The Haleyverse

An unexpected turn

2011-12-19T12:50:00.005-06:00

My family research project took an unexpected turn last night. And I got my first big break.
My dad emailed me this photograph. "Who was she?" I asked.
"Marie-Grace Rousseau Gardner Hotchkiss."
HOTCHKISS?
"She was my dad's great-grandmother. She was originally from New Orleans but she was raised in Pennsylvania. After she'd returned to New Orleans, she met John Peter Hotchkiss (of Quaker descent) when she was seventeen. The next year she married him and returned to Pennsylvania with him. The records say her name was Mary-Grace Hotchkiss, but that was because when she got to Pennsylvania she Americanized her name." According to the records, John and Mary Grace Hotchkiss had 6 kids.
Hmm, that explains why after the divorce my dad decided to come to Louisiana. Turns out I'm not the only one researching this family.

Bittersweet

2011-12-16T06:17:00.003-06:00

My Innerstar gear arrived yesterday.

And today is my last day at Adams Middle School. After the holiday, I'm going to start school at Innerstar Magnet Academy.

You know what's strange? I spent two years trying to get away from AMS... and now that I've gotten my wish, it's almost like I don't want to go.

For starters, I'm going to miss my BF Harriet loads. Unless she finds a way to get into IMA... but that's not likely at this point. IMA is for gifted and talented girls.

Then, who is going to finish the yearbook?

Oh, and one more thing. I still haven't finished that family history project, and it bothers me. Some of the other kids have come with fascinating stories. Harriet's ancestors had been enslaved. Kat Engel's family comes from Germany and Norway. Lindsey's family is Jewish. Kate Osborne's great-grandparents survived the Great Depression.

So I haven't done a single solitary thing for the project because I've got nothing interesting to add.

Family Ties

2011-12-03T19:21:00.005-06:00

Since the holiday season is about celebrating families, every student at Adams Middle School has been given an assignment. We're to research our family histories. The project is due the week we go home for Christmas break, and some of the best essays will be read aloud at the annual Christmas pageant this year.

My problem is, I have no clue how to even begin.

I know from earlier research that the name Hotchkiss is English and Scottish, and that my father, Donald Leroy Hotchkiss, comes from a long line of Pennsylvania Quakers. There is this one site, hotchkissclan.org, but it doesn't tell me very much. Also, I don't know much about my mother's family. My mother, Jillian McCaughey Hotchkiss, is not very open about her heritage. My mother and my cousin Nicki's mother are twin sisters. Identical twin sisters -- in looks only. Personality wise they could not have been more different. Sometimes -- and I hate saying this -- I wish Aunt Joan was my mother.

Catching up -- part deux

2011-11-29T09:44:00.006-06:00

The other part that has happened is that a bunch of girls have left. There are only a few of us actually remaining. Hilary's gone (again), and quite a few others have left, but I didn't know those girls well. Hilary's departure left the presidency open for me.

Meredith Hopkins no longer attends Adams Middle School, but that doesn't mean she's no longer a problem. Apparently she's now taken to calling me nasty names through my IM. How she got my instant messaging name and account I don't know. And I don't have a Facebook. Given what I've heard about Facebook, I'm kind of scared to get one.

Safe to say the "Pretty Girls" are no longer what they once were. Meredith was so upset at Natalie for becoming cheer captain that she transferred to Hillside, the private school on the other side of town, and, I heard, became cheer captain THERE. And, I'm told, Meredith and Natalie are no longer on speaking terms, even though they live in the same neighborhood. I think Natalie's gymnastics training helped her become cheer captain. As for the third girl, Sasha, she spends most of her time now with glee club -- and the new girl, Cassidy Fitzgerald. And in my book, that's a GOOD thing.

Speaking of Natalie, she and Harriet (yes my best friend) take a yoga class together and have the same PE period. I thought about signing up for the yoga class but with all my duties I've been much too busy. It's actually kind of weird seeing them laughing and talking together.

And I have more news. Remember Antoinette, the French exchange student who spent time here a couple of years back? Well, she applied to attend Innerstar Magnet Academy -- and got in! So, she'll be at IMA when I get there!

Oh, and just this morning I learned that my twin Robyn Pickering's dad passed away suddenly of a heart attack.

Catching up

2011-11-27T15:26:00.007-06:00

Okay, I promised Sabine at AG Playthings that I would be doing an update entry. Vee's health issues and my own busy life have seriously cut into my computer time. Trouble is, I may have to do TWO because so much has happened since I last wrote here!

I may have stretched myself TOO thin. That's because I'm now (finally) Student Body President at Adams. Yes, I got elected to the position pretty much by acclamation (sp) because no one else ran. You got that right. No one else ran. Right now, for example, I'm coordinating the holiday food drive.

Also, I'm in charge of all of Adams' student publications. That means the newspaper, the yearbook, everything.
And that isn't all. I'm also president of Jr. Beta club (which is an honor society for kids who have been on the honor roll) and volunteer in the library.

And you'll never believe what ELSE has happened. Natalie Spencer (yes that Natalie) is now captain of the cheerleaders. She beat out Meredith and boy was Meredith ANGRY. Meredith was so mad that she transferred to the private school on the other side of town, our biggest arch-rivals, Hillside Academy. Harriet says it's karma. I say Meredith got her just desserts. But Natalie being cheer captain is just so... weird. It really is. And it's even weirder cause she's kinda sorta dating Ethan Bergman. As in my friend Lindsey's older brother.

And to think, Natalie looked like THIS when she got here. Sigh.

Oh, and one more thing. When I came back this new girl, Cassidy, had formed a Glee Club, and Harriet of all people had joined it. I don't know her that well, but the other day she asked ME to join. Seriously. I can't sing a lick. Neither can Harriet actually, that's why she eventually quit the club. Anyway... I think she's playing Clara this year in the Nutcracker ballet.

I'm BAAAACK! (for awhile anyway)

2011-06-13T09:12:00.003-05:00

Missed me? I sure hope so! (cue evil maniacal laugh here)

Anyway, my human Vee has been sick. Vertigo she says. And a lot of stuff has been going on.

Well, Harriet is in Wisconsin, at the big doll hospital there. She was in a big time accident. I hear she's having eye surgery.

I cannot believe Meredith Hopkins is entered in Miss Playthings. I'm not a pageant girl myself but I wish Vee would have talked to me first before the entries went out. I think I would have been as good an entrant as her or even better.

Rabbits in the Yard

2011-03-15T11:17:00.003-05:00

So, Vee's brother-in-law was mowing the lawn this morning when he found a nice surprise in the yard... Not one, not two, but THREE bunny rabbits!

So now I have one, Harriet has one and Lindsey and Kate have one. Now can you guys help us name them?

History of Mardi Gras

2011-03-08T20:30:00.005-06:00

My apologies for the lack of posts here, things have been super duper crazy this end. I mean, they usually are crazy but they're crazier than usual this year.

Today, of course, is Mardi Gras here in Loozeanna. Vee was never really big on the holiday, and that's because the way she was raised, her parents weren't big on it either. Anyway, folks dress up in crazy costumes and dance and party all night and throw beads at everyone and pretend to be kings and queens. So, being the history buff I am, I'm gonna tell y'all a little bit about Mardi Gras.

According to the site holidays.net, the ancient Romans probably started Mardi Gras. Or, the festival that Mardi Gras was based on. It was called Lupercalia, and it consisted of days of partying and drinking. Sound familiar? It should, read on.

The Christian church adapted the holiday as a way of helping the ancient Romans convert to Christianity. They decided to make it a last week or so of partying before the period of Lent, the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, which lasts usually about 40 days. I'm not Catholic so whatever...

Anyway, the holiday spread across Europe, and to make a long story short, the French brought the holiday to their new homes in America. The term Mardi Gras is a French term meaning "Fat Tuesday" -- Sophie and Avery would appreciate that one, I think. I'm still learning the language.

Read more at holidays.net.

Nominated!

2011-02-16T09:32:00.009-06:00

Well, I checked my email on V-day (yep that same day when I found some classmate had written in my notebook) and found out that...

WE'VE BEEN NOMINATED!

Every year, the AG Playthings Message Board does this grand end-of-year ceremony (sorta like the Oscars but for us American Girl dollz) and there are all these different categories.

Well, we at The Haleyverse have been nominated in the category of Best Writing!

We are thrilled for and shocked by the nomination, and thankful to whoever nominated us. We also realize here at the 'Verse that our fellow nominees are also some of our most loyal blog friends and followers, who have been here since our beginning.

If you want to vote for us, please do so HERE. If not, we understand. :D We sincerely thank you for following us.

Oh... Sophie suggested that we try to track down who might have written those words in my notebook. The handwriting in it is not Meredith's, Natalie's or Sasha's, so we're stumped as to whose it is.

The Worst V-day EVAR

2011-02-14T15:53:00.003-06:00

Heya. C'est moi, I know I've been MIA lately, but it's not my fault, really. Things have been really crazy at school and Vee has had a lot of stuff going on. She left town because her cousin died. She's really depressed about it. Sounds like they were close.

Anyway, today was the first day that really felt like spring. It was nice and warm so I even broke out a short sleeved shirt for school.

Poor Harriet. Harriet's grandma is really really sick, we don't think she'll make the end of the month. She's been in the hospital since the end of January. Harriet's been staying with me and Vee for the time being.

Anyway, I just had the worst V-day EVER. Seriously. I found this written in my math notebook. I'd accidentally left it in my desk at recess and when I came back that's what I found. Plus the only valentines I got were from Harriet and Kristy and Lindsey and Kate. Oh and I got an email from Antoinette. Not a single one from Chase Benson.

Who's Chase?

Chase Benson moved here from Georgia. He has sun-kissed blond hair and greenish eyes and ohhhh.... listen at me prattling on. Anyway, Chase doesn't know I exist.

One more thing...

2011-01-22T10:13:00.000-06:00

...and this is gonna be super quick...

I found out the boy Natalie is crushing on ... is none other than Ethan Bergman. As in Lindsey's brother.

Ewwww.

Talk on.

Apology and report card time

2011-01-16T15:18:00.005-06:00

Hey y'all, I'm sorry for the lack of posts this end. Vee broke her digital camera, again. This time she says she sat on it!
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. It's report card time at AMS. Yours truly didn't get one because she didn't get back until the day before the holiday pageant. I'm hoping to get one next time.
Harriet has a D in math, and this was only because she's been going to tutoring after school. Otherwise she'd be failing. I may have to step in and give her some extra tutoring. Natalie is failing both science and math, Mia is failing social studies, Lindsey is flunking reading, and Kate managed to pull down straight A's.
Anyway, I know why Natalie is failing. She is pretending not to know the material in order to impress this boy in her class. Really, I think THAT is dumber than anything. Pretending to be dumb to impress a boy? On what planet does 'being dumb' impress anyone?

Oh, before I forget...
Antoinette came into my editor's office before she returned to France. We actually had a fairly long little chat.

She told me that she was applying to attend boarding school in the United States.

"That's great, Antoinette."

"My parents don't want me to come to the Etats-Unis," she said. "They want me to stay in France."

"Have you talked to them?"

"Naturellement. Absolutment. But there is no convincing them."

"Maybe they'll come around when they see how many friends you've made here. Everyone at the paper misses you."

"And I them."
I told her to keep trying to talk to them. And show them all the pictures you took of everyone here.

We exchanged hugs and email addresses and promised to keep in touch.

More traveling pix!

2010-12-31T13:31:00.002-06:00

Hey everybody and Happy New Year!
Have any of you made any resolutions yet? I've decided that I'm not going to make any, because they end up broken within a week.
Before I go, though, Vee's camera is broken (again, this time she says she sat on it!)...but I have new (to us) photos for y'all, courtesy of the disposable camera I brought along on my travels.

Click on the pic to see more!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T19:27:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone, this is a brief post to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas (what's left of it, at least in the States LOL).

I already showed you most of my presents, the new Pretty and Plaid outfit and the charm necklace and my new wire specs (actually these are the retired version of the purple glasses from AG). I also got the now retired Scarlet and Snow outfit, too.

We have a Christmas tradition here, one I'm just learning about. During the Christmas season people here go on the levees and build these wooden bonfires, and on Christmas Eve these bonfires go up in smoke. I wanted to go see the bonfire in smoke but I wasn't feeling too well and it had gotten cold.

Oh and I'm told a new girl is here too. I haven't seen her nor do I know her name.

