Officially off Hiatus

So this blog has been put on the backburner for the first month of school. I'll try to update but with homework, social life, and pure laziness who knows.

Here are some of the highlights from my first month of school:

• The football team had to make a public apology for their behavior. I won't go into the details but let's say they made our lunch lose our free-time.
• Someone tried to take our usual lunch table and then one of my friends made a move to take it back.
• Our cross country, football, and softball teams are undefeated in week 2. (not to mention our football team beat last years record with 2 wins.)
• I magically finished Pride and Prejudice in time and my essay was finished.
• I have friends in most of my classes.
• Me and my friends wanted to start a "Senior Bucket List." (a list of everything we want to do in senior year. Some of the ideas were plan ridiculous)

Let's move on to something more current. Me and another one of my friends want to write a script/book about if 120 students were locked in the gym and had to fight out for survival. A modern day "Hunger Games." We also thought of all these weapons you could have using school/gym supplies. One idea was to use white out as chloroform. Another was to use the plastic jump ropes as whips. We thought the plot would be a really good idea for a movie.

Peace, love, and middle school.

Final Count

I've been back from Europe for just over 2 weeks now. It's weird... I spent half my summer traveling. I left my house 4 days after school let out for summer and got back home with only a month of summer vacation left.

It's amazing how many places I've been to. Everything I look at reminds me of places I've been to. I miss looking forward to seeing some of the most famous sites in the world.

On a different note - have you ever had those moments where you imagine your life as a movie, well I had one coming home. Here's one possibility of what the end of my trip would be in a movie.

The shot would be my car pulling into our driveway and us getting out. My parents would go inside but I'd stay outside for a moment. The camera would come down on my face and I would look ecstatic. Then my mom would call me inside and the while I was running inside the narrator's voice would say "She was finally HOME."

Anyway I had a great time in Paris. It was funny on our first night there we were going to eat at this restaurant with another family on our tour group. We decided on one our tour guide had pointed out on our way to the meeting point. We sat down (which in itself was an accomplishment with the language barrier) and the menu was completely in French. We recognized only a few words including escargot, or snails. The adults knew that none of the kids would eat this food. So we politely told the waitress (who was smoking a cigarette) we were leaving. Then we ended up getting slightly lost trying to get to another restaurant.
Then it started raining really hard and I was wearing flip flops. The sidewalks were really slippery and flip flops have very little traction. By the time we got to the restaurant we only had 40 minutes to eat. (We watched the two families who had gotten there earlier than us eat fabulous looking desserts.)

I had the vacation of a lifetime and it was awesome.

On another note I now have to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for honors English. I also have to do an essay on it before school starts. My mom loves anything written by Jane Austen. I on the other hand think it's tedious to read (but what do I know, I'm only 100 pages in.)

Here's the final count on my vacation:

• 11 hotels
• 6 countries
• thousands (and thousands) of miles
• 49 nuns (in Rome alone)
• 33 days (away from home)
• 24 hours on a plane
• 5 flights
• 4 metro systems (Washington DC, London, Rome, and Paris)
• 3 buses (London, Rome, and the Heidebloem tourbus)
• 2 gondolas (Venice and Switzerland)
• 1 train and boat (Venice and Switzerland)
• Infinite memories made

Also here's some of the best pictures I took in Europe...

St. Pauls and Millennium Bridge in London.

A cake at Kennisington Palace where we had English Tea.

The famous Trevi fountain in Rome.

The Coliseum in Rome.

A view of Florence.

A gondola in Venice.

A swan in Germany.

Another beautiful mountain in Switzerland.

Sunset in Burgundy, France.

Sunset in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower.

So that's it for my vacation. Next time I write on this blog will be before the first day of school. It's a new year, and anything can happen. 8th grade here I come.

Phase 3

Okay, so I haven't blogged for over a week. Currently I'm in Switzerland and one week into our 2 week Rick Steves trip. First I should fill you in on what happened in London.

Me and my mom went to 3 musicals. My favorite one was Billy Elliot. Since it's going on tour soon I'll probably go see it when it comes to Seattle. We also saw Legally Blonde the Musical. I was pleasently surprised how good it was. My least favorite was Oliver. I just didn't like it very much and the plot was very confusing.

We also went to the British Museum. I was outraged about how people were touching the artifacts. There were do not touch signs all over the place and they STILL touched them. I mean these were artifacts that were hundreds of years old. It was amazing that the staff of the museum didn't do anything about it.

On one of our last days in London we had tea at Kennsington Palace. I am now addicted to clotted cream which is basically a spread in-between whipped cream and butter. It is soooooo good.

After checking out of our London hotel we went to another hotel by Heathrow airport. It was the nicest hotel we stayed in so far. There was even a speaker in the bathroom.

