Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Christmas

There are many things that I enjoy about Christmas but I have narrowed down a top ten.

Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Christmas:

1. It is the only time of the year I enjoy being out in the middle of no where.
2. There are always sweets to eat around the house, fudge, cookies, etc.
3. My sisters and I are able to get along for a full 24 hours.
4. My mom and I can sing and play our favorite Christmas songs with no complaints.
5. It is the only time you will see something besides UK merchandise on our mantle.
6. My family piles into the van to go see different lights.
7. After seeing lights Dad tries to start a game of freeze out.
8. I don't feel guilty about any of the food I've eaten.
9. My grandma pampers her dog even more this time of year.
10. The whole week of Christmas puts me in the best mood.

Grandparents

My grandparents are in town because my parents recently had to return to Nashville. Through eating dinner with them I've realized how funny older people can be. I'm sitting on the couch with my grandpa right now and he can hardly hear a word anyone says. We are watching the UK game and every five seconds my grandma is yelling at him because he can't hear who scored the last basket. Then he continues to ask who over and over again because he can't hear her either. My grandma is a whole different story. She was just up here Thanksgiving with her hair a deep red and comes in today with it an auburn color. She pencils on her eyebrows because she doesn't like the way hers are shaped so she just plucks them all out. It's obvious she uses self tanning lotion but she'll never tell you that she actually does use it. Oh and I can't forget her dog. She has a gray toy poodle named Noel and she won't leave a room without that dog in her arms or following right behind her. She ate her whole dinner holding that dog right next to her chest. I told myself then and there that I will never become so obsessed with a dog that I won't eat a meal with out them practically sitting at the table with me. I love my grandparents though and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. They just have many funny mannerisms.

The Blindside

Over the recent break I went to the movies three of my sisters and my sister's boyfriend. We decided to go see The Blindside. As I was watching the movie I was thinking to myself, how was it so easy for that family to take Michael in? I know here there aren't many homeless teenagers with no parents around to raise them or clothe them but in other towns there are. Other "higher class" people tend to stay away from those who are "less fortunate" for fear of being scammed or robbed. Personally I believe that is terrible and extremely stereotypical. The movie made me realize no matter who a person hangs out with or what they may have been a part of in their past we should all accept people for who they are today and the person they could potentially become. We have been pulled in by our peers into our little cliques and no longer think about others. Personally I want to began thinking about things in a different way and work hard to put others before myself.

Daddy

My dad had surgery this morning on L4 L5 and S1. Fusions as usual since I was nine years old my dad has had back surgeries one every two to three years. It's become normal. For some unknown reason this one really bothers me. I guess it's because I've finally realized how much this has actually impacted my whole family. My grandma came in from Fredonia just to tell him she loved him and she is staying with us until he gets home Wednesday night. My sisters started arguing because my oldest sister didn't come in town to see my dad before he left. We haven't known anything but my dad having surgery and going to Nashville every month or so.

Drama and Suspense...Literally

So yesterday we had auditions for our church Christmas production. The director kept stressing how important tech week is and how it is pretty much mandatory for everyone to be present at each tech performance. Being involved in a production at school I had to ask what week tech week and dress were. Of course, I'm so lucky and it is the night of my performances here. Then the thought of our school play being double casted crossed my mind. I may be able to switch performances with the other Virginia, who is my little sister, for one night. It wouldn't be that bad. Hopefully both she and my teacher would go for it. Having to ask about all of that when I don't even know if I'll have the part in the church production is a little annoying though. I wish I already knew. The performance dates for school depends on if I'll get the role in the play at church. I enjoy acting so much and hope that my sister and teacher will understand. I just don't want to cause a whole lot of drama within my drama class. I also don't want our church director to stress over my performances when he makes the decision tomorrow about who is going to get parts this year. I really hope that things work out for the best and everyone will be understanding and/or forgiving. The whole thing is making me anxious though. I just want to get to school tomorrow and find out ASAP about my school performances so I can get an e-mail to our director at church fast so he doesn't have to wait on me to make his final casting decisions. This suspense is going to drive me crazy.

We don't live simply for ourselves.

We live for our past and our future. I want to do well in school and be successful so my parents are able to be proud of me. I aso want the future of my family to be able to look up to me. I mainly live for those who are coming after me because I want them to have more opportunities than I had. I also want to be a role model to those who come after me because they need a positive influence in life. The future needs things to live up to also. They need goals to be set for them by the people who came before them to inspire them. Just like we have people that have set goals for us and gave us aspirations.

