented. I have no idea what I'm going to say though. I told her this was quite the "head's up". Whenever I've been asked to give a talk I always prepare it the following Monday and use the rest of the week to memorize it the best I can. But yeah. I don't think I've ever been asked to talk on a two day notice. I guess I'll see how it goes...

Day Six: Orthodontics.

Got up at seven. Said goodbye to the family as they headed out for school/work. Got on the computer. Left for the orthodontics like two hours early. (And just a side note: The road kill in Arkansas is horrible! Armadillo grave-yard! Holy Cow! I must have passed like twenty of them!) -I got in to my appointment an hour early. Ha! A lot of good that did!

I thought this appointment would be like any other: In and out. The assistants are really good about speed. Besides, I was only getting my braces tightened and looking over an X-ray of my wisdom teeth. (Turns out I'll have to get all four of them pulled. Ugh!) But No! Today just happened to be totally different! They let a new girl work on my teeth! Holy Cow! She had no idea what she was doing! She was like yanking and pulling and I could just see the confusion in her face. She was all worried and kept glancing around the room for help. But I was patient with her, even when she was taking my wires out and set half of it on my cheek while she attempted to "pry" the other side out. And these are metal wires, keep in mind. It was like poking into my skin and it hurt so bad! I seriously thought I was going to bleed! Lucky for me I guess, it didn't puncture the skin. No blood involved.

And then, while she was working on who-knows-what inside my mouth, I felt my mouth close -and you know, the mouth does that automatically, it's not like I did it on purpose. Anyway, I felt this rubber thing between my teeth and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was the girl's finger. I opened my mouth really fast and made sure that I kept it WIDE open. (well, it wasn't the first time I bit my assistant...) But anyway, after fiddling with my mouth she made a few notes on the computer and I sheepishly asked her if I had actually bit her just then. Her answer made me turn a little red. I had. I apologized and would have apologized again if my mouth hadn't been preoccupied... It's hard to hold a conversation when your mouth is open. Well...you know what I mean.

Anyway, she just laughed and said that it was funny. That I apologized mostly. I don't know. I felt really bad. Well, not that bad. I didn't actually bite her, I just put my teeth together and her fingers happened to be there...

Well anyway, now I have to wear lots of rubber bands. Ugh. Nightmares. I have to ware five of them. And in funny positions. Big ole' boxes and I have to double up on the right side. Ouch! They hurt like crazy! If my cousins hadn't made me promise to eat every single meal I'd be sure to skip a few. It hurts WAY too much to keep taking them out and putting them back in. It feels like my mouth is completely glued together! And I have to keep them in for twenty one hours in a day. I can only take them out when I brush and when I eat. But my orthodontics said that if I keep them in while I eat (even thought it may be messy) the process will go faster.

...On the bright side of these horrid bands, I'll more than likely get my braces out in about three to four months instead of the original six. They may be out by the end of August or mid-September. How cool is that!? I may have to boost some of my payments though... My dad sounded kinda skeptical when I told him that they might com e out early. He doesn't think they'll be taken out until I've made all my payments. But I don't mind. I can make my payments a little early...

Haha. When my orthodontics came by to give me a final he looked over my X-rays and told me that he really did not like the way my wisdom teeth were looking. They'll have to come out. Anyway, at one point me told me to close my mouth and then open it, and I felt so embarrassed! When I was opening my mouth my jaw popped! He made a face and told me that that was really not good. Well, it's not like I could help it! My jaw sets all the time! It gets really annoying...

Well, I made my follow-up appointment and drove to Carthage. I left for home after I said goodbye to my dad at his work. He likes it when I stop by and say goodbye. Saying it this morning wasn't good enough. Huh -Dads. What can you do?

