Scholarship!

On Thursday, I found out that I had been selected by the district for the Ambassadorial Scholarship from Rotary. Carol King, one of the women who was at my interview, called to tell me. Now my application is passed on to Rotary International and I have to wait until at least November to see where I might be placed. I'm really excited to have the chance to be going and getting a masters degree.

Overlook from Craggy Gardens. It was beautiful with the clouds blowing over from one side and it being sunny on the other side.

This week on Wednesday and Thursday I babysat for the person who Alle` had been working for. There were three kids. They were pretty good but they liked to argue. But I guess that is what kids do. I took them to Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway because they wanted to go hiking. They were so excited to be outside and hiking that they didn't even care when it rained and we had to sit under a shelter for a while. On Thursday they spent hours collecting blueberries which they all claimed to not like except for the youngest. By the end of the day they were all eating the blueberries and saying how good they were. I guess that is typical for kids. They were upset with me when I made them turn around on a trail because it was raining. When I made them turn around I took them to the picnic area so that we could wait out the rain. It wasn't raining when we got there and they wanted to hike some more so we walked a bit of the Mountain to Sea trail. When we got back to the picnic area there were rangers picking up trash. There was a black bear that had learned to open and get into the dumpsters. A little later the bear was wandering from one picnicer to the next trying to find food. The kids were really excited by the bear and they really wanted to see it so we watched it from the car.

Tunnel from the visitor center at the Craggy Gardens.

Yesterday I worked at Dining Innovations. They don't seem like they will be able to give me the hours I need. They let me go early all the time. It is going to be hard to pay the bills with that. It isn't that hard of work and the people I'm working with are nice so it makes it better to work there. I'm hoping that I might be getting more hours in the future. Today they called me and said that I didn't have to come in until 11 so there was another hour that I lost. I do think that it will be a fun job if I can get the hours I need. I might start looking for something else.

This morning I watched Gilmore Girls. I rented the first season from the library and I'm loving it.

Good Byes

First there is my little brother Jonpaul, who left for North Carolina School of Science and Math last Friday. He left the same day I got my job.

Second there is Lennox (his real name is Marrio) the cat who lived on the street I live on. He was a neighborhood cat and was always coming into the apartment when you left the door open. One day I came in after taking the trash out and he had climbed into my laundry basket and was purring. It was pretty funny. He got stuck in it and couldn't get out. Also over the year that I have lived here Lennox has gotten fatter and fatter as he was fed by at least two people in my building and he didn't even live in our building. His owner moved. It is sad because he didn't tell us he was moving Lennox just disappeared.

Last there is Erik, who is off to college in California. Hopefully he will love it out there. He left on Wednesday to go on an orientation hike in the Sara Nevada. I wait to go there. It sounds like it will be a great trip.

JOB!

On Friday I was finally hired at Dining Innovations. I'm really happy to just have a job at this point. After they hired me on Friday they asked if I wanted to work on Saturday. I was hired at the same time as two other girls and we all said yes. So on Saturday we were thrown in without any of the training to an event for the JCC (Jewish Community Center) which I live right next to.

Ponyo movie poster

Friday night I rushed around before I went to meet Erik and Alle` for a movie at the Fine Arts Theatre. We saw Ponyo which was good but not as good as some of Myazaki's other movies. It was more for kids than his other movies have been but it was still good.

Saturday morning I had an interview with Rotary for a scholarship for next year. I was nervous about it but it really wasn't that bad. The interview took place at AB Tech Community College. I am not familiar with the campus at all and they told me it was in Laural Hall and when I looked at a map of AB Tech there was no Laural Hall, so I emailed and they said that it was Laural Hall in the Fergison Building. It was good I found out early or I would have been wandering around lost. I got there early which meant I was sitting in the really cold hall waiting to go in. Also when I got there I realized that I had forgotten that I was wearing my Chacos and not my nice shoes so I was really glad that I was wearing long pants which mostly covered my shoes. Leave it to me to do something stupid like that. They finally came out and brought me in. Their were about ten of them and they each asked one question of me. The room we were meeting in was not nearly as cold and by the middle of the interview I was actually getting pretty warm. They told me it would be about a 30 minute interview but they let me go for 50 minutes which could be good or bad. I felt pretty good about the interview because they all seemed to appreciate my experiences. I will find out at the beginning of next month if I'm going to get the scholarship or not. Then I have to wait until Rotary International decides what institution they are going to place me at. We have to chose five institutions. During my interview they suggested that I chose more varying institutions than what is on my application now. I also need to put them in my order of preference. So I have to do that as soon as possible. I think I'm going to be doing that today or tomorrow so that I can get the updated form to them as soon as possible.

