Random Quotes During the Past Few Days

Analyzing Dave and the Giant Pickle on Sunday over Elli's birthday dinner:
Dad: He must be a dill, because he sure isn't sweet
and
Elli: He's a giant pickle!  What's not to love?
(Elli once got a jar of pickles for Christmas.  Pretty sure it was her favorite present.  Not lying.  Just to give you some perspective)
All the while, I'm wondering "What if VeggieTales had stuck closer to the original Bible story and had Dave cut of Goliath's head?  Kids would just think someone cut a pickle.  But it's Nightmare Fuel for the Veggies.  Think about that from a Veggie perspective *shudder* On second thought, don't, if you're a vegetarian!!!

Elli playing with bubbles during a severe thunderstorm watch and there's 4 bubbles sticking together.
Me: Oh look, it's a baby!
Elli: ????
Me: That's what babies look like like two seconds after they're conceived.  Don't you know any biology?

And this, rather embarrassing gem:
Me: Look!  It's a multicellular organization!
Elli: Organization?
Me: I mean orgasm.  (realize what I just said)  No no NO!  I meant ORGANISM!!! ORGANISM!!!!
(Elli is not mortified enough to have comprehended this)
Me: Do you even know what an orgasm is?
Elli: No.
Me: Oh.  Good.  I didn't say it.  Forget it.

Spent the weekend camping with my family and my aunts and uncles and my cousin- oh, and three of Elli's friends from heart camp. (she has a pacemaker, and Camp Odayin is a camp for kids with heart problems.)  If you want something funny, watch The Secret World of Arrietty with a bunch of heart kids.  (and Arrietty- what a beautiful name!!! Wish I could use it.  It's like a fancy Aria)  Anyway, lots of fun, lots of skeeter bites.  I HATE getting them on my fingers and feet.  Guess where I got them?  Yep. *wrinkles nose and scowls*

I'm 17 and a half- officially.  Elli and I are exactly 2 and 1/2 years apart, to the freaking hour.  Not kidding.  December 10th, 1994, 6:54 pm=me June 10th, 1997, 7:02 pm=her.  Kinda scary when you think about it.

Umm... just wasted most of the day watching versions of fairy tales on Youtube.  Do you know how many versions of Cinderella there are?  Seriously, it's the most over-re-told fairy tale out there.  My favorite? Ever After.  Seriously.  Love it.

Had a mission meeting today.  I'm going to an Indian reservation in ND to run a residential VBS camp for 1st and 2nd graders.  I'm on the skit team, and our theme is "Love Never Fails"  So we're doing "The Lion King" and having Timon and Puumba teach Simba and Nala how to love and be friends.  Since our skit team is 2 guys and 2 girls and we have 3 guy parts and 1 girl, I ended up being Simba!  Haha!  Makes me happy.  Apparently, the kids there love the Lion King and that movie was watched like 5 million times last year.  Wouldn't know, cuz I wasn't there.  But should be fun!

That's it for now.

CAMP NANO UPDATE: 12,000 words.
SONGS:
"A Day in the Life"- don't ask. >( One verse is a major accomplishment.
"Princess at Heart"- FINISHED!!!!! I have finished my first song!!! WOOHOO!!! The tune is my own original that I rediscovered yesterday and set to rediscovered lyrics.  The tune was 4 measures long and aptly titled "Unexpected Triumph"
"That Girl" - mostly written, lyrics are pretty much done, just need to add them to my Noteflight thing.

There's something odd about that girl

There's something not quite right

There's something strange about that girl

Like something's changed overnight

I don't know what to do with her

She's not the same; anyone can see that

There's something odd about that girl

There's something not quite right

There's something strange about that girl

Like something's changed overnight

It's like she's forgotten everything

That we worked so hard to teach her

What's wrong with her?  It's beyond me to tell

What's odd about that girl

What is not quite right

What's so strange about that girl

What has changed overnight?

Oh, that girl!!

