High School @ MindSay

So I haven't been posting much about my life since the funeral, but there's been a lot happening.

I went on a field trip ("Law Day") to downtown Detroit to see how court trials work.  I got to see Marvin Barnett, one hell of a lawyer (entertaining too), in court.  We were trying hard not to laugh;  he cracked a lot of jokes and was a very electric speaker.

I met a bunch of successful lawyers and judges after, all graduated from my school (go figure).  The most outstanding judge I met was Federal Judge Sean Cox (nice guy).  The lawyers and judges all gave us some advice: invent yourself to be yourself (we're only a group of 17-18 year-olds).

As of today my high school life is practically done (seniors get out early).  We had a senior barbecue. We ate steak (my friends got some crappy ones though...) and burgers, listened to a band play (my friends, not pros...still good though).  I also smoked my first cigar (not as deadly as cigarettes, so w/e), not bad.  Now, I'm not gonna start smoking them regularly, but if offered a cigar (not cigarettes), I would take it.

Ummm...senior graduation is later this month after my 3 AP's (I don't need to take 3 of my finals! I'm so happy! :D ).  Then I'll have the senior all-nighter (all night party at the school).

 And then...yeah college will be just around the corner.  It's surreal; the year just seemed to have gone by so quickly.

I am never roasting a chicken without a roasting bag again.  Period.  Okay, so I've been doing it for years but this makes two fires in less than a year and that is NOT something I feel like repeating.  I don't know what it is, but it is far too upsetting to Cartoon Ranger so we'll just stick to baked chicken for a while. Unless I can persuade Cyclone to eat it when I use a roasting bag.

The jury is still out.

Cartoon Ranger had field day today.   His teacher and I were a bit concerned, as he is averse -- HIGHLY -- to having his feet wet and water games were on the docket for the day.  However, CR surprised us all by enjoying the water and even asking for a bucket of it to be dumped on him.  He had been  provided with a dry set of clothes, all the way to his Sponge Bob boxers, for after the games.  He was a happy guy.  I mean, you know, 'til the roasting chicken caught fire.

Cyclone got his high school registration materials yesterday.  We have to choose electives.  It's not easy!  He will be in the Class of 2012, so there are a few new things added to his requirements here in Florida.  Oh, lots of fun. A performance and practical art requirement.

Plus, he has to choose a major.  As a freshman.  He can change it annually, but he must choose one.  We are thinking perhaps of TV Production. At his school, it's a major. And for the sophomore year, one has to pass an audition to remain in it!

Okay, the vacuum has stopped. I must return to my work of emptying all my nice new cupboards and washing them down. And all the dishes. And all the food containers.  And the carving knives and the coffee maker...

For dinner, we wound up ordering pizza.