That evening I headed into work. I was serving hors d'œuvres. I have to say that I never thought of myself as weak but after carrying around the platter offering hors d'œuvres for 30 minutes I thought my arms were going to fall off. By the time they moved on to the dinner I was really happy to be refilling water glasses and scraping plates for the kitchen. It was gross but it wasn't hard on my arms.

Rainbow in the sky, barely visible here

Yesterday I didn't do much as I had a headache that would not go away. I sat outside and ate dinner and there was a rainbow in the clouds. It was three setts of color. I haven't ever seen a rainbow like those before.

Today I head back into work. I'm hoping they will go easy on my arms but as today is mostly training I think it will be alright.

Summer Walks

This afternoon I finished reading Through the Looking Glass by Louis Carroll. I found it interesting, but not as good as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I am looking forward to the new movie directed by Tim Burton. As I haven't seen the animation version I'm going to wait and see this one as it seems more likely to be an adult version of the story.

On Monday I got a drug test for a job I applied for. I was pretty sure that I was going to get the job but I still haven't heard from them. Which makes me wonder what has happened. I don't know if they are still deciding or haven't gotten the test. I didn't call them because I don't want to be pushy but I do wonder what has happened.

It has gotten cool again after the warm weather last week which is nice. It has been raining a lot in the past couple days. It blows in and rains really hard and then clears up. The mountain storms like these are very nice as they cool it off even more which is nice. After the rain stopped Matthew and I went out for a walk. On many of our walks around we go cat watching. Matthew and I count the number of cats we see. Some of the cats will walk up to you and follow you if you pet them which we do. Today we saw only one, a white cat. This cat is very white, it is surprising how white the cat is. I have seen the cat before on walks and it followed me for a long way.

My pepper plant finally has a ripe pepper so I should be able to eat it today or tomorrow. It is very nice to grow my own vegetables, satisfying.

Yesterday I watched The Color of Magic. It was funny but very long.

My Peppers

I found out that I have an interview with the Rotary Foundation for the Ambassadorial Scholarship on Saturday. This is good because it means that I am being considered for the scholarship and might actually get to graduate school. I am really excited about possibly getting the scholarship and being able to study in another country.

Published

This morning I was talking with my mom and I found out that I had my poem published in Western North Carolina Woman August edition. I hadn't heard from them so I assumed that they just weren't going to use it. It was quite surprising to see it published. I walked to Greenlife to get a copy so I could see it myself. The issue I am published in is about food. Which you can see from the cover. I submitted a poem called 'Peaches' which I thought would be good for the issue but I did not know if it was a strong enough piece. Apparently it was. I'm on page eleven. Here is a link to the poem on WNC Woman's website. Peaches in WNC Woman. It is really startling to be published. I've been submitting poems while I'm not working. I got a rejection letter earlier this week and just assumed that I would get all rejection letters. This is my first publication which was not through Interlochen Arts Academy. I had my writing published when I was a student there. Now I feel like there is hope for my other poems which are out right now.

Back In North Carolina

On the 4th we headed back to North Carolina. Dad told us we would be leaving at first light so I got up at 5:30am but no one else was up. I got all my stuff down stairs. I went outside and watched the sunrise through the mist. It was really beautiful. Whiffy the cat had caught another mouse. It was a big one. I moved cars around so we could load the van for the trip back. By that time dad was up and he helped me move the cars. I went and woke up the boys, as Alle` was already up, but they just went back to sleep. They all missed the sunrise.

Sun rising through the mist over the marsh in back of the farm.

We didn't get on the road until almost 7 which was 8 North Carolina time. I drove the first part of the trip. It was foggy to start with but the fog quickly burned off. It was really very nice sunny and clear. I could see clouds in the distance but they didn't look that bad. I stopped driving at a rest area. We all piled out of the van. We really were packed in there. There wasn't that much room for us. I walked around while I waited for everyone to get back and then I let dad drive. I have found it is really important to walk around when we stop because depending on traffic it can be up to a 16 hour drive from Wisconsin to NC. We were hoping to get to Asheville by 9 or 10 so that would have been 13 or 14 hours leaving another 1 1/2 hours for my parents after they dropped off me and Alle`. While dad was driving we came into the really dark clouds. Mom told us all the watch for twisters because theses were the right kind of clouds for tornadoes. We didn't see any but there was lots of lightning and thunder. It started raining after we got out of the really dark clouds. It rained from 9:30 in the morning, in Illinois, until 6:30 or 7 in Kentucky. It really slowed us down. At lunch the thunder was shacking the Subway. After lunch we had to call Matthew because there were signs saying that 74 was closed in Ohio because of flooding. We thought 65 might also have been closed, so we wanted to make sure we could get through on one of the highways. 74 was closed, and we found out that 65 was open so we got off onto 65.