What did you guys get for Christmas? Spill it in the comments :D

Blessing in Disguise

2010-12-22T01:51:00.000-06:00

Because I don't have the student body presidency to worry about (ironically that was the job I wanted since I got to Adams) I could devote my attention solely to the newspaper and yearbook. And with that in mind, I got some news that shocked me. I, Haley Elizabeth Hotchkiss, was named editor-in-chief of both newspaper and yearbook, succeeding Megan Ryder, who moved to Stamford, Connecticut, this year. Mrs. Baldwin even gave me a fancy title -- director of student publications. This means that anything that's printed in any student journal has to go through me. I kinda like this idea. I've got big shoes to fill but I think I'm prepared.

With this in mind, I started decorating my desk. At the right is the "Follow Your Dreams" book Wendy gave me in California, that I read sometimes and sometimes I use as a mousepad. There's a crocheted charm Marina gave me in New Hampshire and Kirsten and Mrs. Linda gave me a teddy bear. On top of the computer is the peace charm Alexi gave me in DC.

My first order of business as "director of student publications" was to meet with my staff. Isabelle Yarbrough was first. She's a new arrival, from Dallas, Texas, and she's the photographer. She has blond wavy hair (that she usually keeps in a braid), brown eyes, and darker freckles than mine. Lindsey says she's seldom without a camera around her neck.
"Hi," she said with her Texas twang, extending her hand out. "You must be Haley."
We talked about darkrooms and digital cameras for a bit and then we went to the yearbook. "We need to start getting club photos. Club photos, team photos, pictures of kids doing stuff."
Isabelle nodded.
I wanted to give them a glimpse of what I expect. I'm a perfectionist and I intend to run a pretty tight ship, now that my attentions aren't divided between student gov't and student printing.

Next I spoke with Lindsey and Kate. Kate's taking over sports for Alison McCann (who decided to focus on playing sports instead of writing about them) and is the assistant newspaper editor. Lindsey's in charge of graphics and artwork. Not necessarily drawing but making sure the paper 'looks' good. Kate taking over sports is actually a good fit -- she's crazy about baseball, especially her hometown Cincinnati Reds, and knows a whole lot of baseball trivia.

Last I met with Katarina Engel. Kat's actually really shy, doesn't say much, but boy, can she write. She's been the researcher because every time I see her her nose is buried in a book. I told her I wanted her to take a more active reporting role, and she made a suggestion I hadn't even considered. "Let's do a literary magazine," she said, "you know, for short stories and poetry and stuff." I would have to bring that to Mrs. Baldwin but I actually think it's a good idea.

The Big Holiday Pageant

2010-12-18T09:24:00.009-06:00

So yesterday I was in the audience as the big holiday pageant was taking place. And yes, it was big. Too big for a lot of kids' tastes, as some of them walked out of the auditorium.

Notice the charm necklace I'm wearing. It came from the new Plaid outfit (I forget what it's called) and I have the 'smart' charm. Suits, huh?

Anyway, I'm seated next to Natalie Spencer and the current student body president, Hilary Lang, who I'm told beat out Meredith by one vote. I can't imagine what it would be like if Meredith had won. I doubt we'd even have had a holiday pageant.

So we have one. First off the Adams Glee Club (known as some circles as the choir) came out with a medley of Christmas songs. I'm still having a hard time believing Harriet actually joined this outfit.

There was a redhead in the front, with Harriet, Sasha Moore, and Vicky Vaccaro, and a few other girls in the back. Harriet told me the redhead is Cassidy Fitzgerald and she arrived in September from Kentucky. She's the one, Harriet tells me, who started the glee club after she saw Adams didn't have one. Thing is, Harriet never gave me any impression that she would do something like this. I mean, I'm happy for her but it's still a little surprising.

Then Sasha Moore came out with what I had to admit was a beautiful "Silent Night" solo.

Some of the other backup singers came out with angel costumes, with Mia St. Clair skating on the makeshift ice rink.
After the solo came the Nutcracker. Have to admit Meredith made a decent Sugar Plum Fairy. Maitte Luna as Clara was a nice touch. I don't know Maitte that well but she is a good dancer.

And there was another big surprise waiting for me. Antoinette!

Antoinette, remember, is the French exchange student who spent part of last year attending our school.

She showed up today, just in time for the holiday pageant. "Antoinette? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"My father is on a business trip, so I decided to pay you guys a visit." She laughed. "Cet endroit n'a pas change'. This place hasn't changed."

I decided to get her a seat somewhere in the auditorium to watch the rest of the pageant.

Good to be home (kinda)

2010-12-16T11:25:00.005-06:00

Hey y'all, it's me and I'm home.

Well, it still looks like home and it's still in the 70s like home (unlike the layers and layers of snow I was in back in Oregon) but everything about AMS feels different.

For starters, the place is aglow with holiday spirit, given that the big pageant is tomorrow.

And speaking of the pageant, I've heard it's going to be the biggest ever. Hilary Lang (who returned this semester from California) was elected student body president, and she's been working hard on it. There's a Nutcracker ballet, with Maitte Luna (Marisol's sister) playing Clara and Meredith Hopkins as the Sugar Plum Fairy. The all-new Glee Club (I think that one was the idea of one of the new girls) is singing a Christmas medley. Mia St. Clair is going to do a special ice-skate. I've even heard that one of the new girls convinced Lindsey to sing a Hanukkah number -- in Hebrew.

I hate to say it, but Hilary is doing as good a job as student body president as I would have -- perhaps better.

That isn't the only thing that's different at AMS. Meredith Hopkins' vise-grip over the upper-grade girls isn't quite as tight as it was.

Sure, she has her chosen group of girls she hangs with, and I'm sorry to say Natalie Spencer is one of them, but there are some fissures in the group. Harriet told me yesterday that there was a fight at Natalie's birthday party. I'm not sorry I wasn't at that party. I was on a plane headed back.

I'm beginning to think they really wouldn't miss me that much if I transferred. Especially to that Innerstar Magnet school I'm looking at.

Hey, how do you guys like my new profile pic? And the in-progress re-design of my blog?

I'm HOOOME!

2010-12-15T14:31:00.004-06:00

Yep it's good old me, back home in good old Loozeanna, just in time for Friday's holiday pageant at school.

Like my new specs? The eye doctor hooked me up with 'em after my old ones broke. I have another new blue pair that's plastic but these are wire and I prefer them.

Also redesigning my blog since I no longer have the 'Traveling' prefix in front of my name.

Harriet and Lindsey tell me 5 girls arrived since I left so I better get to know 'em quick, lol. Talk soonly!

The Birthday Party

2010-12-12T20:40:00.005-06:00

Hey, it's me, Harriet again. Sorry this is late, but I actually got caught up in some other stuff.

Sophie suggested that I go to Natalie's party, if for no other reason than to write to Haley about it. So this blog entry is for Haley more than it is for anyone else. :P

I'm trying to get the hang of this (Lindsey showed me how to upload pictures from the digital camera to the computer).

Anyway, here's the birthday girl, all dressed up in her new birthday outfit that I'm told was bought for her by Vee.

"Hey, Harriet, glad you could come!" Natalie said, reaching for me to give me a hug.

I didn't recognize anyone else there actually, I didn't really know any of the other girls, except the ones from school.

"What were you doing?"

I heard a familiar voice, and I knew who it belonged to -- the one and only Meredith Hopkins.

"Why'd you invite HER to this party?"

"It's my party," Natalie said, "I invite who I want."
I didn't even bother staying long enuf for them to cut the cake and do the other stuff. I decided I'd had enuf of Meredith and left.

Natalie's Birthday

2010-12-10T15:53:00.008-06:00

Today (12-10) is Natalie Spencer's birthday.

And tomorrow (12-11) is her big party, "Natalicious," (not my word, I think it's Meredith's) at her house on Oak Tree Lane.

I heard them in the gym, the whole time, talking about the party. And she passed invites to just about every girl in the grade.

It's only after we're coming out of yoga that she reaches for her bag and hands me an invite to the shindig. I haven't decided yet if I'm going, I'm thinking of skipping it. It's not like I'll be comfy with that crowd. -- Later, Harriet ^_^

Snowshoeing!

2010-12-08T19:49:00.004-06:00

As most of y'all know, I live in an area where it just doesn't snow that often. So to see this much of the white stuff at once was a treat. Click the pic for more fun with Kelsyee and Morgan.

And yes, even more of me, Morgan, Kelsyee, and the white stuff here, here and here.

Oh and guess what Lindz and everybody???

I'M ON MY WAY HOME!!!! By the time you read this I'm on a plane heading back to Loozeanna.

Just sayin hi

2010-12-05T11:55:00.004-06:00

Hey, its me, Haley. Welcome to December. lol
Sophie said I should try to log on more often while I'm out traveling. Trouble is, Kelsyee, Marsali and the gang keep me really busy, so by the time I do get on the computer I'm bushed. I live in an area where it just doesn't snow all that often, and when it does it's usually gone in a couple hours. The last time I saw snow to stick (before coming here to Oregon) was when I was back in Pennsylvania.
Anyway, been keeping up with the updates back home. I can't believe Hilary won the election. I'm happy for her and even happier that Meredith Hopkins didn't win.
Harriet, your yoga outfit looks cute on you. And you and Natalie are tight now? Odd, lol.
Love the redesigns of Sabine's and the Bolton Girls' blogs. Going to redo mine when I get back home. I had the traveling motif and won't be traveling much longer. :P

Hey y'all

2010-11-30T14:03:00.008-06:00

Harriet sighting here.

Why am I dressed like this? Well, I took up yoga after seeing it on that Innerstar U site.

There was an Innerstar U rep at the school a couple weeks ago, and now I'm taking an after school yoga class. I find it relaxing and fun.

Natalie Spencer (yes that Natalie) is taking the class too. You figure she'd like yoga since she's a gymnast. She even offered to partner me on a couple of exercises.

"You're doing real good with this," Natalie said. While we're taking the class together, I forget sometimes that she hangs out with you-know-who.

Oh and my friend Lindz @ her new blog Lucky Lovable Lindsey says Haley's gonna be back for Christmas. I hope so. I miss her.

Ta-ta for now, Harriet ^_^

Haley in Oregon

2010-11-22T12:32:00.004-06:00

Courtesy of Kelsey Bolton ... Haley in SNOW. Srsly, we're still wearing shorts down here. I'm jealous! Click on the pic to see their post about it.

--Lindz

Me in Mass...

2010-11-13T10:23:00.002-06:00

Yet another quickie, this time, my visit in Mass. I'll have the Oregon stuff up later. Click the pic to see more.

GTG, Love Haley Xoxo

Apple Picking in NH

2010-11-03T15:18:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all

Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been sooo crazy this end.

Anyway, this is a quicky, Haley's apple picking trip in NH.

Click on the pic to see!

Me again!

2010-10-17T13:03:00.003-05:00

Yep, tis I, Haley Hotchkiss herself.

I'm in Star Valley with AG celebs Susie of "As Told By Susie" and Sophie of "Le Fabuleux Destin de Sophie Amelie," along with another traveling girl called Ruthie.

Sophie, Ruthie, and I went yesterday to the Keene (NH) Pumpkin Festival and had a blast. I've also been apple picking and then went to the AG Place in Natick, MA where I went and saw an eye doctor and picked out some new glasses.

Been reading Lindz's posts on her new blog... I can't believe there's a glee club at Adams. Or that my best friend has joined it. Harriet, if you're reading, I'm wondering why you actually joined it. Not that it matters, I'm happy if you're happy. But I'm just curious.

Also been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift lately (gag me, but I actually find her more tolerable than Miley Cyrus or her alter-ego Hannah Montana) and there's this one song of hers, called "Fifteen" that I actually like.

Oh well, gotta get off the puter. Later,

xoxo, Haley

Hey it's me Haley!

2010-09-25T19:47:00.001-05:00

A voice from the great AG above :)

I am going to CLOBBER Lindsey Bergman. I told her to post my traveling pix on my blog and she's been posting her stuff, too! Just messing with ya, Linds. But I still think you should get your own blog, been enjoying your posts. Been a way to keep up with things going on back home while I'm out traveling.

So, Mia St. Clair is running against Meredith for student body president, eh? Hope Mia wins. Meredith absolutely SHOULD NOT be student body president under ANY circumstances. Anyone who's read this blog for any length of time knows that. And if you're new to this blog I invite you to read thru some of my previous posts, and to access them quickly, just search for the label "meredith hopkins," and you'll find them.

And there's a new girl named Laney, eh? And she's blond? And she's a geek who likes science and nature? Hmm. I think she and I might get along. I haven't met her yet but I hope she doesn't have a snotty superior attitude. I'm sorry that Meredith Hopkins and company is being cruel to her. I can't believe they threw her pet bunny in the trash can. That's mean! Did she go to the principal?

