Sword or the Javelin?

Have you ever felt like a complete lunatic who was just fighting off stupid giants who seem to be, in every possible way, totally unbeatable? I think the term is "Tilting at windmills." Well, that's what I'm experiencing right now. That no matter what I do, no matter how many times I sally forth toward the solid and immovable windmills, there's no way I can win.

With school creeping around the corner at an incredible speed, the thought of leaving the only state I've ever really been in, the unyielding debt that I have now accumulated... I can go on, but I think you get the idea. And I realize, of course, that my "windmills" aren't huge in comparison to others I know of, but considering I've never had to do this before...

I guess I could say that I'm use to being the Sancho who stands next to the idiot who decides to go off and shove a javelin into a mill, rather than actually being the idiot.

I guess there's really nothing that can be done. Crazy little me has already made up my mind to go with it. It won't be easy. I already know that. (I'm not a complete lunatic!) Nothing can change my mind, but some pointers would be lovely!

This is Awesome!

My Review.

Well, I went and watched Twilight again today for a second time. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it. The first time was a little fast, considering I'd never seen it, but the second was much better. Nice and slow. And so, after seeing it twice, here is my review:

First I'll start with the basic facts:

Twilight made 70.6 million dollars in the box offices in its opening week. That's good! Of course, its not as good as Titanic's USA Box office of over $600 million...However, that 70 million did make Twilight the biggest opening ever for a female director. So that's pretty cool. Congrats Catherine Hardwicke. The debut also put the independent film studio Summit Entertainment on the map. Cool. Cool. Summit Entertainment announced over the weekend that the studio is officially moving forward with production of "New Moon", the second installment in Meyer's modern day vampire series... I wonder if Stephenie will be in that one too. -For those of you have been poor unfortunate souls and have not yet seen Twilight, just as a heads up, Stephenie Meyer is totally in it! Keep an eye out. Though she's not exactly hard to miss, they give like five whole minutes of just her! -Anyway, New Moon is rumored to come out in December of 09.

My Copacetic Opinion:

It was wonderful! Duh! Why else would I see it twice? I loved how they depicted the vampires, it was very good. It had just the right amount of humor. One of my favorite parts is when Bella and Edward are having this totally serious conversation and Bella just sorta trips everywhere. It was hilarious. Oh and I loved Bella's Lullaby! And Edward's personality. Two thumbs up on the whole!

My Critical Opinion:

Where do I start? The speediness was cheesy -but how could you not be? The vampires, aside from Alice -who was the only one who seemed to have just walked straight from the book and onto the big screen, looked nothing like I imagined -but then, nobody is as good looking as the Cullens are in real life. -They skipped a few scenes that I really liked. You can totally tell when anyone is wearing contacts. And then Summit Entertainment wasn't especially high in their budget so there are a few scenes that could have used some work. ...Hmmm... what else? ...I can't think of anything at the moment.

Eh-hem. As you can clearly see, my nice opinion was a bit shorter than my not-so-nice one. Don't let this discourage you! It's only like that because I didn't want to give out too many spoilers. I wouldn't be surprised to find myself watching it a third time!

Ahhhh!

School: $1,585.00

Off-Campus Housing: $1,517.00

Braces: $556

Books for Classes: About $307.00

Extra Essentials for both semesters: About $320.00

A stressed out Julia who's heads about to pop -FREE!! -No really! Would you take it off my shoulders? It's going to EXPLODE!

My Seven.

Today was my first day to fill my new roll of Sunbeam-Assistant. (Assistant not Teacher.) I was excited, I suppose. I love kids. I mean, when you have thirteen siblings you just kind of have to. As I have said before, this isn't my first calling where I work with kids. I assisted in the nursery. All two year olds, a lot of two year olds. But you must understand, Sunbeams are different. A whole two years different. I wasn't too worried. The kids would be more mature and respectful, of that I was sure. Being an assistant to the Sunbeams would be a cinch.

Well, there I was in Sacrament Meeting enjoying the prelude music and just minding my own business, when who should come along? -The Primary President. To my horror I was informed that the Sunbeam teacher was not present today -that I would be the teacher and not the assistant. Ugh. All those kids, all on my own. ...It wasn't bad actually. For the most part my Sunbeams just sat there in there little (actually it was a rather large) half circle and stared at me. They were very well behaved. For the most part. I had seven kids. Three girls and four boys.

As I have discovered in the past, with others classes and my own classes, there is always that one child who has to be talking all the time. Who has to be sure and touch everything they're not suppose to. Who just slides right out of the chair as soon as they sit down. One who always has their hand raised whether or not you asked a question. Yeah. There's one in every class. I simply had the good fortunate of getting two. Yeesh.

The children where amazing during class! They all sat down, listened to the lesson, colored their little pictures, and did an excellent job with the activity. These kids where amazing! ...It's just, when you have seven four year olds their attention never sticks in any place longer than a few seconds. Primary was the tough part. I lost a few kids as we made our way to the Primary room two doors down. I ended up having to practically strap one of them on my lap, while another insisted that he did NOT wish to fold his arms and that there was no way I was going to make him. It wasn't bad. I actually had a very enjoyable day. My class even won one of the reverentest class trophies! How cool is that??