The Adventures of Walking Sandy

Walking our dog Sandy has always been an adventure but tonight was the worst. She could smell all the kids and candy that was in the air and wouldn't walk well at all. My dad and I had to keep pulling on her and practically dragging her down the street. We normally talk her for a mile or two walk but tonight you were lucky to get her two blocks. It was one of the most frustrating things I've had to deal with lately. She is a hard headed dog and never listens anyways. Tonight she made me wish that we never got her in the first place. And I got to thinking we wouldn't have her if my sister would have asked for something like jewelry from her boyfriend for her birthday instead she said, "I want to hear it barking in the box." Thanks, sis, I love you too. At times I think about how it would be so much easier with out a dog. We have to walk her, give her medicine, and then we have to feed her. Feeding her is a challenge too, she hardly ever eats but somehow she still manages to weight forty pounds. I'm just waiting for her to get really old to the point where all she'll want to do is sit on the couch and sleep and won't bark at anything.

Trick or Treat!

I just realized how much I don't like Halloween. Well, I don't like it when I'm home. The little kids crowd your door and scream and fight over who gets their candy first. It is the most nerve racking thing ever. Dealing with kids isn't my thing at all. So since I was home I got assigned the duty of answering the door every time some kid knocks on the door. I'm sure they just loved coming to my house because I wanted to get rid of all the candy because I hated having to get up and answer the door then get the candy. It was such a long annoying process that i just didn't want to deal with. So I handed a ton of candy out to each kid. My goal of handing out all the candy failed though because we still have some left. Thankfully the kids just quit coming.

Cold Rainy Friday Night

Well I went to the football game to hand out candy bags for NHS. We were told to get there at seven but people got their earlier so all the candy was gone when I finally got there. I had an adventure of a driver there almost having a wreck because someone must be blind at night and cut me off on the bypass. It scared me quite a bit and I didn't even want to drive home from the game. I had only planned on staying there for five minutes or so and then leave because it was so cold and rainy. I ended up staying until halftime to watch the cheerleaders preform their thriller routine. After that I pratically ran out to my car, cranked the heat on, and drove home. I arrived home safely but completely soaked. It was crazy how wet my jeans were I could hardly get my sweatshirt off because it clung to me. My mom feared I would get sick and not be able to do anything tonight or Sunday. Luckily I'm not sick, yet.

Money Money Money

So, I'm going to be making bank. I work at Penney's for the Christmas season. I was interviewed by this lady who couldn't write because she hated the pencil they gave her. She asked the totally cliche questions. Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do in your spare time? It was so random it was more like let me get know you. It took a while for things to get going and for me to talk to the store manager but in the end I was hired on the spot. I don't know when I start but I hope it's soon. I need money for gas and all of that and for Christmas gifts.

Operation Naked Doughnut Monkey

It was an operation that was crucial to the mood of my Friday. Our IB Biology class planned a fool proof mission. We ordered shirts that say WE heart BATES. Which contributes to the Naked Monkey aspect of our mission name. The shirts were made by Naked Monkey. Then we took extra money we had and got doughnuts for class this morning. Which of course adds the doughnut to the name of our mission. Our teacher is also the football coach so he was on ENL this morning talking about the game tonight. I stalled him by saying he needed to stay in the studio until the news was over so I could interview him for my next story. It was the best plan ever. Stalling him gave the class enough time to get ready to show him our shirts and bring the doughnuts back into the room from where we hid them. Not only did I stall him but he stopped in at another teacher's room to talk to her about other science things I guess. When he walked in he was totally surprised and didn't expect any of it. I'm pretty sure having shirts made with his name on them plus doughnuts made his day complete. It also gave me a great start to my Friday.

Church Picnic

Yesterday we had our annual church picnic. I expected it to be really boring and I thought no one was going to be there. Turns out it was really fun because Stephanie, Kelsey and Sarah were there. We went into the play place and acted like we were little kids again. Kelsey ran up to the top of the playground and began spinning around on some rope thing. All of the sudden you hear Sarah yell, "Kelsey do that again it makes me proud to see my little girl up there." Obviously Kelsey isn't Sarah's kids but they are just so crazy. Then we started talking about girls who go to our schools and what a mess they have all gotten themselves into. We talked about how this one girls "baby daddy" got out of jail and then she ended up pregnant, that made us come to the conclusion that it was a result of celebratory sex. Then we decided that I have loosened up some much as a person since middle school. I used to be so uptight and worried about everything and now I'm so care free.

When A Stranger Called...

