Huzzah for the Irish! August 30, 2010

(Disclaimer: I found this clover on GoogleImages and I in no way own it or intend to make money off of it.)

All righty then, most faithful followers of my blog. (Actually, I’ve had a LOT less view than normal. Excuse me, people. What’s with that? I’m still as interesting and fun as ever!)

This post was mostly to share my experience today at my very first Irish Dance lesson. I have some Irish blood, evident in the fact that I freckle instead of tan and have red highlights in my hair. Plus I love potatoes, however predjudiced that sounds. (Sorry Irish folk, it had to be said. No offense inteded of course.)

So I arrive at the building that class is supposed to be in only to discover that there’s no map of the inside and I have no idea where the aerobics room is. I wander through a volleyball practice and around the building until I run into this guy who is also wandering around looking for the same room. So we team up and look lost together. After a good ten to fifteen minuites of wandering, we find two other girls also looking for the aerobics room. We go back into the volleyball court that I passed through the first time. Turns out the aerobics room is up the stairs inside that gym. So Taylor (the lost dude) and the two girls (whose names I forget) arrive late and are set a little aside to catch up. We learn to skip (step two three and step two three and back two three and back two three) and then to do ‘sevens’ (Hop two three for five six seven. Back two three Back two three. Back two three for five six seven. Back two three. Back two three.) Most of my little lost group picks it up, albiet slowly. We’re all a little fuzzy and clumsy on the concepts. After that we learn to do our skipping with a partner. Taylor and I pair up, and I feel lucky both because we’re both looking fairly lost and also because the poor dude is the only guy in a class of about 20 girls. Great for me because I get to dance the girl’s part, unlike some of the girls, who have to learn the guy’s part. I think that’d confuse me even more. After the spinning, we put it all together into a group dance which a good part of the class bungles up, but most of us end up laughing through the immense confusion. Lots of spinning and switching and crossing–it’s a wonder I survived it all. However, once it was all over and we did a cool down with stretching, I felt all happy and bubbly, probably partly because of the Irish music playing through most of the class. The music was dancing music; upbeat with fiddles and drums; the sort of music that makes you feel all dance-y inside. So though I was sweaty and hot and had failed rather miserably at some of the steps, I still felt strangely exhilerated at the new experience. I’ve been wanting to learn to dance properly for a long time, and ever since I discovered Irish music, the desire to learn to dance properly has been on my to-do list. In this group, I’m not the only hopelssly lost person and the instructors are a year to three years in my senior, not twenty years older. It was a ton of fun and I’m looking forward to going next Sunday. I liked it so much, I’m going to practice what I’ve learned. (And if you know how I feel about practice, you can understand how big of a deal this is.)

Well, hope you all have a fabulous day!

Sunny.

Easy(?) Like a Sunday Morning August 25, 2010

So I decided to relate my Sunday of this week to you all, just to show that I was keeping up with this blog. First couple weeks of college, still getting used to this whole thing, I might have abaondoned you all a little. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. So: Sunday.

Wake up at 7:45 AM; take care of morning stuff (brushing hair, taking allergy meds, ect.)

Get dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.

Pack my church outfit in a bag along with church shoes, a hairbrush, and deoderant.

Get purse, phone, ID, keys, bike helmet, bag.

Lock bedroom door. Go into hall. Lock dorm door. Head downstairs.

Go to bike, unlock it, pile stuff into bike basket.

Helmet up. (I seriously think I’m the only person on campus who wears a helmet. I really do.)

Get on and ride to Dunkin’ Doughnuts for breakfast. (Dining halls aren’t open this early on Sundays.)

Get an egg bagel, hashbrowns, OJ. Eat while watching whatever’s on the TV.

Finish up, clean up, POTTY BREAK!, and back to the bike.

Get assaulted by bushes that aren’t trimmed out of the way of the sidewalk.

See flowers.

Get annoyed by the lack of crosswalk where I have to cross the 5-lane road.  Cross anyway.

