A Week With Ruth

Beginning with Thursday, August 6th: We left the house early to go to Albuquerque to pick Ruth up. It was a four hour drive just to get there and I drove for one an a half hours. I swear Ruth was one of the last people to get off that plane! We went to the zoo afterwords, then came home. Another four hours of driving, and then just before bed, Ruth, Rachel and I watched Howl's Moving Castle. in Japanese for the sake of authenticity. I must say I'm glad. we could have watched it in the dubbed over English version, but then the mouths wouldn't have matched. and that really bugs me when the voice doesn't match the mouth.

Friday, August 7th: To celebrate Tax free weekend, Ruth and I went to our little mall in Clovis where the food court consists of pizza or Chinese food. We both bought stuff. I like not having to add tax to my purchases.

Saturday, August 8th: Went to Ute Lake, swam out to the little island in choppy water and got a slight case of hypothermia. Fun. Never doing that again. We didn't have a boat or anything!

Sunday, August 9th: We didn't really do anything Sunday.Went to the video store and rented Mononoke and the first X-man movie. I've already seen X-man, but Rachel hasn't and she's been bugging my dad for ever asking if we could rent it. So that is what we watched Sunday night. it took us a long time to watch X-man because Abby wasn't aloud to see it, so we had to pause it every time she walked into the room. very annoying.

Monday, August 10th: At this point, but Ruth and were too tired to really do anything. We were still trying to regain energy we used at the lake. We did go to osasis state park with Haley and Brandy that morning and came back and took a nap. Having nothing to do with our afternoon, we surfed the web and were actually able to find the whole movie Totoro online and we watched that. It was definitely geared for a younger audience, but it was hilarious. And then we watched Kiki's delivery service before bed. Online. Our day was very relaxed.

Tuesday, August 11th: It was my parent's anniversary, so they went to dinner and we stayed home. We watched Spirited Away in the living room and Abby watched it with us, but again, we had put it in Japanese, so there was no end of her questions. "What's that? What are they doing? What's going on? Are her parents really turned into Pigs?" Ruth and I also played with Ruth's web cam changing our voices and what not.

Wednesday, August 12th: We watched falling stars stretched out on a blanket in the back yard. very peaceful.

Thursday: August 13th: Sent Ruth back home. Boo hoo. I think that is the longest time I've ever spent with one of my friends. You know, one on one like. I'm pleased to announce we did NOT get tired of each other. our week was very relaxed, filled with talking and comfortable silences. I don't seem to do silence very well with people, but with Ruth it works. We've known each other so long anyway that it didn't really matter if we talked or not.

Yesterday, we went to Clovis and I spent the evening painting. I'm trying to get ready for the fair. So now, I have one oil painting I want to enter, but I also want to do a sketch and a pen and ink. I just need to figure out what I want to draw...

Broken Arm and a Black Cat Personality

It seems that the smallest of us, fell first. Abby, my youngest sister, fell out of the only tree in our yard and broke both bones in her lower left forearm. Right now, she's got a splint on, and she'll get it casted tomorrow. Not one of us kids have broken anything until now. Broken bones aren't really that big of a deal, but when not one of your siblings, including yourself have managed not to break anything, it puts a whole new level on things.

That's not the only interesting thing. We're picking up Ruth on Thursday, and I wanted to go back to Ute Lake with her this weekend. But with Abby's arm in a cast, that might not happen, seeing as she can't get it wet. Mom would have to stay home with her and my permit won't let me drive anywhere with someone who isn't family. I did ask Sarah if we could go up there again and I'm waiting for a response. this whole thing has made August the most interesting month so far. It makes me wonder what my week with Ruth is going to be like. One thing my friends never have to worry about is having nothing to do when I'm around. I seem to carry adventure with me wherever I go. something ALWAYS happens when you fit me in with at least one of my friends. examples:

Haley: broken Dune Buggy

Stephanie: car getting stuck in sandy shoulder

Sarah and Rebekah: Lost keys.

none of this is my fault! but I feel that just my presence has something to do with it. Call me a Black Cat if you wish, but at least my friends are never bored. =)

Sunburn and Missing Car Keys

Yesterday morning, mom wakes me up at six, me and my sister get dressed, grab a bite to eat and head out the door. We arrive at our friend's house, load up in Sarah's car, and begin our adventure. which meant two hours of driving to a little pond in the middle of the desert. Well, actually, it IS the second largest lake in this state. We reach Ute Lake without miss-hap and spend a few happy hours hiking, not counting the time I lost my footing and my knee slammed into a cactus.

A little before noon, we head back to the car and drive around to the other site of the lake where we stripped down to our swimsuits, inflated the boat (which took about an hour to fill) and jump in the lake, get stuck in cat-tails, capsize our raft, and slowly and pitifully row to the island in the center of the lake. Once there, we fished for crawl fish and swam around in the shallow water. We also flipped the boat upside down and stretched out on the smooth surface. Bliss.

It wasn't until we got back to the car things started to go wrong. Sarah: "Rebekah, where are the keys?"

Rebekah: "I don't know, I thought you put them somewhere."

Sarah: "I did, they were in the bag attached the raft..."

