Christmas music :D

Mom: Are they really only going to play Christmas music from now until January first? Do you know how much bad Christmas music there is?

Katie: Yep. They play half bad stuff and half Josh Groban. And then maybe 3 or 4 other songs.

ANDDDD I started working on Coventry Carol and Adoramus Te during Math today... got parts all assigned and ranges figured out and I have to go to a G; that could be interesting.

And, of course, Youth Worship Team practice. Actually, first time I have ever played piano in front of anybody from church. This could be interesting.

I Learned...

I hate iTunes 10.

Kathryne

HOME!

^^ that. :)

I did not die. Even though I DROVE on the HIGHWAY for AN HOUR AND A HALF.

I Learned...

My oversensitive senses are good for something after all. My grandparents DID have a gas leak, and I was NOT making things up, even though nobody else could smell it unless they put their faces up to the wall.

Kathryne

break.

I did not write a single essay today. NOPE. Not one. zilch.

That makes me so happy, you have no idea.

Also, Advent in the Baptist church is way cool... they actually, like, explain each of the candles as they light them and do Scripture reading and stuff.
Oh, and this is for Daniel... they did a good bit of jazz improvising during offering. I caught some chords that were definitely not your worship-music-C-and-Dm-with-an-Am7-thrown-in-there-once-in-a-while. It's a small church, but they had a saxophone AND trombone, and it was cool.

I Learned...
"Pepperoncini" is not a kind of small pepperoni that you can pick out of a salad. It's a variety of spicy yellow pepper that contaminates your salad.

Kathryne

movie!

So tired, I don't even know what I'm thinking/feeling/existing :P

We went to see Tangled today. Don't laugh at me! It was actually really good! Please read my review at Awesome Possum (see right side bar) for a logicking out.
So that made me smile.
Also, the old guy behind the counter at Smoothie King was very engaging and funny. I liked him.

I Learned...
Living on a boat gives you a lot of spare time, but the time that isn't spare is busy enough that you sleep for a lot of it :P

Kathryne

cousins :P

"People love my face!"
-Sam

This year, I finally got to sit at the "big-kid" table for the family Thanksgiving.

Explanation:
There are 9 cousins. In age order, the lineup looks like...
Kristen - Annie - Sam - Emily - KATIE - John - Lindy - Carrie - Nate
See? I'm exactly in the middle.
We had three tables: 4 "little" kids, 4 "big" kids, and 8 adults.
Usually I default to "little kid" and stick an extra chair in, but this year Carrie was away in Michigan. Therefore... I sat with Nate (college junior, pre-med), Lindy, and John (college freshmen, both undecided I think).

• Kristen is my sister. 8th grade. It's funny to see how embarrassed she gets at my parents.
• Annie is a high school freshman. She's HILARIOUS at "Guesstures." Her "hen" pantomime was the best.
  
• Sam is a sophomore. He wins quote-of-the-night. Also, funny to watch how attention-craving he was in all the home videos.
• Emily is a junior. She's more normal than anybody else.
• I'm... me. Senior. Only "academic" person in the immediate family NOT really interested in science/math. The universe and Mrs. Bond are conspiring against me to make me an engineer! I refuse!!
• John is the one I haven't seen in ages. He didn't come to the big family vacation because he can't fly. But neither can my mom, so it's okay.
• Lindy is the extravert... "I go to the gym and don't ever work out. I just talk to people! I need people." She and Annie are funny together.
• Carrie, as I said, was the absentee. She is junior. She has changed majors a zillion times... I think it was French last, but now she wants to get into culinary studies. I think that might be me.
• Nate is the pre-med, super-soccer-player, typical-oldest-child-slash-cousin. Overachiever. And tall.

Thus, my family.

I Learned...
I could maybe spend two years of college in SCOTLAND at St. Andrews! :D ...and that tuition would be cheaper in that (joint) degree than if I just did William & Mary by itself. This is assuming I am one of the 5 to get in for my program... probably English. They only offer it in Economics, English, International Relations, and History.

Kathryne

Thankful

...for grandparents, who always seem to have the best-smelling hand soap
...for feeling satisfied with the Common App and never bothering with it again
...for fluffy hair that doesn't make my head hurt
...for GRAETERS <3
...for a good excuse to listen to Christmas music (as if I've needed one for the past month)
...for fantastic friends who don't always take me seriously
...for rain that looks like glitter on the front lawn

:)

Kathryne

:D

Sleepover last night. I loved Princess' imitation of a "teenage girl."

