DON'T FORGET TO JOIN THE COMMENT-STORY EVENT AT THIS BLOG! PM PIP BY AUGUST 31st IF YOU NEED ANY DETAILS.

What kinda complexion do y'all have? I'm rother tanned, but I want to be chestnut-colored. Do y'all have long fingers? I do; my fingers are as long as Johnny Depp's! (I dunno if that's sayin' anythin'...) Do y'all like Johnny Depp? I only like him in PotC. I haven't seen the third one however, and don't intend to!
Whatsup wi. sequels? They always stink...except mebbe LotR & Toy Story. If you were to ask me what my fave movie was when I was widdle, I woulda said Toy Story. I practically knew it by heart!
That was a PM to someone and it doesn't matter if you see it.

~PIP The Wacky~

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN THE COMMENT-STORY EVENT AT THIS BLOG! PM PIP BY AUGUST 31st IF YOU NEED ANY DETAILS.

Thanks to OutlawedPrincess for giving me some new title idears; hopefully now y'all won't be subject to any more moans and groans.

Well, last night Mom suggested that instead of staying up late ta git all me stuff done, I git up early! At first I hated the idea because I'm a night owl, not an early bird.  (Also I was real grumpy last night, so sorry, Mom.) But this morning I got up at 5:30, and imagine my surpreese to discover that I didn't flop back down on me bed and snore away the rest of the morning as I usually do!!!  *amazed gasps* It was so nice to have so much time for Bible reading and prayers, instead of having to push them aside for later or skim through my daily chapter because school was starting downstairs in two minutes! By gitting up early, I will have time this year to git me math done (it takes a long time as math is me worst subject, and I have all this other schoolwork and if I put off math until the late afternoon, it's there hanging over me all day.) By gittin' up early, I can git all me mornin' things done, drink tea, do things like blog and check up on internet goodies (right now it's 8:03, 27 minutes until brekky), read for pleasure since school reading will take a long time and watch the sunset as I do annoying things like editing. I might not have time for editing this morning, mebbe I'll shoot fer 5 tomorrow??? Anyhoo, I don't feel groggy, like at all, and I sure feel perkier than yesterday! This way, I'll have more afternoon time to dedicate meself to school and housework, I can help the Girls git up and down on time to actually start school ON TIME (!!!!!!!!!!!!) and Mom, I might even pop down to help wi. breakfast some mornings!   *Mom faints at this time* This whole getting up and started on time with a  is something we've really been struggling with, but hopefully I can help the situation by doing this.

There, I've had me ramblings, so goo'-bye!

~PIP~

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN THE COMMENT-STORY EVENT AT THIS BLOG! PM PIP BY AUGUST 31st IF YOU NEED ANY DETAILS.

Is it just me, or are my titles getting cornier??? Thanks to the bloggers that have been sending me PMs and leaving comments; I update my blog (or at least, I look at it!) every day, and I get really excited when I have things to do like post answering comments and let fly messages. So, thanks!

I got tagged by GothamCityNights, so here it is:

What is your favourite type of building? ~Old, ancient mansions with sprawling gardens and ivy-choked stone walls, and medieval castles with dungeons!

What is your favourite animal? ~ Cats and rodents all the way!

 What is your favourite colour? ~ Aquamarine, chocolate brown, rich red, silver and apple green.

 What is your favourite landscape? ~ Wild, uncharted tropical isands and sunny beaches.

What is your favourite game? ~ Being jolly and hearty and foony, that's sorta a game; and games the Girls and I make up, such as games with my book characters and characters offa movies that we like.

What is your favourite hobby? ~  Either writing or reading, or being odd!

I will tag Shaiya, BlindDisorder15, SAMIAM and Ness.

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN THE COMMENT-STORY EVENT AT THIS BLOG! PM PIP BY AUGUST 31st IF YOU NEED ANY DETAILS.

Today was very busy! Usually Fridays are low-key, but we went whole-hog with Konos and did several activities plus Mom read aloud a lot. (Boy, I tell ya what, the Girls are purty spoiled, what with three plus read-alouds goin' on at the same time!) Lemme give y'all an update...but first, let us rejoice! For it is FRIDAY!!!!! My favorite day of the whole week!

