Chickens

I am now officially off from school so I can sleep in and catch up on my orders. I was behind because I don't have time during a school day. I now have a clean slate and am ready for more orders to come. It is nice because for the first time in three months I can actually sleep in every day and not worry about having to get up at 5am the next day. During these first few days off I have done a few things. My aunt who just bought a house had a house warming party. It was fun and lasted a lot longer than I thought. We went over at 6:00 and before I knew it I looked at the clock and it was 11:00. It was fun, and there were snacks then they ordered food for dinner. There was a deli down the street so they ordered chicken from there. That is not why the title is chickens, just to clear that up. I of course did not have that, I had a rice dish that was made by my neighbor across the street that came to the party.
I also started to decorate the outside of the house. I decorated my room and did probably about 20% of the decorating on the inside of the house. My mom finished the rest of the inside. I started to decorate the outside yesterday, but I only got about half way done before it got dark and I had to stop. I plan to finish the rest of it today.
The last pictures of my room that I put on are now out of date because I bought something new for my room. My mom hates them, but they were on sale and I thought they were just hilarious. I bought light up chickens. Not just one but three. There is an adult rooster and two baby chicks. I put a picture of them below. They match my room because they light up like the parrot in the corner by my bed, so They match pretty good. I like them a lot and am very happy with my purchase.

Summer and Fall of 2010

I haven't done a blog post in a long time, so this one will cover basically all of summer. I have been very busy with all the things I was and am doing, then once school started it almost became impossible. When it comes down to it a blog is not top priority. Today was my last day of the trimester for school and I am off for the whole month of December. This will give me more time to do posts and I can update during the holiday season.
The first thing I am going to cover is the Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia that I went to. At first I didn't want to go to this one because it was the national one and I wanted to go to the international one, which I will get into later. They only hold this event every four or five years. In the end I am glad I went. It was a very good experience. The event is about 45,000 scouts from all over the country that come and do a whole bunch of things in one place. You can do things like scuba diving, helicopter rides, or a ton of other interesting things like that. They send you out at 7:00am and don't expect to see you again until 6:00pm. They let you do whatever you want to and you don't have a schedule. The only down side was that it was blazing hot. The only shelter was tents so there was no escaping it and when it rained it was extreme thunderstorms. An average day could go to 115 degrees by 3pm. It only rained twice, but when it did they had to get everyone under shelter because the only kind of rain they get are extreme thunderstorms. The entire ten day trip was fun and I am glad I went.
In August I did several things. I did a fundraiser for the Light the Night walk that benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The fundraiser donated several hundred dollars for the society and I had fun doing it. While people were selling for this I went to an arts festival and bought another vase to put in my room. I had just bought a couple new pieces of furniture for my room and I wanted something to put on the small table. It is a small red and orange glass vase that is made by folding a sheet of glass over itself. I looks really cool and I am very glad I bought it. Also during this month my family had an album party. I didn't even know that these existed, but people bring over old records and they play them as they eat snacks and talk. It wasn't that interesting to me so I just sort of went off and did my own thing.
On the last day of August I started school. It was my first day at City High because I had chosen to transfer. I had to ride the city bus down and back everyday to downtown. I liked it much better than my old school and am very glad I switched. The schedule and grading is a little different than a traditional school. Also the way it's run is different. Every student receives a free laptop because most assignments are done on the computer. The way they teach is also different. They done use traditional textbooks with notes. It is all interactive learning and there are no lectures or textbooks. In science you do an experiment almost every other day. Their grading system doesn't use points. You get a letter grade and then it all averages out at the end of the trimester. Doing this makes every assignment equally as important whether it was large or not. The school is located in an office building as well. This gets us used to working in a office environment so when we do start working we are used to the style. The last major thing that is different about this school is that we don't have the traditional three months in a row off. We go for three trimesters a year and at the end of each trimester, which is a grading period, you get about a month off. This month is the first month of of the ninth grade cycle so I get a nice break.
After school started my sister had her baby. Her new baby is a boy and they name him Aiden Larry Smith. He was born on 9-9-10. It was kind of a good date because they got married on 8-8-09 so the dates matched up. When he was born he was 20 inches long and weighed 7lbs 5ozs. He was born at 11:32 and I was in school so I only got an update on my phone. A picture of him is below.
My aunt who has been staying with us for a while bought a house. It is nice little house that is only about 10 or 15 minutes away so we still see her often. I really like it and it has a big yard so her dog can run around and she can garden. She is very happy with it, but I was kind of sad that she was leaving.
Since we are back into Steeler season my family started holding the weekly Steeler parties. Every Sunday we invite over people and have lunch and snacks while we watch the game. It is always a fun way to unwind at the end of the week.
My whole family including the new member (Aiden) went to the pumpkin patch at Shramm's like we always do each year. We always go to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins to carve and gourds and Indian corn to decorate with. Their farmers market always has fresh grapes and fruit that you can buy. This year we got a bag of jumbo world grapes and they were really good. I have never seen grapes that were that big before and they were so fresh. I will definitely buy that kind again next year.
After going to the pumpkin patch naturally the next big thing is Halloween. I went over to my friends house and we had some people over. We stayed the night and played poker and other random games. I had to leave early in the morning though because I had to get orders done. Whe you don't get home from school until 5:00 you don't really have time to make things on weekdays.
My cousin Leah came up from Florida for Thanksgiving to stay with my aunt for a while. She will be here until the 5th or 6th. I like having her around because she likes to do a lot of the things I like to do, that my mom doesn't. We might do something before she leaves because I am off now.
For Thanksgiving we had every one over and we had a nice meal. I had everything except for the turkey of course, but it was really good. We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, blueberry muffins, corn, and homemade apple sauce. It was nice because after dinner we got to sit and talk with everyone there. Thanksgiving is my second favorite meal of the year, after Christmas because we have twice baked potatoes.
As I mentioned in the beginning of the post I want to go to the World Jamboree. Each time they hold it, which is every four or five years, it is in a new country. Groups of kids and adults from all around the world and every country come to it and they do everything you can think of. Games and different things from every country. You can learn other people's cultures and even help each other learn some of the language you each speak. It is supposed to be very interesting. Going to the event is expensive though so I have signed up for many craft shows so I can make the money to pay for the trip. So far I have done three craft shows and covered about half of it. I am going to sign up for a few more in December so I can cover as much as I can before the Holiday rush ends. This one that I am saving for is in Sweden. It is next summer so I am excited. As new things come up I will update it on the blog.
Since it is getting to be holiday time I decorated my room. I always do a ridiculous amount of decorating in my room because the holidays are my favorite time of the year. I put before and after pictures of my room below. I am very happy with it. I put a new winter plate on my fountain and hooked up all my lights to a remote so I don't have to climb over to the outlet to plug them in. It is really cool because then even if I am going to be in my room for like 10 minutes I can still turn on the lights to enjoy them. It took me 13 hours straight of hard work to get it from where it was to where it is now.

