Tori

In 2008 I read more books then I've ever before (not counting books that are seven pages long you read when you're little!)

I really got into historical fiction, as well as some fantasy. I enjoyed, off the top of my head, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Torn Thread, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Journey to the Center of the Earth, among many others (that's all I can think of right now in a sleep deprived state!)

I didn't keep track of the ones I read though (numbers or titles.) So this time, I'm going to*!

I'm not one who rereads books. I read slower than some people (okay, compered to my family, all of who are lightning fast!) but I retain it! Rereading is way boring for me!


January: (1)
Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson ***

Monthly Notes: Slow start of the year, but I spent most of it in Florida and was busy hanging out with my friend instead of reading *lol* Anyways, I did read more than that, but not full books. Anyways, I enjoyed Island of the Aunts as an easy, night-time read. Sweet story, too.

February:
The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton ** 1/2


March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Total:

Last Updated: 1/12/08

*Note: I'm not counting fanfiction... but trust me, there's a TON of that! I'll probably not list school textbooks either.

Our dogs are weird.

Lily will eat anything, and I mean ANYthing. She particularly a fan of produce. She'll eat apples, carrots, lettuce, onions (raw and cooked), bell peppers, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, berries, avocado, basil, parsley, chives, mango, pineapple, peaches, plums, the list goes on! You name it, she'll eat it. Once we offered her a piece of lettuce, and a piece of leftover steak... after going back and forth, she reluctantly took the steak before quickly gobbling up the lettuce! So far, the only thing we have found that she won't eat is gluten-free vegan macaroni and "chreese"... yeah, it was that bad tasting!!!

Amber is picky. She LOVES meat (AKA, she's a normal dog.) However, since she's Alpha, we have to give her food before Lily. Which means when we give Lily bits of food, we give some to Amber. Since we know she doesn't like it, we give her really tiny bits; she then holds the food in her mouth for a long time before reluctantly chewing it and eating it with this look of "This is horrible! But I can't let Lily have it!!!" on her face. It's mega cute!

So, the only "non-normal" thing Amber loves is bananas... and she LOVES bananas! We would think she's losing her hearing in old age, except that she can hear a banana being peeled from across the house, while she's asleep, and comes running! It's ridiculous how much she likes them! Her second favorite this is anything baked.

So enters Banana Bread. This do will do ANYTHING for Banana Bread (I swear, she would jump off a cliff if there was banana bread at the bottom!) She's just absolutely in love with it.

Well, we had six over-ripe bananas, so I made some Banana Bread, which I haven't made in FOREVER! It turned out wicked yummy and good, so I'm very happy! Doesn't it look yummy?



( Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe )

Here's Amber getting some of her beloved banana bread! Note: She doesn't really chew it, she swallows it straight down because it's so yummy! (You would think she would take the time to savor it, but nope!) Also note the eager expression and perked-up ears!

I'm the one filming and talking. Behold once again: the bizarre accent! I should do a voice post at some point showcasing my many different accents. Anyone want me to do that? If no one cares, I won't bother.

And now *drumroll* The Eureka season premier!!!

You know what annoys me? (well, one of the things anyways...)

When something gives/asks for weight in grams/kilograms. That's not weight!!!

Pounds are weight. Ounces are weight. Newtons are weight.

Grams (kilo- etc) are NOT weight. They are mass!

Pounds:Newtons as Slugs:Kilograms.

Yes, in case you didn't know, the imperial (AKA, the effed up system the USA uses) unit for mass is a "slug"... which is weird. Even more weird, the "small" version of that is the "slinch" (slug-inch) also called a "blob"... I mean, come on! Are we trying to get all the other countries to laugh at us?!?!

Mass times acceleration (almost always gravity) is what gives weight. Thus, you have a different weight on the moon. However, if you "massed" yourself, it would be the same.

*Sigh* Now that I've taken general physics, mistakes like this annoy me... also, I'm yet to go through a day without thinking about a physics equation!

One word: AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yes, that many exclamation points is required!)

Let's put it this way: you know are singer/bands will record a track multiple times, then pick the best parts and put it together for the CD? I think they picked the worst one to put on the CD, but it's NOTHING compared to her live!

