Back early

I’m back early. What a waste.
So after ALL THAT, we got up there and the campground was full. A ways down the forest from the site we found our friends from church who told us that across the road was a nice spot, even though it wasn’t in teh campsite. It was really beautiful with a big green meadow and a clearing for our tents. We set up and had lunch and then it started to rain.
I don’t mean light sprinkles that last for an hour. I mean BAM! thunder that sounds like it’s right in your ear and pouring rain that soaks you. It lasted for maybe two hours and then stopped, but we had four canopies and four tents so we stayed dry. We did. Our stuff did not. After it let up we had a nice though kind of damp dinner and played Spoons with the kids and my aunt and uncle. It was all well and good and we fell asleep at eight warm, cozy, dry, and contented.
Um, and then it started raining and we were no longer warm, cozy, dry or contented.
There’s water seeping through the air mattresses, dripping through the top of the tent, pouring through the little slit in the door you forgot to zip shut, it got cold, and the nilla wafers and pretzels and fruit snacks are melting and coating everything in yucky goo. We woke up at six thirty and it did not stop raining and we decided we had to pack up and go home. We thought our tent was bad, our friends had even worse puddles in their tents, as well as five kids. So we gave up on a nice fancy breakfast and had (admittedly good though cold) scrambled eggs in bacon grease with toast and bacon cooked over a propane stove. My friend and I were feeding the little kids while the moms cooked dinner. In a disappointing unexpected way it was sort of fun rushing about feeding people in the rain huddled together. It rained nonstop for three hours that morning and we were bummed because we couldn’t go on either of our hikes, trips to the lakes, or exploring.On top of that my sister would not go to the bathroom for two days and was crying quite a lot. So we just packed up and drove home. Hey, at least the drive was beautiful. We got to see some pretty stuff at our site before we had to go home. We kids had a fun trip a half mile up the road carrying my cousin on us older kid’s backs to the bathroom. The night was fun until bed. Hopefully we can go back again and it will be better. Sigh.

Bye!

I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again….

OK, I lied. I’m leaving in my friend’s dad’s truck, and I know I will be back Monday afternoon. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, our car is packed almost to the point of bursting (seriously, you have to climb over four bags to get into your chair) and we still have to get donuts and finish packing. Goodness, in twelve hours I will be on the road. And it turns out I have to wake up at five. Ugh. I’m hungry. Maybe our potatoes and chicken are ready.

Oh, and how do you guys like the new layout? I think if I do add the playlist on again I will be using much quieter music!

Sort of tagged by Ani Isilee…

I am: often clueless

I know: how to deliver a baby in a taxicab

I have: painful rubber bands in my mouth

I wish: I didn’t have writer’s block

I hate: heat

I miss: my cat

I fear: ticks

I feel: bored and out of sorts

I hear: my sister’s obnoxious Dora the Explorer video game

I smell: mango juice

I crave: Apple cider and fall

I search:(ed) for my rubber bands this morning

I wonder: If my friends will go camping with me

I regret: being an obnoxious brat today

I love: God, my cats, long hot baths, stuffing marshmallows up my nose, camping, my fmaily

I am not: thrilled about waking up at five thirty on saturday

I believe: my room looks like a hurricane hit it

I dance: only when forced to and if taylor swift is singing

I sing: when I think no one is listening

I cry: when I’m really angry

I don’t always: brush my hair in the morning

I fight: crime by night

I write: reports on michelangelo

I win: nothing

I lose: at all sports

I never: ate a jalepeno pepper

I always: breathe

I confuse: everyone and everything

I listen: less then I should

I can usually be found: writing

I am scared: of being weirder then I am

I need: to be nicer

I am happy about: camping!