Well, gotta go. But before I do, I've noticed that there are a bunch of new blogs that have sprung up since I was last here. If you have one of the new blogs, or even if you have one of the old ones whose links I missed, please post your links in the comment section below, and hopefully Linds will update the link section. K? Later, bye!

XoXo
Haley :-D

Lulu

2010-09-22T17:11:00.008-05:00

I'm 10000 percent conviced that Meredith Hopkins is evil.

I'm even more covinced that Meredith Hopkins cannot be student body president, at all costs.

It started after school today, when the new girl, Laney Holland, complained that Lulu, the pet bunny she'd brought to honors science class, was missing. I don't take honors science, I don't take honors anything. Since I don't like seeing animals ill treated -- hey I once stopped a pet parade at my old school -- Kate and I volunteered to help her look for Lulu.

"Lulu!" we called in rounds. "Looo-loooo! Where are yoooooo?"

It took us nearly an hour but we found Lulu -- thrown in the dumpster. Who would throw a bunny in the garbage can??? I know Meredith and her lackeys were behind this.

Meanwhile, we took Lulu back to the lab and cleaned her up. She's sooo cute!

I will say this though. THIS MEANS WAR. Kate and I are getting ready to fight.

The New Girl

2010-09-18T01:09:00.005-05:00

Got a new student in my class today. Her name is Delaney Holland. She moved here from Masachewsits. Actually, her full name is Claire Delaney Holland, but nobody calls her that. It's either Delaney or "Laney," her nickname. And since today was the last day of "Picture Week," she got the yearbook photo you see up top.

So, she walks up and introduces herself, and this boy in the back shouts, "Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift!" I know shes some kind of singer or other, but as far as listening to her music, no thanx.

Anyway, Laney is a true geek. Even geekier than you, Haley, if that's possible. Her mom is an arkitech and her dad is a college professer. She's got an older sister who's a concert musician. So yeah, they're all brainiacs.

So, me and Kit and Jess decide to invite Laney to sit with us for lunch. "You got stuck with the weirdos," Kylee Phillips shouts from across the cafeteria. Unfortunately we're on the graveyard lunch shift this year, and Harriet since she's an upper grader, got the good one.

Laney whips out her laptop and tells us she misses her BFF, Dakota, who is out traveling. Naturally this intrested Jess, who's been to Belize and Egypt. She wants to be a wildlife bioligest and she showed us this notebook where she wrote down all kinds of stuff about animals and plants and drew a lot of pix. "How long you been doing this?" Kit, ever the reporter, asks.

"A few years now," replies Laney.

"Mind if I interview you for the back to school issue?"

Laney looks at her, confused. "What back to school issue?"

I explained to Laney that every year Adams' newspaper and yearbook staffs combine to put out this big issue about returning to school in the fall.

It's me and Kit's job to show Laney the ropes at Adams Middle School. Especially since you're not here to help out, Haley.

Laney doesn't know it yet, but I plan to recruit her for the paper. I could tell she and I are gonna get along .... just ... fine.

Say "Cheese"

2010-09-16T17:14:00.011-05:00

Yep, it's that time of year. It's school picture week here at Adams Middle School. The gym turned into a miniature portrait studio.

I don't like picture day that much. And it doesn't help that the photographer puts the camera so close to your face.

Hey Haley, if you're reading this, I wanna show you some of what got turned in for the yearbook. You might get a few chuckles out of these.

Eeeek! It's a ghost! Oh wait, no it's not. It's only Night-Meredith Hopkins, who so far is leading in the polls to become the next student body president. Not if I can help it.

Kylee Phillips, the bane of my existence. Geez Louise what a scary shot! And on top of that, she's running for president of my class.

Kylee's second-in-command, Vickie Vaccaro. Vicks just basically does what Kylee tells her to do.

My BFF, Kathryn "Kit" Kittredge. She's running against Kylee Phillips for class president. She came up short last year but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get her over the hump this time.

Hey Haley, it's that girl you were telling me about, Natalie Spencer. Do you know she's playing volleyball this year? Natty, sweetie, didja think u were modeling?

Harriet, I love ya, gurl, but this is one scary yearbook picture.

My newest friend, Jess McConnell. She spent two years traveling in Belize and Egypt and tells me all kinds of really cool stories.

And the scariest shot of all....

BOO!

Mia St. Clair

2010-09-07T14:43:00.004-05:00

So far, the first week of school has been... interesting... to say the least.

Today, while I was in the newspaper office, something interesting happened.

(Excuse the mess, we're still getting moved back in)

We were visited by one Mia St. Clair, who announced that she's running against Meredith Hopkins for student body president! Needless to say, Kate and I were stunned. We didn't think anyone would challenge her. But someone has.

And I emailed Haley about this and she couldn't be happier. She would run herself, but there is the little problem of her being in Massachusetts right now...

Anyone who is running against Meredith Hopkins deserves my support and my kudos. Go Mia!

Quicky post

2010-09-04T12:32:00.004-05:00

Hey, Lindz again. Haley's host has given us 2 albums this time, so enjoy!

Here's one from her arrival. Click on the pic for more!

And another from a town called Alton Bay, NH, with new friends called Emily and Kailey. Again click on the pic and enjoy!

More on my first week of school later. Lindzzzz

Sleepovers and Storms

2010-08-23T09:06:00.006-05:00

Well, school starts today. Wish me luck.

Here are 2 pics from Haley's last host in RI, a lady and her 7 year old daughter.

She says this one was at a sleepover. Mmmm sweets.

A beach shot. Nice. Haley, where's your swimsuit???

Oh, speaking of sleepovers I had one myself on Saturday night. It was storming outside, and my BFF Kathryn and I planned one on the spot. We invited Harriet, and not only did she show up, but she came with Haley's cousin, Nicky.

We spent all night telling scary ghost stories while the lights flicked on and off. Poor Harriet was all tuckered out, she slept in her clothes!

Back to School...Almost

2010-08-20T00:53:00.007-05:00

Hello everybody, Lindsey here.

Haley's host says she's on her way to Massachusetts to her next host. I'm still waiting for pics from her last host, lol.
Meanwhile, back here school is about to start. I went to school today cause they wanted to introduce us to the teachers and the classes.

All the usual suspects are back in action. These three girls are the ruling class of the school. The girl on the left is Sasha Moore. The one in the middle is Meredith Hopkins. On the right is Natalie Spencer. I don't know these girls nearly as well as Haley does, but I already know I don't like Meredith. Oh, and by the way, the one in the middle, she's running for student body president. And so far, she doesn't have anyone running against her. The big reason is because someone who shall remain unnamed, whose initials are H. H., is currently out traveling and won't be back till October.

Meanwhile, I've got my own issues. The two girls who rule my grade, Kylee Phillips and Victoria Vaccaro, are at it again. This time they approached Kristy Van Dyke (who's back from, what I understand, West Virginia) and called her a dummy.

Kristy didn't take too kindly to that. The next thing I knew, she had Kylee pinned against the wall.

School hasn't even started yet.

Lindsey speaks out

2010-08-12T19:37:00.005-05:00

Hey everybody, Linds here. I borrowed Vee's friend's camera to make this update, she thinks hers will be out of the shop soon.

Can't be soon enuf tho, school starts a week from Monday. I am SO not looking forward to it, especially with Haley still traveling. BTW, she STILL hasn't sent me those pics so I could post them, sigh. Haley, if you're reading this, hurry up!

Vee's friend has one of these fancy talking cameras with the auto-focus and about 20 megapixels. Sigh.

So, today I was at the aquarium with my pesty older brother Ethan when three girls suddenly came up to me. I knew exactly who these girls were, Kylee Phillips, Vicky Vaccaro, and a third girl that looked suspiciously like Haley's Natalie. Haley knows Natalie a lot better than I do, but I'm very familiar with Kylee and Victoria. Those two have been the bane of my existence since about the third grade, teasing me about everything, Kylee by far the worst of the two.

"Whatcha doin' here?" Kylee asked.

"What does anybody do here?" I replied. "I'm looking at the fish."

"Couldn't you have done ANYTHING with your wild hair?" she asked. "Every time I see you it's in that same frizzy mop."

I heard Victoria laugh and snicker behind her, but Natalie (or at least the girl I suspect was Natalie) didn't utter a peep. Then I figured it out. Alison told me the three of them were on the gymnastics team last year.

"Well you know, Kylee," I shot back, "that skirt is so high someone could probably see your underpants. If I left out of my house in that, mom and dad would burn it with me wearing it."

Bye bye New York... hello Rhode Island!

2010-08-03T17:10:00.003-05:00

Hi, Linds again. Haley left New York State and continues her tour of the Northeast with Rhode Island. But before she left, she and her new friends there took some snapshots.

Oh and I agree with Haley, that Bobby is real cute. Sigh.

To see more, click on the pic!

More from InnerstarU

2010-07-21T15:35:00.004-05:00

At InnerstarU you can decorate your room in 4 different styles. This is the one I chose for virtual Haley.

Here I am in the 5-Points Plaza with a few friends. All of these virtual girlies are AGPT members.

This is my usual spot, at the Starlight Library help-desk. I actually managed to reach level 20 in this, lol.

InnerstarU

2010-07-19T07:34:00.007-05:00

Hi everybody, I'm live from gorgeous upstate New York, where I'm having a blast with my 'twin sister' Robyn Pickering and her family & friends. I can't believe how much we look alike, even down to the glasses. BTW, I think her brother Bobby is cute but don't tell her I said that. hehe

Anyway, been playing around with that InnerstarU thing on AG.com. If you see me there, I'm Haley6 and I look like this:

Pretty good likeness, eh? lol

Anyway, I reached level 11 on the helpdesk thingy, I'm there, like, all the time. I'm such a geek, even in animated form.

Anybody else signed up or plan to sign up?

Oh, before I go, I saw some really cute things on the AG site... like the new Pretty Plaid outfit, which I love but Harriet loves it more, methinks...and the Real Me outfit, and then there's the Innerstar gear.

It's 48 bucks, Vee has said she can't spring it now, especially since I'm out traveling.

Oh, btw, Linds emailed me and told me that real Innerstar Magnet Academy reps (I think it was Shelby and Amber) showed up at my school last week. They've even reserved a spot for me when I return home. I'm torn.

The IMA schools are a system of AG-related boarding schools based on the InnerstarU concept, and they've sprung up all over the country.

Yet another traveling album!

2010-07-16T08:50:00.004-05:00

Hi it's me, Linds again. Boy that Haley sure looks like she's having loads of fun with her new 'twin sister.' Apparently they've been pen pals for about 2 years and they're thrilled to finally meet. I am soooo jealous.

Click on the pic for more! Ciao!

Oh, and Haley, that Innerstar Magnet Academy rep showed up at school today. She was passing out campus guides and applications. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to apply, but I saw Meredith Hopkins all over her. Ugh.

Haley in New York State

2010-07-11T08:46:00.002-05:00

Haley's now arrived in New York State and her host has posted a brief album, more is on the way. BTW I'm very jealous, she looks like she's having a blast...

Click on the pic for more!

Later, Linds

Announcement

2010-06-07T11:51:00.002-05:00

Hello everybody, Lindsey here. Glad that summer's finally arrived! I finally got my Rebecca Rubin book, so I'll curl up with that.

Need to tell y'all (got that Southern accent workin') that Haley's gone traveling. I think she's in Ashland, VA now. She'll probably update y'all within the next few days.

Goings on here

2010-05-27T21:09:00.005-05:00

My apologies for the lack of updates this past month. Vee's computer is back in the shop, and she also needs a new digital camera (she dropped it on the floor EEEEK!).

The 411 on the events going on here this month -- Sammie Parks played Juliet in the school play and Adam Cartwright was Romeo. Bridget O'Shaughnessy was the understudy and ended up having to take over for Sammie one night when she got sick.

Natalie joined Adams' gymnastics team and I attended a couple of meets. They won the first meet and lost the second, then poor Natalie sprained her ankle and ended up on crutches!

Quickie post

2010-04-26T16:59:00.002-05:00

Been so busy around here, getting ready for my upcoming travel trip (at the end of May!) and the end of the school year.

This is the velvety purple blouse I won at Kelsyee's site. Cute, huh?

All About the Spring Fling

2010-04-12T16:54:00.007-05:00

Hello everybody, sorry this is late. I've had internet problems lately, and Vee's cable guy is coming by the house tomorrow to see what is up...so until then I thought I'd let everybody know what happened with this past Friday's Spring Fling dance.

Nicki showed up THIS week. She helped me get ready for the dance. I'm wearing the dress she wore to her own spring formal. The updo was her idea, btw.