Now: Mom and I spent an hour editing the story I am going to send in to gracealamode for the writing contest she's hosting, so thanks a million, Mom,  fer goin' over that story with a fine-toothed comb and seeing potential...instead of ripping it up into a million pieces because my thoughts were verra random and wacky!

It actually rained today and we were so happy!

I made changes in another story...lotsa editin' goin' on here, tho' no editing goin' on with me novel.

One of the highlights of the day was that my good friend John (not real name; John's actually a girl! We've been friends for years) is probably reading this, so hey thar, dearest! Maybe this will convince you to git a blog of yer own! It's really fun to work on. Anyway, her B-day box to all of us came today, decorated with dozens of stamps to account for the cost of postage, and it was beautiful! She and her family sent us all presents, since Garbonzo Bean's B-day was recent and Katsy gits upset easily (she's tender, the dearlin'!). I got cozy socks, bath salts (I'm fond of reading in the bathtub!), a James Herriot book, "The Last Dragon" (a book that John cried over), three CDs (we copy CDs fer each other) and two verra funny cards. And ahem, thank you Mrs. JoAnn, for the Hannah Montana card!

Tonight the moon was verra bright and rosy.

The smell of Mom's peppermint soap is drifting up the stairs to the office, where I'm sitting at our computer typing madly. I think G.B. has borrowed the soap, because she's singing her heart out in the bathroom.

Notes for John: The link to the LotR personality test is on the right, underneath the picture of Merry. On the right, under "Links", is also my album on a site called Photobucket (feel free to browse through there, and if it comes up with a thang that says "Please type in guest password", type in ANIKA [punctuation matters]). Also, that book discussion site, Incredibooks, is also under "Links", so if you have the leisure, see my posts! I again encourage you to join that site, it's really fun and we have received no spam that I know of. Also, feel free to explore all my blogposts, starting with page...it's either 1 or 40, I don't remember which! Anyway, that's a very good first blogpost. Somewhere on your right is a page navigation if you can't find it. If you like, you can also sign the guestbook at the bottom, and vote on the poll for purity. If you wanna, you can even leave a comment (the option is below these words) and when you pick Anonymous, you can just type in John and I'll know it's you. You can also comment about how you are pure and proud of it, as that's a Purity Petition thing I'm hosting on Islander Hideaway. Or, you don't haveta do anything on here!  I just thought you might loiks ta see it. Thank y'all again for all the goodies, we love them!

~PIP~

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN THE COMMENT-STORY EVENT AT THIS BLOG! PM PIP BY AUGUST 31st IF YOU NEED ANY DETAILS.

I have a pretty big bed, but it's still hard to sleep in it sometimes because I have so many things piled onto it! Blankets, my hand-crocheted bedspread, books...I even have special toys at the foot, and bookbags and T-shirts hanging off the posts!

QUESTION: Which would you be most likely to do at a sleepover or a party:

1). Share deep, dark secrets with close friends

2). Sleep with a toy or blankie all night

3). Sing the alphabet in an opera voice and dance to it.

I'd be most likely to do the last! (Altho' I did suck me thumb and carry blankets around until I was nine...)

I got this question offa the official American Girls site,  HERE We used to git their magazine, but I eventually got tired off the sassy kids and redundant dolly faces, and the fact that I don't play with dolls verra much. I used to be crazy about that company, however, and I have Samantha and Kaya (I call her Red Wing).

I read a beauty tip thing in a magazine about the main cause of clogged pores, and it said that it was actually oxygen hitting dead skin cells or something, not you touching your face with dirty or greasy hands...which is all hogwash, because if I pester my face, I git clogged pores! Simple as pie.

The latest I've ever stayed up (besides all night being sick or at a friend's house in another state) was 6:30, watching movies from the library!

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN THE COMMENT-STORY EVENT AT THIS BLOG! PM PIP BY AUGUST 31st IF YOU NEED ANY DETAILS.

Special thanks to: crochetcrazy for the rockin' Pip's Musings image above my avatar!!!! I really like it.

Hey Mom, I found out that my avatar is actually a small shot of that blanket you gave me for me B-day! (I love that blanet, BTW.)