The drive home really wasn't too bad. Just before I left I asked my dad what he does to stay awake when he drives. He said that he listens. Not to music, but to books. He suggested that I listen to a book. That made sense. It would keep my brain focused on something other than the soothing familiar music. But I only had one set of books on my mp3, and I'd already listened to them a few weeks ago. But then I remembered something. I had recorded my family reminiscing with Jacob just before he left on his mission. A few of my aunts and uncles were there and so were some of my cousins, and my grandparents of course. It had been a very humorous evening. We told stories of siblings and the embarrassing moments that we shared with Jacob. It was really funny. Anyway, I took to listening to that and it made me really miss my brother. Ha! He's only been gone like three days!

I got home about six-thirty and took a shower. My car was really roasty! Wow! I was so sweaty! My back was soaked and bleh! Yeah, it wasn't good. My air conditioning doesn't work and having the widows down when its really hot outside really doesn't work. After my shower I cooked dinner, folded laundry, and watched a movie on the television. I never did figure out what it was called. Some old basketball movie.

The movie ended just before the nine o'clock news. I watched that too. It was actually rather unsettling, to say the least. Then, just before I drifted away on the couch, I turned off the TV and decided I was too tired to go upstairs to my abandoned bed. So, I slept on the couch. Of course my 5'6" body didn't fit well on six foot couch, due, I assume, to the small pillow that took up a surprisingly large amount of space. Needless to say, I continually woke during the night, trying to make myself comfortable, until at one in the morning I decided I'd had enough.

With the light of my cell phone (I kept it ever close by, you know, just in case someone decided to call) I slumped to my room and made myself comfortable on the bed.

I'm not sure why, but I continued to wake during the night -or 'morning' I should say -Constantly tossing and turning. I don't know what was wrong with me. I woke nearly a dozen times, but only bothered to check the time twice. Once just after three and again at five. I almost decided to just get up then, but thought myself out of it as I would probably be too tired for work the next morning -or well, the following evening.

I think my restlessness was a combination of several things. Number One: My teeth hurt incredibly. Number Two: it was dreadfully hot; I still hadn't recovered from the oven-like drive home. Number Three: I was completely alone and utterly aware of it. And number four: My body was all in sores from being in the sitting position for over five hours straight. Ugh.

Day Five: Missionary

We went to the airport this morning, in Springfield. Jacob's flight left at seven and we had to get there at six. So, when you have six kids under twelve and five teenagers to get out the door by five (it takes an hour to get there) we had to wake up REALLY early. Well....actually. My step-mom woke us up this morning announcing that the alarms didn't go off in time and that we should have actually woken up an hour earlier...so yeah. We got up at like ten minutes till five and then left ten minutes later...

We got there on time and all, don't worry. We got to take a lot of pictures and I got to film Jacob as he said goodbye to everyone. It was a sad, but happy day. I didn't cry, my older brother did though. Yeah, Joshua was there. I was happy for that. ...I don't think it's really hit me yet that my brother will be gone for two whole years... He's just always been there.

He was really funny when he left. He stood away from us in a far room, a wall of glass between us. He was in the room that leads to the actual plane. We couldn't be in there, but we could sure see him. Anyway, as they called for the passengers to come forth in a line, Jacob's sense of humor kicked in as usual. First he pretended to bolt for the door, leaving his family behind as fast as he could! and then when he laughed -hand on his mouth and shoulders bobbing- he backed out through the door disappearing with a wave. A complete Jacob Marley. You know how Marley waves goodbye through the door as he's backing out of Scrooge's house and the door closes just as his waving hand slips through in the nick of time? Well anyway, that's what my brother did. And then. He was gone...

...After that we had breakfast at "Micky D's" and then departed for the day; my parents to work and the kids to school. I'm at the house. Bored. Hungry. Tired. And bored. I'm entertaining myself with YouTube. It's rather funny. Mostly, I'm just listening to music. But I found a video that's absolutely hilarious! and if I can figure out how to put it on my blog I'll be sure and post it...

But yeah, I am extremely busy being bored. It's taking up my entire day!

Day Four.

I got up today at ten-thirty. Hol-E Cow! Talk about sleeping in!