And our *plans* to do things like go partying etc. HAHA. as if that would happen... here... where "party" can either mean

• place where you hang out and eat chips (-Kevin)
• place where you get high and do things you regret in the morning (-Megan's co-workers, interpreted by me)

I Learned...

Curly hair can be cut wet and look okay after all. Who knew?

Kathryne

Something I Learned

I am killing the "Good/Bad/Random" form for a while. I am going back to "something that made me smile," plus the new "I Learned..." section. I do enjoy learning things, so I am setting out to learn something every day, even if that means random internet research.

SO, I am making serious progress in my college stuff. WHEE!! (No, really, that's exciting. Now I'm only 1 week behind schedule instead of two-and-a-half. And I will finish tomorrow!! :D)

I Learned...

"Gaol" (as in, awesome poem by Oscar Wilde, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol") is actually pronounced the same as "jail." Weird.

Kathryne

4.5 down, 155.5 to go...

The Good: AAAHHH Youth Service was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! like so good!! Praise Team... y'all were awesome. Way, way awesome. And Matt was there! Which was so cool. And I could actually hear what I needed... even though I didn't get my in-ear monitors :P

The Bad: Driving for an hour, on 4.5 hours of sleep, when I haven't driven for exactly 70 days? Unfun. But I only made one turn that was too sharp... I did okay. But my legs do tired-ache.

The Random: Ummmyoumeanlike the firecrackers/rockets going off while I was trying to write in my Christine-book?

Kathryne

EDIT:

just realized the random coincidence that number of hours of sleep last night = number of pages completed in the Christine-book.

That is what the title refers to. The book, not the sleep. Although, I wonder how long it would take me to work up 160 hours of sleep, now...

Goodbyes

I didn't cry.

Kathryne

Day of Grace

"There are no good days and bad days. Every day is a day of grace. Some days, He gives grace to enjoy. Other days, He gives grace to endure." — Graham Cooke

Today I have done both, mostly owing to a one-hour nap and some caffeine.

See: Glogster, amazingly fun and addictive site which my History teacher introduced us to and has utilized for homework since. Here's mine :)

Kathryne

Muuuusic.

AHH. I love BibleForce. And even though our practice for the youth service went over, like, 40 minutes... it was awesome. And PAGE! So happy he came! And it was super fun teaching him all the motions, haha.

AAANNNDDDD I get to do (eep!) O Holy Night for something Christmasy later in the year and I can hit the super fun note at the end and it all makes me happy.

Oh, and Erin was back at chorus today... Hallelujah. We got much done and it was beautiful and I am HAPPY.

Kathryne

story

I smiled at small group tonight when my dad told the story of how he short-sheeted David's bed at the men's retreat... this weekend. I could just see him as a dorm resident in his boarding school, perhaps as a middle schooler, finding the same glee in that "classic" prank.

...and then the same disappointment at his victim's nonchalant reaction, or shall I say lack thereof.

Kathryne

goals! yes!

The Good: Just realized that I have officially met my goal of 375 total posts by 2011! haha! goal, I have beat you, and I will beat you again approximately 46 more times >:)

The Bad: I am behind in my college self-set deadlines :/ Such weird short answers take me FOREVER. Two that I have been stuck on for more than 2 weeks:

• As a part of 2010 Wake Forest orientation, the freshman class examined The Andes of Ecuador, a painting by Frederic Church. Next year what work of visual or performing art should the incoming class analyze? Why?
• What idea most challenges you?

The Random: I am so excited for Friday. May it never be said that Lady Kathryne passed on an opportunity to play dress up. (read: Thanksgiving lunch for US History :D)

...anddd there are other things in the works for Friday, but I have mixed feelings about that, so we shall be avoidant and not talk about it..

Kathryne

yay media :)

Instead of posting Good/Bad/Random today, I shall post this video of a song that SCREAMS girls.ensemble.girls.ensemble.do.me.for.something.pleeeaassee.* and pictures that I took on my walk today :)

Kathryne

*I'M SORRY! I can't help it! I think in terms of choirs!

...speaking of which, you can check out the videos of us (FANTASTIC) and pictures of my tooootally attractive singing-face :P

ouch

The Good: gorgeous day today. I mean, REALLY BEAUTIFUL. Like, high 50s-low 60s.

The Bad: I took Tag out today... I was on my bike and he was trotting leashless alongside me. Then, from behind one of the houses, there comes a 7 or 8 year old boy holding his dog by the collar. Now, I am sure the dog weighs more than he does, and it looks sort of like a cross between

and

...but bigger. As Tag saunters up to this dog, tail wagging as always, I get off my bike and tell the boy, "don't worry, he's friendly." Just as the boy starts to say, "oh, so is he," this dog snarls and lunges at Tag. I don't remember how, but I got Tag away.

