IM with Nicki

How wonderful is instant messaging? Seriously. I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on phone calls, I can only do it occasionally when I want to hear someone's voice.
So, Nicki comes on IM tonight to tell me... that she's SEEN the Chrissa movie!
Whaaa??
"Yeah, I've seen it. Pretty good, actually." She said her school showed it yesterday, on their first day back.
Since I told her my school's supposed to show the movie sometime this week, she didn't want to give out any spoilers. Drat! That Nicki...she's my cousin and all, but sometimes I just don't know how to deal with her.
She went on to talk about the twins and about her brother's progress in math and all the pigs and dogs and horses that populate their ranch.
I can't imagine living with all those animals. I'd sneeze so much.

Back to School Shockers

Well, I went back to school yesterday. I didn't want to go but I didn't have a choice.

The first shock I got was that Katarina got new glasses!

She got them over Christmas break and I have to say, she looks a lot like those pictures of Molly McIntire on the books. I also have to say that I feel somewhat better now that I'm not the only girl sporting specs. She's very quiet and keeps mostly to herself, especially that Meredith calls her names like "Fat Kat."

The second thing is there's going to be a school assembly later on this week to talk about bullying and to show the new Chrissa AG movie. I have to say, from what I've read on the subject, it's going to hit pretty darn close to home. There's even a website, set up by AG, to deal with this. http://www.americangirl.com/girloftheyear/

The third shocker was that yesterday, I thought about wearing the new outfit my mom bought me for Christmas back to school, but decided against it. Imagine my surprise when I saw Meredith walking down the hall wearing the exact same one! I was shocked.

Meredith and her minions continue to make life miserable for everyone at Adams. The girl on the left is Madisyn Baker and in many ways she's as bad as Meredith. The girl on the right is Natasha Ivanova, she's Russian. Meredith's hair always smells like strawberry conditioner and the scent makes me sneeze.

When we passed by, I heard them whisper something. "Hey, Van Dyke," Meredith shouted, looking at Kristy's green outfit, "I guess they forgot to tell you Christmas was over." I can't wait to see THEIR reactions to Chrissa's movie. I'm actually looking forward to this assembly.

Random Thoughts

On Monday I return to school. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.

For one thing, I'll have to deal with Meredith Hopkins. For those of you who are new to my blog, know that she has caused a lot of problems for me ever since I arrived at Adams Junior High in August.

She's head of the JV cheerleaders and the most popular girl in my grade. She also did some local TV and modeling work in her native Jacksonville, Florida. Not to mention, she is a spoiled, self-centered snob who thinks the entire world revolves around HER. Unfortunately, I have to see her a lot. Not only is she in my homeroom, but as a result of her running against me for class president, I get to see her an awful lot on the student council.

She has spent most of her time tormenting me for wearing glasses and for being smart. She tore down campaign signs, hid (and broke) my glasses once in gym class, scheduled a Halloween party at the same time as the school dance, and circulated a nasty petition about me. (Did I tell you that?)

She has a merry band of followers, too, most notably Natasha Ivanova, who has a head full of auburn curls, and Madisyn Baker, who in many ways is just as bad as Meredith.

On top of this, my cousin Nicki has decided to stay in Colorado for the rest of the school year. I can't say I'm surprised by this -- after all, her mom (my aunt-my mom's TWIN sister) just had twin girls and would need all of Nicki's help with them, she's got a new puppy, and they've taken in MORE service dogs to train, so they've definitely got a full house. The only thing I'll regret is that she'll miss Harriet's slumber party, which WILL happen, we're just not sure when. And besides, I don't blame her one bit in not coming back to Adams -- she's taken her share of grief from Meredith and her gang, too, for her love of animals.

Doesn't she look happy? Why come back to Louisiana when you can look outside the window and see THAT???

It hasn't been all bad at Adams, though, I must admit. I was elected sixth grade class president in the fall, and it's been very hard work, much harder than I thought it'd be when I ran. I also joined the school newspaper staff. This past semester I made the honor roll and my goal is to get straight A's.

I also managed to make some friends. Harriet Jones, I consider my best friend. She's African American and now has what I consider a gorgeous head of curls. Even though she's quiet, she's a good listener and seems to know everything about everyone at Adams. I don't know how she does it. She turned some heads when she showed up with her new hairdo. I give her credit, she's willing to take some risks.

Kristy Van Dyke was Harriet's friend but she's becoming mine as well. Her hair is long and brown and even straighter than mine, and most of the time she wears it under a cap, with a ponytail. She hates wearing dresses and is very adventurous. In fact, she missed two weeks of school because she fractured her hand in 2 different places from a scooter accident! And another thing -- it's quite possible Kristy hates Meredith even more than I do.