I drove to Springfield with my brother to pick my sister up. Long drive. We left at noon and got back about three-ish. Then, after that, I took Jacob to a friends house so that he could say goodbye. We got there at about four-fifteen and had only like ten minutes before we had to leave for home. We were going to go out for dinner before Jacob was set apart as an Elder.

My parents spent a total of $105.87 on dinner for the whole family. And actually, it wasn't whole. We were still missing three kids. But yeah, we went to Golden Corral - which, by the way, doesn't have any horses :P -for Jacob's final dinner with the family. It was good. Lots of food. Lots of belly aches. And Jacob ate a fish! It was so gross! Like a whole fish! I got a picture of it on my cell phone and if I can figure out how to get it off, I'll be sure and post it. Bleh! My youngest sister Haylee was freaking out! "Jacob's eating a fish! Jacob's eating a fish!" It was so funny and very gross! We saw the skeleton and everything! Woo-who-bleh-huh!

After dinner we went to the Stake Center and waited for Jacob's meting to start. We sat around singing hymns for about twenty minutes until the Stake President and his counselor's were ready. His blessing was good and totally personalized. Like, it was very much Jacob's. My brother will be speaking Spanish. And knowing Jacob...well, he'll either procrastinate the entire thing or he'll jump right in. With Jacob it's either all or nothing. But he'll be good. He'll jump right in. The excitement he showed during these last few days of being at home really confirmed it. He is so excited!

He became Elder Willis that evening. I nearly lost it when I was giving him a congratulations hug. He pulled away before I could really start showering him with emotion, though. He was really funny about it.

We got home late again that night. Went to bed round midnight only to wake up again sometime around four in the morning to take Jacob to the airport. Ugh. I can't believe that he's leaving tomorrow. Two years. Twenty four months. Over seven hundred days... I'll get over it.

Day Three.

Happy Memorial Day!

Today. Was. Boring.

I did practically nothing the entire day. Well, we watched a couple of movies and ate and talked and sauntered around the house completely bored out of our minds. Everyone was home. My parents didn't have to work and the kids were home from school. So yeah, when I say everyone I mean....like everyone. And the fact that it was all stormy outside all day, didn't make the day any better.

Some holiday.

Well, after my cousin, Stephen got home from work around nine-fifteen-ish, he, Jacob, and myself went to the movies. We watched the ten o'clock showing of Indiana Jones. It was the most bizarre movie I think I've ever seen in my whole life! But it was good. It's the last movie my brother is going to see before he leaves for his mission.

We got home really late and talked a little bit and then went to bed.

So yeah, today was pretty boring. I hope your holiday was better!

Day Two.

At about midnight I called my brother Jacob, desperate to talk to someone and stay awake. He was the only one I could think to call... I was surprised and glad that he was awake. He was preparing for his talk and, by the sounds of it, having a little midnight snack. So for the rest of my drive I talked to my brother.

I got to the house at about 1:45AM. I said hi to my dad, who was also up preparing for his talk, and then I went to bed. ...Well, after I stayed up talking to Jacob about the wedding reception he just attended hours earlier. I went to bed closer to 3 o'clock.

We managed to get to the church about twenty minutes early -a very rare thing for my family, getting to church early. And we practiced our song. Then church started and my parents gave their talks, and we sang, and then Jacob gave his talk. It was really good. The whole meeting. It was very spiritual.

During my brothers talk he mentioned an outing he had had with his cousin Marshall (who just left a week earlier on his mission) and our eldest brother Joshua. They were going to go caving but the overload of rain made that impossible. The cave was completely flooded. So, instead, Jacob informed the ward, they decided to scale a steep cliff-side not too far from the cave. It was probably a stupid thing to do considering they were alone and had no equipment for rock-climbing. But, boys will be boys. Jacob continued the story by saying that they climbed the wall and that at one point he was stuck at a place where the wall curved inward and he had no way of progressing. The wall just wasn't built for climbing.