However, I was pretty well-caught in the crossfire myself. Let's just say that my thumb really hurts and has lost some blood.

Then I give up on the walk, bring Tag home, and wash/sanitize/bandage my thumb.

The Random: THEN I went on a 5.5 mile bike trip to school to get my Physics textbook! ...yyayy... and sorta blacked out halfway home. But I didn't pass out! I kept going! Huzzah!

I believe I shall consult not only the distance but also the severity of hills before I undertake any such trips in the future.

Kathryne

PS- is my blacking out a sign of not being in shape or of not having enough food/water in my system or of it being a stupid idea for me to do any strenuous physical activity at all?

best night.

Question:

What happens when you have 22 schoolkids (aged 7-17) in a small room for 4 hours with minimal adult supervision?

Answer:

Not Homework

Question:

What happens when the 9 oldest (aged 13-17) eat packets of sugar because the dinner came late and then sit on the floor entertaining themselves?

Answer:

A massive Silly Bandz war, laughing fits lasting for 5+ minutes, chocolate syrup threats, carved mahogany peanut butter dispensers, dining on Oscar the Hamster, sleeping on the floor...

Oh, and Not Homework.

Question:

Where on Earth were you?!

Answer:

A very ritzy country club. And yes, I am serious.

Question:

Why were you there?

Answer:

We sang a couple of songs for the school banquet. We sounded fabulous too <3

(lol All For Jesus awkward silence at the beginning AND end :P)

Question:

...

Answer:

I CAN HEAR MY ECHO! FWWOOOOO!

Kathryne

unexpected blessings

My Physics teacher surprised the living daylights out of me today.

We were going over some of our work from the past week or so. I raised my hand with a mundane, simple question about a lab report. As he acknowledged my hand, before I could get a word out of my mouth, he said...

"Katie, you can go have a study hall in the library, if you want. You get all of this already."

Shock much?

And then I went to Panera with Megan and Marina, yay! we talked. I like you guys <3

And then we went to Rachel's ballet class, since it's visitors week. I have lots of things to say about that, but am too impatient to type them.

And then I came home to find that ...CHRISTINE AND ERIN ARE ON FACEBOOK?!?

Shock much?

Kathryne

overtones...

The Good: Hearing Doug talk about music. He knows much more than I do, even about choral/vocal music, which was something I once considered myself quite an authority on :P

The Bad: I have been in an odd state of mental lethargy recently. I think it's a combination of emotional exhaustion and physical weariness and straight out apathy. bleh.

and my oatmeal exploded in the microwave this morning.

The Random:

"It's payback time, cookie!"

-Megan

Kathryne

hmmmmdrmmmmblmmmm

That's sort of the noise my day made, alternately at a high fever-pitch of a buzzing fly and the low grumbling of an angry computer.

The Good: had not finished any of my homework last night. got a surprise study hall in Math and therefore finished everything! (because, since I didn't actually have Math, I didn't have to worry about finishing up stupid inverse hyperbolic transcendental ickiness.)

The Bad: It was kind of an anticlimatic day. And my ankles hurt, and my back hurts when I breathe, which I do surprisingly often. And the medley isn't going to work out for chorus, so we're going to copy somebody else's.

The Random:

(defending a guess in Latin for vocab)

Megan: When I think "to protect," I think "to eat"
Rachel: The kids you babysit had better be very afraid...

“I got the Mr. Sunshine award in 8th grade!”

-Kevin

Kathryne

slap happy!

The Good: ohhhhmy, today was just hilarious. Laughed so, so much. About everything. Most things of which should not be that funny. And then singing the rodent song... over... and over... and over... in the middle of Physics class... :P

And going to Panera with neighbor-Megan* :) broccoli cheddar soup = yummmm

The Bad: Have you ever posted something on a social networking site/blog/email/whatever and gone... wow, the only reason I did that was to get attention/create sympathy/inspire awe into the hearts of mere mortals, as my peers tend to be of such? and sometimes you can delete the offending/insecure remark, but other times it must remain in cyberspace and you are forever damaged... ruined... DONE FOR!

The Random: good times in Physics. and second-Math. lol.

I quote Megan: "haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

no lie.

Kathryne

PS- EEEEEEeeeEEEEP!

*"Megan" with no modifier defaults to school-Megan. The one in my class. The one who has been my better friend** since like 6th grade. The one who makes music videos about rodents. That one. :P

** I cannot have a "best friend" because I have more than one, therefore I do not have a "best" (because that is a singular term) ... so, I have a few "better friends." There will probably be a blog post explaining that eventually.

lactophile.

