Coffee

Oh yes!

Read about coffee

Buy (really good) coffee

Make coffee

Oh yes!

Anyone Remember This?

Spanish Lavender

So I saw some of this today and thought it was pretty.

After Graduation

So after a painful last quarter, I finally finished high school. Yes, I actually survived! But during what many of my peers found to be an emotional time, I was surprised to find myself cold, feeling nothing. It's very difficult to write a meaningful speech in such a state, but somehow I managed to squeeze something out. It was extremely painful, and I don't claim that it had much of a point, but I did survive it. Even after the speech was all over though, I did not feel as relieved as I had thought I would; the graduation ceremony, which last year had been such an emotional time for me, sparked in me hardly any feeling at all. I realized perfectly well that this was the end of a long period of my life, and that I might never in my life see some of those faces again, but still I felt nothing. I left having hardly spoken to anyone and feeling little inclination to do so. So that was graduation! And my state has improved little since. I have been irritable, tired, gloomy, and unsociable since. Apart from my family's own celebration, I attended no graduation parties and have seen no one but my family since then. I have missed out on the beginning of summer and feel so disconnected. I'm enjoying my family of course, but I know I've missed so much elsewhere and there's not much I can do about it. I feel disappointingly cold and unfeeling towards others - like I have not felt in a long time, and it's killing me. Despite my lack of obligations, I cannot rest. I am discontent with who I am and am not quite sure what to do.

These past weeks have not been all gloom though. I have been able to spend time with relatives I haven't seen for what seems like forever, I've cooked more chocolate desserts than I can name, and I've found time for reading once again. My parents threw a nice party for me and I have been thoroughly congratulated by my friends, family, and church. But something is missing - the people connection. I don't know what it is - I'm drawing into myself again and am becoming once again terribly uncomfortable with bringing people to my house. There are people I desperately want to see and right now my only opportunity to see them is to invite them to my home, but every opportunity my parents have offered me I have passed up. Once again, I don't know what's wrong and am not quite sure what to do.

Waffle

An Update

Once again, apologies for not posting! Though I certainly haven't lacked post material, I've been a bit short on time and energy: even now I'm yawning. Since my last post I have written more essays (all in vain), signed up for too many AP exams (again), discovered that though I still enjoy the subject, I am absolutely terrible at physics (uh-oh), found my second semester classes less interesting than I had hoped (yes, I fall asleep everyday!), become hopelessly addicted to gum, and have found myself in an unexpectedly disappointing position in my college choices. I was accepted at 8/10 schools I applied to and wait-listed at the other 2 - not bad as far as admission goes. The disappointing part is the cost: it is so expensive! At this point the decision is entirely my parents': they know where I want to go and where I can go for free (first choice, last choice). So I'm just waiting...and waiting...and waiting. The uncertainty is killing me. In the past week or so I've been trying to manage the stress of the decision with a busy week at school, studying for AP exams, trying to figure out what to say at graduation, and attempting to still maintain a social life. I have found that the only way that I can keep from going crazy and being a complete jerk to my family is to spend time with other people. Fortunately I have been blessed with some very understanding, caring friends - they are unusually kind in spite of my constant complaining and pessimistic attitude. I don't think I could get along without them. I'll try to post again when I finally find out how this college thing is going to come out, but for now I'm just trying to balance my desire to go to the school of my choice with my desire not to act spoiled. I am so afraid that if I cannot go where I want that I will be miserable, but at the same time I fear spoiling my happiness at my first choice with the guilt of what it costs. I don't know how it will come out, but I pray that I might be able to accept the decision with gratitude and contentment. Knowing myself, though, it will be very difficult.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, My Birthday, New Years, and a Plethora of Other Things I Haven't Posted

Yes, I'm a loser for abandoning the blog during the holidays. I'll be brief.
November:

• Thanksgiving: stayed home

December:

• Passed Calculus!
• Died on Music Theory final...oh well
• Bought too many Christmas presents
• Nice Christmas: mp3 player, money, dishes for dorm life, cute teapot, make-up, book
• Surprise Birthday party - pretty awesome. Thanks Molly!
• New Years Eve - LOTR Marathon!

January:

• Scholarship essays (curse them)
• More scholarship essays
• Ice skating - I didn't fall this time
• Worked 3 days in a row - so boring - no customers!
• Interview in Nashville - first sushi (pretty good)
• Began 2nd semester - more promising than last!

So right now, I'm thinking of a really good blog entry, but it's 12 AM and I don't have time to write it down. Too bad for you!

Random

This is one of those crazy nights when I'm exhausted but don't feel like sleeping. Although I haven't actually accomplished much today I feel at once satisfied, hopeful, and sad. (Don't ask me why). I think I may have salvaged my calculus grade :), and I thought of an awesome college essay related to my argument with the Butterfinger in my backpack last week; having the radio out in one's car keeps the mind busy. I slept through half of Calculus tonight (hope I didn't snore), dragged my dinner out for an hour, and then picked all the big cookie pieces out of the new box of ice cream. . . Right now, I'm listening to some lovely Josh Groban songs and though I don't know why, I'm suddenly nostalgic for this past spring and am missing people very much. It's strange, but it almost makes me feel better (???shrug???) I'm so ready for college! I'm considering posting my application essays on here for critiques. What do you think?

Crêpe Day

I have been in a cooking frenzy all weekend so I decided to go all out today with crêpes! I went shopping for ingredients at 10 PM last night and stayed up until 2:30 AM preparing what I could. Thanks to the time change it was only 1:30. I made appetizer crêpes, salad with crêpes, a main dish with crêpes, and dessert crêpes all served on fine china! It was a delectable culinary experience!