I imagine: my house being quiet

Warmth

Liz had not come out of her room, and Emmaline was worried.
“She’ll come out when she gets over things.” Her mother said. Emmaline did not think it was so easy. Liz could seem as strong as she liked, but Emmaline knew better. Liz took things hard, and she knew eventually she would not be able to hold it all in. It had been over a day now, and though she opened the door to let Margaret out, she would not leave. At night Emmaline heard Liz crying quietly, and shut her eyes against the sound. Just as her aunt seemed to get over the sadness of leaving her home and husband, he had to come back and make it start all over again. At the moment, Emmaline quite hated him. Hate was not an emotion she often dealt with, and it seemed to be the worst of emotions.
So she went to see Lexi. Winter was here, as she walked to her house snow dusted her face and hair gently. A soft, sparkling layer of powdered sugar appeared to be sifting itself through the clouds and landing on trees and rooftops, and the sun was hiding behind a cloud. It was cold yet not in the least dreary, more alive and clear then any other season.
The house was not very far from her own, and in ten minutes Emmaline was rapping on the door. There was a healthy sound of laughter and chattering from inside, young voices happily playing. Peeking in the window, she could see Lexi’s little sister playing with a friend, and Lexi’s mother holding the new littlest one, a boy named Andrew. But someone she did not know answered the door, a boy looking to be about two years older then her. He was tall and had light blond hair, but his dark brown eyes were not quite like Lexi’s. They were deeper and not so glowing. “Yes?” he asked, holding the door slightly open.
“Is Lexi home?” Emmaline asked. “I need to talk to her.” she shivered slightly, folding her arms around her, pulling her leather jacket closer around her.
“Yeah, she’s in her room, I think. Lex!”
Lexi came bounding down the stairway, looking especially pretty in a brown cashmere sweater. “What is it, Jakin?” she asked cheerily. she looked over his shoulder and saw me. “Oh, Emmaline! Hi! Move over and let her in, Jakin.” she shoved him out of the way. “It’s freezing out there… come on.” she pulled Emmaline in and in front of the fireplace, on a soft sofa covered in pillows and afghans. Lexi’s mother sewed and knitted constantly, and liked to display her handwork. “So what’s up?”
Emmaline didn’t answer yet, watching as the young man Lexi called Jakin came and sat down with the little girls. “You’ve built it wrong.” he explained, as they pouted at a tower of wooden spools that kept tumbling down. “You need more at the bottom to keep them staying up.” he built them a little castle, and they smiled and knocked it down. Emmaline sat there, staring at him until Lexi said something. “That’s my brother.” she laughed. “I didn’t tell you about him, did I?”
“No, you didn’t. Where’s he been?”
“Exchange student, and with a relative. Only came home a week ago. He’s the best big brother ever. But really, why are you here?”
Emmaline told her. about how her uncle had arrived the day before and been turned out, how her aunt would not leave her room, how angry she was with him to ruin the season. Lexi listened, nodded, but did not interrupt or ask questions. She hugged Emmaline when she stopped talking, and left the room for a moment. When she came back she was holding two kittens. “Here.” she placed on Emmaline’s lap. It was a black long-haired kitten, purring and cuddly. “He usually helps lift a bad mood.” She herself held the other, a grey one. Surrounded by happy faces, a warm house, a best friend, and a kitten, the world did not seem so sad anymore. Emmaline sighed a long sigh, and relaxed a little. Jakin stood and came over, taking Lexi’s kitten out of her lap. “This one’s mine.” he said. “I named her Skylark, after our old cat. She died after these were born. Good old cat.” he petted the kitten absently, then set her down on Emmaline’s lap and left the room. Emmaline stood and set the kittens on the couch. “I’d best go.” she said. “It’s getting dark.”
“No, don’t! Lexi said. “why don’t you stay for dinner? It’s spaghetti, and I know you love spaghetti. Homemade meat sauce.”
Looking around at the cozy home, Emmaline halfway smiled. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

Camping is starting to sound fun

I am bored out of my mind. Really bored. My friend can’t play because her mom has to take her teenage brother to hockey practice and she has soccer, despite the fact that it just finished a torrential downpour and there’s crazy wind out. My other friend is at her girl’s group, my other friend I need to call but have nothing else to speak about to justify my calling as opposed to asking her tomorrow at piano lessons, and my sister won’t play with me.
So I guess I might as well talk about camping because I’m really only excited about that.
We get to go camping on Saturday!! Yay!!! Still making plans for that and I’m happy because, well… cold weather means I get to get new clothes. It’ll probably still be pretty cold up on the Rim. I’m starting to like the idea of a lot of people, it has potential to be fun. We’re only cooking for our family though! The food will be excellent, we’re bringing up our Dutch Ovens which are basically really really heavy iron pots. I guess we’re having grilled cheese sandwiches (Eew) with tomato soup (yum!) the first day and Pasta Fazool for dinner. Next day I believe my aunt is cooking, no idea what. And for breakfast, corn bread with bacon. For dessert I think we’re making a cherry pie, but for LUNCH dessert (camping rocks! SO much sugary food) we’re having sweet potatoes with gooey marshmallows. S’mores are not dessert, they are after-dessert activity and visiting material. ;)
Only bad thing? We have to wake up at five thirty in the morning. NOT FUN. But one of my best friends invited me to drive up with her and her dad in his truck. So I’ll have someone to hang out with other than my cousin who is five. I love him but am no way driving in a car with him for three to four hours.
I think I will go take a nap. I’m sleepy.