Flood field on the side of the road.

I sewed a book but ran out of thread right before the last signature.So I couldn't finish it until I got back to NC. After that I didn't really have anything I could do so I slept.

After we stopped for dinner I drove the last part of the trip to Asheville. I think it was about 3 and 1/2 hours but I'm not sure. We didn't get into Asheville until 10:30pm so it took us longer than we had hoped but it wasn't that bad. We met Alle`'s mom at the BP on Charlotte street. I asked if they could drive me home and I got no answer so I called Matthew to come and get me. I could have walked if I hadn't had all of my stuff. When I got to my apartment I basically collapsed in bed.

On Wednesday I set up an interview with Dinning Innovations and applied for some jobs on Craigslist. I went to my violin lesson and came back and took a nap. I was really tired from the drive so Wednesday was a recovery day for me.

Yesterday I had my interview with Dinning Innovations. I think it went well. I liked the people that I talked with and hope that I will get the job. I went to lunch with my dad, Erik, and Jonpaul who were in Asheville to shop for the boys before they go off to school. Jonpaul goes down to Math and Science next weekend. And Erik flies out to California the next week. After the lunch Matthew and I went and saw Whatever Works at the Fine Arts Theatre. I didn't really like the movie all that much. It wasn't a bad movie it just wasn't great. Matthew said I kept wrinkling my noise at stuff I didn't like. After the movie I came back to the apartment and not really doing much. I called mom and dad to let them know I had 20% off at Bed bath and beyond if they wanted it. They decided they wanted it and by the time I got there Dad and Jonpaul were off looking for something else and Mom and Erik were waiting for me. It looked like I should have given them my car or something a lot sooner so that they had not all had to go to the same places because they were really fried. They were staring off into the distance and not seeing anything. I split them up so that they could each do what they needed. Dad, Erik, and I ended up together after we realized that Dad and Jonpaul were not really looking at anything anymore. We got one last thing for Erik and then we went to the grocery store and got stuff for dinner. Erik got taken out to dinner with Alle`. We cooked a simple dinner at my apartment and had watermelon for dessert. It was a good dinner.

Today I got up and sewed the book I didn't finish in the car and another one of the books I had ready. Jonpaul and Erik were coming into Asheville because they were going to an amusement park the next morning. Jonpaul called me and I went and met him and Erik at the bowling ally. Erik was watching the kids Alle` babysits while she was at an appointment. Jonpaul didn't want to hang out with Erik so after we finished a game he came with me. Jonpaul and I lost by lots of points. We decided to go and see a movie. Originally we were going to see the new Ice Age movie but we ended up going and seeing G-Force in 3D. It was a fun movie. After the movie Jonpaul and I cooked dinner at my apartment and waited for Erik to tell us what he was doing. I ended up having to take Jonpaul to met Erik and Alle`.

Tonight I'm preparing for Matthew's cousin's wedding tomorrow. I'm going and it is going to be interesting meeting his family which I haven't met yet.

Boating and Family

Yesterday, I got up early so that I would have a chance to go out skiing before it got windy on the lake but it was cold outside and no one wanted to do anything. Dad and I took the canoes from the night before down to the pond. Mom came down and we canoed around on the pond. It was all grown up with weeds really pretty gross. It isn't any good for swimming any more.

After lunch I finally convinced dad that it was time to go out skiing. Melissa, Taylor, Adam, Dad, and I went out. Adam skied first and then I tried to slalom but it was too wavy so I couldn't get up. So I ended up going on two skis. After being out on the water for a while it was really just too much and as they were hanging out at La Follette park near Nana and Grampa's I just walked back to the farm.

I convinced Grampa that the kids were going to cook dinner. So I had to run to the grocery store and get the supplies. What should have been a really fast grocery trip took a long time because Nana wanted to come. Also as it isn't the store that I'm familiar with, Ingles which is only in the mountains of North Carolina, it took longer for me to find what I wanted. Alle` cooked a broccoli casserole which everyone loved. I cooked pasta and marinara sauce, one meat and one vegetarian. As a result of us cooking dinner Grampa was not nearly as confrontational and it was a pleasant night.

After dinner, Mom and I took Iris, a long time family friend from Germany, home. She little has gnomes in her trees outside which is neat.

Today, I went with my mom and dad to my dad's aunt Ouise's house. Her gardens are really beautiful. I collected some seeds from her tiger lilies. I think I'm going to try and start some of them at my mom's house so that when I get back from China I can collect the seeds from them and have some at my place. Ouise said I could have as many seeds as I wanted because they were an annoyance. It was a pleasant visit.