In seventh grade I was at my best friend's house with her and another one of our other friends and we were home alone. When it was still light outside we were goofing off and jumping on the trampoline watching the cars pass her house. Then we went back inside and waited for one of our other friends to come over. We were already a little freaked out because we were home alone. So she pulls up and comes to the door and I let her in and we head back to Emily's room. As we are walking the phone rings and Emily and Aeriel answered it. The caller had a deep raspy voice and knew all of our names. He told us that he saw us and that he was coming for us. Emily and Aeriel started crying while Molly and I laughed because we didn't believe it. Then they call again and we refuse to answer. We all were a little creeped out by then and decided we would call Emily's step dad and ask when they would be home. Billy left his phone at home and the ring was set to loud so when we called it his ringtone blared and scared all of us to death. Then we called Emily's mom and bolted over to the neighbor's house.
We still don't know if we actually knew the person that called us. We have no idea who it is. Everyone was pretty scared from then on when we were all at someone's house alone. I think that if the movie When A Stranger Calls hadn't come out prior to that then we wouldn't have been as frightened.

The Ultimate Question

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: I have no idea.

That's how the conversation normally goes. But it's the truth. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. That worries me because I have two years until I go to college. You think two years that's a long time. To me it's not because I know how fast two years can go by. When I was younger I always wanted to be a pop star. What little girl didn't? Then I went through the teacher phase because I would play school with my sisters and I was thought it would be fun. Then I thought about it more and more and realized I wouldn't really want to work with kids all day. I just don't have the patience for it. So then I told everyone I was going to be a lawyer. A corporate lawyer at that. I wanted to be that for a long time. Thought about that one for a while and decided I didn't want to go to school for that long. After getting braces I gave orthodontist a thought. That wouldn't work because I would have to look into people's mouth and that would gross me out a bit. So finally I have come to the conclusion that I will just be undecided. But I would like very much to be successful although everyone has their own definition of success.

Rain, Rain, Rain

It's pouring outside right now. Or at least it sounds like it's pouring. I love the rain but I'm kind of angry that it's raining today because I wanted to go running when I got home and I wanted to go to the soccer game. The game will probably be rained out and it isn't fun to rain in the rain. If it is just sprinkling then it's tolerable and sometimes even enjoyable. When it rains I just want to go to the library pick out a ton of books, sit in my room and begin reading them. I really like sitting on my porch in the rain because the smell of rain as it hits hot pavement is one of my favorite smells. It brings back all the memories I have of playing in the rain with my sisters and grandma in the summertime. Now we've all grown up and my grandma has gotten to where she doesn't enjoy spontaneous acts like that anymore. Memories are always good to have though. Some of my most vivid memories took place in the rain. Like the one time my older sisters and I were playing outside on the fourth of July with a few other kids in the neighborhood and all of the sudden there came a down pour of rain. It was insane and instead of being bummed out we just ran around and took buckets to catch the water gushing out of the gutters then we would dump the whole bucket on the first person we could catch. I was always the youngest and couldn't carry a heavy bucket of water and run fast at the same time so if it was even possible I was more soaked than everyone else.

Potable, Pote, Cheese.

IB Biology is one of my favorite classes. Not only because Bates teaches it but because of the funny things that are said in his class. Today we were talking about the advantages of a compound light microscope. He went on to tell us about the usual stuff and then told us it was "potable" that made a lot of us giggle and then ask "You mean portable don't you?" Of course he did but he told us portable/potable same thing. When he let us know something was expensive he went on to say it was a lot of cheese and g's. Later on he was thumbing through papers trying to find a picture of a transmission electron microscope and couldn't find it. We all told him someone must have "poted" it out of his room and taken it for their own uses. The class went on and on with funny sayings and phrases. We then started talking about snakes and our teacher keeps a snake in the room. A few people decide to go and take the snake out and play with it. I was contetnt with touching it and what not until he turned his head towards me and starting hissing and sticking it's tongue out. That was enough for me I went back to my seat content and witnessed others putting the snake on their heads and letting him slither around their necks. It was slightly disturbing. I applaud them for their bravery but can't stand the thought of something cold with scales slowly creeping on my neck and arms. I hope to be able to do that one day but I doubt that will happen anytime soon since I pratically bolted back to my seat at the sight of his tongue coming out in my direction.

Fight With Dignity

I believe it is easier to fight with dignity than to surrender in shame. I'm a stubborn person and always think I'm right. I'll be one of the first to admit it. I fight for what I think is right which means I fight with dignity. If I surrendered in shame I would feel like I failed and didn't defend myself. I don't like the thought of failure one bit. It scares me and is one of my biggest fears. I try and do everything with dignity whether it be fighting or making something. I feel you should do everything with dignity because it improves your self-esteem and everyone could use a boost of self-esteem from time to time.