Bike some more until I get to the church.

Lock my bike to a post or something.

De-helmet, get stuff, head inside.

Once in the bathroom, change and clean up.

Pack clothes and shoes into the bag.

Attend Mass.

Hang around for a bit afterwards.

Change and ride back.

Wish I had a ride instead. (It’s 4 miles, round trip.)

Be glad for the exercise.

Wish I had a ride.

Wish it was less hot.

Wish someone would call me.

Get to the dreaded crosswalk-less intersection.

Wait 3 light cycles before I can safely cross.

Check the open hours of a cute little retro store on the way home.

Ride the rest of the way home.

Think about what to write in my happy notebook.

Think about what to write on my blog.

Wonder if laughing maniacly while speeding past pedestrians would be mean or hilarious.

Decide mean.

Decide hilarious.

Don’t do it, despite the fact that I’d get a huge kick out of it.

Take comfort in the fact that suitemates said we could go surfing today, and I could learn.

Get home, lock up bike, put away clothes.

Do leftover homework.

Chill at my desk, waiting for suitemates to wake up.

Go to lunch.

Come back.

Knock on their door. (No answer.)

Text one of them. They’re at the beach and left while I was gone. -______-‘

Get annoyed/hurt.

Get over it.

Do some writing.

Agree to meet with a new friend from Psych class to borrow her textbook.

Meet for dinner.

Go to her room and check it out.

Go back to my dorm.

Assist in moving TV and some-assembly-required cupboards upstairs for our Suite’s common room.

Attempt to assemble cabinet.

‘Phillips head screwdriver and hammer required.’

Power Drill Required, unless you’re the Hulk.

Give up.

I study; they order pizza.

Hear weird noises in the room.

Talk to them and tell ’em to cut it out ’cause I’m trying to study.

Have trouble focusing.

Realize I don’t have the class until 1pm the next day.

Give up until the next day.

Read a book.

Go to bed.

So there you have it, everyone. My sunday. I know it was a tad tedious, but I need to make myself write here sometimes, otherwise I’ll drop it. And I don’t wanna drop this project; it’s pretty fun.

Best wishes to all! (Especially college freshman like myself!)

Sunny

College: Not Just A Scary Bedtime Story for High Schoolers August 16, 2010

Okay everybody, I’ve done it. I’ve gone to college. I am actully right now sitting in my dorm room in my roomie’s comfy Target chair. (She doesn’t know, she’s off at orientation.)

So all those of you who doubted me before (why are you reading this anyway you doubters you) HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! And to those of you high school students who believe that college is a myth they tell to scare good grades out of you, I am here to tell you that college, in fact, exists.

My campus is fairly big, it’s pretty hot, and the food isn’t bad. The dorm rooms are over-air-conditioned, which is perfectly fine with me. The walls in here are like paper and you can hear everything in the room next to you. You now share a bathroom with many others. Unless you live in a single-sex dorm, you now live downstairs (or in my case, across the hall) from the oppositte sex. (In my case, boys.) You share a room with 2 or more people. And you need an ID card to get into your building.

So for those of you heading off to college this month, best of luck. Bring a bicycle, a pair of slippers, and of course, your towel, and you should be just fine. Except for the other dozen things you need.

(I just wanted to post something to mark my starting college. Classes start Wednesday, so I’ll let you all know how that goes…maybe. In book news, I’m working on it but I’m still getting settled in my dorm and with the environment here. But I promise to write at least a paragraph today, like the good little writer I am.)

Toodles!

Sunny

First Request of Help August 10, 2010

Okay, so I’m dilligently working on my story like a good little writer when I come up with a crisis–I have a question that Google couldn’t provide me an answer for. (I know. It’s minorly terrifying.)

And it’s not like I’m gonna ask Yahoo! Has no one heard of the Google v. Yahoo war? Google ALWAYS wins. Yahoo, give up now. You’re just being humiliated.

So here’s my question, readers. (If you were born pre-1960s, you may know this better than us wee lads and lassies.)