It was funny, just before having to "practically strap one of the kids to my lap" we had an interesting conversation. I don't think she had ever seen braces before, that is, she was very surprised to see them on my teeth. She stared at them wide eyed with her mouth ajar. "Your teeth," she sounded almost breath taken, "they're so beautiful!" Well, I certainly didn't think they were beautiful. So I asked her, why do you say that? "Because they're blue and sparkly!" After that she just kept trying to touch them. It was very weird, I couldn't help but to laugh. That's when I had to hold her still. She just kept trying to stick her finger in my mouth! Anyway, I just thought it would be good to tell you how my first day in my new calling went. I will survive!

Les Miserables.

Yesterday, I had the privilege to go and see a High School production of the musical Les Miserables. I went with my hosts and two of my sisters. My sisters and I knew the play only by watching its 10th Anniversary Concert on VHS that has been around since we were kids.

The play was good. And for a High School it was very good. The props were very well put together and the moving stage made a nice touch. The actors were good too. My favorite singer would actually have to be Eponine (nice and loud and she could hit all the high notes). After her it would be Javert, Enjolras, and Fantine. They all did a really good job!

My favorite song in Les Mis is the one in which Jean Valjean confesses who he is. Who am I. I was more than a little disappointed when the actor didn't sing quite as powerful as when Colm Wilkinson sang it. But then, for a High School, he did excellent job!

My Poofy Headed Sisters.

Before you push play, you might want to turn it down. My tone-def sisters are a little loud. :P
(For explanation see below post.)

Rainforest Cafe.

Okay so (-it's going to be really hard to get out of the habit of saying that. I'll try harder next time, but this time my brain is practically fried and I can't think of anything else...) I went down to my parents house on Sunday, stayed for a few days, went to the orthodontist, went to the dentist, and pretty much just drove around a bunch -very boring. Then on Wednesday I headed back home, but this time I took two of my sisters with me. I took them with me so that, together, we could go and see a play on Friday. It's one we've been looking forward to seeing for a very long time! I'll tell you more about that after we see it!

Today we (my two sisters, my cousin, and myself) all went out for lunch to a unique and tasty restaurant called The Rainforest Cafe. I'd only been there once before and I remember really liking it. To be honest, I didn't remember much on the lines of what food was good, only that the place itself looked amazing! If you haven't ever been there before, I would recommend going. If you have, then you know what I'm talking about. Being in the cafe is like being in a rain forest. There are trees everywhere and animals line the ceiling and walls all around. The first thing you see as you walk in is a very large tube-like tank filled with all sorts of fish (Dory fish, Nemo fish, Gill fish, etc., etc.) Its pretty cool.

Ever twenty minutes there is a thunderstorm (the lights flicker and the thunder rolls -very realistic in a nonrealistic way) and then every fifteen minutes or so the animals all panic. We were sitting next to the elephants and so it was rather loud and it made me jump every time they went off. Last time, we were by the gorillas and they'd pound on their chest and roar at us. But it was fun.

Dinner was good. We each got very different types of food (the plates were huge! I think my sister took like five bites of hers before she was full, whereas my other sister cleaned hers off completely! I didn't finish mine. I tired. But I never can seem to get it all to fit! After stuffing ourselves, we -you guessed it -ate dessert! Which was really good by the way. (Jessica made an entire post about the food. It's really funny!)

My sisters say that Thursday was pretty much all devoted to eating. We had breakfast, went out for a big lunch, and then they came home and had dinner. It was I guess, devoted to eating. We usually don't go out to eat that much and this was one of those rare times. Aside from the tasty food I got to visit with my family. It was a blast! The drive home was a little crazy, though, jamming to Avril Lavigne. My sisters can be a bit eccentric, but I sure love them!

Okay, so.

My dad pointed something out to me the other day about my blog. He said that I start all (-or very nearly all) my posts with the words "Okay, so." And because I'm me, I had to check.

...Sadly, he is right. I suppose it isn't exactly sad. But to me, it is. To think that of all the words in my head the ones I consistently use are those two: Okay and So.

I tallied it up. There are a tad over twenty-five posts that begin with those two words. My earlier posts usually do not begin so pathetically, however my more recent ones do. Anyway, I just thought it was funny. I guess that's just the way I think. It's the easiest way for me to start a post -like I'm in the middle of a conversation. Oh well. ...I wonder if anyone else has noticed?

Costochondritis.

For a long time now I've been having this pain in my chest. Not chest-pains, just a pain in my chest. And it hurts. Like crazy! It was hurting more than usual yesterday and quite a bit today, so I put my foot down. Today, I told myself, I am going to get it looked at.

So I did. I went to an Urgent-Care up in Kansas City. It wasn't very fun. First they had to check my heart to see if anything was wrong. An EKG. They stuck a ton of little square sticky things onto my chest and attached all these wires to me and them monitored my heart. Everything was fine. After that they got an x-ray of my lungs. That wasn't very fun either, though not nearly as embarrassing. Nothing was wrong with my lungs either. That's good. As a full-time Pessimist I tend to think of things at their worst and I guess you can imagine all the things my brain was coming up with. I went in expecting the worst.