Next we flew to Rome. On the airplane I got food poisoning and air sick. I felt horrible. Luckily I didn't throw up and felt much better when the plane landed.

When we got to Rome phase 3 officially started. Me and my mom are going on a 2 week family trip to Europe via Europe Through the Back Door. We got to see all the sites in Rome but it was really hot. Then we moved on to Florence which to date is my least favorite part. This is because I got over 20 mosquito bites. I was miserable.

Then we went to Venice where it was still hot. I am now terrified of gondolas. We went on one and it kept rocking back and forth. The tour company hired this singer and I didn't like it (it was overkill.) SO on that one gondola ride I was thinking half the time that the boat's going to tip, a fourth of the time how much my bug bites itch, and a fourth of the time wanting to knock the singer into the water.

Next we went to Austria which was so much fun. The hotel had a trampoline and a playground (not to mention adorable bunnies.) It also rained so hard and I LOVED it. I have missed the Seattle rain so much and it reminded of home.

Now we are in Switzerland and the cool Alpine air is certainly refreshing. Me and my mom are having our lazy day.

I might complain about the trip a little bit but four moments are really stuck in my head.

The first is when our tour guide "lost" us. He was trying to get us all together to get on the subway in Rome. HE then thought we had enough time to all get on. Eventually though only he got on and the rest of us were still at the station.

Next was when I saw a member of our tour group fall into a Venetian canal. He was trying to save this other girl who had fallen into the canal and he also slipped in. Sadly we don't have any pictures. I'm not kidding!

Next when we were driving to Austria we got in a fender bender. A car swerved into our lane and the bus hit its door. We caused a giant traffic jam.

Finally when we were in Germany my mom bought me a traditional Bavarian dress. IT cost 60 Euros and was a rash decision. Now I have to wear it for Halloween and maybe go to Octoberfest in Leavenworth.

Here's a small taste of Switzerland. I will post more photos at the end of my trip.

Anyway that's it for now.

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Popsicles Here

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but would you if you were on your first vacation to London.

They don't speak English here. I'm serious they have a lot of different slang here for some of our commonly used words. Also the goulash of accents make it really hard to understand people.

So now I present the....

Incomplete Dictionary of English Slang

• Elevators = Lifts (this may because an elevator can lift you to higher (or lower) floors in a building.)
• Popsicle = Lolly (this may be because popsicles are on sticks.)
  
• Where's Waldo = Where's Wally (I have no clue why they would change a perfectly good book title.)
• Baked Potatoes = Jacket Potatoes (because they still have thier skin on them like jackets.O
• Bacon = Bacon (though it's called bacon you could get American bacon, or British bacon. or plain old ham.)
• Lays Potato Chips = Walkers potato chips (I don't know why.)

These are just some of the English slang I've heard over the last few days.

On another note they have some crazy potato chip flavors here in England. So far I've tried Smoky Bacon, Onion Bahji, and Roast Chicken along with other more normal flavors. By the time I'm don e maybe I'll have worked up enough courage to try American Cheeseburger or Brazilian Steak.

So long for now on my English adventure.

To London and Beyond

So I just got to London a few hours ago. I'm doing this post from yet again another hotel computer. Our room won't be ready for another few hours so we were thinking about going on a bus tour. You know those iconic red double decker buses.

We also saw Toy Story 3 yesterday in the theaters near our Washington DC hotel. Me and my mom both though it was really good.

Also if anybody knows where I can find a Thunderbird 2 matchbox toy in the London area - tell me. That's what my dad wants when we get home.

Try to update you tonight but there's only one computer at our small bed and breakfast hotel so I might not be able to.

More details on leg two of the vacation later.

Freebies at Exhibits

Went to my mom's ALA (American Library Association) exhibits for the third time today. Before I tell you about that let me fill you in about what happened yesterday and this morning.

Yesterday we went to the exhibits in the morning and got free books. The books weren't truly free because we had to spend almost $100 to ship them home. Then we went to the Newseum. It was huge - seven levels in all. They had some really cool exhibits but we didn't have enough time there because it closed at 5pm

This morning we went to the National Postal Museum. I'd been there once before but it wasn't as good this time because the best exhibits were under renovation.

Now back to the free books at the exhibits today. Since it was the last day of exhibits, many publishers were trying to get rid of their books so they wouldn't have to ship them. Many publishers sold $20 hardbacks for $5 and paperbacks ranged from $1 to $3. Galleys, in other words books that weren't yet published, were free.

