Slice of Life Day 20: Sitting on Easter

I went to Staten Island today to celebrate Easter with family and also to celebrate my little cousin's first Holy Communion. I sat through a 45 minute car ride there (while studying math), sat in the church for another 45 minutes before the service actually started, and then sat through a 2 hour long church service. It was soooooo long. Eleven fifth graders (Lutherans tend to mark this occasion at a bit of an older age than Catholics, or at least that's what I have found) made their First Holy Communion.

When I thought that the service was almost over, 18 new members rose up, and a ceremony was held to induct them into the church. I was not expecting that, and however nice it was, I really wanted to leave. Communion for the rest of the congregation must have taken a good 15 minutes, and the line seemed to never end. After receiving bread, we were supposed to dunk it into either wine or grape juice, but in my home church we get our own little cups of the drink. I like my church's way better because I think it is more sanitary. I like sanitary.

After the service, we all headed over to a mediocre Italian restaurant. Both my chicken parm and my pasta tasted like peas, and I don't know why. I don't really like these family lunches because I just sit there and don't talk. I don't have anything in common with my cousins, and we never seem to be able to hold a conversation. One is 3 years older than me, one is 6 years older than me, and one is 4 years younger than me. Their cousins were there too (one is my age and one is two years older), but they used to pick on me when we were little, and I don't know why we can't be friends now... I am willing to bet that my personality has changed quite a bit since I was 4... So yeah, I just sat and talked to my aunt and my mom a tiny bit while trying to digest my pea-tainted food.

After sitting in all these different places, I sat in the car once again for 45 minutes to get home. And now I am sitting and finishing my homework. Yay for sitting.

Slice of Life Day 19: Taylor Swift

Last night, I went to Taylor Swift's concert, which was part of her Red Tour. My dad took four of my middle schools friends and I for my birthday. It was a really nice concert. Taylor's looked really pretty (although I like her better with curly hair), and Ed Sheeran, who is touring with her, sounded angelic. Our seats were pretty good too. We were on one of the higher platforms, but in the front row of it. I made myself comfortable by dangling my feet over the barrier that was meant to keep us from falling off the platform. It wasn't a very good barrier; it was only about 2 feet high and there was nothing preventing me from jumping right over it (don't worry, I wouldn't).

However, the concert was REALLLYYYYYY LOUDDDDD. I could not even hear myself think. By the middle, all of the noises just started to blur together, and I was convinced that the musicians weren't making music anymore; they were just trying to make as much noise as possible.

The opening act was Florida Georgia Live, and I'm still unsure as to who they are... They failed to audibly introduce themselves, and it took my friends and I the duration of their performance to just figure out their name.

Towards the end of the show, there was a really nice surprise. The lead singer of the band Train came out and sang Drive By with Taylor. I definitely was not expecting that! :D

There was just one more drawback to this delightful experience. THERE WAS NO CARVEL. Last time I went to a Taylor Swift concert at the same venue, there was a Carvel stand. This time there was only Rita's Ices, which fails in comparison to Carvel, especially since they didn't even have chocolate ice! What has this world come to!?!? My dad only went for the Carvel, and since he refused to eat an inferior substitute, he resigned to watching a movie on his iPhone and completely tuning out the concert.

So after the concert ended at 11, we all went back to my house, got there at midnight, and didn't actually go to sleep until 3. It was a lot of fun. :D

Slice of Life Day 18: TV in the morning

After I wake up at around 10:30 in the morning during break, I usually go downstairs, turn on the TV, put on TLC, and possibly fall asleep again. It's been really nice, since Say Yes to the Dress has been coming on at 11:00 and 11:30. However, it's quite upsetting that What Not to Wear comes on at noon. It's not that I don't like that show (I LOVE IT), it's just that my mom always yells at me to go get dressed at noon! I recorded it the past couple days, but I forgot to today. :(

What Not to Wear is a show starring Stacy London and Clinton Kelly. They pick one of the public's nominees for a style makeover and teach them how to shop. They are taken on a five thousand dollar shopping spree, given a haircut, and given a face full of makeup. It's kind of a shallow show since it focuses solely on confidence due to physical appearance, but I like it. :D

Slice of Life Day 17: Cake

Last night, I was too tired to eat the birthday cake that my mom made for me, so my family and I ate it today. Before my dad lit the candles, my sister came running in with some colorful yet wrinkled papers and ribbon taped together haphazardly. She insisted that it was a hat (?!?) and that I wear it as we cut the cake. Well, I guess it's the thought that counts...

