Because I'm Happy!

Junior year has been rough so far, but I'm still alive, and that's a victory. I've just been trying to get through everything day to day that I haven't noticed that 1/4 of the year has already passed! A lot has happened in that time so I feel like it's time for an update. For the first time in a long time, my general mood is happy, and though this change of mood is attributed to many things, I'd like to point out a few in particular. First of all, thank you to all my friends, who have been mostly, if not always, there for me, whether online or in person. Secondly, I'd like to thank coffee, specifically, the Starbucks Limited Edition Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino. It's just something that I hadn't realized I had been missing in my life, so welcome back caffeine. Thirdly, I'd like to thank swim season for forcing me to get off of my butt and back into shape. Though now I'm always sore, exercise + coffee = a happier Carol. I've been long overdue for a little update on these things, so here we go!

Friday, February 14th – Valentine's Day Party @ Leland HS

Once again, Valentine's Day came and went, and once again, I was #foreveralone. I did, however, enjoy a wonderful food party during my art class, and each person made and distributed little cards for all their classmates. Everyone was appreciated and had a great time, which is one of the few remaining parts of Valentine's Day that is still meaningful. Most of the other stuff has been so commercialized that it's just an excuse to buy things. If you really had a special person, why only show that you appreciate them on one specially set aside day? Obviously, we all know flowers eventually die, but sugar is forever (memorialized on one's body in the form of a muffin top).

Saturday, February 22nd – League III Speech @ Sequoia High School

First of all, can I just say that I'm extremely jealous of Sequoia's campus? It has its own tea garden like some sort of fairytale paradise. Leland, with its impassive walls and abused quad (I'm looking at you, mudsliders), is like a prison compound in comparison.

The tournament itself was pretty successful. Five other Leland students and I made it to the semifinals round in Foreign Extemp, which I'm pretty happy about. Three Leland students were finalists in National Extemp, but none in Foreign Extemp. Still, it's been a great year; I'm glad I do Extemp, and I sure will miss the seniors on this team when they graduate.

Wednesday, March 5th – Celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday @ the Library

Look! Some cake! It isn't fake...?

Rhyming like Dr. Seuss is harder than it seems. So moving on, what's up with this cake? By lucky random coincidence, I was at the public library after school before swim practice for my weekly counseling appointment (which have been extremely helpful by the way; if you're struggling through a hard time in your life, make sure that you talk to someone – counselors, teachers, friends, and parents are there to listen and help). As it turns out, they were having a belated birthday party for Dr. Seuss, and there was a huge cake just sitting there on the table. There weren't many people at the library at that time, and I couldn't let the cake go to waste, so I went and asked for a piece. They gave me two. Later, during swim practice, I may have regretted that decision, but it was delicious at the time, and how often do you get free cake? So remember kids, make good decisions, but also keep in mind that you only live once.


Sunday, March 9th – Pancakes and Daylight Savings Time @ My House

This particular day was the start of Daylight Savings Time and the State Qualifying Tournament for speech and debate. Though I was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't going, I was mostly glad that I didn't have to get up an hour earlier to go to the tournament. Funny story is, I was on the alternate list, and when one of the other speakers got sick, a friend called me to see if I could go. Unfortunately, I was not aware of this information, so I actually did not know that I was potentially going. When he called me at 8am that morning, I was still more than half asleep when I answered the phone while in bed. I thought that someone had called the wrong number, so I just hung up. I fully woke up about 4 hours later and made myself a nice pancake breakfast, with whipped cream, strawberries, butter, and maple syrup. It was absolutely scrumptious. On Monday at school, my friend asked me if I had gotten a call (just to make sure that he had called the right number) and when I checked my phone, he had indeed called me. They did find another alternate in the end, so everything turned out alright, and we all had a good laugh about it.

Thursday, March 14th – Sidewalk Chalk Contest @ Leland HS

Should I even try to explain this?

1) It's a giant blue head with a pained facial expression.

2) It's supposed to be hideous.

3) SPOILER ALERT: It did not win.

Basically, my friend Sonia and I entered last minute into the Sidewalk Chalk Contest for our school's first ever Arts Appreciation Week. While other contestants drew intricately detailed fish, swirls, faces, and even an interpretation of the Mona Lisa, we decided to troll and draw the ugliest thing possible. How we ever got comments like, "Oh wow, it's so pretty!" is completely beyond me. I don't know how to explain beyond that. So I'll just leave that there.

Thursday, March 20th – Running @ THE HILL

On Thursdays, we do dryland. It is not fun.

The Hill is a five mile long unofficial course that is occasionally run by the water polo team for strength/endurance/pain-tolerance-level training. About a third of it is regular running on a flat dirt trail, another third is a steep, uphill climb past rich people's houses, and the last third is a downhill road that goes back to the school. Looking back, the run itself wasn't as bad as I had expected, but I am still suffering from the aftereffects. I can't walk properly because of the stiffness and soreness of my legs, but at least it's an excuse to stay in bed for a little longer on weekend mornings.

There are a lot more things that happened in these first three months of 2014, but I either don't remember them, or don't have pictures, or don't remember them because I don't have pictures. I kind of like doing update posts like these, so maybe I'll do them more often from now on. Looking forward to finishing this year with a sense of purpose and satisfaction!