"Your Blog is Great!" Awards

Hello everyone!  My friend Sophie nominated me for a cool award called the "Your Blog is Great!"  Thanks so much, Sophie!  I really appreciate it! =)


Now for the fun part.  I'd like to nominate the following blogs:


1. Rhianna and Erin
2. Susie
3. Tess and Maggie
4. Sabine
5. Frankie


I apologize if any of you all have already been nominated, although a double nomination is a pretty big honor.   =)

Peter's Going Away Party

Yesterday everyone went over to Peter’s house for a little party in his honor.  He’s going to be gone to summer camp for six weeks and I miss him already.  Anyways, I had only been to Peter’s house once before the party because he lives way on the other side of town and has to be bused to school while all my other friends live more or less in walking distance.  I finally got to meet his mom, Dr. Beaumont, who is a respected veterinarian and I met Peter’s best friend Anthony.  


Actually, let me back up and tell you everyone who was at the party.  There was Peter (of course) and his sister Zuzu, Ashley and her sister Alice, Me, Quinn, Nicki, Taylor, Anthony, Zuzu’s best friend Angela, and Ryder and Max, a couple of Peter’s Boy Scout and 4-H friends from Shafter.


I’m not sure why, but I felt really shy when I arrived.  I mean, I used to be pretty shy but I’ve gotten better the last couple of years… but man, I felt like such a wallflower at the party.  I’m not like Nicki, who loves boys and couldn’t decide between Anthony, Ryder, and Max so she tried to flirt with all of them.  I’m not like Quinn, who can find common ground with anyone.  I’m not like Ashley, who can make anyone laugh.  I felt really inferior.


Zuzu, Angela, and Anthony stayed in one little group and the rest of my friends were in another little group.  Ryder and Max, who really only knew Peter and Anthony, stuck to themselves.  Nicki went around from boy to boy, and Peter tried to be a good host and went back and forth between all the groups.  And then there was me… and I didn’t feel like I fit in with any of the groups.


Peter didn’t seem to want to talk to me, and when he did, he seemed really annoyed with me.  Once he snapped at me because I offered him a brownie… once I said something and he actually sighed and rolled his eyes.  He was so unlike himself!  I’ve never seen him be rude to anyone… especially not to me…


So after a while, I went and sat on the porch swing out front.  A moment later, Ashley came out and sat next to me.  She seems to always know what’s wrong and what to do to help, because she just put her arm around my shoulder and didn’t say anything.   After a while, we both went back inside and I sat with Ashley and Zuzu while we ate dinner.


Before the night was over, Ashley was mad at Nicki for flirting with Anthony (who Ashley has a big crush on, though she’ll never admit it), Zuzu was mad at Quinn for making herself the center of attention (which she didn’t really do, but I didn’t want to get involved in that argument), and I was mad at Peter for being mad at me.


When everyone was ready to go home, I was the last to be picked up.  I had gotten a ride there from Ashley and Alice’s mom, but they were sleeping over with their cousins so I had to call my dad to come and get me to go home.  Once everyone but the Beaumonts and I were gone, I went and stood outside by myself.  A few minutes after I went out, Peter came and stood beside me.  I didn’t want to talk him… I didn’t even want to say goodbye, but there he was.


He was the first to break the silence.  “Did you have a good time tonight?”
I rolled my eyes to get him back for earlier.  “What do you think?”
“I didn’t think so,” he said quietly.  “I guess I should apologize for that.”
“Why were you so short with me?” I asked.
Peter shrugged.  “I guess I was just… I don’t know… annoyed.  I mean, out of everyone here, you were the only one I really wanted to talk to… and you acted like you didn’t want to be here.”
“I thought you were mad at me,” I said, sighing.  “I just felt sort of… out of place.”
“You’ll never be out of place here or anywhere else where I am.  I’m sorry I didn’t really make you feel like that earlier,” Peter said, blushing ever so slightly.
I smiled and looked away, suddenly too embarrassed to look him in the eye.  “I guess I could have tried harder to fit in.  I was just having a hard time because… I’m going to miss you…”
“I’m going to miss you, too,” he said.