Was there a model in the 1960s of any Airstream trailer (the silver ones that look like big shiny bullets) that had 2 beds? (ORIGINAL FITTINGS ONLY. NO REMODELS.)

Follow-up question: If such a trailer was put into use, would it be compatible with the modern hook-ups at campgrounds? Or would it have to be adapted to the new systems?

Any additional information about Airstream trailers (1960s models ONLY) would be much appreciated. Glitches and little problems with it are good, but anything works. And if you get technical, please ensure you have a standard-English translation.

Thanks!

Sunny

All Sorts of Flour-y Fun August 2, 2010

So I tried something yesterday.

I had a recepie for cinnamon swirl bread. But I wanted something…yummier. And with tasty things in the dough. So I did what I tend to do best–I WINGED IT!

Instead of cinnamon swirl bread , I made cinnamon-raisin apple bread. I know. l Long name. My younger brother dubbed it ‘cin-rapple bread.’ My mom asked me if it was ‘cin-ful’. Those of you who appreciate puns as much as I do will surely find it as amusing as I did. (I laughed.)

So I can’t give you the actual recipie because the basic one is in a cookbook and I think its copywritten. But I can give you my wing-ed it directions.

Ingredients:

raisins (1/2 to 1 1/2 cups)

apple (1)

butter (2 or 3 tablespoons worth)

cinnamon (2 teaspoons)

nutmeg (pinch)

cloves (1/4 tsp)

Before you start the dough–get some raisins. I didn’t measure, but I’d advise 1/2  to 1  1/2 cups depending on how raisin-y you want your dough. Put the raisins in a pot and fill it with water. You don’t need it all the way full, but the raisins should me more-than covered by the water. Heat the water ’til boiling, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, remove the raisins from heat and let them sit 5 minutes or so. This makes them plump and juicy.

Next–follow your cinnamon-swirl bread instructions. Once you get to the part where the dough is kneaded, strain the raisins and knead them into the dough.

While the dough is rising, take one apple and chop it into little pieces. It doesn’t need to be chopped to a paste, but the pieces shoulf be small. I quartered the apple, chopped each slice in a grid-pattern, then chopped it all again to get the pieces nice and little.

Once the dough is ready for the cinnamon to be added, roll it out and spread melted butter over it. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and a 1/4 tsp of cloves. Add apples on top and spread evenly.

Roll and bake.

My pan leaked the apple-carmel mix of sugar, apple juice, and butter onto the bottom of my oven, so make sure your baking pan is high enough that when you place the dough in, the sides of the pan are higher than the highest point of dough.

Eat.

This is awesome bread if you want to toast it for breakfast yummy stuff.

Also, the sauce at the bottom of the pan dries and hardens quickly, so once the pan cools, you’ll probably have to soak before washing.

Sunny

Funfact: This is not my first culinary experience, but my first legit one for adding my own pizzaz.

Ohmygosh a NOVEL? July 30, 2010

So…the awkward silence could quickly get dull…therefore I propse we move along with the blog post. All in agreeance? Of course you are. And if you’d rather I stop right now, BEAT IT and go find another blog to harass. If you didn’t want to read it, why’d you pull up the page you dummy?

A very good afternoon to you all, (or morning or evening, depending on your time zone and when you read this.) I hope you’ve been well since my last post? Great. (Or ‘sorry man, that sucks.’)

Since we parted I have continued my work on the possibly-a-novel that I’m working on. And I was laying in bed last night (because I couldn’t fall asleep because we didn’t have any nighttime cold medicine, which I needed because I somehow managed to contract a cold in the summer) and my brain provided me with plot bits. And not to jinx it or anything, but this is the farthest I’ve gotten on a novel since freshman year, when I finished my second novella. (It was terrible, like the first, and it’s gotta be called a novella because it was about 100 handwritten pages, and with my handwriting, that makes 50 typed pages, give or take. So it was more of a really long ‘short story’. But I called it a novel because it felt like one. But I’m getting off topic.)