It turns out I have Costochondritis, also known as Tietze's Syndrome. Costochondritis is a condition that causes chest pain due to inflammation of the cartilage and bones in the chest wall, at the junction of the rib bone and breastbone. At this junction, there is cartilage joining these bones. This cartilage can become irritated and inflamed. And, depending on the extent of the inflammation, it can be very painful.

My list of ways-to-get-well is very simple. #1. Rest. I guess that means no more midnight movies and that, to catch myself up on sleep, I may have to start taking naps. Eeesh. #2. Heat Applications. Hmmm. That sounds really good right now. I'll have to look into getting something. #3. Anti-Inflammatory Medications. The doctor prescribed me to Motrin (aka Ibuprofen). I must take it three times a day with food.

I also can't do anything big; like no running, heavy-lifting, etc. That's going to stink. At work I am always doing those things. They call me The-Machine. Yeah, it's silly, but for some odd reason I enjoy it. I hope they're okay with it. I was told by the doctor that it should only take a week to get better, for my body to heal. But I have a feeling its going to take longer. About.com says that it will take 4-8 weeks and that all symptoms of pain should resolve within six months. I sure hope it doesn't take that long... ...Well. I think I'll go take a pill.

Caledonia.

One year ago today, I drove with my dad through an unfamiliar town -one that is now as familiar to me as the walls of my former home. But that is what this place is, my other home.

It's hard to believe that it has been a year. That I've been gone for so long. It sure doesn't feel like it's been that long. As much as I've enjoyed being here, of meeting all these people, of making new friends, of getting to spend time with my amazing cousins; I find that I am ready to go.

I'm ready to take the next steps in my life. I'm ready to go back to school again. I'm ready to be independent, completely this time. I don't know what next year will bring, but I do know that whatever happens I'll sure try my best.

There's been a song that I can't seem to get out of my head. It's about a place called Caledonia, a Latin name given to a northern area of the island of Great Britain. I guess it just reminds me of homes. Plus I like the group who sings it.

The Power of W

Okay, so I'll start at the beginning. I set my alarm for five. The polls opened at six. I wanted to have plenty of time to get ready. But, because I'm me, I don't like to go straight to bed after I get home from work. My body has to wind for the night. So yeah, I ate a bowl of ice cream and watched a chick-flick. The entire movie. Mostly I never finish whenever I start a movie that late. I'm usually WAY to tired. But not last night. I was up until two finishing that movie. (And FYI, "Kate and Leopold" is not the best movie to watch when you're trying to keep the volume down. When they talk you can barely hear and when the scene changes you have to turn it way down, because its always blaring after being turned up because you couldn't hear a thing!) So anyway.

My alarm went off at five -I think it went off a few times before I turned it off. Usually I'm more understanding about my alarm. But lately whenever it goes off the first thought I have (and it never fails) is "Who in the world is crazy enough to set their alarm this early??" After the first few beeps I'm generally coherent enough to realize that it was me who set the alarm and that I set it for a very important reason. But not today. Today I just turned it off completely and didn't wake up until I heard the loud screech from the trash truck making its usual Tuesday rounds. That was two hours later!

I jumped out of bed. Took a full five minutes getting ready and then got in my car and took the three minute drive to the church where I was voting. Its great! The church is practically in my backyard...sort of. I was in line for a total of fifty minutes. I got there at seven-twenty and was out of the door and in my car ten minutes after eight. It was great! I had planned on getting there at six-forty-five-ish, but as you know, I slept in. But that's okay. The guy standing in front of me had been there since six-ten and was still there!

The line was long. It snaked around the entire front entrance of the church and then spread out into five different branches. Four for getting signed-in and then one for actually getting the ballet. The four lines were set up alphabetically. It took me a while to find the line labeled "Si-Z". I had to ask around for help.

"It's this line right here," A nice man pointed out.

I didn't understand. What line? I didn't see one. "This one here?" I said pointing to the longest line in the room.

"No. That one. Up there." I looked up at where the man had pointed and saw the line. It consisted of exactly four people. Sweet! I all but skipped to the front of the line and waited eagerly to get signed in. I was very nervous! I had never done this before! It was great! For the first time in for like -ever! I was grateful to have my last name start with a W.

So. Yeah. I voted. I'm really happy for myself! I feel like celebrating! I had to call my dad and tell him the good news -that I voted! He said that I should wish everyone a "Happy Voting Day!" So here I go: Happy Voting!

My Calling.

Okay, so in precisely six weeks and four days (wherein there are only six Sundays) I will be leaving this town of which I currently reside and be heading south for the winter. Until, that is, I turn around and head north. Anyway, this past Sunday I got a calling. Yup. I'm helping to teach the Sunbeams!

It isn't the first time I've been called to help out with the younger kids. But it is my first time in Primary. And I have a feeling that this wont be the last. But it'll be fun! It's been a long time since I was in Sunbeams!