Humidity

   I don't like humidity. The last couple weeks here have been very humid. When I went to take care of my chickens earlier today, it was so humid I could feel it tangibly in the air. I'm ready for cooler temperatures.
   I'm very excited to start school. I believe we have 8 days until we begin. I have very little to do until I start, just getting everything ready to be used and place nicely in it's pile. Tomorrow is the last Monday I won't have school for a while. It's weird, knowing that something I miss now will be something I can't stand in a few weeks.
   My grandmother brought us a variety of pieces of pies that she made recently. She made a layered one unintentionally, and it was the best. It was blueberry, lemon, coconut cream (you couldn't even taste the coconut, just a hint of sweet cream), with a soft, white, pudding-consistency topping (not meringue). It was fabulous.
   My brother is reading the book, The Journal of Jesse Smoke, one of the My Name is America books. He really seems to be enjoying it, which is good, because he doesn't like to read. Our library does a summer reading program, so he's reading to collect hours for that. One of the words he stumbled on, was the word 'ploughs'. He was reading to me, and I believe he pronounced it something like 'po log uhs'. I couldn't help but laugh.
   I'm a big reader, and I don't have the best pronunciation in the world. Up until a few weeks ago, I believe the word 'faux' was pronounced 'fox', instead of 'foe'. This was a major bummer for me. I couldn't believe that a word I had read wrong so many times (and probably used in conversation a few times), was pronounced so differently. It took me a while to come to terms to that.

    Have a great Saturday!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 1. Pokemon Go...your thoughts? Are you playing? Do you even know what it is?

   I am not playing. I do, in fact, know what it is. Pokémon has never particularly interested me, and my mom has always believed in it's demonic properties, so I never played. I'm also a little concerned with the safety and security of the game. I've heard many bad things about it, so even if I had the opportunity, I don't believe I would play.
   One thing I enjoy about this whole thing is how fired up people are getting. I've read several hate articles about how Pokémon Go is the 'zombie apocalypse' or something like that. People are always depressed in people. I can understand that, because I get depressed in people too, sometimes. Pokémon Go is just another faze among society. Just like planking, twerking, Ebola fear mongering and the cinnamon challenge, it'll be over and another stupid thing will replace it before you even know it was gone.


 2. What was something you collected as a child? Do you still have that collection? If you're a parent what's something your own children collected? Have you ever camped out, stood in a crazy long queue, or paid a ridiculous sum for a 'collectible'?

   I'm still a kid, technically, and I currently collect playing cards. I love cards, and enjoying playing, so it's a fun thing to collect. I still have that collection, and I'm still collecting. Recently, my friends brought me back a pack of cards with 53 different pictures of national parks and landmarks from their vacation. How cool is that?
   I have never camped out, stood in a line (aside from the grocery checkout at Walmart) or paid more than a few dollars for any collectible.


 3. "Collect moments, not things"...tell us about a moment you've added to your collection this summer.

   Swimming with my best friends, twice so far this summer. I've been swimming several hours every day this week, and my hair is not a fan of pool water. Swimming with them is super fun. It's an enjoyable experience and we make a lot of memories together.


 4.  What's something collecting dust in your home right now? Any plans to do something about it?

   My new school books are sitting in the homeschool closet, collecting dust, waiting for them to be used so very soon. I'm quite excited. I do plan on doing something about it; starting school and using them everyday for both my education and my personal enjoyment.


 5. A favorite song relating to time?

   Wake Me Up When September Ends, by Green Day is the only one I could think of that related to time, in any sense.


 6. What's been your most frightening or your most interesting encounter with wildlife?

   I had never seen a bear in person until Monday night. I was driving home from my grandparents (we had been swimming) when a momma bear started across the road with three little fuzz balls for cubs. Another car was coming from the opposite direction with their high beams on, so I couldn't see very well, being blinded by the headlights and everything.
   Even if I couldn't see the bears very well, it was still kind of cool to see what I saw of them. Bears are slightly odd looking animals. I think their legs are a little too long. I don't know. Is this just me?


 7.  On July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong set his foot down on the moon. If you could travel to the moon would you go? Why or why not?

   I would go, if I had the opportunity, just because I think it would be the coolest thing ever. Aside from the radical awesomeness of stepping on the moon, I think space travel is an incredible waste of money. Why? Because we know more about the surface of Mars than we know about the ocean floor. Our ocean. The one on earth. The one we can go to at a lesser cost with much less has. This planet already has both water and intelligent (though I sometimes doubt this) life.
   Why do we need to search for somewhere else? If we spent the money we waste on space travel on helping to keep this planet alive and well, we would have a MUCH better planet than a planet with some more data on Mars. Maybe I'm understanding this wrong, but I think that we could be doing many more powerful works with the trillions wasted on space exploration, until we discover everything there is to know about our planet, first.


