Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Scare Tactics
I live in an older farm house, which means I deal with creaky floors, paper thin walls, and cracks in the walls where cold air from outside can come in. Unfortunately, the wind isn't the only thing that comes in; mice do to.
I'm used to them by now. Hearing them in the walls or waking up to the sound of scampering across my floors at night. As long as they stay away from me, I don't mind them. Sure it's annoying to find mouse poop or sunflower seeds in various places, but otherwise we don't usually have a problem with them.
It's when they do torment you when you least expect it-like when you're sleeping. I used to have problems with that all the time until I switched rooms with my parents. Now they don't ever bother me in my sleep.
Now that I've said all that, it's time to get to what happened today....
So recently we've had a large amount of mice in our house, probably because of the recent snow storm we had. So we've been catching one or two a day. Yesterday was no different-we had caught one in the basement and one in my closet (that's where we catch them most). But as I was getting ready for bed last night all of a sudden I heard a distressing squeak from the cupboard. Not thinking much of it (and knowing what to expect) I opened the cupboard and stuck my head inside. Nothing. I could still hear the sqeaking, but there was nothing there to make it. I yelled down to my mom and she told me it was probably in the wall somewhere and not to worry about it.
I still did of course. The poor thing sounded miserable. But I continued with my nightly routine and went to bed.
I have a horrible memory-especially short-term- so by the time I woke up this morning I had forgotten about the whole ordeal. I got up, showered, and went to school. I did my thing at school and came home. Still didn't think about it. Of course being the day before thanksgiving, I went and tidied up my room and bathroom. Wash the mirror, clean the toilet, put away my stuff. Everything was going well. I took the headbands and shoved them into the container I store them in, which is in the cupboard. A moment later, my heart leapt out of my chest.
Half-way into the container (which is clear on one side) I saw it. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give me the heebie-geebies; the end of a mouse tail.
All I could think was that first, gross. I had been wearing a headband that was touching a dead mouse (i had tapped the container then shook it to make sure). Second, that the squeaking noise probably was from the mouse in the container. Third, I had just squished a dead mouse even further into my headbands-uber disgusting.
I got squeemish. I'll admit it. In fact, so squeemish that I slammed the container shut and held it out at arms length walking down the stairs yelling "mom, Mom, MOm, MOM, MOOOOOOOM!" She was confused. I handed her the box, pointed at the tail and whined "please tell me that's not what I think it is..."
She laughed. "It probably is." She opened the box and peeked around. She shook the box, then proceeded to take the headbands out one at a time. I stepped back, worrying still about my headbands being all nasty. Finally, she got down into where the suspicious tail was.
She began laughing hysterically. I didn't know what was going on. Was it really that funny? I didn't think so. She pulls out a brown headband, walks over to the drawer with scissors in it and returns to me. Taking the scissors she cuts of a loose string on the headband and hands it to me.
"There's your dead mouse."
I'm used to them by now. Hearing them in the walls or waking up to the sound of scampering across my floors at night. As long as they stay away from me, I don't mind them. Sure it's annoying to find mouse poop or sunflower seeds in various places, but otherwise we don't usually have a problem with them.
It's when they do torment you when you least expect it-like when you're sleeping. I used to have problems with that all the time until I switched rooms with my parents. Now they don't ever bother me in my sleep.
Now that I've said all that, it's time to get to what happened today....
So recently we've had a large amount of mice in our house, probably because of the recent snow storm we had. So we've been catching one or two a day. Yesterday was no different-we had caught one in the basement and one in my closet (that's where we catch them most). But as I was getting ready for bed last night all of a sudden I heard a distressing squeak from the cupboard. Not thinking much of it (and knowing what to expect) I opened the cupboard and stuck my head inside. Nothing. I could still hear the sqeaking, but there was nothing there to make it. I yelled down to my mom and she told me it was probably in the wall somewhere and not to worry about it.
I still did of course. The poor thing sounded miserable. But I continued with my nightly routine and went to bed.
