Home Again

He thought you meant to find fault with his work.

That's what the average farmer would have meant.

James would take time, of course, to chew it over

Before he acted: he's just got round to act."

-The Code, Robert Frost

Ok I'm going to say it right now: I REALLY don't want to go back to work tomorrow. I'm really enjoying not working. And no one is to say I NEED the job. I manage fine without the extra money, and I could always find less...committed lines of work, like tutoring or cleaning or teaching piano lessons. However, the extra cash is a blessing, I really do love my job, and I simply can't leave them short-handed right now.
As this is such, I will be waking up tomorrow and returning to work after my break off. *Sigh*
I got back from girls' camp on Friday. The trip was shorter than normal, which stunk because it was my last year, but I had a blast. There is a ton to write about but only so much I can say before anyone who bothers to read my blog suddenly gets bored and decides to go do something more fun and exciting, like...get the mail, or...scoop cat litter. Yeah. SO: Highlights: 1) Being a YCL, 2)Getting lost but not really* on an incredibly long hike, 3) High Ropes course, 4) Eating a ton of junk food on an already sick stomach on the last night, having it all come back up, then going on as normal for another 3 hours, because I could, 4) learning a new verse to the frog song, 5)pretending I had a venomous snake bite and a first degree burn.
Want to hear one of the MOST embarrassing things of my life? I got my Report Card last week. Sadly, the Most Important report card in my highschool career is also my worst by far. Worst of all, I failed second semester Pre-Calculus. I don't think I have time to repeat it before I turn in my college applications either. Looks like I really WILL be spending my first year or two in community college. Bummer. Seriously, I really am upset with myself. I actually TRIED in that class. I also mysteriously missed all of this year's deadlines for the ACT and SAT, with no help from my school counselor. Senior year will be rough. I'm still excited for my AP English and AP Psychology classes though.
Some weird thoughts have been wrestling in my mind lately.
1) By this time next year, I'll be headed to college (of some persuasion) and life on my own
2) Liberty Jail is one of the biggest oxymorons of our time
3) This is my last summer as a legal kid.
I'm burning through books faster than I can borrow them from the library. In the past two weeks of summer I have read the first three books of the House of Nyte series (I don't recommend them), the last two books of the Twilight series(I had started the first two during school, so it doesn't count), Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman. I REALLY recommend Graceling and The Other Side. The last one is interesting if you're against the whole, 'Global warming and socialism' thing. :)
That being said, I'm reading a book of Ray Bradbury's Short Stories to break the tedium between library trips. Does anyone have anything they recommend? I'm liking the fantasy/young female heroine/handsome mysterious gentlemen the heroine falls in love with thing right now. Maybe it's because I want a boy in my life. I don't know. Oh well.

Love, Happiness, and Music to all!

*My definition of getting lost: Having no points of reference as to where you are, not knowing where you are, no way of finding where you are, no communication to help you find your way, and not remembering which way you were supposed to be heading. Basically, being on your own and helpless in the middle of nowhere. There's a reason I say I'm never lost: I've never not been able to find the place I was going to.

Where'd She GO?!

Hi friends, hello family!
I JUST realized that it has been nearly a month since I last updated ANYONE on what's happening in Temecula. Well, it's really quite simple. Now that the stress of balancing high school, a job, and a college class are behind me, and I get a simple 18 hour work week to have fun with, I don't feel a need to relax in front of a computer for an hour every night. I've even cut back on my Facebook social life. (I know, BIG shocker)
So here's what HAS been happening lately. Finals week rolled around, I studied more than I ever have before (EVER), got sick, almost missed finals, and STILL ended up not doing well. As sad as it is to say, the most crucial report card of my high school life is also my worst.
Something fun and exciting: I got a tumor removed! Okay, some of you may have managed to catch that bit of news flitting around facebook or twitter two weeks ago, but here's the juicy details! I went to the dermatologist for a routine acne prescription check and refill. I decided I might as well get a mole and the funny bump on my leg checked out. Good ole' doc said the bump was a little tumor, benign most likely, and he'd gladly get rid of both it and the mole. SO they did. It was really weird seeing someone attack the underside of my arm with two scalpels, but that's all I got to see. Contrary to my wishes, I wasn't allowed to watch them get the tumor. I had to lie down all the way in case I freaked out or something. But mom said it was cool, and they used a neat little tool that looked like a scrapbook punch. Two stitches and some bandages later I was on my way.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. (Except for when I had a reaction to the undearm bandaging, but that doesn't count.) I just got the stitches out about 45 minutes ago. It'll be nice to be able to swim and shave like a normal person again.
Bailee and I are off to Girls Camp tomorrow; her first time, and my last. SO depressing. But I'm not packed and somewhere between work and our final YCL meeting today I need to come up with a devotional and scripture study lesson, and finalize some certification activities.
Exciting news, two of my guy friends are heading for their missions in 3 months! Wade just got his call to Albequerque, New Mexico, and Jared turned in his papers last week. SO excited to see where he goes, and how they both do. Jared is actually going to get a blog up and running, that Brianne will update with letters and pictures and stuff. You'll find it here.
Enjoy your lives! I need to go to work now, and I'll be back in a week after camp.
Views: 380

