Christmas and Beyond

Hello readers. First, I will welcome Garrett o my list of readers. Yay! Garrett is a friend who I haven't talked to for a long time. We met in Louisiana, but he's not one of the creeps. So. This update was requested by Amy and I'm gonna tell you how Christmas stuff was. Christmas morning I got up around 8:15. As I said before, the Christmas cheer was kinda missing. Dad wasn't there the whole time we opened presents. I don't know or care where he was. I got a studio quality microphone, a couple books on tape, a CD, and a shirt. The CD was Taylor Swift. Yay! Then we were going to my grandma's house. We were supposed to leave around 11 or 11:30. Well, my dad was in the bathroom for at least an hour if that wasn't where h'd been the whole time. So we left at 12:15. Sometimes, I think my dad just doesn't want to go to Christmas stuff. One time, he was so into his PDa that we left and he didn't even show up until we needed to go to the next gathering. I really wanted to go there too because my aunt and cousins were there. They are musicians. Finally, people in my family that I can relate to! So from my grandparents, I got a gift card to Old Navy, a popcorn popper, and a big bag of peanut-butter cups. Yummy! Grandma told us that that would be the last Christmas brunch at her house because she was getting too tired to do it. I wanted to cry. I, like Amy, hate when traditions change. Afterwards, I talked to my aunt about musicals. She said that she was going to get me Gigi, Carousel, Westside Story, and My fair Lady on DVD. I'm glad. I've seen three of them, but not in a very long time. Then she asked me to sing the national anthem and Someone to Watch Over Me and Away in a Manger. Then we talked about writing songs. She said to tell her a feeling I felt without thinking of a lyric. So I said something and she went insane and said I have songwriting talent. LOL. That's hilarious. Anyway, we left there after my dad once again went to the bathroom forever. *rolls eyes*. Then we went to my aunt's house and had Christmas dinner. This was a bit more of a british style thing like the party I went to last year for my uncle. The guys and one of my younger cousins played beer pong. Then we opened presents. I got a country karaoke CD with a bunch of new songs that I don't have. Yay! I got the other Taylor Swift album, a cordless phone, and another book on tape. I couldn't believe I didn't get any clothes from that side of the family. I love Christmas lists. LOL. Then we had apple pie and custard. For those who don't know, custard is a hot vanilla pudding. It goes perfectly with apple pie/apple crisp. My nana also made chocolate cream cheese delight which is similar to blueberry delight. The only difference is the chocolate pudding in hers was blueberry filling in mine. I was incredibly bored Friday and yesterday. I watched too many christmas movies. Mom went to emergency again on Friday. I've had too much turkey. Turkey soup and sandwiches have been a constant this weekend. I'm really excited because I'm going home tomorrow. L.A. is calling. Oh. And please pray for me guys. I'm going to get some help for my paranoia and other problems. A friend of Kristin's is going to see me on Friday. Well, access is coming for me at 11 tomorrow and I'm really happy. I've really been missing Kristin, Ana, Kahlik, and My-key who I haven't seen in probably three weeks. I'm also kinda sad because I haven't been to Sunday worship for a few weeks. I'm on the committee and I feel like I haven't been doing anything and that's because I'm not there as much as I used to be. Well, I think it's time for me to go. I don't have much more to say. Oh. Yes I do. Today was a little more fun because we played gin. My nana came over and mom, nana, and I played cards. I was the winner. I'm sure that ill change at home. Who knows? LOL. And that reminds me that I need to find Taboo. Well, I'll talk to everyone later. Bye.