Salad Basket Crêpes with Grapes, Gorgonzola, & Almonds

Baked Egg Crêpe Cups

First Course

Chicken - Mushroom Crêpe Cake

Ice Cream Crêpes with Caramel Sauce

If you want recipes just let me know!

WashU

Hey! Chelsey's at WashU! I have actually acted like everyone else here this evening working in the library 'til nearly midnight and (obviously) staying up much later. I was productive enough to write an application essay and read a chapter of Human Geo :) I've just been fed a heap of sugar and don't really want to go to sleep, but neither does anyone else (well actually they can't because they have work to do). Anyway, everyone here is a nerd :) and they're obsessed with their food. WashU is looking really attractive right now!
Goodnight!

Occasionally I go through the folders of my e-mails looking for memories, laughs, inspiration or encouragement. There are a few messages that I read quite often. Here is an excerpt from one:

"Remember in the coming years the most important lessons you learned. Friendship is infectious. Dabble in many subjects - you never know what might prove interesting. Passion for one's work inspires others. Confidence is cumulative if cultivated. Keep challenging yourself and revel in life, in things both great and small."

It pretty much sums up the experiences of my junior year and gives me encouragement for the future. Simple though it may seem, it means a lot to me. Want to guess who wrote it?

This was different

Despite the heap of work I had Thursday night and the knowlegde that I would not finish it, I actually perked up a little and felt pretty good. I had calculus class that night @ UAH and was actually staying awake! During our ten minute break after the first hour, I was able to talk to a girl that sits in front of me. I learned that she is from Greece which I found fascinating. She told me about living by the sea and being able to go to Olympic games and how Greek culture in Greece is very different from American Greek culture (e.g. My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Apparently, Greek people who immigrated here about 50 years ago became really strict in order to maintain their culture - to prevent assimilation, but people in Greece today are little more laid back in that regard.
This was really interesting: she said, "Everyone in Greece is trilingual; bilingual is for you know common (down there) people." She said that in school, learning two other languages is a requirement. Most Americans are only monolingual. It's quite pathetic I think.
She said that she was actually an English teacher in Greece for a while and moved here because of the educational opportunities. She wants to become a computer engineer.
Anyway, the cultural experience added some color to the evening and kept me from getting depressed about my workload (I saved that for Friday).

This passage from the Silmarillion has been stuck in my head most of the evening. You should read the book if you get the chance. It is beautiful.

Then Beren looking up beheld the eyes of Lúthien, and his glance went also to the face of Melian; and it seemed to him that words were put into his mouth. Fear left him, and the pride of the eldest house of Men returned to him; and he said, "My fate, O King, led me hither, through perils such as few even of the Elves would dare. And here I have found what I sought not indeed, but finding I would possess for ever. For it is above all gold and silver, and beyond all jewels. Neither rock, nor steel, nor the fires of Morgoth, nor all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms, shall keep from me the treasure that I desire."

Blond Moment

Today I decided to take a break from my work. Yes, I really did; no essays, no reading, no writing. So I went to the bank to cash my last four paychecks and had a very blonde moment. As you probably know, these occurences are very common for me, but this one seemed a bit more significant. After making a long line of cars wait on me to fill out my deposit form, I put my checks, form, and ID into the tube and sent it through the machine; it was soon returned with my ID and receipt and I prompty drove away. Nothing extraordinary, right?
Fortunately I didn't get far out of the drive thru before I realized that I had stolen the tube! I stopped right where I was, parked the car and left it running, jumped out and ran back to the drive thru were I put the tube back in its proper place. The woman in the car behind me gave me the annoyed you-are-so-stupid look to which I responded with I smile and a wave. It was a little awkward.
Also tonight, my sister had her 16th birthday party. It was alright, but I didn't really do much - I don't know any of her friends and they were having a marvelous time by themselves anyway. The birthday cake was quite a surprise. When my mother called the bakery at Southern Family Markets, she told them that my sister liked bright colors but wasn't a "girly girl"; she asked for a white cake with white icing and some color along the edges. What we got was a bit different. In fact, if you removed the 1 from the 16 and put the word "princess" on it, you could sell it at Libby Lou no problem. I would attach a picture but I don't want to get up and find the camera right now. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.
Adiós amigos.

What's new?

It's really too late for me to be posting...I need sleep desperately, so I'll be brief. I haven't been posting lately for the following reasons:

1) I am busier than I've ever been in my life.
2) I don't have time to think of anything worthy of writing (my school work is so pathetic it requires little more than the weakest thought. At some point I will have to learn to think again)
3) All I feel like doing is whining and whining is unpleasant to read.

There's not much to update. I'm applying to many universities and I don't know what my top choice is. I have started my calculus class at UAH and it's alright. Tommorrow I am going to stuff a teacher's mailbox with origami cranes and go to Nashville. Hey, it's something different.

Later,
Chelsey

I've had too much caffeine!

This is a random entry..........

It's 12:33 AM. I have to get up this morning at 4:45, but I've had so much tea this evening that I don't feel like going to bed!

Indeed, things have gotten better; at least I feel better about my classes now. Unfortunately, I already have a more serious case of senioritis than I expected. It's only the second week of school and I've found myself doing homework the morning that it's due every day this week. I have had little sleep, mainly because I continue to do stupid things like blog after midnight. I'm not quite sure why (shrug)?

