Why I don't bike as often as I should

As you might know if you creeped on my profile, I like to bike for exercise. Keep in mind that I bike around my neighborhood. Now, when I go for a ride, there are good things, such as exploring the neighborhood and being outside, and there are bad things, such as gravel and stop signs. But there are 3 things I dislike especially.

1. Cars
Now, one might think to themselves that unless you ride on main roads, cars should be going slow enough and infrequent enough to not cause much trouble. Well one would think wrong. Whenever one attempts to go for a ride, all of a sudden, everyone is coming or going, as if they were waiting for you to start before they went anywhere! In addition, Cars think they own the road, and drive so as to let you know that you are in their way and you need to move your slow-pokey self off the road so they can start speeding again.

2. Hills
I realize that the point of biking is to get exercise, which requires work and sweat and possibly a little pain, all of which a hill will induce. Now, if I go for a ride sans any major hills, I can get good exercise and go for quite some time before I feel like I must head home for fear of collapsing and dehydration. But when I go for a ride and decide to ride up a hill of much consequence, that feeling sets in about halfway up. And by the time I reach the top, I sort of feel like dying a little.

3. Dogs
I am not an animal hater. In fact, I rather enjoy dogs and cats and almost anything else you keep as a pet. But not rabbits, they make me sneeze. However, I do not appreciate riding past a house and getting chased by a loud, furry, angry ball of terror that seems to think it owns the street and can therefore bite your feet off for daring to ride by!

Now, I realize that there are also wonderful things about bike rides, such as sprinklers. There is nothing better than riding through a big spray of water on a hot, dry day. And people watching; I love trying to figure out what they think of that strange, pale-skinned, fluffy-haired girl on the bike two sizes two small for her. Actually, I got a 'new' bike that fits me, so that doesn't really play a role in what they think of me anymore.

I also realize that all of these problems could be fixed if I would bike at a park or on a bike path, but that takes at least an extra 30-40 min to load everything up and drive there and back, and who has time for that?! Not to mention that there is a severe lack of sprinklers on bike paths.

Everyone Fails Every Now and Then (or All the Time)

Well, yesterday was an adventure! Besides my usual 2 girls, I had an additional 2 girls for most of the day. They usually do a good job of entertaining themselves without any help from me, but this time the younger two wanted to play with clay, which was a giant [fun] mess with a lot of cleaning to do afterwards. They used a whole jar of plastic flatback gems which ended up completely covered with clay-water, so they all had to be washed. Next, all four wanted to do blindfolded makeovers, which, while wildly entertaining for me to watch, is also rather messy and potentially stressful when you don't like your makeup or get perfume sprayed in your eyes. After completing the makeup, crazy hairstyles was of course the natural follow-up, and after they finished each other, they decided I was next up for a, special, hairstyle. I'm not sure how they managed to get so many pipecleaners in my hair all at once, I think they used half the package!

During the afternoon, we ended up locked in the study because the cleaners were there and needed us out of the way. The girls convinced me it was a good idea for me to play a Mario game with them, but I basically failed at that, so I think I'll stick to playing video games when no one is around to watch me :P

After work I made my weekly trip to the jewelry store to practice my jewelry making skills, and started the wire-making process to make some earrings to match the necklace I just finished. This time I started from scratch and got to melt the silver down and pour it into the mold with Rafael's help. Then he assigned his step-son (who's about my age and has been learning for about a year) to help me if I needed while I rolled and pulled the wire. I've pretty much given up hope at ever being good at pulling wire. I can roll it square just fine, but once I start pulling it round, I just can't physically get it. Last night I spent at least 3 min trying to get it through one hole, which is embarrassing when there's someone your own age watching you fail miserably :/ At least I didn't lose my grip and fall on my behind like I did last time! Eventually he just pulled it for me, which was prolly best since I ripped the skin off the inside of one of my fingers and blistered a few others. I'm gonna have to figure out how to get better at this!

Today, I only had the oldest girl, the younger one is at camp. She slept in till 11, so I had all morning to myself! The rest of the day we made cookies (which I burnt) and played Scategories. So far this week, I think Scategories is the only thing I have consistently not messed up in some way or other. I'm hoping I'll have better general success for the remainder of the week!

Eh..

Wow, it's been a lot longer than I intended between posts! But then again, I haven't done anything overly noteworthy to write about. I did finish my first necklace that I've been working on at Rafael's though! Tonight I'm gonna start the matching earrings :)

Other than that, nothing that exciting has happened. Work, college prep, a few friends here and there. I don't have a lot of time to do anything, and at the same time I have all the time in the world! It's strange. But now I've got to leave for work, happy Wednesday!

The Texas Giant: Safety Hazard?

