I promised that I will do my best to keep up my blog, even though school has started, and here I am, fulfilling that promise.
I had a significant experience today. Something I had never experienced before, and something I probably won't experience again. Unless I become a tornado chaser. Something I've always wanted to be, though I'm not sure why. Anyhow, back to my experience. It was a normal, sweltering day at my school, and when the final bell rang, I was relieved because I then could walk to the pool and get cooled off. I got cooled off before I even took 30 steps from the school. Then it spotted me and attacked me before killing itself on the school building.
Yes, I was, for the first time in my life hurled (well, technically it hurled itself into me...) into a dust devil. At first I thought it was a gust of wind attacking everyone ahead of me, but I realized there was debris flying in circles everywhere up to 50 feet high!
When it got to me, I realize how silly I was. My first thought was, "My backpack!" I grip my backpack fiercely, refusing to let the wind hurl my precious homework away. Dirt had never hit me so hard. It kind of hurt, but left no marks, so I am not allowed to complain.
Anyhow, how is your school coming along?
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Summer, where hast thou gone?
Today is my last day of summer. All I can remember is that it flew by my ear, (so that I could hear it was here) then it hovered above my head, and just now, it shot off like a rocket.
My accomplishments this summer:
1. I worked for 1 and a half months.
2. I rode 60 mile bike rides, twice.
3. I competed in Long Course State Swim Meet and did fairly well.
4. I went on a vacation for the first time. (To Pullman, WA).
5. I made some new friends.
My goals that I had, but did not accomplish:
1. Balancing a spoon on my nose for longer than 17 seconds.
2. Sticking out my tongue and touch my nose.
3. Running at least 2-3x a week.
4. Reading all those books that I wanted to read.
5. Organizing my new scriptures. (This includes putting quotes where they belong in the scriptures, highlighting, notes, etc.)
6. Building a coffee table for my sister, who asked for one, but failed to give me dimensions. (I will probably make it in woods this year...)
7. Visiting my Grandma more often.
8. Didn't improve my smelling ability. (Ooh! Ohh! Good story! Ahem: I was talking to one of my YW leaders, somehow we got on the subject of sniffing cell phones...and she has the most aMAZing nose! She is an appraiser, so she sees lots of houses, and she can walk into a room, and tell you how old the person's son is. [I don't know if you can tell with gals...] She can tell from ages 11-19 or so. Apparently, boys smell different at every age. I guess I was wrong. I thought they all stunk.)
9. Overcoming my fear of talking on the phone to strangers.
10. Last, but not least, I still haven't honed my skills of confusing and terrifying new lifeguards...Oh, I got quite a few laughs, but I could've done better.
Goals for school:
1. Graduate. (Because of seminary, it cuts it kinda close, plus I'm taking classes on EHS, and I'd better finish them, or I probably won't graduate...eek!)
My accomplishments this summer:
1. I worked for 1 and a half months.
2. I rode 60 mile bike rides, twice.
3. I competed in Long Course State Swim Meet and did fairly well.
4. I went on a vacation for the first time. (To Pullman, WA).
5. I made some new friends.
My goals that I had, but did not accomplish:
1. Balancing a spoon on my nose for longer than 17 seconds.
2. Sticking out my tongue and touch my nose.
3. Running at least 2-3x a week.
4. Reading all those books that I wanted to read.
5. Organizing my new scriptures. (This includes putting quotes where they belong in the scriptures, highlighting, notes, etc.)
6. Building a coffee table for my sister, who asked for one, but failed to give me dimensions. (I will probably make it in woods this year...)
7. Visiting my Grandma more often.
8. Didn't improve my smelling ability. (Ooh! Ohh! Good story! Ahem: I was talking to one of my YW leaders, somehow we got on the subject of sniffing cell phones...and she has the most aMAZing nose! She is an appraiser, so she sees lots of houses, and she can walk into a room, and tell you how old the person's son is. [I don't know if you can tell with gals...] She can tell from ages 11-19 or so. Apparently, boys smell different at every age. I guess I was wrong. I thought they all stunk.)