I might mention that I had to say goodbye today to two of my best friends. I didn't really feel emotional at the time, but now the thought of not seeing them for months makes me sick. I'm also lamenting that I was not able to give dear Molly a more proper goodbye. She's been gone nearly a week and I haven't heard from her. I hope the trend does not continue.

Otherwise, life is good despite my abhorrently messy bedroom which I now have go sleep in. I think I'm tired now.

Goodnight my friends.

Summer ends, school begins

I have been a terrible blogger lately: an exciting summer and only two entries? Shame.
Anyhow, after Girls State and beginning my job, I did very little until going to camp July 11-26. Mostly, I slept too much, ate too much, and didn't accomplish anything. The YSLI, however, was amazing! I met many new people from across the western hemisphere and made some lasting friends. I was elected secretary of the 2006 group and thus have the charge of helping to keep everyone in contact, but I'm afraid it will be difficult...I'll do my best. Sadly though, I find myself often forgeting the people I grew to love and admire as I get wrapped up in my life here. The last 3 days of my summer were exciting though. The sisterhood minus Molly :( went camping and kayaking and the next day I spent alone driving around town and shopping. It was quite relaxing.
Another observation: I tend to write more on this blog when I've had a bad experience or when I'm feeling sad than I do when I'm happy. Perhaps that is the reason I've written so little about my summer experiences. I guess when I'm upset or disappointed I just need to whine to someone, but I suppose it makes my life seem much worse than it is. Maybe I should rename the page "Chelsey's Woes." Oh well, I probably won't be fixing the problem anytime soon, so here's some more whining:
School began much too soon, Friday the 4th in fact. It was strange. Everything seemed so altered. I felt like I hardly knew anyone. 1st block was AP Human Geo with Ms. Faris who seems to be a reasonable person, but I'm afraid the way she directs the class might kill me: too many first grader requirements such as define all the vocab words for a grade. But in her class I experienced the happy moment of the day: the required reading is The World is Flat. but as I reflect on it, perhaps that's not such a good thing. None of it will be new to me. But I know it's a good book anyway. Second block I have no class so I'm in the library studying/being a personal aid to Mrs. Roberts. I'll be dual enrolling a Calculus C at UAH at night, so I'll still have 4 classes. Third block is AP Music Theory and is, as expected, full of band people I don't know. I feel now that I may have lost interest in that subject and might change my schedule, but I'm not certain, considering the bad mood I was in at the time. Fourth block is Spanish IV which was the only class that seems to be as I expected, but Spanish classes are always a bit strange. As I predicted earlier, I think it will take diligent effort to enjoy my senior year, the first semester anyway. I will have to adapt to new people and new (regressive) teaching styles in a school that I feel I have already outgrown. However, with divine aid, I will survive.

Oh Well

Chelsey hasn't posted in a loooooong time...oh well who cares. I have alot to write, but I don't feel like it so I will be very brief.
1) Went to Girls State
2) Had fun
3) Miserably lost my election
4) Got to meet "important" people anyway (thanks Jennifer)
5) Got a job at the Sweet Dreams Café
6) Began reading LOTR for the 6th time
7) Made mother's birthday/father's day cake into a yin-yang
8) Got in trouble
9) Can't read anything without falling asleep
10) Began job...lots of fun
11) Feel like I'm wasting my summer...can't finish reading or doing anything.

I hate shopping!

Not much has happened since the last post....I went to Westminster's graduation on Friday...we were late, but oh well. Then Trisha and I went to Cafe Baba. I WANT A JOB THERE! Unfortunately my parents say it's too far to drive. I read the Simarillion again. It was good, but not as interesting as the first time I read it. Today I had to go shopping. I HATE SHOPPING. I don't think it'd would be so bad if I could walk into a store, find complete outfits that fit me and I like, and have enough money to pay for them, but alas, it never works that way. At least I made some good progress though. I was really dreading looking for a formal, but the first one I found worked great. YAAAY! Now I actually own a dress. Tonight I making biscottis and tomorrow I think I'll go look for campaign materials for Girls' State, but I'm still not sure which office I'm running for. Gosh, this is a really short post for me. Not much has happened...it's kinda boring.

Lots of Stuff

I suppose you need an update of the past 5 days. Not much happened this weekend except that I went to a dance recital Saturday night and my parents were angry that I stayed too long. Sunday I had an orientation about Girls' State. (I'm excited, but I don't know what office to run for; suggestions?) Monday, ALOT happened. I was able to switch the 2 remaining finals I had to take from Tuesday to Monday so I was done with school that day at 11:30. Most of the fun AP people and Mr. Couch were going to Nothing but Noodles for lunch. I got there a little before noon and was having a difficult time finding a parking space. The whole parking lot was very crowded. I finally turned down a row that had some availiable spaces only to discover I had turned down the wrong way. The parking spaces were angled in the opposite direction; but I didn't want to drive around again, so I did a three point turn to get into the space. I was pulling in when I saw the minivan next to me move; and it was still parked- yep, I hit it. I backed out a little and then pulled more tightly into the space. I got out and looked. I had put an enormous gash down the whole length of this brand new minivan. I about died. My car was okay; I only lightly scraped my rubber bumper. My friends kindly stayed with me until my mother got there. Then we waited for the people who owned the van to show up. They were nice about it, but yesterday I found out that it's going to cost more than $1500 to fix. I was planning on getting a job, but now I really have to get one. There goes all the money I won. Anyway after that I ate lunch and when I returned to my car, it wouldn't start. I tried and tried, but it wouldn't work, so my mother came to help me (again). For her, it started on the first try. (What, am I cursed?) Monday night was graduation. I made poor Molly and Elissa late because I called them at the last minute for a ride (car trouble again). I was glad I was able to go, even though I left feeling miserable. It was so depressing for me. Elissa's speech was fantabulous though; I don't think I could do so well. Even though I didn't have any finals yesterday, I went to school anyway in order to return some books and tell Mr. Couch goodbye. I only planned to stay a few minutes, but I was there 2 hours. I arranged to come back and help him clean his room this morning. After that I came home for awhile, but Molly soon kidnapped me to help her get ice for her party which I went to at 3. It was alot of fun. Afterwards, Marie, Elissa, Trisha, and I went to Brusters. They all went to Elissa's afterwards, but my parents wanted me to stay home. So I created the sisterhood blog (notice the new link). This morning, I went to the school again with a few people. We didn't do much cleaning and made a brief goodbye. That was sad...really sad for me. After that I spent a few hours looking for a job. There are a few places that look fun; hopefully they'll hire me, but I don't know.

