Sixth grade is all about the late slips and the paw prints.  Seventh grade about getting it done in the time you have and no one cares about the paw prints.  Those green “buddy bucks” may help 6th graders learn how to behave in middle school, but 7th grade students (like me) don’t really care.

Flashback!  There used to be these huge, painted wildcat prints in the parking lot leading into the school.  I loved them!  I’m not sure when, but sometime in 6th grade those paw prints disappeared.   It was like elementary school *gone* and you must start stuDYING.  If you had problems getting it done in time when you were in 6th, well, no one cares if you don’t turn it in on-time in 7th grade, but enjoy that zero averaged into your grade.  Whoops!  No paw print for you! 

The wildcat paw prints disappearing from the parking lot WAS A SIGN.  Fun times are over.  I don’t remember having to study that hard in 6th grade.  Tip for the next 7th graders: say hello to the reality of having to work hard for your grades and say good bye to the paw prints.  

Not that blurry, really?  What?  Oh, yeah, I do SEE some sort of flags in the distance…

For the past year or so, I have been wearing glasses *sometimes.*  I got some glasses in the Summer and they really helped, but who cares be beyond what you can see?   I wasn’t really struggling with why I should wear my glasses in school.  I did find that they are hard to keep on my face.

You don’t really know the struggles of not being able to see until you don’t.

What I did find is my glasses weren’t very useful when they weren’t on me. Then, okay, it was almost a year.  My Mom took me for a new eye exam.  My vision got worse so I got contacts. What?  Are you kidding me?  A person can see WITHOUT GLASSES?

For the first time in a long time, I was like WOW!  Trees have leaves!

“One inch tall”

If you were only one inch tall, you’d ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
And last you seven days at least,
A flea would be a frightening beast
If you were one inch tall.

If you were only one inch tall, you’d walk beneath the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
You’d swing upon a spider’s thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.

You’d surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldn’t hug your mama, you’d just have to hug her thumb.
You’d run from people’s feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen years to write–
‘Cause I’m just one inch tall).

-Shel Silverstein

When I was about four, I loved cartoon movies.  I grew attached to a certain horse in a cartoon-movie, called Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Filled with sappy Bryan Adams songs it was a wild-west horse story.  Over and over again, I always asked for this movie.  My parents begged me to watch anything but Spirit.  I watched this movie so many times, I just loved Spirit.  I can’t believe my parents even put up with me.

On Christmas day, when I saw the stuffed animal version of Spirit the horse, large and cuddly and bigger than me, he became my favorite toy instantly.  Spirit, the horse!  I had never met a real horse, but somehow, I connected with this stuffed animal and he became my favorite toy.  I kept Spirit on my bed for many years.  For my 5th birthday, I had a horse party.  I had Spirit on my mind.  Weird.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. 2002. Http://en.wikipedia.org/. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit:_Stallion_of_the_Cimarron>.

Digital Footprint a word used to describe the traces or “footprints” that people leave online….

There is a lot of ways to make a digital foot print, though not as many to stop them. Nowadays  we have twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. To connect with anyone in the world. You can quickly make an account anywhere though, when you make one account that account can be broadcasted everywhere. Most people don’t care about their digital footprint, and  frankly I don’t blame them, it doesn’t look like a danger at all. But, when ever you do anything on the internet it can be traced. I know this sounds cheesy but it can catch up to you. Any thing you do someone can follow you. You age, but the internet doesn’t, so next time you post something think about it.  Your digital footprint will be around a lot longer than you will be.

“You are what you share.” C.W Leadbeater

Come visit Texas!  You can come visit any season and find something amazing to do!  Here are the best ideas that I can personally recommend:

Fall:  we have such a mild weather, imagine warm summer weather with a cool, gentle breeze.  It’s the time of year to saddle up for the State Fair of Texas in Dallas!  The State Fair of Texas has carnival rides, farm animals, and seriously, any deep fried food you can think of:  fried corny dogs, fried marshmallows, or fried chicken fried meatloaf are popular. It’s not called the “Fried Food Capital of Texas®” for nothing.  During the State Fair, you can also see the annual Red River Rivalry football game, UT vs. Oklahoma.  Later in the month, head to Austin.  One of the best music festivals in the country is ACL (Austin City Limits).  Bring your lawn chair to park in a the grass and listen to hundreds of live bands from around the world play for thousands of fans.    