Atlanta 2010

When I returned from summer camp my aunt took me to a go cart track. We had gone there before so we new we would have fun and we did. The track is really twisty so its challenging especially when there are a lot of people on the track with you. It was a perfect day because it was cloudy but still warm and didn't rain until we were leaving. Even if it had rained they don't close the track and it is more interesting when the track is wet because then you slide around more.
My family had a cook out on the 4th of July for two reasons. The first was for the 4th of July and the second was for my birthday. We combined the two so that it would be easier. The cook out was very fun and I swam a lot. I got very good presents and I am very happy with them. The biggest present I was given was a Nook. It is the Barnes and Noble version of a digital book reader. It is a really nice device. I have been using it a lot since I got it. It is helpful when I travel because you can buy new books wherever you are and it isn't just books it has games like chess too. I also got things like a new pocket knife, a phone skin, some Japanese candy, and money that I am putting into my savings for a car.
If you have been following me for a while you would know that I go to cooking camp that my aunt runs down in Georgia every year. I didn't go last year because of my sisters wedding, but I think that was the only year I missed. This year was very good and I loved all the recipes except one which was extremely bitter. I don't think anyone in the class liked that recipe, but we did make something that was very good and I didn't know existed. It's called hummingbird cake. It is basically carrot cake but instead of carrots you use things like pineapple or orange. The cake is very sweet but very good. I am hoping to make it again soon. Also while I was there we all went to the aquarium in their town. Their aquarium is huge. They have two whale sharks and the only manta rays in captivity in the world. I put some pictures from the aquarium below. Then after the week of camp me and my mom went to two malls. One was normal, but the other was very upscale. There were Bentleys and Ferraris on showcase and the only stores in it were places like Armani, Valentino, and Cole Haan. I did do some clothes shopping though since I have to where Polo type shirts to school. I managed to get all the shirts I need and they were all on sale. It was a very fun trip overall.

