I am understood?

I just realized that I am 19, not 18 like my profile had said. Nineteen is such a boring age. It's true. Of all the years before 22, 19 is the most meaningless.

The week has gone by uneventfully and quickly. I read a few books, watched minimal TV, worked way too much, socialized with my 8 kittens... the usual. I started making a powerpoint of my summer and that is quite fun. I love making stuff like that.

There are many many words on this blog, to what purpose I do not know. I used to know the exact number of words, but blogger no longer tells me.

My parents' anniversary is today. I have no idea how many years they've been married... like 33 or something.

I usually write my entries over a space of a couple days. For example, I wrote a couple paragraphs of this yesterday and then another two around midnight last night and now I'm writing more. It's fun and it makes them longer and more interesting (or so I assume).

Work was weird today. There were some interesting characters. One guy wanted an uncooked pizza made for him and another guy kept talking to me about college and picking a major and that all I did was party. It was odd.

I didn't like Relient K's CD Two Lefts Don't Make A Right... But Three Do, but I have to give them credit for it. It is quite humorous and entertaining. It's still not a favorite or even really one I like, but it's good for what it is. I like The Anatomy of Tongue and Cheek much better and I think I would like MMHMM too.

My other blog is www.livejournal.com/users/sarah221_goblue/ if you want to know.

Once again I've reached the end of my thoughts.

The Elusive Beverage

I love to drink, but, sadly, I've exhausted all available varieties. There's almost nothing I haven't tried and frankly it has gotten boring. I mean, seriously... water, pop, milk, tea, coffee, sports drinks, Sobe, juice, flavored water, energy drinks, you name it. The only type of drink that I have not extensively sampled is of the alcoholic variety. Yes, I will admit, I've had a little wine here and a little beer there, but not enough to satisfy my desire for the only uncharted drink in the galaxy of my life. Now, I have no desire to get drunk and, in fact, most of the reason that I want it is because I can't have it... or at least I can't attain it on my own... or legally. But anyway...

Ryan's recent post mentioned his fear of public speaking. I don't think public speaking really bothers me anymore and that's weird considering that I don't talk much to begin with. Whether it's 5 friends, 20 classmates, 100 church members, or 1000 strangers, I think I could handle it pretty easily. Of course, it wasn't always this way. Doing speeches in Mr. Loga's 8th grade language arts class was horrible. I was nervous and my hands and voice shook... it was pathetic. Speech class during my junior year wasn't bad at all though. I was the first one to give our first speech in that class, and I even volunteered. In fact, writing the speeches was worse than giving them, especially with my graduation speech last year. I was more afraid of what people would think of what I wrote than actually getting up in front of a full gymnasium and giving the speech.

I hope you all (meaning BethAnne and Alecia) update your blogs more when you're at college. It's a good way to indirectly keep a connection alive over long distances in my opinion. The others can feel free to update regularly as well.

Yes, it is time.

Yes, it's true, I will be leaving my job within the next couple of weeks. For some reason my parents are not happy about this decision. Oh well, it's not their life. I don't think I would be quitting this early if my hours hadn't gone from 20ish to 35 or more.

All (or almost all) of my friends are gone to Bible Memory Camp this week. It's sad that I can't go anymore, but, in a way, it's a good thing. I won't go into why it's a good thing though.

I finished Half-Blood Prince this afternoon. The identity of the hald-blood prince didn't really surprise me. Actually, I had guessed that it was him, but then ruled him out because of the time frame that they agreed upon based on the publication of the potions textbook. As for whether the killer of a certain character is truly evil, I don't know. What do you think? Is the killer truly evil? All in all, it was good but maybe not as good as the previous ones. And, yes, I did cheat and look ahead in the book and found out many of the secrets before I even started reading it. Now I will begin reading Red by Ted Dekker.

Soon I'll make a Columbus online photo album for those of you that want to check out my pictures.

