Day #32: 4.5 Champions!

Woah! Wowzers! OMG! Today was Game Day for the BEST robotics competition in Kansas. A day full of driving robots to score points and showing off our team via spirit and a booth. Crazy! Oh, and guess what? My lovely team and I qualified for regionals in Arkansas! We got 5th in robots overall after narrowly making it into the semifinals via the wildcard slot (thanks to my notebook). We then went on to get 4th in the BEST competition! ASDFaweij asfehowheoawoe ajwoe! Whoo!

Today, I learned...

1. ... that two years can be enough time to rock it. This is only our second year in BEST robotics and look how far we have gotten! I am so awesomely proud! 
2. ... that there is no victory quite like a CG Robotics victory. We went crazy! 5th place, yes please! Screaming, chanting, jumping, dancing, hugging. I might have seen a few tears.
3. ... that scary witch faces and little children are very scary. Sure, being tired added to my fear, but my loud squealing in the theater was mostly due to the scary witch faces. Thanks Paranormal Activity 4.

Also, congrats to the other teams going to Arkansas from the Kansas hub (Wichita Homeschool, Ambassadors for Christ, Circle, Kapuan). Wichita Homeschool dominated taking first in robots and BEST. I thank them so much for helping push us in the right direction last year.

Day #31: OMGOMGOMGOMG

Stress! But the BEST kind. After school, I set to work figuring out how to build our booth for robotics. And ya know what? I now have an elevator. Yes! It is probably one of the most beautiful things ever.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that when you take over a project for someone else, you run the risk of becoming possessive. That's what happened with the booth. But I treat all of my projects as if they were my metaphorical children. The notebook had to be awesome, the marketing presentation had to be awesome, so the booth had to be awesome. 
2. ... that I am devoted to robotics. My hands are proof. They are covered in silver spray paint and grey house paint because I used my hands to splatter spray paint on pens (they look like stars in space!) and to help paint the boot. Go robotics and finger painting!

Oh gosh, there was something else. Oh well, GAMEDAYGAMEDAYGAMEDAY!

Day #30: A New Month

Uh-oh, it's November already? Where is all this time going?! Bleh!

In other news, my marketing team (Erica, Scott, Nick, Luke, and I) did amazing today! We presented to the judges and the whole thing went swimmingly. The judges really seemed to like the presentation and we probably scored a 115%. After that awesome display, we picked up some booth items from Hobby Lobby (we're making keychains!) and then headed to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I (kind of) beat Erica in a game of checkers and the food was delish. We then headed home. On this long car ride I had science cause water to splash all over me and played a scary game (I'm a youtube star now! Search Mary's slender reaction. You might be able to find it. I apologize for the swearing.).

Today, I learned...

1. ... that the gas laws weren't kidding. Charles' Law states that pressure is directly related to temperature. Meaning that when the temp goes up, the pressure goes up. Well, my water bottle was very warm when we returned to the car. So when I flipped the straw up, the water rushed from the area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. The water flew up and hit the top of the car and then fell right back down my shirt. It was crazy!
2. ... it is hard to trust people when they've freaked out. We had some girls in robotics that had bad attitudes. So Erica and I kind of took charge of their project. Well, they returned today and we only shared some of the responsibilities with them. All the art projects (keychains, fancy pens, coloring pages) to be handed out, well, Erica and I will making those solo considering we don't trust them not to freak out or complain.
3. ... that arts and crafts are a good thing to bond over. Love ya, Erica!

Finals Block Party tomorrow!

Day #29: Happy Halloween!

Ah! My almost favorite holiday! Fall is a wonderful time of year, I love dress up, candy is delicious, and scary things are da bomb. I mean, in one night I led little kids in a parade, helped hand out books, handed out candy, and watched The Lost Boys and Hocus Pocus! All while dressed as a 1920s flapper girl dressed as a cat for Halloween. Costume-ception.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that it takes a lot of energy to recover from being ill. I got sick last night. *tear* I then spent most of today feeling like I was swimming through caramel. But I'm good now!
2. ... that sometimes people freak out when they think they had to do more work than you did. So I am in an engineering design class. It is the first time we've had it and the trimester is drawing to a close. It is during the last hour of school, so I had missed quite a bit of it for xc and other things. Annnd, I spent a lot of time working on robotics in there. Well, when I politely as the teacher (Mrs. Schroeder!) if my group could skip presenting Friday and just compete on Tuesday, this other group of kids in the class freaked out on me. They were genuinely upset. Schroeder had to tell them to mind their own business. Meh. 