Blue Discus

Whale Shark

Beluga Whales playing with the seals

Beluga Whale

Orange Discus

Yawning penguin


Lionfish

Summer Camp 2010

I just got back from summer camp yesterday. I left for camp on Sunday and got back on Saturday. Before I went I signed up for three merit badges. I designed my schedule so that I do all my badges in the morning, so that I had the entire afternoon to just relax and do what I wanted. The three badge classes I took were oceanography, bird study, and forestry. I ended up passing all three and that means that I only need two more badges for the award that I am working towards.
If you are not in a class then there is many options for what you can do. There is fishing and a lake where you can sail, boat, or wind surf. There was also a store that you can go to and get snacks and other stuff. After all the classes were finished the different areas allowed everyone to come in and do what they want with whatever was in the area. For example eco-con would let you hold the animals and field sports would have an open shoot. I normally went to the eco-con place because I liked the animals and the counselors were funny. My favorite animal was a turtle named Oink.
What I did most of the week was after my classes were finished and I ate lunch I would play cards with who ever was at camp. Most people had a class after lunch, so the camp was more quiet than it normally was. After we were finished or got bored of cards I would then go to open area somewhere or take small hikes on back trails that nobody ever uses.
The meals there were pretty terrible. Each group had to send waiters for every meal to set the tables. If you were a waiter for breakfast you had to be ready and leaving the camp site by 6:45. Of course I was a breakfast waiter three times. Being a vegetarian it was hard enough to get a full meal, but the food itself was still pretty gross. It was the equivalent if not worse than school food.

Worst Camping Trip Ever

The toad that visited our pool last year has returned. It is the same species of toad and I think it might be the female from last year because it seems smaller than the male. It also could just be a whole new toad altogether. The species is an American toad. It does have poison on its skin so we had to be careful with the dogs. It wasn't all that difficult though because I can imitate its call good enough that it responds, so when it is time to take the dogs out back I just do the call and figure out where it is at.
I finished the pond for this year. I put in a whole bunch of flowering plants and they are taking very nicely. The water is becoming much clearer because we got a new filter for it. We also started putting in live bacteria that eats the algae growing in the water. There is one problem with the pond so far. A Blue Heron came along one day and ate three of my six fish. I had them for three years and they were getting big, but the bird just came right along and ate them up. I put a temporary net over the pond to protect the other ones. They are afraid to come to the surface now. They won't even come up to eat, they wait until the food falls to the bottom. I put a picture of the finished pond below.
Another new thing I got was a composter. It came from Sam's Club and it was only around $35. We put a small plastic container in the kitchen and I made a does and don't list. Everyone in the house listens and does it so I am glad about that. In about two months I will start having finished fertilizer that I can put on my gardens.
A whole bunch of new plants were put around the house recently. Most of them are fruits and vegetable plants. There are banana peppers, some kind of hot pepper, green beans, strawberries, pumpkins, lettuce, parsley, mint, chives, and broccoli. The strawberries, both peppers, green beans, chives, parsley, mint, pumpkins, and lettuce have either started making fruits or flowering.
I went on a weekend camping trip and it was the worst thing I have EVER done. I got there Friday afternoon and it was 80 degrees and sunny so we set everything up quickly and easily thinking it was going to be like that the entire weekend. I wake up at 2am with my tent flat on top of me and hurricane Katrina's child was upon us. There was 65 mph winds and it was pouring down rain. It was still warm though at this point. So I got out of my sleeping bag and put the tent back up. Then once I was done I ran to help the other people set up there tents and when I got back mine was down again. I repeated this process about three times, until I just decided to sleep under my flat tent. Then the next morning the wind hadn't died down at all and it went from about 80 degrees to about 40 degrees. It was terrible. So we cooked breakfast and set off on the meetings we had to go to. We came back and all the tents were down again. We set them back up and went out again. After the last meeting we returned and the dining flys that we cook/eat under were all tied together to help keep them from blowing down. All of a sudden they ripped out of the ground and flew into the air above the trees. The poles in them then started to fall out and everyone scattered so they didn't get hit (the cars couldn't move so they got banged up). Once the main canvas part hit the ground it started to roll and took out about two thirds of everyone else's tents. We then went into panic mode and guess what happens next. It snows. We went through four seasons in one weekend. It was the worst camping trip I have ever gone on. Also the gear we had (half of which was destroyed by the winds) was brand new because the building it was housed in collapsed over the winter because of the extreme snow. So we bought new stuff for the real trip, because this was the practice, then it was smashed over the winter. Then we replaced that and it was destroyed by the winds on this trip.

