Basketball season is over, but I had a really fun time throughout it. We did ok in the win/loss standard, but what I liked most about the season was seeing everyone one of us get a lot better. We all grew as basketball players, and we all learned an important lesson not just in basketball but in everything. That is doing everything with heart and with pride, and not giving up when we are down. Sports not only keep one in shape, but they can teach good lessons about everyday life.

This star is for making the all-star team. The coaches out of the teams we played chose players that they thought were all-stars. Out of all the teams three players were chosen and I am grateful that they picked me. I also feel a little bad because one of my friends did not make it who should have. Anyways that is it for me love,peace, and soul.

Is this not a cool head or what! I got it at a Christmas party in a white elephant gift exchange. I stole it from someone (in the rules of the game) who had already opened it. I thought it was pretty cool but Mom said it was creepy. Maybe it will keep her from coming into my room?

I can't believe that in about two months I will be 16. I absolutely can not wait until I get my license. It will make everyones life a lot easier. With me being able to drive my mom wont have to take me everywhere, and I will not have to ride my bike or walk anymore. I've heard that the test is kind of hard, but I will under no circumstances allow myself to fail it. I know I can study and pass the written test, but the parallel parking is what I'm not great at. It's especially hard in my dad's big truck but I will soon get the hang of it.

I just finished reading Pilgrim's Progress for the second time and I enjoyed it once again. It's a great allegory that anyone can relate to. The way John Bunyan tells the story it is very understandable and doesn't take a theologian to decipher the way some books such as this one do. To write such an amazing and influential book like Pilgrim's Progress in jail showed Bunyan's faith. Even though he was in jail for doing things of the Lord he still followed Him and stayed the course. Well, that is it for me love, peace, and soul.

Obesity is now a disease and a handicap in America. Obesity has become rampant because of our access to food, which is not a bad thing, but peoples lack of self control is bad. As you all know I work at Sonic and all day I see people just eating themselves into their grave. Extremely obese people getting ice cream, cheeseburgers, oh and a diet coke. Handicapped parking spaces are now available to overweight people who can't walk, but do these people seem at all phased by their weight? Sure they probably feel sorry for themselves at times but never enough to change their habits and repent from their gourging of food. If these people choose to eat like this and live their life that way that is fine with me, but not when they start complaining about how they can't do anything about it. If there really is a problem with their body then they deserve help, if they dont have a problem then it's not our problem. The goverment forces a lot of taxes on us, and it has to do that to keep up with all of the areas we think they are responsible for. Through our taxes we pay for operations for obese people who can't pay for it themselves. Even Social Security is an example of the lack of self control among the American people. If the government did not make people save then a lot would be dirt poor by the time they could not support themselves, and some would save and be very well off in their retirement. Practice self control and you will be very glad you did. Love, Peace, and soul


P.S. People continue to eat Sonic, I like getting paid.

This is a picture of all of the kids (not my kids, of course, to those strangers reading this, but my brother and sisters, plus a sister-in-law and nephew).

Oh! to be a great blogger like I once was. To find joy in telling my of everyday life to my family, and sometimes to perfect strangers. I wonder if the president has stumbled upon my blog yet? I guess I need to shake the laziness out and post a blog every once in a while.

Well, the weather here is very nasty. I hate weather like this, but I did enjoy sliding on the ice in my driveway this afternoon. I had decided to walk to the library, just for something to do, and decided to do it after my mom warned me to put on some warmer clothes. I didn't heed her warning as ya'll might have guessed, and I was very close to freezing to death.

Basketball is going pretty well. We have lost five games now, two games to Odessa on the same day. We lost because:

1. We were not playing very well at all and;

2. They were really good.

We probably could have beaten them if we were playing our best but it would have been really close. I think their team made around 6 three-pointers per game. Pizza after the game made me feel a little better about the loss though. Actually, I had a lot of fun playing and that is the whole point, right? We have 3 games this week and I hope we can win at least 2 of the 3. The team that we will most likely get beaten by is the team we lost to by about 60 points. Ya'll might remember this team as the team, that the lady who writes the blog "Welcome to my World" put a picture of a pie and talked about it being a big slice of humble pie.

Well that is about it for me, so love, peace, and soul to you all.

Thanksgiving! A time of food, family, but most importantly thanksgiving. When the Pilgrims had the first feast, they really had some thanking to do. They had just met the Indians, who taught them how to farm and hunt. The Pilgrims had just been scraping by before the Indians came along. Now they had plenty of food to survive the winter and they were free to worship how they chose. The Pilgrims took the time to thank the magnificent God that had made all of this possible. We also have plenty to be thankful for, we just need to take the time out of our busy schedules and realize it.