Woke up to a rainy,cold, yucky day.... Yes, I'm very thankful for the rain, as we have been in a really bad drought for a loooonnngggg time now. Still..... The cold is what hurt I guess. After almost 80 degrees yesterday.   We got up and went to the local flea market to buy some avon and vaccum cleaner bags. Cheaper than anywhere else and I buy enough to last half a year. I dont like going to this flea market after say about 9 am because it gets very smoky from people smoking there. I am allergic to the smoke and it greatly bothers me... On the way back home we found a book store that had just opened. An independant one selling used books. We love book stores...antique stores,......  They also take books and give you  store credit. We browsed, then headed home. Once there, my husband proceeds to attack the book shelves in a search for unwanted books to take back to the new store we found. He got a bag full.  Anyway, I had to be at work at 1, so he took me and went in to browse some. I work at a major retail bookstore.  I was put on a register by myself today, well, in between two seasoned cashiers. I didn't do too bad... Yes, I made some booboos but all in all I thought I did pretty good! Just my feet and back are killing me from standing all day! I did get a 30 minute break and I got off at 6. Still, I DO NOT want to work on Saturdays! Or Sundays for that matter. I like a Mon-Fri job, since I'm just part time anyway. I only took this job because we need to get caught up on some overdue bills and pay for daughters braces, among other things. Have a son in college too. Need to help him out as much as possible... Anyway, nothing will be like my last job at the Coffee Corner was. I could get as much time off as I needed, basically tell when I could work. There were only a handful of us that worked  there anyway. It was small and intimate. We got to know our customers as they came every day, and shared their lives with us, and we them. I made some good friends there. It was a Christian place and the atmosphere was wonderful to be in. My friend owned it for almost 2 and 1/2 years. I worked for 1 and 1/2 years there. It became a lot for her. The taxes with having employees kills small businesses like hers. And the rent was outrageous too. She did good for awhile, then the costs began to tax her and her own money. She had to get out so she sold it. The new owners kept it for 5 months and kept us too. Then they sold it and those new owners kicked us out, and now the place is empty. The third owners never did anything with it. Sigh.... wish I could've bought it and run it myself. With no employees to pay,I could have done it I think. Just would've taken an initial investment of say 10 grand?? And who has that?? Not I!!  Anyway, I'll never have a job like that again. Occasionally I would work a Saturday, but she closed the place on Sundays so we could all go to church. We all attend the same church too. It was family, and cozy. I miss it a lot. I had planned on quitting in Dec. if it had stayed open, just because of the new owners changing everything, the hours and such. Of course it quit being Christian owned after they acquired it. We lost some of our regulars when it changed owners but the die hard ones stayed.   Thing is, I've never worked a retail job per say, not at a major retailer. Years before my children were born, I worked at a church daycare. I was there for 7 years and quit when I was about to give birth to my first born in '88. Then I was a SAHM and had another child in 1991. While my children were small, I kept several other children in the home to make some money. Then when my youngest was 4, she went to preschool and my oldest started Kindergarten at the church school. I went to work in the cafeteria there. I got off at 2 as the kids were getting out of school. It was perfect. I quit there when my oldest got out of second grade, and my youngest had just finished kindergarten. We started Homeschooling then. We did that for 5 years. I enjoyed my time with them, and we did a lot of field trips and such with the local homeschooling group. Both kids got involved with extracurricular activities such as swim team,softball,and baseball with little league. My daughter got involved with pop warner cheering too. That was fun. Her last year of Pop Warner her squad made it to Nationals, which Pop Warner holds in Orlando,Fla. That was something else to experience and it lit a cheering bug under my daughter. They went into public school for the first time during middle school and seemed to do great. Both of them flourished. They both can relate to all different ages and such due to their background in homeschooling and then public school. I am proud of them both. They have accomplished much. Not too much deterred them, except maybe MATH! lol and I hate math too, so I can't really blame them! Just they had to have 4 years to graduate! My son squeaked by barely and now my daughter is doing the same thing! I only had to have 2 years of math to graduate and I took Pre-Algebra for those 2 years! Hah... My husband and I neither one could do High school now. It has changed... My son got involved with Drama while in high school and now he is in college about to major in some aspect of it...acting,producing,teaching, some form of it. He was wonderful in high school during all the plays he was in. He even got a big part his first year as a freshman. That was hard to do in high school. His teacher saw something in him and took a chance on him, and BOOM...now look at him go!!!  We love to see anything that he is involved with. We have supported both our kids in whatever they chose to do. We were there for them. Goodness, there was a lot!  Some I have mentioned before but I want to list them all now, I want to see how extensive it is!:

Scouting,baseball,softball,cheering,swim team,gymnastics,ballet classes, dance classes,parades,competitions,music lessons,band,Pokemon!(LOL), clubs, Drama,church,youth group,outings,.... whew! And on it goes! LOL I can't think of much more but I know its there! Anyway, that proves my point, they did a lot and we were there for them! We had crazy schedules, but we made it work. Sometimes one parent went with one child and the other parent with the other child! It was a whirlwind sometimes,but it was fun.... I miss it and I miss them being little.Just like Trace Adkins song:

Then They Do

In the early rush of morning
Trying to get the kids to school
One's hanging on my shirttail
Another's locked up
In her room
And I'm yelling up the stairs
Stop worrying 'bout your hair
You look fine

Then they're fightin' in the backseat
I'm playing referee
Now someone's gotta go
The moment that we leave
And everybody's late
I swear that I can't wait
'Till they grow up

(Chorus) Then they do
And that's how it is
It's just quiet in the morning
Can't believe
How much you miss
All they do
And all they did
You want all the dreams
They dreamed of
To come true
Then they do

Now the youngest is starting college
She'll be leavin' in the Fall
And Brianna's latest boyfriend
Called to ask if we could talk
And I got the impression
That he's about to pop the question any day

I look over at their pictures
Sittin' in their frames
I see them as babies
I guess that'll never change
You pray all their lives
That someday they will find happiness

(Chorus)

 

 

Makes me cry everytime I hear it. And oh, how so true! Don't wish your kids were grown, you will miss them!

I remember a couple of years ago an incident that I interrupted at Walmart. I usually don't say things to parents with their kids but this day I got angry at the mom. She was jerking her small child and telling him to quit it. Then she jerked him a good one and almost shouted,"I'll be so ***&&  glad when you are grown!" I turned to her and said," No, you won't. They grow too fast and you'll regret ever saying that to him." then I just walked off. She was shocked that I said anything, and I hope it sunk in too...