He said he looked up at Joshua, his older brother, who was farther up the cliff than he was. Joshua had no trouble with the untamed wall. He saw that Jacob was stuck and he reached out for him. He grabbed his arm and held on tight. "I will not let you go, " he said. "I will not let you go." -At this point in Jacob's talk, Jacob started to tear and I was hopeless. I couldn't help but think of the love my oldest brother has for his younger siblings. To think of the symbolism this had concerning our Saviour.

Often times in life we find that we lack the ability to progress. That we are in such a place where pressing onward seems impossible. But our brother is there, scaling the wall beside us. He is always there when we need him, to reach out and take our hand. To carry our weight when we can not. The Saviour is always there. He will not let us go...

I am so glad that Jacob has decided to take two years of his life to serve his mission!

After church we had lunch and dinner at my grandparents and spent the time reminiscing with cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles, and of course, our grandparents.

Today was a very good day.

Day One.

My cousins left this morning at 8:18AM for their vacation. They'll be gone for sixteen whole days. Ugh. So yeah, this is obviously "Day One" out of sixteen long, lonely days...

I had work at nine and so I just had enough time to down a small bowl of cereal before heading off. I worked for nearly thirteen hours today. I worked from nine to four and then from five to close. During that lone hour I went next door to the park and ran. It was fun, but incredibly hot. When I came back in to work my face was beat red. It always is after I run. Like tomato red. And against my white skin it looks really obvious. I felt rather embarrassed.

After work -I got home around ten thirty- I called my dad and told him that I was just going to drive down tonight. Why not? Either way, morning or night, I'd still be tired. And my family was going to head in to church early in the morning and practice and song that we were going to sing in front of the whole congregation. So, after I showered and packed, I loaded everything up and headed down to my parents. By that time it was a little past eleven.

The start of the drive was fine. I listened to my ipod and did whatever... FYI I managed to kill an armadillo when I was just half an hour outside of town. It was really gross. I was going seventy-plus miles per hour and it was very dark. I didn't see the poor ugly thing until it was right in front of me....and then I didn't see it anymore. All I heard was the loud Buh-Kunk as it tumbled under my car. EWW! I hate road kill!

Stereotype.

I'm a bad driver. Not horrid. But bad. No. Inexperienced. That's it. I am sad to admit, but I was a late bloomer in getting my drivers license. Not particularly because I was "bad" but simply because the only working car we had happened to be our fifteen passenger van. And also, I was ...bad...at driving. No. Inexperienced.

It was only just recently, at the beginning of this year, when I took up driving. Like driving driving. Not those little flings when you get up and drive your parent to work or something. Driving. You know, doing it all the time.

Before I moved here I drove my parents to their work and me to mine. But that was it. There and back. Here, after I got my car, things were a little different. I had my own wheels. A teenager with a car! This can mean only one thing: Unstoppable. I was now free to drive where I wanted when I wanted and I didn't have to force my cousins to drive me where I needed to go. Those were the bad days. And they were finally coming to an end.

So anyway, back to me being a bad -inexperienced- driver. I obviously and not THAT bad. I passed the test anyway. The instructor lady obviously thought I was safe to put on the streets of Missouri. And I am obviously not dead. That's gotta count for something.

So anyway, I've learned over the past several years that I do not work well under pressure. I get nervous. VERY nervous. If someone is watching me and I know it, I tend to make more mistakes than usual. It worries me. I get very tense. Today was no different.

Somehow through a long story or other, I ended up in the car with Melinda -me driving of course -and we were headed for the bank. Driving with my younger siblings is no problem. I know they're not judging me. But with an adult, like a parent or friend, I get very edgy. Driving with Melinda was no different. I became aware of her every move and I payed strict attention to the traffic around me. Actually, I think I was paying more attention to my passenger than to the cars around me, but only slightly more. Every time she moved, even the tiniest bit, my heart would stumble out of rhythm and I would tense behind the wheel.