Well folks, I had an amazing time at Six Flags, one of the best! Which is saying a lot, because I've been to that specific Six Flags at least 12 times. I even did something I've never been able to do: I rode all the major roller coasters in one day! Plus all the smaller coasters, except for Runaway Mine Train. The New Texas Giant was amazing! We ended up waiting hour and twenty minutes for it because they had to take one of the trains off, but I'm so glad we waited!

Due to an odd number of people, I rode the Texas Giant with a stranger, which usually proves to be uneventful, but sometimes yields an interesting experience. This time, the lady I sat with seemed fine until we started getting strapped in, but quickly started to panic about the safety of the ride. The attendant came by and checked the restraints, and when he finished, she called him back over and asked if he could double check her restraints. He chuckled, and thoroughly re-checked it for her. Then, (pardon the slight rabbit trail) a lady in the front of the train tried to sneak her purse on and buckled it into the seat with her. This of course was frowned upon, and they wouldn't let her ride with it. She made a ruckus and refused to leave it behind, so they had to unlock her car and she left the ride. Then they had to re-check all the cars, and the lady next to me, looking pleased, sort of giggled and said, 'Oooh, triple check!' And then promptly had them check her seat a fourth time.

All in all, it was a great trip! So great, in fact, that I could barely pull myself out of bed for work this morning. I can't help but wonder if the girls can tell when I'm extra tired, because the younger one did all in her power to frustrate me. Every day, both girls are required to practice piano for 30min and read for 30min. Not that much, but the 8 year old fusses like there's no tomorrow! She started throwing piano books around when I asked her to practice, and then she started crying about how terrible her life was compared to her older sister's. And while reading she asked every 2min how much longer, and complained about how boring the book was. I'd finally had it when she threw a fit when I asked her to brush her hair before lunch, and was 2cm away from not giving her lunch and cancelling the movie we were going to see, but didn't because that would make the older one mad, which would mean endless fighting the rest of the day. I'm going to keep hoping that eventually the girls will realize that just doing what they're supposed to do without complaining takes less time and energy, and just do it without making me ask them 42 times every day!

More Flags, More Fun!

Well, my month of 'no work' has come to a close, and today I went back to being a nanny. It's funny how I'm busier during the time I'm off from my usual job than I am when I'm working! But tomorrow I am taking off for a much anticipated and very confusing trip to Six Flags! I say much anticipated, because it is one of my favorite places to visit, and I say confusing, because in the last 3 days we have had more changes in plans and decisions to make than I can keep track of! But I think we finally have it all figured out and we are going to have amazing fun :) Can't wait to ride the new Texas Giant!

Yesterday being the 4th of July, our family and some friends went to a parade in the morning and tailgated in the evening before fireworks, as is our usual tradition, which was quite enjoyable! The parade is becoming less and less exciting every time I see it, though. Basically, if you see it once, you've seen it a hundred times. But it is a good chance to celebrate with my community how truly blessed and great our nation is, and that is a chance that doesn't come up too often!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to paint I go!

This week has been yet another busy one! Monday and Tuesday I enrolled for next semester, which took a lot of time and brainpower. I think they tried to throw every bit of relevant information at us in as short a period of time as possible on Monday, and then make us spend the night in the dorms before we enrolled so we'd forget it all :P

Tuesday night was quite wonderful, however! In honor of the release of the Lord of the Rings extended edition on Blu Ray, they showed all three movies in select theatres on the three Tuesdays leading up to it, and I went to go see the Return of the King with my dad. It was way cool to see it on the big screen, because I was too young/hadn't read the books when they first came out.

The rest of the week has been a mixture of painting the outside of our house, throwing together yearbook pages, and a few other random tasks. In some ways, I can't wait for school to start so I can be done with all the little things that need to be worked on (like painting the house), but in other ways I wish these days would go on forever because the anticipation of college is prolly way better than all the homework and tests. Plus, I have way more flexibility right now! But I suppose I don't have a choice either way, so it doesn't matter too much what I'd prefer :P

Road Trip: Quartz Mountain

This weekend my sister and friend and I took a gander down to Quartz Mountain to watch/view the performances and art/photography gallery from the summer arts institute camp. For some reason, they said I was in charge, made me do all the driving, and blamed me if anything went wrong :P All the students at the camp work for two weeks in their discipline and then perform or have a gallery, and I was blown away by how incredible they all were. I had a friend attending for art, and another for creative writing, and of course they were both wonderful!

We camped Friday night in a tent, and that was (of course) quite an adventure with broken tent zippers and grumpy camp security. We spent at least an hour and a half experimenting with a fancy camera doing light writing and other fun things, which turned out far cooler than I anticipated! Props to my sister for all her great photography skills!

We also had all sorts of up close wildlife encounters totaling at 5 skunks, 2 porcupines, and 1 deer (that was was literally only 3 feet away), in addition to all the bees, scorpions, bugs, etc. that you usually see.