 

"You pray all their lives
That someday they will find happiness"  

This line is also so true. As a parent, you pray, you begin to pray when they are little, that somewhere out in this vast, mean, world, that if the Lord tarries, HE will bring your child a wonderful Christian partner. Someone who is kind, and who has been Saved. Someone who has accepted Christ with their all, and will love your child deeply and honor them. For your son you want an obedient wife that respects him as the head of the household and becomes his helpmate,loving him deeply. For your daughter you want a loving,kind man who will guide,help,and love her deeply. Both becoming helpmates and loving the Lord.They need to pray about everything.... It is not easy in these days and times for our children. Satan has thrown a lot of traps out there for them. We can rasie them and give them to the Lord, but they ultimately must decide. My son was saved when he was 5, as well as my daughter. It was a sweet time with both of them. I have watched them through the years and seen them doing right, and some wrong, but they always find their roots, and come to Christ.

Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 

 

Well, I wrote way more than I intended too, but it was good. I had a lot to say, and more to say still... It is therapy to write. You can always go back and see how you've changed and what you need to do to change.

Well, signing out for the night.

Good night.... A little prayer I learned while a small child:

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Bless this bed I lay upon

Four corners to my bed

Four angels round my head

One to sleep

One to pray

and two to watch until the day. Amen

 

This prayer doesn't mean anything much to me anymore, not since I became a Christian when I was 17.

I'll leave you hanging here. I'll pick up my story whenever I sign back in..... More to come!

 

 

The weather here still sucks. I think it was a requirement for this place to be charted as a city: it must have shitty weather. -_- Back home, everything was canceled because God had the decency to make it cold after it rained, turning everything into ice. Here? He keeps it just above freezing, so everything is wet and flooded and miserable as hell but not at all icy, which means we continue on with our dear lives (and classes).

Right now, I've already read my selecting in my book for class on Friday. I have a paper I suppose I could start, but that's not due until next Friday and if I start it now, it will definitely be sucktastic. I'll just concentrate on installing this game, thanks.

I was perusing Myspace briefly today (as per usual) and started looking through the profiles and pictures of younger girls I went to school with. These girls, they're the type to load their profile with pictures of them and their friends, and almost all the pictures were taken in my old high school, so I got all... nostalgic. There are days like this when I really miss high school and snow days and seeing my friends five out of the seven days in the week. I really do long for those days; they were so fun. I didn't realize how good a time I was having, how carefree I could be. This is the first time in my life that I've actually had to put my nose to the grindstone and study to get the grades I do. This is the first time I've had to do real academic work. I said that when I came here, I wanted a challenge.

I'm getting it, and I am now invoking my right to takesies-backsies. Fuck college. Fuck hard work. BLEH.

At least my best friend from home is coming down next weekend. With her visiting, and having all the girls here for the weekend, I should be able to unwind after my paper (and before another test). It'll be nice to have a weekend to chill. I've got so much going on this weekend (like Masquerade Ball and paper writing) that I definitely can't relax. Well, maybe when I do laundry...

I miss how easy everything was back home, but an easy life is one that goes nowhere. Having all this work to do leaves me with an immense feeling of accomplishment once I've finished. Maybe I won't finish everything exactly when I want to; maybe it will take a lot of time. The important thing is that I finish on time, and the task is done. That's a really rewarding feeling, especially when I put actual effort into what I'm doing.

The friends I've made here said they've noticed a change in me this last week, like I'm growing into the person I'm meant to be. I guess it sometimes takes near-strangers to see what's really happening to you. I feel different; I feel like I'm entering another growing stage, another phase on my path to actual womanhood. I feel older, more knowledgeable, more... something. I feel downright righteous. It's so empowering to feel that way, to know that there's this odd energy gathering in the depths of my soul, gearing up to spur me on to the next part of my life.

Oh, and here's a picture of the new haircut.



Not too bad, eh? Short, yes, but it's so much nicer... putting it up is a bit of a challenge, I'll admit, but it's nice not having this long, shaggy mane in my collar all the time. Everyone here has noticed it so far, which makes me happy. They all smile and ask, "Did you cut your hair?" When I answer in the affirmative, the smile always widens and people say, "It looks good. It looks like you." That's the most pleasing bit of all. I feel more like me now than I ever have before. I feel as though I'm finally breaking out and doing what I want instead of what will make me attractive or what will please my friends (though the haircut did please my other bestie, Carrie).

God, I feel so... free. I miss high school and its easiness; I miss seeing familiar faces every day, but you know what? It's not an unhappy missing. It's nostalgic, but not a sad nostalgia. It's the kind of missing that comes with moving on, the kind that helps you remember the old days without feeling as though you would give up your future to go back. It's the kind of missing that helps you to realize that your old life has helped you on to this new place, this new platform of living, and though you loved your old life dearly, you wouldn't go back. You're grateful, but not overly so. You've learned to be who you want and learn from the past, but not to live there.

I've made so many discoveries here. I really am growing up.