Okay, now I have a bit of a story to tell. An occurrence of which I feel very bad for, but that I'm going to tell you about anyway...

I pulled out of the bank's parking lot with little trouble. Although there was a car behind me that just seemed to appear out of nowhere as I was backing up. Unfortunately the car was hidden by my view, lost behind the back seat head-rest, but fortunate that the driver was aware of my presence. (Thank heaven for good drivers!)

Anyway, I pulled out onto the road and stopped in front of the traffic light and waited for my little green arrow. It came as it always does and I turned. While turning I merged, as I thought right, from my lane on the far left into the farthest lane to the right...

From the corner of my eye I saw Melinda tense. She straightened up and grabbed the door for support. I tightened my grip on the wheel and snapped my back into the full upright position. My heart was racing and I was scared. It was obvious that I had done something wrong. Totally obvious.

"Word of advice," Melinda said, her voice thick with tension. "When your on a two lane turn, stay in your own lane."

The tone in her voice made me whirl my head around to see the traffic behind me. In my stupidity, I had never realized that this was indeed a two lane turn. I merely failed to notice that just because there was only one arrow, that didn't mean that those next to me weren't able to turn as well. I felt so stupid!

"Did I almost hit him?" I said, scared out of my mind, referring to the small car behind me.

"No."

I don't like being stereotyped. I don't like to be considered "one of those stupid teenagers." I am an individual. I may still be stupid, but an individual nonetheless. But in this situation however, I would gladly accept if you were to place me under the category of "Stupid Teenager" with a tab of "Bad Driver."

There aren't many people I trust as drivers, myself included. People scare me. Teenagers scare me. I guess all I'm trying to say is, I won't feel too bad if you decided not to trust me with my driving skills. I am still quite inexperienced. Ask me again in a year or so and then I might change my mind. But for now.... I'd rather just be a "Stupid Teenager."

Graduation.

A few days ago I got a letter in the mail and it just happened to be an invitation to my very good friend's graduation. Wow. Graduation. I've known her since the fourth grade and now she's graduating... My little friend is growing up. Sad times. But -I am very excited that she'll be attending the William Jewell College, which just so happens to be about twenty-four minutes away. Needless to say, I'll be spending quite a bit of time up there. I've been there before, just so you know. Big college. Well, bigger than the one I'm attending. There aren't even dorms at my college. I spent my last Youth Conference trip up there at Jewell. Good place. I had a lot of fun.


So anyway. I took another trip down to my parents house on Sunday and stayed 'til Tuesday night -the night of the graduation. I had fun at my parents. I had the most fun hanging out with my younger sister, Jordan, who just recently had a birthday. Seventeen on the Seventeenth. I really miss her. We had a blast! For those who don't know, she dropped out of school just a few weeks ago and will be attending this GED prep class. (I made her promise me that she would take the test. I couldn't stand watching my sister plant herself in the roots of Going-Nowhere. Horrid place.) So yeah, while the other kids and my folks were at work, Jordan and I got to hang out. We watched a couple of movies and talked about majors. During the movie "Return to Me" (two thumbs for Minnie Driver!) Jordan and I downed an entire half gallon of mint ice-cream. Wow! It was good. But of course, we both had MAJOR belly aches afterward. Ugh.

Anyway, I helped my even-younger sister Jessica, mow the lawn for my parents. It's a big lawn. We mowed until well after dark. I had to bring my car down the hill and shine the brights on the grass. We didn't get finished though. Oh well. (My parents, for those who don't know, live on a huge hill and its a pain to have to drive the fifteen passenger van down. I remember the first time I tried. It was super hard! Not the word "tried." I didn't succeed. I had to have my dad help me half way through. It was a pain.)