The cake was chocolate with chocolate icing, and my sister had written "Happy birthday, Amanda!" in large pink gel letters. My mom stuck in 16 candles (15 + 1 for good luck) in no particular pattern, and by the time I made a wish and blew them all out, the wax had melted all over the cake. #LowQualityCandles

In addition, my mom picked up some cake slices from one of my favorite bakeries! I am excited to eat those as well. Yay for cake!

Slice of Life Day 16: Birthday!

This slice is actually for yesterday, March 27th (my birthday!).

My birthday was pretty good. :) A lot of my friends wished me happy birthday, including many that I haven't seen in a while, which is nice.

I started out my birthday by going to the dermatologist. (Yay...) I have no clue why my mom made a doctor's appointment on my birthday, but whatever. She had heard of a new doctor and wanted to take me there. The upsetting part is that they didn't have any lollipops. D:

I then had to go to play rehearsal, which was at a senior's house that is 45 minutes away from mine. (Ask me for more details if you are interested in going to the play. It's in just over a week!) The rehearsal lasted for 4 hours. Although not too many people were able to come, it was pretty productive, as we got to practice lines, sing, and practice choreography.

Just as I was about to leave, the girl that was hosting the rehearsal said that she had made cupcakes for me! THEY WERE SO GOOD. I think they were some sort of lemony cheesecake with crumbs on top. YUM. It was really sweet that she thought to make them for me!!!

Slice of Life Day 15: Lunch

I did something today that I am sure all of you will find very fascinating.

I

A
T
E

L
U
N
C
H
!

I know, quite fascinating, right? I went with my little sister, mom, and grandma to Longhorn Steakhouse. 'Twas a lovely lunch. As always, I ordered a cherry coke as my beverage. The waitress, Alexis, brought out our four beverages and some bread and butter to keep us occupied until our food came. As many other waitresses do, she asked us what we wanted to eat and kept a record of our choices on a little pad.

I ordered a steakhouse burger.
Hold the lettuce.
Hold the tomatoes.
Hold the pickles.
Hold the onions.
BUT DON'T FORGET THE CHEDDAR CHEESE.
...And cook it medium well.
And instead of fries, substitute steakhouse mac and cheese.
(I guess I'm picky.)

Again, this was a lovely lunch. The mac and cheese is creamy and even has chunks of BACON. Yup, bacon. ^(>u<)^ (That's a smiling cat.)

Slice of Life Day 14: Sitting and Working at a Laptop

This is an activity that takes up hours each day, so I may as well pretend that it's interesting. You may think that the proper way to sit while working at a laptop is upright in a desk chair, with your feet planted flat on the floor and the laptop resting on the desk in front of you. Well, this does not work for me for a variety of reasons.

1. My feet do not reach the floor.
2. I do not have a desk. It was moved out of my room and replaced with a beanbag chair. (Good thinking, eh?)
3. Sitting up straight is sooooo overrated and definitely not meant for a hipster like me.

I can't seem to sit in the same postition for more than a couple minutes before getting bored, so I am always moving my laptop and such.

I usually start sitting normally and upright at my spot at the dining room table, with my laptop on the table in front of me. But that chair is so uncomfortable! So I cross and uncross my legs until I am comfortable enough to work for a few minutes. Then I find myself sitting cross-legged in the lotus position.

Next, I usually go up to my room to work, since my chair is uncomfortable and my sister is probably being loud and annoying. I sit in various spots in my small room, such as on the carpet or in my beanbag chair (after I throw all the clothes resting on it onto the floor). Soon enough, I usually resort to laying down on my bed to work. But of course, then I get too comfortable and occasionally fall asleep. See my problem!?!?

Slice of Life Day 13: Castle (SPOLIER ALERT)

Usually, my day is consumed by school, play rehearsal, homework, and various other activities. But now, after not having ANY DAYS OFF SINCE WINTER BREAK, I can finally relax over spring break. GASP. RELAXING? WHO DOES THAT?