I waited in line for almost 45 minutes to get an autographed copy of 4th book in the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. People were lining up more than an hour to get an autograph copy.
The best books I got over the 3 days of the exhibits either for free or at a very low price are:

• Monster High by Lisi Harrison (due out in September)
• The second NERDS book by Michael Buckley (due out in September)
• The Gift by James Patterson (due out later later this fall)

In all, I got over 40 books. My dad flies home tomorrow while me and my mom continue our vacation to Europe in 2 days. Update you soon.

Updated Finally!

Okay - I haven't updated in a while. I've been really tired and it is really hot and humid in Washington DC (at least compared to Seattle.) One day we even hit 100 degrees a new record for that day.

Here's a general overview of what I've done so far:

• Wednesday: American History Museum and the National Archives.
• Thursday: Air and Space Museum and American Indian Museum.
• Friday: Koshland Science Center and ALA exhibits.
• Saturday: Natural History Museum and National Building Museum.

Foodwise we've eaten at the morning hotel buffet every morning so far and 3 Smithsonian museum cafeterias. Restaurants we've ate at include Legal Seafood, Cheesecake Factory and a really bad Italian place.

Since we came here for my mom's librarian conference we get to go to the exhibits and get free stuff. We've already gone for two hours and will be going again tomorrow.

I'll try to update you later if I'm not to tired.

We've learned that vacationing is hard work.

Setbacks and Good News

So we made our flight okay. We landed about a half an hour ago. Currently it's 10:39 PM DC time (though I'm wide awake because that's like 7:30 Washington time.)

So we got a taxi to the hotel my mom made reservations at (and to boot she checked with them yesterday.) We got to the hotel and when we checked in they said they didn't have any rooms for us because they overbooked. I'm writing part of this at the hotel computer while the main desk people try to get us another hotel at 10:42 at night.

This is a major setback for several reasons;

• First we are all cranky and tired because we spent the whole day getting ready for this trip and spent 5 hours on a plane.


• Next tomorrow morning we will have to come back to this hotel from the one they set us up with. That basically wastes....

I want you to forget everything I just said. Just as I was writing that sentence my dad came over and said they found us a room in the hotel so we don't have to move hotels. My family thinks it's because we talked about mentioning this on this blog.

I'll try to update you with pictures tomorrow. I've got some great ones I've been taking all day.

Also on the plane ride, right before we were about to land we started seeing lightening. It was really cool until we realized that we were on a metal plane flying in the air. Anyway we landed fine and our vacation officially starts tomorrow.

I've got to get the sleeper sofa ready so update you tomorrow.

First Travel Update

Currently I'm at the airport eating Chinese food (which was surprisingly good.) We'll be going to our gate soon for our 2:00 PM flight to Washignton DC. We will arrive at 10:00 PM (DC time, 7:00 PM Washington time).

I'll try to update tomorrow but no promises. My mom wants to get going so that's all I can write. Will update soon and hope everyone is having a great summer.

Nothing and Everything

I haven't posted in ages (okay it was only two weeks). I've been pretty busy with the last couple weeks of school and this vacation (who am I kidding we really don't do anything for the last week of school). So let me fill you in on what happened:

First two weeks ago we had student elections. It's funny because double the amount of people ran for eighth grade senator than for seventh grade senator. Senators are our leader positions at our school instead of president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer.

That's all that happened two weeks ago that is of importance of writing about.

So the last week of school:

Monday - Final project in Social Studies due and we made portfolios in English (We need to keep stuff from English every year so we can do a reflection on it in our Sophomore year.)

Tuesday - Watched movie in Science, took final test in Math, and rollerbladed and watched a movie in PE.

Wednesday - Got yearbooks, signed them in all classes. After lunch free to roam school and do different activities.

Thursday - Talent show and no real work in ANY class.

Friday - Went to school for 1 hour 4o minutes and went to an assembly honoring the eighth graders.

As you can see the last week of school is just filler for the 180 days needed.

Also for doing Honors English next year we have to do a summer reading project. (This is going to be interesting since I'm traveling for a month.)

Now we move on to the vacation/blog news. So I've already posted that this is turning into a vacation blog. I might try to post pictures but they won't have me in them (They may even have Roadtrip Reene in them for a contest that container store is doing.)

My mom was kinda of panicking last night (like she always does before a big trip). The panic last night was about how me and my mom hadn't packed and we leave today.

I haven't decided if I want to tell you my itinerary yet. Maybe I'll surprise you along the the way. What I can say is that I leave for Washington DC this afternoon.

Since I'll be traveling I don't know when I'll be updating (hopefully often) but my mom is bringing her netbook. I will still need to get wifi but I'll keep you in the loop as much as possible.

Hope you guys are all having a great summer vacation. Bon Voyage!

Slow Week and an Anouncement

I know I haven't posted on practically a week. There wasn't anything mind-blowing to blog about and all my teachers are doing that last minute push to get through the curriculum. Also I was sick on Friday so I have less than 10 days to make up the work (and I had a test that day.)

