I wrote a haiku

Nothing good to say.
But I said it anyway.
So I guess I win.

It's a SPECIAL DAY!!!!

You're so special, I got Jane Austen herself just for you. 

Happy birthday Sarah! You know which Sarah you are, and despite the fact that I'm sure some other Sarah has a birthday today, this is a birthday wish special for oh-so-special YOU from yours truly! I have so enjoyed getting to know you and be your friend! I love your humor and encouragement and competition and craziness and weirdness and scariness and gangstaness. :) I hope your day was wonderful!! <3

For good?

I don't like traveling.

I realized this yesterday. It wasn't so much the traveling I suppose as what happened on this trip.

We left Thursday evening to go to Fort Myers, Florida for a piano competition. We decided to only go halfway Thursday so Mom didn't have to drive at night. The trip was great on Thursday, we were having fun, and the hotel was mostly clean. ;)

And then came Friday. 

We were about an hour out from our hotel when the engine started to overheat. We had to pull over for a few minutes to let the engine cool down. It was hot, and buggy, and generally not pleasant.

We made it to an exit just a few miles out of Ocala and found a mechanic, who told us basically that IF we made it to Fort Myers without further trouble, we would have to get a major system replaced in our van. (In other words, lots of $$$) We put some water in the radiator and pushed on towards our destination. We had about three hours still to go, and we had to turn on the heat to try to keep the engine temperature down. So it was hot, and cramped, and buggy all the rest of the way to Fort Myers. Then came the joy of trying to navigate through strange territory. We made it to our hotel and got to a repair shop, where we found that we had to have some things replaced, cleaned, etc...

We rented a car and found that the rental place closed at 12 on Saturday and wasn't open at all on Sunday, and we couldn't get the car back by noon, but we didn't want to be stuck down there until Monday. Thusly, we had to try and figure out how to get the car returned and our van picked up while also stressing about rehearsal times, checkout times, and all the other lovely things that go along with a trip. We ended up eating lunch at about 6:30 on Friday; however, we did make it to Geoff's rehearsal with plenty of time. 

We had the rare opportunity to get a recording of Geoff's concerto on two beautiful Steinways, but unfortunately in the middle of our recording, a teacher rudely barged in and interrupted our video and essentially kicked us out of the recital hall.

I cried.

And then we got tacos and found a jazz station on the radio and things got a little better.

The competition came and the rude teacher's student won. We had a not good experience; however, the campus was pretty and it's always nice to hear such awesome performances (even if you personally dislike some of the people) 

We've now gone to this competition a total of four times and each one has proved more and more that at this level of musicianship, the more you're willing to sacrifice personal morals and impose on other people and sell your soul and abandon any hope of life outside of music competitions, the better you will do.

And we decided that we're never doing this competition again. Because every year we leave feeling like losers, and that's not right.

Despite the bad things (which I'll admit were numerous), we could see God right there with us, helping us through it all. He sent the right people to help us everywhere, and they all were kind and understanding of our situation and were very helpful (right down to the workers at all the fast food places we stopped) Everything really worked out exactly the way that we needed it to happen. Although it certainly wasn't the most convenient, or the most preferable, or even the most fun, it helped us to learn and grow as people, and more importantly as Christians.

Some people might call it luck, or karma, or anything else, but I know that it was my God being there for me, just as He always has been.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  (Rom. 8:28)

I hate everything

As stated by the title, I hate everything.
I hate the trees.
I hate the sun.
I hate the birds that joyfully fling their song of glee to the blue skies which are permeated with warm, golden sunlight.
I hate it all.

WHY? you may ask.

Here's why.

TOP TEN REASONS WHY I HATE EVERYTHING

1. Everything hates me. The other day I stubbed my toe, got sand in my eyes, was attacked by a rogue piece of litter, and nearly fell down a flight of stairs. Clearly the world is out to get me.
2. It's fun. If you don't think that it was fun to write the first forty-two or so words of this post, you're insane.
3. Being pessimistic is funny.
4. I'm bored and I hate this.
4. I hate the number five, so I refuse to use it here.
3. Now I'm just being silly.
456, 932, 111, 984, 334.765382579555594083. This is a real number. Believe it.

I give up.

Thank you guys all for sticking with me to my 350th post! Can you believe that you've read me rambling about stupid things 350 times? Does it kind of make you want to reconsider your life? Either way, I love you all so much and thank you!! <3

I am a terrible blogger

I am sorry, dear friends. I have failed you yet again by not posting in over two weeks.
I had one duty: to entertain you all with my droll humor and stories from the viewpoint of a high-school, home-school, almost-done-with-school...

WAIT. WHAT DID THAT SAY?

I.
Am.
Almost.
Done.
With.
School.

Cool.

Now being done with school is always a momentous occasion, because this of course means that summer vacation is upon us. However, this year it is extra exciting for me because two things.
One, I'll be starting my junior year in the fall, which means I am halfway through high school! And two, I'm dual enrolling come August as well! Yes, yes, yes, hold your applause. (I know you didn't really applaud)

I have now taken the SAT and the PERT, so I'm basically a scholar, DUH.
I have run a mile in eleven minutes, so I am getting better.
I have seen The Importance of Being Earnest and loved it. A lot.
I have run insane numbers of errands in three days.
I have made an idiot of myself myriad times.
I have decided that I am now a runner. Officially. (Running sounds so much nicer than glorified walking, which is depressing, albeit accurate)

Random word:

Schadenfreude
 scha·den·freu·de

Noun
Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.

Thus concludes the end of my blog post. (Lovely redundancy, eh?) I am not even going to bother saying that I will never fail you again; in fact, I'm going to tell you now - EXPECT ME TO FAIL.