A Christmas Horse

816 words

So as i was looking through some older documents on my computer, i ran across something that i had written when i was younger. I used to love, love, love horses and for a few years i kept hoping that i would get one for Christmas. I never did. But a few years ago i wrote a story called Christmas Horse and i thought that I'd like to share it with you all!

I’ve been wanting a horse for Christmas for as long as I can remember. And of course, I never got one; until last year.

 

        Last Christmas was the best one yet. I was 12 years old and my parents had told me their Santa “secret.” I believed them until Christmas morning.

        A few weeks earlier, I visited Santa Claus for the last time. He asked me the usual, you know, “What would you like for Christmas?” and I answered him,

        This is most likely my last year talking to you, so I will tell you my dream I’ve had since before I remember.” I paused, seeing what Santa would do. Then I continued,” I want a dazzling black horse: white blaze and white socks on all four feet.”

        “I’ll see what I can do,” Santa said.

        “Thank you,” I said. I took the candy cane he offered me.

        On the ride home, my mom told me.

        “Jenny,” she said, “I don’t want to tell you this, but there is no Santa Claus.” She paused, and then spoke again. “We, your dad and I, we are Santa Claus.”

        I sat there, stunned. “So I just told my number one wish to a complete FAKE?”

        “I’m afraid so,” my mom said.

        “Thanks a lot mom,” I yelled, “you just ruined Christmas! You- you- you Christmas-joy ruiner!” I stormed out of the car and into the house. I ran into my room and slammed the door behind me. That night, I cried myself to sleep.

 

        Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Now that I know that there is no Santa, I know I will never get my dazzling black horse. Mom and dad will never get me a horse for Christmas, and they’re too expensive to pay with my money. My Christmas has just been ruined.

 

* * *

Today is Christmas Eve and I’m not as excited as I usually am. It’s probably my mom’s story about her being Santa Claus. Unfortunately, I believe her. Christmas just isn’t the same without Santa.

 

        It’s Christmas morning and yeah, I’m happy, but not as much as I usually am. I will not be getting a horse for Christmas, ever.

        As we go down to open our presents, I notice an awkward shaped gift under the tree. It says it’s from Santa, but I just roll my eyes and began to unwrap it. I gasp. It is a shiny new saddle! Mom probably just thought that I could use it in my lessons. The next gift was a bridle. Something was really weird here. The next gifts were a girth, helmet, and grooming kit. Finally I said something.      

        “Mom, dad, what is all this?” I said seriously.

        “We didn’t get you any of this,” my dad said, "it must have been Santa!"

        “Yeah, right. Come on, just admit it.”

       

        Something moved outside. I went to see what it was. When I opened the door, I realized what all the strange presents were for. Standing in the white snow, was the most gorgeous, dazzling black horse I had ever seen. His halter was the brightest yellow and on his nose was the whitest blaze I had ever. His feet were tipped in white.

        Without shoes, I ran out into the snow to my new beloved horse.

        “Mom, dad? Did you do all this?” I was still awe struck.

        My parents just stood there smiling at me, the joy on my face was reflected in theirs. 

        “What will you call him?” my dad asked.

        I had that all that planned in my head. “Jingle Bell Rock,” I said hugging my new horse.

 

 

* * *

That Christmas was the best one I ever had.

 

Probably one of the corniest Christmas stories you have ever read and back then my writing wasn't up to par yet but I still love the story. I love it because it shows my angle on Santa Claus. No I don't believe that one man goes to every house in the world in one night and puts presents under their Christmas trees but i do believe in the magic of Christmas. I believe in Christmas miracles and maybe there is someone putting that little voice into parents' heads saying it's okay, go ahead and get that for you child. It IS Christmas after all!

 

I think I'll leave you with that. I won't be back until after the new year so until then,

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

~Skooogster(:

Snow Daze

300 words

So the whole state of Iowa is in the middle of a blizzard and school was cancelled at 7:00 last night. At first I thought that they were just overreacting and that we would wake up to maybe only an inch of snow at the most. Well, I am happy to say this snow day wasn't for nothing. When I woke up, this is what I saw outside my window:

 

A WINTER WONDERLAND!!!!!!!! I am the type of person that can't get into the Christmas spirit without snow. When I woke up, I started singing Christmas songs and was in the mood for Christmas movies and decorating cookies. But a lot of times I get really bored on snow days and don’t know what to do! So here are some tips that I came up with for making your snow day a bit more fun :)

 

1.      Go sledding with some friends. If there is enough snow (which there better be because school was cancelled) get some friends together and find a good hill to go sledding on.

2.      Make cookies or brownies. There’s nothing like a fresh out of the oven brownie on a cold winter day! Me and my sister decorated cookies and we had a British invasion theme:

 

plus a cat and snowman

 

 

3.      Make some hot cocoa and snuggle up next to the fire and watch your favorite movie

4.      Make a snowman family. Have a contest with your friends to see who can make the most creative snowman.

5.      Have a snowball fight

6.      Or, here’s my favorite, SLEEP! Catch up on some zzzz’s that you haven’t gotten because of school.

So I know those are kind of basic but if you’re looking for something fun to do, I hope this helps you some :)

~Skooogster(:

Dear Little Audrey...

491 words

If I could go back in time, I would. As a sixteen year old, I know so many more life lessons than I did when I was in middle school and I seriously wish I could at least go and be my own conscience so I don’t make the mistakes I did.

 

The first thing I would tell myself is not to worry about what people thought of you. I used to worry about that so much and I still do but at least now I know it isn’t worth it. I wish I could tell myself that I will have amazing friends in the future and that they will love me no matter how I look. And I’m sure that would help the fact that I still feel insecure.