"Perfect Mystery" Jennie and Micah's love theme.  Less done.  Have lyrics, but the tune keeps changing so that I can fit it in with "Under the Stars" Also needs verses.

How did this come to be?

How did it work so perfectly?

It doesn't really matter to me.

It's a perfect mystery.

Perfect mystery.

"Under the Stars" Connie and Nolan's love theme.  Chorus is done, both music and lyrics.  Need to write a verse or two.

Here with you

Under the stars tonight

Love so true

And it feels so right

When you're here

By my side

It's crystal clear

This night is ours

Here with me

Under the stars

"That Girl (reprise)" more done than the first.  Just because the lyrics are done and the tune's the same. (villain's song)

There' something odd about that girl

There's something not quite right

There's something strange about that girl

Like something's changed overnight

It's got to be more than just something that she saw.

It's got to be more than what they say it is. 

There's something odd about that girl

There's something not quite right

There's something strange about that girl

Like something's changed overnight

I know it's more, it has to be. 

She's changed not once but twice. 

It's almost as if she's two different people.

Ahh...

I know what's odd about that girl

I know what's not quite right

I know what's strange about that girl

Something has changed overnight

Yes, those girls!!!

"Under the Stars/Perfect Mystery" a mosh of both love themes.  Here's the start I've got:

That's it for now

The Final Chapter and a New Scene

Oh boy oh boy oh boy... very exciting things happening in my life right now!

1. I just got a new microphone, so I can now record the audiobook of my novel.  Why is this exciting, you may ask?  The sooner I get it done, the sooner my parents read my novel.  Neither has any time (or in my mom's case) any desire to read, but both spend an inordinate amount of time in the car.  Put my book on CDs and they both can read it.  Plus, I like recording myself playing stuff and my old microphone got lost while we cleaned the playroom.  And this one is much nicer anyway.
2. Also just got a new book of French horn music- and it's DISNEY! Why wouldn't this be exciting?  I've spent most of the night playing Prince Ali and Go the Distance.  Prince Ali is stuck in my head.  But I love it.
3. Elli's birthday presents came today. She's going to love them.
4. I just got paid $121 for babysitting.  Seems my life has been babysitting.  
5. I finished editing my novel.  Am working on getting it up on CreateSpace.  I also shared it with a few people, which is exciting.
6. Elli's getting her novel up on CreateSpace as well.  It's a lot smaller than she anticipated, but it looks cute and will be a good beginning chapter book.
7. I figured out who to dedicate my book to.  And no, I'm not telling.  It's a secret!
8. In a matter of 2 hours and 15 minutes Camp NaNoWriMo starts!!! Twice Upon a Time, here I come.  (I was acting it out for Elli the other night using a small Mary statue as Jennie, a silver cross as Micah, a wood cross as Nolan, and an angel statue thing as Connie.  I will never look at that silver cross the same way again.  I felt ridiculous.  It was also like 11pm...)
9. My cousin's getting married this weekend!  Need I say more?
10. We just got memberships at the Y which is kinda fun.  Did my orientation tonight and discovered that there are machine where you can bike and read AT THE SAME TIME!  Forget the ellipticals and treadmills with the TVs- give me a good book and a crash free stationary bike that is klutz proof.  Lee's so funny.  He's so excited to go there and work out.  He thinks he's so cool.  "Haili, can we go to the Y every day?  I need to *flexes* work out" (keep in mind, he's 11... dear me...)

Reasons why I'm not happy

1. CreateSpace is being obnoxious with formatting my book.  And I mean OBNOXIOUS.  Every time I upload my novel, it screws something up and I have to go fix it.

Band contest and auditions... glad it's coming to an end- and Birthday presents

So, everything went really well yesterday.  My band director said that she'd never heard us play as good as we did at contest.  Crossing my fingers for a Superior rating!

