6/2/09

It’s going to be a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong summer…have I mentioned that? Six boring, sweaty hours pushing a lawn mower. And I didn’t get any faster today. In fact, my arms and legs are getting sore. Mowing is hard work, I tell you. Today, I did 2 small yards and 1 big one. The big one took me two and a half hours by itself. Dad is a total slave master. The breaks I get are when we’re driving from one job to another and a half hour for lunch. Did I say that it’s hard, hot and sweaty work? Well, it is. It got up to 89 today…I feel every degree of it…I have been drinking water like a freakin’ camel. I asked Dad if I could learn to use the edger and the leaf blower at least, just to break up the monotony. He said, “We’ll see.” I mean, if I have to do this stuff all summer I should at least get to learn other stuff besides just pushing a mower, right? Who knows, it might pay my way through college or something!  Dad has a couple of 6-man crews that do bigger jobs like Office building landscaping and maintenance and apartment complexes and stuff, and they have riding mowers and those totally cool ones that you stand on and ride. I wonder when I’ll get to use one of those! I’m not about to ask……yet. The ONLY thing I like about pushing a mower for 6 hours is wearing headphones and zoning out…I have lots of time to think about Gray and stuff (which I do plenty of).

Anyway, I got done at 3, took a quick shower and took the bus to the lake (oh yeah, that was the other thing my parents gave me at graduation, a summer bus pass and a pass to the lake……..sweet!). Trout Lake isn’t  much of a lake exactly, it’s more like a really big pond. The swimming area is separated from the rest of the lake by kind of a rock wall, and is bigger than a swimming pool, more like a small pond by itself. It has the big dock out in the middle and that’s about 15′ deep, so you can dive off of it. There are those cute lifeguard that are on duty till the park closes at dark, and they give swim lessons to little kids in the morning and late afternoon. There are always moms there with their screaming brats, but the beach is big enough that the MUCH older kids, like me, can get on the other side away from them and hang out. There are lots of trees at the edge of the sand, a couple of volleyball nets, a snack bar (like I mentioned before, I know). Away from the beach is a big grassy area  where you can play Frisbee or football, and there’s a big covered picnic area for parties and stuff. On the other side of the parking lot are basketball courts and tennis courts (where they also give lessons). There’s a walking/jogging/biking path all the way around the lake, and the city keeps the lake stocked with several kinds of fish (like trout, duh) so people can fish off the banks (no boats allowed). There ARE little pedal-boats that look like swans that you can rent and take out on the lake…that’s kind of fun…especially with a guy, I’ll bet (of course I found out last summer that you get in trouble if you try to use them like bumper cars). It’s a pretty cool place and most of our little town hangs out there at one time or other all summer. Like, it’s THE place to have little kids’ birthday parties, and we’ve had several big church BBQ’s there…at least one every summer, like on the Fourth of July. Oh yeah! Speaking of that, every year they have a REALLY cool fireworks display over the lake and almost the whole town (several surrounding ones) turns out for that. Totally fun. Soooooo…

Well, I got to the lake at about 4, so I only had an hour to hang out (I have that appointment at 5:30)…bummer. I think I’ll ask Dad if I could work a couple of shorter days during the week, and longer ones the rest. I wonder if he’ll go for that. Otherwise, I’ll know not to come on Tuesdays! Sophie and Heather were already there, and so was Tessa Prince (big surprise there). I think she has appointed herself Heather’s bodyguard. She seems pretty protective of her. I guess I can understand that though. If Sophie had gone through anything like Heather has (whatever that is, specifically), I would want to shield her from stupid people asking a bunch of stupid nosy questions too. Anyway, they were all lying in the shade (thank goodness), so I spread my towel out next to Sophie. I didn’t bother taking off my shorts and tanktop….what’s the point, right? I sat cross-legged on my towel and we all talked about nothing in particular…movies mostly. We all want to see “Up” since we heard it was good (I LOVE 3-D), and none of us can WAIT for Harry Potter 6 in July. Then we switched to books and Heather was telling us about “Twilight”. She read all four of those books while she was gone (she said she didn’t have much to do), and loved them. She also read another book by Stephenie Meyer called “The Host” and she love that one too. I said that my Mom won’t let me read “Twilight” until she has read it first (Sophie’s mom said the same thing of course), and I can’t get her to start it! She only knows what other parents have told her, and you know how parents are!! Totally unreasonable and mistrusting that we can read something without being “influenced” by it! Sheesh. That would be a great series to read this summer…I’ll have to work on her some more. By the time we had dissected a couple of Meg Cabot books, I had to leave and go meet Mom at the gate. Ugh. We said we’d get together again in a few days. I hope we do. I liked hanging out with Heather and Tessa….Tessa wasn’t near as snotty as I thought she’d be.