I have a horrible memory-especially short-term- so by the time I woke up this morning I had forgotten about the whole ordeal. I got up, showered, and went to school. I did my thing at school and came home. Still didn't think about it. Of course being the day before thanksgiving, I went and tidied up my room and bathroom. Wash the mirror, clean the toilet, put away my stuff. Everything was going well. I took the headbands and shoved them into the container I store them in, which is in the cupboard. A moment later, my heart leapt out of my chest.
Half-way into the container (which is clear on one side) I saw it. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give me the heebie-geebies; the end of a mouse tail.
All I could think was that first, gross. I had been wearing a headband that was touching a dead mouse (i had tapped the container then shook it to make sure). Second, that the squeaking noise probably was from the mouse in the container. Third, I had just squished a dead mouse even further into my headbands-uber disgusting.
I got squeemish. I'll admit it. In fact, so squeemish that I slammed the container shut and held it out at arms length walking down the stairs yelling "mom, Mom, MOm, MOM, MOOOOOOOM!" She was confused. I handed her the box, pointed at the tail and whined "please tell me that's not what I think it is..."
She laughed. "It probably is." She opened the box and peeked around. She shook the box, then proceeded to take the headbands out one at a time. I stepped back, worrying still about my headbands being all nasty. Finally, she got down into where the suspicious tail was.
She began laughing hysterically. I didn't know what was going on. Was it really that funny? I didn't think so. She pulls out a brown headband, walks over to the drawer with scissors in it and returns to me. Taking the scissors she cuts of a loose string on the headband and hands it to me.
"There's your dead mouse."
Monday, November 22, 2010
Decisions, Decisions
This is going to sound like a very obvious statement, but as life progresses, decisions get harder. Duh, right? Well recently, my decisions have become very difficult, and I feel like if they stay at the pace they are going right now, my decisions will kill me before I'm 20.
Now to clear this up, the aren't the "classic" teenage decisions. I'm not doing drugs or drinking and driving (or even drinking for that matter). My decisions are the ones people forget to warn you about and don't have an answer everyone likes to hear, and I'm a little stressed out about them.
First, I'm starting college early. That's not a difficult decision for me to make. I'm not advancing my education at my high school anymore, so whats the point? Also, I don't have any real ties to the school for I will still be seeing my friends around. Decision made.
Of course other decisions that I'm made because of that or that were made because of it are really stressing me out, and no one seems to be trying to make these decisions any easier for me. One of the bigs ones right now is the One-Act Competition play. Last year our cast took the play "Freak"to the State Festival Stage. I was a large part of that play and have always enjoyed acting under the director and with my fellow thespians. But this year because of my class schedule, I will not be considered for a part in the play cause I won't be able to make it to 2 of the 5 practices each week. At first, this bothered me. So I slept on it and woke up with another look at it-it will give me the opportunity to have more time at the college and work, plus I'll be ending my acting career at Bagley with a trip to State.
I was contented, if not extremely happy with this outcome. So today I went to school head held high knowing it wouldn't bother me. Well, like any good father would do, my dad got angry about it, saying that the cast "needs me" because I was there talent. Blah, blah. Some of the cast was angry saying that they wanted me to do it. I was conflicted. Me against the school. I hated it.
But now I'm coming to terms with it. Here's what I have to say:
I'm done with high school. All it's doing is trying to keep me down when all I need to do is fly-let me go. I don't need anything from you anymore. Good Riddance.
Now to clear this up, the aren't the "classic" teenage decisions. I'm not doing drugs or drinking and driving (or even drinking for that matter). My decisions are the ones people forget to warn you about and don't have an answer everyone likes to hear, and I'm a little stressed out about them.
First, I'm starting college early. That's not a difficult decision for me to make. I'm not advancing my education at my high school anymore, so whats the point? Also, I don't have any real ties to the school for I will still be seeing my friends around. Decision made.
