These Crazy Weeks

Hey, guys! Sorry for not updating lately! Been quite busy...all of a sudden...

Anyways, so this week, it snowed. Snowed! Like, 4 inches!!! So we had Monday off. (and I do have photos, but I'm just too lazy to download them. But those ARE coming soon!!) :)

Then, we went in 2 hours late on Tuesday.

Wednesday, I had an unexpected audition, which I completley bombed, so failed to make it into the school play :( oh well, maybe I'll work tech for it instead :)

Also on Wednesday, I found out that I COULD go to the MUN conference this weekend, which I previously couldn't for reasons I won't bother explaining....

So, MUN was on Friday and Saturday, and it was without a doubt the best MUN conference I've been to so far!!!!! I mean, even though my partner and I weren't really prepared for debate, it was still really fun! We met lots of amazing people, and had a ridiculously fun sudden crisis debate at the end! In addition, we had a dance off, threw paper into various other committee rooms, and bought souvenir boxers!!! Yes, that's right, they were selling boxers instead of t-shirts ;-P And I must say they make incredibly comfortable shorts...=D The only thing(s) I regret about the conference is that I didn't prepare better, and that I didn't bring my camera. :( Because I could have photos to post....but still, I think we debated very well despite not being very prepared :) And our school still got a trophy in the end!!! =D

So yea, that was my week. How was yours? ;-P

Freedom!

Hooray! I finally have my braces off!!! I just got them off yesterday, and now my teeth are amazingly pretty! hahaha ;-P They feel so slimey and weird now though...I mean, I haven't felt my normal teeth in two years! It's such a relief, though :)

Before (this was when I was...11, I think?)
During (taken this summer)

After (taken yesterday!)

Also this week (weak, eh Farabz? ;-P) we performed the killing scene from Julius Caeser in English, and I seriously wish I had my camera with me! I mean, our teacher went all out with the performance thing; we had tablecloth togas, marker daggers, and a bowl of paint for blood. We even had a hand-drawn statue of Pompey! (gingerbread style! don't ask...) XD

No More Braces

I'M FINALLY GETTING MY BRACES OFF!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

ONLY 10 MORE DAYS, BABY!

FRIDAY THE 16TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

=D

So, this weekend will be that last chance to see me with braces. For one last look, hope that I'll be online and the internet connection will be fast enough to view webcam ;)

Reflections

Another year come and gone. So soon. What happened to 2008?

It was a memorable year. One of the most memorable for me. So much happened, I can't sum it all up! Some people pick out the highlights, and share those. Some just wish everybody a happy new year and leave it at that. I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll just thank you all for giving me such a memorable year! From awesome birthdays to mall outings to trips abroad to concerts to get togethers to just our regular old math lessons, you have all helped to make this year special for me. Both the good times and the bad live with me, every waking moment and every second of sleep. I miss you all, and those of you who are here with me now, I look forward to making more memories with you.

Welcome, 2009!

My Typical Red Day

Wake up in the morning, dreading the thought of going to school again.

It's 5:30.

I want to go back to sleep.

Jump in the shower, freeze for 10 minutes or so until the water warms up.

Freeze when I get out of the shower.

Eat breakfast.

Freeze when I go outside.

Freeze while waiting for our group to assemble so we can walk to the bus stop.

Freeze at the bus stop.

Wish I was still in bed.

The bus comes, and we overheat and get dehydrated.

Get to school.

Go upstairs to my locker.

Say "hi" to my friends.

Today is a red day.

French first period.

Freeze while walking to the trailers.

Sleep for five minutes before class starts.

It's 7:20.

The bell rings, and we say the pledge to the flag.

Minute of silence.

Class starts.

Keep looking at the clock.

Can the second hand go any slower?

Class is over.

It's 9:55.

Walk my friend to her next class.

Stand outside the room chatting for 10 minutes.

The warning bell rings.

I go to class.

It's 9:20.

Drama starts.

We do our warm-ups and talk loudly.

Will we play games today or work on our radio play?

We sing.

Before I know it, class is over.

It's 10:45.

Go to World Civ.

We do some English.

Bell rings.

Lunchtime!

We wait forever in line, then go to our table and throw Chex Mix at eachother.

11:50.

Back to class.

More English, then some history.

It's 1:00.

Run to my locker, get my Bio stuff.

Go downstairs.

Biology class.

1:15.

In our places with bright shining faces.

We draw all over the table.

Our teacher talks for a while.

We get loud.

2:00.

No more work for today.

Thank goodness.

2:05 the bell rings.

Class dismissed!

Mad scramble to find the bus on the other side of the building.

Get on the bus.

It's practically empty.

2:15 we leave for Frost Middle.