 

Second, I would want to warn little Audrey not to over-do her schedule. Right now I am chin high with homework and reading for my three AP classes and I don’t ge3t enough sleep. So sophomore year when teachers tell you that you can get out of Gov. 1 and 2 by taking AP US Gov., DON’T DO IT! You will just push yourself to the brink of insanity!

 

I would also tell little me that it really doesn’t matter that you are awkward around guys and suddenly become that socially awkward girl when you are around them. Because if they are into you, they will completely over look your awkwardness. So next time, little Audrey, that you are hanging out with a guy and you really want to give him a hug but your awkward side kicks in and for the weirdest reason unknown to you, you give him a high five instead, shake it off. Life goes on. And if that really bothered him, then it’s his loss, not yours

 

Also, I would tell myself to join marching band my freshman year. I don’t even know how many times I wish I could go back and change that. Next year is my last year marching and it makes me so sad that I will graduate with only three years of marching. It is seriously the best thing you could ever do, little Audrey.

 

And a few other little side notes: Baby Audrey, don’t take AP Euro. It may seem fun but seeing that you will end up dropping, just start with regular world history. You don’t even know how much stress that will save! Junior year when you are practicing with varsity on August 16 be sure to watch what is going on everywhere or make up an excuse to sit out when you are playing crossfire otherwise you will get a bad concussion that just makes everything ten times more difficult.  

 

Little Audrey, don’t let anyone else decide for you, what your life is going to be. You are your own person, not someone else’s puppet. Be who you want to be and you should be just fine:)

~Skooogster(:

Outrageous Christmas Lights

384 words

In an earlier blog I talked about Christmas traditions that my family has. A fun thing that we sometimes do is to drive around and look at Christmas lights. When I was younger, we would drive through neighborhoods and look at lights on houses or through parks that had special light displays. It didn't take much to catch the attention of me and my sister. Anything shiny, sparkly, blinking, or lit up in general would put us in the Christmas spirit.

For a few years, we didn't exactly hunt for lights, but just noticed the ones that we passed day to day. We started to spot some of the decorating trends that are going around in Christmas decor. Like Santa in an inflatable helicopter. What’s with that? And blue lights. I’m not talking about light blue icicle type blue lights. No, I mean the hurt your eyes alien glow blue lights that some people cover their house with.

Last year we decided to go on a hunt for the tackiest, most awkward, and strange ways people decorate for the holiday season. And I have to say, we were quite successful. One house had a lit up reindeer hanging suspiciously from a tree branch (not exactly sure what the family wanted to tell us). Another house must not enjoy the snow because they always set up a lit up palm tree next to their house. Trying to get some extra tanning in? Some are so interesting that we have to stop in front of it for a few minutes just taking in the scene. And I’m not completely sure of the conversation my family had but I know it had something to do with the home owner coming out of his house with a gun to tell us to shoo! (It was kind of a sketchy looking house, despite the Christmas lights). Sometimes people who feel obligated to decorate but don’t want to put a lot of time into it try to get away with only using one string of lights by stretching it from a tree to the house.

I guess what we have discovered is that everyone has a different way of showing their holiday spirit. And to those who go all out, thank you for having interesting and memorable houses during Christmas!   

~Skooosger(:

How Dancees Should Be/ Mini Dance Marathon

357 words

On Friday my school had a Mini Dance Marathon from 9-12 pm along with some kids from the University of Iowa and I have to say it was one of the best dances I had ever been to.

There weren’t a whole lot of people there but there was enough to make it worth staying all three hours.  At around ten o’clock one of our French teachers did Zumba with us. After that I think it’s fair to say, my feet are bruised and my muscles are screaming!

But having fun with friends and Zumba wasn’t the best part for me. What I loved was there was no grinding, inappropriate dancing, no one got kicked out, and everyone was just going crazy, dancing, jumping up and down and having a good time. In my opinion, that is what school dances should be like. We are there to have a good time, and in this case, help raise money for kids with cancer. Friday night was just three hours of a handful of students getting together and having a good time. One of my friends actually said that he was going to leave half way through but when I was talking to him later he said that he was glad that he stayed the whole time. If more people could see how fun Friday was, maybe Homecoming and other dances could be different.

At regular school dances the majority of the dance floor is taken up by people grinding all over each other. That’s not what I like to see. I like seeing people smiling, laughing, singing at the top of their lungs, jumping up and down and showing off those ridiculous dance moves you probably wouldn’t show anywhere else.

I’m going to ask you guys something. Next time you go to a school dance, maybe try to just have fun and go wild for once and see the difference it makes. If you don’t like it, that’s your opinion and I can’t change that for you but is it too much to ask you to try?

I think you’ll be surprised at how much fun you’ll have.

 

~Skooogster(:

HOW TO STALK SOMEONE

485 words

 

WARNING: THIS POST IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY! PLEASE DO NOT TRY ANY OF THE STUFF I AM WRITING ABOUT TODAY, I AM NOT BEING SERIOUS. IF YOU CHOOSE TO FOLLOW MY STEPS BELOW, YOU MAY BE A WEE BIT…

STUPID.

ALSO! I AM NOT REALLY LIKE THIS SO PLEASE DON’T THINK POORLY OF ME!

If you are a girl, like me, then I am sure that you have run into some attractive males in your life, and vice versa with boys. Here are the steps to make them fall in love with you…

Step 1: find out their name. Usually this means following them around the mall until you hear their name said by someone else or finding it in a book or program somewhere.

Step 2: once you know their name, find them on Facebook. This may be a bit difficult because most likely there will be other people with the same name. If this happens, look through every single one to find him. Once you find him, send him a friend request.