I was surprisingly calm during auditions.  I sang the first verse of "Home" from the broadway musical Beauty and the Beast (which surprisingly, my drama teacher didn't know...)  I thne sang "Happy Birthday" to my drama teacher, even though it was Lee's birthday.  My teachers wanted to know how high I could sing.  On the Happy birthday, dear somebody when it gets really high, I hit the high note and my two teachers shared a look.  I'm hopeful.  But there are two senior girls who would be good for the part: Emily and Liz.  I think that Liz has the best chance, but she's really tall.  There are two guys who will probably be the Beast and the prince, though I'm not sure which will be which- Jeremiah or Matt.  My friend Amy will probably be Madame Rondeau, Beauty's mother, since she's always the mom in plays (Goldilocks- mama bear, Cinderella- the queen (prince's mom)) though she wants to be Helen.  I could see her as both.  Alyssa will be Isabel and Amanda will be Marguerite, Beauty's older sisters.  They played the stepsisters in Cinderella.  Madison will be the old woman (enchantress) and Allyson will be a princess.  Cy will be Graspo or one of the moving objects.  You can see the script (or part of it) here so that you know what parts I'm talking about.

To be completely honest, I feel really at peace with auditions.  I'll find out Monday.  Keep crossing your fingers for me, and I'm saying the Litany of Humility every day:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,

 Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

It's a very beautiful prayer

On another note, we're getting a german shepherd pup.  That was Lee's birthday present.  We're getting a girl, and Lee wants to name her Ivy.  I personally like Edelweiss better, but it's his puppy.  His actual present had Scooby Snacks, a dog bowl, a tug-o-war rope, a leash, and a squeeky toy.  Elli thought that the Scooby Snacks were cereal and we joked that the leash was for Lee.   Okay, I need to work on my paper, because there will be at least 5 or 6 11-year-old boys at my house tonight for Lee's birthday and there's no way I'll be able to get any homework done then.  Adios!

Little Miss Mommy

So last night I got the opportunity to play "Little Miss Mommy"  Little Miss Mommy is similar to Mr. Mom, but Little Miss Mommy is an older sister who gets to play mom.  Last night, that was me.
After I got to my high school, my mom emailed me saying that she and my dad were going to be busy and could I make dinner (which I appreciated, being that she usually waits to ask me until I get home and have to throw all my plans out the window to frantically try to pull something together)  Anyway, I decided to make one of Betty Crocker's Impossibly Easy pies.  They're kind of my signature dinner and they take about an hour to make.  I made  the mini cheeseburger pies last night and I'll probably be making the tuna and cheese pie tonight (no meat- it's Ash Wednesday!) Or the shrimp one.

Anyway, I had to get some ingredients we were missing, so as I drove home from school with my siblings, we stopped at County Market on the way home.  I thought that since we were there, I could just get the stuff for Lee's birthday cake while we were there.  I always make the birthday cakes in my house, even my own.  I just love it and it's something I've always found fun and interesting (if not exhausting).  Lee is having a 'food' themed party,  with a big pizza cookie cake, mini hamburger cupcakes, popcorn cupcakes and sugar cookie french fries.  So anyway, I figured I could get the stuff for it while I was at County Market and not have to make a separate trip (or make my mom do it).  For some odd reason, though, all three of my younger siblings came down with a spontaneous case of ADHD (not really...don't want to offend anyone that knows someone how has ADHD for real, but that's what it felt like) and couldn't stay focused.  It didn't help we were in the cake aisle.  When they weren't scattered like the four winds, they stayed behind me in a straight line... like a train.  I've never felt more awkward in my life.

I went home, made dinner, practiced piano manically, ate dinner, went to piano, and then came home and made astronomy notecards for 2 hours.  At 9 o clock (almost exactly) I burned out.  I was getting pretty tired by 8:30 and I've been having some ear problems again, so I wasn't feeling so good, but I thought... Almost done, Haili, almost done... just a few more topics and you'll be done... Yeah. No.  At 9 o clock, I threw in the towel, went downstairs and announced to my mom, "My brain is fried.  I'm not going to get anything done right now and even if I do, I won't remember it or I'll do it wrong.  I'm going to go read a book (well, re read for the third time... to be exact) for a few minutes and I'm going to sleep."

