Science Fair

All I have to say is it's due next Monday.

Well, maybe a little more than that. I've known about it for the last 2 weeks but couldn't think of any good project ideas. Well, now I have one! *applause*
Thank you, thank you.
My science fair prokect this year will be testing the blood sugar changes in diet iced tea vs. regular iced tea.
OK, that's all I have to say. But I will say I got a new Zen Mosaic music player for my 14th birthday. Perdy cool.

Festival Fun

Every year, at the end of April, the park across the street from my house has a fair. They have rides, concessions, music, etc. It's been going on for as long as I can remember. When I was little my dad used to tell me he ordered it just for my birthday (because it was always about the same week) and I believed him. Now that I'm older, I know better, but I still have fun at the fair every year.

Not so much this time.

I only go on "wristband night" now. That's where you can pay $15 for a little green paper wristband and get into any ride you want for the whole night. Wednesday I went on a ride called the "Zipper" 5 times in a row and got really dizzy. I didn't want to go on any rides until I stopped being dizzy, so I took it easy for a while until somebody wanted to go on a ride with me. So the whole evening was fun, until- I threw up on the Zipper.

The part of the Zipper that you ride in is a little cage (perfect for trapping your barf) , and you have to go on with 1-2 other people. The lucky person riding with me when this happened was Cassidy, though fortunately she didn't get anything on her.

The ride was almost over. I REALLY didn't feel good this time, and so I had my eyes closed with Cass screaming her head off next to me. Next thing I know, I had my hands cupped over my mouth to keep from spilling vomit everywhere. But the ride was still bouncing around and I couldn't keep it in. I turned my head to the side, away from Cassidy, and tried to make it go out the side mostly, but instead I just got a lot on me. The ride came to a stop and I jumped out and threw up again on the grass.

I staggered away, still dizzy and also covered in sick. Julia (wonderful friend that she is) ran away from me, screaming "Just looking at you makes me sick!!!". So much for getting help. Two boys from our school who wanted to get on the Zipper started walking towards us, curious. Well, I thought, at least now Julia and Cassidy will have an excuse to talk to them. Not wanting to be seen caked in puke, I looked for a way out between the rides so I could go around the fair and avoid more people. The smell was so awful I almost threw up again.

When I finally got home, I took a shower right away, and then brushed my teeth 3 times. Even as I went to bed I could still smell it. Blecch.

The next morning at school, the first thing anyone said to me was, "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" I assured them I was, and then the vomit jokes began. When I asked to borrow an eraser, it became "the vomit eraser" as soon as I touched it. Therese insisted that I was sick and that I should go home and not touch her.

Thanks, guys.

Today...

Today I wrote thank you notes to iStar Financial, (who gave me the $100 savings bond), Merriam-Webster, and Encyclopedia Britannica. They were pretty identical, though.
I've been getting lots of congratulations from people, and it feels weird. I can only imagine what it's going to be like at school tomorrow. People already know me as the speller girl and such, but now that's going to be basically my whole identity. Especially from my science teacher, who enjoys making football references just to see my reaction (bored), and who also types about 3 words per minute, hitting the spacebar instead of tab.
This is gonna be great.

Spelling Bee

I haven't posted in a while. But my mom was talking about it, so I just now remembered to blog! Whoops.
Nothing much has changed, until yesterday when I won the spelling bee! This means I am going to the National Spelling Bee. It's something I've seen on ESPN for like 5 minutes, but aside from watching Akeelah and the Bee I don't really know what to expect. Mom always said I could make it, but I just shrugged and told her "We'll see." Going was never my goal.
At the bee, I told myself that I just wanted to be in the top ten. But when Therese dropped out in the 5th round, I told her "I'll win it for both of us". However, I didn't really believe that. Every time I came up to the microphone, I braced myself, thinking, This is it. This is the word I won't know. This is as far as I'm going. But I knew almost every single word! There was "nightingale", "tortilla", "bratwurst", "nemesis", "ostentatious", "precipitate", "oregano", "turpentine", "monomanical" ( i just guessed for that one), "poultice", "cyanide", and the winning word was "deciduous". Pretty easy considering some of the other ones: ""malloseismic" was a word I would have spelled wrong. So was "shaddock". Not exactly common words.
So, I have a 3-foot tall plastic trophy that I don't know where to put, two 4-inch binders full of words to study, a book written by last year's winner, a dictionary, $20 that I got after registering, and a reservation for a hotel in D.C.! But I probably won't get to see the sights, even though I love the subways & museums.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee starts on June 2. Wish me luck! I'll try to write an update every day while I'm there.