LOLCAT

LOLCAT of the week….

more animals

Cast on a three year old, har har

This morning, Hope decided to try and help unload a box from Quilting Class yesterday. There was a big glass jar of pink lemonade in it, and well, she dropped it. And it sliced her hand pretty good, and it bled a LOT. So we have a ton of gauze and tape on it so it looks like a cast, and to keep her from crying too much while mom changed it, we asked her if our cats would sign it, and if my granddad’s dog could sign it, and her response was very cute. “No! Duke is a dog, not cat, and cats is cats so dey can’t not sign it, k? Dad will sign it.”
We all signed it instead. What on earth “Duke is a dog not a cat” means I’ll never know.

Uninvited Guest

Tap. Tap. Tap.
Someone was knocking at the door. Emmaline moaned slightly and rolled over in bed. It was to early to wake up.
“I’ll get it!” She heard Liz call to her mother. Footsteps padded into the front room and the door creaked. “Hello?”
Suddenly the house was filled with voices. Emmaline remembered that morning over a year ago when she awoke to voices just like today. But this morning, however, the voices were furious. Liz was screaming at someone, her parents were talking loudly trying to calm her down, and a man’s voice she didn’t know was yelling very fast. From the room next door where Liz and Margaret slept the sound of crying. Rudely awakened, Emmaline sprang out of bed into the room where Margaret was wailing. Lifting the baby and rocking her, Emmaline heard Liz shout even louder, “No! NO! You can’t see her, no way! You- get-out!” The door slammed shut and the voices stopped. Emmaline walked into the front room with Margaret to see Liz leaning back against the door, breathing hard. Her eyes were shut tight, and Emmaline’s parents were looking at each other anxiously. Liz’s hair was a mess and she was in her bathrobe. Through the window Emmaline could see a man walking away.
She was sure it was her uncle.
Liz opened her eyes and saw the baby. Taking her in her arms, she pushed past Emmaline. “Sorry I woke you.” She whispered and went into her bedroom. She shut the door and locked it with a click.

Nationality Earth

Emmaline and Lexi lay flopped out on the front porch. Lexi was making a charcoal sketch, and Emmaline watched as her deft, quick fingers moved around the page, sweeping here, shading there, smudging over here. Before their eyes grew a little girl, in the air playing on an invisible swing. Meg’s eyes were wide with surprise, her mouth opening in a wide laugh. Lexi took great care as she drew in Meg’s three front teeth. She’s so observant, Emmaline thought. She noticed how Meg’s Asian eyes were dark brown, not hard black, and so smudged the charcoal so it was softer. She had seen how Meg’s hair always curled softly at the tips, now brushing her eyebrows and the tips of her ears. But she knew the now-toddling girl had the fairest skin imaginable, so like her mother’s.
Lexi sat up suddenly, tucking her hair back out of her face. “The Asian gene is very dominant, did you know that? I bet you her father was Asian. Korean, perhaps?”
Emmaline, too, sat up. The sun was glaring in her eyes now, and she turned her face away squinting. “Yes, I think he was. Liz doesn’t talking about him anymore, though. Let’s go sit in the shade.”
The two girls went to perch on the rickety glider seat, now falling to faded white shambles. Once new and gleaming, the paint had rubbed away over the years and you could see the wood through it. If you dared to sit in a certain way, the splinters would remind you not to for weeks of painful blisters. Emmaline carefully tucked her feet under herself to protect her thighs from scratches.
“I’m a German and Swedish mix, myself. What are you?” Lexi asked.
“I’m a person.” Emmaline said. “I hate it when people divide themselves into groups like species of animals. We’re all just people, Nationality Earth. God’s children. It’s bad enough we have different last names.”
Lexi looked at her strangely, but said nothing about her rant. “Well then, let me rephrase. From which parts of the world did your ancestors and grandparents originate from?”
“My great-grandparents were from Canada on my mother’s side. On my father’s they came from Italy. All my grandparents lived here, though. My uncle, from what I’ve gathered, was a Korean immigrant.” She said no more until Liz came out and Lexi gave her the sketch of Margaret laughing in midair.

Sterling Tigris

Our newest cat Sterling had to be put to sleep this morning. I might not be posting for a while, we’re all very busy and sad. It’s hard losing a cat, finding the perfect cat, getting her, and three months later having to put her to sleep.
I threw away all the thread I could find this morning. It feels different then when Stripes died. Then I was really angry, now it’s just sad because it was best for her. I can still remember the night we named her, down to the last word, it was that short a time ago.