Busy as a Bee

Happy late Thanksgiving and early Christmas. I am sorry I haven't posted in a very long time. I have been "Busy as a Bee" as you can see from my title. I went to my grandparents for Thanksgiving in Southern California (5 hours away!). It was a pretty car ride because we (my mom, sister, my dog, and I) got to drive along the ocean where it meets the hills. We spent some time with my dad's family having a soup and sandwich get-together which was lots of fun. I got to see my cousins which I hadn't seen for a long time. My cousin Taylor and I sat by the fire, roasted marshmallows and talked. It was delightful! We had Thanksgiving with my mom's parents (my grandparents) and I made a discovery. I like MASHED POTATOES! I learned that you peel the potatoes, boil them, put seasoning in them and eat them. Yummy, yummy, yummy! Up till now, I thought I hated them. I never ate them anywhere. Maybe I had made a mistake and eaten the box kind, I don't know. But my grandma's mashed potatoes were delicious! They make a pretty good mountain on your plate.

Did you know that I am good at geometry? Ok, not so much, but recently I played the part of Euclid in an historical tableau at my school. I don't really know what geometry is except for shapes. I know what a circle, square, triangle, and octagon are, but I don't really know what geometry is other than that. So, I was Euclid in the painting School of Athens and was located at the bottom right hand corner. Euclid is an old, grumpy looking, over weight, almost bald man in the painting. When I chose Euclid, I thought I was choosing the student next to him which was a young, handsome man dressed in a green cloak with brown long hair...exactly like mine. But alas, I got the old grumpy looking Euclid. So I dressed up in a dress that my Grandma Wathen made me (this dress has really been put to great use and gone a LONG way) added a toga, and put some nylons on my head so I would look bald. In the tableau, there was actually a boy who shaved his head like a monk for his part, but I would not go that far. History Day was a wonderful experience. Next year, I will be more careful who I choose!

Coming up in my next post, I will be telling you about some important changes in my life. Stay tuned. Watch your computer all hours of the day. You never know when I will post and you don't want to miss this.

I promise I'll post soon- hopefully Wednesday.

Goodbye my friends!
Gigi

Wooo Hooooo!

I did it! I finished Jane Eyre this morning in bed! Wednesday, October 19, 2012 I finished it! Ok, I'll stop tooting my own horn. Beep beep, beep beeeeep! It was a sweet ending, as sweet as it can be. It was as sad as a dead puppy at times, but at the end it showed beauty. Just when you thought that this book was going to end in tragedy, it ended in beauty. It was a wonderful book.

Jane Eyre is an amazing women. She was headstrong, had fortitude, and persevered through tragedies. Her life was filled with sadness and hardship but also the beauty of God shown through her. She never hated the people who mistreated or deceived her. Her whole life she just wanted someone to truly love her. At the end, it finally comes true and even grumpy, creepy Rochester is changed by her love for him. Jane Eyre, the book, has many good examples of "man verses self" a literary devise I am learning about in school. Mr. Rochester, St John, Mrs. Reed, all seem to be fighting themselves. Jane herself, seems to be an example of "man verses world" because she's fighting with the world that she can't control, trying to make things better for everyone else and to find someone who will love her.

The book Jane Eyre was great. I recommend this book for older readers not only because it is hard, but also because of some of the things that happened. For those who have read the book a long time ago, I encourage you to read it again. You won't be sorry.

Just as Charlotte Bronte ends the book, Jane Eyre...

"Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus."
Grace

SLO Running and slow reading

Yes, yes, I am sorry I have taken too long to write again. I am busy. Here are the things I am doing: homeschooling, fencing, reading, eating, sleeping, churching, running, beaching, singing, friendsing, and buncoing. I know, I am breaking the rules of grammar. Don't worry, I am not crazy (I don't think I am anyway, but it sounds so much more cool to keep all of the ings). So, please forgive me.

Besides fencing, I have been running. On the same day even! It's not just running by myself. I am running with a few middle schoolers and high schoolers at SLOCA. We are getting a team ready so that hopefully next year, we will be able to compete. Our runs are 2 miles that take us through Cal Poly, SLO. It is exciting running through the college because there is lots to see. I don't really think about college very much except for culinary school, so it is interesting being there. My dad is the coach and he is a very good one. Weirdly enough, I am not the last/slowest runner, unless I get a cramp. THEY HURT! It's embarrassing in front of college students to be as slow as a turtle, so my goal is to be in the middle of the pack.

I am 100 pages from finishing Jane Eyre. For those who know Jane Eyre, as a friend, I am at the part where she is a school teacher for St. Johns School. I have passed some of the scariest and saddest parts of the book. I wish she could have married Mr. Rochester---ooops I am giving away too much! It's sad but true. Ok, I have a friend who is reading Jane Eyre too and she needs to get a move on. We are planning to watch the movie together with our moms when we are finished, but she is a slow poke. (She isn't even from SLO!) So this is my nice way of saying to my friend, "Move it!". I am prepared to use force or violence as Mr. Rochester would say. In the book he says to Jane, "Listen to me or I will try violence!" Mr. Rochester is creepy and weird, and I will try to not follow in his footsteps. I highly doubt I will, but dear friend "read on, read on!"

This Wednesday is my Grandma Gogo's birthday and I want to wish her a happy birthday- blog style. SO..."HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA GOGO! Thank you Grandma for being there when I need you, celebrating with me all of the good things that happen, praying for me, and for making delicious ribs. Three cheers for Grandma! GO!GO!GO! (Make sure Grandpa Gogo makes you a cake! Probably on the barbeque since that's what he knows how to use.)

A Bientot (See you soon),
Gigi