I switched my Math 285 instructor from Igor Kriz to Christopher Hughes... it seemed like a safe choice considering the names. Plus, Hughes had a smiley face on the professor rating website and Kriz did not. I just hope I didn't make a bad mistake. Oh well, I'll probably never know.

God loves you and I'm really trying...

Cedar Point was yesterday and it was enjoyable. First was the ride we always use to break us in: the Raptor. Top Thrill Dragster was next and, though it was fun, it's definitely not my favorite. It was too fast and short to be able to process what was happening while it was happening. I don't even remember much of it. When the picture was taken, all of us were screaming our lungs out and Ben was just smiling sweetly. We went on the Power Tower next, both green and red parts. Lunch was pizza at Macaroni's and then was the Millenium Force. I love that roller coaster. I think the rest of the day was Mean Streak, Magnum, Wicked Twister, and the Ferris Wheel thing. I had forgotten how much fun Wicked Twister was. Then we spent most of the rest of the evening in Macaroni's because Ross was sick and the rest of us were exhausted. BethAnne won a stuffed dolphin when the lady didn't guess her weight correctly. We all bought some nice souvenirs too.

Before Cedar Point, Ross, Alecia, and I arrived a bit early to the Lutz residence that morning and it was a good thing because no one was awake yet. I trekked over to Ben's open window and said, "Ben... Ben!" and I was greeted with an indecipherable moan which was followed by, "What?... Sarah???" I then persuaded him to let us into his house. Ben then woke up Lyne and we left for Bay City and the bus when BethAnne arrived as fashionably late as usual.

After Cedar Point, all six of us were on the bus waiting for it to depart and I got out my cell phone because I wanted to check the time. That led to editing some contacts' information, and then I saw that I had 5 bars and so I called Ross who was a seat in front of me. Before he answered, he looked to see who was calling but he didn't know who it was because it didn't show up on his phone, and so I thought, "Hmm, this has definite possibilities... I think I'll have some fun," and hung up. I proceeded to call him multiple times, sometimes hanging up before he asnwered and other times hanging up right after he answered. BethAnne glanced at me once and I did the appropriate sign language to indicate that it was me calling Ross. The same thing happened with Alecia a few minutes later. At one point, Ross called a number of a past call that he didn't recognize thinking it was the same person asd now. I was worried it would be me and so I had my finger poised on the hang up button, but thankfully it wasn't me. BethAnne was giggling quite a bit by then and looking at me. Ross then looked back at me and I thought I was busted, but I put on my best poker face and said simply, "What?" He turned back around and I continued harassing him anonymous-cell-phone-caller style. Finally when he answered his cell phone, completely exasperated, I replied instead of hanging up. He whipped around and said, "It was you that whole time?!?!?!" We all got a good laugh out of that and Ross even admitted that it was a good one.

The power outages have been annoying. Naturally, everywhere but where I work was out of power and so the dumb place got suckily busy both times it happened. Unfortunately for Alecia, the power surge fried a lot of their stuff. I know how she feels though. The summer of '99, lightning struck the corner of our house (right where my bedroom is) and fried a ton of our stuff... phones, VCR, TVs, microwave, and other stuff I think. Thankfully, I had broken my ankle that summer and had to have surgery on it, and so I had not yet made the journey back to my room and was still sleeping on the couch downstairs.

I'm currently reading Black by Ted Dekker. It's a good book, but it's kind of depressing to read because it feels hopeless. You wouldn't really understand what I mean unless you read it yourself or I took the time to explain it. Next I'll be reading the 6th Harry Potter book, and after that there are three other books I need to read and two other books I need to finish. I love reading.

Last night on the bus ride home, I experienced the same kind of sleep as my naps at college. I was reading and I just couldn't keep my eyes open so I closed my eyes mid-paragraph and was out. I also napped this afternoon after watching some Stargate and Alecia woke me with the doorbell. I'm sure I looked nice answering the door with my hair everywhere and my eyes red and squinty from sleeping with my contacts in.

My car needs gas.