 Step 3: Once he accepts (and if he doesn’t, then it’s time to give up cuz there’s no way that guy’s fallin’ for ya!) turn your stalker meter on high and start creeping. Look through his pictures, likes, favorites etc. to find out what he likes.

Step 4: Find out if you have any mutual friends. If you have some ask them for the dirt on Mr. Good-Looking that he didn’t put out on the World Wide Web. (If you already know everything from Facebook, then you are either a very skilled stalker and belong in the FBI or something or he’s just smart enough to hold some things back).

Step 5: find out where he lives. Once a week leave little gifts on his doorstep of things that he likes (which you know because you found everything out on Facebook!) After a while start to give hints to who you are. Once he figures out that it’s you tell him that you are deeply in love with him. If this doesn’t make him turn around and call the cops on you, you have yourself a keeper. If he does threaten to call the cops, blackmail him by threatening to spread the dirt on him that you got from your mutual friends. Now he has no choice but to accept your invitation to a dinner and a movie.

And you live happily ever after! The end! Good bye!  End of story! You have now successfully stalked someone! Because, you know, being a nice, non-creepy person is never enough right?

 *****

Here’s the sad thing about all of this: people really do put a lot of things on Facebook about themselves that they probably shouldn’t making it easier for strangers to find things out about them. Please be aware of what you put on the Internet because everyone and anyone can see it.

 

~Skooogster(:

Christmas Traditions

479 words

What is Christmas without a little tradition sprinkled here and there? Whether it's taking a family photo in front of the tree or going caroling as a family, almost every family does something unique. My family traditions are a bit odd but hey, traditions are traditions and Christmas just wouldn't be the same without them!

 

Christmas Key and Santa Screen:

This tradition spans at least four generations. When my mom was younger the room that they put their Christmas tree in had a door that closed and locked. When everyone woke up the morning of Christmas Eve the door would be locked because they always did their Christmas on Christmas Eve. After church at five or six they would come home and eat dinner but they couldn’t get to their presents until the door was unlocked. So finally after hours of waiting and eating and partying her dad would unlock the door, revealing all of their presents. My family took that tradition and twisted it a bit.

My house doesn’t have a door with a lock and key so we made screens out of plywood and painted them red. When Santa comes on Christmas Eve he puts up the screen and hides the key. On Christmas morning my sister and I can look through our stockings but we can’t go into the Christmas tree room until we find the key. Santa will usually leave a hint somewhere to help us out

 

My sister and I goofing off last year with the key in front of the screen.

 

Baby Jesus and the Nativity Scene:

When we put our nativity set away after Christmas, the baby Jesus figurine is placed gently in the box but when we take it out to set it up a year later, he’s not in there. We do this because technically, Baby Jesus doesn’t come until Christmas Eve so after church every year we come home and have to look for him and then put him in the manger to complete the scene.

 

One year we found Baby Jesus in one of our angel's arms

 

Well it was worth a try:

Every year we try to make a different kind of cookie or desert and every year we fail. This isn’t a planned tradition but sadly, it has slowly become one.

 

 

A Christmas Story:

Every Christmas we have to watch A Christmas Story and every year we find something else funny that we didn’t notice the year before.

 

 

 

Our Tree:

This isn’t exactly much of a tradition but every year we get a real tree. We go to a tree farm, pick out our tree and cut it down. In the little shed where you pay for the tree, these ladies usually are selling hot chocolate, cookies, and other winter decorations. I always get a Christmas tree cookie, hot chocolate and I always put a candy cane in my hot cocoa.  

 

So those are my traditions. They may be weird or strange to you but to me and my family, they represent another Christmas.

 

~Skooogster(:

Picture Day

503 words

Today is the dreaded school picture day; the only day of the year I actually make an effort to look good. I don’t know why exactly but people seem to just really despise this lowly day. It’s probably because people are very critical of the way that they look, me included. No matter how much you fuss, what you see in the mirror will never be good enough. It’s a day that guys come to school in just jeans and a tee-shirt. If they feel like really dressing up, they can wear a plain shirt (Guys have it so easy!). But the girls go all out.

Here’s a typical (probably exaggerated) schedule for us chicas:

5:00 wake up

5:10 start curling, straightening, scrunching, etc. their hair

(Depending on what they do to their hair, the time would be different. Maybe. But let’s go with curling to make a point.)

6:00 Put on make up

6:20 Get dressed (Careful! Don’t smudge your make up!)

6:30 Eat breakfast then brush teeth

6:45 leave

This would be if they had an early bird class. IF they didn’t, it would all be an hour later.

This is so ridiculous! Not to mention the multiple make up touch ups throughout the day depending on when your picture is being taken.

Then just when you think you look acceptable, the picture lady sits you up on a plastic step stool and takes a minute or two fussing over you.

No. that is not okay. I did not put that much hairspray in my hair just to have you move it. Maybe that’s how I want it.

Then they’re like, “now tilt your head a little.” Stare

Okay! Because I really want to look like I’m gazing off into space or a confused puppy. Definitely! I mean who doesn’t want that for their picture that goes in the yearbook that every single person in the whole school can see? No I, cherry pie!  

Again, is that really necessary? I would really like to just sit down, take the picture that I want, and be done. And if you add up all the time the picture lady takes moving and readjusting you, picture day wouldn’t take as long. Come on, people. Learn some time management.