In other news our computers get taken away in the next two days. This means basically that most schoolwork that uses the computer will stop. Also we only have one more week of real school because all students know that the last week of school is mostly fun.

LASTLY I have a big announcement. This blog will be turning into a somewhat halfway travel blog. This summer I'm going on a great vacation (I'll fill you in later). So I'm going to blog about it. I guess you could say that for about one month this blog will be the "The Summer of a So Very Average Middle Schooler."

The countdown to summer is here, check back later for more information about "The Summer of a So Very Average Middle Schooler."

Librarians do Gaga

Some University of Washington librarians did a spoof on Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." Sadly my mom (who works at the UW) isn't in it. It's really funny and I suggest you all watch it. One of the librarians (Sarah Wachter) changed the words and then spent a whole day shooting it. Without further ado I give you "Catalog:"

Just teaches you, librarians are cool.

From a ordinary middle schooler - Happy Memorial Day.

PS. I know you can't see the whole video so here's the link to Youtube: Librarians do Gaga

Long Post for a Busy Two Days

So I had a very boring week last week but these last two days have been full of things to blog about. I'll start with yesterday.

First in science we had random history lessons. We covered a lot of subjects that didn't have anything to do with science. Here are the things we covered:

• First we talked about World War 1. This was because my science teacher had the song "The Gangs all Here" stuck in his head. Then he looked up the lyrics and played the song for us. Then the whole class started singing along. It was pretty cool.
• Before I tell you what history lesson we had next in class you'll need to know some additional information: Everyday in science my teacher puts a quote up on the board and we have to copy it down. The quote he put up yesterday was from Gandhi. My teacher asked if anybody knew anything about him and no one offered any information. Long story short, he gave us a short history lesson on Gandhi.
• The next history lesson was a short one about the Jonestown Massacre. We spent a very short time on this so I won't go into detail. In short, one man got over 900 people to willingly drink poison.
  
• World War 2 got covered next, more specifically we talked about the Holocaust. All those innocent lives lost. It was really sad to be talking about a subject so moving.
  

The next two aren't history lessons but current events:

• We talked about how Greece is in an economic downfall.
  
• Then we talked about the Gulf Oil Spill. We've talked about this several times and my teacher urges us to keep up on current events.
  

You're probably wondering what we're studying in science. It's a really cool subject -- we are learning about environmental health -- how the environment affects human health.

While I'm on the subject of science I should say that we also get to watch some music scenes from popular plays. We've done this twice so far this year. First we got to watch two songs from "Les Miserable." We had a lot of fun watching those and my teacher says if we can ever have the chance we should see the play. Just last week though we got watch the song "Razzle Dazzle" from the musical "Chicago" We all had fun watching it! My teacher also says that the play is much better than the movie (which I haven't seen.)

Next, in PE we got to learn CPR. The fire department came in and taught all the PE classes CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. It was really fun and actually interesting. After we were down practicing on dummies our class go to play dodgeball with the firemen.

Next, it was the last day of an after-school program we have at my school and we had a giant water balloon fight (though I didn't participate because I didn't want to be wet for the 1 hour bus ride home.) It was so FUNNY! The staff had filled garbage cans with water baloons and water. Pairs of kids started picking them up and dumping them on people. It was the best time of the year.

Finally in English today we were really loud so our substitute teacher told us to be quiet or else she'd call the office. So our class started being really quiet, I mean silent. Then suddenly out of nowhere this boy pops his head into our classroom and asks, "Has anyone seen my muffin?" Then we all started laughing uncontrollably and couldn't stop. It was hilarious. Then we notice that a girl in my class is drawing oxen and mushrooms on the front board. That was when our class lost control.

This is a super-long post but I told you it was a busy last two days. By the way I might not be able to post this weekend because I have a lot of homework.

That was a very, very long post by an ordinary middle schooler.

Boring Week.

I know I haven't updated in one week. So today I'm going to recap what happened this week (which wasn't very much.) I've had so much homework at school that I haven't had time to update. Also it wasn't the most interesting week.

The funniest thing that happened this week was when my cousin (who's 18) drove me, my mom, and grandma to the mall. We used one of my dad's cars. When my cousin put the key into the ignition the windshield wipers went on full speed and the radio started blasting. It was so funny.

That's really all that happened last week, so you can see why I didn't update.

In other news there's only 17 days of school left!!! Summer is almost here!!!

A boring week for a middle schooler and full of lots of homework.

Big Rivalries

I had so much homework yesterday that I didn't have time to update. This means that some of the updates are a day old.

Today's theme: Big rivals.

Now if you haven't figured out that I live in Washington state, I'm telling you. Now any sports fan in Washington state knows about the big rivalry between the Huskies (GO HUSKIES!) and the Cougars.