The 7th grade Spring Fling court nominees were asked to pose for a pic. (Can't you tell I'm uncomfortable?) Sammie and Amanda were the 8th graders and they got a separate photo. Then came the announcement everyone was waiting for -- Lord and Lady of the Fling. In a landslide, Adam Cartwright won Lord of the Fling. He bounded up to get his crown.
The contest for Lady of the Fling was, in Principal Ballard's words, the closest she'd ever seen it. And the winner was ....

Natalie!
Instead of putting the crown on her head, Natalie held it out. And then, in another surprise, she started to speak. "I don't deserve this," she said. "I really don't deserve this."
Both Meredith and I shrugged our shoulders. Did I just type that? Meredith and I shrugged our shoulders. We were both wondering what the heck Natalie was doing.
"Haley Hotchkiss," Natalie called, "come here."
"Me?"
"Haley, I'm really sorry, I've been a total idiot. I don't deserve this. If anyone deserves this it's you."
Meredith's mouth flew open so wide and she stamped her feet and shouted, "I object!"

But Natalie paid her no mind and continued. "I think the only reason they voted for me was because of my haircut, really."
"Natalie, that's not true!"
"Haley, you deserve this more than anybody. Not because of what you've done for me or even the 7th grade, but for the whole school." Natalie dropped the crown on the floor and ran out.

My Spring Break

2010-04-03T13:40:00.004-05:00

Been a week since I last updated, which is odd for me.

First, Harriet and her family went out of town for the holiday, which is a total bummer. Second, my cousin Nicki was stuck in Colorado and wasn't able to come down (but she did send her dress for the Spring Fling!) And she appears to be completely convinced that I'm going to win Lady of the Fling next week. So my spring break has been a bit of a bummer.

The weather's been pretty good, except for today which is kind of a bummer. Tomorrow's Easter Sunday, but I've never been much into the whole Easter-Bunny type thing.

Lindsey's been learning to roller-blade, and some of the results have been, well, pretty disastrous. See for yourself, lol.

So now, as a result, poor Linds is on crutches!

On the Offensive

2010-03-25T21:44:00.008-05:00

Still over the moon over the win @ Kelsyee Bolton's site, where I've learned I'm going to get a royal-purple crushed velvet blouse for my prize (I've seen it, it's very cute, and I can't wait to wear it to show Meredith HAHA) I learned I sorta misspoke regarding the selection process for Spring Fling Queen.

Apparently Meredith DID have it right (ugh as much as it pains me to admit) and you DO campaign for it -- sort of. You're actually nominated and there's a big ballot and this week they narrowed the competition for Lord and Lady of the Fling down to 5 nominees each. The winner is announced at the dance.

So, I was stunned speechless when Principal Ballard called out the names of the final candidates today. For Lord of the Fling, the list is 5 8th grade boys including my all-time dreamboat way-out-of-my-league-crush, Adam Cartwright himself, who I'm totally convinced is going to win no matter what anybody says. The Lady of the Fling list, though, was a shocker. Not only are there only 2 8th grade girls on it (Amanda Cooke and Sammie Parks) but a couple 7th graders made it on the list, and I'm told that's never happened before. Even more, I found out that I, Haley Elizabeth Hotchkiss, am on that final list!

So, Linds and I went to work. We went into the newspaper office (since Vee's comp still isn't working) and designed some flyers to hang around the school. We figured if Meredith was going to go on the offensive, so were we. I was going all-in. I don't care if I don't win Spring Fling queen. Just since Meredith Hopkins doesn't either.

I won something!

2010-03-25T00:54:00.004-05:00

I now take a brief break from my regularly scheduled Natalie drama to tell you...

... well ...

I actually won something.

No, silly, not the Lady of the Fling or anything like that.

It's the 20th follower drawing over at Kelsyee Bolton's site.

Thing is, I NEVER win these things, and I don't even remember entering. LOL

Quelle surprise! (French lessons seeping in)

I'll update everyone later with my prize info -- once I get it.

Spring activities

2010-03-23T01:06:00.001-05:00

The Spring Fling isn't the only thing going on at school. There are also tryouts for the school play and gymnastics tryouts.

Can you believe they're doing Romeo and Juliet this year? Just about every girl in the 7th and 8th grade wants to be Juliet. Except for me of course, I'll never make it. I bet they give it to Meredith Hopkins, they usually do. Thing is, she can't act her way out of a paper bag.

And Natalie? She ran up to me today in the hallway, with none of her hangers-on. "Haley, I have to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I have to tell you that I'm leaving the newspaper."

"Just as well," I said, "you hardly come nowadays."

"But you haven't heard why. Guess what? I'm trying out for the gymnastics team!"

"That's great!" I said. "I have to ask, though -- why gymnastics?" I really wanted to know, because most of the girls on the team are major snobs, especially that Bridget O'Shaughnessy.

"I've been taking gymnastics classes since I was five."

I shrugged. "I guess that's as good a reason as any."

More Spring Fling intrigue

2010-03-22T22:27:00.004-05:00

So you guys think I should run, eh?

Thing is, you don't actually 'run' for Spring Fling queen, although Meredith Hopkins seems to think it's a huge campaign. She's already taken out ads in the school paper. The thing is, you're chosen for it, and the winner is announced on the night of the dance. It's nothing but a big popularity contest, anyway. And since the beginning of time an eighth grader has won it. Neither of us are in eighth this year and I can't see that changing -- until we actually get in eighth grade.

To add to the intrigue on the Spring Fling, my cousin Nicki is coming for Spring Break next week, and she'll be bringing her dress! It's the one she wore to her own Spring Gala at her school back in Colorado. It's a little pink-er and frillier than I like, but I forgive her for the military-style jacket, lol.

Spring? What spring?

2010-03-22T14:12:00.002-05:00

So, today Harriet, Lindsey and I were walking down the hallway, and we were talking about how chilly it is, to say it's the 3rd day of spring. I don't know why, but all of a sudden it feels more like early February than late March.

We were also talking about the upcoming spring dance, and Lindsey raised the possibility of Natalie Spencer winning Lady of the Fling.

"Come on," I said, "it's not possible. They only give it to an eighth grader every year. I bet Amanda Cooke is gonna win."

"There is a first time for everything," Harriet reminded me. "And you have to admit, Natalie is getting a lot of looks for that."

"Well I don't care who wins it," Lindsey said, "as long as it's not Meredith Hopkins!"

"Amen!" Harriet and I said in unison.

"Haley, what about you?" asked Lindsey. "I think you have a decent shot! I mean, you're class president, you're on the paper --"

"Girls like me don't win stuff like that," I told her, "besides, it's nothing but a big popularity contest."

"I know," agreed Harriet, "but it's certainly worth a shot."

Aww, you guys!

2010-03-20T22:39:00.002-05:00

I'm not an easy person to impress, and I'm certainly not one to get all mushy and stuff, but I was crying after reading your comments. Really. I wasn't asking for anyone to feel sorry for me, as I'm about the last person who would beg for sympathy. I was just telling everyone what happened @ school.
I invite the newcomers to this blog (and there are quite a few of you!) to go over some of my previous blog entries whenever you have time. Meredith Hopkins and her merry band of minions have been doing this for the last two years. You'd think they'd stop this but they have not.
Thankfully, though, I have good friends both on and off line to help me get through this. You know who you are and I'm happy that you are in my life.

The Pitfalls of Popularity Part 2

2010-03-19T21:12:00.005-05:00

At recess all the girls hang out in the hallway by the water fountain, and while I was on my way to the newspaper office, Meredith and Sasha stopped me. They had Natalie with them.

Meredith gave me a once-over. "Well if it isn't Haley Hotchkiss...class president 2 years in a row...assistant editor of the student newspaper...4.0 average..."

"I don't have a 4.0," I protested, "I got a B in math --" The moment I said it I wished I hadn't.

"We know you're smart, Haley," added Sasha, "but do you have to look it and prove it all the time?"

Natalie didn't say anything, but she didn't stop Meredith from saying anything, either. "You know," Meredith added, "you'd look much better without your glasses, but then again, that's not saying very much."

I've said plenty of times in this space that I hate Meredith Hopkins with a passion. I really, REALLY, REALLY hate her. And now I hate that Natalie is running with her.

And the winner is...

2010-03-19T16:22:00.004-05:00

...drum roll please...

AMERICANGIRLPRINCESS1993!!!!!

If you are a minor, please have your parent contact Vee cpkcrazy at yahoo dot com to make arrangements to claim your prize!

Congratulations and thanks EVERYONE for entering! This was fun!

Spring Giveaway Entries CLOSED

2010-03-19T08:18:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to tell everyone that entries for the Spring Giveaway are now closed. The winner will be announced this evening!

Running with the Wolves

2010-03-17T15:28:00.003-05:00

Would you believe Natalie is running with Meredith and Sasha now?

Not only does Natalie have her sleek new haircut, but it seems she has a new wardrobe as well. And the skirts have gotten much shorter since she's begun spending her time with Meredith.

I'm sure Natalie thinks Meredith is being her friend, but she has no idea that Meredith is just using her as her latest and greatest accessory.

You see, before Natalie came here, she was homeschooled.

It's crazy. They eat lunch together, they hang out in the hallway at recess, and since Natalie's parents are both psycologists, I think they live in Meredith's neighborhood too.

I was on IM with my cousin Nicki last night and she pointed something out to me. She said that Meredith may actually see Natalie as a legitimate threat to her and is 'keeping her close by' to keep an eye on her. When I think about it, she behaved this way with Antoinette too.

Which meant this latest meeting of the dance committee was quite the eye-opening experience. They looked, spoke, and behaved like a full clique. How I ended up the de facto chairperson of this committee, I'll never quite know. "Now that we have a name, let's go on a theme," I began.

"Well, Natalie suggested last time that the king and queen be called the Lord and Lady of the Fling," Sasha began. "Why don't we run with it and do a medieval type thing?"

"That's good, Sasha," I said, "but wouldn't the Spring Fling need another name if it's got a medieval theme?" Thing is, we need a name for the dance in order to start discussing decorations for it.

"Not really," Sasha shot back.

"But 'Spring Fling' doesn't sound terribly medieval. I mean, if we're calling the king and queen the Lord and Lady of the Fling, the name of the dance itself would have to sound more medieval."

"What about Ye Olde Merrye Spring Fling?" piped in Natalie. "We don't have to change the name, but we can make it sound more medieval."

I'd have to think about that one. Anyone up for suggestions?

"I've already bought my dress!" protested Meredith, stamping her foot. "And it's certainly NOT medieval! I spent a lot of my parents' money on it! Don't tell me I have to bring it back!" She shot glares at both Natalie and me.

The Pitfalls of Popularity

2010-03-16T18:05:00.004-05:00

All of a sudden Natalie Spencer is the most popular girl in the grade. Is it just because of the hair? Or is there more to it?
Today in gym class Meredith and Sasha were all over her, playing in her hair and stuff. Meredith treated her like garbage when she arrived, now all of a sudden she wants to be buddy-buddy???

Entry for Rose's Spring Photo Contest and SPRING GIVEAWAY

2010-03-16T09:25:00.006-05:00

To me, spring is a time of renewal and restoration. It's as if we're waking up from our winter slumber and coming back to life, as the flowers and trees do.

And now, for the giveaway item.... win Natalie's outfit! It'll come with everything you see here plus the headband. All you have to do is comment here to enter. The drawing is THIS FRIDAY, so enter quickly!

Dance Committee Part 2 and GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT!

2010-03-15T20:34:00.006-05:00

Well, today I went to another meeting of the dance committee, and I got a surprise.

It was Natalie, and she looked different. Her hair was now shiny and bouncy, and cut in layers. I'm betting her new stylish 'do will be the envy of the grade. Meredith Hopkins, the reigning hair queen of the grade, has officially been supplanted. Natalie's hair is gorgeous.

"I didn't know you were on the committee?" I whispered to her.
"I wasn't until this morning," she laughed.

Sasha suggested the "Spring Fling" and Natalie thought the king and queen should be called the "Lord and Lady of the Fling."

Since I couldn't come up with any better suggestions, we went on to other business. With that in mind, Meredith has already begun her campaign for Lady of the Fling. She took out a campaign-style ad in the school newspaper asking people to vote for her. She doesn't get it. An eighth-grader ALWAYS wins that. ALWAYS.

Oh, and watch the next post. Yep, I'm jumping on the giveaway bandwagon and will announce a giveaway!

With a little help from your friends...

2010-03-14T18:53:00.004-05:00

For those of you new to my blog (and there are quite a few of you, welcome!) this is one of my best friends, Lindsey Rebekah Bergman. And she is one of my best friends even though she is a grade behind me. We met last year at Girl Scouts. Linds is Jewish, though it hasn't mattered very much. Right now her current obsession is Rebecca Rubin and she thinks there actually might be a distant family connection between herself and Ms. Rubin because Rebecca's family and her mother's family came from the same area of eastern Europe.