Well, I have been doing pretty good. Basketball season has started, as most of you know, and I am greatly enjoying it. From my mom's blog ya'll know how the games have turned out so far, but I am mostly happy that I am having fun. We won't be having another game until December 9, so I am hoping that I can stay in shape. This will be hard especially with Thanksgiving coming right up, and with all of the good food that I know will be at my Aunt Gendy's house.

I am still working at Sonic, enjoying it more and more every weekend. I love the people I work with, and this makes it a lot more pleasant. I have stopped carhopping and I am mostly taking the orders. Having stopped carhopping, my pay has drastically decreased because of the tips I am no longer getting. I still make pretty good money without the tips so I do not know why I am complaining. Well, that is about all for me, hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Love, peace, and soul.

Isn't everyone a little afraid of death? Maybe some are just a little uncertain about death and life after death, but a poet named John Donne was not. John Donne was born in London in 1572 and wrote many poems during his lifetime. In the final few years of his life Donne became very obsessed with death and wrote many poems on it. He even preached his own funeral sermon a few weeks before his death in a work he titled "Death's Duel."Here is one of his famous poems:


This is a statue they have of him in London


Death Be Not Proud

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

I haven't blogged in a while, I know. With this blog I hope to make up for lost times. The weather is very nice today, but has been very rainy and cold. I guess winter is fast approaching, even though its only October.

I have started basketball practice and I am enjoying it greatly. My team, or our team I mean, should be good this year. From what I see, this should be a great year for the Homeschoolers Basketball Association. We do not have many big fellows, but I think we might be able to make up for that with our speed. I like my coach pretty good. He seems to be wise in the ways of basketball and all of its in's and out's. I think our games will start in November and end sometime near February. The last year I played basketball for a team was in 7th grade. That was three years ago and I am looking forward to another season. When I wasn't playing basketball anymore I was kind of sad that I did not play as hard as I should have during the past years. So this year I am planning to play as hard as I can and try to reach my full potential.

Yesterday, the 22nd, we went to On the Border Restaurant to eat, since it was Cody, my brother's birthday. We had a very good meal, and lots of good conversation because Corbin was a chatterbox. As soon as we finished the meal, I was wondering if that was the end of the party. By the time that thought had crossed my mind I looked over and saw my madre talking to the waitress. I knew something was up when I noticed the secretive attitude my mom was showing. About five minutes later four or five waiters and waitresses came out and yelled "We have a birthday in the house!" Cody's face was so funny because I don't think that he realized what was going on. They came right up to our table and had Cody STAND in his chair in front of everybody in the restaurant. It was funny! Then they sang happy birthday and then gave him a cake. We split the cake up and finished our meal. Cody if you read this, I give you props for being such a good sport, you really put on a show.




Oh, and thanks Corbin for helping me write this.




I hope ya'll enjoyed this blog and I think I will do more. Peace, Love & Soul.

Clouds have hung over us for the past three days and rain has almost constantly fallen. I really like it when it rains, and I hope it will continue to rain like this. The only bad part of this rain is that it gets really humid outside and thats no fun.

I have not worked any this week, but will work Sunday. Last Saturday the owner took all of us employees out to an expensive Japanese restaurant. I got a Teppan steak. Teppan, I guess, is a Japanese word for thick, and it really was. EVen though the owner paid for it I still felt weird getting something that expensive, but I got over it. Afterwards he made a speech and then gave us some free stuff. The free stuff includes: Coca-Cola bag, a gift certificate to anywhere, a certificate to Blockbuster, and two shirts. Why all of the free stuff you ask? Because the Sonic I work at is in the top twelve in the country. He wanted to reward us for a job well done. Who said Sonic doesn't have benefits. Well thats all for me love, peace, and soul.

Man, who said that working at Sonic doesn't have it's advantages. No one I know has said that, but there are some good advantages. For example, this last Saturday, the owner of Sonic took all of us employees to a very expensive Japanese restaurant. I had a steak called the Teppan steak. Teppan, I guess, is the Japanese word for thick. We could order anything we wanted, but I still found it kind of hard to pick something so expensive. So after we ate, we went into a room where the managers gave a couple of speeches and then they started passing out free stuff. EVeryone got a twenty-five dollar gift certificate, a certificate to Blockbuster, two shirts, and a Coca-Cola bag. Why all of the free stuff you ask? Because we do such a great job, and our Sonic is in the top twelve of Sonics in the country. Pretty impressive huh? I would have put pictures of all of the stuff but my picture uploader is not working. Well, that is it for me love, peace, and soul.

