Misplacing Calculators

Everyone has idiosyncrasies . Unfortunately, I have discovered one of my own over the past few school weeks. I am infamous for...

... misplacing calculators .

*GASP* *INSERT SCARY MUSIC*

You wouldn't believe I was capable of such a heinous crime, would you?

Yesterday, I was happily ready to tackle physics problems when I realized that I had no idea where my calculator was. Which would have been no problem except for the fact that tackling physics problems without a calculator is like going to the plate in the World Series without a bat.

The last place I had seen the calculator was in jeans I wore the previous day--but, alas, when I checked the pockets of the jeans (flung over the hamper), there was no calculator to be found.

The solution? The "confiscation" of one of Eric's calculators (which he uses for sports statistics. DON'T WORRY--HE HAS ANOTHER ONE!!!)

Half an hour later I was done with physics and wanted to check algebra. And then, like a light-bulb going off in my head, I was struck with a deep revelation:

I had no idea where Eric's calculator was.

The solution? The "confiscation" of Bethany's calculator. (She doesn't have an extra one).

Immediately I began trying to tidy up the shelves in the dining room (where I was standing), because I was in the process of looking for something else and I hate looking for stuff in cluttered places. (I'm a wannabe neat freak). Ten seconds into the search, I was struck by yet another startling realization:

I had no idea where Bethany's calculator was.

Good thing that I happened to look down and see it lying on the shelf two feet below me.

P.S. This morning I moved my hamper while stuffing clothes inside it. Guess what was behind the hamper? (And had apparently fallen out of the pocket of my flung-over-the-hamper jeans...)

My calculator.

WOOTZORZ! (That's John's phrase, but I confiscated two calculators. Why can't I confiscate a trademark exclamation of happiness?)

Summer 2007

"...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

This verse applies very well to the lessons I learned this summer, the most exciting one of my life. God blessed me beyond measure by allowing to me to embark on three trips--to Texas, Germany and Austria in June and Egypt in August.

These trips were completely unexpected. I went to Texas for the National Tournament in my speech/debate league. The next week I went to Europe on the gracious invitation of the Caudills (Corey's family), who were going with their aunt/sister, a German language teacher (I've studied German and love history, so they invited me). And finally, I went to Egypt on the gracious invitation of my grandfather, who wanted some family company after traveling internationally alone for several years.

Before this summer, I was like most people, just sitting at home, bored. This summer illustrated to me that God does grant us unexpected blessings when if we just ask and follow Him (Ephesians 3:20-21).

It came a price, of course. Between these three trips, going to camp in July (look at previous post), and finishing schoolwork, this year was nothing short of hectic. But it was worth it.

Here are the links to photos of my trips:

Salzburg, Austria (June 20-22, 2007)

Germany (Bavaria) (June 23-26, 2007)

Egypt (August 4-19, 2007)

NCFCA Nationals, Belton, Texas (June 11-16, 2007)

3 of my pics

Other Nationals pics (on my debate friend Silas Hathaway's blog. I'm too lazy to upload my own pics. Look for the June 17 post.)

Summer Craziness

That's the only thing I can think of to describe things right now. Talk about a hectic summer.

In my last post I wrote I would post about my trips earlier this summer, but I'm too busy to do it now. (Maybe I'll put up a long, comprehensive post reviewing summer at the end of it). Today was the last day of 5th Street Baptist Church's "Avalanche Ranch" VBS program. Eric and I helped out at it all week. It was a lot of fun. Eric had said beforehand that he wanted to get all the badly-behaved kids in his crew, and he got his wish. (It was a good illustration of "Be careful what you wish for--you just might get it." You'll have to ask Eric or comment on his blog if you want to hear any horror stories).


Today all the helpers celebrated with a big water fight, but they went too fast for me to get any camera recording of the action. Joe, one of the guys from 5th Street, persuaded my poor little brother Philip into buying a big yellow squirt gun from the prize table, which turned into an instrument of terror in the hands of a few rowdy teenagers several minutes later. (Again, ask Eric if you want details of the massacre). Poor little kids, they never know how manipulative older kids are with them.

I'm sure anyone even vaguely familiar with a teenage boy from Collinsville had heard the teen boys there are going to High Point Camp (they never update their website) next week. The 2007 theme is "Wild, Wild West." My friend Josh Bradbury has uploaded a preview from YouTube. Since German Dodge Ball is the classic game of Collinsville (and we're pros, as some people claim), all the boys from Collinsville are planning to challenge another team down in Pennsylvania to a GDB match. I have a feeling it's going to be a kamikaze mission (especially since you can win or lose points for one of two teams the entire camp is divided into). We already know that once we issue the challenge, the other team is going to form from the biggest, baddest opponents the rest of the camp can find. (i.e., the game won't be a piece of cake). But despite that ominous fact, Corey and Eric have said we won't think about losing unless it happens and that if it does, we'll walk around with sacks over our faces for the rest of the week.

Wonderful advice. Contact us for more horror stories next month.

Random Stuff

Random Post #1: I do not like home maintenance. Forgive me for saying that, all you mechanically-minded people, but I had to speak from my heart. I say that after the horrifying experience of changing our downstairs shower curtain (with my dad) on Saturday. It was originally supposed to take an hour, but...it didn't. (Didn't see that coming, huh.) Scraping several years worth of gunky caulk from the cracks of your shower is not my idea of Saturday morning fun. Oh, well. Life isn't a bed of roses. I guess I'll just have to live with it....

Random Post #2: I forgot what I was going to post.

Random Post #3: Part I of my Pictorial Documentary of my trip to Germany and Austria last week (and the week before.)

On June 20 we (the Caudills and I) arrived in Munich and drove to Salzburg (on our ACIS tour bus.) We spent the evening exploring the town.

---

That dash represents the pictures I was supposed to post. I just realized they're on my dad's laptop and I can't upload them from there.

Oh, well. Check back for more updated (and better prepared) info later...

Amoskeag Fishways

This past Monday our homeschool group took a field trip to the Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester, New Hampshire. It's fascinating place! We learned about the ecology, biology and history of the Merrimack River, especially the destruction of the native fish population ("Amoskeag" means "great fishing place") due to man-made dams built in the 1800s and 1900s (for textile and hydroelectric power) and the huge, ongoing restoration effort to restore these native fish populations. It was fish season (the time of year when anadromous fish return to fresh water from the ocean to spawn) and we saw migrating salmon in the Amoskeag fish ladder. They were HUGE! I never knew those fish were that big. We had a really good time.





This is the fish ladder. You can't see the fish, but they're in the water.

An Atlantic salmon! (The people here cheated. The fish didn't really swim all the way from the Atlantic, they were trucked to Amoskeag from Massachusetts and placed in the river).

This is an external view of the fish ladder. One of the old Amoskeag (textile) mills is in the background.

April Has Come!

April has come. 2007 is one-quarter of the way over!

The first quarter of the year was fast-paced but good. Eric and I just returned from a debate tournament near Syracuse, NY. We went 4-2 and got eliminated in the Semi-Finals. The Regional Speech/Debate Tournament for the entire Northeast is April 19-21.

We traveled to NY with a NCFCA family we met last year, the Hathaways. Near the end of the journey we stopped at Chittenango Falls, a 167-cascade of thundering water. It was magnificent!

Here is Chittenango Falls

Silas and Peter Hathaway (Silas taking pic)
Aidan Hathaway and Eric admiring falls


To the right is the bridge that was upstream from the falls.


Here is Aidan again, under the bridge. There was no rail blocking us from the water! Does anyone want to go swimming?