It was in this big (well, biggish...) church. We sat on the balcony in the back corner, which had great acoustics (in my uneducated opinion...)

She sangs loads of songs, including two of my all-time-favs from any band/singer (they're defiantly in my top 20!) which is "When I Was a Boy" and "Are You Out There?" They're fantastic. And she told stories about them while she was tuning, so we got to know the background behind each song, which was fantastic :)

We also got to talk to her after the show! And we only slightly cornered her to do it as well! We told her she just had to come to Northampton/Hadley and play a gig there for the colleges! ("Mount Holysmokes") She said she would love to, but the colleges often don't want the "small people" to play; Amelia and I are already plotting!!!

We also told her that we'd grown up listening to her (the past decade) and loved her music. She told my mom (with a laugh) that she did a great job raising us. We all three then thanked her for playing "We Learned the Sea" which is about sailors. We told her what dad's doing right now, and she was absolutely thrilled that the military is helping other countries by teaching them ways to do things, without running in and saying "You're way is wrong, this is how to do it!" (For examples, see: Middle East.)

Also, Thai food was awesome! And I normally hate Thai food, but the pineapple fried rice was delicious!

All in all, amazing night! I'm in such a good mood, and so relaxed right now. I didn't realize I wasn't happy before, nor that I was stressed, but now that I'm not, I can tell that I was!... okay, that sentence got away from me, oh well!

Night :)

So, in my life I have seen Great Big Sea, and I've seen Kris Delmhorst. Tonight my ima (mom), sister, and I are going to see Dar Williams!

We're also going out to dinner (Thai food) with two of my mom's friends. Should be fun!

Luckily, I'm feeling better today; although, I know I'm going to be wicked tired by tonight!

Read further at the risk of your own sanity. ( You have been warned! )

So... yeah. Hope everyone is good :)

Not that I dislike any of you Brits :)

Mom and I are watching the Boston Pops show on TV. The Narrator is someone who I've had the chance to hear speak before in real life. Reverend Professor Peter Gomes is a brilliant speaker!!! He's quite funny and personable as well :)

Hope you all have had a good day, even if you're not an American :)

So, while I've been training Lily to do the Spanish walk, I've gained some injuries to my arms. I am teaching her by shaping the behavior off of "give paw." Thus, she's trying to put her paw in my hand while she walks along my side. Well, she can be enthusiastic with the attempt to shake my hand. Since she's got the basics down now, we're working on lifting her paws up without touching my hand; that part is slow going!

Anyways, the insides of both of my forearms are all scratched up. What's worse, the pinky-side of my wrist has been hit numerous with her dewclaw. She's not broken the skin, but she damaged one of the arteries. She did is last night, and then again tonight in the same spot. So I have their huge contusion on my wrist that's really ugly and swollen, but it doesn't hurt too much.

Anyways, now my wrist is wrapped tightly (not cutting off the circulation) in an ace bandage. The wrap will "push" the blood into getting absorbed by the surrounding tissues.

It's wicked annoying though, I can't bend my wrist!!! At least I can use all ten of my fingers... which, trust me, is something I've not been able to say many time! I've dislocated three different fingers before (all at different times) which means that finger and it's neighbors are all wrapped together. That makes typing a challenge!

I can deal with the wrist thing!!!

Lily is ignoring Nuka, and Nuka is staying on the furniture and only bothering the other dog, so life is good for now.

I'm doing more training with them. I'm now giving them their dinner during a training session so they have to work for it. I'm also going to start doing that with breakfast (since mom wakes earlier than me, and dogs want their morning kibble, she's feeding them a 1/2 meal and then I use the other half around lunchtime for training.)

Amber is as much of a clown as ever, and very ADHD (like me!) She works well with the clicker though. Over the past three days she has learned to rollover on command :D I'm proud of her (I've tried to teach it to her in the past but she would get halfway rolled and then decide that a belly-rub would be a good idea, and she stays there...)