Winter:  Cool temperatures, but rarely freezing (except this year :), you can celebrate the holiday season with several winter-themed events.   The Festival of Lights is a mile-long outdoor light displays and a 155 foot Christmas tree in the middle of the park.  If you want to stay fit, try one of the many Jingle Bell 5k runs every December.  A local Austin favorite is the Nutcracker Spectacular at Westlake High school.  It is a ballet and rock concert that gets bigger and better every year.

Spring:  It’s hoppin’ in Texas.  Hit a technology/music fest, see wildflowers in bloom, and enjoy small town fun.  South by South West is a funky music festival in Austin that now includes several days where companies launch new cool tech toys.  Every street, parking lot, and restaurant has some form of live music.  The Texas Blue Bonnets are in *BLUEoom* and cover many grassy, open spaces around Texas.  The Strawberry Festival is in the town of Poteet, Texas.  It’s a carnival, plus art show,  part rodeo, and a parade that also includes the “Taste of Texas” food event.

Summer:  the hottest time in Texas!  Join a monster motorcycle event, splash into coastal towns, and cruise the rivers of Texas.  The Republic of Texas (ROT) biker rally happens in June each year bringing lots of Harley Davidsons and motorcyclists from around the county to ride and show off their shiny stuff.  Cruise down to the coast, either South Padre or Galveston, to enjoy sandy beaches and easy gulf waves.  If you don’t want oceans, there is also river tubing in San Marcos.  Tubing is when you sit in a large inner tube and gently glide the river to watch the scenery float by on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

So, when do you want to come enjoy ANY or ALL the seasons in Texas?

  photo collage credit: Susan Russell 

 

My stomach grumbles, my mom was right when she said not to skip breakfast. breakfast really is exceptional.

Without breakfast you wouldn’t make it to lunch. It is the starting point of your day, breakfast provides the nutrient and energy to get you through the day. For example, last time I went without breakfast-big mistake-I had trouble focusing and was very groggy. Let’s just say everyone avoided me until AFTER lunch. Breakfast is excellent because it gives you a jump start for your day.

Furthermore, it IS great that breakfast gives you nutrients and energy, but it also creates so many ways to be creative with the different styles to prepare food. For instance, there are so many different breakfast food restaurants around Austin, there are a lot of ways to try new foods. Also there are a bunch of cooking classes out there -I really need to go to one- to learn more about food. Breakfast is a creative way to learn about cookery.

Breakfast is great that it can help you in countless ways. Even the most ordinary things CAN make a difference. Breakfast might not be the most grand thing in the world but it still is EGGcelent.

Bienvenue! Welcome! Добро пожаловать (welcome in Russian)!

Once every four years, athletes from around the entire world compete in the Winter Olympics!

Tonight, let me provide a brief narrative about the 2014 “Opening Ceremonies.” As the camera moved from sportscaster Bob Costas (who had a very ugly eye infection), please allow me to provide “color commentary:”

The beginning ceremony was beautiful. A 12-year old with the kite did a great job. She flew though the air like she was floating towards something. It must of took a lot of practice to perform this plus they said she was fearless and she had broken her arm in rehearsal! I give this girl a lot of credit to be tied to a wire flying over a football field on international TV. Would you would have to have nerves of steal? One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was how the floor of the stadium changed into fog and different sceneries from Russia floated across the stadium. After this performance, I was sad that out of the five floating snowflakes, only four were able to turn into the Olympic rings.

Several of the countries participating in the Olympics had fashion statements. Here are my thoughts on a few of the countries that had interesting opening ceremony outfits:

Overall, the best outfits were from the host country’s “walkers.” I’m talking about people who held a double-glass sign for the country as they walked through the stadium. Each of the walkers had amazing snowflake head-piece that was two feet tall, fancy white boots, and two clear floating signs for each country. Winner! Other standouts:

Britain: Dark blue puffy jackets. Nothing interesting.
Ireland: Great use of dark green; not shamrock green, but nice use of green
Canada: Best use of MITTENS! Beautiful red and white mittens!
France: What happened? Military uniforms?
Germany: Most colorful jackets, pants and great look with the flag.
Mexico: Your tuxedo jackets look great! My dad says you look like bull fighters!
USA: Hip and colorful, unique, looks great from both the back and the front.

I pace anxiously across my room, waiting for the phone call. My burning eyes are dried from all the tears. Each tick of the second hand feels like an eternity. What if she died? What if I never see her again? My clammy hands gripped the phone tightly. One tick; I slam the door not suspecting what the fate of the future will bring. Two ticks; the sound of the sirens piercing the cold, thin air.Three ticks; her lifeless body, her pale face, her cold hands. Four ticks; hot burning tears streaming down my face. Five ti— the phone rings.