Leena

birthday weekend and happy holidays

Hello to my loyal readers. I'd like to welcome Antieclare and John to my list of readers. So I wrote to you on Friday telling you about the awesome birthday hangout I had with Ana and Kristin. BTW, JAWS says Ana's name right. Yay! It's smarter than I thought. LOL. So Friday Amy came to volunteer at work. It was so much fun. We played Uno, talked, and played more Uno. LOL. We also listened to our caroling CD from last year. That was a little interesting. We tortured two or three students` with it. LOL. Afterwards, we downloaded karaokes for our Christmas albums. We each decided to make a solo CD. We each were supposed to do 13 songs. I'd love to add a couple to this blog for you to hear, but since I don't know how, I'll do that on the next update. We went to Ruhi class. I think Celine had fun. I wrote Amy before but that's because I'm so confused. Everyone except me knows her as Amy and I call her Celine. It's really hard. So I might use the two interchangeably. After class, we chose what songs we would be singing. I made her look up all the lyrics because I looked up the music. Saturday was a day for practicing and lyrics. We started recording a little while before we went to Wicked. That musical was extremely cool. It was audio described. I can't tell you how awesome that is. We had to keep praying because Kristin's car was cutting out. We went and ate at Denny's after that. Then we went home and continued recording. I finished my recordings but Celine didn't finis hers because she fell asleep. We also didn't mix the CD's. I panicked because I needed help. Well, I woke up ready to go to the fundraiser. Now before I tell you about what really happened, I'll tell you about my expectations. Jesse was talking about $30 a plate, saying he didn't know what dignitaries would be there, etc. I thought it was kind of going to be a good amount of upscale food. So here's what it really was. I was a concert with two bands. I don't know what to call the first one although the music was very interesting and very good. The second was mariachi. I need someone to tell me how a blind person can enjoy mariachi when they miss the cultural aspects such as impersonations of famous people or of anybody. It was so much stuff I couldn't understand. And the food? Well, the food consisted of a hot dog and chips! Yes, readers, a hot dog and chips. I felt sorry for the people who had to pay for it. I didn't because I was supposed to sing a bunch of songs. That was the other issue. I was supposed to sing the national anthem, Christmas carols during intermission, and Amor Eterno, a mariachi song. Well, I felt terrified about the mariachi song so I asked Jesse to let me not sing it. I just couldn't figure it out. I'd had a month. Well, as it turned out, they decided at the last minute, and I mean during intermission, that I wouldn't be able to sing the Christmas songs. What made it worse was that they talked to Mario instead of me I got mad and sad they should apologize to the person who was supposed to sing. Well, Mario said I shouldn't assume anything and I shouldn't get really mad about it. I'm glad he was there. I just felt so immature around him. After, I saw Marie and Louis from work. I was getting ready to go up and pay them for the ticket I'd gotten for free because I felt like I hadn't earned it since I didn't do what I was asked to do. Well, once again Mario stopped me. He said that I deserved it since I sang. He also said that he felt like he deserved the free ticket he got and all he did was escort me on stage. AFter that, I had to laugh. It's insane. I'm feeling more and more of a connection with him every time I see him. I got home to see a bunch of people at home for the direct teaching meeting. It was very informative. Ana's friend Destiny also was there and she spent the night. Monday I was supposed to go back to Lancaster to visit. I felt like I didn't want to do anything. So I decided to stay home with Ana and Kristin. We watched a couple of movies about murder trials. That's over simplifying them both but I don't want to give anything away. Anyone who hasn't should see Primal fear and Presumed Innocent.They're really good movies. We had spaghetti and played Scattergories. I have no idea if that's spelled right. Ana banned me from playing. She said I was too good. LOL. Kristin won the second game though so I guess the ban is lifted. Then we played some games of gin. We stopped when almost everyone's heads were close to the table. Yesterday I got up. We watched Spiderman 2 and I helped Kristin make sandwiches. well, to be more specific, I made a PB&J sandwich and she made herself and me tuna sandwiches. We wathced some Disney channel shows with Ana and then I went on Access. Well, Access was late and I had a ride share that canceled but we still had to go there and send a no-show. Finally we got to the doctor's office. Mom wasn't there anymore. She'd gone across the street to emergency because they'd found a possible blood clot in her leg. Well, the parking guy was helping me look for her and he kept trying to grab my suitcase out of my hand and grab me from behind with the other arm. WEll, my paranoia kicked in and I started yelling at him to stop. He kept saying he wasn't going to hurt me, but I was very nervous around him. My sisters take forever to come get me and I stood there looking like an idiot waiting with this guy waiting near me. Finally they get there and I leave. Well, as we left the gate, the parking guy reached his hand in and threw me a box of peanut brittle. I still can't figure out what he was thinking. We ended up eating it at the hospital where we stayed for five hours. No, because we waited for Nana so six hours. Then we went to go get food and by that time it was midnight and Taco bell, where we all wanted to go, was closed. We went to cArls and got a plain hamubrger. Then I came back here with Liz and Nicole went back with Liz's boyfriend to her house. Liz and her boyfriend aren't aloud to sleep in the same house. Duh. Today was the most boring Christmas Eve ever! I went to Nana's and sat and watched TV. My other choice was to sit here and listen to the couple kiss and watch tV. I'm sorry. I've been finding it really hard to get into the Christmas mood this year. We had Christmas dinner tonight. Dad didn't show up until the last hour out of four hours. What a shock! He wasn't around yesterday either. I'm full to bursting right now. I got to open a couple presents today. I got a shirt and two decks of Braille cards for my birthday and a scarf, gloves, and a hat for Christmas. I got a card from the Mormons and a card from Auntie Janice. Then we came home and now I'm writing this. I hope everyone has a great time with his/her family and merry Christmas to all. Take care.