And so Halloween draws to a close, but hopefully it will continue for me because Saturday I'm (probably) going to see Paranormal Activity 4!

Day #28: Exhaustion

That exhaustion from being me is starting to kick in. That's why I'm calling it early tonight. Sure, there are things I need to work on or get done, but all of it is for naught if I am sick tomorrow.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that I live in the shifty, penny-pinching side of town. Ok, not really. But when I was trick or treating for UNICEF, the peeps in my neighborhood either didn't have any money, didn't answer the door, or were mean/creepy. Some doors we just avoided. Thank you to all of the very generous and helpful people! (Including my mumsy <3)

*dies*

Day #27: Silver is the Color

Whoop! My SB team and I got second today at our meet. The team was Erica, Grace, Nate, Garrett and I. Good times. We had some delish Chinese food after (but I left my leftovers in the van :\ ). Life is exhausting.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that some groups of kids don't get better as they age. These kids were nice enough in middle school, but now that they are ridiculously tall(er), all smarticles, and killer at sports, they've become very snooty. Remember when, Amy?
2. ... that sequin shirts are mesmerizing and seizure-inducing. It is quite a thing when you walk past a window and the sun reflecting of your shirt scares the bejeezus out of you. Just saying. Go sequins!

Marm.

Day #26: Lazy Days

Let's see, I woke up 10ish (late), had breakfast with the family, cleaned my room some more, did some laundry, lazed to music, went to robotics, lazed to memes, had dinner, watched The Walking Dead, did economics work, posted on the blog... Oh wait, that is happening now! Yeah, not much exciting happening today. I guess there was some teenage angst earlier, but we'll ignore that.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that Prezi is a lot of fun! I made a practice presentation today and it was ridiculous. I am thinking maybe I can make one that kind of looks like Mikey for Thursday? We shall see.
2. ... that The Walking Dead show has a Governor that is a lot different from the ones in the comics. This Governor is almost scarier since he doesn't look super scary (more like a rough dad who means well). Oh! *spoiler* he still has the room with the zombeh heads in tanks. lawls

Must. Sleep. Bleh.

Day #25: Robo-Uh-Oh!

Today was Mall Day for the Kansas BEST Robotics Hub. I didn't get to drive Mikey (we ran out of time), but the poor fellow was kind of broken anyway. Ya see, gravity likes to work 99.98% of the time and Mikey was not the lucky victim of that 0.02%. He came crashing back down to Earth and was injured in the process. So, instead of driving the robot, I tweeted for the robot! @BravesBEST  It's a great time. I then spent the rest of the day watching movies with my mumsy and Ash and then cleaned my room.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that the purpose of Mall Day is not so much to practice on a game floor, but to figure out what bits of your robot will not work with the game floor. Sure, some would call that practice, but I feel there were a few exception-schools that only had to practice considering their robots were awesome (*coughWichitaHomeschoolcough*)! We now know what we need to fix on poor Mikey.
2. ... that my Senior Year is preparing me for college in an interesting way: there is a definite decrease in the amount of time I spend hanging out with my friends outside of school activities. This will prepare me for the wretched homesickness that will come from moving several states over. My past few years of high school have been jam packed full of school things and hanging out with my friends (mostly my ex-boyfriend and my best friend/current-boyfriend, but still). If I was not hanging out with one of those two or with Taylor, I was hanging out with all of my friends at the same time. Well, let's just say I've been spending a lot of extra time at home. On the (seriously) positive side, I get to spend more time with my mumsy!

Angst :p Robo-Angst [:p] lawls

Day #24: Robotic Biographies

Gah! I almost spaced doing this! Bad Mary! I must admit, I was too distracted by being pumped for Mall Day tomorrow! I finished the notebook (aka the biography of Mikey) and I even have color pages. It is pretty much the coolest thing eva. Oh! And Mikey works (mostly)!

Today, I learned...

1. ... that I have an attention span of at least seven hours. That doesn't include the school day. Wowzers. I am dedicated to that robot.
2. ... that experience is a great teacher. Just the experience we gained from competing in the BEST program last year has brought us so far!

See ya at 6:10, Schroeder!

Day #23: Cold! Cold! Cold!

Omigosh, I almost froze my fingers off earlier. Yesterday I was wearing a short skirt and today I am packing on the extra layers of clothes! Gosh, Kansas is crazy. Tonight was Senior Night, so I was recognized as a senior cross country runner. They also again recognized me as a National Merit Semifinalist!