The graduation was on Tuesday at seven o'clock. I took my cousin with me, he in his car and me in mine. We got there right on time and had to park two blocks away and then we had to stand on the steps because the ENTIRE stand was full of people. -The graduation was held outside on the football stadium. Just so you know, it does NOT accommodate well for graduations. Half of the audience was standing. My cousin and I ended up actually sitting on the football field away from the crowd. Good place for pictures, if I do say so myself. I got a lot of those. It was fun. I got to hear my friend give a speech, which was really good by the way. And then, at the very end, all the graduates threw their hats in the air and cheered. It was so cool! Just like the movies! After that, they opened the field for the audience I raced over to my would-be-fellow-graduates and said hi to practically everyone I knew or who I was sure would remember me. It was fun! One of my friends came over screaming and hugging everyone within reach. It was historical! She was almost in tears with both joy and sorrow. Wow. It was really fun to watch, actually.


So yeah. That was graduation. I got to talk to my friend for just a little bit longer before we both had to leave -I to go home and she to go to one of those Project Graduation things. After saying goodbye to her I drove to Taco-Bell to meet up with my cousin and other cousin who also happened to be at the graduation. I ordered a root-beer and one of those new surprisingly delicious Strawberry Frutista Freezes. I had a long drive ahead of me and I wasn't gonna go empty handed. Half an hour or so into the journey I discovered a small bag of club crackers that I had packed for the trip down here, but had never actually gotten around to eat. So, for dinner I had root-beer and club crackers. Good combination. Yeah. Right.

The drive was horrid! I'm usually very good about the obvious Not Sleeping While You Drive kick, but today was especially hard. The roads were utterly empty, thank goodness, and the long drive was irritatingly quiet. I tried everything. I put my headphones on and let Avril Lavigne yell into my ear and I even yelled along with her for a while until my voice hurt or I forgot the words. I rolled the window down at one point, but when your going seventy-plus miles an hour the breeze hardly feels welcoming. But I guess that's the point. ....My list of things to do to keep my stupid eyes open checked off rather fast. Everything was futile. No. That's not true. I obviously didn't fall asleep, I only mean to say that nothing was THE solution. My utter determination was what got me home. I was so tired. After putting the car in park at the house I almost clonked out right there, but I decided against it. I had already told my hosts that I'd be home that night and I didn't want to worry them.

I pulled myself up the stairs, which took more effort that it should have, and knocked on my hosts door to let them know that I was home. The following conversation was unusual and very entertaining. For the past seven months that I've been here I've had the opportunity to learn that when one is roused from sleep their intelligence is very limited. The things they say are more or less delusional and often times very funny. And since it was already well past midnight this was one of those strange nights...

The following day at work was hard and long. A whole nine hours. My usual shift is only just half that, but I can usually lick the big ones without any problems. But I was so incredibly tired. My voice kept cracking and I looked totally flushed. I hoped that no one got the wrong idea about my condition. After pointing out that I had gone to a graduation the night before and come home very late I got a few strange looks. But no. I was just tired. I can't remember the last time I felt so tired.

Anywho. That was my weekend. Long and boring. This next weekend will be much the same. Almost a complete re-run as I see it. But without the graduation bit. I'll be spending five whole days at my parents house. Sure it'll be fun. I'll get to see my brother off at the airport for his mission. That will be fun. ...Five days of being shut up in an empty house. Four nights of sleeping on the floor. Five days of utter boringness... Then, when that's over, I get to drive all the way to Arkansas for my silly orthodontics appointment. Ugh. I can't wait until I get my braces off. Only six more months! Yippie!

Finals: Coming in for a Landing

Yippie!!! I got my grades back from my first semester of college...and guess what!?! I passed every single one of them!! And not only did I pass, but the grades themselves are too bad. I'm actually very pleased with them. No. I'm exstatic! I totally thought I was going to fail or get all C's or something and dread having to take classes over agiain. And isn't that strange that you can pass the class (for your major anyway) with a C and not have to take it again? I think its a little twisted, but that's just me.