Tired, Stressed, and Slightly Depressed

Today was the last day of school...for the seniors. Good for them, sad for me. I know them better than I know my own class... I don't know what I'll do next year. At least I'll have the summer with them, but I think next year is going to be terrible. Before this year, I was miserable at school. I had very few friends and was rarely invited to do anything after class, but this year was awesome (you know I need a new adjective; any suggestions?). I've entered in to several rewarding friendships that I hope to maintain as long as I can. Most of this was due to the fact that half of my classes were made up of mostly seniors, but next year there is no other group I'll have classes with, maybe a few juniors, but not many. I'm not too hopeful about making new friendships among my own classmates; I've been with them for years and not much has happened in that department. I suppose I have met a few new people from my class this year, but I haven't really spent any time with them and I'm not sure they're the type of people who I'd want to spend time with outside of school. If I want to actually enjoy my senior year, I'll have to work hard at it, but I think in the end I'll have to say that this was the best of my high school years and I'm sad for it to end. I'm also a little anxious about teachers next year. I was fortunate that most of my teachers this year were reasonable, logical, and intelligent, but I have had trouble with that before. I have a very hard time respecting a teacher who is crazy, unfocused and "always right." A good teacher can make all the difference between me hating or loving school. I'm looking forward to Boggs and Duvall, but I don't know about the rest; and Couch is leaving :( (good for him; bad for me) Who will be teaching geography? This stuff is driving me crazy. I think I just need to relax or something. I think after all this graduation stuff gets over, I am tuning out of life for a week, locking myself in my room and reading Lord of the Rings (round six). That should help. Oh, but some of this week has been just dreadful,; I don't think I've ever sighed so much in my life. Monday the Econ Squad took its (probable but hopefully not) last trip together to the Federal Reserve Bank branch in Birmingham. I don't think it was as quite as fun as the Mall of America, but I enjoyed it. I think I probably scared Sra. Nuñez when I talked to her in Spanish about economics and the Federal Reserve System during my oral final! Tuesday was depressing. I came home and cried over losing the seniors and wasn't able to sleep at all. Wednesday I looked and felt dead and my head was peeling. The awards ceremony was that day too. Why? For some reason I felt better after fourth block and spent most of the evening at Barnes and Noble with Marie and Trisha. I made cookies too. Today I worked first and second block and then after an hour of wandering around wondering what to do, I left with the seniors because I didn't have a third or fourth block class...everyone was gone. We went to Cheeburger Cheeburger where I spent the last of my money, unless I open up my college savings account. I NEED money this week (suggestions?). Too bad I'm not a bank ;) I came home and started helping my mom's friend grade papers when I get a call from Ms. Vermillion, "We're trying to take the Latin final, and umm...you're not here." So off I run to take that dumb test. I felt bad about that. So I was 15 minutes late for my orthodontist appointment. Oh well. When they asked me how I was I answered, instead of my usual, "Just fine...I guess," "Tired, stressed, and slightly depressed" They gave me balloons. The stupid retainer I got tastes like it is dissolving in my mouth; with my breath, it probably is. I'm spending this evening alone, refusing to do schoolwork, but I did finally go shopping for some clothes. You know, someone needs to tell me the secret of short posts. I'm sorry mine are so long and boring. It's one of my few outlets.

You want pictures?

I have recieved complaints that my blog is boring because there are no pictures. Well here's a couple for ya. This is the econ squad at the mall. And that's I in the adorable hat!

Today I am a senior!