Today, I learned...

1. ... that sometimes you just have to do it yourself. I am working on the robotics notebook still and my dear babies are trying to make CAD drawings for me. But they are so freaking slow! I don't think they understand that *I* have to get this notebook done and printed by tomorrow. *huff* Anywhoo, I just started taking the pictures of the things I needed myself. And now I am much farther ahead than I would have been if I had waited for someone to remember that I exist.

Marm. It feels like a Friday, but thank goodness it isn't!

Day #22: Senior Pains

Today was an adventurous day. I did some nerdy stuff at school, helped Tyler with his senior pictures (meaning I took them), had SB practice, and figured out what to order for graduation announcements.

Today I learned...

1. ... that I know a lot of people! Can I just invite some via this, so I don't have to send so many announcements? Probably not. I mean, I don't even know who all reads this! I'm pretty sure only two of you are people that I know. But hey, the more the merrier (and apparently the more goodies?). I was going to order 50 announcements, but Mumsy and I soon realized that wasn't going to cut it.

I'm sure I learned something else today, but I am zapped. G'night.

Day #21: That Buzz(zer)

And so it begins! And on a great foot, too! Today was the first Scholars' Bowl meet of the season and my team (Erica, Luke, Nate, Grace, and I) dominated. We got second out of 10 teams. It was very exciting.

Today, I learned...

1. ... about the Chain Rule in calculus. Fun stuff once you get around the ridiculous way they try to write out these rules. h(x) = f'(g(x))g(x)
2. ... about the Ideal Gas Laws in chemistry. And! Bonus points, because I got the pascal question at the SB meet.
3. ... that I have nothing to worry about with this team. I was kind of worried at the end of last year's season, but that was mostly me missing all my seniors. I have high hopes for my little SB babies!

Tomorrow is SB practice! The rest of today is sleep.

Day #20: Academic Honors

Today, I was recognized as a Kansas Honors Scholar for being in the top 10% of my graduating senior class. Five other students from my class were also recognized, along with a lot of other kids from other schools. We each received a personalized dictionary. Let me just say, awesome! This dictionary is huge!

Today, I learned...

1. ... that even though academics takes the back seat to things like sports, it will still take me farther (and get me cooler things!). My point was proven when one guy mentioned how the two girls from his school had state competitions in their futures. But hey! What's getting a medal (although a very cool thing and high honor) as compared to getting lots of money in the form of college tuition and a huge dictionary? Am I right or am I right?

Congrats to my fellow scholars: Taylor, Michelle, Issac, Amy, and Casey!

Day #19: Like a Model

Well gooooooodness, that was quite an adventure. Over four hours of picture taking! Wowzers! These pictures will be amazing though, so it was totally worth it.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that sometimes you have to let go of control. Or, specifically, when you are blind and can't see what you are suppose to mimic in your pose, you let people move you to pose you. It is a little frustrating at first, but eventually you just go with it. 
2. ... that being a model would be exhausting work. I only had four hours for fun. None of that 8 hour shoot for serious business. It must be so stressful!

Oh! The Walking Dead was on tonight. Second episode of the season and I am already yelling at the tv. Ok, I yelled during the first episode, but still!

Day #18: Bittersweet Buh-Byes

So today was regional cross country. I finished 14th with a time of 17:08. I was also one off from qualifying for state (this saved me the moral dilemma of choosing between robotics and cross country!). My lovely team had a lot of pr's and just ran their little hearts out. I love 'em.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that Senior Year is a year of lasts/endings/goodbyes. Sure, it is leading up to the beginning of the next chapter of my life, but to get to that beginning, I have to go through a lot of ends. Today was my last high school cross country meet. Probably my last cross country meet ever. Wow. It weighs on the soul. I'm not excited for all the other ends to come.
2. ... that I really value those freshmen. I had no idea who most of them were at the beginning of the school year. The ones I did know, I had negative views of due to some rude behavior they displayed in Quiz Bowl. They have pleasantly surprised me. I really love all of those kids! Little Megan, Karen (Zach), Levi, Sam, Luke, and Caleb, they are all amazing. 
3. ... that I really miss cross country, but I will still see a lot of the team in different activities. These kids are into the right things. They are super involved (which I know is the best thing to be!) and I have faith that they will not go off and do drugs/drink/do bad things. Just mix Mountain Dew. 