When we got back I cooked pizza. We ended up going over to Pete and Lori's today to see Savannah and Fritz. I thought they were going to come over here but they didn't. We hung out at their pool and we played water volleyball. It was fun but Fritz was really loud and competitive. Although that is just who he is.

When we got back to the farm I came up to my room and the door was open. I keep asking everyone to close the door because I didn't want Leddy, the old dog in there sniffing around in my stuff. Well it turns out I should have been worried about other things. She came in here and pooped on the bed. I was just a little bit pissed. If you took all of the times all of us kids, me, Erik, and Jonpaul have been ready to kick that dog in the head for what she has done she might have some common scene by now. However, I know that she is so old at this point that it is my cousins, Ryan's, fault because he was in here when I was getting ready to leave and he was being a smart ass and probably thought it's the dogs room and so she is going to be in here anyway so he didn't close the door. My grandparents told me they were trying to keep her out of here though because she was having accidents. So much for that though.

We still haven't decided exactly when we are leaving. I personally would like to get past Chicago tonight so that we don't get stuck in traffic in the morning but I think that we will probably be leaving in the morning anyway. I'm going to be all packed and ready to go tonight in hopes that we will leave really early in the morning or that we will leave tonight.

Canoeing

Today I helped show horses to a woman who was interested in them. My grandparents woke up in bad moods so it was really hard to talk with them.

Alle` accidentally knocked both of Erik's tooth brushes in the toilet today. It was pretty funny, and Erik was really upset by it.

The river we canoed on with really beautiful clouds over head.
Below: (Right) Jonpaul, Taylor, and me before we got worn out. (Left) Erik and Alle` on the big bay were all the birds were.

After lunch Erik, Alle`, Jonpaul, Taylor, and I went canoeing on the river in the marsh. It is a really lovely pea soup color which really makes you want to stick your hand or feet in it. Walking down there we really got bit by mosquitoes. That was no fun. When we were out on the marsh thought there weren't any mosquitoes so it was pretty nice. We saw lots of birds, hawks, swallows, red winged blackbirds, kingfishers, great blue herons, night herons, snowy egrets, a momma mallard duck and its babies, sea gulls, and some strange birds we didn't know what they were. We also saw lots of turtles sun bathing on logs. It was really windy while we were paddling so it took us a really long time to get to where we were going. By the time we got to the first take out we were more than ready to leave, but they told us to keep going and they would meet us at the next take out so we kept going but it was hard paddling because it was against the wind. I saw and took some pictures of a water lily that was blooming. There were only two blooming lilies the entire trip even though there were lily pads along the edge of the river for most of the trip.

When we weren't paddling we kept hearing a sucking noise and finally we saw that it was a large fish sucking air in the weeds in the river. It was very strange.

Flock of sea gulls taking off in the bay.

When we got to the take out they were not there so I called and we had to wait for them to come and get us again. It was getting cold and we were all tired and not so happy with the fact that we were not going to be fixing dinner. Which meant not in control of what we were eating again. I was really hoping for something good but we had brats which make my stomach grumbly and upset. These were no exception. Also, they were not my favorite. I really prefer the white brats.

Me, Taylor, and Jonpaul taking a break to watch the birds, right before we had to work really hard against the wind to get across the bay.

Pete, Melissa, Rick, Adam, and Taylor also joined us for dinner so there were quite a lot of us there, so we ate at three different tables. At dinner my grandfather had been drinking and he was just looking to have an argument or give a lecture. It was not very pleasant to eat with him and I who can be very argumentative myself was trying to not engage with him which seemed to just make him madder. When he is confrontational like that it is hard to talk or to even sit and eat with him. I ended up getting a really bad headache, which was the third day in a row which I've had one and they come from the confrontation and the arguments which happen here. I'm used to living with Matthew and we are not confrontational like that, my parents are also very mellow in comparison which makes it hard to deal with all of the confrontation which occurs here. It makes me not want to come and visit my family. I really wish it was different. It is going to be a while before I chose to come and stay with my grandparents again. If I come up here I think I'll be trying to stay with someone else. It is sad but it just isn't fun to be here. Currently I'm wondering why I flew up here as soon as I did. I should have gotten a ticket for latter in the week not for Wednesday. I should have tried flying up on like Friday or Thursday and then not spending as much time at the farm.

(Left) Jonpaul all done canoeing waiting to be picked up. (Right) a really pretty water lily. We only saw two even thought there were lots and lots of lily pads on the trip down the river.

Every one was really tired tonight so after dinner all of the aunts and uncles left pretty fast. So it will be an earlier night for us. Yeah.