I just had an idea!  If anyone wants to:

I would like any bloggers interested in Christian fantasy and allegorical writing (or any writing in general) to PM me and pick a date and time to post, in comments, a story! i.e., I'll start the story and leave it at a cliffhanger and the next person picks it up. I believe we can do it all in comments...we'll just go on until one of us hasta leave. But it's a live thing, and so the comments can't be dreadfully long because the rest of us will be kept in stitches, waiting for that person.

Rules:

You must answer this advertisement via PMing by August 31st. (Thus, I'm afraid only members of homeschoolblogger are permited to participate.)

Bloggers interested in Christian writing are NOT required, but encouraged and welcomed to participate in the Comment-Story.  

If it is not possible for you to be on the computer for long periods of time, we will let each writer post ONE comment and then pick another date to continue/finish the Comment-Story.

Once August 31 rolls around, I will rePM all of you who want to do this with a set date and time to see if it is suitable for everyone.

Since the Comment-Story will be live, bloggers are not allowed over fifteen minutes to post his/her part of the story.

No one blogger will end the story, we'll all have alternate endings. (You will be notified before your last comment, so you will have time to wrap it up.) I will begin it on the set time after Aug. 31.

No crude, sexually explicit or overly-violent material will be allowed to remain within the story; comments with black sorcery and/or occult practices are not allowed; magic in your comment entries are only allowed if the source of power comes from a God character; comments deemed unworthy and not God-honoring will be deleted.

Bloggers of all ages are allowed and encouraged to participate.

There is a minimum of one other participant besides me, and there is no limit.

All material on Pip's Islander Hideaway is hereby copyrighted. No ideas, blogposts or comments may be used without prior permission from Pip herself!

SIDENOTICEs: While waiting for the next comment installment, guests at my blog are welcome to browse around.

Please feel free to PM me any questions you have about this upcoming event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope  we can create a great story on Islander Hideaway; let it always be our main goal to honor God through our writing abilities.

NOTE TO MAMAW: when Mom sent you that link for my blog, you can get into recent and later posts on the sidebar, which has links for alternate blogposts. So you really only need one link to islanderhideaway to keep in touch with The World of a Very Strange Girl...Feel free to explore around and comment!

Today's first Konos lesson went well; we talked a little about birds after praying for the day and looked at bird books where screams of "AWWWWWW!" and "CUUUUUUUTE!" took over for a while, on account of darling poufies that had posed fer the camera. We labeled the parts of a parrot (I named mine Tahn Samis, a mix of two characters outta a book I'm reading now called Tahn [the villain's Samis]). And now fer the fun part: we got a raw chicken to play around with!!!!!  (It's actually supper tonight.) We named it Maxwell or something. G.B., who's kinestetic (however ya spell it!) got a kick outta stickin' her hand inside and flopping the limp wings around, making gurgling noises. I posed him like he was relaxing in the hot tub. But Katsy would have none of it! She kept going "Ugh!" and shuddering at our antics, and screaming when we thrust our hands too close to her! (Are not we evil, G.B. and I?) I must congratulate her, tho', for she did touch the chicken heart. 

Some nights I'll carefully scan the country radio stations, and I've actually found some decent songs, and some that were sang by Christians. Most of the songs played on those stations are lovey-dovey and like ta made me barf, but some are OK. I'll run thro' all the stations, recording goods songs (or usually snips, as my reflexes aren't super-quick!) onto a cassette to listen to later. A lotta the time, I'll record a song or a certain part of the song not because I liked the whole message or the whole song, but because I saw something good in it that I could glean. Or sometimes It's just purty! (Don't wprry, Mom, I'll be careful about what songs I record and/or listen to.)

My new favorite song (for the time being) was recorded and it's just the chorus sung several times, which is maddening since it would be nice to hear the whole thang! I dunno who it's by; it goes like this (the chorus, I mean): "So long, put your blue jeans back on, girl. Go home; remember, Hollywood's not America!" Isn't that sad? But I love the way he sings it.

Thanks, Ness, for signing my guest book. Mom and Dad, y'all can, too. It's down at the bottom.

~PIP~

How City Are You?