Hi, hi! Today I actually did something exciting! At 11 o'clock, the senior picnic began. Of course I wasn't allowed to go because I am not (excuse me, WAS not a senior), but everyone else in my third block class was. Mrs. Tarter was going also, so she basically kicked me out of her class and told me to find somewhere else to go. I began wandering around, trying to find somewhere to go when I suddenly met all my senior friends on their way out. I asked them where I should go. They suggested that I go to Mrs. Newell's room or just check out. I wasn't sure that I would be allowed to check out without a note and then they changed their minds and decided I should come to the picnic with them. They told me if they smuggled me in, no one would care, but I was scared; I wanted it to be legit. I was trying to think of someone with authority that I could ask who was likely to tell me I could go when who should come along but Mrs. Newell. I asked her advice and she told me to just go to the picnic, so I did. After walking right past the principal who should know me, but of course doesn't, I got inside. The seniors there who knew me were quite proud of me, but I was still nervous. I knew that most of the teachers and students didn't care that I was there, but I was so afraid that if an administrator recognized me as a junior, they would not find my explanation sufficient and I would be in A LOT of trouble; I also didn't want to get Mrs. Newell in trouble. I had fun though; mainly we played volleyball, but very poorly. At about 1:30, powderpuff football started. None of us were really interested and we were hoping that we could just leave, but alas no. The games were really boring; in fact I didn't watch at all. I just wandered around the field, played some more volleyball and watched a card game. When school was over I gave Elissa a ride home and picked up my sister. At 5:30 I went to Casa Blanca for the Interact dinner where I spent more time with seniors. Molly and Marie were there and afterward we went to see a play at school along with Mario. Elissa joined us at the school. We didn't get out of there until 9:00. We had originally planned to go to Bruster's for ice cream, but it was chilly, so after some discussion and much hesitation from Molly we decided to go the the Sweet Dreams Cafe instead. It was the first time I had ever been. We stayed about half an hour past closing time, but the owner didn't care. He was quite friendly and gave us a lesson in fine espresso. We each got a drink and split two desserts. Everything was excellent, so we decided that we need to make that a regular thing. Molly, creative as usual, decided that we should form something like a "sisterhood of the traveling pants" except maybe it should be a coffee cup or something instead of pants. Anyway I enjoyed the day extremely. I was glad I got to spend some good time with the seniors since they're leaving me soon. I think I'll die.
I almost forgot about my AP Exams. For the past two weeks I have studied, and studied, and studied. Calculus was last Wednesday and I really don't feel too good about that one. I think I bombed the free response part. I was really worried about Government and studied for nothing else; in fact I took Monday off until 4th block so I could stay home and study. Saturday, though I didn't get much done. That morning I had a group of people come over to film a movie for Spanish class. Trish and Marie came as extras and were going to stay afterward to study Econ with me. The filming ran a lot longer than I expected, but when it was finally over the three of us had some espresso and started reviewing. Considering the amount of time they were at my house, we didn't get much done. My family was gone all day to my sister's softball tournament, so there wasn't any time limit. We played on my violin for a while and then played Lord of the Rings trivia (from the book, not the movie of course) and I actually lost! Trish had never read the books so we gave her a slight advantage, but she still beat Marie and I by a lot. We were hungry so we decided to make breakfast. We had french toast and bacon and of course coffee. Marie has quite a caffeine addiction! They didn't leave until about 9:30, but I didn't go to bed. I stayed up and tried to figure out my video editing software and started having way too much fun with that. I didn't go to bed until about one. (My family didn't get home until midnight). Sunday I had my last orchestra concert and as I mentioned before, I skipped school on Monday to study. Tuesday was the Government exam which I thought was easy. Wednesday was the Chemistry exam which I wasn't quite prepared for, but I guess I did alright. Thursday I had my two econ exams. Wednesday was the only night I really had to study. I wasn't too worried though; afterall I had been on the Econ Squad, but the test was much more difficult than I expected, and the Micro was positively dreadful. When I finally finished testing I went to the orthodontist to get rid of my braces. I realized when I got there that I was a half hour late. Oh well. After messing with my mouth to the point of pain they gave me a heap of junk food: things that I couldn't and "didn't" eat while I had braces. When I finally got home I was even more surprised to learn that I was accepted into one of the summer programs I applied for! It was a good day, but it didn't stop there. This morning I was elected president of Mu Alpha Theta! So I'm pretty happy today, but actually I have a lot of work to do. I'm behind in Spanish and Latin, I have a video to make and I have finals soon, but I think I must have a minor case of senioritis because I really don't care too much ;)

