Oh, Thanksgiving Tree! Wait, What?

Well me, my mom, dad, sister, and grandparents got back from Walt Disney World last night! It's 20 hours both ways, so I was kinda happy to be able to sleep in my own bed last night.

Does anybody else think Best Western's pillows smell weird?

So this morning I woke up to the sound of fake tree branches being bent.

It was that time of year.

Usually people think, "Oh, it's November. Time to pick out a turkey!!" Not for my mom. It means it's time to put up the Christmas tree(s).

I really should've seen this one coming. Last year, she had the tree up before Halloween. She even decorated it with little pumpkin lights.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but my mom... she can be a little over-the-top.

Did I mention she puts a Christmas tree in every room? Even the bathrooms. Mom also put one in the sunroom this year because it got redone. (She didn't want the tree to get all full of spiderwebs. Yes, there were spiders in our sunroom.)

As much as my mom LOVES Christmas, my dad doesn't exactly share this excitement/unhealthy obsession. Mom was going to pay me a dollar to take the Christmas tree and put it right next to my dad when he woke up, but she didn't really follow through on that one.

On the bright side, my mom will be making Christmas cookies sooner!


~Kim~

P.S. It's kinda weird to step out of the shower and worry about stepping on a foot-high tree.

Blog Action Day 2009

Yes, I know I already did a blog post tonight.
Yes, I know Blog Action Day was last week.
Yes, I know I'm late.

But better late then never.

So the magical topic is... CLIMATE CHANGE!!

You know, I don't really know much about climate change, except that Al Gore has something to do with it (I mean with the helping part.). So I looked up "climate change"on Merriam-Webster Online, and here's what I came up with:


The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.

So I looked it up on the open dictionary on Merriam-Webster Online. Guess what I came up with:


No results found starting with "climate change."

Now something didn't seem right here.

Then I thought of something; maybe it's not the website, but the people.

We see the subject of climate change (global warming, recycling, etc.) everywhere we go. Billboards. TV. The bottoms of shampoo bottles that say "please recycle me." So what is it that causes people to be ignorant of this issue? I mean, I know we're all stressed out, and we have our busy lives, etc., etc.. But isn't the subject of our home worth a little time in our day? That's what I thought. We need to spend a little more time taking care of our planet, rather than getting an overpriced cappuccino at Starbuck's, which isn't that good anyways.

And even if we do get that cappuccino, couldn't we at least recycle the cup??

Animals are losing their homes because of our wastefulness. When is the last time you used the back of a piece of paper to write down a note to call someone back? We're wasting paper. We're killing animals.

I realize I'm getting pretty accusative here, and I don't mean to. But think about it. Everyone in America uses approximately one 100 ft. tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year. (EPA, 2008) Now, imagine if we used just half of this. Big difference.

There's also the subject of global warming. Our ice sheets are thinning/dissapearing. Imagine if Antarctica sank into the ocean. This would raise our world ocean level by 200 feet. It only needs to be raised a few feet to flood major cities, like New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney... need I go on?

Think about the mosquitoes. Still water is ideal for them to breed. This could cause major spreadage of diseases like malaria or West Nile virus.

Things aren't looking too hot. Well, they are, but I meant they aren't looking good... stupid puns...


There's so much out there that could be fixed when it comes to climate change. Are you ready to help???

If so, go to...
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
http://www.repoweramerica.com/
http://www.blogactionday.org/
http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/


Help make a difference!



-------------------------------------------
Sources:
http://www.wisegeek.com/
www.oberlin.edu/recycle/facts.html

~Kim~

P.S. Those cappuccions really are overpriced.

Health Class

Well, it's the beginning of the year, and now that I'm in 8th grade, I have health class with my favorite teacher, Mr. Little (which is really weird because he's tall, and his wife, who was my 5th grade teacher, is really short.).



Now I always knew I was gonna have a health class, but I thought it would be all about intestines and guts and stuff. Nope. Today we started a whole new unit. Guess what it was.





SEX ED!!! :( :( :( :( :(



I would have rather gone with the guts.



So of course, half the class is practically throwing up onto their notebooks, and the other half is making sexist jokes. (Like the "mature" 8th graders we're supposed to be...)