Anyway, I told Linds what happened at the committee meeting, and yesterday she sent me an email that had me in stitches. She's good for that.

From: "Lindsey Bergman" (iluvdogz at agmail.com)
To: "Haley Hotchkiss" (1stwomanprez at agmail.com)

Hey Hales, picture this. Principal calls Night-Meredith's name as
the spring dance queen, right, and she gets there and starts making her
speech. Well, I got this weird image of her walking up there in her
nightclothes, and I also got an advance copy of her speech. She gets up
there, flips her hair, and starts talkin.' "You know, I gotta thank myself
for being so awesome and looking so darn good. Like, all you minions, I want
everybody to bow down to me and listen to everything I
say."

Linds had me dying laughing, I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

Vee's note: the addresses above are not real. LOL

Dance Committee Meeting

2010-03-12T22:52:00.008-06:00

It still hasn't quite hit me that I'm actually in a magazine. And to think, I actually took that picture as a joke. Guess the joke's on me, huh?

Now that that's out of the way, I had to grit my teeth and bear the meeting of the spring dance committee. A couple weeks ago (I can't remember) I told you that my teacher put Meredith and I on the committee to help put together the dance. Well, today we met in one of the 'new' classrooms.

I didn't realize Sasha Moore was the third girl on the committee. Sasha, of course, is one of Meredith's minions. She loves to sing and says she dreams of dancing on stage with Beyonce. We're not friends by any stretch but we're cordial to each other. We have to be, we share 3 classes so we see each other quite a bit.

So when I walked in, I knew Meredith and Sasha were talking about me because all of a sudden they stopped. "What are YOU doing here?" Meredith asked.

"Don't act dumb," I replied. "You were in the office."

She tossed her blond hair -- which smelled like downy -- in my face. Sasha just stared.

As an aside, I borrowed Linds' laptop to record the ideas and I wore my first pair of Liberty Jane jeans. Actually Vee has had them since last year but this is my first time wearing them. The fit is a little snug but I like them.

Anyway, when I whipped out the laptop, Sasha was all, "Hey, nice gadget. Yours?"

"No, it's my friend Lindsey's."

"I knew it couldn't be hers," Meredith remarked snidely.

"Lindsey Bergman?" asked Sasha. "Hey, my brother is in her class. She has short curly hair. That's her?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

We couldn't even discuss ideas for the dance without going at each other. And the teacher was no help, she just stood by.

Anyway, Meredith is determined to win the title of queen, even though since the beginning of time that has gone to an eighth grader and she, of course, is in seventh. Last year Marisol Luna won it. Meredith boasts that she already has bought her gown and has written her acceptance speech.

"This isn't the Oscars," I reminded her, "and that was last week. What happens if you DON'T win queen?"

"Oh," she said, flashing a sugary smile, "that's not going to happen."

Her Majesty, Princess Haley

2010-03-10T22:40:00.003-06:00

Apparently my picture is in a magazine!

My friend Robyn from NY emailed me this morning at school and told me that this photograph (taken Halloween 2008) is in this month's edition of Simply AG magazine!

I think Vee secretly submitted it. She had to, if it's in there.

Take THAT, Meredith Hopkins!

Harriet pix

2010-03-07T14:13:00.004-06:00

This is just a short post to share a couple of pix of Harriet Vee snapped today while the guests were here. :)

For newbies to this blog, Harriet is, of course, my best friend. We arrived here three days apart (she actually came first) and she sat next to me on my first day of school last year. We've been friends ever since.

Lindsey vs. Meredith

2010-03-03T13:47:00.003-06:00

Today Meredith went one step too far. And the victim this time was dear sweet Lindsey Bergman.

I let Linds borrow my blue hoodie and my Ready for Fun jeans. "Say, did you fish that from Haley Hotchkiss's closet?"

"So what if I did?" Lindsey asked. "Besides, that flip you're wearing is SOOO last year."

Then I heard Meredith accuse Lindsey of copying me.

That was about the last thing I expected to hear, someone being accused of copying me, lol. Linds and I actually laughed about it afterwards.

"You know what, Meredith, you think you own the school. Well, I've got news for you, you don't."

"Hah, you are about the LAST person I expect to hear that from, you -- a lowly sixth grader."

Meredith Mania

2010-02-26T16:30:00.008-06:00

So I just read Cali's comment...and I cannot believe she just helped out Meredith Hopkins. AARGH, lol. I know, she was just trying to be her sweet helpful self, but...it still kinda sticks in my craw a little.

I dunno if Meredith is reading my blog, and I'm guessing now that she is. Anyway, I found out that she submitted an audition tape for American Girl Modeling Academy (AGMA). I'm hoping she DOESN'T get in. She doesn't need her head to be MORE swollen than it is.

So... today I'm in the principal's office, when our teacher walks in.

She wants us to put together the 7th grade spring dance. Me and Meredith. I could already tell this is gonna be fun. Not.

BTW, that's an old pic that never got into a previous blog entry. Vee's camera is still broken. :(

Just stopping in

2010-02-25T10:48:00.004-06:00

Well, I know I've been absent, but I wanna just catch y'all up on what's been going on.

Vee's come down with a upper respiratory infection, so she's basically been chillin'. Her laptop is still in the shop, too, so I've been using the computers at school. There are no pix cause her digital camera is also still broken.

Natalie won the 7th grade spelling bee, I came in 2nd. 2nd is great, especially when you misspell the word electricity. (See, I spelled it right here but not in front of the class, lol)

Antoinette returned to France after the holidays and is talking about visiting for spring break. She showed me pix of her French boarding school and it's pretty ritzy. I'm wondering if, when I'm traveling, if I could visit France. I know Vee would never go for it, but...

Oh, I added a few more blogs to the blog list and changed the layout. I'm not happy with this one, so I wanna change it again, lol. If I missed your blog link, please let me know here. And any layout suggestions are welcomed! Thanks bunches!

Apolgies for my disappearing act

2010-02-03T09:31:00.005-06:00

Sorry I've been "M.I.A."
1) My camera is broken
2) School is a drag and has kept me sooo busy
3) Vee's laptop is in the shop so I'm using the computers at school
4) I just got word that Harriet's going to the AG Doll Hospital!

Sorry this post is so brief but I was just letting everybody know I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth.

Oh and one more thing. Vee said I could travel again this year! And this time it may be for longer! I'll try to keep y'all posted

XOXO
Haley (:

More about Natalie

2010-01-06T16:30:00.004-06:00

I went into the newspaper office today to check a few things and there was an email from Antoinette, saying she missed us here. And there was something else. She said she liked America so much that she was thinking about applying for Parkington next year. I'm not sure what to think of that one. As it is, she attends a ritzy private school in the French Riviera. Her family is fairly well-off.

While I was doing that, Natalie came into the office and spoke with Megan about the photographer position. Apparently Caelan, the boy who was the newspaper photographer, switched schools and now the position is empty. Megan asked to see Natalie's portfolio, and she said she'll bring it as soon as she can.

Speaking of Natalie, she has 4 classes (not homeroom) with me so I see her a lot. Today in science class I discovered something about her. She has a very noticeable bald spot in the back, and I know why she has it. I saw her pulling her hair. Not the usual habit that a lot of girls have where they run their hands through their hair, either. I mean actually pulling it. She yanked huge clunks of it out, and I saw them fall gently on her lap and on the desk. I'm in a delicate spot because I'm afraid if I say something, I'll lose what I think I'm starting to build with her.

Meanwhile, Meredith has already begun making her life a living hell, too. Just today in the lunch line she yanked on a piece of her hair and said, "How's that feel, eh?"

I told her to stop but Meredith just called me 'queen of the geeks' and told me to shut up.

Au Revoir, Antoinette... Hello, Natalie???

2010-01-05T15:24:00.007-06:00

Hi everybody, this is my first post of 2010! Happy New Year!
I returned to town the day after New Year's after being in Colorado with my cousin Nicki for 2 weeks. Thing is, I thought I was leaving cold weather when I left there... and it's cold here too. Unusually cold, Vee says.

Over Christmas break, Antoinette returned to her hometown of Nice, France, as her stay at Adams for the semester is history. Gosh it went so fast. We did exchange email and IM addresses before she left so we'll keep in touch that way. And she turned in a final article for the newspaper, which was essentially a goodbye letter for the 7th grade and the school. It'll come out in this week's edition.

Meanwhile, while we're saying goodbye to Antoinette, we're saying hello to...

Natalie!

Her name's Natalie Noelle Spencer. She moved to town just before Christmas but decided to start school after the holiday.

When I walked in this morning (our 1st day back), Natalie was in the gym looking for the principal's office.

I hadn't recognized her, so I asked her if she was lost, and she said she was looking for the principal's office.

"Are you new here?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am."

While we were walking, Meredith and a couple of her little followers pointed at us and started laughing. I found out that Natalie had moved here from Ohio, that she was going to try out for the gymnastics team, and that she loved photography. "Good," I suggested, "the newspaper could use another photographer."

Tagged by Sabine!

2009-12-30T12:25:00.004-06:00

7 Songs I'm Into Right Now...

Um... do I HAVE to name 7? LOL

What car do you want when you're older?

One of those cool electric cars they have in Europe.

Where do you want to live when you're older?

This one's fairly easy. Definitely London.

Where do you want to go to college?

Um... Harvard or Yale! No doubt!

How many siblings do you have?

Actually, mom has 1 still in her belly... due next month :-)

How many children do you want?

Zero. :-)

City girl or country girl?

Definitely city! Where I live right now is soooo sloooow.

Flying or driving?

Flying!

Biking or swimming?

Biking -- I can't swim! Haha

Sports?

Naah, not for me.

Books or movies?

Can't choose!

School or chores?

School, definitely school. I hate chores, but I'm a good student in school.

Inside or outside?

Inside, definitely. I'm allergic to pretty much everything, lol.

Wednesday or Sunday?

Sunday, definitely.

Friends or family?

Right now, friends. My family is too scattered right now.

Fried or scrambled eggs?

Definitely scrambled...

Big meal or something small?

Small stuff. I'm not a big eater. Of course, this is Louisiana, a place famous for food :-)

Movie or TV show?

I'm more of a movies person. I hate the crap that's on TV now, really.

Fave thing to do outside

Take walks and enjoy the rays :-)

Place to read a good book

On my bed

Favorite veggie?

Sweet peas

Where do you want to live when you graduate?

Either back home in Lancaster, PA -- or London. ;-)

What is your favorite flower?

Daisies

Do you like writing?

Well, duh :-P

What is your favorite month?

September -- my birthday and the weather is usually nice :-)

Do you like adventure?

Very much!

Do you collect anything?

If I collect anything it would be books. I love to read but unfortunately haven't had much time to do it!

Do your grandparents live near you?

Nope, they're all dead.

Are you bored?

Nope...

I tag

Wendy

and whoever else hasn't been tagged yet

Meet Adam

2009-12-27T16:40:00.002-06:00

Greetings from snowy Colorado!
This little guy is my cousin Adam Fleming, Nicki's now 10 year old brother. Isn't he a cutie? I told Nicki she'd better watch him, the girls are gonna start calling at any moment. ;-)
She says she's aware of it, lol. Too aware. "It's started already," Nicki told me while we were unwrapping gifts. Adam got a Wii for Christmas and we've all been playing it while there's like 2 feet of snow on the ground.
Meanwhile, back in Louisiana Harriet told me Vee returned from her Christmas trip yesterday. Harriet herself is still at her aunt's house for the holiday. The cool thing about the internet and email is we can all still keep in touch while we're separated.
It'll take me awhile to slowly keep up with y'all's holiday blogs so be patient! :D Bye now!

Christmas Surprises

2009-12-19T11:00:00.001-06:00

As I've said before in this space, yesterday was the big holiday pageant at Adams. Meredith played Clara in the Adams production of the Nutcracker ballet, a production I pretty much tried to stay awake through, even though I was the one mostly responsible for putting it together. It was mostly her and a bunch of 8th graders.
I wore my Sapphire Party dress because I can't find my Silver Belle dress (Vee says she has no idea where it is) and Harriet looked dazzling in the Butterfly Brocade outfit.
We did get a huge surprise though, at the pageant.

"Hey guys!" I heard someone call. Harriet and I looked over and it was Hilary! As most of you know, she's been living with her dad in California and attending private school there. I have to say, she looks great. She's lost fifteen pounds and definitely looks more grown-up. But her appearance made me wonder - is she back?
"I'm visiting mom and Hallee for the holiday," Hilary said. "Then -- we'll see."
Harriet and I introduced her to Antoinette and we spent the rest of the evening catching up on old times.