NEW TOPIC:
So tonight I have to go to the game and we play Catholic. I say I HAVE to go because I need to film the cheerleaders for ENL. After I get twenty minutes of them I plan on going to the Catholic side and hanging out with some of my friends over there. It will be a pretty eventful evening I'm sure. They are one of our rivals since they are the only private high school in our county. I love football and that's another reason I'm looking forward to attending tonight. I feel like I haven't watched a football game in ages and it disappoints me. Football is my all time favorite sport to watch and when I don't watch it at least once a week eveyrthing jsust feels wrong.

Does money make the world go round?

Well, does it? I suppose money has a little bit to do with it. Money is pretty important because without money we wouldn't be wearing the clothes we have or the shoes we have on. Money is used everyday by almost everyone. We can't go a day without spending at least a small amount of money. I'll let you know one thing though, I'm pretty good with my money. I don't spend too much of it but I spend enough. If I had a job then I'd probably spend a whole lot more because then I'd have more to spend. My dad always tells my sister they should be responsible with their money like I am but they haven't quite caught on yet. I do have those days when I spend a lot of money but who doesn't? Everyone gets in that "spending mood" it may come often or it may come rarely but you know what I'm talking about. A goal I have though is to get a job and budget my money well. That way later in life I will have no problem with managing my money.

Mind Your Manners

I watched the VMA's tonight and Russell Brand made a huge deal about how they were all there to love and support one another in honor of Michael Jackson. Of course I'm tired of hearing about Michael Jackson. The crowd went crazy since most of the grew up listening to The King of Pop or idolized him in some way. The awards were running smoothly no terrible mess ups that is until it was time for the best female music video award. Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, and Pink were all nominated. The winner was announced and Taylor Swift had won so she made her way onto the stage and started to make her acceptance/thank you speech. Well what do you know during the middle of the whole thing Kanye West marches up there and take the microphone. Not only does he interupted Taylor he basically says she didn't deserve the award at all and it should have gone to Beyonce. I was definately shocked as was the crowd. You should have more respect for someone as an artist and a person than that. Not only that but he was shown on camera applauding Russell Brand for saying they were all there to love and support one another. It seems pretty hypocritical to me. I can say everything was sorted out when Beyonce won best video of the year and asked Taylor to come back on stage and finish her speech I truly admire her for that.

The point of this whole thing is that no matter who you are having a lack of cuth and manners is a turn off and everyone should work on being more respectful and polite.

Laughter

My family laughs all the time. I can always tell who is laughing because each of my family members has a distinct laugh. Sometimes it is hard to tell when Kara laughs because she has so many different laughs. It gets quite annoying because she has such a loud throaty laugh.
My mom has this thing where she changes her laugh depending on who she is talking to. Which is kind of a good thing because when I want to know who she is talking to I just wait for her to laugh and it narrows it down. We all say Kara got her laugh from Mom because both of their laughs change.
My laugh is really embarrassing if I let it get away from me. Most of the time I have a mildly loud laugh and when I'm sarcastically laughing I'll laugh soft. When I find something to be extremely funny and there are people around me who wouldn't mind I just let it all out and my laugh is very loud. It always excites my close friend's when I laugh loud at something they say because then they know I think it is truly funny.

Weekend Madness

Alright well my parents celebrated their anniversary over the weekend by taking a trip out of town Friday night. My dad made arrangements for my grandparents to come stay with us so my sisters and me wouldn't be stranded at home without someone to drive us places. We came home to find our grandparents waiting on us when my grandpa suddenly tells us he is going back home, which is an hour and a half away. It hit me then that we wouldn't have a way to go places because my parents didn't leave keys to the van and my car is at Harley's. I had to film for ENL that night and was frantically calling and texting people asking if they could give me a ride to the game. Thankfully Lee was able to give me a ride there and my neighbor ended up taking me home. Not only did that add stress to my night it also upset my parents quite a bit that my grandpa up and left without any warning.

It's Game Time

Tomorrow night is our first home game. It's pretty exciting since we only have four home games this year. I have to film for our school news but I'm also going to watch the MVP #42 Jonathan Crabtree play because he is the best player on our team and said that tomorrow will be a thrilling game. I love football season since football is my favorite sport and it is one a actually understand. I enjoy being outside in the cool fall air and being a part of the big student section cheering on our favorite players.
On Tuesday night our soccer team played OHS and we technically lost by one point but while everyone was leaving Jeff drove his car into one of the practice goals to tie the game.