Now Mr. Little has three rules for this unit...

1. Act appropriately. (Like that's going to happen.)


2. Ask questions. (Even though if we do, your reputation is done for.)


3. No personal questions. (For example, "Mr. Little, how old were you when you first kissed a girl???")

So, after a really long Q&A session (you can only imagine...), it's time for lunch. Of course, I don't feel like eating now that I know... certain things.

So I'm running around the cafeteria, warning everyone that has health 6th period about what's to come.

I see several people who aren't eating after that.

Then my friend Raquel comes over and sits by me. "Thanks so much for the heads up, Kim!" My other friend Connor comes and joins her. He agrees.

So I'm kinda scared about what's to come tomorrow. Who knows. Maybe the State of Wisconsin will suddenly ban informing kids about this, to save them from being scarred for life.

But they're not those kind of people. So I doubt it.

~Kim~

P.S. I'm sorry if I made you kinda scared.

Dumb Treadmill

The day this happened, it wasn't a very good Monday. Ya see, I always run a little to the right, and while I was running on the treadmill in P.E. my foot hit the side and I fell off. My feet were against the wall, so my knees kept getting scraped until the safety stop went off. Speaking of which, it didn't go off for like ten seconds. Yet when I accidentally knock it down with my arm it turns off right away.

I'm starting to think technology doesn't like me.

So the "safety stop" goes off, my friends Emily and Connor walk me over to the gym teacher. I tell them I'm fine, and that I don't need surgery or anything, but do they listen to me? NO THEY DON'T. So the gym teacher tells me to go downstairs and wash my scrapes up. They didn't hurt at all- until a fly landed on them.

Man, that hurt. Right now, you might be thinking, "a fly? Do you have a life outside of the computer?" But an insect just came and landed on open sores, then laid eggs there. Not very polite, if you ask me.

So after I was done washing my scrapes, I went back upstairs and was forced to put bandages on them.

Then gym ended and I went to put my clothes back on. I kept my gym shorts on because it hurt too much to put on jeans.

So at the end of the day, I went over by my sister's locker. And to my surprise, she didn't even notice. Maybe it was because my family is used to seeing me injured. So here was how the conversation went:

Kim: Hi, Kayla! How was your day? Mine was awful.
Kayla: Why? Did you fail your math test again?
Kim: No. (itches leg.)
Kayla: Then what was it?
Kim: Just what we did in gym class.
Kayla: Oh... did you get hit in the head with a dodgeball again?
Kim: No, today we worked out in the weight room. (winces.)
Kayla: I know! You fell off the cargo net!
Kim: Nope. I worked in the cardio room.
Kayla: Let me guess- all the treadmills were taken?
Kim: Oh, I definitely got a treadmill. (takes out a band aid and applies to a scrape.)
Kayla: (looks down at Kim's legs.) Wow!
Kim: Yeah.
Kayla: People were making fun of you in the cardio room because your legs were so hairy?
Kim: Yep, I fell off- wait what??
Kayla: (looks down at legs again.) (gasps.) Kim, what happened!?!
Kim: I fell off a treadmill.
Kayla: Wow. It takes a really "special" person to do that.

Okay, so I may of exaggerated a bit, but she really didn't notice and she really called me special.

~Kim~

P.S. Never trust the safety stop. NEVER.

Vacation '09

Here is what I would like to introduce to help me tell the story of my vacation this summer, which I got back from a month ago. I like to call it...





The Kim Katastrophies Khronichles!





Here's the beginning of the story...








Kim woke up with a yawn. Today was the day she left for vacation and she could hardly wait. Of course, she would miss her Guitar Hero and bird and TV and running water and her nice warm bed and her lights and her technology and her fantastic blog posts and a bunch of other stuff, but soon she would be out on the road and there wouldn't be any of those things.





Driving out to the nearby village to drop of Dude, her bird, who turned out to be a girl when everyone thought she was a boy, seemed like a really long drive. Kim commented again on how far away her grandparents lived from the city.





"It's only 15 miles, Kim," her mom said. "At the end of this trip, we'll have 5,000 more miles on this van."