9. Overcoming my fear of talking on the phone to strangers.
10. Last, but not least, I still haven't honed my skills of confusing and terrifying new lifeguards...Oh, I got quite a few laughs, but I could've done better.
Goals for school:
1. Graduate. (Because of seminary, it cuts it kinda close, plus I'm taking classes on EHS, and I'd better finish them, or I probably won't graduate...eek!)
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Not utter agony this time.
I didn't get as many salt lines on my face this time. I don't have sore lungs that burn when I breathe in deeply. I don't even have a crappy tan from my bike shorts!
I rode the 100 k. Again. Today. At Cache Valley. Where it smells sweet as you pass the corn and alfalfa, then it smells nasty from the animal manure. I went a lot faster this time. (Probably because I drafted off of my pa.)
But do you want to know the best thing ever about the ride today? There were only 2 hard climbs. Instead of 20. Like in Pullman. Other good things were: very, very good trail bars at the rest stops. The swedish fish and good food at the rest stops. And this tour gave you lunch after! Such good food. Probably because I was hungry. The other nice thing? Lots and lots of people. Means you get to draft off of them. (If you can keep up, that is.)
The sweetest moment of the ride: A nice long downhill where I hit 40 MPH for the first time.
The worst: The climb up the nice long uphill.
Scary moment: Didn't notice an U.R., and almost ran over it. (U.R. stands for "unidentifiable roadkill".) The other scary moment was that I was drafting off my pa too closely, his back tire and my front tire were overlapping, just inches away. (My tire is on the right...) then he swerves to the right, and to avoid hitting him, I almost hit the deadly gravel drop-off by literal millimeters.
Anyhow...I still exclaim in my head during the hard moments (I did it constantly in Pullman) "I PAID to do this!?!?!"
Have a good start of school, y'all, and keep on track to graduate!
I rode the 100 k. Again. Today. At Cache Valley. Where it smells sweet as you pass the corn and alfalfa, then it smells nasty from the animal manure. I went a lot faster this time. (Probably because I drafted off of my pa.)
But do you want to know the best thing ever about the ride today? There were only 2 hard climbs. Instead of 20. Like in Pullman. Other good things were: very, very good trail bars at the rest stops. The swedish fish and good food at the rest stops. And this tour gave you lunch after! Such good food. Probably because I was hungry. The other nice thing? Lots and lots of people. Means you get to draft off of them. (If you can keep up, that is.)
The sweetest moment of the ride: A nice long downhill where I hit 40 MPH for the first time.
The worst: The climb up the nice long uphill.
Scary moment: Didn't notice an U.R., and almost ran over it. (U.R. stands for "unidentifiable roadkill".) The other scary moment was that I was drafting off my pa too closely, his back tire and my front tire were overlapping, just inches away. (My tire is on the right...) then he swerves to the right, and to avoid hitting him, I almost hit the deadly gravel drop-off by literal millimeters.
Anyhow...I still exclaim in my head during the hard moments (I did it constantly in Pullman) "I PAID to do this!?!?!"
Have a good start of school, y'all, and keep on track to graduate!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Tour de Lentil
Word: Bonked
Unofficial definition (a.k.a. the definition as the Edges know it): When you go biking or hiking, (or performing some sort of exercise), you run out of water and sugar to keep you going, and your muscles use up every possible piece of energy you can offer, then all of a sudden, your muscles stop. Your legs won't go anymore. All you want to do is get off of your bike and lie on the ground.
This has happened to every family member but me. I was sure as close as you can get without getting bonked. My brother said that when you are bonked, you start eyeing the meridian in hopes to find half-full pop cans, discarded food, etc. One time, he found Poppy flowers on the side of the road...he picked them and ate them. It gets that serious. I didn't get that serious. But It got to the point that I was being driven half-crazy. I have found a new torture that will get me talking. A looong bike ride in the rolling hills. (The other? A practice that my old dentist was: To determine if my tooth had a cavity, or was plain sensitive, he'd pour liquid nitrogen on a q-tip, then press it hard on the tooth in question. That is the worst sensation I have ever experienced.)
