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!

Countdown to Christmas

Well, last Saturday my family and our neighbors went to Six Flags over Texas, an overpriced amusement park that makes its money off of $9 chicken nuggets. It can be fun, though. The only reason why we went is that my mom won two tickets at an auction. Those tickets, along with some other coupons, got us in. Six Flags is doing Holiday in the Park, where there are Christmas lights galore and Santa hats everywhere. I went on my first actual roller coaster, well, I've been on many that go upside down and shoot up quickly, but this was the first that I was actually scared to go on. The Titan begins with a 45 second ascent that descends in 4 seconds. After that first hill, the rest of the 85 mph ride was great. For the majority of the coaster, my bottom was not touching the seat. Next I rode the Super Man which is a tower that shoots you straight up, then down, then back up, over and over. It's fun and really gives you that weightlessness feeling. I've rode it before, but the ride is still intimidating. The experience would have been more fun if it was 70 degrees like it was supposed to be. Instead, the temperature hovered around 33. I was wearing a short sleeved T-shirt, a light jacket that Mom forced me to wear and a scarf I stole from Mom. It was a bit chilly.

Riding the Holiday train at Six Flags.

Shivering in line for the Super Man.

Strapping in to the dirty but warm seat of the Super Man tower.

On Sunday, the family went caroling with the missionaries at our church. It was fun, especially the dinner served before and the chocolate fountain afterwards.☺Then on Tuesday, we went to see Santa and a train display at the mall. The Santa was great and very nice. The trains were okay; it was the largest display of vintage trains in Texas. The exhibit was cool and traversed through America, from San Francisco to New York. I was getting sick though (I have a cold) so I left early. It was too crowded and hot for my comfort.

Sitting on Santa's lap. His hand looks like a thumbs up, but really he was motioning for the helper to turn on the fan.

The Dallas part of the train exhibit.

The Holiday scene in Washington D.C.

A Busy Week

My week started with pictures on Wednesday, 241 to be exact. We went to Cedar Hill State Park and Mom took tons of pictures of Josh and I in many different positions. We played on the playground, hiked to this little farm, and found an adorable bench on which I spent 20 minutes posing. Josh and I were pretty worn out by the end of the day.

My favorite picture of me. This is the cute bench I was talking about.

Then, on Thursday, Mom and I cooked and cooked a meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, gravy, rolls, and berry cobbler. It was all so good; we have a ton of left overs, though, especially with Dad being gone. To those who are concerned, he is safe from all the turmoil in Mumbai. He is pretty nervous, but his company will keep him safe. He said he was going to force himself to relax by ordering a massage from his fancy hotel☺! Anyway, when asked to say what he was thankful for, Josh said, "Turkey!"

We responded with, "But you don't like turkey, Josh!"

"I don't like turkey, but that doesn't mean I can't be thankful for it, " the five-year-old answered. Mom and I laughed and laughed.

Me cutting the turkey. Notice my awesome apron, made by my Sunday School teacher. She is so nice! Also notice my glasses. The only reason why I am wearing them is I ran out of contacts; my last pair tore when I tried to put them in. They're cute, my glasses, but since my prescription is so big, the lenses stick out of the frame about 1/2 cm.

Me dishing up my dinner. The gravy was sooooo good.

Wednesday evening, we went to a family friend's house and decorated gingerbread houses. I think mine is pretty cool. Josh had a blast, though didn't go overboard with the decorating like I thought he would.

The finished product. A Masterpiece!

On Friday, Mom and I pulled down Christmas from the attic. We did pretty well, but had to call a friend to pull down the tree and a couple of boxes that were too heavy for Mom and me to carry. We spent the day positioning all the knick-knacks and putting up lights on the bushes and trees. Since Mom wasn't willing to get the lights on the roof herself or have me do it (I am not afraid of heights and have seen Dad do it before, so I was ready to attack the lights!), we just threw the net lights over the front bushes. However, I was not satisfied, so I spent all evening decorating the little tree that we have in the flower bead. I twisted the string lights around the trunk and maneuvered lights through the branches. At last, after multiple cuts and scrapes, the tree looked as if it were glowing; my work was done. Now, all that Mom and I have to do is put up the tree and decorate it. Then, we can sleep well.

The beginning of Operation Glowing Tree. I haven't even put on a band-aid yet in this picture.