Kim's mouth practically fell open. 5,000 more miles? That was like 333.333333 more times than driving to the village!



After they dropped of Dude, they were off on their vacation!





Okay I'm gonna stop now because it's really hard writing in third person. Anyways, after we dropped of Dude we went through Minnesota and Iowa to South Dakota. (Yes, I have a US map out right now.) We spent the night there and then were off again. From South Dakota, we cut down through Nebraska into Colorado and then to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Calabar, or the Calibrian, or something like that. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do for two pre-teen girls in Las Vegas. After that we went into Arizona. There we saw the Grand Canyon, which was really cool, except for the fact that I could fall off at any second, which my parents kept reminding me of. Geez, you'd think they would show some support at my improving "condition." After a few hours there, we left and slept at a truck stop. I laid on the dirty clothes bag, which was remarkably comfortable. Then they had to wake me up because we were going to drive again and I had to get into a "legal position." Seven hours later, we arrived at my great aunt's house in Southern California. I love it there. She has an amazing garden around her patio and it always smells like oranges. My sister and I invented a game there. You see, she has an RV that sits on a hill. There's a mini canyon in her backyard. (At least I fell off this one, not the Grand Canyon.) Anyways, the orange grove is right next to the RV, which sits on a driveway about 100 feet long from the road. There's a tube that the oil from the RV goes down, instead of sitting on the driveway. So my sister and I take a rotten orange from the trees and go all the way up to the road. Then we roll the oranges down the hill/driveway until they go under the RV and down the tube. Then we see whose went the farthest and fastest.



We stayed in California one night. Then we said our goodbyes and went to Anaheim.



Now any person with kids, is a kid, or wishes they were a kid (or at least younger) knows what's in Anaheim, California. Yes, it is...



DISNEYLAND!!!



One day at each park didn't seem like enough. Luckily, we did get to go on and see everything. And I mean everything. We waited half an hour for a 30 second ride. No, I'm not exaggerating.



After Disneyland, we went out to Yellowtone National Park. During the day, it was nice and sunny, with big horn sheep and buffalo and otters and deer and birds. However, at night, IT SNOWED. IT LITERALLY SNOWED. We got in the van at about 5:30 in the morning to go and see the geysers. (And get out of the cold.) God bless the person who invented seat warmers.

It was beautiful at Yellowstone. I wish we would've been able to stay longer. However, school was going to start soon, and we had to get home. So we left Utah and went back to Wisconsin.

And that was the end of our vacation!

~Kim~

P.S. Squirrels don't like it when you are eating out of a can of nuts and not giving them any.

Mission Trip 2

Yay! I got back from my mission trip on July 24. It was really cool. I was working at a nursing home and it almost made me cry to see all these people who need help turning on their TV! (I don't know how I would survive!!)


Anyways, I met this really nice deaf lady named Alma. I wanted to bring her home with me! I kept on having to write down things on a dry erase board so she could read it!

Another thing I learned was that old people can be really mean. I know that once you get old you start to go crazy and stuff, but I think they could have appreciated the fact that I was trying to help them. I went to go help a lady play bingo but another lady at the table shouted at me, "Just leave her alone!" Geez. Everyone in the room turned to look at us (at least, those that heard or those that could turn around in their wheelchairs.).

The last night was really sad. The counselors washed your the group leaders feet and the group leaders washed your feet. It was supposed to be like the Last Supper, when Jesus washed his disciples feet. The youth director for my church, Renee, washed mine. They washed your feet in the warm water (which felt really good after swimming in cold Lake Superior) and then said a prayer. A counselor was playing sad music in the background on her acoustic.

Everyone got up once they were done crying and ready to go to bed. I was the last one in the quiet gym, along with Renee, another kid's mom, and the church pastor. I stared at the lamp burning in the corner, and I silently prayed a short sentence, over and over again.

I promise to do better, Jesus. I promise.




~Kim~

P.S. We didn't end up staying in a hotel. We slept in a 140-year-old prebysterian church that leaked sand on our heads. Yes, that's right. Sand.