Leena

Happy Birthday Hangout

Hi readers. Well, it's official. I am 21 years old. It doesn't feel too different though. Let's start with Monday night and work our way to my birthday. So Monday night for me was boring. I stayed in my room because at first Kristin and Ana weren't home. I was enjoying Wicked. The book is very good. I finally finished it. Then, I heard Kristin and Ana and was going out when my phone rang. I talked to Tasha for several hours. Tuesday I came to work and did my job to the fullest as I always try to do. Then I mostly hung out in my room and talked to Kristin for a little while before she went to a meeting. Wednesday was the worst Access day ever! So I had a pickup for 6:30 A.M. Well, they called me and told me that they had to change my pickup time to 7:15. Since that had been my original time that I'd asked for, I took it so I could sleep for 45 more minutes. No, I didn't oversleep. I go out at 7:15. I don't think I need to remind L.A. residents how cold it's been down here. Snowing in Lancaster for goodness sake. Anyway, I waited and waited and waited some more. I called after the 20 minute window. They said the cab would be there in 10-15 minutes. That would put it at 10 to 8. I called my assistant to warn her that I might be a little late. So it's 10 to 8 and still no Access. So I call again. By the time I get off the phone it's 8:10. The vehicle was even further away from me. So, I demanded a backup vehicle. They agreed and sent a cab. Well, Kristin told me to tell them to just forget it and she'd give me a ride. Well, she got back from taking the kids to school at the same time as the cab. So I took the cab because it was free too and I wanted to save Kristin a little time. Thankfully, Shirley is really understanding, but I hate doing that. So I worked and went to the students' graduation party. I had every intention of staying for martial arts until I got a headache that I didn't really want to contend with away from home. I decided to call a cab. The main problem was that in that instance, the back gate was required. Now, I personally hate going that way because it goes through a parking lot and around the children's playground. Well, a student helped me get out there. I had borrowed an umbrella and had been forced to borrow a raincoat. Well, I got outside and immediately proceeded to give the umbrella and coat to my escort. I used them just until we reached the back gate. I expected him to just go because he wanted to go to martial arts. I told him several times that he should go to class, but he wouldn't leave. So this time, the cab goes to the front gate. That gate was locked or I'd have used it. I called and told them and then the driver left! I waited an hour for the cab and he was incredibly irritable. It wasn't even the driver who came in the first place. Then we had a devotional gathering and talked about women in Baha'i history which I really enjoyed. Yesterday was my birthday. I finally turned 21. I am finally legal for everything. My most exciting one is that I'm now able to vote within the Baha'i community. I just knew that it was a huge, important birthday just like 16 and 18. I was so excited and full of energy because I knew that I was going to see my best friend. My students sang "Happy Birthday" and it was really sweet of them. So at lunchtime I go to check my messages. There were four and a text. Mom sent the text saying happy birthday and Anne, Nana, and Celine sent them too. The other message was Celine saying she didn't feel well and that she'd come the next day. I was in truth very disappointed because I thought my birthday would be spent doing absolutely nothing. The thought of that was honestly horrible. We kinda got into this argument via voice mail because she was hurt because I was disappointed that she wasn't coming. I was upset, but some of my annoyance at trying to pick up my lunch tray with a cell phone kinda got taken out on her because I said very abruptly that I had to get off the phone. I definitely admit that I can get annoyed at stuff, but I think, and I wouldn't believe it with the insults any of us throw around, that she's a little oversensitive in some ways. I am too on occasion; I won't deny that, but still. So we finally talked and the subject was dropped fairly quickly. So I played Uno for the time after graduation with Karla, one of the volunteers. That was fun. Then we went on Access and that was okay. Well, I talked to Tasha for a while when I got home. Then I called Mom and talked to her, Nana, and Liz, my younger sister. She just turned 16. A lot of friends called. When I got off the phone, I noticed that Kristin and Ana were home. I came out and talked to them. Kristin said that we were going