Yesterday and today, I caught up on the new episodes of one of my favorite TV shows, Castle. For those of you who don't know, it is a show on ABC about a female cop in NYC named Kate Beckett and her assistant, who is an author named Richard Castle. Even though the show is serious (Beckett is a homicide detective), the mood is lightened by Castle's jokes and the developing plots of the characters' lives (and the budding romance between the two main characters that has been in the works for the entirity of the show's existance). I've been watching this show since sixth grade, and I really love it. The storyline is always well written, and I feel like I have gotten to know the characters really well.

CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!!

The previous three episodes were AMAZING. The two before the most recent one were part of a two-part storyline. Castle's daughter Alexis was kidnapped and held hostage in Paris for a reason unknown to her father of the police. It turned out that she was being held in order to lure her grandfather to her location... but wait... Castle has never met his father! He disappeared before Castle was even born...

CASTLE'S FATHER IS A SPY!!!!!!! :O :O :O :O :O

What? I totally didn't cry when the man said he was Castle's father if that's what you're asking... pssht...

But WOW. The episodes really moved me. Yeah, all the other ones are great too, but I was really impressed by these two. If you have never seen Castle before, I highly suggest you tune in to ABC tomorrow night at 10 to catch the next episode!

Slice of Life Day 12: Isolation

To follow up from my previous post, my mom has the flu and has been banished to her room. We are still waiting for the test results for my grandma and my dad to come back, but the doctor was pretty confident that my grandma has the flu, but my dad is just sick with who-knows-what (but he is starting to feel better). And my sister is just sick as well. My mom and grandma are now on bedrest for five days.

We all did get flu shots a few months ago, but this is apparently a different form of the flu that was not included in the vaccination. We got these really attractive surgical masks to wear when we are around each other though!!! Just kidding, they are awkward and annoying.

My parents have banished me to my bedroom for most of the day (except meals, of course) so that I can try not to come in contact with them too often and hopefully not get sick. This is not fun. I am so bored. Helpppppp.

I had a nice stash of chocolate with me, but then I ate it all (oops).

Slice of Life Day 11: I Thought It Was My Water...

My mom is sick. My dad is sick. Ugh, why is everyone in my family getting sick? I really hope I don't catch anything from them, since like everyone else, I have a ton of homework due next week and tests to study for, since it seems as though the teachers are trying to fit assignments and assessments in before we are off for spring break. Also, I have to attend afterschool practice for the school musical everyday next week. Losing my voice and then having to sing and rehearse my lines is never fun. I know that's not a very busy schedule for many people, but I usually don't have too many afterschool actvities, so it's a lot for me.

When I got home from play practice on Friday, my dad was lying on the couch in the living room instead of being at work. While my mom was telling me that my dad is sick, I picked up and drank from a water bottle that was in the place that I usually put mine. It turned out that that was my dad's water, which is just great. He is sick. And now I drank from his water. I reallyyyyy hope I don't catch whatever he has because I can't afford to miss any school or be completely exhausted when doing my work.

Dear immune system: PLEASE DO YOUR JOB!!!

Slice of Life Day 10: Saranghae IED

IED is seriously an awesome class. Especially open lab periods, like today. We all have fun assignments to complete on our computers, and Ms. G. usually lets us listen to music over the classroom speakers! You may think that we would take turns playing our favorite songs, changing up the mix every class period.

Well, YOU THOUGHT WRONG!!!

My class continues to play the same exact songs every single time. Don't get me wrong, some of these songs are classics that I really like. But others are starting to get a little bit overplayed. Some of the most popular songs in my class are:

• American Pie
• We Didn't Start the Fire
• Just a Friend
• Bohemian Rhapsody
• I Knew You Were Trouble (the goat scream remix, of course)

And, most of all...
500 MILES!!! (Which has for some reason been banned from being played.)

These songs are kind of like working songs to us, setting a beat for the classroom and allowing us to work productively while simultaneously having a sing-along. Are the other IED classes like this...?

***Saranghae is a Korean word for "I love you," or at least that's what I learned today.

Slice of Life Day 9: Bohemian Rhapsody

My friends screamed the lyrics to yet another old song I didn't know last week in IED. "Is this a Christmas song?" I asked obliviously. Bobby face-palmed and Andrew cracked up. Apparently, this was some song called Bohemian Rhapsody, not the Nutcrack Ballet. The whole melody switch was confusing me, I guess. I continued to complain about how annoying Bobby's and Joey's singing was for the remainder of the song.