After 11 years of waking up and making myself look presentable I am finally done. See, I’m a junior so next year I don’t have to get my picture taken because we use our senior pictures in the yearbook. For me, it’s kind of bittersweet. As much as I hate, hate, HATE, picture day, it’s finally sinking in how close I am to graduation and leaving high school. If any of you have older siblings, you kind of know what I’m talking about. When they were at home, they annoyed the heck out of you but as soon as they graduated and went off to college, you missed their annoying antics.

That’s kind of how I feel with picture day. I’ll kind of miss hating it.

 

~Skooogster(:

I Think We Missed Something Here...

400 words

 

 

I want you to see if you can spot the problem that I am having here:

I live in Iowa, like in the middle-ish of Iowa which is in the middle of the stars and stripes United States. Here, we are lucky enough to experience the extremes of each season.

It is December 3. Christmas is in (hold on while I count…) 22 days. Usually, by this time of year I have to wear gloves, scarves, and my winter coat to school. Sometimes we have snow this early but it’s almost always cold. I usually pull out my sweaters and scarves and hats and my awesomely fuzzy socks that I honestly cannot live without. People are planning secret Santa’s and Christmas parties and Christmas music is on the radio 24/7.

Not to mention my family just put Christmas lights up on our roof and porch and our tree is all decorated and I feel like we should be singing, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Everywhere we go!”

Just one problem….

Unless we went to Alaska, it wouldn’t look like Christmas anywhere we went.

It was 66 degrees outside today. Yesterday was in the high 50’s.

THIS IS NOT OKAY!

It feels a little, no, A LOT weird to walk out the door past my Christmas tree in nothing but a light jacket and I probably could have work capris comfortably today. Since I live in Iowa, Christmas equals snow and cold and frost and icy coldness that turns your nose holly red, not humid classrooms and driving with the windows down like it was today. My brain is seriously getting very confused.

Have you ever been sick and slept from noon on Monday until five the next day and when you woke up you didn’t know what day it was? Well, that’s kind of how I feel right now. I feel like the whole world fell asleep on November 30^th and woke up in April, completely skipping over Christmas and New Years but everyone is still convinced that it is December 3^rd and Christmas is only 22 days away.

At this rate I wouldn’t be surprised if we turn on the news one of these days and Ashton Kutcher comes on and tells us that we’ve all been Punk’d and that we’ve all slept through Christmas and he got all of our toys that Santa brought us. 

 

~Skooogster(:

Rumors are Stupid and They Need to Stop!

401 words

 {Update in comments}

Rumors. Every person has heard them and every person has helped spread them too. Sometimes they are somewhat funny but there are others that involve people getting hurt and that is not okay. Rumors in general aren’t exactly friendly but once you cross a line, you’ve gone way too far.

The rumor that I’m thinking of involves One Direction. Now, I don’t want you to think that this is another crazy fan post. It isn’t. This post is to bring to the attention of my readers how horrible rumors can be.

So there is this whole thing going around called Mr. X. He is saying that a bunch of things are going to happen today and tomorrow. So far what he said would happen today, did. But those weren’t very serious. The seriousness comes tomorrow. One Direction is performing at Madison Square Garden tomorrow and Mr. X is saying that one of the members will get hurt. Severely.

I know you all are thinking that all of us fans are taking this guy too literal. I’m not saying that I believe what is being said but I do have to admit that it is seriously scaring me. Even if you don’t like One Direction, I think you would agree that you wouldn’t want one of them to die.

The thing with rumors is you never know what to believe. Do you believe Mr. X or do you believe the people that say it’s just people trying to mess with us? That’s the question. I really, really, really want to believe that nothing is going to happen tomorrow in New York but with rumors, there is always that little voice way in the back of your brain that says, “You know, it COULD happen.”

I understand that this is a very extreme example but that was kind of my point in this post. I want people to see how extreme rumors can get and how it can affect the people who care about the people the rumor is about. Also, I understand that the people in the One Direction fandom have a tendency to blow things out of proportion but I have taken that into consideration as well. All I’m saying is: rumors hurt people and when people over react and take things way too far; it causes drama that doesn’t need to be there.

So please, think before you say something.

 

~Skooogster(:

The Chosen One...Forever and Always!

404 words

 

 

When you grow up with something then all of a sudden it ends you’re kind of left there asking, “What now?” That happened to me after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out last year. Ever since I was in first grade, I had read the books and seen the movies. Now there’s nothing left except going back and re-reading and re-watching everything.

A lot of people say that they are huge Harry Potter fans but they’ve only seen the movies. In my personal opinion, you aren’t a true fan unless you’ve read the books too. The movies actually annoy me because they leave so many important aspects out. The locket that is in the sixth movie that belonged to Regulus Black was in the fifth book but that whole scene wasn’t even in The Order of the Phoenix. Another example is that in the book, Harry finds out about Hufflepuff’s cup from one of Tom Riddle’s memories. Since they didn’t put the memory in the movie, they had to completely change how Harry found it in the seventh movie. I do have to say though, the way that they made the whole thing work was some-what impressive. I will give them credit for that.

Do you see what I’m saying? There are so many crucial things in the book that all makes sense in the end that isn’t even put in the movies. There are a lot more but I won’t list them all in here.

You can call me a nerd, but I actually went back and re-read all the books, marking things that came back later on in the series. I was actually very surprised at how many things from the first book came back later on. To me, that shows what an amazing writer J.K Rowling is. It also shows how much they left out in the movies.  

So please, if you call yourself a true Harry Potter fan, do yourself a favor and read the books. If you like the movies so much, I am 10000000000% sure you will love the books as well. Plus, if you get the emotional parts in the movies were sad, just wait until you read the books. Then you’ll realize why everyone in the theater with you was crying so hard they couldn’t even see the screen.

I guess that’s just the effect that The Chosen One has on people!