Minnesota

You might have noticed that I've made it a point not to mention the names of the people I reference in my entries. I do this for two reasons: A. to keep myself anonymous, and B. to protect the privacy of others who might not want their doings published online. However, the events that I am about to relate involve 6 people so it's nearly impossible to tell my story without mentioning names and I have nothing negative to mention anyway. Friday, I left for Minneapolis for the Economics Challenge with Elissa (valedictorian of the senior class), Emily (salutatorian of the senior class), Stephanie (#7 in the junior class), Mrs. Newell (my AP History teacher last year), and Mr. Couch (my AP Econ teacher). Our plane was supposed to leave at 7 AM, but we were delayed about half and hour because of a thunderstorm. We flew Delta and I was surprised at how much food they gave us: not only did we get a snack, but we had choices and could take as much as we wanted, but I later found out that was because the flight was operated by Comair, a Canadian company I believe. We made a connection in Cincinnati and arrived in Minneapolis at about noon. I was very pleased to discover a note in my suitcase from TSA indicating that my bag had been opened and searched. That's 3 times in a row for me. (I carry strange things in my bag like textbooks, calculators, and food processors.) We stayed at a Hilton about 2 miles from the airport and half a mile from the Mall of America. Across the street was a wildlife preserve. After we checked in we took a walk through the preserve where we saw grey squirrels, red squirrels, ground squirrels, red-wing black birds, woodpeckers, dragonflies, ducks, geese, a garter snake, a beaver dam, a fossil, and an abandoned goose egg. We returned to the hotel and while Mrs. Newell retired for a nap, the rest of us discovered a Mediterranean restaurant in a city guide and decided we'd go there for dinner. For the next two hours we sat around the radio which we were able to hook up to their iPods and my CD player (ancient technology) and listened to a variety of music, discussed the quality of certain voices, and learned about Emily's obsession with Keith Urban. Did you know he's Australian? It was around 8 when we left for dinner. We hired a taxi, but the driver had never heard of the restaurant we were going to and had no idea how to get there. That worried us a little, but after a phone call, a look at the map, and a few wrong turns he found the place. I was an old house in I guess the college district of St. Paul. We went inside and knew by the smell that it was going to be good, but we also discovered that we should have made reservations: we had to wait about half an hour to be seated. The food was delicious. I had some soup made with chicken broth, herbs, and chick peas and a salad with artichoke hearts, goat cheese, and olives. When we returned to the hotel, I was disappointed to discover that there were no free cookies! Hotels like that always have free cookies or some kind of snack at night! Anyway, after Stephanie and I locked ourselves out of our room, we all watched a bit of TV and went to bed. I got up at 6AM so I would have time to get some reading done before we went to the mall. I only had 10 pages left, but we had to catch the shuttle so I had to leave it unfinished. The mall was huge! It has more than 500 stores, an aquarium, a wedding chapel, a church, a movie theatre, and an amusement park inside. We first went to a bakery in the park where we got some bagels and a giant doughnut. We spent the next probably five hours in the amusement park. We had a caricature drawn of all of us and then visited a few stores. While we were walking around we decided that the easiest way to ensure our victory at the tournament would be to invite the other teams to a party and get them all drunk...I'm not sure why we didn't follow that plan ;). Mrs. Newell returned to the hotel; Mr. Couch, Emily, and Elissa went to the aquarium, and Stephanie and I visited some other stores. I was in desperate need of chocolate, but skipped Godiva because it was just too expensive, but we found a Lindt store (Swiss chocolate) where I bought an 85% cocoa bar and some truffles and Stephanie got some chocolate bunnies on sale from Easter. At about 7:15 we met up with the other three and went outside to catch the shuttle. There we met the other team from Alabama who was competing in the other division. Stephanie was quick to "make friends" and by the time we got off the shuttle she had secured their MySpace addresses or e-mail or something. I was in a hurry to finish my book and had 3 pages left when we had to go to a gathering of all the econ teams downstairs. The fellow in charge of the whole competition was from the University of Minnesota and he was, well.....weird. The other teams there looked defeatable except for one...the Minnesota team looked too smart. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota supplied us with $10 each for dinner so we ordered out $50 worth of Chinese food which was very good, but way too much. I finally finished the book, but then I was hit with the reality that the competition was tomorrow and I hadn't studied in 3 days, so we had sort of a cram session before we went to bed. The next morning we all dressed up and packed up our belongings before heading downstairs to the competition. We were the best dressed team there. We were in suits while almost everyone else was in a t-shirt. We were served breakfast and then began the test. The first test was Micro and it was INSANELY difficult. Out of 450 possible points, our team only had 55, but we were still 3rd with the first team, Minnesota, having about 150. In the second round, Macro, we did better but were more than 100 points behind the second place team, Oklahoma. We did way better in the third round where we only missed three questions and we made a gain of 75 points on the team ahead of us, but we were still behind them 30 points so we were out of the tournament. The top 2 teams competed in a quiz bowl round which was comprised of mostly stupid irrelevant trivia question such as, "How many gallons of oil are in a barrel?" Since neither of the competing teams knew the answer, they offered $10 to anyone in the audience who could. Mr. Couch told me it was 42, so I raised my hand and got the money. Of course Minnesota won and the fellow in charge tried to console us by telling us that Minnesota was only able to win, because unlike most states their state has "educational standards" for economics as if that was the reason they won (can't you see me rolling my eyes). After collecting our t-shirts and Federal Reserve Bank pens we took the shuttle to the airport where we met up with the Oklahoma team. Once again Stephanie quickly "made friends;" she got their contact information and took a picture of them as well. I believe it's her favorite picture from the trip. :) We were early at the airport so we looked around at the various shops and took a picture with a giant snoopy figure before boarding our plane for Cincinnati. As we got off the plane, Elissa and I were expressing our sorrow that our trip was coming to an end, but Mr. Couch said (I might even say prophesied) that the next adventure was probably right around the corner. When we turned that corner, we ran into Ms. Vermilion, another teacher at our school who would be returning to Huntsville on our flight, but we also noticed that under the sign that displayed our flight information were the words: "Flight overbooked; volunteers requested." They needed four people to give up their seats and spend the night in Cincinnati in return for 400 Delta dollars each. We volunteered. Delta gave us meal vouchers and put us up in a hotel, but they couldn't get our baggage off the plane, so we had no clean clothes. Mrs. Newell didn't stay with us. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and....you know sleeping in a suit is really uncomfortable...the next morning we returned to the airport and ate breakfast at Moe's. Before boarding the plane, I got a SkyMiles account. Our flight was short. When we arrived in Huntsville, our bags were already waiting for us, but alas, mine had not been inspected (I was hoping for 4 in a row). So I got out of school which made me happy, but instead of doing the schoolwork that I had with me I decided to watch the new Harry Potter movie since I had never seen it. Now I'm trying to decide what do with my Delta dollars. Where should I go?