That is all I can say about the Tour de Lentil. Ugh. I was ready to burst into tears. It never clicked in my head that since Pullman, WA is a bunch of rolling hills, that I will be going down the hills. And up. And up. And up! (I think you got the point.) By the end of the ride, I was about to crack. Once I saw another hill to climb, I just wanted to curl up and die. But, fortunately, that didn't happen. I just let out heaving sobs because I was so tired and frustrated. I was frustrated because my poor experienced father had to ride with me...and wait for me. He could've been done at least an hour sooner if he took off. My brother finished the ride under three hours. It took me six. I was pretty much the last person to finish the stupid ride. What do I get to show for all of this? A tanline, and a lousy t-shirt. (Actually, the t-shirt is quite nice looking.)
I don't know if I'll ever want to do THAT again. At least I accomplished something new this summer.
Unofficial definition (a.k.a. the definition as the Edges know it): When you go biking or hiking, (or performing some sort of exercise), you run out of water and sugar to keep you going, and your muscles use up every possible piece of energy you can offer, then all of a sudden, your muscles stop. Your legs won't go anymore. All you want to do is get off of your bike and lie on the ground.
This has happened to every family member but me. I was sure as close as you can get without getting bonked. My brother said that when you are bonked, you start eyeing the meridian in hopes to find half-full pop cans, discarded food, etc. One time, he found Poppy flowers on the side of the road...he picked them and ate them. It gets that serious. I didn't get that serious. But It got to the point that I was being driven half-crazy. I have found a new torture that will get me talking. A looong bike ride in the rolling hills. (The other? A practice that my old dentist was: To determine if my tooth had a cavity, or was plain sensitive, he'd pour liquid nitrogen on a q-tip, then press it hard on the tooth in question. That is the worst sensation I have ever experienced.)
That is all I can say about the Tour de Lentil. Ugh. I was ready to burst into tears. It never clicked in my head that since Pullman, WA is a bunch of rolling hills, that I will be going down the hills. And up. And up. And up! (I think you got the point.) By the end of the ride, I was about to crack. Once I saw another hill to climb, I just wanted to curl up and die. But, fortunately, that didn't happen. I just let out heaving sobs because I was so tired and frustrated. I was frustrated because my poor experienced father had to ride with me...and wait for me. He could've been done at least an hour sooner if he took off. My brother finished the ride under three hours. It took me six. I was pretty much the last person to finish the stupid ride. What do I get to show for all of this? A tanline, and a lousy t-shirt. (Actually, the t-shirt is quite nice looking.)
I don't know if I'll ever want to do THAT again. At least I accomplished something new this summer.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Dangnabbit!
I shouldn't of worn flip-flops yesterday. I've never felt such an adrenaline rush before. From 0 to 20 to wipe out in just 6 seconds.
I'm currently in the slightly boring town of Pullman, WA. One fact that should be known about this town is that it has endless hills. They don't look significant at first, but yesterday morning, I found out that they can be deadly steep. My nephew and I (and my parents, that's a given) were walking to the neighborhood park. Lots of ascendings and descendings were approached on our journey. My nephew, Oscar, brought his sweet razor scooter. He refused to let me use it. While he was playing in the park, I was allowed to hold it. I looked at it closely, and there was a warning on the scooter. "WARNING: DO NOT RIDE IN SLOPED AREAS." I thought in my head, "Duh. Of course you ride it on slopes, specifically downhill slopes. Otherwise, how do you have fun on it?" On the way back to the house, Oscar gave me the scooter for uphill and he got it for downhill. Or he'd cry. After climbing a very steep hill, Oscar took it from me, but wouldn't ride it downhill. He said this one was too dangerous. I thought "Phsssh. Yeah right. It looks perfect." My mom heard him say it was too dangerous, and she turned to me and said, "I want to see you try it." She egged me on, convinced Oscar to give me the scooter, and I was off.
