Surprise!

I realized mid-afternoon (after all my frees) that I had a choir rehearsal after school. I called my dad from the bathroom.

But am now bowled over by work that I planned to get done today.

A Flamethrower

Today is my little sister's birthday. She's been really into cooking for awhile now, and one of her favorite dishes to make was Bananas Foster. Which involves setting the dish on fire.

So what do my parents get her? A little fire-maker thing. (aka the Chefflame Butane Torch) Great.


p.s. they also got her a poster all rolled up that she promptly began to beat me with.

Paging

One day in February, my dad mentioned to me that if I wanted to become a page in Congress, I should look into it now. I did, and have since sent in my applications to three different congressional offices: both New Jersey Senators, and Rep. Jim Saxton.

There are basically four different programs, one for each party in each chamber. I applied to one GOP in the House, Saxton, and two Democratic Senators.

The House program, for either party, is really organized and straightforward. Congressmen are invited to nominate an applicant. The applications of their nominees are forwarded to either the Speaker's office or the Minority Leader's office. The Speaker/Minority Leader then decides which 72 of the 250+ nominees will get to serve as pages for each session.

In the Senate, each office can pick their most qualified candidates, but then they basically just push for their candidates in a free-for-all. One staffer I spoke to told me that's the reason that seniority is so important (yay Senator Lautenberg!).

There are four possible sessions to serve as a page: two semester-long school-year sessions, and two summer sessions, one in June and one in July.

My school is weird, and getting on my nerves. No transfer credits are accepted. So, if I went to one of the school-year sessions, I would have to go back to my town high school afterwards. That would suck. So, I only applied for the summer. Now, since I live in New Jersey, I don't actually get out of school until June 24-ish. So that left me with one session to apply to.

Granted, I didn't even know there were summer sessions, so I thought that there was no way I would be able to serve at all. But it still kind of sucks that I can't do the full semester program, which everyone online seems to agree is a better experience.

My applications were sent in on time (barely) for the April 1 deadline that most of the offices have. Rep. Saxton's office told me that the deadline for forwarding their nomination to the Minority Leader was April 14. I spoke to them after that date and was told that they had already forwarded the nomination but weren't going to tell me whether I had been nominated.

On Friday, I read on a message board for prospective and former pages that the Democrats in the House had already made their selections. Their deadline for nominations was April 9. So, in theory, I could know whether I was accepted into the house program THIS WEEK. Which, oddly, is actually what the staffer in Saxton's office told me.

The Senate staffer I spoke to said that the Senate would probably make their decisions by early to mid-May, since Summer I starts in early June.

All of a sudden, possible disappointment looms.

The Dreaded Vaction, Part One

Saturday, April 19
Wake up very very early to go to airport. Check in, go through security, get on plane.

The lines at Newark weren't bad at all for once. We didn't have any problems that they caused, at least. I panic for a minute when I realized I had lotion, Purell, AND chapstick in my carry-on, but my dad solved the problem for me: I took them out. Gasp.

I took the middle seat for the first time in my life (I'm a bit claustrophobic, the idea of it had always scared me), and immediately found that, rather counterintuitively, the middle has more legroom than the aisle. I don't think I'm ready for a window yet, even though I did look rather jealously at my sister leaning against the wall and sleeping.

Once we got onto the plane, we sat for awhile trying to not get bored. It worked for my little sister, but with my attention span, it didn't go so well. I didn't take out my iPod or laptop because I knew that I would only be allowed to use it for a few minutes. Eventually I managed to figure out that I could read the Continental magazine to at least not be fidgeting every .0000000001 seconds.

Just a few minutes before we took off, a flight attendant came walking down the aisle and handed my mom a boarding pass. Yep, she got upgraded. She was thrilled, obviously, but we were not, especially after the flight when she told us about the chocolate-chip cookies they served.

The rest of the flight was fine. I listened to Sara Bareilles and Linkin Park while reading a political thriller called The Zero Game, by Brad Meltzer. I liked it, but it was definitely in the form of a standard legal/political thriller.

When we landed in Las Vegas, we got our baggage (my bag was last, like it always is, for some reason), and got on the rental car shuttle. Our car was bigger than the ones we rent to go to Florida, which was good, because we then drove for five hours to get to the Grand Canyon.

On the way, we stopped at the Hoover Dam and in a little town called Seligman.

Seligman was so cute. We went to a diner that looked like it came straight out of Grease. The food was good and the waitress was so friendly. It was great.

I'll try to post pictures and stuff about the rest of the vaction tomorrow.

Rutgers

They swore they would never go to Rutgers. I don't know why, but the fact that they are depresses me. I mean, I haven't spoken to them, so maybe they genuinely changed their minds. I really really hope that they aren't being forced to go there by their parents, or presured to go there by their friends.

Wow, I'm stressed out. Why do I let such stupid things bother me when I don't even know all the circumstances?

I have a Future?

Forty-seven-ish days left until I'm a junior. Forty-seven more days of the hell that has been sophomore year, and then...something else?

The math teacher I will likely have next year is a jerk. He hates kids who miss eight days a year because of Model UN and at least eight more for debate. (As far as I know, he doesn't hate kids who miss school for math team trips.) Math is the subject that a) I hate the most and b) counts the most in my GPA. Oh joy.

Lit and history should be better. But I'll also have SATs and APs and IBs to worry about. Ugh.

I need a vacation. And it can't possibly come soon enough, after that nervous breakdown on the tennis court.

A Math Problem

Chemistry Class has two tests per trimester.

Math Class has three tests per trimester.

How is it possible that their tests are within four days of each other?

And they wonder why I get annoyed...

Recent Scene in Our Household:

Mom, Dad, and Sister in master bedroom. Postscript in her room getting dressed.

Dad: (to Sister) Well, I guess you can go brush your teeth now that she's FINALLY OUT OF THE SHOWER.

Sister: (walks into bathroom) AND SHE DIDN'T TURN ON THE FAN, EITHER!

Me: (grabs sweatshirt from hook in bathroom)

Sister: (gives dirty look)

Mom: I don't know if I can take you shopping tomorrow night for the clothes you need for semi. I don't feel like going to the mall, and the shops in town close early.

Me: Okay...(thinks of taking Dad to GapBody) Maybe Dad can just drop me off.

Mom: Yeah, good idea. He can go to the bookstore or something.

Me: (thinks of hair straightener she wants to buy)

Mom: Is there anything else you need?

Me: (ARGH.) Um...I don't think so.

Now, I know that I probably should have just told her what I wanted. but my mom and I don't really communicate that well. She's waayy different from me. When she tries to explain stuff to me, I just find myself thinking about how, if we were political candidates, the campaign people would not have to look very hard for differences between us.

And why doesn't Gap post their store hours online??

Hmm. Does RiteAid sell straighteners? Decent straighteners? And for how much?