Then he held my hand.  It was really nice.  I don’t know how long we stood there, hand in hand, but we stayed like that until we saw my dad driving up.  Then we both got embarrassed and let go really quickly.

Before I got in my dad’s car, Peter stopped me.  “Hey,” he began.  “My parents gave me this whole roll of stamps… and I was wondering if it would be okay if I wrote to you this summer.”
“Yeah, I’d like that,” I said.  As I turned around, Peter tapped me on the shoulder, took his lucky blue baseball cap off and handed it to me.
“I was sorta hoping you might keep that for me,” he said.  “I mean, I’m not gonna need it at ranch camp, so someone should get some use out of it.”
I smiled, put the hat on, and said, “Bye, Peter.”

So, Peter’s gone to camp and I’m still wearing his hat.  After all of this, I still don’t understand boys… but I guess it wouldn’t be so exciting and interesting if I did.

Versatile Blogger Award

Hello!  First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  I'm spending the afternoon with Quinn, because this is her favorite holiday.  She and her ma are making corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, soda bread, mint cupcakes, and lime kool-aid!  Can't wait to get a big bowl full of veggies!


Secondly (and perhaps most importantly), my pal Sophie nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award!  A big thanks to her for that!  I get a bit lazy at times and forget to update, but this blog is hands-down my favorite project and I always appreciate being remembered.  =)  

So now I get to give you seven completely random tidbits.  =D


1.  Well, this really is random, but every time I read the title of the award, I see Versailles!  Probably because Sophie is French.  =D
2.  I hate wearing shoes.  If I could, I'd go barefoot all the time!  I know that it's dangerous to walk outside like that, but I can't help it!  When I go into my yard, I love to feel the grass between my toes.  =)
3.  I'm in the sign language club at my school.  I'm not deaf, nor do I actually know anyone who is, but I always found ASL so interesting and have always wanted to learn it.
4.  When I first started having a lot of trouble at school with Claire, my parents wanted me to switch schools.  I took an entrance exam for a very exclusive boarding school and got accepted, but I didn't want to leave home.  Even though I still have trouble with Claire from time to time, I'm glad I stayed because I have so many great friends here.
5.  My dad owns his own store.  It's a video rental place / comic book store.  It's one of my favorite places in the world because I love both comic books and movies, and at least one night a week there's a group there gaming -- either video games or Dungeons and Dragons.
6.  My favorite non-religious holiday is Halloween.  My favorite religious holidays are Hanukkah and Purim.
7.  Sometimes I fantasize about going to live in some big city, but I think I'd get tired of it pretty fast and find it impersonal.  


Now, for my nominations!  It was pretty hard to pick since there are so many different blogs I love and I could only pick four, but I did eventually decide.  


1. The Greens and Roses
2.  Edie
3.  Haley
4.  Sabine

RULES:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 4 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each

their blogs.

Leap Day!

Hello, blog friends!  First of all, let me thank you all for your advice on my last post (about my cousin Allie).  She's been feeling a lot better lately, and she says that she's pretty happy here even if she does miss her dad and her godmother.  My parents are going to let her go spend spring break in Germany with her godmother Frida and her dad is trying to arrange it so he'll be able to spend some time with her.  We're all hoping for the best!

Anyways, today is leap day, and although it's not really a holiday, it's a pretty cool day, I think.  So my parents gave me and Allie permission to each have a couple of friends over, but the whole thing got a bit out of hand.

The album where you can find out what happened is here.  Comments are always appreciated.  =)

Poor Allie

You all remember my cousin Allie? If not, I'll tell you about her briefly. Allie is a couple of years younger than me and she's from Germany. Her father (my mom's brother) is in the military and sadly her mom passed away a few years ago. I hadn't seen her since she was a baby when my parents suddenly announced she was coming to live with us and would need to share my bedroom. That was over a year ago, and I love having Allie here now. We're really different, but she's still a lot of fun. But lately, I've been really worried about her.