I'm going to miss running with everyone! Especially my fellow senior, Garrett. And a shout out to Skyler, Corey, Tall Megan, and Scott. Oh! And thank you, Coach.

Love and Sleep,

Mary

(Pictures tomorrow!)

Day #17: #writingwritingtweetwriting

There was no school today! Sure, I had to wake up early to run, but I also had a day to do other activities (like work on the robotics notebook and pick out senior picture outfits).

Today, I learned...

1. ... that freshmen boys (or most teenagers, for that matter) do not have very good attention spans. I like to think of myself as an exception to this, but it was quite obvious that my freshies follow this rule. We spent about four hours today working on robotics. Towards the end, all of the boys were getting fidgety. Little was getting accomplished (except by myself. I am relatively immune to them.). 
2. ... that I get cranky when my clothes are not organized. I have a very specific system in my closet. The back rack is dresses and skirts. The dresses are divided by sleeve length. The front rack is jackets, pants, and shirts. The jackets and pants are divided by sleeve length; the pants are divided by length. I have the rest of my shirts in drawers. They are divided by solid color or pattern. Then there is a dress drawer, an under shirt drawer (sleeve length AND solid vs. pattern), and a bathing suit/apron drawer. My t-shirts (mostly from school) are divided into what activity they are from. Super organized. And that's just the clothes! Well, I dragged my winter clothes in from the attic and they were all vomited onto the floor. Needless to say, meh!

Well that second one up there was long winded. Regional XC tomorrow! G'night.

Day #16: Pointing Fingers

*huff* Oh, the life of a high schooler! Angst angst angst! But it is not normal angst, it is Senior Year Angst. Also, the wind was a jerk during practice today. On the positive side, I got quite a bit done of my robotics notebook. Yay!

Anyway, today I learned...

1. ... group decisions are not always fair. Here's what happened: today, we met with the Josten's rep about announcements and ordering and shtuff. Last year, I was the class president and my officers and I designed an announcement on the spur of the moment (nobody told us that the Josten's guy was coming until they announced for us to meet with him). We picked out a design and wanted to use black paper. Well, apparently it ended up looking too much like Ft. Hays University. So without any input from me (I am the class stuco rep now), the other officers chose to go with white. Sure, it was the Josten's guy's fault that I was not included, but those girls knew better. Moving on. I asked the Josten's rep about the change and so started a series of votings by show of hand. First was if you didn't care. The majority of the class raised their hands. Next was leaving it white. A small group of people raised their hands. Then it was a new suggestion (blue paper with a gold bar). A larger group of people raised their hands. Finally, one person voted to make it black. Clearly, blue was the winner. But then, big mouth R! yells that everyone who doesn't care just raise your hand for white. So we went with white. I am very upset considering these are my senior announcements too. Shouldn't the people that do care get a bigger say in what happens? I think so. Meh.

So I thought I had another lesson, but then 1. turned into a super long rant... Oh well, 9am practice in the morning, time for bed!

Day #15: Frustration Station

Guuuuhhhhh. I am very tired. I should be asleep. Meh.

Oh! Tall Megan and I won the Amazing Race! And the finals! (To give some context, we did an Amazing Race work out at xc practice today. We had to run to different destinations and do activities before heading back to the school. Partners were selected at random. We ran just under 4 miles in 30:28. Very exciting stuff!)

Today, I learned...

1. ... that online AP Calculus AB is very frustrating when the book (that I had to print off) doesn't explain some of the answers it reaches. Why do I need to factor this? How did they reach *that* answer? Because no matter what *I* do, I can't match it. It doesn't help that I don't find my teacher to be a very reliable source. I miss Tisch :(  Maybe I should make friends with Regier...
2. ... that whenever I try to type things beginning with an "Ma-" my fingers will go ahead and type Mary. For example, when typing "Martin," I will type "Mary." Or when typing "Maybe," like above, I will type "Mary." It's a little bothersome.

Goodnight.

Day #14: SLANT

Today was a busy day. School, xc practice, robotics, play practice, homework, blog, homework, sleep. Well, I haven't technically gotten to that last part yet, but I am dangerously close.

Today, I learned...

1. ... how to be a good listener. More specifically, my first hour economics class got a lesson in SLANT. S: sit up. L: listen. A: ask questions. N: nod. T: track the speaker. I have no idea where Jimerson (our teacher) got this from. Actually, I wasn't even present for the actual discussion about it. He just brought it up "again" in class today. I had no idea what he meant at first, and then I realized it was another thing about how apathetic my first hour class is. It's sad.