My science teacher is a big Cougar fan. In science we were learning about food chains and webs. In the diagram in our textbook the cougar was the top predator. My teacher went on about how it is very hard to kill a predatory animal. Then a boy in my class (who's a big Husky fan) said he knew what can kill a cougar. Sadly my teacher fell for it and asked, "What?" The boy replied, "Huskies kill Cougars!" We all enjoyed that, well everyone but the Cougar fans, who protested.

Another big rivalry coming up this week: the big track meet. Tomorrow our track team goes up against our district rivals. It is also the last home meet of the season.

There was some very good news today: MSP testing is over. I'm finally done with our big state testing.

Also in the news: I found out another one of my friends has a blog. Here's her link.

Lastly I want to wish luck to all the people that are trying out for the talent show tomorrow. I especially wish my friends that have been working hard on a "Wicked" (pardon the pun) rendition of "Defying Gravity."

It's been a big day in the life of an ordinary middle schooler.

Interview with a Bus Driver

There is so much I could write about today but I decided that this would be the most fun (and have the best title.)

This started on the ride home from school. One guy asked our bus driver (affectionately named Mr. Bus Driver) what he does during the summer.

He replied, "Nothing, just like you students"

Then the same boy stated, "You don't even work all day, do you?"

He again replied, "You're right, but I also work at Cascade High School."

Then again the boy said, "Doing what?"

"I teach autoshop."

We all exclaimed, "You're a teacher?"

"Yep."

The boy again exclaimed, "I want you as my teacher, I'm taking autoshop next year."

This is funny because Cascade High School isn't in my school district.

On another note. More of my friends started a blog, here's the link to Andestese.

I've got to do some middle school homework now. Lessons learned today: blogs are getting more popular and how to interview a bus driver.

Brace-ism and Loser-ism

Yesterday I didn't have time to update, so everything I'm writing about is a day old.

Okay first - Brace-ism. Someone came up to me in PE and said that if anyone said that they wouldn't let you borrow a pencil because you had braces, to say your being brace-ist. This is a new initiative to stop brace-ism in schools started by students.

Next, losing is the new winning. Okay, I know that didn't make any sense. In my PE class kids seem to be celebrating when they lose. Why they do this, I don't know. It does seem to fluster the winning team when the losing team celebrates. I thought this was interesting. I'll keep you updated on this breaking news story.

In other news -- my friend started a blog. Here's a link to A Day in the Life of Me.

Just another day in the life of an ordinary middle schooler.

Mercury - No not that one...

In my science class we are learning about environmental health -- how the environment affects human health. Specifically we are studying mercury poisoning. It was hilarious - some kids thought that they were talking about mercury the planet not the element.

Today also marks my start with the MSP (Measurement of Student Progress), the Washington State test of academic achievement. Today was my first (of two) days of writing. Each day we have about 2 hours to write an essay (pre-write, rough draft, revisions, editing, and final draft.) It was insane. Some people finished in 45 minutes, other didn't finish until 4 hours. We get extra time in the library if needed. Also the schedule is all mixed up because of testing, we have 3rd/2nd period AFTER lunch. That is just wierd. Tommorrow we have the MSP math test, so wish me luck.

In English we have to make our own folktales and put them on videos. My group is having trouble. The little footage we had got erased so we had to start over. We'll have to finish it outside of school.

So videos, mercury, state tests, and a lot of middle school chaos. That's just a normal day in the ordinary life of a middle schooler.

The Guy in the Purple Shirt

The funniest thing happened on the bus today. Here's the story:

On the bus ride home today we saw a guy in a purple shirt taking the garbage can into his house. My friend sitting next to me started waving and trying to get his attention. Then my other friend sitting in front of us yelled "Everybody wave to the guy in the purple shirt." Now most of you would think that all of us on the bus would probably not do anything. You'd be wrong. All the people on the side of the bus facing the purple shirt guy not only started waving but they also started pounding on the windows. Yes, when one girl told the bus riders to do something - they did. Middle schoolers aren't known for following directions so this was interesting. It was also even more hilarious when the purple shirt guy did the you're crazy middle schoolers eyeroll/headshake/pretend to ignore us combo.

At lunch there was surprise. Remember the game that all parents and teachers used to get students to be quiet in first grade? The game was ironically named "the Quiet Game." Well my table started to have a competition of who could go without talking the longest. Does this sound familiar to you? Now this might be weird for seventh graders to do but not astounding. This isn't even the weird part, that's when they decided to have a one minute time out. Who does a timeout in the quiet game? That doesn't even make sense. The astounding part is that sometimes it takes up to ten minutes for us to quiet down so we can be excused for our 15 minutes of free-time after lunch. The kids at my table kept quiet for over ten minutes! Maybe if the assistant principle wants us to quiet down he should say "Everybody, it's time to play the quiet game."