[] I've drunk Starbucks more than once in my life 

[*] Sometimes I link arms when I walk with someone
[] I shop at AE, A&F, or HCO
[*] I own 4 or more dress shirts/dresses

[] I will never be caught without my cell phone

[] I blow dry/straighten my hair on a daily basis

[] I will wear flip flops no matter what the weather

[] I own an over sized pair of sunglasses

[] I own 1 or more pairs of ripped jeans

[*] I layer my shirts

[*] I have/had a "Myspace mirror pic" (numerous pics of me taking a picture of me, but never actually posted anywheres!)

[] When I'm not drinking Starbucks I prefer water 
[] I get annoyed with tom-boys..
[*] I own an over sized bag or purse

[] I have seen every episode of Laguna Beach
[] My new fav is the Hills
[*] I say "lol" in online chat

[*] own/have owned straight legged jeans

[*] I walk across the street when cars are there or not
[*] I wear necklaces 
[] I own an iPod/mp3 player
[*] I have the internet
[*] I have more than 1 screen name

[] I own/have owned a small teacup dog
[] I have said "lol" or "OMG!" by accident in a real conversation

[*] I love shopping (for books...)
[] I shop whenever I have a chance

[] I have watched the Simple Life. (the WHAT?)



multiply by 3 and put "I'm % City"

I'm 36% City!

How COUNTRY Are You?

have you...?
[*] ridden a horse

[*] owned a horse (partially) 

[] owned land

[] been 4 wheeling

[*] said "ain't"
[] been cow-tipping
[] been deer hunting
[*] been swimming in a lake
[] caught a fish
[] seen a deer get skinned

....You....
[*] have worked on a ranch or on land
[*] have lived in a house in the middle of nowhere
[] have been duck hunting
[] went swimming in a river

[*] driven in a truck

[] own or owned a rebel flag (I'm a Northerner during the Civil War!)
[*] have said I dont like it... I love it

[*] have a funny accent or people have told you that
[*] own or owned a pair of cowboy boots
[*] own/owned a cowboy/straw hat
[] own/have owned a big dog
[*] say "y'all"  (all the time!!!)

[*] have been made fun of for sayin "y'all"

You also
[*]swear when you're mad (darn, heck, gosh on occasion)
[*] go/have gone to church on sunday
[] have ridded a horse to somewhere in town
[] have gone on a field trip to a farm/ranch
[] made deer jerky
[*] have eaten deer meat
[*] have shot a gun before

I am 51%  Country!

That was fun...

I tag DarkHeart and youngwhisper.

Hello, my adoring fans!  Today has been a verra slow an' quiet Sunday; I woke up late this morning and stayed in bed reading the third Mitford book until 1:30, when we all "robbed the larder" (got what we wanted for lunch). The book was OK, but I think I might get the fourth from the library. Mom hasn't been feelin' well today; wanted ta letcha know my prayers are with you, Mom!

If you've not seen my Photobucket album yet, Reader, I encourage you to! It's thirteen pages long!

Has anyone been enjoying the Olympics? The Opening Ceremony was real weird; we saw some fencing but I wasn't impressed: too many delays like in football, the girls screamed when they hit each other and they wore big poufy clothes and masks! That was just too much for me. It should be unhindered by protection, honest and non-stop!!!! *ahem, excuse me; I got passionate thar*

I got a soundtrack CD for Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame the other night and it's verra nice and in loverly condition; my rose is still doin' well; the weather was fallish again today, but not cool enough for me to read all day outside...so, naturally, I read INSIDE all day!

Here's the cutest picture of G.B. we have:  I've forgotten everything else I was going to say, so cheerio!

~PIP~

I dunno whether to be happy or sad! We leave in ten minutes, AHHH! The whole crews' comin' tonight, so that's loverly.

On Monday, we're starting a two-week Konos study on birds, then when that's done we'll start the actual school year. I'm excited!

Up, gotta git me shoes on; bye!

~PIP~

P.S. I'll tell you how it went later.

EDIT: Well, it's all over!! The performance went stupendously, and my family sitting in the front row smiling at my acting was enough to make my personal performance a hundred times better! The night air was pleasant as we all shook hands with the audience, and I said "God bless" to every one!

Below are some pictures from the play; my utmost apologies if they do not show up on some computers:

This is the theatre on the outside.

This is me, Syd, a girl named Blake and MJ in the peachy skirt, who was a paid actor. She was really jolly!