Very early this morning, though, at the airport, I was greeted with another surprise. Nicki greeted me with warm hugs and even a kiss on the cheek. But her brother Adam really shocked me. He's as tall as I am and is definitely going to be a heartbreaker when he gets older, if he isn't already.

Oooh, before I go, here's this cute pic of all of us at the Christmas pageant last night. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Nutcracker Rehearsal

2009-12-17T01:26:00.003-06:00

Today they started dress rehearsals for the Nutcracker ballet. And I have to say, other than the blond hair (every pic I've seen of Clara has her as a brunette), Meredith really looks the part. I hope they have a brown wig for her. She has an eighth-grader as an understudy, a girl named Samantha Parker (who looks A LOT like the AG Samantha from the books & movie).

But it gets worse. One of us newsies has to actually INTERVIEW her for the paper. She's already ego-tripping over this Clara role, we certainly don't want to send her self-esteem to the moon. Then again, on second thought...we'd like to send HER there (forget the self-esteem part).

News and notes from Casa Haley

2009-12-13T13:59:00.006-06:00

This December has been a busy one here at Casa Haley. The Thanksgiving food drive has turned into a Christmas one, and I'm still the coordinator, so we're still collecting food to give away to needy kids and their families. There's also a Christmas toy drive being run by Kit and the sixth graders.

The Christmas pageant is this coming Friday, and guess who is in charge of it? So you can imagine I've been very, very busy. Meredith has the starring role in the Nutcracker production (I had nothing to do with that one, trust me).

It's been cool and damp around here lately, and Vee has been a bit under the weather. So the other day Harriet and I decided to do the 'bestie' thing and wear matching outfits. I have to tell you, it totally shocked Meredith! "Oh, so the dorks decided to dress alike today," she said when she saw us together.

In six days I leave for Colorado to visit my cousin Nicki. If what I've seen on the news from there is any indication, I'll be snowed in for most of the time I'm there.

Decemberrrr!

2009-12-02T16:32:00.005-06:00

Sorry I haven't been around lately, it's been sooo crazy around here!

For starters, Vee wiped her computer last week. Completely wiped it. Which means a lot of my pix and a lot of my links that I'd saved (not blog links, but regular site links) are gone. She'd been having some issues and then just decided to do it.

And school has been such a drag. Between my homework and the extracurriculars I'm in, I hardly have time to just hang out with my friends.

Sooo... anyway, today I was in the gym helping to decorate when you-know-who came in, waving her pom-poms with her hands on her hips. "Excuuuuse me," she shouted to the top of her lungs, "did you forget? The cheerleaders have practice today."

"Well, we're supposed to be hanging up the Christmas decorations in the gym, don't you think you guys can practice somewhere else in the gym while we do this?"

Now, I know she saw Antoinette with me, that's why she came over.

"Aren't you coming, Antoinette?"

"No, I'm helping Haley."

"Fine, suit yourself." Meredith left in a huff, that girl (aka mimic) Kylee by her side.

Thanksgiving Food Drive

2009-11-16T17:32:00.003-06:00

So, on top of everything ELSE I have to do, I'm now in charge of the annual food drive, co-sponsored by the student council and the newspaper.

I actually convinced Harriet to come in and help with the food drive (I know, a miracle, huh?). We've got a good bit so far but there's still more to go. And we're still gonna need people to go door to door to deliver food.

Yeah, I actually think that's Lindsey's box of Cheerios :-)

Three's A Crowd Part 2

2009-11-04T19:36:00.009-06:00

I decided to confront Antoinette in the newspaper office. I knew that a) she'd be without Meredith and b) in case I totally flubbed, I'd be in a neutral zone with other friends. Unfortunately, when I got there, Lindsey and Megan were working on an article for Friday's edition. "Can we talk?"

"Certainement."

I figured that meant yes, so I excused Lindsey and Megan and took Antoinette aside. I know Linds was eavesdropping, because that's what she does. She doesn't mean any harm by it, she can't help herself.

Anyway, I heaved a deep breath and I let her have it. "Antoinette, ever since you got here, your behavior has been -- your behavior has been -- strange."

"Vraiment?"

"Oui," I said in my best French. I remember that from my French classes, lol. "You are nice to me and Harriet only when you are not around Meredith. When you're around her, you turn into a different person. Someone I don't like very much."

"Elle est mon amie."

"No she is not! She is nobody's friend but her own. She collects people like others collect jewelry or shoes or purses. And you were just the prize piece for her collection. Can't you see? She is using you!"
"What do you mean by 'using'? I do not understand."

Just when I was about to explain what 'using' meant, Lindsey burst into the room, coming in-between us, playing referee. I know she meant well, but I had to tell her, "We're okay in here, really. Stop worrying about us."
Lindsey folded her arms. "Okay," she said, "but promise not to fight."

So I tried to explain to Antoinette that Meredith wanted to make herself seem 'cooler' by making friends with the French exchange student.

And then I let loose. I told Antoinette everything Meredith had done to me over the last year. "I almost switched schools because of her, twice," I said.

"Pardon, je n'ai pas su," she said. "Vraiment, je n'ai pas su."
"And look, look what happened to you. She and her friends trashed your party, then they talked about you behind your back."

I don't know if Antoinette got my message -- only time will tell. But what I said needed to be said. I couldn't hold it in any longer.

I sat down at the computer and composed my article for the paper. I'm hoping that by the time I go to visit Nicki in Colorado over Christmas break, I will have gotten everything done. As it is, I'll probably be completely wasted. Between quizzes, tests, assignments, and extracurriculars, I barely have time to breathe these days.

Three's A Crowd Part 1

2009-11-03T22:59:00.005-06:00

Well, I knew it was going to come to this, and sadly, it has.
Meredith and Marisa had this massive cat fight and they're actually not speaking to each other. I think it has something to do with something that happened at Antoinette's party. I'm not sure what it is, and I don't think I actually care.

Speaking of Antoinette, I mean, what do you say to someone whose party stunk like a skunk? I tried to come up with something but the words just wouldn't come out.

So I was on my way to give my talk to the seventh graders at a school assembly as class president (my first) when Meredith and Antoinette were walking by. "Dont'cha think you're going the wrong way for the assembly?" I asked.

"Like I care about your stinkin' assembly?" Meredith shot back.

"Ce n'est pas gentil," Antoinette said in her sweet voice. "That's not nice, Meredith."

"Why should I be nice to her?"

"Allons, laissez-nous vont." Antoinette managed to get in between me and Meredith -- for now.

Chillin

2009-11-01T07:22:00.004-06:00

I didn't go to Antoinette's party last night. I used the excuse that it was too cold. Actually, it was fairly chilly last night, but that wasn't the reason I didn't go. I'm from Pennsylvania. The weather here in Louisiana is balmy compared to that.

Harriet went but she came back early, she said Meredith and a bunch of social-climbing 8th graders were there, not our crowd. She also said Antoinette herself looked like she wanted to leave. Instead we hung out at her place and looked thru the new AG holiday catalog.

She still says she wants the yoga outfit as purple is her favorite color. She also says she wants all of Julie Albright's collection -- for herself. She likes that 70s stuff.

Me, even though the Petal Hoodie outfit is, well, pink, I like it as it's loose and casual. I also LUV the Sparkly Plum outfit, definitely something I'd wear, but at $36 I'll only be able to afford it in my dreams. I did have a dream once that I was dancing in the snow with Adam Cartwright wearing the dress....

Happy Halloween everybody!

2009-10-31T11:39:00.005-05:00

What are your plans for today?

Me, Harriet's trying to talk me into going to Antoinette's costume party. Antoinette invited us about a week ago. I'm not sure if I'm going, especially if Meredith's there like I think she will be.

Last night, somehow, we managed to pull off the 'Thriller' themed Halloween dance. Lindsey's dad let us use his lighting equipment and the smoke machines again. And I won second place in the costume contest, for something I threw together using Elizabeth's meet dress I found in a trunk last spring, and a wig Vee had around here for something else. Wouldn't you know, a boy dressed as Michael Jackson won first prize.

Oh, guess what? I'm going to visit Nicki in Colorado over Christmas break!

I don't think anything can prepare me for that weather. I suppose more than a year in Louisiana has spoiled me, even from PA winters. Nicki says they had over 3 feet of snow, already, and they were afraid they'd lost some of their ranch animals. I'm looking forward to seeing Aunt Joan and Uncle Dan and Adam and the twins, who are now about a year old.

Halloween

2009-10-28T10:26:00.004-05:00

So, it was chilly out yesterday, and Kit and I were walking home from the student council meeting. Kit's family bought a house right down the street from me, which is cool. She didn't win her class presidency election (that Kylee Phillips did) but she did become a homeroom rep. Then she asked a question. "Haley, what are you gonna do for Halloween?"

Halloween. Right. Three days away.

I shook my head. I've still got no clue.

My family was never that big on the holiday. Especially mom. She used to call the holiday 'silly' and I think I only went trick-or-treating once, and that was right after mom and dad split up. Dad let me trick-or-treat and eat pretty much all the candy I wanted. Never mind that I was throwing up the next morning cause I was allergic to half of what I ate. So Halloween was never really a big deal for us Hotchkisses.

On top of all that, we've got to throw SOMETHING together for the Halloween dance. Amanda Peters, 8th grader and student body president, wants to do a Thriller-themed haunted house deal, in honor of the death of Michael Jackson over the summer. I do not know how we're gonna pull this off.

Sorry, y'all, for being MIA

2009-10-16T16:26:00.006-05:00

That's missing-in-action, not Mia (as in Mia St. Clair, who went to Parkington this year). There's a reason I've been absent from the blogosphere as of late.

Well, guess who got elected seventh grade class president anyway, after all that drama? Yep, yours truly. Here's how it went down.

Caelan's mom got in an accident, so he was forced to drop out of the race. Not that he had any chance of winning, anyway. Maitte Luna (Marisol's sister)'s family moved back to Chicago, so she was out, too. Which left Meredith again running unopposed.

I was not about to sit by and let her walk into the presidency, at least not without a fight. I had talked to Megan and she convinced me that the presidency wouldn't really interfere that much with my new duties at the newspaper. Besides, deep down, even though I said I didn't want the presidency, I lied. I did want it, and I think I'm going to run for student body president if I'm still at Adams next year.

Unlike last year, when the voting was tight and contested, I got elected pretty easily this time. Harriet says I got elected because the kids recognized what a good job I did last year.

Oh, something else happened. I got an email from Hilary, and I have to tell you, she already looks different. She's attending a private school in California now. Harriet thinks she's lost weight, and when Hilary says she's a vegetarian now, you can believe it. Her hair looks like it's shorter as well.

Changed my blog template

2009-09-26T09:49:00.001-05:00

It's all Sophie and Maura's fault, I tell you!
I decided my blog needed some jazzing up, thanks to seeing their cool templates on their site. So I decided to have Lindsey, my resident computer guru, spice up my page. Problem is, when she did, all my links went buh-bye.
So, could all of you post your blog addresses again so I could have her redo my links section? Thanks bunches y'all!

Picture Day -- Say Cheese!

2009-09-24T14:10:00.003-05:00

Did I tell you I HATE School Picture Day?

I hate it for several reasons, but most of all, that contraption that's up top. That's gonna be in the yearbook this year as me, Haley Hotchkiss.

Meredith and Marisa, those banes of my existence, cut in front of me in the picture line, and they tried to take Antoinette with them. She looked back at me and then at them and decided to stay with me and Harriet.

Oh, and I made another major decision. I decided to run for class president. I figured I was gonna get chosen as a class rep anyway, so why not go for the whole shebang?

So, that's why I've been busy -- newspaper and with devising my class presidency campaign. Since the position remains unfilled, there's nobody to help the student body president plan the back-to-school dance. But this time, I'm not running so that I can win. I'm running so that Meredith Hopkins will lose. Because there's no guarantee that Maitte or Caelan could beat her in an election against her.

Catching up again

2009-09-15T14:32:00.006-05:00

I'm sorry I've been so busy here in Haley-land. The paper has pretty much taken all of my time.

The above shot was taken at my birthday party a week and a half ago. I decided to wear the Sapphire Party Dress that Vee had bought sometime last year but I never had an occasion to wear. I was surprised that Antoinette showed up. I did not mention Meredith or ask her why she came to my party.

Hilary left this week (sniff), which has made me sad. Not sure when or if she'll be back. And I still don't know where Kristy is, she's still kinda in limbo at this point.