That hill appeared harmless, but I am now convinced otherwise. The scooter picked up tremendous speed in so little time. Soon I was using my foot to try to stop the scooter, or at least slow down. Darn flip-flops! They almost flipped off! The next thing I knew; "I'm out of control...I'm going down! Mayday! MAYDAY!" I let out a little grunt. The end result: The left side of my body kissing the pavement, rebounding, and licking the pavement. I'm glad the most impact was right on my belt. That means less torn skin. I immediately look up when I'm finished crashing. My dad is running to me. Right on cue. I immediately stand up, as it hasn't started hurting yet, and say "I'm alright." My dad and I start walking back to the house. We have a ways to go. Pain sears through my body. I stop to look at my wounds, not bad. Weird red liquid is starting to come out of my cuts. My hip hurt, my palm has some missing skin, my knee has road rash (which will soon turn into a scab, by the looks of it), my ankle also lacks a top layer of skin, my elbow as well. This morning, my hip area is turning a beautiful blackish-blue. My mom hopes that I learn something from this. I did. Don't listen to your mom when it comes to scooters.
I'm currently in the slightly boring town of Pullman, WA. One fact that should be known about this town is that it has endless hills. They don't look significant at first, but yesterday morning, I found out that they can be deadly steep. My nephew and I (and my parents, that's a given) were walking to the neighborhood park. Lots of ascendings and descendings were approached on our journey. My nephew, Oscar, brought his sweet razor scooter. He refused to let me use it. While he was playing in the park, I was allowed to hold it. I looked at it closely, and there was a warning on the scooter. "WARNING: DO NOT RIDE IN SLOPED AREAS." I thought in my head, "Duh. Of course you ride it on slopes, specifically downhill slopes. Otherwise, how do you have fun on it?" On the way back to the house, Oscar gave me the scooter for uphill and he got it for downhill. Or he'd cry. After climbing a very steep hill, Oscar took it from me, but wouldn't ride it downhill. He said this one was too dangerous. I thought "Phsssh. Yeah right. It looks perfect." My mom heard him say it was too dangerous, and she turned to me and said, "I want to see you try it." She egged me on, convinced Oscar to give me the scooter, and I was off.
That hill appeared harmless, but I am now convinced otherwise. The scooter picked up tremendous speed in so little time. Soon I was using my foot to try to stop the scooter, or at least slow down. Darn flip-flops! They almost flipped off! The next thing I knew; "I'm out of control...I'm going down! Mayday! MAYDAY!" I let out a little grunt. The end result: The left side of my body kissing the pavement, rebounding, and licking the pavement. I'm glad the most impact was right on my belt. That means less torn skin. I immediately look up when I'm finished crashing. My dad is running to me. Right on cue. I immediately stand up, as it hasn't started hurting yet, and say "I'm alright." My dad and I start walking back to the house. We have a ways to go. Pain sears through my body. I stop to look at my wounds, not bad. Weird red liquid is starting to come out of my cuts. My hip hurt, my palm has some missing skin, my knee has road rash (which will soon turn into a scab, by the looks of it), my ankle also lacks a top layer of skin, my elbow as well. This morning, my hip area is turning a beautiful blackish-blue. My mom hopes that I learn something from this. I did. Don't listen to your mom when it comes to scooters.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Lentil Festival!!!
I'm a gonna go to the National Lentil Festival in Washington! I'm leaving tomorrow in the early hours of the morning, and driving for...ELEVEN hours!
I will be going up there to visit my brother and his family. I haven't seen them for a long while.
I'm also going to participate in the Tour de Lentil on my bike. Yes, it says 100k, but that's only approximately 60 miles. I'm excited! I'm very glad it ain't a bike race, but a bike ride.
So...I don't know if I'm going to have access to a computer up there, so, I will be gone until about Monday. If you need anything, sorry. I'm unavailable as far as I know...
Windy...er...Lentil Festival, here I come!
I will be going up there to visit my brother and his family. I haven't seen them for a long while.
I'm also going to participate in the Tour de Lentil on my bike. Yes, it says 100k, but that's only approximately 60 miles. I'm excited! I'm very glad it ain't a bike race, but a bike ride.
So...I don't know if I'm going to have access to a computer up there, so, I will be gone until about Monday. If you need anything, sorry. I'm unavailable as far as I know...
Windy...er...Lentil Festival, here I come!
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