Of course other decisions that I'm made because of that or that were made because of it are really stressing me out, and no one seems to be trying to make these decisions any easier for me. One of the bigs ones right now is the One-Act Competition play. Last year our cast took the play "Freak"to the State Festival Stage. I was a large part of that play and have always enjoyed acting under the director and with my fellow thespians. But this year because of my class schedule, I will not be considered for a part in the play cause I won't be able to make it to 2 of the 5 practices each week. At first, this bothered me. So I slept on it and woke up with another look at it-it will give me the opportunity to have more time at the college and work, plus I'll be ending my acting career at Bagley with a trip to State.
I was contented, if not extremely happy with this outcome. So today I went to school head held high knowing it wouldn't bother me. Well, like any good father would do, my dad got angry about it, saying that the cast "needs me" because I was there talent. Blah, blah. Some of the cast was angry saying that they wanted me to do it. I was conflicted. Me against the school. I hated it.
But now I'm coming to terms with it. Here's what I have to say:
I'm done with high school. All it's doing is trying to keep me down when all I need to do is fly-let me go. I don't need anything from you anymore. Good Riddance.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Money is never free.
Neither is college. Not even close. But you can get scholarships! Hooray! Free money! NOT.
It seems like the smallest scholarships (you know, the ones normal people actually get) take the longest time while the ones that are like $200,000 for one person are where you put your name and what classes you took. How frustrating!
But I guess that maybe it'll payoff.
Maybe.
It seems like the smallest scholarships (you know, the ones normal people actually get) take the longest time while the ones that are like $200,000 for one person are where you put your name and what classes you took. How frustrating!
But I guess that maybe it'll payoff.
Maybe.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
How do you eat an entire elephant?
I had a conversation with my boyfriend tonight that really made me think. It made me think how much something you say or do can have such a lasting impact on someone. And this isn't the first time I've thought of this. Actually, I was thinking about it earlier today.
This may get a little personal, but there are only a few people who are going to read this, so I think it's okay that they here this: I have a friend (well a few friends) who are struggling right now for some reason or another; they aren't happy with where they are in life. Whether it be boy trouble, friend trouble, job trouble, school trouble, it's troubling them. Which troubles me. I'm the type of person who likes it when everything goes perfect (which is impossible considering we live in such a sinful world), so when I see my friends dealing with such things and seeing them struggle, I feel like I need to help. Unfortunately, my help can also sometimes suck.
Back to my conversation with my boyfriend. We were talking about how someone was struggling and how when people struggle, they become frustrated and say or do things they don't mean. I do it all the time. Then I feel like I need to shove my foot as far as possible into my mouth before I do something else dumb. Which frustrates me even more. Talk about a viscous circle. We digress. Anyway this person that I am talking about, well he said something that my boyfriend considered insulting and we started talking about it.
I'm don't get insulted easily. I find that if someone feels a certain way about me, they're probably right. Plus if I got worked up over the small things, I would have to deal with a lot more in my life and I just don't have the energy to do that.
But I took this "insult" as a compliment. It showed me that this person is comfortable enough around me to say something and know that I won't get worked up about it. From the beginning of know this person, I knew I was going to like him. He just had that "big brother" feel to him. In fact, if I had an older brother I'd want him to be like this person. And truthfully, I wouldn't mind him being my older brother. Because he's a cool guy. He's got a good head on his shoulders and he knows when to be fun and when to be serious. I feel comfortable knowing he's around if he's needed.
And I understand he's going through a rough spot in his life. And I respect him for not giving up. And I hope that he doesn't give up. And I hope that if there is something I can do, anything, that he won't be afraid to ask. That goes for anyone. Because I don't like to see anyone, especially my friends, struggle.
I hope this person will read this post. :)
How do you eat an entire elephant?
One plate at a time.
This may get a little personal, but there are only a few people who are going to read this, so I think it's okay that they here this: I have a friend (well a few friends) who are struggling right now for some reason or another; they aren't happy with where they are in life. Whether it be boy trouble, friend trouble, job trouble, school trouble, it's troubling them. Which troubles me. I'm the type of person who likes it when everything goes perfect (which is impossible considering we live in such a sinful world), so when I see my friends dealing with such things and seeing them struggle, I feel like I need to help. Unfortunately, my help can also sometimes suck.