Not much to tell about my appointment with Headcase. She just wanted me to tell her some more about when I was little, the things I remember the most. I accidentally let it slip about my obsession over having a job where I wear gloves, so she gave me the assignment to come up with careers where I DON”T touch people. Great, summer’s just started and I have homework…

Here I am, with a little less than 9 months left to complete my journey and my goals. That’s still plenty of time, right? I feel energized and motivated today, something I haven’t felt for oh, about 6 weeks…once Thanksgiving rolls around, I’m pretty much useless until the first of the year. Then last week, right when I should be gearing myself back up again, I caught a bad cold and did nothing but sit and play computer games all week. By Saturday,  I was pretty much sick of myself, but I feel much better now physically and mentally. I sat down yesterday and made out a loose daily schedule (if I make it TOO structured I just never stick to it) to help me get things accomplished, and I made a list of things that I want to get done just for THIS week. So far so good. My ultimate goals are still memorizing the whole book of Romans, completing the first draft of one novel, entering my watercolors in Art in the Park, and getting healthier by losing 50 pounds.

Over the holidays I did gain 5 pounds, but I have lost most of that. I did complete two paintings, but they were Christmas presents for my son and son-in-law and as both of them came from copyrighted material, I won’t even post photos of them…let’s just say they turned out pretty sweet and leave it at that. No writing to speak of, and I’m WAY behind on my memorizing. But that’s okay, I’m ready to go!

Here’s the deal, though. I need to have at least 6 (count ‘em, SIX) watercolors that I like enough to submit for judging by March 1 (that’s when the applications for Art in the Park are due). So between now and March 1, I must paint at least one painting per week to meet that deadline. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Suffice it to say, painting will have to be my big push for the next 7 weeks! And I’ll try NOT to think about the fact that I might not be able to come up with stuff I like…JUST PAINT!!! I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. My heart is palpitating just thinking about it…I’m climbing Mt. Everest here, folks. I can do this.

Okay, I gave myself all kinds of small stuff to get done this week, but the three main short-term goals are:

1) Review Romans 1 and 2 and finish memorizing chapter 2 (only about 5 more verses)
2) Complete ONE painting by Sunday
3) Write 5000 words of either of my novels (or a combination of the two)

My concentration for eating healthier for this week is lots of water, NO SUGAR, little or no carbs at night (and I started walking again today). Trying to keep it simple, since I have so much other stuff on my mind…I can do this. I’ll let you know next week how it went! Now, take a deep breath aaaaaaand….JUMP!

5/31/09

At church today, I got a chance to talk to Heather after Bible class. She just looks so sad, I felt like I had to do something for her. Most of her friends go to other churches, so she seems really alone. She seemed grateful when I asked if she wanted to sit with Sophie and me. She didn’t want to sit with her mom, and her dad just dropped her off (he doesn’t come to church). We talked a little bit about her having to catch up on her school work, and what she’s going to do this summer, which she hasn’t thought much about. Sophie asked if she’d like to hang out with us at the lake this week after we get off work, and she said okay (but she didn’t seem too excited about it…she doesn’t seem too excited about life at the moment). I was careful not to sit next to her today…I don’t know, I just don’t feel like it would be right to snoop into her thoughts right now. She needs her privacy, I think. The rest of the afternoon I just bummed around at home and read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Cool book, I can’t wait until they make the movie! I Googled it to see if they have started, and as far as I can tell, they haven’t even cast it yet….and STILL, these people are making these movie trailers for it, and idiots think it’s the real thing even though it says right on it NOT REAL! Sheesh. I wish I were smart and athletic and resourceful like that…I think I’m more like Rue than Katniss. Small and scrappy but an easy target… Anyway, I only have a couple of chapters left, then I can get Catching Fire (part two) from the library! I’ll probably read a lot this summer…mow…read…swim…grayless…sigh.

