Well today was interesting. I did a lot of driving around (ie carpool)
which is not bad at all….at least I was in air-conditioning. It was a
scorcher.

And I just got back from a football game at my high school. I was
reminded of just how much highschool really is for highschoolers…as
in those actually of that age (14-18). I was never really one to try to
be part of the “cool” crowd while in highschool, and it still seems
silly to me to watch all those guys/gals prance around trying to
execute just the right moves that will make them seem cool. Or perhaps
I  misread them. Also, high school kids shouldn’t be smoking.
Another thing….since when did football games become a chance for
everyone to run around partially clothed? I mean, spandex is ok…..
but so many of those girls were dressed like little (pardon the term)
sluts in the name of team spirit. That’s sad. Of course it could just
be that I couldn’t see myself wearing butt-skirts (aka skirts that dont
even cover your rear) and as such I couldn’t imagine why anyone else
would want to, but…..I must be getting old to be ranting about
teenagers. And I’m still one. haha

Anyway, the point of going to the game was that it was against our long
time rival who has beat us in football for the past several years. The
exciting part is that when I left (which was well into the third
quarter) we were winning 24-14!!! Although I think they scored a
touchdown just as we were walking out…..I’ll have to wait till
tomorrow to find out the final outcome.

AND I’m leaving home tomorrow at 11:15. That’s both very sad and
very exciting and that’s where I am right now. So I think I’ll just
go to bed.

Wow. It’s been a good birthday *week*.

I finally got my hair cut today (yippee) and I really like it thanks to
an amazing stylist and my mother’s financial aid. I suppose I could
put pics up . . . eventually. Also had lunch with some friends as a
going away/birthday thing and got some random/strange/slightly
frightening but also hilarious gifts. If you’re in Hillsdale I’m sure
you’ll be seeing them. *ahem*

I’ve been thinking about several things that I could say to kick off my
19th year of life but there’s really nothing that could sum it
up….it’s my last year of teenagehood (that’s probably scarier to me than it
should be) and for once I actually feel
like the age that I’m turning. As in usually I don’t feel quite old
enough to be another year older….but this time I do, for some reason.
Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m getting old. Or not.

And now it’s hitting me that I really am going back to school in 1 day
and I’m really going to miss my family and being at home and going to
my church every Sunday. It’s rather difficult to balance things when
you are living in two separate worlds that almost never intermingle.
And yet, I think I’d prefer it to be this way–so that home is always
home, someplace I can always come back to regroup; and school is always
school. I don’t want to categorize things, but I guess right now that
is an easy way to not be too upset about change.

In other news, I bought a John Wayne movie at Kroger today for $1. That’s pretty sweet.

Still no complaints for this week

It’s basically been one giant celebration of my birthday considering
the shopping spree that I had on Monday (thanks to my parents), the new
purse and lovely perfume given yesterday by PeggyDee, and the haircut I
will have tomorrow. Funstuff. But today is my LAST day EVER of being
18. That is kinda sad. 18 has been a very good year for me…..I’ve
made some great memories at home and at school, met some amazing new
people, strengthened long-standing relationships, made a few spiritual
steps (small though they may be) and made some interesting discoveries
about myself (blahblahblahpsychobabbleblah)……in conclusion, I’m
going to miss being 18. BUT 19 will be just as good if not better,
right? Right.

The rest of today will be spent driving PeggyDee to softball practice,
making one more return (in case you don’t know me well, returns are a
beautiful part of life) and having dinner with my family and
Williamson’s BBQ. Rock on (!) Well wishes to all who are or will be
traveling up to Michigan within the next few days–I’m very excited to
see y’all!

Well it’s been a good week so far. Because they didn’t schedule me to work even though I told them I could work till Wednesday (darn it all I need the money), I have had a lot of free time–which means that I’ve been shopping (thanks to birthday money from my parents ) which is fun. End of story.

And driving around. That’s cool too. And today alone I saw about 9 people from my high school which is not only weird but nostalgic and in that vein slightly sad. But still fun. Finally got to see Sin City—weeeiiirrrddd movie. And tomorrow hopefully I’ll be getting a manicure/pedicure as my birthday gift from Giles. Even though my stubby little nails are not worth spending time/money on…it’s still fun/relaxing. I believe I’ve used quite enough back slashes for now. There was something else I was going to say…..

Oh yes. Driving around in quiet summer evening in Atlanta, Georgia with the windows down and the warm air in your face and the sound of the cicadas whizzing by…..it’s lovely. I love times like this when I can just look around me and say to myself “remember this” and I will and it’s always a well-placed memory. Cause I’ve got them filed away. Especially the random 80’s TVshow ones–that’s always a good conversation piece.

Wow….what a great weekend. Seriously.

Saturday morning, my little sis and I drove up to Lake Lanier to meet
some friends at their lakehouse. From there, we drove two
hours to Lake Ocoee in Tennesee where ensued some wild and quite
amusing goodtimes. Now, I’ve never gone white-water rafting before, but
for a first time, this was quite the experience. I was seated
left-front in the raft and would soon discover that this was the best
place to get completely soaked. It didn’t matter, though, because
before we had even made our first strokes downstream, it was pouring
rain. Thunder, lightning, the whole shabang. And this before we even
reached a class 3 rapid! So it was a 10 mile trip overall with three
segments–a portion of which was included in the ’96 summer
Olympics–and some awesome rapids. We never went beyond class 4, but
they were still pretty rough and incredibly fun. Even though we were
freezing and quite tired by the end of the day, it was a great
experience and I couldn’t think of a better way to help bring my summer
to a fun end.

And today, after a great sermon at church on the sixth petition of the
Lord’s Prayer (if you’re interested, feel free to ask)  we headed
to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch as an early celebration of my
b-day….including a lovely rendition of “Happy Birthday” performed by
my family and several servers as well as a very cool gift. It was goodtimes, indeed. I mean
seriously, how can you beat lunch with the fam at a place that has
amazing cheesecake??

Not to mention a phonecall from the one and only Gregory Stokes that
just made my day/weekend complete. I love talking with you Greg! Only 6
more days till I’m back in Chillsdale with all those cool folks.

So I have today off (from work) and guess what?? I’m going white water
rafting! woot. I’m excited….it should be fun…. Going with some
good friends and my younger(est) sister PeggyDee. I would take a
camera, but I don’t want my digital one to get messed up and I don’t
want to buy a disposable one. So that’s  a dilemma. Perhaps we
have one lying around here…? meh. Alrighty then. Well I hope
everyone’s Saturday goes well, getting things done, working, etc.

P.S. I have had the strangest dreams all summer…..almost every night to. Ask me sometime to relate them to you.