'I'm feeling good from my head to my shoes, know where I'm going and I know what to do. Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooooh. I've got a new attitude.' Now, tell me what this is the theme song for? Anybody know? I am not going to tell ya'll, but ya'll have to comment and tell me what the answer is. I know my mom will know the answer, but how about the rest of you folk?

Anyways, today is going pretty good. I got up this morning and went and played basketball at a church with some homeschoolers. They are pretty good at basketball, at least better than I thought they would be.

After reading my mom's blog, you all know that I have a job at Sonic. Yes, it is true and it is going all right. The work is not too hard and I get good tips because of my amazing charm. Actually, I have only made about $25 in two days (9 hours total). This is pretty small compared to what some girls get while working there. Most of the girls are making at least $20 a day. Girls just get tipped better than guys.

The North Korea missile launches are big in the news lately so you have all heard about it. In one way, I sort of feel bad for North Korea. I mean, how come we can test missiles and stuff like that, but when North Korea does it everyone bad mouths them? Except of course the other communist nations. In the other part of me, I think we should just go in and drop a big bomb on them to show we mean business. If we just keep threatening and do nothing they will continue to take advantage of us and think we are weak. I am dreading the moment George Bush leaves office. I hope we do not have a liberal president this coming election because liberals are going to be the downfall of this nation. Well that is all for me so love, peace, and soul.

It's Been A While!

Go-o-o-o-o-d Morning Vietnam! How is everyone doing this fine May day? Today is kind of cloudy with a very light breeze and the temperature supposedly getting up to 89 degrees.

I have been going to tennis practice and I am still liking it pretty good. I am getting a little better, but I should go practice more often.

Days are really going by fast lately. Maybe it seems like days are really going slow to some of you, but most of you that read my blog are older than me, so maybe ya'll are wanting the days to go slow. If this is true, I hope your days are going very slow.

In English class this year I am reading the book 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Has anyone read it? I know my mom has, but she said it has been a while. So far I have thought it is a really well written book. Hawthorne does a great job, in my opinion, of describing characters and using symbols. I have been told that everyone in his story represents something. Such as, the governor portrays the punishment of sin, the preacher portrays the church, and the daughter of the protagonist in the story is another form of the scarlet letter. It is hard to explain on the computer but it kind of reminds me of 'Pilgrims Progress' by John Bunyan. They both use symbolism and both have a clear distinction between good and evil. Well, tell me what ya'll think!

Love, peace, and soul.

P.S. How did ya'll like my use of literature jargon? Protagonist means the main character. Antagonist is the one who is in conflict with the main character in the story.

Come with me on a magical journey through the park and to the library. Just a reminder to everyone, please keep all hands and feet in vehicle at all times.














This picture is of a baseball field where lots of baseball games are played.
















Now we are in the library, look at all of the books but be quiet we do not want to get in trouble for being to loud.
















Now we are outside the library and can see the outside of the library and a gazebo near by. How do you like the nice green tin roofs?


These next pictures are just places you would see walking through the park. Last, but not least is another baseball field but it is much bigger that the other ones. This is where the Sandies play.















Well I hope you enjoyed the tour and as always love, peace, and soul!

It is very cloudy here with just bits of sunshine getting through. It was a wonderful weekend though and maybe today will turn out okay.

We did as you have read on my moms blog go hiking at Palu Duro Canyon. I had a pretty fun time, well as much fun as you can have walking six miles. I did go off by myself like my mom told about in her blog but she did not do the story justice as I hope to right now.

As we started off walking on the trail I saw some guys walking up a mountain and standing on top. It looked pretty fun and I wanted to try it. I was not able to go right then but I will as we are coming back. So as we are coming back from the Lighthouse, the mountain that everyone walks to, and I ask my dad, if I walk over this mountain will I come out on the trail? My dad says yes and I start the climb over the mountain. It was a pretty easy climb except in some parts where it was a little slippery. I got on top of the mountain and start looking for a place to head down. I searched around for a little while and to tell you the truth I kind of felt like an indian and I liked it. Then I hear someone yelling for me and it turned out to be my dad. He had realized that it was not the right mountain and he had come up to tell me. Then the two of us search for a way down and find a place that looks reasonably easy . Well, we were wrong. It started out easy enough but then we hit a spot that did not have rocks on it and it was only dirt. It was really hard and yes, my dad was a little more than afraid. To tell you the truth I had to slap him a couple of times just so he would stop screaming. ....Okay, I am exaggerating just a little but it was scary. We finally make it down the hill and catch up with my madre and walk back to the truck. Well, that is it for me so love, peace, and soul.