6/1/09

Day One of the “Endless Summer” done. Gray has been gone two whole days. So when should I email him? I don’t want to look desperate or anything, but I’m dying to write him to make sure he knows I read his message in my yearbook. I don’t think I should wait a whole week, that would seem like I don’t care at all. How about Wednesday? I’ll write him on Wednesday. Fine.

I can tell I’m going to be judging the summer by the heat…today wasn’t so bad for the first of June, only 85 with a nice breeze. I worked 6 hours today, mowing 3 smallish lawns front and back. It was exhausting. Dad said he would give me a bonus at the end of the summer if I can keep improving on that. So I’ve decided to make it a challenge to see how fast I can get. At least I’ll build muscles this summer! The thing I hate most is all the sunscreen I have to wear. My skin is THAT kind of skin…you know, the kind that just burns, peels, and freckles. ICK! I don’t care how stupid I’m going to look, I’m going to wear a long-sleeve shirt (light weight of course, one of Dad’s), overalls, and a big floppy hat! At least no one will recognize me as I sweat and toil the summer away.

I pulled out my flute and played some tonight. I don’t want to totally ruin my embouchure by being lazy! It was kind of fun…I’ll try to play at least three times a week. Hey, maybe I can get Sophie to come over and play a duet.

Speaking of Sophie, we’re meeting Heather at the lake tomorrow afternoon for a while. Mom will pick me up at 5 to go to my Headcase appointment, but at least I can hang out for a couple of hours with them. I’m totally wiped out, I think I’ll go to bed. Note to self: Don’t tell my friends that I’m going to sleep willingly during the summer when it’s barely dark!

Tomorrow…I will have a new Carly Boone segment AND update on my journey’s progress. Be here for the excitement!

Okay, computers drive me insane sometimes. My “old” laptop is about to go…my son, the ITT Tech student, told me that a five-year-old laptop is ancient and they’re obsolete in about 3 years…they’re literally only supposed to last about that long. WHAT’S WITH THAT?? I mean you can take good care of a car and have it last 10-20 years, houses for 100 or more. I own a skirt that I’ve been wearing for over 5 years, for goodness sake.  A computer is like….air, to some of us. It is necessary for survival. Why can’t they be nice and make them last longer? Is 10 years really so much to ask? Technology just makes leaps ahead TOO quickly! Slow it down, people! I’ve heard the jokes about your computer being obsolete as soon as you take it out of the box. Man! My hero son helped me figure out how to get my novel shifted from the gasping laptop to my husband’s PC without having to retype the whole thing (well, most of it I had saved on my email account, but I didn’t want to retype 10 pages either). So I’m relieved about that anyway. But still…

5/30/09

Dad decided to let me off the hook today, but made it clear that, as of Monday, I will be working for him at least 20 hours a week this summer (then every Saturday until the weather gets really bad this fall). He says it will keep me out of trouble and build character….ick. Who wants character anyway? He reminded me that Matt worked for him part-time until he was 16, and that it didn’t hurt him any. Well, that’s debatable. I notice the minute he turned 16, he got a REAL job someplace else, not working for Dad! Oh well, it’s school clothes (and SHOES!!!) money….clothes money….clothes money. I’ll make that my mantra this summer. And Dad is very serious about paying real minimum wage too, and he says he’ll be taking out for taxes and stuff and treat me just like a real employee. That’s kind of cool, actually. Of course, Mom and Dad said I have to save 1/2 of everything I earn for something big like college or a car, and I have to put at least $50 a month in a “do-not-touch” fund for the future. They sat me down this morning and gave a BORING lecture about money and saving and EVIL credit…blah-blah-blahdy-blah. Okay, who cares if I can be a millionaire when I retire??? I’m not even 14 yet! I want to spend! :) Whatevs…I figured it out and even with having to save so much, I’ll probably have at least $50 a week left over to spend however I want! Well, I only get paid every two weeks, so I won’t get my first check until the middle of June, but that’s okay. I’m still stoked about having cash soon!

