Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Blue Screen of Death

I think my lappy is starting to kick the bucket. It takes forever to turn on, and yesterday it kept restarting itself. It would get to a certain point, and then I would see a flash of a little blue box and it would restart. It would get to the same point, I would witness the little blue flash, and then it would restart.

I think I know what is wrong. The stupid hinge is coming out and that may have caused some damage to the motherboard thingy.

Oh well, luckily I have all my updated Samurai and stories on my jumpdrive! Those are safe!

Francis, go get the pinecones and hollyberries from that last post. I don't know why you put them there. Yes, you can eat the berries and throw the pinecones at Rupert. I'm alright with that.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Pinecones and Hollyberries

I got my mission call! Chris and I, both at the same time. A lot of you probably know this already but I feel like posting it anyways.

I was called to serve in the Tokyo, Japan mission, and Chris was called to serve in the Kobe, Japan mission. We both will be learning Japanese (nihongo) and we both report to the MTC on July 16, 2008. For those of you who are itching to come and watch us speak (and laugh at us), our farewells are on July 13, that sunday before we leave. I assume it's going to be my normal church time, which is 9 am. But, I'll keep y'all posted on that as it gets closer.

But, yeah, wahoo!

Aaaaaaand on to other business. I and the Elvish Pirate Gypsy Minion Fiend saw Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull over the holiday break. Prince Caspian was awesome! I liked it lots and I want to go see it again. Bad. Like, really bad. It was so good. Indiana Jones 4 was alright. The third one is still my absolute favorite, but the fourth one probably comes in second. I don't know. I kinda need to watch the first one again. Heh heh. Other than that, it had the same suspenseful yet cheesy fighting (you know, the kind where you know the bad guy will eventually die) as all the other movies. And it was funny. But, yeah. Prince Caspian: awesome. Indiana Jones: Pretty Good.

And since I'm posting. . .I had a crazy dream last night that I went back to Payson High School to go to school. The weird thing though was that all my teachers from college were teaching there. Professor Simon was my English teacher, but English was more like foods class in that we ate a bunch of food, learned etiquette, and then did research on stuff from our future careers that had to do with eating. For some reason, my research was on the deep-see fishies. Which was cool but I don't think those fish are exactly tasty. Then my history teacher who was named Mr. Green (but was in fact Ryan Paul from SUU) accused me of taking a history book and never returning it. But I had never used one of his books in my research and so I had to go talk to him about that. Except that my Japanese teacher wanted me for something (no, she did not teach japanese in my dream) and that made me more stressed out. . .and on top of that I had a test and I forgot to put on my shoes and grab a pencil (though those turned up later in my dream). I think I would have gone bonkers had not Jenni been there in her awesome Elvish Pirate Gyspsy outfit (without shoes though) to guide me around Payson High. And then, I said to myself in my dream "Why am I at Payson High School? I'm not even in school anymore." To which myself replied "Jessica, you're serving your mission at Payson High School"

And then I woke up wondering what the heck I had just dreamed. Of course, as crazy as this is, it's nothing compared to the Elvish Pirate Gypsy's dreams. But, I felt like sharing.

Winston, I want you to hide any books dealing with learning! I don't want to see them! I'm sick of having dreams where I'm still in school! Put them away, NOW!! Go read the Calvin and Hobbes books instead. You'll learn everything you need to know from those two hooligans.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

It's raining, it's pouring

Sooo, I wanted to get some pictures of Robber's Roost and post them, but, as always, I'm too lazy to go and get them from Dad so they'll have to come later. Other than that: The hike was awesome and horrible at the same time. The first three miles were a blast with much scrambling through slot canyons, Fat Man's Misery, and rappelling down cliffs (one being a free-fall). After all that fun stuff though, it was ten miles of trudging through heat, sand, and over rocks.

The definition of Forever is South Fork of Robber's Roost. It's also the definition of Eternal Hell. It took forever before we got to Middle Fork, then to the Dirty Devil River, before we threw down our packs on the banks of the Dirty Devil and went to sleep.

Funny story though, right after we had all settled down for bed I felt something move under my sleeping bag. Well, I thought it was my sleeping bag being weird so I kicked my tarp. It moved again. Confused, I sat up and looked at the spot and saw it moved. I yelled at dad to wake up, and I told him that there was something under my tarp. He sat up and looked, and just then my tarp moved again and something black skittered out from under it. Dad grabbed his headlight and shone it on it.

Lo and behold, it was a little froggy!

After that, we got serenaded by all these frogs. But they weren't the pleasant croaking and bloatings (sorry, Gurgi there. . . . ) but sounded as if the frogs were being flattened by a steam roller and then covered in cement at the same time. It was rather funny to listen to. Not to mention, when we woke up in the morning, a bird starting screeching like it was going to die. It was a very odd adventure.

But, I'm home, no longer sore (except for my bruised big toe. I've never had a toe bruised under the nail before. NOT PLEASANT!!!).

AND IT'S RAINING!!! Oh glorious, beautiful, wonderful, sweet, wet RAIN!!!

Of course, once it lets up, then it'll be time to tackle our weed-chocked garden, but that won't be too difficult. The ground will be nice and soft. And muddy. Which means. . . .