Like my geography teacher gave us an example: "What would you do if your sitting in the E.R. and you ask your doctor how certified he is to take on this procedure and he answers 'Well, I got C's in all my classes'.....? How would that make you feel?" -That got a good laugh out of the entire class. But really, how would you feel? Or, like my seventh grade History teacher said: "Yeah, my friend went up to the hospital to get his surgery (don't member what for) and he casual asked the doctor about his schooling, you know, just to reassure himself that the surgery would indeed go alright and that there's nothing to worry about, but then his doctor answers, 'Well, I cheated in all my classes'..." Ugh. Isn't that wrong?

Well, cheating is one thing entirely, but even just getting C's in all of your classes... Yeah, I know that's average and all, but to think that your doctor may be one of those students that got only C's. I mean, how comfortable would you be knowing that? I know that for me, I would be scared stiff! Probably find a new doctor. But I suppose if I was the one who got all C's I'd be happy to have that degree and all....but still. I don't know.

But yeah, grades don't make any sense anyway...B is for good, which starts with an G; C is for average, but that starts with an A; A is for excellent, but that starts with an E. Then D is for poor, and, of course, that starts with an P; And then F is failing -It's the only one that makes sense. (And did you know that in Canada they also sometimes use the E in the system of grades? It stands as a conditional failing grade. Cool, hu?)(Ooo and in Canada the grades are also put into levels. Like Level Four is an A; Level three is a B; Level two is C; Level one is a D; and Level R is an F.)

I want to major in English-Literature. And just so you know -I got an 'A'. See? Wouldn't that make you feel MUCH better to know that your professional what-ever-person got either 'A's or 'B's? ...But I don't know. I guess there has to be a fine line and all. And I suppose if it were any higher then the world's statistics of people with degrees would drop incredibly. But, of course, I don't know for sure. Personally, I think the bar should be higher. But then again, that would mean that I'd have to take my History class over again. And I really don't want that. At least not with the same professor...bleh.

Top Ten

-Tickets to go see your favorite author sign her book right in front of you... $25.
-Gas it takes to get there... $12.
-A shirt that shows off your "I'm your biggest fan!" ...$7.
-Spending the evening with a best friend and having the time of your life...priceless.

Yup, I got to meet Stephenie Meyer. It was Thursday. We arrived at 5:10PM (and Holy Cow! If you were ten minutes late, like yours truly, you had to wait in line forever! Of course, to my giddish-ness, it surely didn't feel like that long. ...But just wait. I haven't gotten to the good part. Waiting forever, doesn't happen until a little bit later...

We got in line, got our books -which, by the way, its called "The Host" for those who didn't know -and we picked a couple of seats on the left wing closest to the isle. Holy Moly! We sure picked the best seats! -Not! Okay, not that the entire room wasn't full of overly-excited, hormonal girls, but I honestly think we got the worst of it. The girls would just not stop talking! Woooo! -Oh! And it was so weird! The girl, directly behind me, had the same name! Okay, I know its not THAT strange, but I've only met like two people with the same name as me and how ironic is it that the girl behind me just happens to be called Julia? I mean -Wow.

Anyway, we waited there for two hours -'til 7. An announcer lady kept coming up every fifteen minutes or so to tell us the same thing. It got very boring. And annoying. Do you know how hard it is to concentrate on a book when you've got giggling girls behind you and a loud scratchy voice echoing in front of you? ....It isn't that easy.


Anyway, she, Stephenie Meyer, came out at 7 and we got to hear her talk for thirty whole minutes. She talked about "The Host" and even read a little of it to us. She answered a lot of questions that the girls had (They-the girls -got to write the questions down on index cards and Stephenie, before making her appearance, went through the stack and picked out the best ones).

So, thirty minutes later, Stephenie started the book signing. Here's the part where "Waiting Forever" comes in. We waited for over two hours! They called us by ticket numbers, and since we didn't get the deluxe-tickets we had to wait for a very long time. But we were numbers 13 and 14 in the regular-tickets group, so that was good.