Which I did.  I woke up at 5:25 this morning on my own without my alarm, my ear felt better, I was well rested, and I had a strange dream (it involved this sweet little baby girl who was in foster care that for some reason my sister and I were given to take care of.  I named her Mercy Christine, which is my favorite name in the world.  There was also something about my mom making all Lee's birthday treats and me getting mad because she did them wrong...all while I was holding Mercy... it was weird).  I got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and started right back into my notecards.  I'm almost done, but I'm running out of notecards...

That's the second time I've woken up at 5:25 on my own- I did it yesterday as well.  I figured out that if I go to bed at 9 or 9:30, I can get up early without an issue.

Oh, and the book I was rereading for the third time (in case you're intereseted- and you should be-it's amazing) was called Beyond the Reflection's Edge.  It's part of the Echoes from the Edge series by Bryan Davis.  He's an amazing author (I emailed him and he emailed me back- several times!!!!!).  Echoes from the Edge is about this kid named Nathan Shepherd and his mom's a world famous violinist and his dad's a spy and they get murdered.  There's this weird mirror Nathan's dad gave him that can take everyone to different dimensions (Earth Red, Earth Blue, or Earth Yellow- they're all slightly off timewise) but can only be unlocked with music and a flash of light.  Great music, great action, the murderers are going after Nathan, at one point he meets his Earth Yellow mother who is 10 (Earth Yellow is like 30 years behind Earth Red, where Nathan is)... it sounds kinda weird, but it's good... SO GO READ IT!!!

okay... I'm done.  Must do homework now... *sigh*
I'm out
Haili

Shamelessly Quoting Tangled

So, I'm sorry it's been a while.  I'm officially seventeen now.  And I have a funny story to tell you.

So, as my family and I were sitting around the table, finishing up lunch on my birthday, my dad says that it's my birthday and that I'm seventeen.  To which my little brother Lee says something to this extent (bear in mind that he was completely serious) "But I thought your birthday was last year?"

To which I couldn't help responding, "That's the funny thing about birthdays.  They're kind of an annual thing!"
My sister, Elli, is obsessed with Tangled, so this was pretty funny, being that the whole family practically has the whole movie memorized.

Then just tonight, I was messing around with roll of wrapping paper, hitting my birthday balloon with it and having way too much fun doing it.  I managed to hit Elli by accident and she said, "wrapping paper is a dangerous weapon."

to which I shamelessly replied, "Wrapping paper - who knew, right?"

Yeah... I'll write more later.

Hasta luego,
Haili

my life isn't terribly exciting at the moment

anyway, I guess that's kind of a lie.  It's kind of exciting.  Yesterday, we had to evacuate the college where I go to school (I'm PSEO) because of a bomb threat.  So I sat in the Performing Arts Center for 45 minutes while they brought in the dogs and everything.

The semester is over!!!! YAY!
Now I just have finals... *sigh*

anyway, on a more positive note, it's my birthday tomorrow!  I'm going out to eat with my family at Old Country Buffet, hopefully going to Joann's to get some music fabric so I can entertain myself this winter break (I'm going to try and make a quilt for my bedroom... which I should be cleaning right now... oops)

We're having a Midnight Truffle blizzard cake from Dairy Queen.  I'm excited, though I had a flash back to CakeWrecks when I asked the girl who took my order (I think she's named Emily- that's what she wrote on the order form) for "Happy Birthday Haili" to be written in purple and she wrote down "Happy Birthday Haili (purple)"
Hopefully my cake says "Happy Birthday Haili," with no (purple)

Thanks to Rebecca who reminded me how much I love midnight truffle blizzards and reminded me that there are better blizzards than Oreo Cheesequake.
Chocolate coma, here I come!

And very special thanks to my friend Mia for the early birthday present!  I've already written in that gorgeous journal (purple - my favorite color!  However did you guess?  I wonder if my purple coat, purple gloves and scarf, and purple and silver tennis shoes had anything to do with it... hmmm)
thank you! :D