Wednesday and Kayaks

Let’s just say that today is Wednesday for now.
Today, I went Kayaking!!!!! Can you believe it????? I can. Grandpa and I left at about 11 and picked up the kayaks (theirs are in California). We then took them down to the lake and got in. These kayaks are really nice because you don’t have your feet stuck inside them. You just sit on top and have your whole body exposed to the air. They are so easy to paddle. A lot easier than a canoe. You sit back, rest against the seat, and begin paddling. Grandpa and I went out for about two hours. We saw four herons and kept following them around the shore. We then went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and then took Gizmo to the vet. Then, we met Grandma at the lake and she and I did some kayaking. We went under a railroad bridge (I touched it) and watched the train go over and went under the normal car bridge (I touched it). It was so fun!!! Here are some pictures.

God's Glory

Let’s back up to Monday.
I am about 1 and ½ hours from Raleigh Durham. I am flying above a flat unwrinkled land, dotted by cloud shadows. The earth is divided into perfect squares, rectangles, and an occasional circle resembling a clock. The world and towns look like play houses. Everything is a perfect miniature. Cars drive on thin roads, people, smaller than ants, walk about, houses with pools in their back yards can be seen in detail. Though the sun shines, it must be cold out, tiny ice crystals cling to the windows . I am above the clouds. They appear to be islands on the blue plane, billowing up in thick pillars lying flat in the misty stillness. Clouds are everywhere and no land is visible. Through the white, a dark gaping hole opens, revealing mountains crossed with snow. Clouds come in two types. The thin misty type that spreads everywhere, and the firm pure white kind. The kind that builds and becomes incredible formations. The kind that pillows should be made of and that one wishes to grasp. They create a land of their own, full of hills and valleys. They are sculptures rising out of the air. Our God is truly amazing and His creation speaks His glory.

Gizmo

About the kitten. My Aunt Renee and Uncle Kevin recently got three kittens but, sadly, two of them died. After we heard that the second kitten had died, Grandpa was out by the garbage cans and found a little kitten on top of his four foot wall. He brought the kitten in for the night and the next morning we let it go, thinking that it was too small to be away from its mother. That afternoon, after Grandma got off of work, she went outside and found the kitten lying behind the garbage cans. It had gotten sick on itself and was covered with ants. Grandma brought it in, cleaned it up, and it spent the night in the bathroom. It had fleas all over it. We were giving it a bath this morning and the fleas were crawling all over in its ears, eyes, and mouth. The poor thing just sat there. We took him to the vet where he was given a really great bath and checked for some viruses. In two weeks he will have to go back for shots and will then get a shot to rid him of all fleas for a long time. Right now, most of the fleas are dead but not all. So, as soon and Gizmo is done with his shots, he will be given to Aunt Renee.
Here is a picture of him before the vet.


And after.

Olny Cuase its wroth repsoting

Body: cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs rpsoet it.

ONLY REPOST IF YOU CAN READ THIS!!!...Udtpae the nbuemr(at the top) boefer psontig

Pretty cool, huh?
Ben sent it to me.

This Is Where I Stand

I am here!! In Virginia!!!! I will give you daily updates on Virginia and then when I get home, an update on the horse camp. So, starting with yesterday. I got up a 3:30 and left at about 4:30. We got to Spokane at 6:10 and my flight left at 7:10. I checked in one bag and carried on my backpack and (joy) my laptop!!!! Papa was able to escort me to the gate but Mama and Emma were not able to go past security. The flight to Las Vegas was under 2 hours and very pleasant. I got a window seat. After getting to Vegas, the flight had a two hour delay (on top of me being there about an hour early). I read my book, Jane Eyre. The second flight was longer but beautiful. I finished my book and enjoyed the clouds. I met my grandparents, went out to eat, and got to their house in Chase City safely. Today, we drove to visit my Aunt Renee who lives near Asheboro (about two and a half hours from here). We hung out, had lunch with her, and then drove back. Tomorrow I will tell you about a kitten and will show that I do not totally hate them ;) And also I will post a bit of what I wrote on the plane.

Virginia Here I Come!!!!

I am leaving tomorrow bright and early for Virginia so I will give you a little update on the Horse camp. It was a blast. Some of the highlights were: Katie rolling out of bed, me falling off a horse for the first time, swimming the horses across the river for the first time, galloping full speed up a steep path, and hanging out with a great bunch of girls. So, there is the little update and I will tell more soon.

Quote of the Day and Week

Since I will be gone for the next week, here is a qote for you to chew on.

"To be bored is the height of pride and selfishness. To be bored is to squander those few precious moments that God has entrusted to us for our life, the end of which we know not when. Therefore, to proclaim boredom and squander hours is to spit in the face of God."
-Samuel Johnson

Pictures

Here are some pictures of my beautiful shoes!!!