This whole time, you can just imagine how ecstatic I was. It was so amazing! I had to keep reminding myself over and over again that it was really happening. Like this morning; I had to look at the book again, and see my name scrawled out in Stephenie's writing to believe that it wasn't just a dream. How cool is that! I am still, a whole day later, really excited about it!

Teenage girl that I am, I wanted to say the perfect thing to Stephenie. Unfortunately, my mind was blank. At this point I had just planned on plopping the books down on the table, stare at her with boggling eyes, and try not to drool anywhere. If I was lucky, I might even get to choke out the word "Hi".

I guess you can imagine that waiting in my seat for over two hours kind of sucked the excitement out of the evening. I was starving. My bottom was numb. My head felt as if it was going to explode. I still had homework to get finished. And I was bushed. But what can you do? Those two hours though weren't spent wastefully, at least, I didn't think so. With Melinda sitting next to me, I made for the best entertainment I could manage. I asked her questions.

Lots and lots of questions. I love questions. I didn't know I did until just recently. So yeah, for two hours I bored her with endless questions and threw in a couple of answers of my own. It was fun. I enjoyed it. Poor Melinda. She was just as bushed, if not more so, than I was.

Finally, at nine-forty-five, we got to get up on the stage and stand at the long white table where Stephenie sat waiting to sign our books. As we moved closer in the line toward her, I saw another women standing next to her. I had noticed her before, of course, but I didn't know who she was. So I asked her.

"So, What's your name?"

The women, green shirt and white capris, looked up at me and smiled. "Oh my name is Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth?" I said surprised. "Do you mean like the Elizabeth in the back of this book?" I said referring to the 'Acknowledgment' page in the back of 'Eclipse' where Stephenie had written an immense thanks to an Elizabeth Eulberg, her publicist.

"Yes," Elizabeth said looking a little embarrassed when I asked to shake her hand. She was surprised when I did, but shook it regardless. "I'm just the little ole publicist."

"Oh," I said putting my stack of books on the table, "but she speaks very highly of you."

Stephenie looked up from Melinda's book (Melinda was in front of me getting hers signed) and pointed, inconspicuously, toward Elizabeth. "Amazing woman," she whispered with a smile.

Stephenie took my books and signed them. While doing it, she looked up at me and smiled. "Hi, Julia. I love your shirt."

"Well, thank you," I said, unable to control the gigantic smile obscuring my face. "I love your books."

Just after Stephenie thanked me with a smile, excitement swelled up inside me and it made it hard to hear. I knew Melinda commented on the books as well, but I can't, for the life of me, remember what she said. I think the term that would have fit best for me in this situation would have been something on the lines of "up in the clouds". I very nearly was. And it only got worse when, upon exiting the building with Melinda, I saw that long white stretch-limo parked by the curb.

I think I gasped. Or screamed. Or...something. I just remember Melinda slapping her forehead in embarrassment. I don't blame her. I was pretty embarrassing that evening. It's not everyday I get to meet my favorite author!

A girl on the sidewalk, who had obviously heard my exclamation, noted that this limo was none other than Stephenie Meyer's. Duh. Regardless, I was still excited for the news. I had Melinda take a picture of it with me blurring the image.

Not much else happened that evening. We went out to dinner to the grand restaurant Crème de la crème a la 'Wendys'. Par excellence! Anyway, we talked for a good long time and then went home. I read a little of "The Host" before going to bed. It was good. I can't wait to finish it! ...I also can't wait for my finals to be over. Ugh.

Oh, Yes! You may have asked yourself, at one point during this reading, "Why in the world is this post called 'Top Ten'?" Well I'll tell you. During those long hours of nothing but questions, I had asked Melinda what her top ten most exciting events were. She listed off a few (i.e. London, Wedding, etc), but said that this evening did not make it on her list. "Keep in mind, I've lived longer than you have," Melinda noted when I gave her one of my shocked expressions. I guess she's right. Eventually, not for a very long time, this evening may get bumped down in the teens, but for right now, its definitely near the top -if not THE top. Just thought I'd let you know...

Well, wish me luck with my finals!