The bad news: we have the flu (not the stomach flu - we have the real thing, influenza). Six out of seven people in this house were sick yesterday - me, Dad, Mom, Beck, F, and Z. Only Martin's stayed well so far. The good news, though: Nobody has had it for more than three days. I had it very mildly yesterday, but am fine today (whew!) - then Beck and Dad had it for three days each, and F and Z are somewhere in between.
What was bad about it was the timing. The morning that me and Mom got sick, my dad had a crisis at work and had to be working from home all day, even though he was still sick. I also happen to have an astronomy test on Monday, and wasn't able to study with any of my classmates because I got sick. Meeeeeeh.
But hey, I'm well now, so - yay!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
SAT
My scores just came in...
I'm not happy with how I did. At all. I was barely above average in math, and my critical reading + writing sections could both stand some improvement. My scores will probably be okay for any college I'm considering, but... aaaargh. I could have done so much better.
I'm going to see if I can take it again.
I'm not happy with how I did. At all. I was barely above average in math, and my critical reading + writing sections could both stand some improvement. My scores will probably be okay for any college I'm considering, but... aaaargh. I could have done so much better.
I'm going to see if I can take it again.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Striving for:
This is what I'm always trying to accomplish, yet never seem anywhere near to achieving:
My chores are done, my room is nice,
The kitchen is spotless and smells of spice;
The house is clean, I can enjoy relaxation,
My work is finished - time for a vacation.
My chores are done, my room is nice,
The kitchen is spotless and smells of spice;
The house is clean, I can enjoy relaxation,
My work is finished - time for a vacation.
The greatest gift ever given...
The Holy EucharistThat is God. Jesus Christ is there present, in his full body, blood, and soul. He is present physically, in his full humanity and divinity. Through the powers bestowed upon the priest in his Ordination, what was ordinary bread and wine at the beginning of Mass is transformed into the physical flesh and blood of Jesus during the Consecration. Though it still maintains the appearance, taste, and texture of bread and wine (the "accidents" of bread and wine, as defined by Church doctrine), it has been completely transformed into Jesus' body and blood.
I receive God every week. Every time I go to Mass. For a time, I'm a tabernacle, because until the last particle of the Host dissolves, I'm holding Jesus Christ inside me. What thing on this earth can ever be greater than that? It's... almost incomprehensible. Jesus Christ has, for mankind, taken on the appearance of bread and wine so that he can be with us in the fullest way possible. Apart from Creation, or the Redemption, this is God's greatest gift to humankind. He's given (and giving) Himself.
I asked the question a while back on a previous post: "Why am I a Catholic?". Well, even if I hadn't already reasoned that the Catholic Church is the ONE, TRUE, HOLY, and APOSTOLIC Church, that the Catholic Church has the Truth in fullness and entirety, and that the Catholic Church is the one and only Church that Jesus Christ founded - I'd be a Catholic because the Catholic Church has more than any other Church has. It has God. And I can worship Him, and touch Him, and see Him every single time I go to Mass.
That's why I'm a Catholic.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Cars and I don't get along.
-- Not if I'm in the driver's seat, anyways.
Being a student driver sucks. Seriously. All right, so I can drive on the streets, but still..... I have so much left to work on. I always - always - start cutting my turns too late. If I pay attention to one thing (say, staying the speed limit), I lose attention and let something else slip (like missing my turn?). Not to mention the fact that I'm a total moron and can't remember to take the parking brake off if I'm driving mom's car (the parking brake on that car is messed up... you can't tell when you're driving if the parking brake is on or off). And better yet, I have a driving test in 15 days. Oooooooh boy. And if I manage to fail a driving test, I'm going to practically murder myself.
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On the good side, though... I can drive on the freeway. It's a whole lot easier than city driving (no stop lights!! WOO!!), just because there's not as much to watch out for - you just focus on a few things and you're good. And I drove to Nebraska and back over this past weekend to pay my boyfriend a visit, so I got plenty of driving time in on the freeway between Ft Collins and York, NE. Oh, and I even got to hit over 95 mph......... yeah, I know I was speeding, but I had a good reason. Had (yes, that's "had") to pass a semi AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. Not a stunt that I will ever duplicate again unless I have to, though.