THE CAST! (See if you can find me...)

This is me waltzing with Syd after a matinee. (I'm the goofy boy!)

This pic is purposefully small because my pants looked verra strange...That's Morgan, who played Mrs. March.

"Look to the sky!!!!" The girl in front played Meg; my hair was a disaster that day!  )<  The other three girls are Emma, Elizabeth and Taylor. They were all very nice.

This is a goofy picture of me and the guy who played Laurie; he was really funny, always dancing around and laughing loudly.  (And he has hair!) That gray thing is a cardboard castle.

And finally, I got a rose at the end of the performance! My name is highlighted..."Boy at Dance"!

Isn't that picture loverly?

The performance today went ok; Syd is back home; I added my know-how to a literature discussion some of the mothers were having during intermission, and it felt so good and comfy to be on familar ground; I can't believe we've a'r'dy gone thro' a week of August!; I'm excited to git started writing for Godly Girls magazine; Captain Blood is a good movie, watch it; I don't know what book to write a book report on!!!!!! The Door Within, Little Women, A Bear Called Paddington or something else??? Whatcha think, Momsie?

The guy who plays Laurie in the play is so foony (that's how I say funny...). He's got a mop of curly hair (I don't like hairless things) and a face that looks like a kitten, and he's always jumping around and smiling. I don't like unhappy people! So be happy!!!  

The Girls and I have ways of defining men: either handsome, kitten-cute or ugly! But never merely cute. And I don't agree with calling men 'dates', as if we girls go around having outings with all sorts of men...which might unfortunately be true for some girls but should not be ...ahem!... encouraged in Christian girls dedicated to being pure and content. It's ok for us to admire good looks and have favorite styles of clothing, hair and etc. for guys, but let us, ladies, be happy while we serve God as daughters and siblings before we plunge into becoming wives and mothers. There's still a lot to learn. Moms reading this, I exhort you to praise your daughters' purity and guide them along this narrow path we're all tryin' ta fit on; husbands, appreciate your wives and go out on a date or somethin'! And guys reading this, be happy while striving to earn that shining armor, because we all deserve something better than what this world offers us...and God is giving it to us freely!    

Here is a poem I wrote and edited, re-edited and so on and so forth: (this has nothing to be with my soap-box sermon awhalago, it's jest a poem by a very minor poet!)

The Tree on the Hill

by ME

I sit upon the hill at night,

And see the village laced with light.

I see the merchants come and go,

I watch as winter brings the snow.

Mothers tuck their children tight,

Knowing that their dreams are bright.

I watch as grain, the farmer sows,

As dusty boys try chasing crows.

I felt the first sweet breath of spring,

I smiled as my arms held a swing.

Breezes are born and come to play,

On my shoulders birds greet day.

On my heart do sweethearts lean,

Many marriages have I seen.

My dress becomes as mossy ponds,

Kittens play beneath my fronds.

Then the rains begin to fall,

And the peepers start to call.

The flowers are growing,

The breezes are blowing.

The ladies are sewing,

The birds are crowing.

The days pass by,

The summer's nigh.

Ice cream, melon, cold fresh sweets,

Add to annual summer treats.

The children play by cool, deep lakes,

Making castles, muddy cakes.

Mosquitos buzz and fly and bite,

Instead of dark, the eve is light.

The village wrapped in peaceful calm,

I sing my yearly summer song.

The days grow hot,

The fish are caught.

The warmth is light,

The days are bright.

The mornings' early,

The mist is pearly.

Yet children know,

That summer will go.

Just as dusk should close the day,

The birds begin to fly away.

My hair becomes as fiery fingers,

Even so, the sun still lingers.

The apples ripen,

Our tree leaves brighten.

Autumn comes slipping in,

It settles down where summer's been.

The sky is blue,

All spirits new.

The cider is sweet,

And tall is the wheat.

The air is clearer,

The winter is nearer.

The villagers garden and harvest about,

Until the candle-light flickers out.

Then the oldness creeps in slow,

It whispers to us, "Snow!...Snow!"

Animals gather fluff and weeds,

Their homes are stashed with harvest seeds.

The north winds play about their doors,

It skitters over frozen shores.

In quietness the seasons close,

Roots dug deep, I drift and doze.