to play games and have a "happy birthday hangout". Hence the title. She made turkey chili which I absolutely love. We watched most of Edward Scissorhands, part of Two Weeks Notice, all of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and part of Big until the sound and picture garbled and neither of us knew what was going on. We also played dominoes. Kristin taught me about the scoring since my family'd just played by who went out. Ana kicked our butts. Then Kristin and I played a game by ourselves when Ana went to bed. She won, but I must say I was very proud of the comeback I'd made. I came back from losing 35 points at a time sometimes to being 10 points behind her. We went to bed at quarter past 1. I am still so grateful to Kristin. She kept saying she couldn't get me a present but that was the perfect one. It's not something you can put on a list. It's just one of those little kind things someone can do. I don't think she realized how much she brightened my birthday. Thanks Kristin. Today has just begun. Amy got here and my supervisor gave us a pep talk about how we'll still be open and not to worry because all of our jobs will remain intact through the crisis. Ya'baha'ullabha. That's my best guess as to spelling. Well, class is starting. Bye everyone.
Leena

Rainy Days and Mondays

Well, readers, it's been less than a week. LOL. So here's how my crazy week went. So Tuesday after work I ended up going with Kristin to the Baha'i Center. The direct teachers went out to dinner so Ana and I went with Kristin. The meeting she went to started right after it so we all went. We met Counselor Mora who is one of the higher-ups so to speak in the Baha'i Faith. Kristin had to explain it all to me last week while he was here because I was just so confused by Baha'i administration. There's the Universal House of Justice which is the head of the faith. There are 9 people who serve. Then there's the counselors who, for the most part, come from the International Teaching Center. Counselor Mora is one of them. Then it keeps going through the Auxiliary Board, Regional Councils, national and local assemblies, etc. It's hard to keep it all straight sometimes. Wednesday I had work and then I went to my martial arts class. It was very fun and I didn't get so sore this time. Then I went home and pretty much went straight to sleep. Thursday I went to Anne's church for a choir rehearsal because she asked me to sing in her Christmas concert on Sunday. More on that later. The rehearsal was fun. I felt bad because she drove me home. I just hate taking Access at 10 P.M. if I can at all avoid it. It was one of the many things that I hated about Angel City. I wish it had been like 6-9 or something if they insisted on doing a long rehearsal like that. Well, actually, the rehearsals weren't the full three hours so it probably would have been done at 8:30. That would have been nicer. So Anne drove me home and met Kristin and Ana. Kristin and I stayed up talking until 1:15. We were both saying we couldn't blame each other for staying up late. It was fun, as always, to talk to Kristin. We can talk about anything. Friday was a bit hectic. I had work and then went home. Kristin came back from her teaching job and we went to Joe and Allison's for dinner. Right after that, we hurried to the baha'i Center for Children's Theatre and choir rehearsal. We all were performing at this huge Baha'i regional conference. More on that in a minute. I started out doing the CTC stuff. Then I went to choir practice. It was fun. After rehearsal, we got to meet the people from Arizona, the Navajo Nation, and New Mexico who had come into L.A. for the conference. We hosted two women and another friend that I met through Kristin who seems like family to all of us. We had a nice time talking but went to sleep at some point after midnight I think. We were all excited about the next day's activities. So Saturday came and we went to the Convention Center for the conference. We were originally supposed to be at a hotel, but there were so many people we had to get a bigger space. There were 5700 people registered and I think some people probably came who weren't registered. Can you believe it? That was massive! Saturday was really insane. The conference lasted from 9:30 A.M. to 10 P.M. It was only supposed to go until 9 P.M. Well, the arts program at the end started really late. I don't know why. Also, people were given an allotted time and went well over it. A few interesting things happened during the conference. Actually, many things happened. First of all, I met so many people and learned their names and I wonder how many I'll actually remember. We had two counselors there. Counselor Mora was there of course as well as Counselor