Being a student driver sucks. Seriously. All right, so I can drive on the streets, but still..... I have so much left to work on. I always - always - start cutting my turns too late. If I pay attention to one thing (say, staying the speed limit), I lose attention and let something else slip (like missing my turn?). Not to mention the fact that I'm a total moron and can't remember to take the parking brake off if I'm driving mom's car (the parking brake on that car is messed up... you can't tell when you're driving if the parking brake is on or off). And better yet, I have a driving test in 15 days. Oooooooh boy. And if I manage to fail a driving test, I'm going to practically murder myself.
--------------------------------
On the good side, though... I can drive on the freeway. It's a whole lot easier than city driving (no stop lights!! WOO!!), just because there's not as much to watch out for - you just focus on a few things and you're good. And I drove to Nebraska and back over this past weekend to pay my boyfriend a visit, so I got plenty of driving time in on the freeway between Ft Collins and York, NE. Oh, and I even got to hit over 95 mph......... yeah, I know I was speeding, but I had a good reason. Had (yes, that's "had") to pass a semi AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. Not a stunt that I will ever duplicate again unless I have to, though.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Why fantasy novels rock...
... It's the CREATURES, dude!!!
Haha, yeah... In my mind, it's the creatures that really make a fun fantasy novel.
Sure, you're probably thinking... "vamps, werewolves, dragons, dryads, goblins... so how does that make or break a story?" Well, I'm not really talking about those kinds of creatures. I'm not saying that dragons or werewolves aren't awesome - quite the opposite, they're popular for a reason! But it's the unique creatures, the ones that the author has made up to fit their own little fantasy world, that make reading a fantasy novel really cool.
One of my favorite examples of this is Kate Forsyth's novel "The Witches of Eileanan". I was kind of annoyed with the main character (she was described as spunky?? Are you kidding me?!), the writing style made the story hard to follow, and the neatest character of the bunch was getting tamer, not the other way around! But I couldn't put it down because her creatures had totally captured my attention. Though they didn't play a huge role, she'd populated her world with elven cats, dragons, Mesmerds, and all sorts of other interesting animals. By far, I'd have to say the Mesmerd was my favorite... a swamp creature with big eyes, a bunch of arms, wings, marsh-grey skin, (overall, it looked like a sleek, oversized Gollum... a bit) a breath that kills, and a mission to steal young children - how could that not be riveting?
So yeah... I'll admit, some of my stories are just excuses to make up my own fantasy creatures. Preyteons, Satarri, Kine, Kridh' - ah, I have so much fun with them. And even the creatures that aren't totally my creation are fun to play with, like weredragons, wind dragons, sprites, shapechangers, Elementals, and vampires... I could go on and on, but you've probably heard enough.
Try it sometime... just pull out a piece of paper and start sketching, or watch a movie and let your imagination run wild, and see what sort of crazy creature you can come up with!
Haha, yeah... In my mind, it's the creatures that really make a fun fantasy novel.
Sure, you're probably thinking... "vamps, werewolves, dragons, dryads, goblins... so how does that make or break a story?" Well, I'm not really talking about those kinds of creatures. I'm not saying that dragons or werewolves aren't awesome - quite the opposite, they're popular for a reason! But it's the unique creatures, the ones that the author has made up to fit their own little fantasy world, that make reading a fantasy novel really cool.
One of my favorite examples of this is Kate Forsyth's novel "The Witches of Eileanan". I was kind of annoyed with the main character (she was described as spunky?? Are you kidding me?!), the writing style made the story hard to follow, and the neatest character of the bunch was getting tamer, not the other way around! But I couldn't put it down because her creatures had totally captured my attention. Though they didn't play a huge role, she'd populated her world with elven cats, dragons, Mesmerds, and all sorts of other interesting animals. By far, I'd have to say the Mesmerd was my favorite... a swamp creature with big eyes, a bunch of arms, wings, marsh-grey skin, (overall, it looked like a sleek, oversized Gollum... a bit) a breath that kills, and a mission to steal young children - how could that not be riveting?