The fires glow,

The winds blow.

The windows are bright,

With hearth-fire light.

The fog is hazy,

The mornings lazy.

The winter is long,

It drags on and on...

Suddenly...

The sun rises high,

The snow says goodbye.

With sun-speckles falling,

The birds are now calling.

I sit on the hill all through the year,

Many sweet things do I hear.

Many moons have I seen,

With many winds my branches lean.

All of the seasons have I seen,

For I am a tree on the hill.

Thanks to MOM for helping me git it jeeeeeeeest right!

Comments are appreciated for all written works posted on this blog.

All things written and/or posted on islanderhideawayTM are the property of Pip's MINIstriesTM, and cannot be published or altered in any way without prior permission from the author. 

 

 

 

 

Syd stayed over last night, and she's snoozing away in my bed as I type this! We've had lotsa fun; watching good movies, playing in the sprinkler, giggling over nothing in particular and performing at the theatre: three more performances to go! (A local TV station came and filmed today's performance! We're buying a copy of the DVD.) The Girls have been very good these past two days.  (I appreciate that, gels!) And Mom's gone nuts making sure we had a good time. (We've had a blast, Mumsie!)

I can't get to sleep; I needed to blog!

After the afternoon performances, we all go down and stand on the outside steps to shake the audience's hands, and I think I'm gonna start saying 'God bless' to everyone. Nice little ministry.

Recipe for homemade perfume (as fer as we know...)

Add five to seven drops of essential oil (I did grapefruit, for joyfulness) to three Tablespoons alcohol and let sit for three weeks. *bummer* Then add enough water to fill whatever container you're making your perfume in, such as a glass spritz bottle, which is what we used. Let stand one week. (These rules are flexible, as Katsy added her water sooner and let sit for a few days. It all depends on how long you're willing to wait! But I think the longer it sits, the more concentrated it is.)

OK, I think I'll go to bed now.

~PIP~

Oooooh...the practice today, the ten-to-three-thirty one, was long and confusing! We all hadta git oriented as to where we were s'pposed ta be and when, and be quiet at the same time, and remember all our dance moves! (I could never be in Riverdance.) But this is work for God; like today I got to tell a few of the paid actors about homeschooling and how we were under a religious exemption, and how I'm gonna git a Ph.D., and how Syd's family and ours home-church together, and whatnot...so that was cool. If ya git me started, I can talk and talk and talk (like right now)...

The people all sang this other guy who was turning 20 and me a happy birthday in the cafeteria; the children (we call ourselves the local youth as a joke because we aren't as important as the paid actors, the director's made that verra plain) all played a game. Syd and I joined in; that was fun. Syd gave me the neat-o-est widdle planner with pictures of kittens, a bookmark and stickers inside and a lot of room to write addresses and dates and it even has the phases of the moon! Thanks, Syd dearie! I love you! :)

Tomorrow, there's an afternoon performance AND an evening preview, and Mom and the Girls are coming to see the afternoon one! I'm excited to flare my line before an audience. The P.s (Syd's family) have invited tons of their friends, and my whole family is coming on the last play on Saturday, so we have a busy week ahead!

Today in the mail I got two books and two cards; one of the cards was from Mamaw and it had $20!!!!! Thank you ever so much, Mamaw dearlin'; that will probably go into good literature at next year's homeschool fair!

And thanks, Mom, for the WONDERFUL chicken fried steak, gravy and mashed potato meal!

And for the big finish: I even had Lucky Charms for brekky this morning!

*applause and cheering and all that great stuff*

~PIP~

Momma, please see the blog post before this one, the one called My Virtual Birthday!! because I messed up and it didn't send to mailing list!  And please show it to Dad. (I assume you CAN see recent blogposts, can't you?)