It's Been a Long Time

Hey I am sooooo sorry that I haven't been faithfully blogging. I know there are so many of you just dying to hear about my life! (Right?) When was my last post....January! Okay, for a speedy summary of the last 2 months: umm.... well I ordered all my AP study books and haven't studied much which means I'm going die the week before my FIVE exams. The last one I had to pay for myself (and actually I still haven't turned in the money) because I sort of suddenly decided to take it. You see, there are two AP Economics exams, one Macro and the other Micro. My Econ class only prepares students for macro, but since I had one of the higher averages in my class, I was chosen as an alternate team member for a state econ competition. If one of the team members dropped out, I would have to take her place, so I had to study just in case. The tournament required participants to know both macro and microecon; since I was going to study it I assumed I might as well take the micro exam, but my parents discouraged it because I was already planning to take four. We made a deal: I pay for it and if I pass they reimburse me.
Well anyway, March came and went. I the two summer programs I applied for denied me admission :( but I decided to actually go to prom despite my distaste for "dancing" as they call it. You know what I mean. I paid my money and proceeded to look for a dress. When you're a small person, with a strange figure and a small amount of money, finding a dress is really difficult. I didn't find one, but that problem was solved soon enough.
Now it gets to the fun part. Last Thursday, the 6th, was the econ tournament. All four team members were planning on going, so there was no need for me to go, but I was invited along anyway. I made some scones and my friend on the team made cookies. My econ teacher, my history teacher from last year, the four team members, and I left in a minivan bound for Birmingham at 5:30 in the morning. None of them expected to win, but they did. Since they won the state tournament, the state council for economic education and Goldman Sachs paid for the team to travel to Minneapolis, MN, for the regional tournament. Unfortunately the tournament was on prom weekend and for that reason, by the next day, three of the four team members were not going. Since I was the alternate, I got a spot along with two other girls from my class. So next weekend I'll be up there, shopping at the Mall of America instead of going to prom (that solves my dress problem). It will be the first real school trip I've ever been on and I'm looking forward to it, but in the meantime I have ALOT of studying to do. Not only do I have to study for the tournament, I have to study for all my AP exams, but obviously I'm not stressing or I wouldn't be writing this. Sometime in the next week I have to learn about 200 pages worth of econ and I'm also trying to read the book my teacher lent me to prepare. It's The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. Ever heard of it? Anyway it's pretty good; its basically about globalization. Wow, I didn't think I had this much to write. Oh well, I have to get back to my book.

The Clumsy Chemist

Today in Chemistry we had a lab. We had to prepare several solutions using pipettes and run them through a machine. Okay, the pipette is just a long narrow tube. You attach a rubber bulb to it and use it sort of like and eyedropper. So my partner and I begin to make this solution, and we accidentally suck up too much water in the pipette. No problem right? Well, then the water won't come back out no matter how hard we squeeze the bulb. We find out that there is a sponge at the top of the pipette and if it gets wet (by getting too much water) it expands and the water gets stuck. Well we aren't too daunted because there are plenty more pipettes so I go get another one. I've used it one time when Oops! Yes, I mess it up again. But no, that's not enough. No matter how careful I am I manage to ruin three or four more of them! Is that enough? Of course not. Then when there is nothing wrong with our pipettes, we ruin the bulb we're using. Somehow it just stops working! Next we drop a test tube and it shatters on the floor. But that's not all. When we finally get around to using the machine, the button that worked just fine a minute ago won't do anything. Eventually we finish the experiment about 10 minutes after class is officially over only to find that we really messed something up because the results were way off the mark! I really feel sorry for my teacher having to deal with such blonde, clumsy chemists.

Happy New Year!