As for the class presidency, as of right now I'm not in the race. There are, however, two more entrants. One is Maitte Luna, younger sister of Marisol Luna. The other is this boy named Caelan Staub, who hardly says 2 words in class, usually, so I'm definitely surprised that he's decided to run for class president.

I've been neutral in the race and have decided not to support one candidate or the other, but, honestly I don't care who wins as long as it's not Meredith.

Death in the (extended) family

2009-09-09T01:21:00.003-05:00

Harriet's great aunt (her grandma's sister) died last night.
She called me at 12:30 this morning to tell me. I doubt she'll be back in school for the rest of the week, especially since her great-aunt lived out of town, so I'm gonna try to get her assignments for her. I don't have all the same classes, so that's not gonna be easy.
I still haven't made up my mind on running for class president, but I'm getting a lot of pressure from both on and offline friends to run, and Megan even suggested I resign my position at the paper to run against Meredith. "There's no way she can coast into office unopposed," Megan said.
Speaking of Meredith, she came by the office today and she's already put out an ad in the paper with her picture on it and the slogan "Hop to Hopkins." Her smug mug already makes me gag.
My party the other night was pretty nice; although Harriet seemed kinda distracted. I now know why. She said her great-aunt actually used to sit for her sometimes. I never actually met the lady but she sounded real sweet.
And I think this explains some of Harriet's strange behavior over the last several weeks. I've already mentioned that she has an incredibly large and close-knit extended family that includes a lot of cousins and the like.
I'll probably go to her house tomorrow or so, if they're home.

Nicki's gone home

2009-09-05T09:18:00.003-05:00

Thanks everybody for the warm birthday greetings! Avery, I couldn't open the 'cake' you sent. :-(
Vee, Harriet, and I dropped Nicki off at the airport last night. I'd hoped she would stick around for my birthday get-together later this evening, but her mom called and said she wanted to get her ready for school on Tuesday.
Have to admit there were a lot of tears at the airport, but Nicki was the one doing most of the crying. I realize Nicki's my cousin and all, and Harriet says I've got to appreciate her but sometimes she is a royal pain. Before she left, she told Harriet to make sure I ran for class president and to stay on me like gravy on rice until I did it.
Abby suggested that I try to convince Antoinette to run against Meredith. One problem with that. She's only here for 1 semester, and the class presidency is for the entire year. Which puts me back at square one.
I'm gonna have to make my mind up soon, as the campaigning starts next week. Kit's already declared that she will try to get my old job -- sixth grade class president. Unfortunately, she's running into some stiff opposition from Kylee Phillips and another boy, Nick Staub. Lindsey took an informal poll and said that if the election were held today, Kylee would win in a landslide.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-09-03T09:35:00.004-05:00

OMG.
Today's my birthday. I make 12. However, I don't think my present is coming till at least next week.
That's because Vee is tripping all over herself over the newest JLY releases from AG. There must be like 20 new dolls and at least that many new outfits, and there's stuff for the Rebecca and Julie collections as well. She says she likes practically ALL of the new dolls, which begs to question -- what happens to some of us old hands?
Personally, of the new outfits that have come out, I like the photographer outfit and the petal hoodie. I'm also drawn to the sparkly plum outfit, too.
If I have a party, it'll probably be Saturday, as today is still a school day.
We finally released the back to school edition of the paper, but I still haven't decided whether or not I'll run against Meredith for class president. I can't stand the notion of her winning in a walkover, though. That'll really sting.
Abby's suggestion of letting one of my friends run is a good one -- except I can't find anybody willing to do it. The only one who might do it is Kit, and she's in 6th grade not 7th. I mean, Hilary's moving away, I'm not sure if Kristy's coming back, Katarina won't do it and neither would Harriet. So who's left?
I still haven't found the guts to tell Antoinette about Meredith. Meredith herself is not making things any easier, as she seems to conveniently find an excuse to take her away just as I'm about to talk to her.

A Talk with Nicki

2009-08-28T11:00:00.001-05:00

So, Nicki and I were walking through the kitchen, when she suddenly brought up the upcoming student council elections.

"I don't know if I'm running," I said.

"Whaddya mean you don't know if you're running?" Nicki asked. "You ran last year -- and you won."

"Yeah," I reminded her, "but things are different now. I'm assistant editor of the school newspaper and that's taking a lot of my spare time."

"Don't you think Meredith knows that?"

I shook my head. "Huh?"

"Hales, it should be obvious to you that she's testing you. The fact is, by announcing early, she wants to see if you'll bite."

"Huh?"

"She's trying to stop you from running against her because she knows you can win."

"I'm not sure if I want to go through that again."

Nicki's face lit up. "Aha! So that's it. You had that campaign last year --"

"Yeah, and if you remember, it got nasty. Really nasty."

"And you don't want to go through that again."

"Not really."

"You know, if you let her get to you, she will have won. Someone will have to challenge her. And I know that you're smart enough and strong enough to do just that."

Nicki's going back to Colorado next week, because she starts school the day after Labor Day. When she hasn't been at school, she's been volunteering at the local animal shelter. That is sooo Nicki, so something she'd do. There are times when I like having her around, and then there are times I wish she would just let well enough alone. This is one of those times.

Then suddenly Nicki confessed something else to me. "You know, I actually wanted to keep Sprocket for myself," she said. "I'd really gotten attached to him."

"What made you give him up?"

"I saw that Veronica needed him much more than I did."

Just Another Day At The Office

2009-08-25T20:35:00.007-05:00

Spent the entire weekend just vegging. Didn't do anything, didn't think about anything. I just did nothing. Oh, and I think Harriet came over twice. I dreaded going back to school.

However, going back to school meant going back to work on the back-to-school issue of the newspaper, which is almost done and will come out this week.

To no one's surprise, Meredith says she's running for 7th grade class president. But I'm also hearing she may throw her hat into the ring for student council president, even though that usually goes to an 8th grader. So far nobody's running against her, and I'm iffy on it, especially with my added duties at the paper. I can't see Meredith Hopkins being class president though. I don't know if I'd be able to tolerate it.

Spent my afternoon at the paper today, and managed to convince Harriet to come this time. I'm pretty sure Megan can find a position for her on the staff, even if it's a nominal one like "special adviser to the editor" or something. Harriet has said that she can't see herself doing any kind of writing, and she's also said she can't see herself doing any art -- even though I've seen her sketches and they're actually pretty good.

I still haven't found the guts to warn Antoinette about Meredith though. I'm gonna have to sooner or later, as I see her getting suckered in more and more. She doesn't even have a clue what kind of person she is, and I'm afraid that when she finds out, not only will it be too late, but she'll be messed up big time.

Oh, Vee went to McDonalds and got some of those cute Happy Meal books everyone's been talking about. The ones she brought back were Molly and Josefina. They're actually very cute. They're little books with something about the character, a drawing, a couple paper dolls and some fold-out scenes from their books, and some craft projects from the girl's time and stories. I think I'm gonna give them to Hilary for her going-away present.

Nicki vs. Meredith

2009-08-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

Remember in a previous post I said there were a lot of new faces around here? Well there was one more I forgot to mention.

Last spring before Nicki returned to Colorado after visiting for Easter, she gave this blind girl named Veronica her service dog, Sprocket. Turns out the story didn't end there. Apparently Nicki and Veronica have been chatting with each other online and emailing each other ever since that first meeting, and have become pals. So when Nicki came back, she saw Veronica again and Veronica was using Sprocket as her seeing-eye dog.

Now Veronica is attending Adams as a sixth-grader. And Sprocket is walking the halls of the school alongside his new mistress.

So I was on my way to go interview Antoinette the other day when I saw Nicki with her arm around Veronica and I heard her raise her voice in the direction of someone with blond hair. I peeped to see what was going on, and sure enough, Meredith was on the scene.

"You know," Meredith had said, "dogs aren't allowed on campus. Especially not smelly, stinky mutts like that one. Ewww!"

"He's a service dog," Nicki had attempted to explain. "He's a seeing-eye dog."

Meredith made a face. "Ewww! I'm still reporting you to the principal. Dogs shouldn't be on the campus, period. And neither should blind bats like you!"

"It's not her fault she has problems with her eyes!" I heard Nicki shout. And Nicki, you should know, NEVER raises her voice, so she had to be really upset. "And the dog is with her to be her 'eyes' so to speak."

Meredith flicked her hair. "She doesn't need a dog to see!" Then she paused a bit. "You know, you haven't changed a bit, Nicki Fleming! You're such a goody two shoes."

Nicki shook her head and sighed. "You're the one who hasn't changed, Meredith Hopkins. You're still the same selfish person I knew last year. If anything you're worse now."

"You don't even go to school here," Meredith shot back, "so shut up! You're not even supposed to be here. And as for the dog, I'm still telling the principal. Get that smelly thing out of here!"

What a twit. Here goes another fun-filled year of that snob. And I hope this attitude doesn't rub off on Antoinette. So far it doesn't seem to have, yet, but it's early. And I'm also hoping Antoinette finds out what kind of person she is before it's too late.

Back to School Assembly, news on Hil, and a talk with Kit

2009-08-21T15:27:00.001-05:00

Principal Ballard only decided TODAY to have his huge back-to-school assembly, going over the rules we've heard about 60 billion times, going over schedules, class assignments, activities, and making introductions. He trotted out Antoinette as the school's first-ever foreign exchange student. What I found out was, one of the eighth graders is at Antoinette's school in France for a semester, the same time as she's here. So I'm wondering if such a program would be available by the time I got to eighth grade, and would I be interested.

Hilary returned today, but she says she's only here for a couple weeks until her paperwork is finalized. She'll be living in California with her dad for the time being, as her parents have joint custody. She really is having a tough time dealing with the divorce. I remember when my parents split up, it was hard at first, but like I told Hilary, it does eventually get easier.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the office helping Kit with her article for the back-to-school issue. I also directed her to Maura's blog post about becoming Ruthie Smithens, her great-grandmother's best friend in 1934. "Can you time-travel like her?" I asked.

"Lindsey pretended to be Ruthie once when we were in my dad's attic playing," Kit told me. "Time-travel isn't that hard. You just put on a costume and bam, you're in a different place and time. I love it." Then she asked, "You know who my great-grandma was, right?"

"How could I forget?" I replied. "There was a movie and 6 books about her, I want to read them but I haven't had the time. She sounds like she was amazing." Then I asked her what she was writing about.

"The ways school is alike and different in my great-grandma's time and now."

"Sounds like it's gonna be real interesting," I said.

"You'd be surprised," she said, "not much has changed in 75 years. We have computers and stuff now, but a lot of things are exactly the same."

"There weren't French exchange students in her day, were there?"

Kit laughed. "Heck no," she replied, "but there were wanderers called hoboes..." She began telling me this story she knew (that was in the book & movie) about her great-grandma's hobo friend named Will.

"So, that's kind of like what's going on with Antoinette now," I wondered.

"You might wanna cut her some slack. She is in a different country, away from her family and her friends."

I had to admit I never thought of it that way. Count on your friends to show you things you never realized.

Antoinette Boucher, Fashion Queen

2009-08-20T20:03:00.016-05:00

If I needed more evidence that Antoinette Boucher is THE sharpest dresser in my grade, maybe the entire school, I got it today. She's definitely showing a lot of guts wearing this outfit, even though it's very pink and very girly. I've said more than once in this space that I'm not that big a fan of pink, even though there's a lot of it in my closet.

She says it's from Madame Alexander's new Friends 4 Life line, and she paired it with the hat from AG's 2-in-1 set they made for Mia last year, a beret she borrowed from (gasp) Meredith!

Speaking of which, I do think this whole thing with me, Antoinette, and Meredith is gonna eventually come to blows, and I don't know how it's gonna shake out, but somebody will feel some serious pain. I feel like I'm gonna eventually have to tell her what Meredith has done, because I don't want Meredith to do the same thing to her, and I know she will, because that's what she does to people.

So, Harriet, Antoinette, and I were on our way to gym class when I teased her that she should've worn that outfit tomorrow because there's supposed to be this big back-to-school assembly. She laughed and said "I didn't know" in an innocent French. All these new outfits are making me feel bad. I haven't had time to go shopping for new clothes, and both Harriet and Antoinette have new outfits, lol.

Friends Come...and Go?

2009-08-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

Wow, judging by the comments here, I notice Antoinette has gotten everyone talking! I had so many questions for her, I couldn't ask them all!

But, I have to tell you, sometimes I don't get her.

Today she officially joined the newspaper staff when Megan created a 'special correspondent' post for her. She doesn't usually do that kind of thing, except it was Ms. Baldwin's idea and it's not every year a bona fide French exchange student attends your junior high school.