Mission Trip

Ok, so I leave for a mission trip this Sunday to Duluth, Minnesota, and I can already tell things are going to get BAD. First of all, I'm gonna be in a van for 6 hours with 11 people, and the church van is only supposed to hold 7 people. Second, I have to get up at 8:00 in the morning. That's still considered the middle of the night for me.



So last week we got commisioned for the trip. It was basically just where the pastors said a blessing during the early church service at 7:30 outside. That means the grass was still dewey, and I was wearing sandals. Wow, that was cold. Anyways, after the commisioning (if that's a word.) the high schoolers left for Kansas City. They were doing this thing called Iraqi Children where they sent school supplies to Iraq. To send off the high schoolers, everybody honked the horns in their cars. (If you're wondering why I was outside to get commisioned and everyone was in their cars, it's because there is a church service you can go to at my church where you can just park your cars in the church parking lot and turn on your radios to a station, while the pastors are doing the sermon on the stage next to the parking lot.) I just really hope we don't get honked at while the middle school mission trip leaves.



While we're in Duluth, I think we're going to do stuff like work at homeless shelters (since 15.5% of the population lives below the poverty level), work at thrift stores, work at elderly centers, and volunteer at children's programs. Here's the daily schedule below.

Breakfast- 7:00- 8:00
Devotions- 8- 8:30
Depart for Ministry Sites- 9
Shower/Dinner Prep Time- 3:30- 5:30
Dinner- 5:30- 6:30
Evening Activity (like visiting the Maritime Museum and Canal Park, the World of Wheels, and spending an evening at Park Point)- 6:30- 8:30
Evening Programming- 9- 10
Prepare for Bed/Lights Out- 11- 11:15

Oh yeah, did I mention we're going to stay in a hotel??? I don't know what the hotel is yet, but I hope it's really cool.

Okay, well I'm going to go, because I need to pack. Bye!

~Kim~

P.S. If you want to do a mission trip like this, talk to your pastor or youth director and go to www.youthworks.com

Wow

Wow. It's been forever since I got on this thing! There are SOOOO many injuries I need to tell you about. I also need to tell you about some of the, well, dumb things I've done. Stupid blondeness. (Is that a word?). Okay, I'm just gonna make a list. I'm sorry if you get carpotunnel or something from scrolling down so much.

1. After mowing the lawn earlier this week, I tried putting the mower back in the garage, but our sunroom is getting redone (that's another story) and the wood for it took up like half of the garage. Therefore, I had to squeeze the lawn mower in between the wood and van. After doing that, I came out the way I pushed the mower in and saw my new paint job- scratched paint all the way down to the metal, costing my family about, oh I don't know, $2,000? I told my mom (who wasn't very happy with me) that I was going for racing stripes. That didn't really help the matter.
2. The same day as the lawn mower incident, I was playing Guitar Hero: World Tour when my mom called me over into the kitchen. (After the earlier incident, I figured she was going to cut my leg off with a knife or something.) I was walking over there when the strap holding the guitar controller came undone from the controller! (gasp here.) The controller hit the floor and BOOM! I cost my family another $1,000.

Now at this point, you may be thinking something like, "oh no! Poor Kim!" or, "I feel bad for her so I'm sending her money to pay back to her parents!" or, "Dummy." I don't blame you, especially those of you who are thinking the second one. But there is one thing that causes me to be so uncoordinated and blonde. And that thing is GENETICS. Do you really think that all this is my fault? That I'm just too blind to see that this isn't my parents fault? Well you're thinking wrong. Now as you continue reading, remember to blame my parents and NOT ME.

1. I was playing Clue with my family the other night and I wasn't paying attention because I was so tired. My mom asked, "Kim, do you have ballroom, Miss Scarlet, or rope?" I was so tired so I just said, "yeah, mom. I have rope." For those of you who don't get it, I just told everyone I had rope, giving them an advantage.
2. I was playing Guitar Hero: World Tour when my dad called me. I turned around and the guitar hero controller slammed right into the TV, denting it. Again, I owe my parents another $1,000.

So those four are pretty much the worst things that have happened to me since October. And I probably left out, scratch that, did leave out a lot of stuff since I have the memory span of a chocolate chip cookie. Speaking of which... see ya later!

P.S. I wasn't kidding about that sending money thing.