I've had a ton of fun this week! Well, here in Texas, we were released early from school yesterday because of the terrible ice. Another winter wonderland hit North Texas! Today, there is no school! This is great, but this week we were supposed to have tennis tryouts. Darn! I was all ready to show coach all that I have learned this year.

I went to my friend's house a couple of days ago for dinner and Guitar Hero. Both families had a blast! When it was time to play Wii, my friend, Andrew, had an unfair advantage. He has been practicing since he heard how good I was at Guitar Hero. I haven't played for a while, so he beat me the first couple of times. Then yesterday, his mom was sick, so he came over to my house. This time, it was my turn to win on Super Mario Kart. My brother has a blast playing with Andrew, too. It's fun to see the two guys play Thomas the Train.

My dad comes home this Friday! I am so excited to see him! I can't wait to have him home for good.

This Guy is Fantastic!

Can you believe the image above is only chalk on the pavement? I couldn't. Julian Beever is an amazing artist who draws on the streets and his images, from just the right angle, look very real. For more of Julian Beever's masterpieces, click here.

Exhausted

Sorry, again, it's been forever since I have written. School, projects, and the recent exams have taken over my schedule. I have had some time for fun. Let's start from the beginning. Finally, after two weeks of constant frustration, I completed a 1000 puzzle, pretty much by myself. The rest of my family gave up hope and stopped working on the tropical scene, but once I start something, I have to complete it. I love the challenge. However, dismantling it almost broke my heart.

The completed masterpiece. Look at all of that sky that looks exactly the same. The trees were what took the longest to figure out though.

I am still practicing the piano, every morning for half an hour. I have been pushed back though. Now that Josh is learning to play, he gets the 15 minutes before me. Right now, I am learning my first cross hand piece. It is ranked a 1 difficulty (the highest) in UIL. It is pretty hard and for the most part, both hands are playing right on top of one another.

Look at me, a real Beethoven.☺

I passed all of my exams! Not only passed, but made all A's except for one B. The Athletics test was made up of easy questions, but I don't know anything about the coaches or basketball and volleyball. Of course, there were no questions about tennis.

Last Monday, I was able to play at Putt-Putt, a dirty mini golf course with an arcade inside. It was fun and I even made a hole in one! However, my score did not show that. I know what I need to work on for golf season!

Waiting for Josh to come up to the green.

Watching Josh swing like a maniac. I don't know why, but my mom didn't take any pictures of me putting!

Inauguration day, January 20th, 2009. Where was I when the first African -American president was sworn in? In science class, learning about waves while every class around us was watching Obama on the big screen. When we asked our teacher, she said that, "It wasn't a part of our curriculum." Well, obviously it was a part of everyone else's "curriculum". So I wasn't able to watch it live, but thank goodness for the Internet.

Mom took this picture on the T.V. It's going in her Project 365 scrapbook. Did you know that the same day as the inauguration was also National Penguin Awareness Day?

On that note, yesterday was National Pie Day. We celebrated by eating chicken pot pie for dinner and our own pies for dessert. Dig in!

Stress Galore!

It's been a very busy couple of weeks. Let me start from the beginning. It iced a couple of days ago. All of the trees, fences, and buildings were covered in icicles. Of course, all of this happened while we were in school. When we walked out of the school doors, nature had been transformed into a world of ice. Ice encased trees and branches, turning them into thick spears. The world was quiet, as if appreciating this rare moment in Texas history. The next day, the 80 degree sun had melted all of the frozen drops and the world was back to normal, for Texas standards. The weather has been like this this passed month. Texas is a wonder!

Then, I had a relaxed weekend, but had to work on my new book report. Let's not forget finals this week! Why do they make one test so important? I'm not worried about what I'll make. I'm just sick of studying and having the teachers put so much pressure on us kids. I believe that the teachers are responsible for making the students stressed out in their classes. On top of all this, tennis tryouts are in a couple of weeks. So much practice. It's hard having to juggle all of this!

Mom has been cleaning out all of the photos in the house and putting them into albums. So many embarrassing moments brought back to my attention. However, I did discover an old movie my friends and I made. It was a project in Science where we had to make a commercial for our homemade window cleaner. It's great! I can't really figure how to put it on the blog, though.

I am so proud of myself! In Science today, we graded papers. I received my paper afterwards and found a mistake; the guy said that I missed 1 when I really missed 2. Many people complained how students mis-graded their paper and their grade was really higher. My partner told me not to say anything, but I knew I would feel so guilty afterwards. So I told my teacher that I needed a grade change. She asked me, "So you made a 100?"

"No, I made a 90," I replied.

My teacher was shocked, said, "Oh!"and quietly replaced my grade. The class responded by saying how stupid I was and how I should have kept my grade, but they don't understand how terrible I would've felt after class. Go me! ☺

Honesty really is the best policy!

A Warm Welcome, a Couple of Sad Goodbyes, and Some Goals

2009 is here at last. To celebrate the coming of the new year, I first had a nice fondue dinner with the family, including my cousin Aubrey and her husband. Next, I went to my friend Alexis' party. There, we talked, played Wii, talked, took a nice stroll, and talked some more. I left at about 10:00 because I didn't want to sleep over with the girls. I had a bad experience at a sleep over before, so I don't usually stay the entire night at those kind of parties. No offense to anyone. So my dad picked me up when he was coming home after dropping off Aubrey and Curtis at their hotel. They had to fly early in the morning, so they didn't stay up. Then, at home, I played Yahtzee with my mom and dad. I had to wake them up for the count down because they ended up snoozing!

My dad left back to India for the next month. For those who are wondering, he comes back for good on January 30. It was nice to have him over for the holidays.

I am dreading having to go back to school. For one, finals are coming soon. Second, I am getting a new Spanish teacher. I loved my old one; he was so relaxed and we didn't have to do a lot, but we still learned a ton. Mr. P (this is abbreviated) had to go to Mexico to help his dad with his business. We'll miss him! I don't know who my next teacher is going to be, but they would have to be very good to beat Mr. P.

For this year, I have a few goals to help me succeed. My top ten are:

1. Keep my room clean.
2. Be grateful.
3. Go to bed early (on school nights).
4. Watch less T.V.
5. Practice my piano and guitar.
6. Hang out with friends more.
7. Eat healthy (like everyone else).
8. Play tennis and golf more.
9. Read 5 new books (The Jungle Books, The Power of One, Life of Pi, Friday Night Lights, and The Last of the Mohicans).
10. Actually keep my goals.

If any of you see me slacking on these goals, help me get back on track! ☺