Middle schoolers are unpredictable, but that might be the best thing about them because without it I wouldn't have all these funny and enjoyable moments to blog about.

Meeting Lisi Harrison

Okay awesome news: I got to go to a Lisi Harrison (author of the Clique and Alphas series) book signing and meet and greet. I got my books signed and even won a t-shirt.

Here is a link to her blog.

My friend Anna even got mentioned by name in her post. I'm also in the picture and had a great time.

Make sure you look under the Third Place Books section under Seattle on the post Mocktail Hour.

It was so fun and can't wait to see more of my favorite authors.

Perfume - not Just for Girls

Perfume - that smelly stuff that might even be worse than body odors.

Boys wear cologne that reeks. It smells so bad. One boy sprayed it while on the bus and I almost suffocated from the bad smell. This astounds me because I was almost ten seats in front of him. The cologne literally gives me a giant headache.

Boys aren't the only one with smelly odors. The one that girls wear isn't stinky, it's the name that makes me cringe. The name of the new popular perfume that the girls wear is called "Sexy." That's right 12-13 year-old girls are wearing a perfume called "Sexy." This isn't right, I don't think that these girls should be wearing this kind of perfume - we're 12 not 20.

These are just some of the thrills and smells in middle school.

Myths in the Middle

There are quite a few superstitions I've encountered while going to school. Some of them are weird and some are just ridiculous. All have been believed by classmates at one time or another.

• One that came up during my 4th grade year only had to do with girls. People said that if a girl twirled her hair backward they were dumb. If a girl twirled her hair forward she was smart. Looking back on this one may think the boys just wanted to get girls to twirl their hair.
• Before going into middle school, there were many rumors going on about what could happen in middle school. One of these rumors talked about a nervous girl who literally licked her lips right off. Yes. She licked her lips so much they disappeared.
• Another one talks about your birthday. One is said to have a lucky or golden birthday when there turning the age they were born on. Okay reading that you might not understand it. For example if you were born on the 15th of May, then your lucky/golden birthday is when they turn 15. Some say you get luck for a whole year others say it is only for that day.
• There was another superstition that also varies. It is that you can make a wish(es) when the numbers on the clock are the same. This mostly happens at 11:11, but some say you can do it at 12:12 or 10:10. Another way this superstition varies is that some argue that you can only make one wish, while others say you can make as many as you can in a minute.
  

These are some of the most popular myths in middle school. It's amazing how many kids believe them. Some are plain ridiculous and they still believe them. But these are just some of the myths in the middle.

D-day

D-day, some people look forward to it all year - others hope that it never happens. No I'm not talking about the historic day during World War 2. I'm talking about something even more historic - frog dissection day. Now I'm sure my older blog readers remember doing this in high school, but we're not in high school - we are 7th graders.

There are 3 kinds of frog dissectors:

• Those (mostly boys) who are really excited to dissect. They want to dissect every single body part that they can. They even want to get the brain out and empty out the abdomen.
• Second are the those that aren't looking forward to it but deal with it. We try our best to learn and get something out it. We are grossed out but try our best to have fun with it.
• Lastly are those who don't want anything to do with the frog. They just let their partner do the work. In one class a girl started full out bawling. The girl just started crying.
  

We all got through the dissection in one piece and all got good grades to boot. The question is "Is it really right to sacrifice these frogs for a bunch of 7th graders?" We could always do a virtual dissection though it was kinda of cool to dissect a real frog.

D-day was definitely exciting. It might even become my most memorable moment in 7th grade science, time will only tell. Middle schoolers are definitely adventurous when it comes to biology.

The Problem with Arizona

With all the news going around about Arizona and its new law you'd think that 7th graders would know something about its geography. We don't know much about its geographic location or shape. Some of these will even surprise the people who think we have an education problem. Here are two statements that my PE classmates thought about Arizona.

• One girl said that Arizona was the square one. Yes she got Arizona mixed up with Colorado or Wyoming. Most people don't think that Arizona is close to square. But the shapes of states are hard to remember. This didn't make me gasp as much as the next one.
• One boy thought that Arizona was the one next to Canada. Yes, this boy thought that Arizona was Alaska. They are not even remotely close together. Alaska and Arizona - though I guess they both start with the letter A.

Now you might be thinking that at least we know our current events because we were talking about Arizona. But you'd be wrong. We were talking about it because someone had gone to Arizona over Spring Break and he got really tan. They all wanted to know where he went so we got talking about Arizona. No politics involved.

Arizona might be in the news everyday since this law passed but before they tell us the news about the new law, they should show us a map.