 

~Skooogster(:

 

BAZINGA!

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Have you ever been flipping through the channels and ran across a rerun of an old show? Depending on the show, you may stop. Or maybe you’ll think, ‘I’ve seen this one already’ and keep clicking. I’ve found that a lot of shows get old really quickly and you don’t want to watch them more than a few times otherwise you get bored. But then again, there are some shows that no matter how many times you’ve seen the episode, or in my case, the whole first season, you find yourself laughing awkwardly in your bedroom.

For me, that show is The Big Bang Theory. If you have never seen it, I advise you to do so. It is so delightfully funny and even though it’s about a bunch of nerds, you don’t exactly have to be a physicist to understand the irony, humor, and sarcasm (but paying attention in your science classes may help. More teachers should use this as a way to make learning more enjoyable). Some of my teachers have actually shown an episode or two that relates to our lesson.

The show is about four scientists, Leonard, Sheldon, Raj, and Howard, and their neighbor, Penny. There is just so much sarcasm thrown around between the five of them and they all have their own personalities that it is very hard not to enjoy watching it. I’ve seen the first season, like, five times and I still laugh when Sheldon explains to Penny why ‘his seat’ is his seat.  

No matter how many times I watch the same episode, the same one-liners seem to get me every time. Not a lot of TV shows have that effect on me. I will always laugh at Sheldon’s social awkwardness and inability to recognize sarcasm, constantly asking, “Was that sarcasm? … Was that sarcasm? … Was THAT sarcasm?” and Raj’s inability to talk to women, Howard’s inappropriate remarks, and Leonard’s many attempts to impress Penny.

In my opinion this show is one of the best, no IS the best out there. Each and every character has their own personality that you can relate to and enjoy. I’ve seen the full first season and I am half way through the second season and no matter how many times I’ve seen Sheldon hug penny for the first (and probably only) time I will still laugh. So please, do yourself a favor and sit down and watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed. And neither will your science teachers. (;

 

From left to right: Penny, Sheldon, Howard, Raj, and Leonard

 

 

~Skooogster(:

Come on, man! Work with me here!

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We've all had to do it at some point in our lives. It’s a pain, I know, but I guess it teaches us life lessons or something like that.

At my school when my teachers assign class projects and we have to work with other students, nine times out of ten, you won’t be able to choose your own partner. This then forces you to have to work with the people you really do not want to work with. Those who always have to be right and their idea is going to be the one that the group is going with and no matter how much you try, they won’t even consider your idea. We all know the type, no?

I have an extensive amount of experience in this area through my schooling career so I decided that today I was going to write about how I came, I saw, and I conquered the unworkable.

 

1.      The day that the project begins, I usually try my best to have a good day up until that class because most likely it’s going to be very exhausting for you. And yes I know sometimes the odds are not in your favor in the Hunger Games of high school and having a good day is kind of out of your control but at least make an effort.

2.      Breathe!!!!!!!!! Don’t get all worked up if they are being annoying. IT’s not worth getting worked up about just yet. Try to keep your cool because getting worked up won’t help the tense situation any.

3.      If you have a proposal to make to the group, stay calm when you are making it. And even if you don’t know what you’re talking about but you just want your voice to be heard, make it sound like you know what’s going on. That way they will maybe, hopefully, possibly listen to what you have to say. If not, know that it isn’t anything you did. They just like to be stubborn.

4.      If, by some miracle, they like your brilliant idea more than their I’m always right so my idea is the one we’re going with idea, understand that you just won the biggest fight that has ever occurred in classrooms across America. (Except if your class is debate where the object is to argue with each other. Then you might have a tough time).

5.      Go about the rest of your day knowing that you are an amazingly smart girl or guy and no matter what anyone else says or does, no matter how stubborn your group may be, you are the smartest and best you that there could be!

 

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! You have just read my awesome five tips on how to work with the unworkable. Take these to heart for the next time that you are forced against your will to work with the people who just refuse to let anyone else’s idea be an option and you’ll be good to go!  


~Skooogster(:

Thanks Oatmeal Rasin!

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It's because of things like oatmeal raisin cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies that I have some trust issues.

Okay so maybe cookies aren’t to blame here, but I do have trust issues. There have been times that I have told someone who I thought was my best friend things that I did not want everybody to know about. I trusted that they would not tell anyone. But when I found out that they told people and a lot of people now knew, others would come up to me and ask me about them. I was hurt, mad, and disappointed that they had betrayed me. When people pretend to be one thing (the chocolate chip cookie) but are really another (oatmeal raisin) they need to learn that if someone finds out about their ‘secret identity’, they are going to lose the respect of a lot of people. I mean, everyone isn’t going to have a Hannah Montana story like in the movie where everyone says that they will keep the secret and you can go along with your double life. Happily ever after the end. It just doesn’t work that way.  

So a tip to everyone out there, please, please be you. Not just for the typical reason of ‘you are the best you that you can be’ but because if you want people to respect and trust you, which is vital in any relationship, friendship or romantic, you cannot pretend to be someone else.

Also, another thing about trust is, you should not snoop. Keep your nose in your own business. If it isn’t yours, you don’t belong in it, and you don’t need to know what it is. One thing that really bugs me is when I’m sitting there on my phone and you lean over and are all, “who are ya texting?” Does it really matter? It’s not to you or about you (well it might be now since you are annoying me!) so do you really need to know everything about what’s going on in my life? In my opinion, no, no you don’t. If you want people to trust you, you need to be okay with the fact that the world doesn’t revolve around you and if the person needs you or needs to talk to you about something, they will come to you and talk to you about it. In my opinion, it’s not your job to play detective and figure out my life. If you want to investigate the lives of other people, you should look into being a detective.