So yeah... I'll admit, some of my stories are just excuses to make up my own fantasy creatures. Preyteons, Satarri, Kine, Kridh' - ah, I have so much fun with them. And even the creatures that aren't totally my creation are fun to play with, like weredragons, wind dragons, sprites, shapechangers, Elementals, and vampires... I could go on and on, but you've probably heard enough.
Try it sometime... just pull out a piece of paper and start sketching, or watch a movie and let your imagination run wild, and see what sort of crazy creature you can come up with!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The SAT is OVER!
WHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! *combined shriek of joy and sigh of relief* Man, I'm so glad it's over with... actually, I kinda didn't take it seriously enough. And it didn't help that I had two power bars right beforehand... I was fidgeting whenever I wasn't totally focused on whatever test section I happened to be on.
Anywho... as far as I how I did, I'm not very happy. I guess it went all right... I had no problem with the verbal/writing/reading sections, but math.... I think I blew it. I don't think I'll score well. I had one section where my brain just totally froze for two whole minutes. I get my scores back on the 29th of March, I think, so we'll see just how bad I did... I sincerely hope I didn't do as bad as I think I did. As far as the essay, well - we'll just say, it could've been better. I finished it on time, but had absolutely no time to proof what I wrote; I put my pencil down after the last sentance just as the time was up. I don't even remember what I wrote, the time went by so fast.
So yeah.... I really, really, REALLY hope I did well... if I didn't, that means a retake, because I NEED a good score - something I know I can get, but just... eh... I don't know. I still can't believe that my brain froze during a math section, and I'm worried about the essay... aaaaah... I need to stop thinking about it. I'll find out my score soon enough.
This is tragic.
Anywho... as far as I how I did, I'm not very happy. I guess it went all right... I had no problem with the verbal/writing/reading sections, but math.... I think I blew it. I don't think I'll score well. I had one section where my brain just totally froze for two whole minutes. I get my scores back on the 29th of March, I think, so we'll see just how bad I did... I sincerely hope I didn't do as bad as I think I did. As far as the essay, well - we'll just say, it could've been better. I finished it on time, but had absolutely no time to proof what I wrote; I put my pencil down after the last sentance just as the time was up. I don't even remember what I wrote, the time went by so fast.
So yeah.... I really, really, REALLY hope I did well... if I didn't, that means a retake, because I NEED a good score - something I know I can get, but just... eh... I don't know. I still can't believe that my brain froze during a math section, and I'm worried about the essay... aaaaah... I need to stop thinking about it. I'll find out my score soon enough.
This is tragic.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
4 days.
It's half a week until the SAT. Crazy thing is, I'm not nervous yet... maybe a little, regarding the essay, but overall, I'm feeling fine with the whole thing. I wish it wasn't at 7:30 in the morning, though - but hey, at least that means that I'll be getting it over with, first thing.
Practice done to date: 10 lessons of algebra II, 2 practice essays written, and 2 novels read. My astronomy homework has been taking a big bite of out of the time I can spend practicing for the SAT, darn it.
Practice done to date: 10 lessons of algebra II, 2 practice essays written, and 2 novels read. My astronomy homework has been taking a big bite of out of the time I can spend practicing for the SAT, darn it.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
6 days and counting...
I have less than a week until the SAT. I'm not nervous about it - I know that if God wants me to do well on it, I will, and if he doesn't... then I won't. But I'm still studying like crazy for it.
Practice that I've done to date: 8 lessons of math (including some trig), 2 practice essays, and one novel read (that's my way of studying for the verbal sections - reading, reading, and more reading).
Keep me in your prayers, please!
Practice that I've done to date: 8 lessons of math (including some trig), 2 practice essays, and one novel read (that's my way of studying for the verbal sections - reading, reading, and more reading).
Keep me in your prayers, please!
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