The gist of things is that it looks like my story will be growing and developing and I have high hopes for it. But–I have a long way to go and I figured I could ask for the love and support of you guys, my readers. This entails me asking for help when I get writer’s block or questions pertaining to my book that Google can’t answer (heaven forbid.) I may not even need you guys, but if I have your support, then I can be guilted into writing when I don’t want to or don’t feel like it. So what say you, my troops? Are you with me?

(Pause in hopes of a heartening cheer…and the cheering would be good right about now.)

Seeing as you all are here, you may even get…*gasp*…spoilers.

Of course you don’t know what the story’s about. And I don’t wanna give too much away because if I do then it can:

A) Be plagerized

B) Become useless to read the book if I ever get somewhere with it.

C) …I had a C I think, but I really don’t remember it right now.

SO! Final request for you all.

If you want to give me some advice, offer encouragement, or just say something (it doesn’t have to be relevant) then COMMENT! You have no idea how happy it makes me to see that people are reading this and responding to it. Seriously. It makes me really happy.

Wish me luck on my book and on kicking this cold to the curb!

Sunny

PS: Your funfact was the novella thing. I’ve written 2 novellas. Wasn’t that a FUN fact? (Probably not, but you can deal.)

PSS: My story/book is a fantasy piece about a girl who finds out that she’s a fairy. It’s more complex than that, but I don’t wanna give away the plot.

A Guide to Moving… July 23, 2010

Hallo and welcome back, faithful ones!

(Does that make me sound like a TV preacher/cult leader? If so, ignore the statement.)

So since I last spoke with you all (or posted on here, but the first sounds more conversational, don’t you think?) I have moved in to my new (old really, since we lived here last time and have been renting it out ever since) house, unpacked many boxes, battled for the ever–needed INTERNET and done an awful lot of waiting. Seriously. LOTS of waiting.

So I figured today I would not only fill you in on my life situation, I would also give you a helpful guide to moving, since I have the experience of many many moves (which sounds like many many MOONS, which sounds cooler but is less accurate) and can fill you in on important details, like whether or not you should bring folding chairs in your car rather than packing them with your things. (Incedentally, yes you should.)

Well my faithful readers (still too TV preacher/cult leader?) I have THREE funfacts for you today (le gasp!) because I believe I forgot in some of my previous posts to give you any at all, forgetful thing that I am.

1. I am currently sharing a bedroom with my sister and will be until college starts in the fall.

2. I FINALLY got my roommate situation sorted out. (I know. I never thought it was gonna happen either.)

3. I am currently working on a novel, which I recently started and may (please please please) actually finish *knock on wood*.

(All questions please direct yourselves to the comments……..NOW!)

So anyhow, roomie situation first, then I’ll tell you about my move, THEN you’ll get “SunnyLunatic’s Helpful Guide to Moving Without Going Completely Bonkers” (SLHGMWGCB if you prefer acronyms)

Well in the roommate news, it’s not good. All my roomies seem nice and all, but my number one dorm choice (the all-female one and the one I was assigned 2 different rooms in previously) was not the dorm I ended up in. I ended up in the mildly seedy-looking dorm that I stayed in during orientation. And people wonder why I’m seriously thinking about transferring next year. This college is my second-choice anyway, and so far it’s not looking like I’m giving up much, other than the beach and the people.

In our set of 4 rooms (2 rooms share a study room and all 4 share a 2-sided bathroom with 2 toilets, 2 sinks, 2 showers) there are 10 girls. 2 temporary triples because the school overbooked. Yay-rah. Everyone I’ve talked to via email or Facebook seems really nice, but cramming ten girls into four double-sized rooms is asking for trouble, if you ask me. (And even if you didn’t my opinion remains the same.)

The move was fine. We got all our boxes on Monday and have since worked through many of them. There are still boxes sitting around and since my parents are re-doing part of the house, everything stays out of that area for now so the boxes will have to stick around a little longer. Not to mention that my mother is insistant upon re-doing the upstairs bathroom. These renovations include the use of a sledgehammer. Don’t’cha just LOVE my family?