Watch Me Burn

We're back from Columbus. I enjoyed it; it was a good experience. Unfortunately, my qualms that I previously mentioned proved to be not at all unfounded. I was not the only one who felt it and so therefore it's not just me in my insanity. As for everything else, I found the Islamic Center very interesting. OSU was fun too. I don't know, I don't really have much to say about it all. It was hot, but with the fan in the window at night, it wasn't bad at all.

I work 37 hours this week. It's upsetting. At least I get to go to Cedar Point on Thursday.

Yes, it's been over a week since my last update... I think that's a record on this blog.

The new Harry Potter is out, but I haven't read it yet nor do I own it. I'll have to borrow it from someone (like Jake).

We have raspberries! Yay!

That's all.

The Send House. Columbus, OH. 2005.

Curiously Strong Artificial Flavor

Chloe brought her kitties up to the deck. There are four: a calico, a black, an orange, and a white one. They're fat and little and cute.

Jay Leno is funny... I've been watching "The Tonight Show" almost every night. The one night he did a joke which I will now share with you all:
"The World Series of Poker is being shown on ESPN. This raises the question -- Is poker a sport? Are poker players really athletes? Even bowlers are going, 'Shut up! Get out of here!'"
Haha. It was great when he told it. I cracked up.

Owen Wilson is one of my favorite actors. Johnny Depp is one too. If I had to pick my top 5 favorite actors, who would they be? Who would yours be?

Movies are fun and there are a few that I want to see: War of the Worlds, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and I've forgotten the rest. Oh well. Maybe I'll see them someday.

I hope you all got the email about the YG message boards. I put some effort into that.

Hmm... I was going to rant, but I decided against it. Maybe later when my words are more carefully chosen. But I can assure you, it's not about what you think it's about.

Once Upon A Shattered Life

I love my eye doctor. I just can't get over how clear everything is. My new contacts should be coming in soon... either tomorrow or early next week.

The Butterfly Effect is a good movie and I just bought it. I would like to have a Butterfly Effect party sometime soon, but not Saturday or Sunday because I have to work all day.

Speaking of work (when am I not... that's all I do now-a-days), I worked 8.5 hours yesterday. Today I only worked 4.75 hours. That's 13.25 hours completed of my 36.25 hour work week. I think I might've got a $0.05 raise, but I don't know. She never said anything about it, but then on my check it said $5.55 under "rate" instead of $5.50. Oh well, I'm not complaining... but I am complaining about how much I have to work.

I got a few new CDs and so The Ultimate Mix CD #3 should be finished soon, and that will be followed by The Best of the Ultimate Mixes: 1-3. I would like to borrow or get a copy of Alecia's MMHMM by Relient K to check out if there are any Ultimate-Mix-worthy songs besides "Be My Escape". Also, the Summer Mix that I'm working on should be finished soon... hopefully. Well, I guess it only has 26 minutes on it at the moment. Maybe it will be finished before summer is.

Columbus is less than a week away and I started packing today. I couldn't pack much, but I packed a little. I love to pack. I also love lists and I have a list of what to pack. Actually, packing is half the fun of going somewhere. ...And it looks like Columbus will be as hot as last year.

The rubber arm bands are overrated and that's the flat out truth.

"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves."
-Lynn Hall

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."
-Nelson Mandela

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
-Helen Keller

I can see clearly now, the blur is gone...

The third was a very nice day overall. Church was typical. Then after church, Ross's sister went into labor so I had to pick up Ross and Jake to take them to his aunt's party... not that I minded or anything. I didn't want to show up alone anyway. The day contained much swimming, games, relaxing, and tanning. The boat ride was very nice. I hadn't been on a real boat in a long time... years. Of course, everyone and their mother was on the lake. And the random alligator thing from Peter Pan when we were in the water needs mentioning.

Later in the evening, Ross and I went to Ben's bonfire. Some people were there and Ben so kindly taught me how to hit a golf ball. We stayed for about an hour and then we had to head back to his aunt's for the fireworks. We returned just in time and after a little "snitching" (which will not be elaborated on), we settled down on his aunt's perfectly manicured lawn to watch the fireworks.