MUD FIGHT!!!

*starts throwing mud at goats* Come on, goaties, come and get me!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

In answer to Mandi's question. . . .

I think there's five indian tribes. . .

Choctaw, Chikasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole.

Does that sound right?

Isn't it sad that after a whole year we still remember that?

Monday, May 12, 2008

*whistles*

I haven't posted in a while so I felt like posting. Here's some postings and happenings:

Saturday was a lovely time with Fiend and Mastah. We went to Barnes and Nobles where Mastah got her book signed by Jessica Day George (author of Dragon Slippers) and I got to briefly talk to Brandon Sanderson. What was a big killer was that he had the early copy of Hero of Ages sitting on the table. Yeah, I was salivating. Gosh I can't wait to read that!

Been watching Full Metal Alchemist with Nathan. I regret giving in to his incessant nagging because of the thematic elements in that anime, but. . .it's been fun watching them with him. And I did inform him that it's okay if he wants me to skip a part. Though, with how that anime goes, he may not want to. . .

I've been reading the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I'm on The Black Cauldron right now. So good!

I'm going hiking this weekend! Yay! Robber's Roost! A two-day hike near Canyonlands Nat'l Park! :D

Aaaand, I wrote more today. Just half a page but it was something! I need to get writing. . .If I don't have that book done by June 30, I'll have to eat a tomato. *shudders* I do not want to do that so I best start writing everyday!

Okay, er, that's all. Oi, Rupert! Go take a bath! You stink like skunks! Have you been playing with skunks again? RUPERT!!

*goes to get the tomato juice* Darn goat!

(Mandi: Once I steal a camera, I'll take a picture and post it of my goats so you can see 'em)

Monday, May 5, 2008

Yay for Pinata's!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

And to celebrate it, we mutilated a pinata! It was so much fun. Dad had gotten it when he and my aunt went to Bajio. The Bajio people gave every customer a little pinata with a number on it, which matched up to a prize. Dad got a T-shirt and my aunt got a gift certificate.

Well, Dad brought it home, and Steph got the brilliant idea of filling it with candy. So she filled it with candy, Dad found a rope and threw it over a branch on our big oak tree, and then we proceeded to knock the candy out.

Nathan went first, and he hit it once (we each got three swings to try to hit it), and then Stephanie went, then Dad went (he almost hit it) and then I went. I totally whacked it and decapitated it! It was awesome! We all gathered around the pinata and munched on the candy, and then we decided to mutilate the rest of it so we kept whacking it until its body was in shreds. It was lots of fun. A great family home evening activity. . . minus Mom and Chris but it was still fun!

I wonder if goats make great pinatas. . .

Oh goaties. . . .

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Home again home again

Okay, this is more for Mandi than anyone else. So, if you're not a Manda Panda then go and do something exciting. Like goat floating. . .

Shame on you for not knowing about goat floating! You throw goats into a pond until they sink. Then you hightail out of there before the grumpy farmer catches you!

Okay, so, Mandi, I will come and visit you if it kills me. I will. I was practically fainting from looking at the airplane prices, but I'm going to see if mom will pay half of the ticket for me. If it kills me I will come and see you! Promise! I want to see you! Chris said that he would like to come, and that would be fun, but I'll have to talk to him more about that. I'm sorry it's taking me so long, but I just barely recovered from the O-chem book-buying spree at the start of this year and with Grandma sick with cancer, Mom has been at her house every day, all day so that she can help her. Don't worry, I'll get with Mom and talk to her sometime this week and then I'll let you know when I'd like to come. Along those lines, if there's any day that will not be good for picking me up, or me coming in general, let me know so I can plan around that. Seriously. Anything that would compromise me getting picked up (I'll be flying into Memphis) I'd like to know. I'm sorry it's been such a pain, but. . . .

If you wait, I will come. . .

Now for the rest of you: I'm home! *and there was much rejoicing* And what's more was that right on my bed, still in its package, just waiting to be opened, was FULL METAL ALCHEMIST SEASON 1 PART 1!!!! And part 2 is on its way! And as soon as I get it I'm going to get season 2 part 1! And then part 2! And then maybe the movie!! And then I'll have all of Full Metal!! And then I can rest in peace!! And then I can spend more money on books and visiting Mandi and friends instead of saving it for my mission!! Yeah, I'm a little thrilled. Just a little. :D

And and and, as I was unpacking and situating stuff, I uncovered my little remote control jeep I got as a cruel gift for my sixteenth birthday from Mom and Dad. After a bit of digging, I found the charger and charged the batteries for close to four hours. It was long, but I was putting stuff away during that time. Afterwards though. . .muahahaha! It was so much fun! I was driving it everywhere, startling Katie and scaring Midnight. It was great!

And then, I had to clear one of my shelves in my closet to make room for the many books I happened to buy while at college. I now have five shelves stuffed with books. I'm running out of room! What am I gonna do when I run out? Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that until after my mission. Time to procrastinate on that thought!

Well, yeah, that's about all. . . .Winston, I just put that jeep away! Turn it off right now! If you don't, I'll take YOU goat floating! WINSTON!!!

Pardon me, but I have to go and stop a goat before he steers that thing over the other two.
*scurries off*