Anywho, on to….SunnyLunatic’s Helpful Guide to Moving Without Going Completely Bonkers (again, or SLHGMWGCB if you prefer acronyms)

MOVING OUT: BEFORE THE PACKERS ARRIVE

Before people arrive to pack your stuff, start with Step 1: purge. (I don’t mean vomit up your food, so all you pro-ana and pro-bulimia idiots can cool it and go eat something and keep it down…wow that was a terrible and totally unintended pun…) Get rid of the things you don’t need/don’t use/don’t want.  Like that collection of ceramic cats that your great-aunt Irene gave to you 5 years ago and you didn’t really like, but you didn’t know how to get rid of them without hurting her feelings.  Or the set of china plates your neighbors gave to you, even though you already have a china set. Or the broken VCR you’ve saved because you wanted to get it fixed but you have a new one already. Cheap trinkets you got out of a quarter-machine.

The purge helps with having less stuff to move in that you’ll inevitably throw away. It also gives you an excuse to toss the ceramic cats or pass them on to another family member to ‘cherish’. So respect the purge and do a good job asking yourself if you’re honestly gonna USE the collectors coffee-mug set.

Step 2: Sort.

You have a LOT of stuff. Or maybe you don’t. Either way, you don’t want to dig through 7 different boxes to find the forks. So start with one room and sort it. Clothes in the dresser and closet. Trinkets all in one box or in one space. Packers generally don’t do: liquids, candles, money. Also, it’s in your better interest to keep your valuables and take them with you in the car. Your grandmother’s pearl necklace, your bank statements, things that can be stolen and sold should be kept with you. This is not to say that movers are untrustworthy or that they will steal your things. However, if something important can be lost or misplaced, you don’t want it to be something you can’t replace or something that can do damage to you in the wrong hands (like your credit card statements or Social Security Card.) So get a small suitcase or bag for those things and the day the packers come, before they arrive, put them in your no-move zone or in your car.

Step 3: Takedown.

Take everything off the walls. The packers won’t do it for you.  Pictures, mirrors, posters, decorative hanging rugs, it’s all gotta come down. If you’re selling/renting out your house, now is also a good time to paint over and fill in all the nail marks and whatnot that you’ve left on the walls.

Step 4: Packing.

Until the movers bring you your stuff, you’ll have to live out of a suitcase. Pack smart. Enough clothes and at least one extra set. Shoes. A first aid kit. Your valuables. Toiletries. A towel. Things you’ll need with you when the rest of it is all in boxes. Before your movers arrive, designate a ‘no-pack area’ preferably a closet or bathroom, keep the door shut, and put a sign on it reading ‘do not pack.’ Or put it all in your car, if you have a car.

Step 5: Food.

The packers will pack some food. The unopened kind. The kind that isn’t in your fridge. So–have a dinner party or a potluck or a give-away event. Get rid of the food you can’t take. Only have enough in your fridge for what is absolutely necessary for the next couple of days. If you have a little left over, than you can put it  in a cooler and take it with you, but don’t plan on just putting it all in a couple coolers. You don’t want to be lugging around a cooler full of condiments and have your car break down on the freeway.

Step 6: Planning ahead.

See if you want to get your things insured.

Find out about your moving company (or if it’s some friends, then find out what they’re going to require). Do its workers bring their own lunches? What policies do they have on valuables, liquids, candles? Check out the company or others who have used it. Nobody likes seedy movers. If they don’t bring their lunches and some is expected to be provided, make sure you have the number of a pizza or sub place. Or some of the leftover food in your fridge.

Regardless of food policies, always have water available, and (especially in the south) iced tea. It’s thirsty work.

MOVING OUT: THE PACKERS AND MOVERS

Step 7: The packers arrive.