~Skooogster(:

Me? A Model?

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So I just got back from a volleyball game where I was able to talk to one of my really good friends that I hadn't had a good talk with in a while. I really enjoyed talking to her again! But she had told me that she wants to get into photography and she wanted to have a portfolio to be able to show possible employers. So I volunteered to have her photograph me! I had never thought of myself as very photogenic but I thought that it was worth a try, right? I mean, it's never been something that I’ve been interested in but I wanted to help her and decided, hey this might be fun! I used to not like my picture being taken but now, I want pictures of myself. Especially by someone who can make me look really good too! ;)

Anyway…the point of this post is to tell you, my readers, that trying something new isn’t always a bad thing. There’s a senior at my school who played volleyball all the way through her junior year. By the time she reached her senior year, she decided that she wanted to experience all that my school had to offer her. Now she’s on the varsity cheer team. So how do I know that I won’t enjoy being a ‘model’ for lack of a better word if I never give it a try? People tell me that I could be good but I’ve never tried having my picture taken for other purposes than annual birthday pictures. Who knows? I may really enjoy it and look into something like that on the side of doing other things. Besides, senior pictures will be coming up sooner than I would like so I might as well get some practice on it! 


~Skooogster(:

Rumor Has It

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So I just got home from my school's fall play Rumors. It was an extremely challenging show to put on because it is nothing but dialogue between six characters at the most but usually just two or three. That much back and forth (in this case, it was usually arguing) had to have been very difficult.

Just a little insight on what happened, a man, Charlie Brok and his wife Myra were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary but when the first couple, Chris and Ken Gorman, showed up, they found Charlie passed out upstairs with a bullet hole through his earlobe, Myra and the help nowhere to be seen. As more families show up, the story changes to what happens until finally it all comes out. But no one knows why or how Charlie was shot. At one point towards the end the cops come and want to speak to Mr. Brok about a car crash. Everyone gives excuses and reasons why Charlie or Myra are missing; some quite comical. The cops were about to leave when a mention of gun shots slips from one of the people in the room. The police ask for Charlie at once.

One problem...Charlie is out cold upstairs. So Lenny Ganz pretends to be Charlie ('CAUSE HE HELD OUT ONE FINGER, THAT'S WHY!) and goes off on what seems like a never ending story of what happened. He speaks in Spanish (which is very impressive because the actor, a good friend of mine, takes German and probably didn't know what he was saying) and goes into such detail one wouldn't know what to believe. All of this Charlie is making up as he goes; word by word, sentence by sentence.

This was, by far, one of my favorite shows I've seen. For having such a difficult show to perform, they did a tremendous job. For a while I thought I was really looking at a living room watching people stress over how the police didn’t believe them when they said that, “Charlie took his dog for a walk then went to bed on his anniversary.” It was like reading book that you never wanted to end and when it does, you’re sad that you have to leave that story behind. But you’ll always remember how that was one heck of a good book.


~Skooogster(:

Marching Band IS a Sport!

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I really don't care what you throw at me I will always have something to come back with.
I’ve argued with many people on this subject and I usually leave them not knowing what to say next because what I am going to say next is completely, 100% true…

 

MARCHING BAND IS A SPORT.

 

I've heard all the arguments against it and each one has a valid counterargument. First and foremost just for some background information, we are out there for three hours in the afternoon plus an hour during school. We start with camps the first week of August and go and go and go all the way until the middle of October. We endure the heat, the cold, the rain, and sometimes even snow. So you football players, you don't have that over us.

 

The second argument I get is: Well a sport needs to have an offense and a defense. Have you ever heard of swimming? Of golf? Or of diving? I'm pretty sure those don't have an offense or defense. (And if you're arguing that diving isn't a sport, then why is it in the Olympics, huh?)

 

Volleyball players use their shoulders a lot. They swing at hits and set. That's a lot of work on those muscles. Well have you ever tried conducting for a few hours? I've been a setter since seventh grade and my shoulders have never hurt as bad as they did when I started conducting.

 

Football players have to be strong and tackle people over. Well we don't really tackle people (except judges who decide to stand in our way during competitions) but the sousaphones aren't exactly the lightest thing in the world. Neither are tenor saxes, baritones, or any of the drums in the drum line. If I can't even carry them in the cases I doubt I can have those things attached to myself and still march a straight line.  

 

And finally, in sports you have to memorize names of plays and then how to go through with them. In marching band, you have to memorize music and drill. (Drill is your specific spot on the field). Sometimes I think that people overlook the fact that our movements have to be memorized too. We weren't all born with four years worth of shows ingrained into our brains. It is a very difficult process but just like in sports, everything becomes muscle memory.

 

 

~Skooogster(:

That Scary Moment When You Realize...You're Next!

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So I'm a junior and I have a lot of friends who are seniors and will be graduating in May. We just had our Senior Night football game and it really dawned on me that...I'm next. Next year I'll be the senior walking down the track with my parents and sister With all of my friends talking about college, it got me thinking, should I start looking? Where do I want to go? What do I want to do with my life? I know a lot of people end up changing their majors half way through but for someone like me who has to know exactly what's going on, the only way I'll be able to figure out where I want to go is to know what I want to do and if the schools I'm looking at has those majors. This means spending a lot of time on Google and searching school after university after college. It's kind of like a giant scavenger hunt. It's very time consuming.