The Good: Lots of butter. Lots of cheese. Oh, and some awesome vegetable soup :)

AND CHRISTINE ! ! ! ! ! ! ! And plotting to come to their send-off at dawn with a bright pink shirt (so they can see me) and a handkerchief.

The Bad: grf. I shall see Christine only once, maybe twice more before... GAHITSTOOHORRIBLE. Also, realizing I am perhaps not an INTJ after all :(

The Random: It's lots of fun to rub a cat's belly until it purrs, and then after a few seconds abruptly leave and see the shock on its face >:)

Kathryne

gorgeous day.

The Good:

The creek was beautiful today. There was more color there than shows in these pictures, I promise.

And... I cannot say how many times I have been walking down the middle of the (one-way) road, been distracted by some pretty tree, walked to the side of the road, then realizing that a car just came whizzing down the wrong way and almost ran me over.

The Bad: My hair takes so stupidly long to wash >.<

The Random: Listening to Christmas music... classical music... serious Celtic music...

Oh, and my sister is such a girl after my own heart :) she started Christmas music this weekend!

Although, you can always tell the difference between us by the size of our pony tail holders.

Kathryne

PS- I LOVE the end of Daylight Savings! And this is not merely because of that famous "extra hour of sleep"... nah. It's the freedom! The choices! It doesn't have to be an extra hour of sleep... it could also be an extra hour of awake! It's like tax-exempt time!

(you can tell I really mean all of this by my 13-year-old-girl-level use of exclamation points. I can say that with authority because I have a 13-year-old sister.)

Quiet day :)

The Good: skipped school and got a bunch of college work (and the work I would have missed in today's half day!) done. AND now I am sitting in Barnes & Noble with a yummy Gingerbread latte and funny music playing over the speakers.

The Bad: I hate when you run into someone in a public place... someone who, say, you knew in elementary/middle school and are friends with/regularly stalk on Facebook... but you haven't seen them in person for so long that
a) you aren't sure it's really them,
b) it would be awkward to talk to them, and/or
c) you have no idea what you would say were you to talk to them.
So you say nothing and stand there and try not to look at them or let them see you. This has happened to me several times recently, and it's just weird.
The Random: created my first ever instructional video for the harmony to Be Unto Your Name! awesome fun. Feel no need to watch it, seriously, unless you happen to be in a choir doing the same arrangement.

Also, it makes me laugh when stores advertise not only their store hours but also their website hours :P

Kathryne

PS-

more pictures from last weekend! out of all, I like this one.

muahaha

The Good: nice day at school today. not too high-pressure... actually, I don't know if I had any real, structured classes all day.

Math was "independent study" (aka Lit homework)

Study Hall for 2 hours

More study during lunch

Physics was independent work on labs

Apologetics was a debate movie (whose soundtrack was TOTALLY the same as Narnia... I swear...)

Latin was more independent study

The Bad: trying to schedule stuff with Christine :/ life goes toooo quickly.

The Random: Muahahahahaha. ha. ha. (planning and plotting evil things)

The Quotes:

"Pro: folds his towels
Con: 3 foot 4
Pro: has nice teeth
Con: smells bad"

-Kevin

"I have no thoughts."

-Kevin

"I can hear my echo! *fwooooo!*"

-Megan

Kathryne

Hamsters are rodents, na na na na na

The Good: Certainly Chapel worship was marvelous. As was chorus practice. "Labor of Love" sounds infinitely better with the organ.

The Bad: Princess stresses me out when she comes to school even though she's dead on her feet.

The Random:

Laptop with webcam? cost Megan a couple hundred dollars.

Collapsing on the floor laughing at the Rodent Song? cost me some dignity.

Watching the immovable Dan collapse as well? priceless.

Kathryne

Cheeks & Balances :P

The Good: Senior picture sneak peak is up :) AND I heart small group.

The Bad: mmmmath.

The Random:

"It's not about rivalry... it's not about hatred... it's about MONEY." -Mrs. Bond (from Friday)

Rachel in Government class... "cheeks and balances" (read: "checks and balances") :P

Kathryne

So long, October...

The Good: study period during standardized testing :D

The Bad: ccccold! ! ! !
Also, October is over :(

The Random: WHEEEEE Daylight Savings ends in one week!


Kathryne

PS- had senior pictures today with Mrs Heather :) 'twas awesome. had a sort of bad hair day, but made up for it with my favorite purple sweater and favorite skirt.