Penny Walker. They both spoke. I was a little inundated with information that really confused me to the point where I didn't know how or what to ask about what they said. Then people came up and told teaching stories. That was incredible. I love hearing about other people's experiences teaching. Well, we had lunch and dinner too but the choir rehearsed and did sound checks through part of the breaks. We had to eat relatively fast in order to get back into the big hall and get good seats. After dinner we had the arts program. We listened to a bunch of artists sing and dance and talk about visual arts and then it was time for Children's Theatre. Well, I had been told by the director to wait sitting on the edge of the stage and someone would come get me. So they start coming onstage and I'm sitting there waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Suddenly, the song starts and everyone starts singing. Horrified, I didn't know what to do. When the song had stopped because someone had messed up, I stodd and turned slightly and called the director's name. She didn't hear me and the song began again. They went through all the songs and then came to the quotes. By this time I was in tears. I was sitting on the stage in front of 5000 people sobbing. I thought I looked so dumb! Finally, when the last song was starting, Kristin got up and brought me onstage with the other kids. I must say that that was the last place I wanted to be, but I was and am eternally grateful to Kristin for getting me. So I was standing there singing this happy song about unification with tears running down my cheeks. After that I hurried back and sat down with the choir. The director apologized and I said it was okay but I had a hard time not crying. It wasn't about the quote or the song. That's what she didn't understand. Mainly it was frustrating because it was the second time. The first time it was fixed because we were onstage and I got left behind the curtain. I'm not sure how the wheelchair could have been forgotten. But since I had the first line of the first song it was quickly realized. Well, this time I didn't get to go at all. So I went back with the choir who were very sympathetic and comforting. Allison and Kristin were very helpful. Well, I had to go on with the choir in a few minutes and sing this song called Rejoice. For those who haven't already guessed this, it's an extremely upbeat song that's really fun to sing. It's one of my favorites. Well, I was trying to figure out how I was going to go onstage with tears running down my face singing rejoice. I was told "You'll be fine." and went onstage. Well, the good thing was that the first song was a tear jerker about Baha'ullah and how he was our heart's desire and how he suffered for the faith. Well, it looked like I was crying for that which made people in the audience cry. This was especially true since the people running the monitor kept showing me crying during the song. Then, we sang Rejoice. I stopped crying almost as soon as we started singing. You just can't cry and sing a song like that at the same time. I found out that it's not physically possible. LOL. So after I got offstage I ran into my first real Baha'i friends from Orange County. They'd invited me to a fireside they'd had and I was doing a Ruhi class with them before I moved. We were both screaming and hugging each other and I was ecstatic. Her husband was there of course and they invited me to come to Orange County to see them. Well, as I said, the program was supposed to go till 9 so I got on the shuttle and checked the time to make sure I could still make Access to go to Anne's concert since I hadn't had time before the conference. Well, it was 10:02. I was so disappointed. I couldn't get Access. I talked about getting a cab although it would be ridiculously expensive. I e-mailed Anne and asked what I should do. It was a late e-mail, but I thought she'd have plenty of time between church and the concert. Well, apparently she didn't because later she called me asking what time I'd made Access home. OMG I felt so horrible. I called and left a message and I guess it might have come across as me blaming her for my not coming because the e-mail she sent last night was extremely um, annoyed, irritated, I don't know. I had decided to go to Joe and Allison's with everyone else since it was already 5 something when we left. It was sad because I loved all the music she chose and she invited me over to work on it and stuff. I would feel even more terrible if I knew she had brailled the lyrics to the songs I didn't have. I am too afraid to ask. I had another insomnia issue yesterday. I went to bed at 11 which for me is decent. Well, at one I found Anne's e-mail since I