The fireworks were very nice, but what I loved the most was sitting there being able to see awesome fireworks all along the shoreline of lovely Saginaw Bay/Lake Huron. We could see Bay City's faintly, Au Gres' very well, some neurosurgeon's down the street pretty well, and many other random ones. These were all the "real" fireworks, not those wimpy things you can buy in gas stations (in this state or others).

The fourth was ok. I don't know... it just wasn't fun. But whatever, no big deal. Tawas' fireworks were nice but quite too short and the company there wasn't the best either. Plus, it rained.

Columbus is coming up and suddenly I'm not looking forward to it. It's going to be weird, I can feel it. I don't know if I will be able to reconcile my certain issues with certain things in the group before we go. The issues are too sensative to go into at the moment. I could put it bluntly like I usually do, but I don't think I should. I'm alienated enough as it is. I don't know... something just doesn't feel right.

Today was nice because I went shopping, but even better than shopping was going to the eye doctor. I got a new contact prescription and everything is much clearer, and I like this optometrist better than my old one.

I can see clearly now, the blur is gone;

I can see all obstacles in my way;

Gone are the old contacts that had me blind;

It’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day.

We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

Everyone should go hang out at the youth group website... NOW!

I've been having weird dreams lately. The first ones were the night before last. I dreamed that I was watching a German Disney movie with a bunch of other people, but I guess my leg was hurt because I was limping. Then I left the movie and found out that I was in Doc's dentist office and he was supposed to see what was wrong with my leg, but I didn't want that at all so I ran up the flight of stairs and climbed out the window and down the ladder. By the time I was down the ladder, my leg was fine. That's all I remember from that dream.

Then I had a dream or, more accurately, a nightmare about Maureen, Ryan's mom. Ross and I were playing a trumpet duet and Maureen was listening and she said that I sucked. So she dragged me down the road and forced me to play it over and over and I couldn't quit until it was to her satisfaction. Then she went inside a building to get something, so I ran away and drove home. But then my parents and I had to drive uptown to get my music or something and we drove into the H&H parking lot. But Maureen was there and I started screming, "No, NO, don't let her see me! Go, go!" She was in hot pursuit of us when I woke-up.

Then there were last night's dreams. The first one, oh yeah... I just remembered the middle of the first one. Hahaha. Ok, anyway, I had driven down to Ann Arbor for a bit, but then Vanessa called my cell phone and said that they were all going out to dinner and I was supposed to be there. So I told her I'd be there in an hour and a half and I got into my car and started driving 80 through Ann Arbor. Unfortunately, I passed a police car as I was getting on the on-ramp and then I hit something and my car was hurt. So the cop came and I explained why I was driving so fast. Instead of giving me a ticket, he helps me look for the missing pieces of my "car", which was now a motorcycle. We were running down the street and at one point I had to dodge a semi and hop on the back of a chicken farm truck. More stuff happened, but it was "a story with a happy ending" (I actually thought that in my dream) because the cop adopted me.

The last dream was also weird. I was in Kev's class taking an exam, but he wouldn't tell me what I was supposed to do on the exam, so I got mad, crumpled up my paper, and stormed out. Apparently that class was German and I ranted to a little kid in the hall. Then I had life science with that little kid next but I couldn't find the room in the elementary because they had added new halls. When I finally found them, they were playing basketball in the gym. By this time, something was wrong with my leg and I was on crutches. Mrs. Whyte was playing hockey and said she was too tired and made me go in for her even though I was on crutches. So I did and almost scored a goal for the other team. Kev was watching and as I was playing, my leg got better. I yelled at Kev about the exam and he said that all I had to do was listen to the movie (that was in english) and write down what they in english. I got even more mad and said that that was stupid if it was a german class. He said that we weren't far enough in german to write in german and I told him that I had been taking tests in german for years, and then I stormed off again.

The Door In The Floor is a weird movie. ...And I'll leave it at that.