Yeah, we lost the keys...in the middle of the lake. To make matters worse, I had left my cell phone at home and both Sarah's and Rebekah's cell phones were dead. Sarah and I walked to the ranger's station to find a phone and Rachel and Rebekah stayed with the car. The ranger said our story was the second best he's ever heard and gave us his phone. Sarah's parents weren't home. Her grandparents weren't home. We went back to the car and the ranger came by and hour later so we could try again and we finally managed to reach somebody. Nearly three hours later, Sarah's dad shows up with the extra keys and we head home.

It wasn't until I actually reached my own house that I realized how sun burned I was. Rachel looks even worse than I do, and today, we still feel pretty bad, but not as sore as yesterday.

So there you have it, another adventurous day in the life of me. P.S. This post probubly sucked cuz I'm writing it while I'm half asleep. I apologize.

Birthday Begins with a Runaway Horse

Happy Birthday to me! it was yesterday actually, But oh well.

You know that horse that lives in the field next to us? I found out that his name was George of all things. He’s not the only horse in that Field and actually, one of his friends, Pie, got out and was meandering around our house looking for a way back into the field. Dumb horse. We borrowed a lead rope and a halter from one of the people down the road. I managed to slip it over Pie’s head, but the horse didn’t want to leave the fence and remained stationary for forty five minutes! That meant that I had to stand there for forty five minutes, trying to coax Pie into going down the road so we could get him back in his field. Mom was calling the branding inspector to try and figure out who owns Pie, because we didn’t know who owned the field next to us and didn’t have the guy’s number.

The funny thing was that I eventually got Pie moving and no sooner did we start walking than the guy who owns Pie drives up in his truck! Talk about timing. He didn’t even know Pie had gotten out, so that means my mother hadn’t managed to reach him. We have his number now in case it happens again.

It could be just me, but I don’t really like spending my birthday in the hot 95 degree weather with a horse that won’t move.

I painted yesterday evening and finished my seccond ever oil painting. Haley texted me later and said it was a good thing I hadn't gone to youth group that night or I would have had to do the birthday dance. No way as anyone going to make me do that stupid dance.

Bonita Park

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. you see, I haven't been feeling tip-top of late. I have this horrible cold. I don't get sick a lot so when I do it's absolutely paralyzing.

Last weekend was spent at Bonita Park in Ruidoso NM. The first vacation my family has had in nigh a year. It was a father retreat and the dads could bring their families. We were in the middle of the mountains so we had thin air, no Internet and no cell service. I met a few new great people, but it took two days before any of us had the guts to meet one another. Shayna was the first. She has a voice that sort of reminds me of Amanda Bynes. Shayna is apparently in love with Rodeo and Cows. I can't stand cows. She's very friendly and easy to talk to.

Then there's Scott and David. They're best friends and it turns out that I know David from before. We helped his family move into their new house about a year ago. David can be conversation for both of you so it's pretty easy to relax around him. As far as Scott goes, I didn't really talk to him much because him and Rachel were basicly stuck together like glue for most of the long weekend. David kept coming up with ways to break them up.

Andy, I believe will grow up to be some kind of inventor or engineer. He was making some possible plans for a hovercraft of some sort and the drawings were phenomenal! Truth be told, I didn't understand half of what was on the graph paper, but I know that the guy's got talent.

of course, when you do get a bunch of teens together, you get trouble. not bad trouble, but we did go a little crazy. I must say it's weird to play on a play-scape that is way too small. there was one that sat on top of a hill. Andy kept saying that it looks a lot smaller when you get closer. which was true.

So after a long four-day weekend of human foosball, Cheetos wars, getting lost in the mountains, and Scott being eaten by bears (or so David claims), you can imagine how tired I was and still am. Thankfully, this cold didn't really begin to manifest until we got back. I don't know what I would have done if I'd had to blow my nose every few minutes in the middle of the mountains.

Visit in August

Independence day has come and gone, leaving me with lack of sleep and deaf by fireworks. Fire works on the 3rd, fireworks on the 4th fireworks on the 5th. I've had enough fireworks to last me a year.

Right now, I am half watching the Tale of Despereaux because the TV is about twenty feet from where I am standing and it's hard not to look at the TV when it's in the same room as you. That movie is nothing like the book.

Yesterday, My mom booked airline tickets for one of my friends. She's coming to visit me in August. YAY! It'll be nice having someone come here for a change instead of always going there to visit. Can't wait to see her.

I'm tired.

Time for Dinner.

Bye Y'all!

Just got back from a sleepover at Haley's and as usual, we were up late talking...two thirty AM. Now I'm feeling that late bed time and if I can, I'm going to go right back to bed when I finish typing this.

Abby just finished listening to a book called A Dog Called Kitty. Mom picked it out for her. I never get boy and dog books anymore because most of the time they don't end happily. this was no exception. Abby comes running in, crying because the dog died. I think I should be the one picking the books out from now on. It's happened before. When I was little, Mom got me a book called Stone Fox. The dog died. I don't think Mom means to get books with sad endings, I think it just happens. I know quite a few books that Abby will enjoy, so I'm going to look into getting those.

this has nothing to do with anything, but I hate the word "fixin'" like, "I'm fixin' to go to the store." or "They're fixin' to have a baby." I also have a hard time with "deal." like instead of saying "I'll put the pencil in your little deal (meaning bag) here, and you're all set!" I don't like Y'all. I can't stand y'all! Its not a word I tell you, NOT A WORD! I've lived here for two years now and I still wince at all the little weird things people say around here. I don't think I'll ever get used to the High Planes.