Luckily, my school has college visits that I'm going to start going to. A different school comes in a day and talks to you about what they have to offer you and then they give you a bunch of booklets and papers and all the other propaganda they have to convince you to go there. If your school does this too, I would really recommend that you go to these. They are really helpful because you have the real deal in front of you talking instead of reading information online. You can ask all sorts of questions that you have and get them answered immediately.

Also, I would recommend getting on some mailing lists. I just signed up to get band things mailed to me from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln because I really want to be in their marching band. I'm sure you've already gotten a bucket load of things from various colleges, I know I have! All of last year, the only mail I ever got was college after college saying things like, "You are just the kind of student we're looking for!" Yeah, I'm sure you say that to the other thousand high schoolers you sent that to.

Another good thing to do is go to actual college visits. Go see the campus, walk around and see if it's a setting that you like. I've done a few with my youth group and I actually enjoy walking around the campus, imagining that I'm a student at the school. I'm going to start doing these this winter and honestly, I'm really excited.

So here's the thing: as much as you wish you could stay in high school forever (yeah right!) pretty soon, you'll blink and you will be unpacking in your dorm room. You might as well start early and get an idea of what you want to do and where you want to go. Because if you have this all figured out early, you can sit back and relax your senior year and not worry about college. Except for the part where you're a few months away from it.

~Skooogster(:

Killing Peace

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When people ask me if I live in the country, I will usually say yes. There is a corn field in my back yard and there are no street lamps on the north end of Boyson Road where I live. When we moved in thirteen years ago there was also a dense wood across the street. Me, my sister, and occasionally our neighbors would use our crazy imagination and spend days upon days in the trees. During the winter we would also walk as far as we could into the field out back. If you go back far enough there are fields on all sides of you. Our neighborhood was quiet peaceful.

 

A few years later, the town committee decided that they wanted to build commercial buildings in the field or put a trailer park back there. Nobody wanted that. To this day they are still trying to put something back there but thirteen years later, it’s still a corn field. Thank God!!

 

The woods across the street are a different story. The land has been for sale for a long time and a few years ago was sold to a young couple. Now there’s an annoying house where my friends and I had built a fort not too long ago.

 

I wish that people would realize that areas like that create a feeling of peace and calm. When you go and build things and cut up trees, it ruins the peace that once was there.

 

My neighborhood isn’t as quiet as it used to be.

 

~Skooogster(:

Be Happy!

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My fall trimester consists of me going and going and going and not stopping until 11:00 at night. Most days I don't even get to go home between school and volleyball which is at 5. I guess you could say I pretty much live at my school. But come the second week in October, things start coming to an end. I no longer stay until five and get home at nine. For a girl who is constantly on the move and is always busy, I never know how to handle NOT being busy. I start to get sad and a little depressed I guess you could say.

 

If anyone else gets this way, I want to share different ways that I like to cheer myself up.

 

1. Play some crazy music crazy loud and dance around and go crazy. I like to pick my favorite song and dance like a crazy person. This helps let go of any stress that is building up inside of me.

 

2. Clean. If you’re anything like me, when I get super busy my room turns into a pigsty. I’m usually too tired when I get home to put my stuff in it’s designated spot so it usually goes to the floor. I like to clean because it gets rid of stress (for me at least) and also, it’s kind of like a clean slate. Now that you aren’t so busy you have time and you know where everything is so it’s not  stressful to look for things.

 

3. Watch a funny movie. When I’m swamped with school and sports, I never have time to just sit down and relax. I like watching funny movies because it lets me rewind while enjoying myself at the same time.

 

4. Read a book. Reading about someone else’s problems usually makes me realize that I’m doing alright and I just need to take a deep breath and keep going.

 

5. Sleep. When I’m so busy, I am usually behind on sleep. Now that you aren’t so busy try catching up on some Z’s on the weekend. Trust me. You’ll feel refreshed and good to go in no time. I actually did this today and man, does it help!

 

6. Sometimes, I even like to do my homework. In the past few months, I barely get time to do homework without being pressed for time. Now I can sit down and actually get stuff done.


~Skooogster(:

Why so Serious?

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I love Marching Band. It makes me a very happy person. 90% of my friends are in band with me and they can always put me in a good mood no matter how I'm feeling. I just wanted to get that out there in the open before I say what I am going to say.

Of all the things I love about being in marching band, there is one thing I really hate.

You can't smile. :(

People will always call things out to us or call our names as we march by but you can not smile. I fail way to much at that. Even if people aren't talking to me but I hear them I crack a smile. I'm just not a serious person in that sense.

I have two ways I go for trying (key word: trying) to not smile.

1. I bite the inside of both cheeks. Not so much that you make that obnoxious fish face *glub glub* but just enough to stop you from smiling.

2. think of dead puppies. I know that's kind of graphic and sad but sadly, it works. And if it's too hard for you to think of dead puppies, just think of something sad. Nine times out of ten you aren't smiling when something sad is going on so naturally it works!

This post serves a double purpose. Along with giving tips how to not smile, I am also telling non-band members to STOP TRYING TO MAKE US SMILE! You don't know how physically challenging it is to not smile! I am a smiley person. I am always smiling and laughing. It takes everything I have not. to. smile. so please. Put yourself in our shoes and imagine how difficult it would be for you to not smile and laugh while people are saying funny things to you.

I don't want you to stop cheering though. No nothing like that! BRING ON THE CHEERS! We welcome claps, applause, and cheering but seriously. Don't make us laugh. Find us after and crack that joke. We can laugh then.

~Skooogster(:

It's Kind of a Love-Hate Relationsip...

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Half an hour ago I got home from my last marching band rehearsal of the year. No matter what I tell people, I cry every time. When you're in marching band, you honestly become a family. You keep each other up when you get down and no matter what happens, you know you'll have 100-some people on your side. As one of my band mates said, "its because we're the band".