Love you all!
-Katie Helen

New Moon

For all you twilight fans out there...thought I'd post a little teaser!
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD


Want more? Visit the author's website!
Stephenie Meyer

View Count: 366

Ketchup

What happens when you neglect your blog? Bad things happen. Like, family and friends being out of the look that is your life. Anyway, I've got a lot to cover, so hold in.
AP
Finished my AP tests. Both went well, I think. The Essay topics were easy enough. Sadly, though, that makes me nervous. Oh well, I simply will keep it out of my mind until the middle of July when I get my scores.
HEAVEN
After that, the next big event was Great-Grandma Helen's funeral. It was very beautiful, and I don't think it could have been improved upon. It was one of those bittersweet moments. I'm very sad she's gone, but I know where she is, and I know she's free now.
It DID cause the biggest game of Pre-Algebra catch-up since last fall. Oh well. SO worth it.
INTOXICATION
This past week in school there was a program called Every 15 Minutes. It was a 2 day long event that demonstrated the effects of drunk driving and driving under the influence. Both days, roughly two dozen kids had their faces painted white, with black circles around their eyes. They weren't allowed to speak, as a reminder that every 15 minutes, someone dies in an alcohol related accident.
On day one we met on the football field, and after a staged introduction, a screeching of tires and the blast and smoke of a car crash, a tarp was pulled back revealing two smashed cars, one upside down with alcohol bottles falling out of it. No one was moving in either.
The police were called in, then the fire engines and the paramedics. I guess it served as a training day for them too. Teenagers inside both cars were painted up bloody and gruesome. One girl in the car that the drunk driver had been driving was pronounced Dead on Arrival. The mortuary van was called in, she was put in a body bag, into the van, and away she went. Another was pronounced critical by the paramedics, and so she was airlifted to the hospital, and died there. (I must admit, I was jealous here. Although it was all staged, she actually got to ride in a helicopter!! All the way to the hospital!) The jaws of life were used to cut the top off of the upright car, and all of the kids inside wheeled off on stretchers, then into ambulances. The girl who was drunk driving was the least injured, and arrested on the spot.
On day two, we were called into the gym for the funeral. It started with all of the white-faced kids wheeling in a coffin to the front of the room. Each of those kids had to stay the night at the hotel; to really live the feeling as if they had died in an accident, they weren't allowed to go home overnight. They were all asked to write letters to their families; what they would say if they really WERE taken from this life. The parents were asked to do the same to their children. First a boy read his, one that had been involved in the simulation the day before. His was so heart wrenching. It was unbelievable. A girl shared hers next, which was almost as bad. Then two parents shared their letters. After that, a husband and wife stood up, the couple who organized the Every 15 Minutes program stood and shared their story.
Their son had been riding his bike home when he had been hit by a drunk woman driving her car. It was her fourth offense of DUI. Now the couple travels all over to try and stop things like that before they happen. Next came a small family, a mother and her two daughters. This one hit me hardest of all. The little girl spoke first, small and spunky, about my sister's age. I promise the two could have been twins. Her older sister spoke next, a girl about my age. Both were mourning the loss of their nineteen year old brother, who had been living near home, but not at home and had been sober, but had been out with drunk friends. It all just hit WAY too close to home.
It put me into one of the biggest funks ever.
MISS
JUST to drive the moral one step deeper, I had my own little experience Thursday night. I was driving home from a friends house a little after nine. I was driving a LITTLE fast through the meadow, but not more than 5 over the speed limit. It was just fast for me because I usually drive 5 under through it. Anyway, here is a little picture for better example:

The pink line is the direction I was going, the yellow X where my house is, the red X where the DRUNK DRIVER was arrested. Literally, the SECOND I pulled up in front of my house, the siren went off, pulling over the driver of the vehicle at the red X. He was no more than 30 seconds behind me. Creepy right? If I had been driving 30 seconds slower, my car could have gotten in a fight with that persons car.
PROM
All of this was planned perfectly, because last night was prom. It was nice, there are pictures on my facebook, and I hate them all. My date was a perfect jerk. Although we agreed to just go as friends, it didn't give him the right to flirt with and or compliment EVERY OTHER GIRL right in front of me. For the record, I didn't get a single "you look pretty" or anything similar from him. Just, you know, something you'd expect from your prom date. He ended up sitting away from my on our drive home and falling asleep on another girl's shoulder. However, I DID have fun, especially with all the 'firsts' in the night.
First:
1) Time in a limo
2) School dance
3) Time getting ASKED to a dance
4) Prom
5) Dinner at In-n-Out in a formal dress.
Needless to say, I declined going for food or more partying after, and just went home. Oh well. It gave us plenty to talk about in Laurels today!

LINK
Interested in the Every 15 Minutes program? Good. I HIGHLY recommend seeing one if you ever get a chance.
Every Fifteen Minutes
SADDStudents Against Drunk Driving
MADDMothers Against Drunk Driving

Drive safe, everyone, and have an awesome Memorial Day!

350 views! WHoot!