I don't really think I had any other lessons from the day's adventures, but then again it's all kind of fuzzy up there. 

Oh! Magic Mike (our robot) can now go up and down a pole! In 18 seconds! Yay!

Day #13: Busy Busy Busy

So today was busy, but it is only foreshadowing the chaos to come.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that I will be super-duper busy for the next forever. I just realized today that I am missing three out of four days of the first week of the new tri. Wow. I need to memorize lines, I need to do homework, I need to write an engineering notebook and marketing presentation, I need to make another presentation, I need to do homework, I need to run, I need to do homework, I need to write this thing, I need to eat and sleep, I need to breathe! *gasp* 

If I learned anything else today, it was overshadowed by that one realization. Not really a lesson, but I say "oh well!" Let's see what happens tomorrow.

(P.S. 10 points to Hufflepuff if you get the reference in the post title.)

Day #12: Ye Old Partay!

Happy birthday Timothy!

Today was a fun day. I ventured to Kansas City on an Art Club trip and saw some really awesome stuff. We went to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Renaissance Festival. At the Kemper, they had some amazing works of art. The traveling exhibit was all about maps. Totally cool. There was even a sphere piece that you could walk inside of. The acoustics in it were disorientating! At RenFest, I enjoyed a lot of gallivanting around in a mask. I also bought an ocarina!

Today, I learned...

1. ... that you really have to consider a piece of art before dismissing it. A few of the pieces in the map portion were mobiles by Nathan Carter (not the Canadian actor or musician). At first glance, the pieces look like a collection of random lines and pieces of trash. This is something that my family pointed out. I quote my sister-in-law and mother: "It's just a bunch of random stuff. I could do that and they wouldn't call it art." Now keep in mind, they aren't in any art classes and haven't been educated in the artsy-fartsy stuff. I kind of laughed and then explained to them how it wasn't just random lines and pieces of trash. Each line represented a road/street/alley way and that the pieces of trash/random items were things specific to the location of the road. They thanked me after my explanation. (I guess you could also expand this lesson and say really consider people/things/ideas before dismissing them.)
2. ... that I am the best gift giver ever. Timothy loved his presents. 'Nuff said.
3. ... that The Walking Dead is frustrating. The new season premiered tonight. I am a huge fan of the comics and the show has barely followed them at all. That's reasonable. Until you keep stupid characters for too long, kill off super important characters, and don't even bring in some major plot characters! *spoiler alert* When they killed off Dale in the second season, I almost threw in the towel. It was ridiculous! But I stuck it out to see Michonne. And she is pretty cool. But the plot has gone crazy and I don't even know what to think!

Tomorrow I must return to school. That's pretty bittersweet. Goodnight.

Day #11: Damn Macs and Scraps

I. Hate. Apple. If you love Apple products, good for you. Me, I hate 'em. You'll see why soon. In other news, I am (kind of) making progress on my engineering notebook and I am making definite progress on my scrapbook. Yay!

Today, I learned...

1. ... that sleeping in late can be really nice (and that this was my last Saturday to do so for about a month or two). 
2. ... that Apple is evil and wants to ruin my life. I have had some troublesome experiences with Apple products in the past, but this was too much. That Mac with the bad hard drive, the one I had to salvage all of my files from, remember that Mac? Yeah, it lied to me. It said "file transfer complete" when it really meant "hahahaha, there goes your engineering notebook design template, bitch!" I had to start all over. I. Hate. Apple.
3. ... that it is really hard to start working on a scrapbook, but once you do, it is really easy to get a lot done. This morning I had only the cover page done. Now, I have six pages and counting. Very exciting news, especially when you consider the fact that I am way behind. (I am currently working on the scrapbook for sophomore year. FAIL.)

Tomorrow is the RenFest! RenFest! RenFest! Oh, and it is Timothy's birthday. Yay!

Day #10: Burrrrrrr!

Today was extremely cold. The upside to that was the smell of Winter in the air. Fall and Winter smells are awesome, especially that crisp one. It is the smell of fallen leaves and frost. I. Love. It! Anyway, we had early dismissal and school and the football game was delayed an hour and a half due to lightning.

Today, I learned...