They are Here!!!

I have them. A beautiful pair of HARD SHOES!!!!! I am so thankful that my teacher was able to find them. They are used but still in great condition. They are extremely soft and flexible because the previous owner used them a lot. I will be able to do toe work and I don’t have to break them in! I am so excited and can’t wait to try them out!!! I will post some pictures later tomorrow if I get a chance :)

What a Poet Uses

"To a poet nothing can be useless. Whatever is beautiful, and whatever is dreadful, must be familiar to his imagination: he must be conversant with all that is awfully vast or elegantly little."
-The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson

Quote

"Truth flows from the barrel of a gun."
-Mao Tse Tung

Haikus

Have you ever tried your hand at poetry? I have. I even wrote a few haikus. They may seem a little weird at first but they are a lot of fun to write. Here are some that I wrote in January, 2005. Only the first is titled. The last one is my favorite.

Baby's Laughter

Tinkling through the air
Warming the heart
Smiles come unbidded



Morning's quick wit
Baffles her rival's thoughts
Bids the darkness flee


Pages flip
Words blur
Eyes blink ache

Quote

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualitles...because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
-Winston Churchill

Quotes

I love quotes....So I will begin a daily quote post! Here is the one for today.
"Wisdom is the ability to see the larger picture, make the connections, and draw the right applictions following that." -Dr. Geroge Grant (the best history teacher ever)

Cats

Concerning Cats. I do not have a very high opinion of cats. (Sorry all you cat lovers ;) I don’t have a problem with other people liking cats or owning cats or wising to own cats and I don’t have a problem with petting cats. I just would never like to own one. Why? They are very independent and, except for the occasional few, they are not very loyal. Dogs are loyal, horses are loyal, but cats…. Cats are independent. They are here and then gone, have rather short tempers, and do not like to cooperate. I may not like cats since I had a few bad experiences with them when I was little. One day, I was attempting to get Cupcake (what a sweet name) up on the wood pile with me. To my horror, instead of being nice and agreeable, the cat sunk its claws into my leg (I was wearing shorts) and held on as I screamed and tried to get it off. I had to pry it loose and then the boys came to my rescue and chased it off. I had small punctures all over my leg and it really hurt. So, I have good reasons to dislike cats. If we lived on a farm I might consider getting one to catch the mice. In general I do not like cats but there are a few that are alright. I will leave you poor cat lovers with the following quote, spoken with truth by my dad; “Cats are disposable.”

Dulce et Decorum Est

This poem has got to be my favorite. The author, Wilfred Owen, fought in WWI and wrote about it. This poem is one of his greatest works. He was killed shortly before the war ended at the age of 25. Notice the compact descriptions: knock-kneed, cursed through slduge, blood-shod, and many others.


Dulce Et Decorum Est
by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

A Fun Trip

Last week, most my family and I made a trip to Coeur d’ Alene and spent a few days there. We arrived and after driving around for a long time looking for a parking place, we finally parked a few blocks from our destination and walked. Our destination? The City Park. It is located on the lake and has a huge play area complete with multiple different swings, a tot place, rope ladder, and a great castle made of wood and big enough for all (kinda like Friendship Square but ten times bigger and better). There we ate lunch and, after play on the playground for a while, we went down to the lake. It was refreshingly cool and I immediately waded in. Emmaline, on the other had, after insisting on having her shoes taken off would not stand in the sand.
Here she is, clinging to me as if for dear life.


The rest of us had a grand time. I even got buried in the sand.


After that, we went to a great big Goodwill where I found a jean skirt and Mama found Emma a playmoble doll house. We then went to the hotel for some swimming, TV, pizza, swimming, and more TV. We hit a few other stores during our stay but nothing was found that we needed. We returned home, full after eating a Costco pizza, and rather tired, but in good spirits.

I have been asked to post a picture of my new brown shoes so here they are...

I have been looking for a pair of brown shoes for the last few months. Beign unable to find any that I liked, I had given up the idea of ever finding them, and instead hoped to find a pair of black sandels that can be worn with either jeans or church cloths. You must imagine my delight when I saw the perfect pair of brown shoes just begging me to buy them. I tried them on and (can you believe it) they fit! I bought them on the spot and cannot wait to wear them with my new jean skirt :)

Are not shoes wonderful things?

I'm Back

I ment to post last night but I could not figure out how:( Thankfully, Miss Erin again came to the rescue and helped me along. I went to Wal Mart today and finally found the brown shoes I have been looking for!! We have come up with a good description for my little sister; she is a Bouncing Bubble Binky Baby :)

HELLO!!!!

Here it is, my BLOG!!! Many thanks to Miss Erin for her wonderful help! Will post more soon... SMILE :)