Hello once again from the panhandle of Texas. Today has been a good day so far and it looks like it is going to be a wonderful day outside.

Finally it looks like President Bush is doing something about our border control. As you can read on this link that Bush met with the Mexican President and talked about border control. http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060301-094941-3771r I really hope this will take care of the problem. I know Presedent Bush is catching a lot of flak about this issue and he is forced to do something about it. Well that is all I have to say today so love, peace, and soul.

This here is my tennis racket that I played with today, and here are the movies that I told you about. I might not have told you about Hondo but it is a good movie too. Anyways, I thought that they might make good pictures

Well today is a good day, kind of like yesterday, but a little windier.

Today I went and played tennis with some other homeschoolers. There is a tennis center right on the park where I live by and my mom went and checked it out. She found out that on Thursdays they have a homeschool tennis group class. So I went and I really enjoyed it. The coach there is from Russia and his name is Jan but sounds like Yan. He is a professional tennis player and he is really good. Now there are two sports that I need to work at. Tennis and soccer, but since this class was the beginners class, I was not the worst tennis player. I was not the best though, and I will be the first to admit it. This is very hard for me to tell ya'll, but I did get beat by a girl today. I am taking this very hard because I know that I have never been beaten by a girl at any sport before and I hope never again. The important thing was that I really had a fun time and met my first homeschool kids here.

I had a good birthday last night. We went out to eat at Calico County, which was very good. Jenny and Corbin came and ate with us and then we came back and ate some of my cake. It was German chocolate, which is my favorite and my mom really outdid herself on it.

Today has been a pretty good day and the wind has calmed down considerably since yesterday. Today is also a good day because it is my birthday. That is right March 29 is my birthday. Thank you Aunt Mary for remembering. It seems though that one of my sisters might have forgotten about my birthday. This sister has not called to wish me a happy birthday. That is okay Jocelyne I forgive you. I think we are going out to eat tonight at a nice restaurant. I hope they are not using this as an excuse to throw me a surprise party, because I will be on the lookout if you are. The conspirators can know that I will be like a cat always on the lookout.

Nothing has really been going on these past few days. Although I have found the sport that I can use some work on. That sport is soccer. That is right soccer. I always liked soccer but you can only be on a soccer team if you were about seven and I only played once. When I got up here I noticed a lot of kids playing soccer and I went and bought a soccer ball and have been practicing. The one problem that I have with soccer is that I can not kick the ball into the goal that good. With a sport like soccer the whole game revolves around the goal so I can be considered a pretty bad soccer player.

Anyways I do not guess that anyone has watched any of the John Wayne movies I suggested?
Well that is it for me and as always love, peace, and soul.

Today the sun is shining but the wind is blowing really hard. When the wind blows it just kind of ruins the day. Here in the Panhandle of Texas the wind blows extra hard, and you never get used to it.

I had not known that John Wayne had made so many movies as I found out after looking at Aunt Mary's link. I have not seen near that many John Wayne movies but I have seen some really good ones. Probably my favorite John Wayne movie so far would be Chisum. This movie is about John Chisum (John Wayne) as a wealthy land owner in New Mexico, and a greedy man named Morgan who wants to own everything in town. The movie has some known western men in it like Billy the Kid, and Pat Garret. These guys are helping Chisum while Morgan is trying to kill everyone that helps them. The movie goes on like this and ends with a big gun fight, and a fist fight between Morgan and Chisum. Morgan and Chisum end up falling off of a building and Morgan lands on a bull's horns and is killed. I really liked this movie because it really showed good prvailing over evil. And the guy Morgan was really bad. I also like the following movies: The Sons of Katie Elder, The Comancheros, and Mclintock. I have also heard that the movie Cowboys is really good. Well someone who has seen these movies let me know what you thought.

It is a beautiful day here in Texas, with the sun shining and a nice cool breeze.

Well, I have a new line of customers here like I did back there. Because on Friday my mom made up some little flyers for me to pass out to the neighbors on my street. These flyers just told them my address and my phone number and the jobs I can do. Most of the people on my street are older people and I think will need me to do some things. Today I got a call and a lady from another street asked if I could come by and take out some trash. I guess one of the ladys on this street told her about me. So I went over there and all she wanted me to do was to take out a barrel of trash. When I got back from taking out the trash she paid me five dollars. It took me about twenty seconds to take out the trash and she paid me five dollars. Now I am glad that my mom made me go up and down the street handing those sheets out to people because now I realize that there is money to be made here on this street.

I watched some more John Wayne movies this weekend. For some reason I just really like Big John and all of the movies he made. My homework assignment for ya'll tonight is to rent some John Wayne movies and watch them and tell me what ya'll think.