Well, I decided to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody over the weekend. I learned two main things.

1. Despite the name of the group, Queen, being a synonym for female ruler and the feminine soprano sound of the song, the group is actually male! (Who knew?)

2.  Bohemian Rhapsody is actually a pretty good song! I like how there are so many different parts to it, making it fun to sing.

I have been opera singing this song for the past two hours, undoubtably annoying my family to no end. If I do say so myself, I am hitting these notes pretty darn well. :D (I bet some of you would beg to differ on this claim...).

My favorite parts are "carry on, carry on," "mama oooh", and "Galileo Galileo." Who else loves this song!?!?

Slice of Life Day 8: Rain

Rain is horrible. Why must we go to gym when it's raining!?!? We trek both ways in the mud, soiling and staining our pants and shoes. Our hair gets wet and messed up, and our clothes gets soaked, leaving us to sit cold and wet in Latin class. We try to navigate over or around puddles, but to no avail. The water seeps through the thin fabric of our shoes and in to our socks, leaving our feet wet. When we finally get inside, we feel disgusting as the water evaporates from our bodies.

Today, once I got into the Brookdale gym building, I wiped my feet on the throw rug. I could see dozens of wet footprints spanning the entire tile floor. I turned left to go down the wet stairs, but only made it about five steps before slipping down the rest of the flight. I know, I'm soooo coordinated, right? (Thanks for laughing, Erica...) Well, I landed in a sitting position, and it still hurts. :(

Lesson learned: Stairs have handrails for a reason.

Slice of Life Day 7: Pickleball Tournament

Our school may not be particularly known for athleticism, but the past unit in gym sure has been fun! Pickleball play-offs were today, and they were quite intense. Six freshman teams competed to be crowned the ultimate champions of the pickleball court. Erica and I were the fourth seed team in the starting line-up. We work well together because she is really, really, really good at serving and hitting powerful shots, while I just specialize in returning the ball. We have had a whole strategy worked out, including how to play "rock paper scissors" to start a game, which side of the court we prefer to play on, which team we prefer to serve first, and which one of us should serve first when we win the serve over to our side.

The pressure was on today as we prepared to face out first opponents, Victoria and Christine. Once Erica had the serve in her possession, she amazed us all with her incredible aces and won us that game.

We then moved on to face the first seed team in the tournament, Joey and Christian. Oddly enough, I don't believe we had ever faced them in pickleball before. We weren't accustomed to all of their strengths and weaknesses. Each point was intense, as both of them slammed and smacked the pickleball with force, often volleying it right out of the air before it even bounced. After quite a few intense rallies, some of which resulted in redos, Erica and I won the match and advanced on to the finals.

The championship match was played against the resident pickleball masters, Thomas and Nick. Thomas and Nick both have some pretty wicked awesome shots, loaded with underspin and different angles and depths. My heart was racing, even though I knew we probably wouldn't win. We have played this dynamic duo numerous times in the past, and each time we have lost, usually by a great margin.

The class quieted down and plopped themselves down on the ground, surrounding the center court on which our game was being played. All eyes were on us. Once Thomas got possession of the serve, he immediately scored four points because he is just that awesome. There were many great rallies and encouraging chants from our peers, but in the end, we lost to Thomas and Nick 11-2. We strode off the court with pride, shaking our opponents' hands and accepting our hard-earned titles of the second place team. "Our defeat is so sad," Erica told me. "We endured great strife. This is just another struggle in your hard life."

Someday we will beat Thomas and Nick, our biggest pickleball rivals. It may take until we are seniors in high school (or maybe even senior citizens...), but someday...

Slice of Life Day 6: Astrology

Just take a moment to think about it; does astrology make any sense? Horoscopes that pool together everyone with birthdays within a month of each other and predict that similar things will happen to all of these people? Either ensuring a sense of false hope or a fear of the upcoming day? But how are horoscopes really created? For some reason, I highly doubt that some higher power magically comes and shares them with an employee whose job description is "horoscope writer". Are we who we are because the "stars were aligned" a certain way when the day we were born?