Sorry I didn't post all Christmas break. I've been busy. Anyway for the one, maybe two, people who actually visit this blog here is my account of the holidays. The day after I got out of school I went to the movies with my four friends (yes Chelsey does indeed have friends). Then three of them decided to come to my house to make cookies. The only problem was that we were all in separate cars, traffic was heavy, and they didn't know how to get to my house. Well, I (assisted by my sister) explained to them where my house was and showed them my super ugly car (which they all agreed was indeed the ugliest car ever) so that they might recognize my house by the car (if of course I arrived first which I didn't think was a problem considering that they were taking a long-cut and I was going the shorter way). Well, I pulled out of the parking lot and into the parking lot of the mall since the theater and mall are right next to each other, but there was a horrible line to get out onto the main road because of course it's the mall at Christmas time. Of course I wasn't going to wait. I tried to get out by another exit which happily (I thought) wasn't crowded. Yes, I thought I was brilliant until (dum dum dum!)... I realized that I could only turn right when I needed to turn left! So I was forced to go the wrong way. Finally I found a back road and weaved through the country back home, but I was so afraid that I wouldn't be there when everyone else arrived and that without the landmark of my big ugly car, they would be unable to recognize my house. I new that I had to hurry to make up the time, but I didn't speed....(much). Fortunately I did get there first and for a while I felt better until (dum dum dum!)...I started eating cookies. I had just vowed the day before that I hated cookies and wouldn't eat another for three days, but you know how weak I am for cookies. I mean really: sugar, fat, ooey-gooey yumminess - what more could you want?! Anyway we had fun making (and eating) them, but I did finally resolve that I didn't really need the cookies so I gave most of them away to my friends. You know this entry is kinda long and I haven't even gotten to Christmas yet! Okay Christmas morning was really, really pathetic. My whole family got up late and we had to rush to get ready for church. Meanwhile, my sentimental sister was whining because we couldn't open presents before church which broke the 16 year tradition that we open presents as soon as we get up. When we got home we did finally open the gifts. I got a bunch of chocolate, some earrings, a gift card from my uncle, two exercise outfits, a hair dryer and that Lord of the Rings Trivia Game that I've been wanting. So that was Christmas. However I was all in a frenzy about what to do on my birthday. For the last few days all I had done was lay around the house and it was making me very grumpy. Despite my mother's suggestion that we could have "fun" just bumming out at home, I wanted something to do, but I couldn't decide. On the 27th I received a flyer in the mail about this interesting summer program and decided to apply, but when I looked over the application it asked me to name some books I had recently read. I was quite behind on reading because I'm so busy during the school year that I can only read what is required, but now I had to read something. I thought of The Count of Monte Cristo which I had started but never really got into because it was so long (1462 pages!!). I promised myself to finish it before school started again and so for the next 8 days I did little more that eat, sleep, read, and run. For my birthday on the 29th, I finally decided to go to Barnes and Noble and drink coffee, read, and look at other books. Afterwards we went to a Japanese restaurant much, I believe, to the dissatisfaction of my family. My mother was alright with it, but my dad and sister are terrified of anything foreign, but boo-hoo for them; it wasn't their birthday! Afterwards we came home for cake (a carrot cake that I made myself) and presents. I got a $50 Barnes card from my grandmother, $10 from my aunt, uncle and cousins, $20 from my grandparents in New York, a cute bracelet and scarf from my friend, a really nice bar of French lavender soap from my mom's friend, an antique looking clock, and a lovely picture for my room. I stayed up until 2 AM watching Pride and Prejudice with my sister. I then resumed my reading. We didn't do anything for the New Year. I just stayed up until midnight reading. The party we were going to have was postponed because everyone was going to be out of town. Yesterday I went with my mom's friend who works at my sister's school and helped her out with some secretarial type stuff and earned $20. Last night I finished The Count of Monte Cristo. It was very, very good! If you will notice, I added it to my favorite books list. Today all I've done is work on applications for summer programs. They require endless essays and paperwork. The only thing I regret is that I didn't read The Lord of the Rings as I had hoped to. I was reminded of it when I heard a story about it on the radio today. The speaker said it had been rated best book of the century (duh!) and he then related how Tolkien almost gave up getting the book published when a friend of his had him read parts of it for a recording. Apparently reading his work encouraged him and he finally succeeded. They played a clip of it. I think he had a nice accent. Anyway that was my break!
Oh, I want to know how many people actually visit this blog. If you have, PLEASE leave a comment telling me so.

School is Over!!

I finally got out of school for Christmas yesterday after long, boring, stressful finals. Today I'm going to see the Narnia movie (again) with some of my friends and then we're going to make cookies. That part is not sounding so appealing to me right now because I made some last night and ate so much cookie dough that I'm probably going to hate cookies for at least three days.
I still have a little more Christmas shopping to do. I wasn't even going to shop this year because I had no money, but my dad gave me sixty dollars for all my A's and my PSAT score (which made me happy).
Next semester I am going to be INSANELY busy. I must be crazy but I'm going to try to take 5 courses instead of 4 and 3 of them are AP. Then in May, I'll have to study for 4 AP exams (1 nearly killed me last year). Oh well I'll see how it goes. Meanwhile I'll try to enjoy my break which is (hehe) longer than my sister's.
Last year at this time, my mother was pretty unsociable. She always just wanted to stay home alone and rarely invited people over. This year however, she wants to have a New Years Eve party. That's a big change! Anyway, I hope this break will be fun.
Merry Christmas!

I Survived the Week!

I'm so glad I finally got all my work done that I missed while I was gone...turned the last of it in today. It's been a pretty exciting week though. I changed my schedule for next semester, found out my class rank, made a speech, took the SAT, and went to Nashville. Now all I have to catch up on is violin practice. The only thing that I wish I had more of right now is time. I haven't had the chance to read a single page of The Count of Monte Cristo since I got home. I have to write some essays this week for extra credit and a possible $500 (oh yeah), but obviously I'm not complaining!

Back at Home

I've finally returned home three days later than expected. I am overwhelmed with school work to make up. I am usually quite busy anyway without the extra load, but oh well I'll manage. On the way home I did manage to get some reading done...the most in such a short time since the summer. I read Jane Austen's Persuasion as well as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman; both contained some depth as well as some good points and messages. Persuasion I read for my own pleasure and though somewhat engaging, it was not nearly as interesting as a story as Pride and Prejudice, but I enjoyed it far more than Death of a Salesman which I read as an assignment for school. I found it too gloomy and strange and to me Miller's The Crucible is much better. By the way Cousin of the Puddle, I finally got the chance to look up that name that's been torturing me for three days: Iarwain. I should like to know if anyone with a knowledge of The Silmarillion has any idea who or what this Tom Bombadil character really is. I'm interested in any theories you may have.

Thanksgiving Vacation

This week I'm in Colorado for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately my grandfather is ill, so my parents have made the three hour trip to Denver where he's at the hospital. My sister and I are staying with my aunt. We're unsure what we'll do for Thanksgiving dinner, but most likely we'll have it in the hospital. Until then we'll just hang out at my aunt's house and watch movies, make cookies, and play games. This evening I've eaten too many cookies like I usually do....but boy they were good! I'm really sorry my blog is so boring. If want to read something interesting check out Puddy's Puddle.

Hello!!!

Hi, I'm Chelsey! I'm a nerd from Alabama with a pretty boring life. I like my boring life though. It's just nice and well....boring. I'll try to post regularly, but there's no guarantee. I'm always busy with nerdy stuff like homework and violin and homework and service projects and homework!!