still hadn't gotten to sleep so then I stayed awake longer. I don't know if that was the problem or maybe I was still too energized from the conference. Wow. I'm getting tired of writing. Well, so far today has been kinda frustrating. I went outside at 7 to catch Access. It was raining and I don't have an umbrella. So I stood out there for 15 minutes getting soaked! Then I came back and stood on the steps to the house so I wouldn't get rained on anymore. I really don't want to get sick right before my birthday, Wicked, and the fundraiser. Well, the Access driver didn't want to approach. He yelled like one of those theatre plays when someone's yelling for their love to return. "Access!" I waited for him to aproach and he just yelled. I startwed out but didn't know where he was. I can't get propper orientation in the rain. It's really difficult. So I stood there and he had to get out and help me. He was angry the whole time because his computer wasn't working. He was about to return me home since it wasn't working but I could at least give him decent enough directions to get me here. I still haven't dried. I feel frozen solid. As long as my hands work, I'm okay. Just please pray that I will be fine. See, my throat started really hurting last night and still does and I really don't need that again right before I have to sing. It's happened enough times. I was supposed to sing the last two weekends a lot and I didn't sing nearly as much because I didn't go to Angel City or Anne's church. Well, as long as I sing this weekend. Well, it's 10 of 10 and I have a staff meeting in ten minutes. I'd better stop writing now and get ready to discuss the pressing issues of the day. I'll update again soon. Peace be with you all.
Leena

finally cured!

Hi everyone. It seems that no matter when I update, it's a week apart. What's up with that? So most of the time was uneventful. The people who rented my old apartment came and gave me the keys and money. I missed ACC rehearsal because I was sick. I forgot what we did on Wednesday. Thursday I missed rehearsal because I didn't feel well. Friday I went to the doctor's office. I felt really sick. As soon as I walked out of the office, with no medicine, I felt completely cured. Yay! I went to Ruhi and that was fun. I love going. Saturday I went to Children's Theatre. I decided that I am going to be in the cast and volunteer to help teach singing and acting. I am a professional at neither, but I love and have done both for many years. Sunday I went to Sunday worship and choir rehearsal. I finally got to talk to Celine. Yay! I told her about Wicked and she's coming on the 18, my birthday, to spend most of the weekend with me. I bought the tickets yesterday. I asked for the best seating with three seats together and I think I splurged a little. LOL. It will be fun. We went to visit our friend Tim yesterday. He had surgery and couldn't walk around except on crutches. Today has just been regular. I think Kristin's going to be out most of the day because she has a meeting at the Baha'i Center. I've been going crazy trying to practice that mariachi song. I can't believe I said yes to that. Mario has been trying to help me, but I'm starting to get the feeling that it's hopeless. LOL. I'm trying. I need to practice that anthem too. And Christmas carols since he wants me to sing in the breaks where the bands switch. Wow. Any tips for learning mariachi? The melody is honestly really confusing. I wish Mario would just go and sing it since he's going to be there. At least we know he can. Oh well. I'll work it out somehow. I think I'm gonna go shut down the computer and prepare to make my exit. My ride isn't until 4:45 but I am hoping I see Jesse since we haven't talked in a while. He said at some point before the fundraiser he would show me around the stage and I could do a dry run. I need that so bad. He said it would be one some evening. I hope it's soon. I can't believe I'm turning 21. It's kinda exciting although I probably won't drink. What's the point? I've already had a marguerita and that was enough. I don't want or need to try all those fancy mixed things or the wines and beers. I've tried wine and to be honest, it's disgusting. It's really sour when you consider that it's made from grapes. Well, I have 12 minutes before I can officially take off. I don't really have much more to say. Oh! One other thing we did on Sunday is we played gin. It was fun. I used to play with my grandma and my sisters. We had slightly different rules, but whatever works. Okay. I guess I'll get going now. I'm sure I will keep up my pattern and update next Tuesday. LOL. Hopefully I'll have something wonderful and fun to write about sooner, but I'll update again soon. Take care.