Teen Pregenancies

Many girls these days waddle around school pregnant. Then nine months is up and I see them bring in their babies and show them off as if they were trophies. To me that is just sad. Why would you brag about having a child when you yourself are a child? It scares me when I start to think about it. You would think after all these years of "the talk" and hearing about the different STDs that are around these days people would be more responsible when it comes to having sex. I guess I thought wrong because the amount of teen mothers seems to be on the rise. It frustrates me that some people these days don't have any morals or forget about them for that one time or that one person. Is it really worth it? I don't see how it can be. Yeah they have this cute baby but you have to care for it and raise it AND attempt to keep up with school on top of everything else. That isn't the life of luxury, I don't think I can handle it. Don't misunderstand me though I admire the girls who have their child and stay in school. They are helping their child have a better life. I just wish people in high school and possibly younger would be more responsible with their actions. Every action has a consequence and some of them can become a big responsibility.

Meet the Family

Alright well most people know I have sisters but they are shocked when I tell them that my parents have five daughters. I'm stuck right in the middle of all of them. The older two are Bethany (20) and Faith (19) the younger two are twins Kara, pronounced car-ra, and Karissa (15). To be honesty I don't talk to them much. I prefer to be away from home at this age but I get along alright with them. I mainly argue with Faith only because we have conflicting personalities. Bethany is very reserved and extremely smart. She has always and a 4.0 and I'm constantly being compared to her and being held up to her standards. Faith is the wild one she tends to do what she wants and never thinks about the consequences of her actions. With her examples I can tell you it isn't a smart thing to do. The twins are just alike not only when it comes to looks but in the personality department as well. They tend to listen and rarely voice their own opinions. They are followers. In some ways I wish I could do that but I can't it just isn't me.
I don't know what I would do if I only had one sister or if I only had two of them. I can't even imagine how different things would be. I take them for granted everyday and I suppose it is because the frustrate me sometimes then again they have taught me many things and have shared many great experiences with me. They are my best friends because they can't ever leave me no matter what I do. Knowing that I tend to take most of my anger out on them and I regret that. Even though I am rude to them and we don't always get along I love them dearly and wouldn't trade them for anything.

Mondays

Mondays always mean the end of a weekend but I try not to think that way anymore. I'm starting to think that Monday is the beginning of a new week and everything that happened last week has become a part of the past. This is part of me trying to let things go and worry less about the past and focus more on what is happening now. It is quite the challenge I constantly find myself obsessing over how I could have done something changed the way I did something and wondering what if things had happened differently. You can't just quit something all together. This will be a long process that's for sure.

My Saturday Evening

Well, I haven't been home on a Saturday night in quite a while. Tonight I've been laying in my room listening to music. Right now I'm listening to various John Mayer songs. I haven't listened to him and I have realized how much I miss it. His music always puts me in a good mood. Also I like his lyrics. For some reason I find myself able to relate to most of his songs. For every song I can think of an experience I have had and I seem to go back to that time. It has caused me a lot of thinking. There are so many events I wish I could go back and repeat. Then again there are those times that I want to go back and change things I've done. Through all my thinking it has been decided that I over think. I don't need to worry about what has happened or what will happen I should just go with the flow. But how do I go about doing that? This is what I hope to find out. Hopefully the answer comes soon. All I know is I need to quit worrying about the past and future and live fully in the present.

Who I'm most like.

I'm more like my dad in my family. We both have dark hair and green eyes. We have the same personality type as well. Both of us are sociable people and we have type a personalities. Just like my dad I like for my things to be organized and for tasks to be done a certain way. My dad's parents notice how similar we act and that I even posses some of his mannerisms like using my hands when I speak and how I seem to day dream a lot through out the day. I used to go around denying that I'm anything like my dad but the more I think about it the more I can see how similar we are. I have been told many of times that I am my father's daughter and I will probably hear it many more times.

Family

Family to me is a group of people that I can be myself around and not worry about what they think about me. A family is also a support system, no matter what you do you can always count on your family to be there for you. You can tell your family things that you can't tell other people. A bond is also shared in a family, you feel connected to those people and love and care for them. I love my family because I have wonderful parents and four amazing sisters.My role in my family is the listener. I listen and advise my sisters and sometimes my parents. They come and tell me a lot of things although sometimes I don't want to hear them. I'm glad they tell me though because it makes me feel like I am an essential part to our family and that I'm needed in their lives.