The bus becomes over-crowded.

Ride home.

I'm the last stop.

Walk home.

2:50 and a free afternoon.

Procrastinate for a couple hours.

Do homework.

Eat dinner.

Do more homework.

Wish I hadn't procrastinated so much so I would have less homework to do now.

10:30.

Bedtime.

Set alarm.

Get mad at myself for staying up so late.

Snuggle under warm covers.

My room is cold.

Freezing....

Final Closures

"...and that's the end of my summer vacation."

What?! You're kidding me! Summer's over ALREADY! There is no way you're making me go back to school yet! We only got our shipment a couple days ago! My summer vacation was way too busy to be counted! I'm not ready to make new friends yet! You're not making me!

Above is the sort of panic I felt when we came to our house, 1 1/2 weeks before school started. Now, it's all a bit better. We're fairly settled in (though the house is still mostly in boxes), school's started and we've all begun a routine, and we're starting to eat more home-cooked meals as opposed to eating out or ordering in every night. I've met a lot of people, though I don't really consider them friends yet.

In a way, this move is like starting a new book in the series of my life. New things will happen, many new concepts will need some getting used to, and there's always sure to be something shocking on every page. Old characters will still remain in this book, though many a new will be introduced. You could almost consider it as good if not better than book 14, as book 15 brings in many new dilemas to the protagonist of this series.

So continue on reading the Friedman Chronicles: S Section. Extracts and insight will continue to be posted on this blog, along with many little-documented photographs.

Thank you for sticking with my series thus far.

Sincerely,

Sophie

P.S. If you found this boring, there is plenty to come to make up for it!

Flight Home

*I'm going home, back to the place where I belong, where your love has always been enough for me!*

*Staring out into the night, trying to hide the pain*

*(the pain you feel's a different kind of pain)*

*The miles are getting longer it seems*
*(I'm not running from...)*

Heading to Virginia, flying almost exactly due south, the sun setting in the west and the moon rising in the east, a final bow to the summer. Though more is left, it's not a vacation anymore...
Encore, encore.
*Lyrics from "Home" by Daughtry*

Our House in the Middle of Our Street

In between visiting family in California and visiting family in Maine, we stopped in Virginia for a day to check up on our houses. This one is the one we lived in when before we moved to Croatia ^^^^ and it's so much tinier than I remembered! The good thing about dropping by this house is I got to see a really good friend of mine for the first time in two years :)

The house that we will be living in is in complete disarray at the moment, so I will post about it once we are officially moved in ;-P

BLOG AGAINST HATE

Dear friends....

It has come to my attention that certain blogs have been target of hate comments and I feel the attacks on bloggers are on the increase. I can document them if you wish but I sense this sentiment is a growing concern amongst bloggers, including myself. I think it is time that we... bloggers put a stop or at least come out with our views on this type of internet bullying or best educate them the best way to appreciate our blogs.. Most of the commentors are anonymous or come under guise names. It is not that we are afraid of bad comments or criticism. However, some commentors used the opportunity of being anonymous by doing personal attacks on the bloggers themselves.

I personally have no problem with readers exchanging views on certain issues and topics but personal attacks are not exactly the kind of material that we all are looking for. I mean bloggers have dedicate their time in sharing the posts/stories and photos. If readers are not happy with our blogs or the way we write.. that is fine but I see that most of us bloggers are responsible in what we write. My only concern is that some readers are using their anonymous status to 'stab in the dark'. This is non ethical to me.

So, with this button on your blog.. it signify that as bloggers, we do not tolerate such behaviour and hopefully educate readers that they are welcome to read and make comments. If there is any issue that they want to raise personally. ..it is better to meet in person rather than having a shot in the dark. If they do not favour such blogs.. there are other 250 blogs or millions globally for them to blog hop.

Cheers and God bless..

Pablo

P.S. if you think this is a worthy cause, please forward to your bloggers friends to join this campaign.

My Celebrity Look Alikes (I was bored!)

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Mall Outing!

So, today at 3:00 I met up with Badi, Edwin, Nurul, Wendy, Amanda, Chung, and Lin Li at the mall. We first went to watch The Spiderwick Chronicles, which I thought was actually a pretty well done movie, considering it was an adaptation of a book (no, I have not read the book, YET). The feeling was actually presented very well, and the graphics were quite funny. Lin Li claims he didn't enjoy it, though he was laughing the whole time. =D

After the movie we went to Swenson's for ice cream. Lin Li was being a naughty boy, as usual, and....um...poisoned?...Badi's water with salt while he wasn't looking. We all saw though, and told Badi not to drink it. Was I crazy to try it instead? Actually, you couldn't even taste the salt. Then Chung smoothly switched Badi and Nurul's water glasses with only one witness. Nurul didn't drink it ;-P Lin Li started messing up the salt shaker (so beware whenever you go to Swenson's), and then poured like half the shaker (the rice to prevent sticking included) into the water, as well as some pepper. I was then dared to try it, and....it tasted like sea water almost, though not quite as salty. Then I left at 6:30 and that was it.