Label your rooms. Whether it’s verbally or with sticky notes, make sure they know which room is which, because they label the box by room, and then sub-label it by contents. And it’s not always detailed. Sometimes it’s going to say “LR Shelves” on the box. (living room shelves.) The fact that you had three shelving sets in your living room is irrelevant. Make sure they know where things go.

Supervise. I don’t mean hover and micromanage, but having a conversation with one of your packers while you keep an eye on the room never killed anyone. (Unless your packers are insane serial killers. Just saying.)

Step 8: The movers.

Well you’re all packed up in boxes, living out of a suitcase until the movers pick up your stuff. Then, hey! Moving day is here! Same feeding rules apply to movers as they do to packers, but be doubly sure about the liquids. Moving heavy boxes requires hydration.

They will tag your things with moving stickers and take inventory. Same thing happens at the new house with the stickers. They make sure they have everything.

MOVING IN

Step 9: Home Sweet (New) Home

You’re HERE! Your brand new house/apartment/condo/cardboard box in a comfortable alleyway or subway tunnel is open and waiting to be filled with boxes! All you have to do is wait and label the rooms, just like you did at the old house.

Step 10: The movers are back!

Well now that they’re here, you’re a pro at feeding and watering these people. So get to it! They’ll need direction as where to furniture and some boxes go. Make sure you know ahead of time where you want the funriture because they’ll put the boxes anywhere, and if you want the sofa on the east wall, the stack of boxes will have to be moved again. So supervise, just like the first time.

Step 10: Unpacking.

It’s all on you, now. Unpack the boxes. You can flatten them and save the paper too, because people who are self-mvoing (check craigslist) often are looking for boxes and packing paper. Also, if there’s a preschool or elementary school nearby, they might like the paper for coloring. (Or if you have kids/grandkids/neices/nephews/neighborhood children/starving artists hanging around, they might like them too.) Peel off all the moving stickers (though there’ll always be a few which will turn up years later) and enjoy your brand new home, with all your stuff safely in it.

Well this is Sunny, signing off!!!

Brown Cardboard Packages Held Up With Tape July 13, 2010

Moving. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Adventurer Sunnylunatic…

After that, I now feel as though I should start up this post with ‘Captain’s log, Stardate XXXX’ but unfortunately, I don’t know the Stardate and fortunately, I’m not a captain. That would require a vessel of some kind and (FUNFACT!) I get motion sick. So it wouldn’t go well. Unless I was driving. But I can’t steer a ship/plane/spacegoing vessel. So either way, things would turn out poorly for both me and my motley (lol…no. let’s go with insane) crew. But anyway. On with the blog.

Today is day 2 of the movers being at my house. My room was packed up today. Let me tell you something–packing is relativley easy. Everything goes into a box and goes to your new house. Unless of course you’re going to college the next month. Then your mother might….say….have you sort all of your stuff. College, room, storage. Only some things you want to keep in your room might end up in storage and a lot of your college stuff will end up in your room beforehand because you’re not going to live out of a suitcase for a month. Let’s just go with it’s a long prosess. Especially if your closet–like mine–is used mostly for storage. Then there are excess boxes hanging around. Hip hip freaking-hooray. -____-‘

The woman who packed my room was named Rhonda. She is maybe 60s or older and loves to talk. She was very sweet, and had an opinion to share on most anything. She half-toldshort little stories about her life or about her experiences packing up pther people’s houses. She also ganged up on John with me. Needless to say, despite the packing and chaos of working out what went in which box , it could have been a lot worse.  Moving is not something I enjoy, but it was nice to have friendly, competent movers who actually spoke fluent English. It made communication a lot easier.

So here I sit, perched in a red chair, surrounded by empty shelves and boxes and crates stacked in some places as high as the ceiling. The truck comes thursday (sounds like a coded spy message, huh?), so until then I sit among the many boxes of my house, with little to do, feeling rather like a hermit or a recluse. The boxes give the house an aire of both mystery and emptiness. Home is carefully sliding into the boxes without a word, changing the walls and roof back into a house.