Time for a Run

Now for those who don't know the ups and downs of middle school PE, I'll tell you the worst part - for me at least. Every Monday we have to run the mile. Four laps around the track. There are basically three kinds of middle school runners.

• One -- the people who are very athletic. They run the mile under - well let's just say they finish their second lap before you finish your first. They're the people who you all envy for their athletic talent and always make the team they try out for. They're just good runners.
• Next is the category that I fit into. We try to run our best but we still can't make a good time. We're just not cut out for running, or throwing, or catching, or - let's just say athletics aren't our strong point. We really do try but we can't run fast and far at the same time. This isn't bad has long has you have some friends that push you to do better. (Or in today's case a friend that did 5 laps instead of 4 so her time was worse than ours, even though she is very athletic.)
• Lastly are the people that treat the mile run as a social hour. They walk the laps and just talk to their friends. This causes them to get a bad time - but since we only count our time every few weeks, they only have to try then.
  

Also in our school there seemed to be some sexism in how long it takes a girl and boy to run a mile. Today the best times for each sex were posted on the whiteboards in the gym. The kids in our class booed at the time of 6:16 for a boy but said that 7:23 for a girl was good. It seems that they think that boys should be able to run the mile way faster than girls. This doesn't make any sense.

Next post: D-day!!!!!

Drive-bys

Today me and my friends tried to sell hot chocolate and misfortune cookies like you would lemonade. What are misfortune cookies you say? They're fortune cookies that were made wrong, you can buy them in 5 pound packages. In celebration of spring break, I am having a guest blogger, one of my best friends, CB.

While trying to sell hot chocolate and cookies we found that there are a few types of drivers in our neighborhood.

• The type that actually stop. These people buy something and make conversation (in our case our neighbors. Sadly they are kind of obligated to buy something.)
• The kind that drive by and acknowledge our presence. They smile and wave but don't have guts to buy something.
  
• Next there are the people who slow down almost stop directly in front of you then speed away. These make you the most mad. They trick you into thinking they're going to buy something but then don't. They get our hopes up and then crush them.
• Next are the ones that speed up when they see you. In one case a walker started running when he saw our table. They don't want to buy anything and avoid you at all costs.
  
• Lastly are the ones that drive by and don't notice that you exist. In one case a walker walked by us while we were talking in loud voices. He didn't even twitch his head.

One thing we also noticed, we sold more product when we had cute little girls with us. I also noticed that middle schoolers don't know how to sell product. Thank you everyone for our 5 dollar earnings.

Happy SPRING BREAK!

Pencil Cases and Exciting News

Pencil bags - students can put random things in them if they're in a hurry. Here are the weirdest things found in a pencil case:

• 5 Euro - my friend said these were for her emergency trip to Europe.

• Foreign coins - this included Lira which isn't even used anymore.

• I keep almost 2 dollars worth of dimes in my pencil case - just in case.

And my personal favorite:

• One girl I know keeps a first aid kit in her case - so if you ever need anything go to her, not the nurse.

On another note -

SPRING BREAK is here. One whole week off to do nothing. This means I might not be posting much (sorry about yesterday.)

I know you're thinking why spring break now? Most other schools had spring break one or two weeks ago. Our district has it this coming week. We kept hearing about other schools doing their break, so the wait seemed even longer.

Anyway - SPRING BREAK (Yes, yes, yes!!!)

So lessons learned today: don't expect just pencils and pens in a pencil case and SPRING BREAK is here.

Coming up after the break - Our school talent show.

Science Survivor

Middle schoolers get creative when you ask them how to survive. In science class we were posed the question:

What would you do if you were lost in the woods and needed to get warm?

These were our answers:

• Eat something so digestion warms you up (it is a science class after all and we did just study the digestive system.)

• Do jumping jacks or other exercise to warm yourself up.

• Put on blanket (possible if you happened to carry around a blanket.)

• Build a fire (hope you brought matches.)

Next are my two favorite and most hilarious ways our class thought we could survive.

• Build an igloo (sure if you went hiking when it was snowing.)

Last but not least:

• Kill a bear and use it's skin/fur for warmth (really - how would you pull this off?)

This just teaches you - don't count on our science class to help you survive in the woods.

He said, She said

The arguments heard in middle school are weirder than most.

Some can be quite normal. These range from which drinking fountain has the best water to who is the best/worst teacher. These can be very interesting if say someone's favorite teacher is someone else's least favorite or that the drinking water used in Chef School is cloudy and white looking.

Food pronunciation seems to be a very popular topic among middle school arguments. Interestingly though none have been about the pronunciation of tomato or potato. Ones that have been heard range from tortillas to bagels. The funniest case was with the word syrup. One kid interrupted the whole class, to put the pronunciation to a vote. Food pronunciation can provide many arguments.