Around Hanukkah, Allie's dad came to visit. It was really wonderful... I'd never seen her as happy as she was when he was here. She and her daddy are really close. Our whole family did a lot of stuff together while he was here, but he had to leave too quickly. Allie has been really down since then. I mean, I understand that she misses her dad, but I still hate to see her so sad.

She's been talking about going back to Germany to stay with her godmother, Frida. She used to live with her, but she came here when Frida got too sickly to handle a kid. Frida is healthier now and would love to have Allie back, but we'd all hate to have her go. My parents say Allie has to make her own decision... I just don't know what she'll decide.

Any ideas how I can help her stop feeling so sad so she won't want to leave?

Blog changes

You may have noticed that I changed up my blog a bit.  I added a couple of links at the side, moved the pic of me and Quinn to the top, and got a neat new tie-dye background.  But the biggest change would be that I'm once again the soul author of this page.  Quinn has decided that she's not interested in blogging anymore, and that's fine with me.  If she ever does have something to say, she can borrow my blog, like she did in the good ole' days.  And Bre has been banished, as well.  She has her own blog about doll collecting here, which you should be following and reading if you're not already. =P  For a while, mine was the only blog so it became the sort of catch all place to post about anything, but now there's a better place for that.  You could sort of say my blog is being completely refocused.   Maybe I'll be more diligent about updates, now. =P

The Winter Dance

Hello, friends! I've sure missed talking to you all. I have something to tell you about. =)

Sometime last week, I was walking home from school with my friend Peter. He usually has to take the bus because he lives clear on the other side of town, but this day he was going to his cousin (and my friend) Ashley's house. Ashley and Nicki left us alone to walk together... which was embarrassing, but nice at the same time... if that makes any sense.

When we were close to my house, Peter finally started to tell me about this dance that he had to go to. You see, Peter's dad was permanently disabled a few years ago, so he stays home and takes care of Peter and his sister and the house. And he's really involved with charities and community affairs, so he kind of planned this dance at the youth center. And since Peter had to go, he thought I might like to go with him.

It felt sort of weird. I mean, Peter stressed the fact that it's not a date and I agreed to that, but I had never been to a dance like that, and certainly never with a boy. But Peter is my friend... and I like him. I mean, I'm not ready for a boyfriend obviously, but Peter is also sort of more than a friend. Don't tell anyone about this, but he's told me that he likes me, but he's not ready for a girlfriend. It's sort of hard to explain, but I guess you could say he and I have an understanding. So, with all that considered, and considering the fact that the dance did sound like fun, I had to say yes.

But that didn't stop me from being nervous all this week. But I didn't really have any reason to worry.

The dance was on Friday. Peter and his dad picked me up that afternoon early, since his dad had to be there to set up. We couldn't get out of the house without my mom taking a picture.

So we went to the dance and helped Peter's dad and the other committee members set up. Some of the committee members had kids there as well, and we spent a lot of time talking to them and goofing off when the adults weren't looking. When the dance finally started, Peter and I spent a lot of time talking to each other and other kids, eating cookies, drinking punch, and enjoying the music. Neither of us likes to dance much, so we only danced twice. One song was fast, so that was easy. The other was slow.

Okay, I'll admit it... I was extremely embarrasses when he put his hands on my waist. I think he was too, because he was blushing a little. I thought he might feel weird dancing with me like that since I'm taller than him, but he seemed okay with it. He told me he was having a wonderful time and that he was glad he invited me. I told him I was glad I came, too.

When he and his dad took me home, he walked me to my door like a gentleman. And right before he left, he told me that I was the prettiest girl at the dance. I blushed so hard, I think my cheeks are still hot! When I went inside, I called Quinn and we talked about everything that happened in detail for over an hour. I'm so glad I have a best friend!

So, that's what happened between me and a boy who is not my boyfriend on an evening that was not a date. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was really and truly wonderful.