Dentist and Dime Hockey Board

I started making the first set of Creek Connections fundraiser candles. I started with sage and citrus, because it was a good number for the amount of time I had. The color turned out really nice. I now have them finished. They only took me one night to do so they were not that hard. The color that I had to make them in is a pale hunter green.
Today I went to the dentist. It was a normal cleaning check up. Like usual I didn't have any cavities so that was good. I had to go directly there from when I got home. I basically walked in the door and turned around and walked right back out.
Also starting today I had PSSA testing. They are just the regular state tests that everyone has to take. It is really easy and really boring. They last all the way until Tuesday. I am not looking forward to taking them first thing on Monday.
The last day of the grading period has passed so I am now in a different class for my 7th period. I was in a class where you make a dime hockey board. I put a picture of it below. I got a 98% on it, but I didn't get to put a clear coat on it. I was able to put whatever laser engraving I anted to in the middle.

Happy Easter!!!

Today is Easter! I had a nice day. My sister and her husband came over and ate dinner. Well it was more like lunch, but whatever. We had the usual ham, corn, potatoes, and other stuff. I of course didn't have any of the ham but all the side dishes are good. In the morning we all got our baskets and everyone was happy with their gifts. I got candy, a toppsy turving strawberry growing pot, and a solar powered light that changes color. It is going to go out by my pond when I have it up and running. The light is really nice the cover for it is a clear flower top. The entire flower turns the color of the light. I also got the final peice to my steeler train. It's a really nice set that I have been getting peices for over time. I got the final peice today. The whole train is really cool. It has a car for each of the superbowls and stuff like that. A day or two before Easter we dyed some eggs. I put a picture of a handful at the bottom. They looked and tasted really good.
On Friday I took a nice bike ride with one of my friends, their mom, my mom, and my aunt. We went on this trail that goes all the way to Washington D.C. if you fallow it all the way. It was a really nice sunny day and there were a lot of other people out also. We rode for twelve miles. We stopped at this pavillian and ate lunch we brought with us. It was a fun and I would like to do it again.
Saturday I volunteered at a car wash to raise money. I was part of the moring shift and we didn't get a ton of people, but I heard that there were a lot of people in the afternoon. I was one of the people who stood on the side of the highway with a sign and screamed at cars. If you saw a couple of kids on the side of the road yelling at people to come get their car washed that was me. It was fun and I would do it again even though I had the worst soar throat I have had in a long time.

Creek Connections Fundraiser

The fundraiser I am doing for Creek Connections at my school is going on right now. I got the order forms on Friday. I went through them all and it raised more money than last year's did. Around 50 candles were sold with Coconut Lime Verbena being the best seller. Peaches was the second best. The supplies are supposed to arrive on Thursday. I am planning on starting them over the Easter break, which isn't very much of a break. All of the snow days I mentioned in the last post turned my break into a three day weekend, but still I'll take it.
For a camping trip I am going on in the summer I had to take a swim test. It isn't very hard so I passed it. I also had to take some tests yesterday. I got a 60/60 on a science test and a 29/28 (extra credit question) on a math test. The grading period ends on Wednesday so I am happy I did so well.
I recently went to orientation for my new high school. I learned a few things about it. I would get a laptop free because we do all of our work on the computer. I would have windows 7 and the office 2010 programs. It is not a cyber school though. I will have to ride the bus downtown each day. I think the school is really cool. You do have to follow a dress code, but it's not that bad. You have to dress in business casual. I will have to buy some new clothes but other than that I like it a lot. It is better in my opinion compared to the regular high school that I would be going to.
The other day I got another guitar. I got my first which is an electric bass for Christmas, but a friend of the family asked if I wanted this one. It is an acoustic so now I can choose between the two. It is a really nice guitar. I put pictures of it and my bass guitar below.

Spring is Here!!!