We were talking on our way to class when out of the blue she said in her French accent, "Pardon, I did not know you and Meredith did not get along."
I let out a deep groan, wondering what Meredith had told her. "You obviously have not been here," I told her. "You do not know her at all."

"Pourquoi?" she asked.

I was tempted to go through the laundry list of the things Meredith had done. But I didn't. I'm hoping Antoinette sees soon enough what kind of person she is. When I told Nicki about this, she said Meredith may actually be on her best behavior re: Antoinette because she doesn't want her to see her 'bad side.' And she also said something else too -- that Antoinette may actually be torn between me and Meredith. An odd place to be, for sure.

I decided to try to change the subject by doing what Abby suggested and asking her about her hometown of Nice. "It's a very beautiful place in the south of France," she said, making me even more jealous. "There are a lot of historical landmarks there, and since the weather is great, a lot of tourists come to visit."

"Have you been to Paris?" I asked.

"Un certain nombre de fois," she said. "A few times." She also joked that she tries to avoid a lot of the famous French cuisine but can't resist partaking of a few crepes every now and again.

At the same time, I do think Harriet is somewhat jealous of my activities & other friends -- I've been trying to talk her into joining the newspaper, that if nothing else she'll meet some new and interesting people -- and she insists that she'll have nothing to do on the staff. When I mentioned Antoinette to her, she was like, "why are you trying to befriend her?" I explained that I'm curious about her since she's new and different and seems cool. She didn't behave this way when I introduced her to Kit & Lindsey. Matter of fact, she's friends with them, too.

Oh, neither Hilary nor Kristy have returned. I'm wondering about Hilary's parents. I know they were getting a divorce this summer and she was back and forth. I also know Kristy was going through a time of it too -- she ended up in West Virginia (where she's from). Seems some relative claimed her out of nowhere, that's what Harriet said. I don't know if Kristy'll stay in WV or if she'll return.

All in all, I think I may be on my way to making a new friend, at the same time I may be losing at least one of my old ones. I'm hoping she and I will keep in touch even when she returns to France after Christmas.

Some staffers posed for this pic while we're working on the back-to-school issue, which'll probably be in the yearbook. Megan (seated) is still editor-in-chief. I'm the first four-eyed fool (lol) on the left, Kit's next to me, Marie-Antoinette (I actually just wanted to type that, lol) is next to her, and Alison is wearing the hockey shirt. Missing is Lindsey (who also joined today) and Katarina Engel. Having the new staffers around certainly helps; I remember at some points last year we were so stressed out because there were so few people. I hope these newbies stick around for the whole year. It's much more fun with them around now.

All About Antoinette

2009-08-17T13:30:00.000-05:00

The majority of comments from my last post were about Antoinette, the French exchange student who's at Adams for the semester, and with good reason. Naturally everybody's curious about her. So imagine my surprise when Megan approached me with an idea to do a profile article on her for the back-to-school issue due out this week. I asked her, "How am I going to interview her? Especially with Meredith in the way?"

So, today when I approached Antoinette, Meredith looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you gonna do with her?"

"It's for the paper, you doofus," I shot back. "You don't own her!" I've decided I'm not going to take another year of abuse from her. We're never gonna be friends, and I can live with that.

I'm still not sure about the format to use for the article, but back in February I did do a 15 things about me post on my blog, so I suppose I may use that.

This afternoon I managed to get Antoinette in the newspaper office, and here's what I know about her now that I didn't know this morning. One thing I know about her is that even with her glasses, she's very pretty, and another thing I know is that she's very thin. She's even thinner than I am.

Her full name is Marie-Antoinette (one name) Anais Boucher, and she gets teased a lot back home because Marie Antoinette was a French queen who was beheaded.
Instead of using her full name, she chooses to go by Antoinette.
Her mother is Italian, her father is French.
She speaks three languages (French, Italian, English) and is learning Spanish and German.
She's in seventh grade, like me.
I have two classes with her.
She was born in a town called Versailles (she pronounces it vur-SY) and was raised in another town called Nice (pronounced like niece instead of nice). I'm sure Avery or Sophie may be much better at writing out the pronouncing of these names, though.
Her birthday is May 2.
She admires France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former model who has also launched a music career.
Her family in France is fairly well-off.
She is an only child.
Her favorite artist is someone called Lady GaGa, and like me she doesn't get the obsession with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. "It's not that I don't like Mi-lee or Anna," she says in her cutely accented English, "it's just that they are not my favorite."
She wants to write for the paper. Knowing Megan, I'm sure that could be arranged.
She loves Harry Potter, admits to having a crush on Daniel Radcliffe (the guy that played him in the movies), and fantasized about being a Hogwarts student.
She loves fashion and is interested in the AG couture scene.

The cool thing about having her around now is we actually get to practice the French we're learning in class. I actually think she's okay. If I could rescue her from the clutches of the evil Meredith...

And the other cool thing about having access to the computers in the newspaper office is, they're connected to the internet... ;-)

Queen Bees and Wanna-Bees

2009-08-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

So, Sophie asked in her comments to my last post if Meredith (aka our class' queen bee) was still around, and my answer now, as then, is she is... and in my opinion, she's worse than ever. I heard she entered a couple modeling contests over the summer, and she sure has gotten her head swollen like a balloon.

And on top of that, she's got a new accessory -- er, companion, in the form of a French exchange student named Antoinette Boucher (right), who's staying with the family next door to the Hopkins' for the semester. She's very exotic looking, with long dark hair (almost as dark as Victoria's) and bright blue eyes. She wears glasses most of the time but she wasn't wearing them there. And to think, she could have been staying at MY place for the semester, bummer.

Nicki doesn't return to Colorado to start seventh grade there till next month, so she wanted to see what had changed at Adams since she last attended last year (which isn't much, btw). Harriet & I gave her a grand tour, and we showed her the newly-remodeled newspaper office. BTW, I'm totally digging Harriet's new outfit, it suits her. It's from Carpatina.

Speaking of the new newspaper office, I'm happy they got new computers in there, and we welcomed Kathryn "Kit" Kittredge as our newest staff member. (Megan plans to ask Lindsey to join on Monday, and I've told Kit not to tell her.) And just in time, too. We have to get the back-to-school issue printed by next week. I'm trying to convince Harriet to join us at the paper, but she refuses to budge, saying she'll have nothing to do.

As for those sixth-grade 'wanna-bees' Kylee, Zoe, and Victoria -- I'm not bothered with them -- except when they bother my friends, and Kit and Lindsey are my friends now, though they're not in the same grade as I am. Besides, I do suspect someone will put them in their place soon enough, and I actually would be very happy when that happens. Funny how that works, huh?

Seventh Grade!!!

2009-08-13T19:39:00.001-05:00

Welp, started school this week, and hadn't had a moment to start recording everything. Until now.

Most of the usual suspects are back in action for another year, but a couple people still aren't back yet from whatever they were doing this summer, and I'm kinda worried. Kristy hasn't returned, neither has Hilary. I'm kinda bummed about it, actually. On the other hand, there are a whole lot of new faces around here.

Kit and Lindsey were telling me about some of their new classmates. "There are these three girls," they told me, "that you gotta stay away from at all costs."

Uh-oh. Are they the sixth-grade version of Meredith's crew?

I got a look at these girls. They sure did look like meanies. From left to right, they're Victoria Vaccaro (the dark haired one), Kylee Phillips (the blond), and Zoe Fishers (the brunette). Kit and Lindsey say Kylee is the definite queen bee of the group and has treated them like crap since kindergarten.

Speaking of Kylee, I'm actually stuck with her -- for the foreseeable future. That's because my student council sponsor matched us up for the seventh grade-sixth grade buddy program that I started last year. She reminds me of Meredith except, in my opinion she's actually even prettier. I was kinda hoping I'd get either Kit or Lindsey as I already knew them from Girl Scouts. Harriet's partner is Jess McConnell (I'm jealous as Jess seems far more interesting). I don't know who Hilary or Kristy have. Kit likes her partner as hers is into sports and they can talk baseball all day and all night. Lindsey's partner is Sasha Moore, one of Meredith's pals. I asked my teacher what made her make the matches she did, and she said they were totally random. I bet.

My classes -- I've only got one class with Harriet and three with Hilary. Hil and I have honors classes, plus French and TAG (talented and gifted) enrichment. Megan Ryder is still editor of the newspaper, although the newspaper sponsor, Ms. Baldwin, named me assistant editor now, so I'm gonna be spending more time with that. This means Megan and I have the task of picking new staffers. Kit and Lindsey have already submitted their stories, and I hope I don't have to tell one or both of them that they didn't make the staff, especially since they talked about it before all this happened.

I got into Parkington. I tried on my uniform, even paid the dorm fee... but then realized I couldn't go there. I didn't really belong there. It wasn't for me, at least not right now.

I'm BAAAAACK! (cue evil maniacal laugh here)

2009-08-10T09:20:00.000-05:00

Welp, the title says it all.
And to celebrate my return, Linds redid my blog banner with one of the pics from my stay.
My post is gonna be brief, because I've got to get ready to go to SCHOOL today! Oh yes, the reason I came back so soon is because school starts today. I'm a seventh grader now.

Here are the two albums from my travels. The first is from California, where Wendy is. Wendy and I had a blast, along with her other friends. What's funny is she's got a friend with the same name as my cousin. And they kinda look alike too. Weird, huh?

http://picasaweb.google.com/BuckinghamAlice57/TravelingHaleySStay#5350396789094269186

The second one is from the other side of the country, in Massachusetts. I had a blast with those girls, too, seeing all the sights. It's very pretty up there. I'd never been to Massachusetts, even though I'm from PA.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rocknrollamy/Haley1?authkey=Gv1sRgCOTDhtPlspXanQE#

More later! Byeeee,
Haley

Guest post #2: Harriet!

2009-08-07T18:26:00.000-05:00

Yo! Harriet here. Y'all have probably heard a lot about me, cause I'm sure Haley's had a lot to say about me. But y'all have never heard FROM me. So, now, here I am.

For starters, Haley came back last week, but she's resting, so she'll be back posting next week sometime. I'm sure y'all probably will be glad to hear from her again.

My full name is Harriet Louisa Jones. I know it sounds like an old fashioned name, and it was given to me by my mom. I'm named after my two grandmothers, Harriet and Louisa. Louisa's dead, and Harriet is the one who's raising me. I don't have any siblings, but I have a whole lot of cousins and other relatives, so there's always somebody around.

I know Haley's not so much into music, but I love it. Mostly I like hip hop and R&B, but I like some pop. I have to admit I LURVE the Jonas Bros and some Miley Cyrus...but I'm not so into Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. I've also found grandma's old Jackson Five records and have been listening to those, ever since Michael Jackson died.

Sometimes I wonder why Haley and I are friends, we're so different. I'm a couch potato and like watching TV and listening to music, she's much more active and would prefer reading to the tube. I barely read what I have to read at school, and writing for this??? I don't know how she does it.

Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, I was in summer school most of the summer, which is a total bummer. And I had some very long talks with Haley's cousin, Nicki Fleming. Nicki came down to visit Haley for the summer, only to have her up and leave on this traveling doll thing. I never understood it, myself. Nicki being Nicki, was dissapointed by Haley leaving, but she and I actually got close, in part because of it.

Last year, when Haley came to Adams, she was this girl that didn't seem to know where she was, and I've watched her grow and change just in the past year. I've mostly been along for the ride. We start seventh grade next week, so I can't wait to find out what else is in store!

Peace and love, Harriet

Guest post: Kathryn "Kit" Kittredge speaks out!

2009-07-21T08:32:00.001-05:00

Hi! I'm Kathryn Margaret Kittredge, better known to family and friends as Kit. I got the nickname because it was the nickname of my great-grandmother, the famous Margaret Mildred Kittredge who has been immortalized in books and even a movie. I also got the nickname because my father said I look like she did when she was my age.

I made 11 in May, and I'll be starting at Adams Junior High in 2 weeks. I can't wait, I'm actually excited.

Haven't done much this summer. I went to Ohio for 2 weeks to visit my family up there. I went to a few Reds games while I was up there, too, so that made me happy. I love baseball and I'm gonna try to get on the school softball team next spring.

The other thing I like is writing. As soon as I get to Adams I'm gonna try out for the newspaper staff. I've got the articles I've written already put together in a neat little folder to present to the editor. Haley says she's nice so I'm sure she'll like them. I figure if I'm gonna be a reporter when I grow up, then I'd better start now.

Speaking of Haley, I'm a little ticked at her for not writing as much as she'd promised. I'm sure she's busy but she could put five words on a postcard and tell us as much as hello or something.

Well, I gotta go. Catch everybody soon!

-- Kit