Various Things

History Day: Yes, I finished. *round of applause* By the time I went to school I had everything printed out and I was pretty sure of the layout. It is now in the hallway for all to see and looks pretty awesome with the fake blood. (Which is edible, so my board is kept behind a rope so nobody eats it. )
More recently, there has been several feet of snow where I live. But that doesn't mean much because by Friday morning, 49 out of 50 states had snow in them. (All except Hawaii) Of course, I went sledding, but it was hard to walk up the hill because by the second snowstorm it was waist-deep. It was still snowing, too, so snow got in my pocket where my phone was. Which brings me to this: my phone is water-damaged beyond repair. I am getting a new one in the mail, a Samsung Propel (possibly blue) that should arrive Monday or Tuesday.
And speaking of water, there was another meet this weekend. I swam 200 IM, 100 breaststroke, 50 free, 100 back, and 100 free. Aaaaand I'm coming back for the relays later tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day! <3

History Fair

*gulp* Yes it's that time of year. My history day project is due this Monday. My topic is Blood Banks/Transfusions and I still don't have everything printed out yet. Here's what I do have:
-A poorly written essay that needs to be revised.
-3 pages of printed pictures, and a lot more that haven't been printed.
-The letters for the title, and the board (which is red).
-A bag of fake blood.
-Pamphlets about giving blood and 2 "I gave blood today stickers".
-Only a vague idea of the layout, and almost no clue where I'll put the pictures.
-A big black square of posterboard (to make the papers/pictures "pop out") which is not big enough.
-2 hours tomorrow at school to put everything together. If I don't, I still have the weekend, but I'd prefer to do it tomorrow.

Well, I should get back to work.

Updates

Let's make this quick.
1. I am not going to Japan. I was very sad yes, but I will live through it. The trip is in May, and 5 other people (2 of which are my friends) are going for a week. =(
2. I have facebook now, courtesy of "Santa Claus". So I might be posting less that ever. Or maybe more, I don't know yet.
3. I won the spelling bee, as the sole representative of our school. Last year 2 people moved on from our school, with 2 representatives. This year there is 1 winner, with 3 alternatives. Is 3 alternatives even necessary? What are the odds that 3 people will become too sick to go? Well, thank god there was that one extra. You can never be too paranoid.
4. This doesn't really count as "news", but T made another blog. For more details, visit, http://lsparkismyhomie.blogspot.com/
Well, that's about all I can think of! Stay tuned for more posts in the possible distant future.

Black Eye

Today in gym we were playing hockey. It was the last day for hockey, and i liked playing. (Personally, i thought i was doing good.) I remember going after the puck, but there were already about five people around it so i moved back, ready to get it if it came toward the goal. Somebody whacked at it, and it came flying through the air toward my face, and... ouch. Everybody stopped playing. I covered my eye with my hand, and the gym teacher came over to look at it. I took my hand away, and he sent me to the nurse immediately. She took one look at it, and gave me ice while she called my mom to pick me up. It didn't really hurt, but she told my mom that it was "swelling up while we speak." I got my uniform out of the gym locker, and julia went up to my locker to get my stuff. Withing 5 minutes I was on my way home. So right now mom is taking my brother to an appointment, and when she comes back at 11:15 I'll probably have to go back to school. The swelling has gone down, but its still a little sore.

Distraction Therapy- webcomics!!!

yay i luv cyanide and happiness. look for them on youtube!!!

Japan Essay

i had to submit an essay last week, along with 3 teacher and non-relative recommendations. it was all so i could apply to go on a student trip to Japan. about 9 people in all submitted theirs (including me.) so far i like my chances.
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As it turns out, I did not get picked to go to Japan. :'(

Savage Chickens (again, they are just so funny!!!)

Savage Chickens

Yes, that's right. Time for more silly pictures. These are from savagechickens.com!