One more thing...

...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

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!

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!

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

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

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)

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?