I've never been good at saying goodbyes. But when you have to say goodbye to some of the best people on this earth, it is extremely difficult. It's like you have one end of your heart and they have the other and when they leave, it tears but you still take a bit of each other where ever you go.

There's a quote that says "Though miles may lie between us, we are never far apart. For friendship doesn't count miles, it's measured by the heart". I think this is so true. this spring some of my best friends will graduate and go to college a thousand miles away. I have friends like that right now and we still stay in touch and we are still the best of friends.

You may be thinking, why is she getting all emotional now? Graduation isn't for a while.

Well here's the thing. Concert band is a lot different than marching band. In my opinion, concert is made fun thanks to marching. Don't get me wrong. Graduation is EXTREMELY emotional for me. I cried three times during the ceremony last year. But just think about this for a second.

We have been working on this show since the very first week in August. through these two months we have accomplished massive goals and we have come so far. In our first competition, we didn't even march our closer. Now, I can honestly say, our show is near perfect. Tell me that after going through all of that, waking up early, going to bed late, you wouldn't be emotional. These crazy, weird, and 100% normal kids are the reason I wake up in the morning. They keep me going when I want to quit.

I have been apart of many many teams and organizations and I can flat out say that I haven't felt this kind of connection between me and my other teammates that I do when I'm with my band family. I know that's kind of a cliche but really there's no better word than 'family'.

So thinking back, I love band because I got to know some of the most amazing human beings on this planet and have made some life long friends. However, I hate band because I got to know some of the most amazing human beings on this planet and I have to say good bye eventually.

 

 

 

 

~Skooogster(:

Once Upon a Time I Didn't go to Homecoming...

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...And I had an amazing night.

I'm a junior so I've been to two homecoming dances and its been the same two years in a row so why would this year be different? People ask, get asked, then break it off a day before or ditch them at the dance. All the dinner planning, picture planning, planning planning planning! This isn't prom, people!

My mom told me that when she was in high school homecoming was after the football game and people just went in their jeans and sweatshirts and had a good time. what happened to that? Homecoming has turned into its own mini prom and frankly, its getting ridiculous!

When I was a freshman I went with a group of friends, last year I went with a date in a small group. This year, I would have only gone if I got asked by someone I was really interested in going with...(I didn't get asked at all so I didn't have to worry about that part). As next year is my senior year, I'll definitely go then but this year, I just wanted a break from the drama. The drama of who's going with who and who's wearing what and oh my god so and so is wearing the same dress as me. Seriously! Who really cares? I could care less if I showed up to the dance and saw someone wearing the same dress as me.

That's why this year, I invited a few friends over to hang out. We went out to eat, played some Just Dance, and had a much less stressful night than if I had gone to Homecoming. I honestly think I had more fun just chilling with four friends in my backyard than in a hot, crowded cafeteria with the whole school.

Everyone I've talked to always says that what comes before homecoming is more fun than the dance: dinner, pictures, and having a reason to get dressed up. My sister is a freshman this year and she went to the dance. Her and her friends were telling me how forty people got kicked out of the dance for grinding in the first hour and by the end there was barely anyone left.

Come on people. What's fun about that? And if you re the kind of person that's into the grinding stuff, why would you do that if you knew the faculty was cracking down it? I'm not into that stuff so I find it a bit obnoxious.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say in this three hundred some word rant is that Homecoming can be fun if you make it stress free. IF not, take a breather for a year and see just how much fun you can have!

~Skooogster(:

Things You Don't See Every Day, but I Do.

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To most people, the life of a band member isn't all that fun. It's all music and seriousness, right?

See that's where you're wrong. I honestly believe that if people actually knew what went on in the band hall, they would want to join. The people are some of the craziest people I have ever met and I wouldn't change them for all the money in the world.

I honestly debated posting this because I feel as if I am revealing the secrets of the band hall but I really want you guys to see some of the things that may seem extremely odd to you, but to me is basic, everyday life.

This, my friends, is modern art. It takes skill to get all of three chairs, a trombone case, and the oh so famous plunger to stay like that for a couple of hours. For this, I applaud you. It started with one chair, then quickly progressed to the above.

 

 

Shoes tied to a locker. Strange? Nope. Normal. Actually, if I don't see a pair of shoes tied to something, there must be something wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the plunger. No, I don't think it's a real plunger. I'm pretty sure that it's just a trumpet mute on a broom handle. But correct me if I'm wrong. We just call it the plunger. Fights over the plunger is a daily thing. Seriously. Almost every single day I walk in and someone is fighting over it. I bet the plunger feels special.      

 



The occasional quarter glued to the ceiling or floor. This happens to be on the ceiling. They used gorilla glue and duct tape. Once the glue dried, ta da! There's a quarter on the ceiling!

 

The oh-so-sexy band tan. Your legs get one heck of a nice tan! But unfortunately, you can't march in flip flops so, basically, this happens. Your feet are as white as a piece of paper with a nice solid line from your shoes. Fantastic.



And finally, the coolest people, with the most swag you'll ever meet. These right here are my flute babies. Swag, swag, swag on you! Yeah, we're pretty cute. Okay back to my topic. I have never met a group of people who were so welcoming and accepting of everyone before. All 115 some people in band are part of my family. We've laughed, cried, celebrated all together. I couldn't ask for better people!

 

 

So there ya are! The many secrets of what goes on in the most walked by yet unknown hallway of the school. If you think these are extremely strange, that's fine It just means more fun for me!

 

 

~Skooogster(:

 

P.S. All of these pictures were taken by me. So these things really DO happen!