1. ... how to balance redox reactions and that they are very annoying to balance when you have a crappy eraser. To balance a redox reaction, you have to first determine all of the oxidation numbers and then balance the electrons that have been transferred. Only after you have done that can you actually balance the equation. Go figure! The crappy eraser comes in when you are trying to adjust the numbers when balancing. My poor piece of paper.
2. ... that every time I hang out with a friend, it doesn't have to be some intricate thing. I've been really missing my friends. My best gal pal is still in school with me though, and we both agreed numerous times that we needed to start hanging out more. The thing is, she is as busy as I am. So either we are busy together, I'm busy with my things, or she is busy with her things. Well, this morning I decided that I needed to make more of an effort. So I invited her to come over practice so we could do homework. Something simple and productive. It was great. 
3. ... that James and the Giant Peach is still an awesome movie. When I was little, I would rent the same movies over and over again when we would go to Ritz (the movie rental place). James and the Giant Peach was one of those movies.
4. ... that some friendships are not as you perceive them to be. I'll keep the angsty details to myself. It just needed to be mentioned as it was an important lesson of the day.

Time for sleep, because soon enough it will be time to wake up and do chores and then time to do homework. Oh, and then it will be time to go to robotics! I still need to pick out a RenFest costume as well...

(P.S. There is still some leg pains. In case you were wondering.)

Day #9: Pain and Glory

I really hate that pain is such a common theme. It's been in more than a few of those titles up there, and that is terribly frustrating. But I cannot deny the truth. Today was a good day, I suppose. The agenda for my next Key Club meeting was figured out, and, oh yeah, I got 8th at league cross country! My time was ok considering I started that first mile with some major pains in my right leg. But I did learn something about that...

Today, I learned...

1. ... that even though it is pretty incredible that my body will ignore obvious pain and let me run, it really isn't very good for my body. I can barely put weight on my right leg, including when I am lying down. I also can't sit criss-cross-applesauce, which is downright ridiculous! I can only hope that I make it to regionals in one piece... And then that I can either run, or make one last "incredible human body" run. Bleh.

So I only learned one thing today. But I got a medal, so yay!

Day #8: Joy and Disappointment

So today was a mixed day. I had some nerdy joy over learning the easy way to find derivatives and having the first Scholars' Bowl practice of the year, but my ankle has caused some more difficulties.

Today, I learned...

1. ... the shortcut rules for finding derivatives! They are my best friends. Constant Rule, Multiple Rule, Sum and Difference Rule. That's some good stuff!
2. ... that when one tries to run without hurting their ankle, they end up hurting something else. Aka, I've been carrying my leg differently while I've been running. This has led to some shooting pain when I land and lift with my right leg. I can still run, just a very slow and painful speed. It sucks.
3. ... that I have missed Scholars' Bowl dreadfully. It is probably one of the highlights of my school year, and I am suddenly really sad because I just realized it is my senior year and thus my last year in Scholars' Bowl... *tear* Bittersweet!

Tomorrow is league cross country. I do hope that my leg doesn't screw me over. Until tomorrow!

Day #7: Partnerships and Protons

Well I was in a much better mood today! Huzzah!

Today, I learned...

1. ... about partnerships and business franchises in economics. Then I learned that I can get my section reviews done pretty easily if I just don't wait until the night before the test. 
2. ... that acid-base reactions are pretty much proton transfers. The acids give away H+ ions. An H+ ion is an H atom that has lost an electron. Hydrogen only has one electron, so if that electron is lost, all that remains to distinguish hydrogen as hydrogen is that lonely little proton. It's crazy awesome! Go chemistry! 
3. ... that running on dangerous nature trails with a still recovering ankle is mega painful. I screamed quite a few times. But I made it out alive. Now, hopefully I can actually run a decent race Thursday.

I really do love to learn. I was very geeky-excited when I figured out that I could reference two academic topics in today's lessons. Peace.

Day #6: Paper cuts and Melancholy

So I was sort of in a gloomy mood today. Remember how I mentioned that I had teenage angst? Yeah, I'm so angsty it gets tiring. Lawls Anywhoo, I contribute it to Senior Year stuff. My last year of high school activities, missing my older friends, preparing to miss my younger friends. It's brutal.

So today I learned...

1. ... that one is prone to paper cuts when in a melancholy mood. I sliced open my thumb and bled all over my chemistry. It was annoying and didn't help the mood thing at all.
2. ... that I have a lot of friends, but they aren't the same as my close friends. Today at lunch was a little meh since GareBear and Taylor were gone (Taylor was off winning her Regional Golf Meet, so she gets a free pass. Garrett was taking pictures of it.). I mean, I enjoy these people, but we don't hang out outside of school. And I've been realizing the differences recently... I've also been missing Timothy something fierce. He's been in town on Fall Break, which just reminds me that he will be back at school soon. 