My family can be verra flexible when circumstances call fer it (tho' I'm still workin' out the kinks on my own flexibility!), and since tomorrow, my real B-day, I'm gonna haveta work at the theatre from 10 to 3:30 (the longest day of the practices), my sweet family surprised me with a Virtual Party! I came down groggily from a very heavy sleep to find the table arrayed with homemade party hats (thanks, Katsy!), crepe paper everywhere, crumpled at the ends (thanks, G.B.!), and thanks to Mom and Dad for the loverly presents crammed onto the table surface. My cake request was a little odd: a pan  of Rice Krispies Squares, sparkling strawberry juice and chocolate ice cream! But hey, it rocked! We had the party at one thirty or so, and I loved all my gifts! I got a throw with cats and books on it (the cats were reading the books), a monogrammed pen with Post-it notes, a repeating parrot toy (which makes us sound like a munchkin!), an aquamarine book bag, a heavy sweater with colorful cats, a vintage cat toy (can you tell I like cats?), several sweet crafts from the Girls, a cloth piece with handpainted flowers to go over my desk, a beautiful smelly-good candle, some books (AHHH!!!!!) and these two weird little doo-dads called Gags; they're plastic monsters with a clip, suction cups and a magnet, and you hide them and your family or friends go and try to find them.  I'd seen them in a magazine and had commented on how cute and odd they were, and I probably dog-eared the page (I'm bad fer doin' thet).  Anyway, I count a lot of the things that happen right before and right after my B-day as B-day gifts, such as some goodies from Wal-Mart gotten last Friday, that CD ordered a month ago and coming in a few days, my books from the online swapping site, being able to get my Photobucket album and my being able to work goodies into this blog, the musical, Syd spending the night in a few days...wonderful thangs loik thet. BTW, tomorrow we have our once-a-year Lucky Charms and my annual chicken fried steak-and mashed potato dinner, and our relatives and friends usually send cards, plus a good friend of mine in another state send each other birthday boxes, so it's loik I'm having two B-days! Oh, and we stopped by Wal~Mart as we were getting supper, and I was able to get that chocolate-brown bookbag. It's glorious!

Anyways, it's all awesome.  Thanks be to God for blessing my life so richly.

A special notice to Mom and Dad: I absolutely LOVE all of my goodies! God bless your kind and sympathetic spirit, Mom, and goodness knows how much I appreciate your good work ethcis, Dad! (And for Heaven's sakes, I'm not being patronizing! But I think it's easier for my to express my love and admiration for y'all in writing unstead of wording it.)

Again, thank you!

Ooh, special news! The Editor-in-Chief of the fancy Homeschooling Today magazine has expressed an interest in my writing, brought about by an email Mom'd sent him about a month ago, and would like to see an article I've written on good literature and a book report (I'm gonna do it on Little Women, go figure), so I'd appreciate y'all's prayers.

Congrats to Angela M. and her family for the newest member of the M's, Hannah Mae (Godly Girls magazine)!

~PIP~

Ah, the hottest month of the year! Three days until I turn 15...whoopee!

We went to Wal~Mart earlier today and got some school supplies for the fall and around-the-house-rot; I got the second hairband (the first one broke!) that makes my hair look like a mad-scientist; I don't mind, at least it's outta me eyes.

I have a funny quirk that goes something like this. When I say I hate something, I say it like "Oi 'ate thet!" because we aren't s'pposed ta hate things; so if I really really dislike, say, the color light pink, I'll say "Oi ate light pink!" And people go Huh? because you can't eat the color light pink!

I saw the neatest bookbag at Wal~Mart; it was chocolate brown with a royalty symbol on the front, and orangy-red on the inside. I peeped into it and there's lotsa room for books (dreadfully important!) and a place for a business card (I have my own) and pen holders and a pocket for money; it was perfect! But alas, alack, it was $15. I think I'll save my money or hint to Mom or something. She reads most of these blog entries, anyways...hi, Mom! But the other bookbags for $15 weren't as cool, it has to be the chocolate brown one; I've seen it comparatively and personally!

We did a dress rehearsal @ the theatre today and it went well; Syd and I, so it seems, will be waltzing with each other instead of some other girl and I, and that agrees with me highly. We're also together in several other dances. She wore a hoop today that made everyone laugh and get pushed into the corners. We all teased each other about our costumes. This other little girl that you can't tell from a boy and I are the only girls playing boys. But I'm thankful, I don't have a lot of heavy skirts to throw around. I love light, full, flowing skirts!

Mamaw (my grandmother) said that I march to a different beat; thanks, Mamaw! That's such a compliment fer me!