With three days of not-much ahead, I can only pray that my friends are off work a lot. 😀

Sunny

Of Graduation, Adventures, and Roomies June 25, 2010

Hello all,

Sunny here once more.

Well, I’ve done it. Graduation is behind me. I didn’t pass out, I got my diploma, and I beamed all the way back to my seat. (People remarked afterwards on how happy I was…but hey, I’m an optimistic person.) So then came my grad  party…

Well okay, first I sat in traffic for 15-20 minutes…I could have walked home in that time. I headed home to drop off all my stuff and was met by my parents, siblings, godmom and godsister, and my best friend in the universe, Bri. They presented me with a ‘hug blanket’ which was essentially a huge flannel sheet which was signed and handprinted by everyone. I live off hugs and my family wanted me to have something to hug once I was off at college without them. Needless to say, I bawled. Then, my kid sister gave me a very sweet card which brought on the waterworks again.

Let it be known, dear readers, that I am not a crier, not really. I didn’t cry when I saw the movie, ‘Up’. But there are a few things–most of which I will not share because I’d prefer to stay dry-eyed–which are effective in kick-starting my tear ducts. The hug blanket was one of those things.

Okay, so then we went to the party. I was dozing off and trying to nap when it was cake-time. My mom was amused by the fact that I was trying to sleep at my own party. To be clear, however, I was participating before that. I played a game of pool, (or billiards if you wanna be proper) socialized, and did some eating. (PO-TA-TO SALAD….and that’s all I’ll say about that.)

After cake time, I managed to sneak away and DID get in a good half-hour nap. It was that or be tired and headache-y and I prefer the nap. When I woke up, Deziree was arriving and I had her sign my hug blanket. Since I was sharing my party with my friend Shelly, (or rather, she was sharing hers with me) Deziree, Bri, and I all hung out in the kitchen and Deci colored on my hug blanket, then drew my name in pretty calligraphy and colored it in purple.

After the party, I took Deci home and Bri back to my house. She was going to go grad-party hopping with me, but it turns out, she’s rather just stay at my house. So I went out to a few parties, all very chill, and came home. Bri was right. She had told me that graduation was anticlimactic. After the stage, the hugging, the crying…it was once again the (mis)adventures of life as we know it.

Church on Sunday, and then Bri and I went out to lunch and browsed the old-town little town we have nearby. We looked at antiques, knick-knacks, beads, cloth, tasted free samples of delicoius fudge (mmmmmm), and walked in the rain. I also got a free slice of pie. (What flavor?) (PIE FLAVOR. (joke courtesy of asdf movie on youtube)) Actually, it was a raspberry pie. And it tasted amazing.

The next day we hit Michaels for scrapbooking material and the thrift store, where we both made some purchases. (I got cargo shorts and a church dress.) We went out to lunch again and then worked on my scrapbook at home. With Bri and I, we don’t have to do much to have a blast. It’s the fact that we’re together hanging out that makes it fun. Bri’s dad picked her up after lunch and scrapbook time. Back to her out-of-state home she went.

Onwards to roomie updates. I got a roommate!….well….four roommates. Two double rooms and five girls (my college overbooked). Upon discovering this, my aunt remarked brightly,

“Well, at least ONE of them is bound to like you!” 

…thanks Aunt Terri. Ain’t she charming, folks?

Well I did have Orientation for college this week (it’s been almost 2 weeks since grad)….but I think that’ll be a whole other adventure to write about later. (It wasn’t all that exciting.) So….best of luck to all of you with your own adventures!

Sunny

Unsure Whether to Joke or Be Heartfelt June 12, 2010

Funfact from the brain of Sunny: I’m graduating tomorrow.

Well kiddies, this blog was originally going to be about my adventures at college student and as of tomorrow morning, I’m going to be one step closer. I’ll be officially an incoming college freshman. Not sure how to write this one; I could go with quirky and offhand or heartfelt with a good chance of corny.  I would say, “you choose” but the poll thing never really worked out and now it’s a bit too late. In twelve hours, give or take, I’ll file to my seat and get ready to graduate high school once and for all.