Now come the ones that don't make much sense. Once in math we had a argument about if the sun would come up tomorrow. Sure in a couple billion of years the sun will burn out, but tomorrow people. Go get a science journal.

The weirdest argument this year -- if it can really rain cats and dogs. Incidentally this also happened in math class. How this has anything to do with math, I don't know. People kept arguing that tornadoes can make it rain cats and dogs. Others insisted that cats and dogs just don't rain down from the sky.

He said, she said. Feel free to weigh in on the arguments above. Middle school verbal fights can go from normal to just plain bizarre.

Periods of Passing

Passing periods... that 4 minute period to get from one class to another. A friend of mine summarizes this best:

"These people are crazy."

In this small amount of time you see people shoved, pushed and even fall down. The craziness begins once the bell rings with students rushing out of their classrooms. This isn't because they want to get to their next class, but so they can see their friends. With large groups of people congregating in small hallways, just getting through is trouble.

Another special mention award is deserved. The worst hallway intersection ever. This belongs to the 300-400 intersection. Getting through this is big trouble. You might lose your water bottle, papers, or even a class project. This is by far the most horrible hallway in school.

There are a couple ways that make it easier to get through middle school hallways:
1. Quickly go through the intersection or hallway by following someone bigger and/or taller than you.
2. Use the conga-line method. Hang on to the backpack in front of you, someone hangs on behind you. Before you you know it you'll have a line of 4-5 people leading you to your next class.

Troubles are not just with the students. The doors in our school open outwards into the hallways. This makes it very possible to get bonked in the head by a door. This can cause major traffic jams. For example, once when someone fell down, someone tripped on him, who then tripped another person. Soon 4 people were on the ground around a classroom door trying not to get trampled by others.

No matter which middle school you go to passing periods will ensue craziness and hilarity.

Dos and Don'ts of Lunch

This is the post you've all been waiting for, or at least the one my mom has been waiting for. Middle school lunches, the good, the unhealthy, and the just plain weird.

Let's start with the good. We get to have Pizza Hut pizza everyday. Don't fret, we don't just get the plain old cheese pizza. My school offers 4 different pizzas - cheese, pepperoni, veggie, and, my personal favorite, Hawaiian. We also serve other entrees, but the safe bet is always pizza.

Now the unhealthy, I know kids who will have 2 Izze's and a malt cup for lunch, no entree whatsoever. What probably went through your mind just then was one of two things: 1) what is an Izze, or 2) Your school serves malt cups to students on a daily basis? First of all, an Izze is a carbonated juice drink, which comes in 4 flavors. Secondly, yes our school serves malt cups daily along with Italian ice cream, Rips (100% juice slushies), rice crispy treats, cookies, and baked potato chips. To top it all off we also have 4 vending machines.

Now the just plain weird. Have you ever heard of a school that serves quiche to students? No... well our school does. They serve quiche as the vegetarian option on some of our school days. Other weird lunch choices include stuffed pasta shells, "pork chop patty on a bun," and the buffalo chicken sandwich.

One aspect of our school lunches needs to receive a honorable mention as the most thrown away. It is thrown away by almost every student in the school. You might guess it's fruit or vegetables that are getting thrown away, but you would be wrong. The answer is the breadsticks that come with pizza. Nearly 3/4 of lunch buyers will buy pizza, this comes with the dreaded breadstick. These sticks are horrible, they have no taste, are dry, and just don't taste good. Very few of these breadsticks actually get digested, they go straight into the trash seconds after students pay for their lunch. Somewhere a landfill is full of my school's breadstick waste.

These are the dos and don'ts of middle school lunch food.

Running in the Hail

Today was the best PE in the history of all PE's. Why? When we went outside to run laps it was snowing/hailing!. We all walked our own laps and we only had to run 1 lap instead of 2. With the blue skies above and the cold chilling snow, PE will never be the same.

The other highlight of PE: You've heard of minutes and seconds, right? How about the Ramundo. NO, this is how our class started counting push-ups and curl-ups. We have invented a new form of counting. This is how middle schoolers show their creativity.

Opening Remarks

Hey
I'm ordinary 7th grader in an ordinary middle school living an ordinary life. Why start a blog? I like to talk to myself...well not really. I just thought it's time to do something with my so extra-ordinary life. Balancing school, homework, and sleep won't be easy, but I'll do for the sake of this blog.

Take today for example, my group in Chef School messed up on making hot chocolate. The recipe involved 3 steps. 1) put saucepan up to medium heat and add dry ingredients. 2) add 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. 3) take off heat and add milk. How we could mess this up, I don't know. Actually I do, we added all the ingredients at once. I guess that's how middle schoolers read directions.