Back to my conversation with my boyfriend. We were talking about how someone was struggling and how when people struggle, they become frustrated and say or do things they don't mean. I do it all the time. Then I feel like I need to shove my foot as far as possible into my mouth before I do something else dumb. Which frustrates me even more. Talk about a viscous circle. We digress. Anyway this person that I am talking about, well he said something that my boyfriend considered insulting and we started talking about it.
I'm don't get insulted easily. I find that if someone feels a certain way about me, they're probably right. Plus if I got worked up over the small things, I would have to deal with a lot more in my life and I just don't have the energy to do that.
But I took this "insult" as a compliment. It showed me that this person is comfortable enough around me to say something and know that I won't get worked up about it. From the beginning of know this person, I knew I was going to like him. He just had that "big brother" feel to him. In fact, if I had an older brother I'd want him to be like this person. And truthfully, I wouldn't mind him being my older brother. Because he's a cool guy. He's got a good head on his shoulders and he knows when to be fun and when to be serious. I feel comfortable knowing he's around if he's needed.
And I understand he's going through a rough spot in his life. And I respect him for not giving up. And I hope that he doesn't give up. And I hope that if there is something I can do, anything, that he won't be afraid to ask. That goes for anyone. Because I don't like to see anyone, especially my friends, struggle.
I hope this person will read this post. :)
How do you eat an entire elephant?
One plate at a time.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Meaningfulness of a good friend.
Recently, I've felt that I am losing touch with the people I have grown up with. We're at the stage where everyone is really figuring out where we belong in this world and going our separate ways. Now I am lucky enough that the way I am headed has been paved so well for me. God truly is looking out for me and answering my prayers. Through this change, I have lost a lot of good friends, and I can tell. There are some people that I don't have in classes anymore so we just happen to exchange a glance and a friendly greeting in the hallway. There are some that I talk about hanging out with more often all the time, but we never seem to actually take the initiative to take time for each other. There are also the ones that don't even acknowledge my existence anymore (not like that friendship was much of a loss.) But there are also those people that through these changes have come even closer to me and I get to see more often and do things with. I'm liking having those two or three girls that I can talk to or that can talk to me when we need each other and I hope and pray everyday that our relationships will withstand the struggles of our lives and we will be able to be as close as we are today.
I'm posting this today because I have a friend that has been in quite the love triangle recently. I take pride in my ability to listen to others problems and hope that people recognize me as a person they can confide in with things that are distressing them. I also take pride in my ability to try and give responsible and respectable feedback and solutions to problems. But for some reason, this one even stumped me. I don't know why, I have never been so internally conflicted by someone else's problem, but I think that this one also had a personal effect on me because of how close our friendship is. All I guess I can do is pray that she makes the right decision and that everything turns out in the end.
At the same time, it makes me wonder how much i really know about things. Do I just ramble on about problems, or do I try and find the best and simplest solutions to things. I don't know. I feel like I have made some good personal choices in life (I've made some really horrible ones too, but I learned from them). I don't know. I guess I'm just going through that stage in life where I'm full of questions about life and about myself. But one thing I do know is that I wouldn't be where I am today without my friends.
I'm posting this today because I have a friend that has been in quite the love triangle recently. I take pride in my ability to listen to others problems and hope that people recognize me as a person they can confide in with things that are distressing them. I also take pride in my ability to try and give responsible and respectable feedback and solutions to problems. But for some reason, this one even stumped me. I don't know why, I have never been so internally conflicted by someone else's problem, but I think that this one also had a personal effect on me because of how close our friendship is. All I guess I can do is pray that she makes the right decision and that everything turns out in the end.
At the same time, it makes me wonder how much i really know about things. Do I just ramble on about problems, or do I try and find the best and simplest solutions to things. I don't know. I feel like I have made some good personal choices in life (I've made some really horrible ones too, but I learned from them). I don't know. I guess I'm just going through that stage in life where I'm full of questions about life and about myself. But one thing I do know is that I wouldn't be where I am today without my friends.
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