Since I didn’t have to work, Sophie got her mom to take us to the lake today. Of course, her three little sisters went too, but we just ignored them and went to the other end of the beach and scoped out the lifeguards! We swam and hung out with a couple of other girls, Jennifer and Meagan, from school. We all teased Sophie about being such a brainiac…she won both the science and history awards for eighth grade last night. She doesn’t even care! She likes being a brain…weird girl. She laughed and told me she overheard one of the math teachers say the names of the top math students, and I came in third for the math award. Eeeeeeeeeek! I’ll have to totally tone it down next year! :) Anyway, it was a fun afternoon, sitting in the shade (I’ll get pleeeeeenty of sun this summer), drinking Slurpee’s and eating Corn-nuts from the snack bar, talking about boys (being the only one with a boyfriend…I guess he sort-of is…I got teased about that), and starting high school and what everyone was going to do this summer (mine was the most pathetic and pitied, no question). We went and played in the lake a couple of times and dove off the big raft in the middle of the swim area and splashed and did flips and had breath-holding contests…I’m not too great at that…only 35 seconds. Sophie and I decided we’ll have to do more of this when we’re not working this summer!

5/29/09

It’s been a long and exhausting day. I’m kind of glad it’s over, even thought I’m feeling sad. Just too much drama for me. I don’t even know where to begin…I really don’t want to tell about the whole day, I’m too tired, so I’ll just give the highlights…

1) Heather’s sudden return was all over the news this morning, and they made it sound very mysterious, which I guess it is to all those people that have absolutely no idea what’s been going on (not that I know much more, but I do have a clue anyway). The news people were bringing up all the questions that I’m sure her parents don’t want to answer, but it did come out that she was with her real dad, and at this point there aren’t going to be any charges filed against him. I’m glad that he’s not in trouble for taking her. I mean if he’s a good dad he was doing what he felt he had to do, right? I so plan to find out more. I did get a chance to touch Heather tonight at graduation. She didn’t walk with the rest of us, but she was there, and I went up to her and gave her a hug and told her I was glad she was back. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, but mostly she was embarrassed to be the center of attention. A few random ones were…I wish everyone would just quit staring at me…nice girl…where’s dad…stay close, dad…I want to go home…I’m glad I don’t have to walk up on that stage…I hate hurting Mom, but I just can’t go back there…I would totally kill myself…there’s just too many people here…when can we go home…I felt so bad for her. She was so sad and nervous. I wish I could do something to help her. I will find a way to do that if I can.

2) The last day of school was fun, but sad too. The eighth grade parents had a bunch of good junk food set up for us this morning at the graduation rehearsal, and all of us were playing around so much that Mr. Larson was getting totally mad at us. He kept reminding us that we would just embarrass ourselves if we totally messed up…whatevs. How hard is it to file in by rows, then go get a certificate by rows? Hmmm? Anyway, we had a good time, and we got to line up with our friends, so I walked with Sophie and Gray and Jon were right in front of us. After it was over, we got our yearbooks and were signing everybody’s. I didn’t write much in Gray’s. I mean I still don’t know how we stand with each other (sigh), so I wasn’t about to write anything really cute or flirty, so I just said that I was happy we’re friends and we’ll have a lot of fun in high school. I know, I know….lame. I was nervous to see what Gray wrote in mine, so I decided not to read it until tomorrow. He’ll be gone, and I’ll be sad anyway, so if I’m disappointed it won’t matter, right? Sophie and I hung out at my house until she had to go home and change into the new sundress her mom bought her for graduation. She’ll probably have to go up on stage to get some kind of award (she always does), but since I don’t have to worry about that, I didn’t ask for anything new to wear. I’m just wearing my favorite pink skirt and striped top. I really don’t care that much…..in fact, if it weren’t for Sophie and Gray I wouldn’t even want to go. I was sure I would trip going up the stairs to the stage or something. That’s the kind of stuff that usually happens to me…

3) At graduation, some of the girls were crying like they were never going to see each other again. Oh brother…most of us are going to the same high school next year. Get over it! In fact, a lot of them will see each other all summer. I just don’t see the reason to get all weepy and gushy over the whole thing. BUT after it was over and everybody was starting to leave, Gray came up to me to say goodbye and then I did almost get teary. I knew this was the last time I was going to see him until the end of August (his plane was leaving at 6 am), and I really WAS sad about that. Of course, everybody was standing around, so there wasn’t going to be any mushy talk or big goodbye scene, like the one I picture in my head, but he did give me a hug and held onto my hand for a minute.