There's also Katarina Engel. I can't say I know her that well, I do know she's shy and quiet. I do know, though, that she was born in Germany and sent here to live with her aunt when she was eight. She looks like Kristy except that she's chubbier. The only time I see her is when we're at the newspaper.

It's almost as if we've formed sort of a "Team of Misfits" at Adams.

I don't want to go back to school on Monday. But I've got no choice.

Happy New Years (Eve)

I'm home! (Home being in Louisiana)
Dad drove me to the airport yesterday in silence and I pretty much slept all day today. I think Harriet and Kristy and I are going to go outside later tonight and shoot some firecrackers. Shooting firecrackers is kind of a pastime around here. And Kristy, she seems to know ALL the secrets of getting the most bang out of fireworks.

Another thing we do around here is to make lists of New Year's Resolutions. I've already made one of mine -- and that is not to take too many things to heart and to take myself less seriously. I know it's one of the 'bad' things I got from mom. Along with that resolution, I've also resolved to have more fun in the coming year. Another thing I'm resolving to do is to learn more about different people and different cultures. I'm even considering becoming a Traveling Doll over the summer.

What are YOUR New Year's Resolutions?

Happy 2009, everybody. Let's make THIS year the best EVER!

Musings on Harriet

More greetings from "balmy" Lancaster, PA. I'll be back on terra firma in Louisiana before New Year's. The weather reports say it's going to get cold again soon.

It was an unusually warm day so dad and I took a stroll in the park. We talked about a lot of things, including where I'd be going to school next year. I told him that I was looking into several schools, including Hanover Academy and Parkview Ladies' College. "All of them are private boarding schools," he said, chewing on his mustache.

"I know, dad," I told him.

"Well, aren't you setting yourself up for a fall?"

"Whaddya mean, dad?"

"Private schools like the ones you're thinking about applying to cost money. And what if you don't get in?"

"I'm not thinking about not getting in, dad."

Dad managed a chuckle. "You sound like your mother." Then he sighed. "You're growing up, Scooter -- growing up a little too fast for me."

I had never heard dad talk like that before. One thing I know for sure, I'm not happy about the prospect of going back to Adams Junior High.

Later on, when I got back to dad's computer, I saw that Harriet sent me an email. She says she misses me (of course), that she still wants to have our slumber party (of course, even though she made her birthday and her party got postponed because her grandmother was in the hospital) and that some of her family is still freaking out over her new look. I think if I lopped off six inches my family would be in shock too.

Harriet before:

Harriet now:

You be the judge.

Family Ties

Hello everyone from PA! It's cold here but not as cold as it could be, so I suppose I should count my blessings.
Christmas was pretty good, actually. Mom sent me a new outfit, which is cute but still seems more like a Meredith outfit than something belonging to me. I guess it's the color that's got me. Look:



Dad is, well, Dad. I have to say, he's really improved his cooking. Either that or he's buying a heck of a lot of packaged food and reading the directions really well. He and mom still aren't talking, and I haven't seen my mother in eight months. I'm not sure whether to be sad about that or not.
Got an email from Nicki, who's still in Colorado and will be there till after the New Year. She sent a bunch of pictures, some of the mountains, some of the snow, and some of her with the new puppy she got for Christmas. From the pics she sent I couldn't tell what kind of puppy it was, but it looked to be frisky. She calls him "Sparky."

Nicki has a younger brother, Adam, who's in fourth grade, and her twin sisters were born the day after Thanksgiving, Rebecca Faith and Kristine Hope. Her email account couldn't fit all those pics, so she says she's sending pics of them too. She also says she's been trying to spend some time with her best friend from Colorado, Becca, and her other friend Kris. I tell Nicki one thing. If that dog shows up here, I'll scream.

Happy Holidays!

Welp, it's that time of the year again. I decided to go back home to Pennsylvania. But before I do, I wanna let everybody know what I've been up to lately.
I can't say I'm sure what I want for Christmas, because what any girl wants, I pretty much already have.

First, I misplaced my digital camera, so I didn't do many journal entries. But after the election (the real one, not mine) I went back to work on the student council. Being class president definitely isn't easy. You have to find a balance between all these different groups, who all want to be heard and all want you to listen to them. I don't envy the job the real president has to do, at all.
On December 11th, it snowed here. Vee had told me that it didn't snow that often here, I know back home it snowed quite a good deal. We had the day off school because of the snow. Back home I probably would have had to go to school. The shot below, I managed to take of Kristy with my cameraphone, apologies for the lack of quality.

And I've also helped Harriet decorate her grandmother's Christmas tree:

While I was at Harriet's place we sat up all night last night and watched Samantha and Felicity's movies back to back. I don't remember which one of us fell asleep first. All in all, it's been pretty busy here at Casa Hotchkiss.