It’s been a great time. Freshman year being timid, but not afraid to show I wasn’t afraid to be pushed around. Sophmore year, feeling around, getting a sense of my new environment, new school. Junior year confidence with a little hesitancy, and this year just trying to give it my all (except in the cases of a few assignments.)

I could get very reminiscient and talk about how much I’ve changed and how these are the years I’ll never get back and how I’m going to cherish these memories, but you guys are only just meeting me, so I’m not going to fill you in on my past four years of life. I think instead I’ll say something about the real reason I get up in the morning and fight my battles–my friends and my family.

Mom and Dad–you guys are amazing. A tad strict, but for good reason. You’ve loved me, dealt with me, and occasionally laughed at the absolutely terrible jokes I tell.

Siblings–despite the fighting and the war-zone that can be our home, I do love you guys. No doubt I’ll miss you when I head off to college. You’ve no idea how good you’ve got it, and I promise life is going to throw a million adventures your way too. You just have to stop looking at them as ‘crises’ and start looking at them as ‘adventures.’ Love you and I know you’ll all turn out great.

Friends–if you’re reading this, you get a hint (don’t tell.) I plan to send pretty much everyone who’s been a big part of my life a letter to tell you how much you mean to me and how much I love you all. (This is a PLAN. Whether it happens or not depends on multiple factors.) But even if I don’t send them, I want you all to know how much I value your support, your affection, and the fact that you aren’t afraid to be yourselves with me, which is a compliment in and of itself. Thank you so much.

Teachers–Dunno how you got ahold of me on this thing, but thank you for guiding me and occasionally taking late papers. Teachers are huge role models for me because I want to join your ranks someday. Most of you have been great (if you think of me and smile, chances are, you aren’t one of the teachers who I didn’t get much from.) Thank you for educating us all, whether we wanted it or not.

I didn’t say I wouldn’t get a little mushy. This is feeling-stuff, people!

Onwards and upwards, then. Tomorrow I shall look forward to:

1. Sitting in the hot sun for AT LEAST 2 hours, likely 3 or 4.

2. Sweating in those nasty polyester robes and smelling awful by the end of the ceremony.

3. Contemplating whether or not it would be worth it to make a scene just so I could be escorted out.

4. Feeling dizzy from the heat.

5. Waving at my family and friends who attend.

6. Praying desperately for rain.

7. Possibly crying when I watch my friends recieve their diplomas.

8. Walking across the stage.

9. Blinking during the photo of me and the principal and my diploma.

10. Looking victorious and throwing my arms in the air as soon as I get past the guy who’ll take my diploma if I try anything silly on my way out.

11. Tossing my hat in the air.

12. Going to grad parties.

13. Taking another step on the road of life.

So, first I’m going to give you an amusing quote that is also a pieve of advice, then an absolutely beyond-corny joke, then close it all off and say farewell to you all as a high school senior.

Gary Bolding
Your families are extremely proud of you. You can’t imagine the sense of relief they are experiencing. This would be a most opportune time to ask for money.
–the man knows what he’s talking about. Chances are you’ve been receiving checks from relatives for getting through high school. It makes you wonder about they’re confidence in you if they only paid you AFTER you finished.

Corny joke:

Why was the principal worried?

There were too many rulers in school.

And finally, let me bid you all a fond farewell. I have to go to bed, and tomorrow I have grad robes…which apparently need ironing…to put on. Wish me the best of luck!

Sunny

”

I’m over my head, and I know it, I know it
I’m doing my best not to show it, to show it
Whatever it takes to be what I was meant to be, I’m going to try
Cause I’m living the dream and I know it, I know it
I’m trying my best not to blow it, to blow it
And I know everything will be fine
With me, myself and time.”
–Me, Myself, and Time. Demi Lovato.

This song is really how I’m feeling right now; a mixture of thrill and nervousness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4qMKkk-NTg