Lily has, in less than 24 hours (I started teaching her last night) learned the basics of the Spanish Walk! Like I've said all along, this dog is freakin' smart! For those who don't know what a Spanish Walk is, it's a historic horse "trick" used by royalty, nobles, and other upper-class. used mainly during parades, but also to clear a path through crowds when needed. Here's a video:


So far, her record is seven perfect steps in a row (switching feet, and not taking normal steps in between.) It's really cute :) If anyone wants, I can try and get a video of it tonight. We're still working on perfecting it (IE, not having to have me standing right beside her with the treats.) Previous times I've tried to clicker-train her haven't worked so well; she just never was into the whole idea. This time however she is FLYING through the tricks! I'm going to run out before long!

Quick, suggest some idea for tricks!!! I need help coming up with more!

So we now know where Dad's going!

He's going to Lisbon, Portugal, then on he goes to Morocco and Gabon in Africa! He's under instruction to bring Amelia and I "cool fabric" and I think he should score in Morocco at least!

It's nice to know where it is he's being deployed to, even if it's after he's been deployed! (He sent us an email from the ship.)

I was doing good for a few days there; going to bed around midnight and waking up around nine. I like that timing.

I couldn't fall asleep tonight though... well, this morning...

Let's put it this way: is it bad if you're still awake when the birds start to sing and the sky starts to lighten? Probably, eh?

I'm just not starting to get tired... I think I'll go hit the sack. The parents should be up in a hour or so...

There was a contest at the Relay between a group of soccer-team girls and their coach vs. whoever wanted to play. If you beat the people who knew what they were doing, they would donate $100 in your teams' name.

I joined another group of people since I was the only person on my team who wanted to play (it was 10 AM this morning, so 19 hours into the event.) I was assigned as goalie since I have past experience.

I blocked four goals! (Let one in, but we scored one too so tied. They donated $50 in our name!) One of the goals was kicked by the coach! He kicked it from the other side of the pitch (half-sized, but still) and I have a mark on my shin which is turning into a bruise, but dammit I blocked the goal! I found out after that the guy had played professionally in England for a few years! So I blocked a goal by a professional soccer [football, futball] player! And he was trying to score, at least by the look on his face. It was out of his pocket that the money was coming from *lol*

I'm made of win!

I've finished English comp II! I think I'll have an A in it as well!

I finished Relay for Life!

23 hours (I was there for longer than that... plus it didn't start until afternoon so I'd been awake for a while before it started.)

I managed maybe one hour of sleep, more like 40 minutes...

I personally walked 18.25 miles! That's 73 laps!!! I did it all sorts of hours, including 2 am... that sucked!

We won the Team Spirit award! Mainly because we didn't stop say "Arrrrg!" from the getgo... we were the "Pirates for Life" :) Seriously, my throat hurts from all the "Arrrg!"ing... and the other teams would encourage us to do it, so of course we did! Everyone loved the bandannas I made (and that my sister helped with)

I'm kinda tired... I should be much more tired but I've hit that point where you stop being tired because you're so tired...

Also, I ate waaaaay too much junk food! Of course, I burned off all the calories, but still!

This is SOOO funny!

Warning: Although not inappropriate, it puts a bad image in your mind. I wouldn't recommend playing it out loud with little kids, but there isn't any cursing.



*LMAO*

Isn't that awesome? I mean, all the person did was place a "beeeeeep" over the word "count" but it make you think of something oh so wrong! Sesame Street is ruined for life, but it was worth it for the far too many because I've watched it more than a dozen times in the last day laughs!

First, the new:

Since our Mitsubishi Expo died, we had to get a new car. Plus, my sister and I are learning to drive and well, we needed something to drive! (Mom won't let us near the driver's side of her precious Mini Copper S, and I don't blame her!) So, that's our new car!

It's a Mazda Mazda5.... seriously, you say "Mazda" twice! I've decied to name it (it's a requirement to name one's first car!) and it's name is the "Bond-Mobile"! You know, "Bond, James Bond." That's all I can think of when I say/hear "Mazda, Mazda5" *lol* So, unless Amelia (we're sharing it) highly disagrees, the car is named Bond-Mobile! And I love her/him (haven't decided :P) Oh, and I'm SOOOOO totally adding bumper stickers! Well, my college at least!