Leena

Thanksgiving Sickness

Hello readers. First off, I want to give a shout out to Ana who is home from the hospital! Yay! She and Kristin are back and the energy of the house is revitalized. So I'll start back after work last Tuesday because I'm hopeless. I used to update a lot more, but recently I don't know why I haven't been. So Tuesday I went to show the apartment to a bunch of people. Unfortunately, that bunch of people canceled and one guy showed up. David came with me because he didn't want me to be by myself. I didn't care, but I know I have a lot of pride because of being blind and wanting to prove that I can do stuff even though I'm blind. Anyway, I'm glad he was there because he got a different vibe from the guy than I did and he turned out to be right. Sigh. He was nervous about having to deal with David if he didn't pay rent. LOL. David is the nicest guy but he is very intimidating. So then I went home and went to sleep. Wednesday was hell!! I had a team building retreat which was okay. We met here and had discussions about how to deal with "difficult people". Then we had an activity that was to imagine ourselves as the last people on Earth because of a virus or catastrophe that destroyed human life and all modern conveniences and developments of the last century. Bob was in denial that we had no computers. LOL. We had to go back to the slate and stylus for writing. I was the head of education and the minister. Bob was the mayor. It was fun. Then we had lunch. It was heaven! It was barbecued chicken, ribs, greens, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler. I can't believe I used to think I was allergic to peaches. It was just the cafeteria that sucked in middle school. I just allways seemed to get sick and the common theme was peaches. The bad stuff began when Abscess came to pick me up. How annoying! Traffic was terrible. What can you expect on the 405 though? I was going to the valley because I was meeting my mom who was going to take me to Lancaster. Yes, I dealt with the family debates. Well, when we left, we got so stuck before we even got to the freeway that we had to turn around and spend the night at my grandma's house. What a crazy night. Thursday we left at like 7 A.M. and got home in half an hour. Now usually it takes an hour and 15 minutes. That was craziness. So I was at home relaxing because my throat was sore and I just didn't feel well. My older sister came to visit and brought over her friend. Her friend couldn't get back home because she and her husband went to his family's house. So her friend Brandon had to stay and have Thanksgiving with us. The reason this is bad is because he has a crush on me because he likes the way i look. He even sat across from me at dinner so he could see me. That's not just a paraphrase. He actually said that. I said I liked someone else and he seemed hurt. I hope he was kidding. So we talked about what we were thankful for and got into a debate about global warming thanks to my mom. Whatever. So all weekend I downloaded Wicked on the computer and have been reading it because I am preparing to treat myself to tickets to the musical if I don't get them for my birthday. I'm thinking of taking a few people who are interested. We also watched Christmas movies. What a shock! I rested and recouperated. Monday I came back ready to work. Oh. Sunday I got back and saw Kristin and Ana and we watched Lord of the Rings. That was fun since Kristin is a good describer. Yesterday I came to work and did my teaching. Then I had to go to the bank to get my money out for rent on the house. I went to show the apartment again and it's finally rented! Yay! It's a couple and they seem really nice. They're coming over today to exchange keys and money. I really hope this works out. Today I felt much worse. My throat did anyway. Yuck. I hate the feeling when I can't sing. It's awful. Most of the students went to Target this morning so I talked to Jesse first period. He is one of the veterans. He's the one who organized it so I could sing at the fundraiser. He told me I could have a free guest. That was awesome. I'll tell you about that in a minute. So second period I found out how many people missed Access or the bus because they all appeared in my class. There were probably somewhere between 8 and 10. That was insane. I had no lesson plan besides working with two people so I panicked a little. Third period I told them that I wanted them to go to other classes. First period had been free until one of them had come back because he'd missed the bus, so I wanted at least one of those periods to be free. I taught fourth and played Uno fifth because I didn't feel like talking because I'm so sore. This is sixth and it's almost over. Okay. It's over. But I'll tell you that I called Mario this period and he's going to be my guest at the fundraiser! Oh my God. I'm really excited!!! He was the first person I thought of because it's more of a mariachi festival and a lot of my friends don't like mariachi that much. He said he'd come and he said he'll help me rehearse the song too. Yay!!! Okay. Now I'm updated completely and I have to run out to meet Access. See everyone later.