Ok, so today's lessons are a little gloomy when I look at then. They accurately reflect my feelings, though. I did run on a still kinda sore ankle and lose my phone in the school (don't worry, I bothered Ms. Big Mac for a way to get it. *guilt* I'm sorry! Thank you!). Meh. Oh! And the 5 meets of SB thing....

Tomorrow is a new day! Forget you, Monday!

Day #5: Birthdays, Babies, and Borderlands

Well, today was very exciting! I attended two birthday parties (three if you consider the fact that one was for two people. Four if you count the pretend one we had for that baby doll.). One was for Emily F. and Timothy, and the other was for my niece.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that little kids have some major jealousy issues when it comes to birthdays/holidays/gift celebrations. Taya, the older sister to the birthday girl, is four. Her birthday is in February. Ash, the birthday girl, is turning two. Taya was jealous of all the attention that Ash was getting. We continued to remind Taya that "this was Ash's special day. She's the birthday girl." Taya did not like this shift in the spot light. The little girl acted up so much that I had to put her into time out. Ash was extremely jealous when it came to opening gifts. She would be fine when I would help her unwrap something, but as soon as one of the other little girls touched the present, she would scream, "Mine!" I'm really glad that I have grown out of that kind of jealousy. (Of course, I still have my teenage/young adult brand of jealousies. Yay.)
2. ... that exploring tends to be a good idea. Today's example: Borderlands 2. Pretty much, I used my awesome exploring skills to track down a bunch of extra missions and loot. It was awesome. Yay!

Tomorrow is a busy day. School, robotics, play practice. Here's something I had already learned before: I love to be busy! 

P.S. She did like the sock monkey!

Day #4: Lawls and Lost Time

Well, what did I learn today? I learned...

1. ... that the new Mumford and Sons album is awesome! I have yet to learn which songs will be my favorite, but the overall album is pretty fun. The album title is Babel, just in case you were wondering.
2. ... that time is easily confused/lost. My niece's birthday party was moved to tomorrow and the movie took longer than we thought it would. Plus Timothy had to find a present for his sister (my "test soul mate" Emily F.). All in all, there was a lot of confused time in there, and it is an easy thing to have happen when not everyone is on the same page. It worked out though!
3. ... that Pitch Perfect is a very funny movie. Even if you don't give two shakes about singing, check this flick out. It is definitely geared towards the early thirties, late teens age group, but if you don't think it is hilarious, at least you will learn a little bit about what we "kids" are like. Or something like that.
4. ... that it is a lot of fun to base an outfit on an injury. The school nurse advised me to wear shoes that could support and stabilize my ankle. Well, the only shoes without heels that match that description are my hiking boots. Still wanting to look adorable on a fine, chilly Saturday, I donned a pink dress and brown, flowery tights. Oh, and I rocked the leather jacket. It was fun. Plus! My ankle is getting better! There is still some swelling and movement is limited, but I can put weight on it! 

Well goooodness. I wonder what I will learn tomorrow. Hopefully Ash will like her sock monkey :p

Day #3: Ice Ice Baby

So I would like to start this one out with something I did not learn. I did not learn what it's like to fall down the stairs! Yay!

However, I did learn...

1. ... that hobbling/limping is a difficult and tiring form of transportation. Today, as my ankle was slightly swollen and still in pain, I limped around school and home. It sucked. I'm not very good at it. I swear, my left leg is going to be so much buffer than my right!
2. ... that ice baths are possibly the greatest form of torture known to man. I had to soak my ankle for 15 minutes in a cooler of ice instead of running today. I thought I was going to scream (luckily I didn't). You would think that since my toes and fingers are already so cold, the frigid water wouldn't affect them as much. But no! The opposite seems to be true.
3. ... that I might no longer be a shot gunnin' type of girl. This is related to Borderlands 2, which I play on Xbox with my best friend/boyfriend Timothy. In the first Borderlands, I was shot gunnin' all over the place! If we found a shot gun, I had first dibs. Borderlands 2, not so much. This is only a suspicion though. I will keep you updated.
4. ... that drunk parents can be funny/scary parents. All I can say is please try to remember NOT to land on my ankle. I love you!

Today was mostly focused on my darn ankle! Meh! Tomorrow, I will hopefully have learned whether Pitch Perfect is a good movie or not, and I will have learned if my niece still likes sock monkeys or not (that's her birthday gift, so don't ruin the surprise). Goodnight!