Finally freedom from the snow. It's getting warmer and the snow is melted. I am so excited. There was over two feet of snow on the ground for a while. I went two weeks without having a full day of school. The first week school was canceled for the whole week and the next week every day had a two hour delay. Once the snow became bearable, I went to a couple of cool little stores and got some unique foods to try. Some of the foods I got were fresh honey comb and pink rock salt from the Himalaya Mountains. The honey comb tasted really good in tea and the rock salt was outrageously expensive, but it didn't taste all that different. It was interesting though. On my web site I added a comments page if anyone is interested in placing feedback. I have got a lot of good comments so far.
During the period that I had two feet of snow on the ground the back of my house was covered in huge icicles. These are not the foot tall things that people talk about these are 8 to 9 feet tall. They covered the entire back of the house. One of them started at the top of two stories and ended at the ground. When they started to melt they started to slide off. If one fell you would hear a huge crash and shatter. We didn't want to let my dogs outside because you don't know when they are going to fall. When they were completely frozen they were cool to look at. I put a few pictures of their early stages below.
For school I had to do a large science experiment. You were able to choose anything that you want, but you had to conduct the entire experiment on your own. I chose to do if a fish brain can process music and if so how do they react to different types. Th first round I did failed because I got feeder goldfish from Petco which didn't survive through the full experiment. Their feeder goldfish are not meant to live that long since they are just food. I then went to another local pet store called Elmer's. I got a new set of fish which survived through the experiment and are actually still alive. I have two and my sister has the other two. The experiment turned out that yes fish can process different music and they do react differently. What I did to test it is I put each fish in a different bowl, then I got waterproof earphones and played ten minutes of music to each fish. Each fish had a different type of music. I did this once a day for seven days and recorded the results. I got a 97% on my project so it turned out good.
I heard about this old electric vehicle that interested me when I looked into it. It is called the Ev1. It was made by General Motors during the 90s. They only made it because a new law forced them to. The ones that were leased out were selling good and generating profits, but they convinced the California Air Resources Bureau that they were not so they would lift the law. They did lift the law and so General Motors took them back and crushed them. The Ev1 was the only car to ever wear just the GM name plate.
I am doing the Creek Connections fundraiser to send the group to Erie again. I got the orders on Friday of last week. I am going to go through them and place an order. When I have the final count I will post it. This year we are using all environmentally friendly supplies. I am going to use recycled jars, soy wax, and the metal wick tabs are made from recycled pop cans. I am excited to get started.

New Years 2009/2010

I had a great New Year's. My family had a few people over and we just played Wii and board games. It was a nice quiet fun evening. Everyone went to bed shortly after midnight but me. I stayed up for a while after and just did some fun things to occupy myself for a while until I eventually got bored with nothing else to do and went to bed. A few days after New Year's it was my mom's birthday so a group of us went to a nice restaurant. The food there is very good and is cooked hibachi style. There is a huge flame when they cook the food and it is really cool. In school my midterms for the year are coming up and I am starting to study because I hate these tests. They are always long and boring and extremely difficult but I guess there is nothing you can do.

Christmas 2009

The third post in my chain of catch up posts is about Christmas. A little before Christmas this year on the weekend of the 20th some of my family came up from Virginia and we exchanged gifts and had a good time. Then the following Wednesday was my last day of school and I was off until January 4th so my Christmas was stretched out which I enjoyed because I got to have a lot of fun. For Christmas I really only asked for a couple off things and I got all of them which I was very happy about. I wanted a case for the gems I have, the Blue Planet tv series, a board game called Risk, an electric bass guitar, and a phone. Mostly though I just asked for money that I could deposit in my savings because I am saving for something pretty big. I was very lucky to get all of the presents I asked for along with a few other things too. The big goal I am saving for is an old car. Not a restored one just one that preferably runs, but can have other issues like body work or interior problems. I have been reading a ton of articles and books on how to fix different parts of the car so that I can work on the car if I get it. I have liked old cars all my life and I have always wanted one just never though of actually working towards it. Once I reach my savings goal I will start looking in the classified ads for something that fits the requirements that I have set. I am very excited about the idea of having an old car to work on.

Thanksgiving 2009

I am moving on to my second "catch-up" post. This one is about my Thanksgiving. I had a very nice quiet dinner with just my mom, sister, and her husband. I had it early in the day like we normally do, and after, we all just relaxed and digested the food we just ate. I had twice baked potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, blueberry muffins, stuffing, and green beans which were exceptionally good. The rest of my family had turkey but I didn't because I am a vegetarian so I just made a meal of the sides which was more than enough to fill me up. Around this time I had moved on to a new part of my language learning adventure. I am not moving fast by any means, but the language I chose is extremely complicated. If you take a word there are anywhere from 2 to 37 different rules that can act on it when it is written or said. Nevertheless though I am still working diligently to get through it so I can know the language.

Halloween 2009

I am a little behind on my posts, well a lot behind so I am going to play catch up. For the next few days I am going to put a post for a few things. I will do one each day until I am caught up. This one is about Halloween which I know was a long time ago but who cares. This Halloween was probably my last year of trick or treating. I got a huge amount of Reese's cups but almost no snickers which I though was extremely weird. Especially because every one is freaking out about peanut allergies. I went as a, well I don't really know what I was but I had a blue wig, blue shirt, and blue Elton John glasses. I wanted something that was comfortable and light. I went with some friends on their street and it was fun. On October 13 I had my first surgery on my right eye. It went very well and I can see tremendously better. I was seeing better with one eye without glasses than I was with both eyes and glasses. It took me about a week to recover from it to the point where I could return to school. My work was modified to accommodate for the fact I only had one very irritated and itchy eye to work with, but it recovered much faster than I ever expected.