I must say, I wish I could have stayed a little longer though, as I could have had more time to chat with Edwin (who came all the way from Mancester!) and the others. And more time to tease Chung ;-P

Oh and did I mention? Bringing me to the mall was the last trip our car was successfully able to complete! Apparantly, the engine started smoking and the car broke down right before our street!

My New Waitressing Career

So, my parents had a dinner party. My amah, Dona, and I were cooking and waitressing (well, SHE was cooking....but I helped arrange! ;-P)

So, setting up originally went well. But then everyone sat down and I had to serve rolls, and...let's just say it didn't go quite so well....

So, the rule is "serve from the right, take from the left" right? So I served that way, to the bread plate on the right. Except when I got to the end of the table, I found out the bread plate was on the left.....To embarass myself further...:

When asked which type of rolls we had, I replied: "whole grain and not whole grain"

When asked for which type of roll I would recommend: "personally, I prefer white, but if you would like to be more correct, I would take whole grain."

And then I missed the plate with my tongs and dropped a roll on the table.

Run to the kitchen.

When it came time to take away the salad plates, I came out too early.

When taking away the plates, I nearly dropped a knife.

Soup, fortunately, I didn't spill.

The main course came along smoothly (except for nearly tossing beef stir fry over the side of the plate when arranging...), except I abandoned all waitressing ettiquete and served left and right.

Clearing after the main course, I barely managed not to spill. And nearly ended up forgetting the bread plates.

The deserts came out alright.

Clearing after deserts was fine too.

Then came the coffee and tea round, when I actually started sounding kindof proffesional, except...well....let's just say I forgot the coffee cups? But then serving went fairly well, except the guests were teasing me a lot, but I'm a big girl, right? ;-P

All in all, I think it was a good experience though. Wasn't nearly as easy as knowingly drinking salt, pepper, and rice water earlier today though ;-D

Introducing........THE NEW CAMERA

Introducing......THE NEW CAMERA!

No, I do not know anything about it.

I can't give any specifics to impress you.

It's just a camera, and I would like to tell my limited world that I now have one. XD

Maybe, if you have good enough eyesight, you will be able to read the picture and figure out what it says on the camera (this will be for people interested in camera technology etc.) :-P

Gonna Party Like It's Your Birthday...!

Who is this guy?

The apple pie!!!!!!

Wow, Nathaniel, it's a plate of chopped veggies....

Water Gun War!!!!!!!

Dancing to Dry Off

"Don't you DARE take the picture!"

Grudge Check Counter "NO FIGHTING IN THE HOUSE!" (courtesy of Badi)

The Dart Board

Us (hey wait a minute, where's Chung?!)

On Saturday I held a Western Hoedown to celebrate my 14th birthday! The event included:

1. Darts
2. Twister (can someone send me pics?)
3. Water Gun War!!!!!!!
4. Dancing
5. Eating
6. Eating
7. Going crazy with the cameras :P
8. Posing badly :P
   
   
   Thanks to all of you who came: Glad you could make it! This thing wouldn't have happened without you. I hope you enjoyed yourselves!
   

To those who couldn't come: better luck next time!

To those I didn't invite: I'm sorry! But I can't invite everyone.... :S

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone who's birthday I've missed this year :P

You Load Sixteen Tons; What Do You Get?

Hehe this post is a very Nurul-like post :P Put the lyrics of a song...This one's a classic:

Some people say a man is made outta mud

A poor man's made outta muscle and blood

Muscle and blood and skin and bones

A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine

I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine

I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal

And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain

Fightin' and trouble are my middle name

I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion

Cain't no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

If you see me comin', better step aside

A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died

One fist of iron, the other of steel

If the right one don't a-get you

Then the left one will

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

And today we meet......CALVIN AND HOBBES!

It's the notorious duo: Calvin and Hobbes!

Hehe just felt like posting this pic ;P. I love Calvin and Hobbes! Haha

WOW! SOPHIE'S USING TECHNOLOGY! *GASP*

Moi (complements to Badi for the photograph)

Ok, there I went and did it. I made a blog! (Thank you to Badi for the encouragement!) Who knows how well this will turn out...but I am open to any tips you guys have for this! And..erm......I don't really know how to start out with this. So much has happened in my life thus far! But I think it would be appropriate to start out by saying :

Gong Xi Fa Cai!