Hiking and swimming in the lake did not happen, because we woke up tired from not sleeping well and feeling rather gross and dirty to be going to fine arts performances. But we drove around and saw the lake and mountains, and ate lunch at a tiny little restaurant, which was fun. We generally had a grand time, with no major mishaps to make into an interesting blog post, lol

In other news, I'm off to orientation and enrollment tomorrow, which means I'm going to have to decide what I'm going to minor in, and what language I'm going to learn. I hate decisions :/

Hitchhiking Bum?

Note to self: do not forget to keep an eye on the stove when you start boiling something. Thank goodness for Mom who is way smarter and more on the ball than me!

One more day of camp to go, and then the real camping begins! Well, more real anyway. I keep thinking to myself, 'Just make it to the end of this week, and everything will relax!' and then I remember, 'Oh yeah, I have enrollment and a house to paint and my room to pack up and a yearbook to put together, never mind.' Sometimes, I most definitely feel like I should just skip the whole college and work and responsibilities thing and be a hitchhiking bum. And then I remember that I prolly wouldn't make it for more than a week doing that, and decide to be responsible again.

But hey, if I ever decide to be a hitchhiking bum, I can prolly discover some new, innovative art form or recycling method and make it big, and not have to be a hitchhiking bum anymore! I'll let you know if that ever works out, lol

SAM Camp: Day 3

It's been a long week, and I'm only half done! But so far, I've learned calligraphy and Zentangle, and all sorts of new songs and hand motions.

I also realized that I have a strong desire to know what on earth goes through those kids heads all the time. With some kids, you can tell, but there's always that one that you just can't figure out. One moment, they're poking their neighbor's eye out, and the next they've decide you're their new best friend and won't detach! And then there's those who won't do anything. They just wander from station to station with this blank, glassy stare when you ask them to do something. But they're all cute, which is why they make it through the week alive :P

I think the musical is going to be adorable, which is frustrating cause I'll be missing it :/ Mind, I am going camping with my sister and best friend and we will be going to hear and see some incredible art performances and galleries at Quartz Mountain, but still, I hate to miss the kids.

Tonight we had another incredibly beautiful sky, and it was all I could do to watch the road while driving my car and riding my bike! I suppose that's one good thing about the big, flat plains without forests, you get to see the sky whenever you want.

Whelp, I suppose that's all for now.

Here's a picture of the Zentagle I drew yesterday :)

SAM Camp: Day 1

This week, my mother is putting together her usual children's musical and day camp at our church, and I have the privilege/misfortune of helping all week. I do enjoy helping, I just don't always have as much patience as it requires.

For my jobs this year, I am helping with the musical rehearsals, the drawing and calligraphy classes, hand chimes, and I have a group of kids to keep up with at lunch. The musical went well, I think it'll be a lot of fun! And although I enjoyed helping with the drawing and chimes, calligraphy turned out to be my favorite class, because I got to sit there and learn and practice with the kids! You'd be surprised how difficult it is to make nice, even strokes in the correct order, direction, and size! But it was neat to practice, and maybe by the end of the week I'll have something to show for it.

I ended up feeling rather awful by the end of the day, and slept through the last hour of rehearsal on the most fluffy, pillow-y youth sofa imaginable! I may just spend the night there this week, seeing as I have to be there so early anyways..

Tonight, I think we are under some sort of thunderstorm warning, which always gets me excited. I don't enjoy the damage they bring, but I am left in awe after watching clouds and rain and storms, they are magnificent! It's not really reached us yet, but it started raining with the sun shining through the clouds, like something out of a painting. Amazingly, my camera actually captured the sky decently! Now I may have to sketch or paint it, or some variation of it.

This is pretty much what I actually saw, while the next one is my extreme just-for-fun editing, and not remotely what it looked like :)

Adventures in Chain-Making

Since November 2009, I have had the opportunity to work for a locally well known and respected jeweler, Rafael. I work only Saturdays and mostly just file paperwork, open the always locked door for customers, file new jobs, answer the phone, etc. But every so often, Rafael will teach me little bits about jewelry making; nothing too much or too complicated, but still, I will take any experience he offers to me.

This week, after telling me how much he wishes I was a jeweler and could help him, he offered to let me come in after hours and teach me about anything I asked (within reason). My first project is to make a large-ish chain. I started by pulling some silver into wire, which might have worked well if I hadn't lost my grip on the wire, slipped, and fallen on my behind :P After I accidentally pulled the wire much thinner than originally intended, Rafael annealed it, and I wound it onto a mandrel to make round links for a chain. I started to solder a few closed, but had to go home before I got very far.

Yesterday, I stayed late after work to finish soldering all the links together into a chain that was prolly about 14in; I think I will make a big clasp for it next time and make it into a necklace. I got progressively faster at the soldering, and figured out how to make it work [almost] every time. I even got lots of practice lighting and tuning the torch, since I accidentally put it out every other time I used it! Maybe sometime I'll post all the little tips Rafael has given me and I have figured out.