Gray: Well, I guess this is it.
Me: Yeah, I guess so.
Gray: I hope you have a great summer.
Me: You too. Don’t get thrown off any bucking broncos.
Gray: (grinning) I’ll try not to. Don’t get any grass stains.
Me: (grinning back) I can’t make any promises on that one.
Gray: Um, did you read what I wrote in your yearbook? (he looks at me like he’s searching for something)
Me: Uh, no, I haven’t had time. (lie)
Gray: Oh okay. (he looks a little disappointed) No hurry, whenever you get a minute.
Me: I’ll read it when I get home, okay?
Gray: That would be great. (his dimple winks at me and I feel like I’m really going to cry) Well, my parents are waiting for me, so I have to go. Take care, okay?
Me: You too. (he gives my hand one more little squeeze then walks away)

4) After that, I was really ready to get out of there. Mom and Dad took Matt and me out to eat at a nice restaurant near the high school, and it was a madhouse of course. I barely remember what I ate. I was so bummed at Gray leaving that I didn’t care much about it. It’s funny but Matt was actually nice to me tonight. He kind of punched my shoulder and said how much he was looking forward to torturing me in high school next year…but he said it with an actual smile (I nearly choked on my chicken tender!). I just stared at him like he was an alien being or something. Mom and Dad gave me a pretty white-gold necklace with my birthstone in it (August – peridot, a light-green, I like it better than emeralds, they’re too dark) and two tiny diamonds on either side of it. It’s so pretty, I really like it. It did make me feel special, and yeah, it made the graduation seem more special too. Another total shocker, Matt got me a $20 gift card to Target…wow! When we got home, Mom had made my favorite devils food cake with fudge frosting, and it had my name and little flowers all over it. Dad bought me some daisies, and we ate cake and vanilla ice cream and watched some lame movie Dad picked out…but that was okay, it turned out to be a pretty nice night, after all.

I guess I totally told the whole day anyway, huh? Oh well…Now I’m going to read Gray’s message, since I told him I would…I’ll paste it here:

Carly,
It’s been some year, huh? I had a great time getting to know you better this last month. In fact I have been wanting to for a long time. I guess I’ve kind of been crushing on you the whole year. Even though I’m excited to go work on my uncle’s ranch this summer, I wish I could stay home and hang out with you too. You’re fun and sweet and I really like you. I’m not sure if you feel the same, but I hope you do. It’ll be kind of lonesome up in Montana, so will you write me? My email is GRWeber@networth.net. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.
Gray

Wow.

5/28/09

I couldn’t believe who showed up at school today….Heather Jackson. That’s right, just out of the blue like she’d never been gone. She had crowds of people around her all morning, so I couldn’t get close enough to even say “hello” much less ask her anything about her being gone. I’m sure she’s already sick of the questions, and I could tell that Tessa Prince was guarding her like a watchdog. But I didn’t have to ask her any questions, of course. All I had to do was get close enough to touch her and I would probably get more real information than anyone else was getting. I decided to just wait until some of the crowds thinned out…maybe I could catch her at lunch. I did notice that she looked more nervous and embarrassed to be the center of attention than she was happy to be there.

As it turned out, I didn’t get a chance to talk to her at all, because somebody came and picked her up before lunch. Apparently she was just there to pick up all of her assignments to make up, so she could pass eighth grade and start high school taking the same classes as everyone else. Of course, there were rumors flying all over the place again about where she’d been and why she was suddenly back without it being in the news or anything. Sophie and I talked about it a little, but we didn’t have any time to ourselves at school, so we decided to talk later.

I went home with Sophie after school to hang out. We talked about Heather, wondering where she’s been exactly and where she’s staying now, if she’s at home or with her dad or what. We went online to see if anybody had any real news, but it was just the same gossip that was going around all day. I wonder if Heather will be at school tomorrow.

Tomorrow…the last day of school. I can’t believe I’m about to leave middle school. I have been so preoccupied with Sophie and Gray and the “Heather Jackson Drama” that I completely ignored the fact that we’re having eighth grade graduation tomorrow night. We’ll be practicing for it all morning, then that’ll be it (we only have a half day). It’s really not that big of a deal…I mean, who really cares about graduating from middle school, we were only here 3 years, right? Am I right? What’s important is that Gray is about to go away for the whole summer. How crummy is that? I finally have a guy liking me and he’s leaving for 2 1/2 months! He’ll like totally forget me! Ugh!