This morning, I was out and about and told someone in their mid-twenties that my birthday is coming up at the end of March. "Oh, you're an Aries!" she squealed with a weird sort of excitement. "You must be feisty!" She then proceeded to explain to me what my personality must be like. And why? Solely because I happened to come into the world during that month-long timeframe? What if I had been born two weeks earlier, when my original due date was? That would make me a Pisces. But would that really make my personality any different? Besides being alive for a grand total of two more weeks, would any major events in my life be any different? Probably not. Astrology enthusiasts would probably just choose to perceive only the aspects of my personality that are commonly associated with Pisces people.

Back to when this person called me "feisty," an adjective which I can honestly say I have never been called in my entire life. If all Aries people are supposed to be "feisty", then what if there was an Aries birthday conference? Would we all just be strutting around, aggresively voicing our opinions and instigating arguments? That would certainly be an interesting experience. What about the newborn baby ward in the hospital while Aries babies are being born? Would there just be bundles of "feisty" babies crying and screaming their heads off? I would certainly pity the nurses if that was the case, as they would probably fear the arrival of Aries babies.

I just don't think astrology makes sense. All of the aspects just don't fit together for me. But if it makes sense for you, feel free to comment and share your view!

Slice of Life Day 5: NLE

For the past few months, Latin students have been trying to compact as much knowledge related to Latin vocabulary, grammar, and culture into our brains as possible, in an attempt to ace the National Latin Exam (NLE). This is an annual assessment comprised of forty questions concerning concepts throughout our Latin I textbook and even some things which are not in this year's curriculum. Magistra has been trying to prepare us by administering to us and reviewing every NLE ever given, so that we can get ourselves familiarized with the type of questions. She has diagrammed verb conjugations on the board, given us mnemonic devices to remember culture facts, and explained all of the concepts that we need to commit to memory.

In the beginning, we were lucky to get twenty out of forty questions correct. Now, in the past week, my highest score was a thirty-eight. :D Most of us are striving to earn recognition as a silver or gold medal winner. In past years, scores of around thirty-two to thirty-five equated to silver medals, and scores of around thirty-six and up equated to gold medals.

Today, we took our last practice NLE before we take the real deal on Tuesday during third period. My score would have earned me a silver medal, had I actually submitted that paper in 2012. :/ For many of us, we will be devoting quite a bit of time this weekend to studying Latin, as being honored with a gold medal on a national exam would make for an awesome resume item.

Good luck next week, fellow Latin students! "And may the odds be ever in your favor." :D

Slice of Life Day 4: Etsy

Tempting, distracting, and addicting websites have been spreading like an epidemic of can’t-stay-focused-on-anything-itis and making their ways onto smartphones for the past few years. Almost everywhere you go you can see adults, teens, and even young children absorbed in the small images being radiated off of their handheld devices. Why can’t they just put the device down? They are probably addicted. They have the entire worldwide web at their disposal! Why choose any one particular moment to cut the bad habit when there is so much left to see, watch, and read?
 
So, today, I discovered that the website http://www.etsy.com has an app! Etsy is a website where sellers have online shops and customers can browse through all the items. It is a bit like Amazon, but a lot of the sellers on Etsy sell handcrafted or homemade items, many of which would be hard to find in stores. If any of you have, for some reason, taken the time to wonder where I get hair sticks from, you may be enlightened to know that I get them from various sellers on Etsy. The products on this website include hair accessories, clothes, jewelry, food, home décor, and much more. There are thousands of products in all different price ranges.
 
I have found that once I search a product on Etsy, it’s hard to stop scrolling through the webpage. I was scrolling throughout the whole bus ride today, admiring hair accessories and various items that aren’t too popular or common in stores that are located near my house (like hairsticks). The app is great because it lets me favorite the items I like, so that once I’m done, I can focus my staring on the items which I like best.
 
So, I guess my favorite app turns out to be a shopping website... But I bet it will just be a phase for me, like all the other apps I have wasted time on in the past. What are your favorite apps, and do you find yourself spending way too much time on them?