I made alterations on a long-sleeved red shirt:

Also, here is Syd at a sleepover: Here is my Madagascarian Dragon Tree:And here are some of us girls being silly. Katsy is the dark-haired one.This is Garbonzo Bean serving Mom at her resturant (WHOA, SPELLIN'!) in the basement.

I am TRYING to read The Robe here (very good book, BTW) but the Girls wanted to mess about and so we got out me camera and The Rat and played around. And this is Sarah B., the girl who got baptized:I hope you like these goodies of ours!

I am notorious for walking into a room and bellowing out "What ho!" to anyone that may be listening. Good grief, it's been busy about here! G.B.'s B-day went well and there was an ebb of ecards and phone calls that nearly drove her crazy! But it's nice to know someone cares. Mamaw sent her $15! I've also had book requests from a online book-swapping site, books coming to me, letters to mail and books to read! Ah, glorious life... Ooh! Mom got me the coolest T-shirt that says "books. cats. life is sweet. " It has a pic of a cat lying on top of a stack of colorful books. I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you, Mom! (BTW Mom, I'm not wearing it a lot because it's lying across my foot board and I just stare at it in unbelief.)

Today Mom made blackberry fritters dipped in powdered sugar...ok y'all, I am officially in love! Those thangs ROCKED! Tonight we ran through the whole musical at the theatre and it went well...my boy's shirt is cool-lookin'. I get to wear a black jacket (one of those fancy things) at 'the ball'. And git this: I GOT A LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I've been hoping and praying that this would happen...I say "Would you put me down for the third dance?"  I think I screamed once I was finally home.

My good friend Syd (affectionate name, she's actually a girl!) is going to be spending two nights here shortly, instead of one! That's gonna be awesome. I found a website with some funny videos of teachers spanking high schoolers for something bad they did! (Now, tell why I think that's funny...)

SIDENOTES: I have discovered (with delight) Godtube.com! I thought YouTube was the only thang. I think that's so good that people have taken the initiative to create a site that honors Him.

BTW, I am soon going to be writing regularly for the magazine Godly Girls, and Angela's website has a contest going on. Here's the link (hopefully):

http://www.ggmag.blogspot.com

Don't forget the try the poll (I think it's working), and sign the PP if you're a girl.

Congrats to Miss Sarah B. for getting baptized recently! (She and I are pen-pals.) I encourage you to pray for her growth in the Lord and her mature discernment.

Also, I have posted a link on the right for my album on Photobucket; it's really cool! If when you click on it and it comes up with a thing saying Please Enter Password to view this album, just type in ANIKA (puncuation matters.)

I need to post a recipe here soon...what would y'all like if ya had ta choose between Magic Fruit Cobbler, SquishnPops (tiny cherry pies), a frosty chocolate/banana drink G.B. or homemade perfume? (NOT to eat!!)

Oh and Mom, the weird dude with the curly hair to the right is Meriadoc Brandybuck off of Lord of the Rings; I took a personality test and found that I was most like him. He's very hearty, funny and jolly!

I have added some cool thingies to my blog, to replace something I'd put on there and then discovered wasn't all that great; enjoy the new doohickeys! Special thanks to Mom  who helped me to solve my ethical dilema!

Sidenote: I checked my purity poll and it's working, so I urge all women and young ladies to vote! Also, be sure to leave a comment speaking out against the world's purity standards!

It is G.B.'s 'birthday' (she declared that she couldn't wait until her real B-day on Tuesday, so we're celebrating it today!) and she all excited. Mom and the Girls are going to drop me off at rehearsal and go into town after cake mix and the like. Oh wait a minute, Katsy just came in wanting me to braid her hair!

That outta the way...I've been allowed to become a regular columnist for the sweet magazine, "Godly Girls"! I was so excited; I've been wanting to do something like this for a good long while. A link to the blog of the girl who puts out this magazine-ministry is on my Links now...thanks again, Angela!

I'm also beginning a crocheting business. I make baby blankets, scarves, teacup trivets and slightly bigger coffee mug trivets. I have an order form made out for people who want to buy something. They specify their yarn colors, the length of the scarf if yer buyin' a scarf, and soforth. If you would like to obtain an order form, please PM me your address and I will send you one. The cottage business is called Heaven's Hooks.  

Well, I haveta go and dress for practice; toodledip!