A side effect of soldering is all the discoloration on the silver, which makes for an interesting look, so I took a picture of all the rings I soldered closed before putting them on a chain.

Back to Blogging

Well, it's been an extremely long time since I've been on here, and lots has changed since I was a regular blogger. But I'd like to give this a try again, and see how it all goes. I prolly won't be very regular, with starting college (eep!) and working and getting my jewelry off the ground (hopefully), but we'll see.

In the meantime, since it's summer and I'm thinking about how much fun it would be to travel, but won't get to travel, I thought I'd recount my favorite family trip that we took several years ago. This was written for a scholarship contest, that I did not win, but it was lots of fun anyways :)

In the fall of 2008, my family and I took a trip like no other. My dad wanted to take us to see several major national parks and do some camping along the way. So in September, our family took off from Oklahoma to visit the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands. However, since the details of the trip could easily fill the pages of a small book, I will stick to writing about Rocky Mountain National Park, my favorite part of the trip.

The first real challenge of the trip started before we left: getting all of us in the van, along with two weeks worth of clothing and equipment. This would have been easier, however, if there were not seven of us, with two in car seats, filling the seven passenger van. Perhaps we ought to have left the littlest one with the gypsies. However, with a car top carrier and some expert packing, we squeezed everything (and everyone) in. After staying the night in La Junta, Colorado, challenge number two appeared in the form of a dead car battery. But with some help from the local Walmart and a new battery, we were back on the road.

Now, between all the excitement and stress of starting such a large trip, we had to figure out an efficient method of getting in and out of each campsite. At first, this might seem easy, but unloading seven sleeping bags, pillows, suitcases, and random paraphernalia is not exactly simple. The campsites did make this easier, though. We decided to stay in Kampgrounds of America (KOA) kamping kabins, and they worked out great for us, as they had a picnic table and grill, and access to community showers. The cabins did sleep all seven of us, but for the most comfort, again, I would suggest leaving the littlest child with the gypsies and bringing six or fewer people.

After two days of travel, we finally made it to Estes Park, Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. September was a fantastic time to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was not overcrowded, the weather was great, and there was no snow except in patches above the tree line. However, it was a bit chilly, and we were all glad to have long sleeves. For our first venture in the park, we drove up Trail Ridge Road, which takes you through the mountains and up 12,183 feet in elevation. The view from the summit was simply incredible.

We spent the rest of the time in the Rocky Mountains hiking and viewing the wildlife. My favorite hike was the trail up to Emerald Lake. The trailhead is at Bear Lake, and the trail is 1.8 miles one way, taking you up just over 600ft in elevation. On the trails, and just about everywhere, there were numerous animals to see, including deer, elk, and chipmunks that scurried all over the place, even on our toes once or twice. The last thing we saw in the Rocky Mountains were two large elk, sparring just beside the road.

Whether I was standing on top of a mountain, or down in a valley watching incredible animals face off, the whole park left me breathless. This vacation turned out to be one of the most fun and exciting experiences we have had together as a family, and I cherish all the time we spent together.

Thank goodness we did not leave the littlest one with the gypsies!

I realize, some of you may think I have fallen off the face of the earth, as I am not usually this inconsistent, but rest assured, I am fine. Just very busy (and I have a facebook now, so that takes some of my time too). School is taking so much of my life, I have the PSAT and the ACT to study for (PSAT is next Wednesday), and I am working on two math programs and two science programs. One each of the math and sciences will be done soon, so I will have more time next month (hopefully).

Right now, we have my grandparents and two cousins visiting, in honor of it being 1 year since my grandpa's heart attack. He is doing fantastic! Since we have family in town, Jc also came to stay for the weekend. I hadn't seen her in several weeks, so I was glad she finally came home yesterday. She had to work today, so she drove all the way back to Norman, and she will be coming back here tonight. That is a lot of driving.

So, I am going to have another jewelry booth next month! Our church has a craft fair every year, and I get to go this year! I am very excited about it. I am going to have to work hard to get it all ready though. I need to get a State Tax ID Number, so that I can be really official (and order from wholesalers). I am not looking forward to the paperwork, but since this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, I should probably get some experience.

Today, I went to a class meeting. There are enough homeschoolers in the metro to have several graduation ceremonies, one of which usually has upwards of 30 or 40 kids from around the state, which is the one I am planning on graduating with, and it's the one Jc graduated with. It is strange to start thinking about graduating already. I am signed up to be on the yearbook committee and the activities committee. Now, I will finally be able to use my amazing yearbook skills again ;) I almost ran for an office (treasurer), but I decided that it would probably be too much for me to do, so maybe I can be chairman of one of the committees I'm on.

~Ellentia