 8. Insert your own random thought here.

   I recently got a new pair of ear buds on sale for 4 bucks at Walmart. I went home, took them out of the package, and plugged them in. I turned on one of my favorite songs and listened. The sound quality wasn't the best, but I wasn't upset. They were only $4, so I wasn't out much.
   Then more of the song progressed and I realized a very shady fact about those ear buds. The lead vocals were missing! It was the background music and background vocals! I found this hysterical, and I went and showed Mom. She also found this funny. I went to show my brother, but when he used them, the lead vocals came in without a problem.
   While I was glad they worked, I couldn't help but be a little saddened when I realized they were normal ear buds, just like my other pairs. Oh well. It was an experience, to say the least. And with that under my belt, I believe I would buy a pair of ear buds that I knew didn't play the lead vocals. It's actually sort of cool, plus you can sing along with just the band behind you.

A Bunch of Different Things

   I haven't posted in a while. I had been meaning to, but I never got around to it. These last few days have been both boring and busy. Nothing incredibly interesting has happened worth blogging about.

   Today, we went and visited some lovely friends of ours. It was an enjoyable afternoon. We had a water fight, and it consisted of the three of us girls taking glasses of water and splashing each other, all while throwing insults at one another. It was all in good fun, and good fun it was.

   Mom is currently trying a new pasta recipe that is supposed to taste like tacos. I like tacos, so I'm hoping for the best. UPDATE: The pasta taco recipe was not a winner. It wasn't bad, but it definitely not something I would want to eat by itself again.

   On August 1st, we will be starting school. Yes, I know that sounds very early, coming from a public school point of view (and some homeschoolers, too) but we like to finish earlier, and we also take a long Christmas vacation, as well as breaks for our birthdays, other holidays, sick days and other things. We also do not do school on Fridays, with our homeschool group counting as a day of school.

   This year, I might end up doing school on Fridays, because of the harder curriculum, and more work to complete. I am quite excited to start school, regardless of the workload. I will also be reading a lot, thanks to the boatload of school-required reading, since I'm trying to complete two years of English this year.

   We picked blueberries last night, so we have two 15x9 pans filled with blueberries. That was the first time we picked this year, and we got 5 and a half quarts of berries. This will be a very plentiful blueberry harvest this year.

   Mom and Dad's garden is looking great this year, even with the late planting. I was not here when they planted, which I wasn't too depressed about, since gardening is not my thing. My brother has a whole plot of corn just for himself. He loves corn a lot. He planted three different varieties, one being popcorn. That will be cool to see how it turns out.

   My family and I are currently on a waffle kick. My mom has discovered that she loves to put a decent amount of butter on a waffle, and top that with blueberry jelly. I do not particularly like butter or blueberry jelly, so I did not enjoy this new creation as much as she did. My favorite way to enjoy waffles is topped with some Nutella.

  

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's something fun you're looking forward to on your May calendar? 

   Our homeschool group is having our End of the School Year performance this Friday. I'm excited, and nervous. Excited, because performances are a lot of fun, and nervous because I'm performing. I'm a procrastinator, so I put off a lot of the things I should have done a while ago, and now I'm trying to prepare them all at once. Still, I think it adds to the excitement in a way.

2. What are some images that come to mind when you hear the word mother? 

   First off, my mom. Then, the creepy slime stuff in our strong apple cider vinegar.

 3. What's something beautiful you own or have seen that's made of glass? 

 

   I think stained glass windows are pretty. The Brethren church we used to go to has stained glass windows. Every Sunday, I passed the time by counting all the different pieces of glass in the windows. That church was kind of boring.

4. Was today typical? If not, what made it unusual? 

 

   Today's been typical so far, but who knows what the day has in store.  

5. What is a quality you wish you could have more of?

 

   Either patience or gentleness of spirit, though I probably need the gentleness of spirit more, because I'm not entirely impatient.

   On a different note, one thing that bothers me is everyone wishing for qualities they want. There is nothing wrong with dreaming big, but if you want something, go for it. Start practicing the patience you wish you had. Think before you speak. Enroll in anger management classes if you need too. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, cause nothing is easier than sitting around and complaining, but it will make a positive difference. So instead of whining about what you don't have, take action. You need a new habit to break an old one.

 

6. What's the next major purchase you need to make? Will it happen in the month of May? 

 

   I don't think I have any upcoming major purchases. But, I'm more sporadic with my spending. If I overthink it, I will end up not getting it. So, in theory, my next big purchase could be in May. The month is still new.

7. What responsibility/job/work did you dislike while growing up but has proved helpful to you as an adult?

 

   I'm not yet an adult, so this question doesn't apply to me. I will say that my parents helped shape me to be the person I am today. A little hard work never killed anyone, just strengthened them.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

 

   My school is almost done for the year, fortunately. I have some more language arts to do, but then I'm done. I love finishing the school year almost as much as I love starting one.

   I'm excited for this summer. The summer reading program at our library, swimming at my grandparents, warmer temperatures, going to the park with friends from our homeschool group, camp fires, family picnics and a ton of other fun summer things to do and experience.