Day #2: Pain and Pain and Pain and Pain in my Butt

Well today was quite an adventure. I guess. Bleh.

Today, I learned...

1. ... that there is a wonderful kind of deja vu when you do the same lab in two different classes. I did a single replacement reaction lab in AP Chemistry A today. It was between iron and copper(II) sulfate. It sounded strangely familiar, especially all the lab procedures. So when I saw Mrs. Schroeder later in the day, I asked her and she confirmed that it was indeed the same lab we had done my sophomore year. Yay for doing a science!
2. ... the human body can be a pretty incredible thing. At my XC meet today, I rolled my ankle 1200 m into the race. After every girl passed me, my coach finally calmed me down. He then asked me what I wanted to do. This being my senior year, I wanted to finish the last race I would ever compete in at this course. So I took off. Adrenaline and pure will power carried me through the rest of the race and into 13th place. I remember thinking to myself, "Oh, this doesn't hurt that badly." My thoughts changed as soon as I finished the race. I immediately requested a bag of ice and now, as I type this, I am in pain. The experience has given me faith that if I am attacked by zombies and roll my ankle, I'll be able to make it to safety before feeling the pain.
3. ... that coaches can be silly. Apparently I made my coach unhappy today. I was told that he thinks I'm faking the pain? I'm not *that* kind of actress. Don't get me wrong, I love attention. But I prefer positive attention. I just feel like a baby right now.
4. ... that computers can be a real pain in my buttom. (Yes, I meant to spell it that way.) The Mac that I have loaned to me from the school has begun to freak out for no good reason! So I was forced to drag out my mini-netbook to make this post. I really am hoping that I can save all of my files from that silly Apple product. Meh.

I hope I don't learn what it feels like to fall down the stairs in the morning!

A Mini-Lesson on this Blog

I am a high school senior. I absolutely love to learn. I know, I know. Anyway, the other night (last night to be specific) I was at my BEST robotics meeting when I discovered that my beloved mentor/coach/teacher had a blog about her life as a teacher. Twitter tipped me off. I immediately jumped in reading the older posts, egotistically looking for any mention of myself. What I found was the real explanation of why my sophomore chemistry class had been structured so oddly. I also found stories about people I knew and things I didn't know about them. It was quite the interesting experience to read her blog.

The moral of the story: reading through her (Mrs. Schroeder's) blog gave me this idea. I like the idea of keeping a journal, but after leaving mine at my dad's and having my snoopy stepmother harass me about it for going on a month now, I have decided that daily records of my angsty teenage life might not be the best idea. So instead, I decided that I wanted to record at least one thing that I learn everyday. It could be a math principle, it could be a random factoid, it could be an epic life lesson. Whatever it is. And if I learn more than one thing in a day, awesome! I'll post those too!

So there is your mini-lesson!

Day #1: Pick Up Lines and Passing

So I haven't exactly decided how to format this yet, so let's wing it!

I learned quite a few things today. I learned...

1. ... what a derivative is, what it is used for, and the most common way to find it. But, more importantly, I finally understood the pick up line "I wish I was a derivative so that I could lie tangent to your curves." With this new found knowledge, I would be totally swept off my feet by that line.
2. ... that XC runners can be scary serious about football. For our pre-meet workout, my team and I ran to the little kid soccer field. Once there, we began a game of Ultimate Football. Of course, I was unlucky enough to be one of the team captains. My poor babies struggled through the game with me (we lost 6-12, but we made some touchdowns, so yay us!). Things got a little scary when Coach added the rule of no guarding the passer. Now, mind you, the other team was up 6-0 at this point. Well, Tall Megan decided to guard the passer anyway and boy did those boys freak out! There was yelling with each other and with Coach! It was terrifying.
3. ... that my little Freshies can be super annoying, but also hold some potential. When I am giving a safety PowerPoint, it would probably be a good idea to pay attention. But nope, they had to goof around. I hope I never have to learn what a finger cut off by a band saw looks like...
4. ... that dating your best friend is a lot harder than one would think (and by one, I mean me). 
5. ... that it is a lot easier to fix things with your best friend boyfriend as compared to fixing things with a regular boyfriend. 
6. ... what Lexinet actually does! They do a lot actually. Printing, advertising, social media. I like their giant printers.

So I guess I learned a lot today. That's certainly a good thing.... I guess? I suppose I'll just have to wait and see on that.