Slice of Life Day 3: Retainer

Once I got my braces off on July 13^th this summer, I was given, like many others in the same situation, a retainer to wear. Also, behind my two top front teeth, the orthodontist glued a small permanent retainer that should supposedly remain there for the rest of my life. (Yippee...) I first had a clear retainer that I had to wear during the day for three weeks. Then I went back to the orthodontist and received a metal retainer that I only have to wear during the night. (Well, he actually said for twelve hours each day, but let’s just pretend I sleep that much... shhhhh!) He recommended that for the full benefit, I wear the retainer for the rest of my life. We’ll have to see how that turns out.

Every morning, including this one, I wake up and fill a plastic cup with water and drop a Retainer Brite cleansing tablet into it. It dissolves to a beautiful light blue shade, foaming like the ocean. I have to remove the retainer from the solution after about twenty minutes, so in that time, I usually eat breakfast and watch the news, while trying to fall back to sleep and being urged to stay awake by my mother. Once I finish eating, I brush my teeth with Colgate Total toothpaste. The retainer is removed from the blue liquid and brushed as well. It then resides in a sparkly pink case (with a convenient advertisement for my orthodontist situated right on top) until after I brush my teeth in the evening and am about to go to sleep.

Please note that this is just the way I clean my retainer, and I felt like sharing this wonderful experience with you all. There are plenty of other ways to properly and effectively clean your metallic mouth accessories. For example, my friend Vivian prefers to intensely rinse her retainer rather than brush it like I do. This is perfectly acceptable. Also, please note that I am not an expert on this topic.

Feel free to share your retainer-related experiences down below! :D

Slice of Life Day 2: Panera

Who doesn't love free wifi and paninis? Panera is the ultimate sandwich shop. The have free access to the internet and a variety of cafe meals, including my favorite, the frontega chicken sandwich. I was delighted to enjoy this fine delicacy this afternoon. My dad was kind as to pick up lunch for our family at Panera and bring it home for us to enjoy in the serenity of our own home. Eating out at Panera with their free wifi is nice as well, but eating in the peace of our own home was our preferred option today.

The frontega chicken sandwich contains smoked chicken topped with onions, tomatoes, basil leaves, mozzarella cheese, and chipotle mayo on focaccio bread. I usually request that the worked omit the onions. However, today, I was displeased to notice that there were, in fact, onions on my sandwich. I was feeling too lazy to remove the onions, so I ate the sandwich as it was. It was a great sandwich, but it had room for inprovement (namely, the removal of the onions). I don't understand why it is so challenging for the workers to simply remove this part of the sandwich, but I will let the mistake slide this time, as this is the first time it has happened. Overall, my lunch was satisfactory to my tastebuds.

Slice of Life Day 1: Bio Objectives

So, we're halfway through freshman year, the year infamous for the dreaded bio objectives. They are definitely an art. But has anyone yet to master this art?

There are several different approaches. To start, there is the one that I took today. Tell yourself for over a month that you WILL start objectives, but only end up answering one question and writing one word ("DNA") for another. Then, freak out when we are told that the objectives must be turned in at 11:59 PM in one week. You will try to manage your time, but then you will have humanities projects, essays, and tests galore. So, as the only obvious solution, you come home at 3:15 on Friday night, pop a squat on that uncomfortable chair in your dining room that has become your permanent evening residence, and furiously flip through your notebook and textbook for decent answers to the objectives.

Of course, there are some people who are actually GOOD at time management. Those select few take our teachers' suggestions and complete the objectives the day we learn them in class. But doesn't that just take the fun out of the experience?

Despite our teachers cautioning us against it, I find that some of us view objectives (and other timed assignments) as a challenge. It's 7:30 and a reading guide is due at 8:00. Can I finish this in half an hour? Then, the next day at school, these people are proud of their successful procrastination. I submitted the reading guide at 7:59:37!!! But should we really be proud? I, for one, actually prefer to get my reading guides out of the way over the weekend, but what habits are we getting ourselves into?

If in the real world, a senior boss says, "I want your report by 8:00," and you hand it to him/her at 7:59:37, is he/she really going to be pleased with yiur performance? Probably not! Time management is valued and respected in the working world.

These were just the ponderings running through my mind as I tried to recall everything we have learning in bio for the past month. Many of us, including myself, seriously have to learn better time management. Bio objectives are intended to be a challenge, but not a challenge against the second hand of a clock.