And the cool:


See, I tooooold you! That's proff that they take military tactical vehicles to the commissary (grocery store) on base! Sorry it's a blurry picture, I took it on my phone (I'm a camera sniper... ok, probably shouldn't say that on the base...)



There, it's easier to see it in that picture. That's one of the cooler trucks they have here. We're swamped with them right now since a bunch of troops are about to get shipped out. It's sad that they have to leave their families, but it means that the people over there now can rotate out and come home, which is a good thing :)

In addition to the ground vehicles, there's a bunch of stuff in the air too! Loads of Blackhawk helicopters, cargo (C-class) planes, some fighters (mostly F-15s) etc.

Who needs peace and quiet? At least there's no airshow this summer! (The USAF Thunderbirds practiced here for TWO WEEKS before the show... for about 4-6 hours a day (or so it seemed) less than 1/4 mile over house... and they're L-O-U-D!!! And they we're the only loud thing that decided to practice over housing!) I'm SOOOOOOO glad for that fact!

If the base theater had Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as a preview. They do 3-4 previews a year here, "for moral." Sometimes they're not so great (I.E. Happy Feet) other times they're fantastic (I.E. The Guardian)

They should totally have HPatHPB!!!! It would be *cough* good for moral *nods*

Anyways, I hope to go see Star Trek again this weekend (it's at the base theater now) and drag my dad along (who is yet to see it! *gasp*)

Also, I would be more that totally cool with the idea of someone else writing my English papers *nods*

This is a common site:


Also many, MANY other types of military vehicles. Blackhawks hovering over my house is normal. F-16s flying by is normal. The person in front of you, while buying groceries, wearing camouflage is normal.

Yeah, life on a military base is a bit "odd," but it's nice too. This is the least populated spot in this area; it's fantastic to live here!

1) Finishing making 12 bandannas for the Relay for Life team I'm on. Our team theme is "Pirates for Life" so they're black triangles, trimmed with red, appliqued with a skull (which has a bandanna on) and cross-bones. They look kick-ass! There's four each with light blue, purple, and forest green bandannas on the skulls. Three are completely done, the other nine only need the trim added :)

2) Watching a movie. I'm watching "Down Argentine Way." It's an old (1940) musical about an equestrian and and Argentinian horse breeder falling in love... but OMG, the horses! *drool* They're so pretty; I love Argentine jumpers! They're sooooooo pretty! Also, I really want Glenda Crawford's (lead female, played by Betty Grable) skirt from the party near the beginning of the movie, it's oh so pretty! The top isn't "me" but the skirt sure as hell is... I might have to make one myself :)


The Nicholas Brothers' dance number is amazing...



Every other second all I can think is "ow" "wow" "ow" "wow" "ow" "wow" *lol*

3) Working on papers! Less than three weeks for English Comp two, and I have to write 9 papers total! One being a long research paper... blah *bangs head on the wall* But next Friday at noon I will be FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Until MHC in September... but I'm looking forward to that.

4) I'm feeling somewhat better, but still not fantastic. I stayed home yesterday, which was a good thing, but I'm still taking it easy today and plan to take it easy tomorrow as well.

1: How to remove a stereo from a car... turns out it take longer and makes more noise than movies have you believe!

2: How to rip apart a car's interior... needed for the whole "removing a stereo" thing.

3: How to fix a car's interior... needed after ripping it apart

4: How to hotwire a car... would have learned how, but A) that car doesn't work so hotwiring wouldn't have worked and B) dad doesn't know how to do it

5: How to get out of writing a research paper... even if that sounds like a good idea right now!

P.S. The Mitsubishi Expo is officially toast. Pushing up the daises. No more. Dead. Etc. We bought a Mazda5 (off eBay!) and it should be here Saturday or Sunday, sweet! Then I get to learn how to drive (because we didn't get out to practice before the Expo died, and I'm so NOT allowed to learn in the Mini Copper Sport six-speed manual... there is a reason to be found in every single word in that car's description *lol*)

Also, bizzare but true. Spellcheck doesn't think that "hotwiring" is a word, and should be corrected to "horseshoeing" or "housewarming" or "horsetrading"... right...