"All About My Birthday" post

Hi.

Here's an "All About My Birthday" post.
Weekend-before-last, my Grandma M. was here for a few days, and she brought my birthday present up with her. She gave me some stationary and a neat activity book with invisible answers. When you fill in the spaces, it tells you 'right' or 'wrong' or whatever. When I first tried it, I was afraid it wasn't working properly, because nothing appeared. Eventually, though, the answers showed themselves, and now it's quick to appear.


Last weekend we went down to my Grandma and Grandpa G.s' house. They had two presents for me. Grandma said I could choose one to open, and they got to keep the other. You guys told me to pick the little one, so I followed your advice and opened that.* Inside was a little, bitty box with a fresh-water pearl bracelet and a shell(?) anklet! The bracelet has larger silvery-white, irregularly-shaped pearls alternating with smaller, purple ones. I like it 'cos the pearls are different, not the same-old round ones that are so often imitated. The anklet is cream-colored string, braided, with three pink dolphin beads alternated with pink cat's-eye beads. They're both very pretty. :-)
And then, Grandma and Grandpa graciously allowed me to open the other box, to see what I "would have gotten."
I carefully unwrapped the box (which, please note, was not covered in paper. They left the bottom unwrapped. *cheapskates!* ;D And please also note that the bow was not even taped on! They didn't even want to use a wee little bit of tape. *cheapskates* ;-P), which contained what I always wanted......a MICROWAVE OVEN!!! But, alas, I was disappointed when I opened that box. No microwave. :( Instead I found a bunch of packing peanuts and two other boxed items I 'always' wanted: a remote control (box) for model airplanes, and a Geek Squad thingy. Whoopedydo.
Digging deeper revealed a wrapped box. As I pulled it out, Grandpa asked Grandma "Do you have the blindfold ready?" Blindfold?!? Inside this box was a gift bag, and before I was allowed to touch that Grandma blindfolded me. You'll never guess what the bag contained.
I'm tempted to let you wait a while, so I can get pictures of it on here. But who knows when that'll happen, because Mom says we have to wait until Fritz is repaired before I can load the software for my new camera on.
Oops, I just gave it away! They let me keep the second present as well as the first. I got a digital camera!! And it's REALLY nice! It does videos with sound, and takes many, many pictures, and has face recognition, and I'm not sure what-all else!! That was really exciting. :-) Now I can take the "save money for a digital camera" off my "do in 2009" list!
That was really cool, and then on Monday we had another celebration at home. Catfreak and Avalon's family was headed up to the Wisconsin Dells for the week, so they stopped by, which was jolly-good fun. We went out to eat at Pizza Hut, which I've never done on my birthday before! When we got home at almost 9:00, we went ahead and had cake and ice cream. Da Boys gave me a bead Thingy-Ma-Jig for making......something. I'm not sure what exactly. You wrap wire around the pegs and make special links and such. Rapunzel gave me an Omnigrid ruler to help out with squaring my paintings. It's 9 1/2" by 9 1/2" with every eighth inch marked out. Mom and Dad gave me a Bible cover--purple corduroy with brown leather trim--and a sheet set. Doesn't it feel nice to slide between two fresh sheets?
So that was my family birthday.

And then right as I was going to bed, Dad called me into the office and showed me three emails I got: an e-card from my friend Miranda, on from her sister, Abbie, and an email from HKSmitty! That was really nice. :)
And then I saw that my Narnian Friend gave me a birthday post, and Guitargirl gave me a Kiwi picture which refuses to transplant itself to my blog. Here's a link to the post, though. And Owan gave me a post and a Pencil Picture. By the end of the day I was feeling quite loved and special. :) :) :)
*EDIT* Somehow, for some strange reason, I mistakenly missed Skittles's post to me!! OOOOOPS! I apologize muchly, Skittles. HERE is a link to the near-missed post. You gotta go way down. I got virtual cake and ice cream and cyberhugs, and music! Thanks, Skittles!!
Thank you, one and all, for making my birthday so special!

No one found my last song, which was "Crashing Down" by Mat Kearney. One more point for me!
Now, I will rise from my seat and go downstairs. 'bye for now!
~Kiwi da Fruit
P.S. Be sure to tune in Wednesday or Thursday for an Important Announcement!

*Quick question: Why did those of you who voted, vote for what you did?

Just a short little post

Drat this stupid, stupid, STUPID Blogger!!! (not me, the program.) It has suddenly decided that I don't follow anything/one anymore! Just out of the blue, I sign in and it says "You are not currently following any blogs. Use the "add" button below to enter blogs you'd like to follow in your Reading List' blahblahblah.
Since when am I "not following" anyone?? I follow quite a few blogs, thankyouverymuch! RRRRRRGH! I'm so frustrated. *raspberries* Now I have to go through my whole 'favorites' list and re-follow them all. *raspberries* The whole world it crashing down around me as I type...because I lost my following update stuff.
Skittles's blog says I'm following it. Aaron Schust's blog says I'm following it.
Is anyone else experiencing this disturbing turn of events as well?
Whoops, gotta go. See y'all later!
~Kiwi da Extremely Unhappy and Disgruntled Fruit

---------------Two Days Later....---------------

well, wadayaknow, it's back on! Weird......

My Life Since Last Monday:

Hi!
Thanks, all of you who voted in my poll. It made it slightly easier to decide! I'll tell you what I got on Tuesday or Wednesday, when I can put pictures on. :) Let's just say that the little gift was a good choice.
Last week was rather long. Jordan and I went to the park on Monday and Tuesday with JS and Kirsten. We did cartwheels and handstands and bridges, and we played the 'trust' game. Y'know, the one where you fall back into a friend's arms? That was entertaining.
Wednesday was....Wednesday-ish. Nothing important happened.
Thursday was looooooong. I didn't get all my schoolwork done on Wednesday, so I was trying to catch up on Thursday. My instruction sheet for Wednesday said "read Carry A Big Stick" and then Thursday's said 'write a book review for Carry A Big Stick'. I figured that to catch up, I'd have to read the book and write the review. So I curled up with the book and started reading. At first it was interesting, but after two hours I had only gotten half-way through. By the time I was finished, I was thoroughly sick of Teddy Roosevelt! It took me all day to finish the book. Carry A Big Stick is a good book, but you may not want to try to read all the way through it in one day.
Oh, and Josh Havens from The Afters was on one of the local radio stations! Just over the phone. "Ocean Wide," which apparently is a new release, was played.
Friday we drove down to my grandparents' house! I counted about 100 red-winged blackbirds, we saw two 'rafters' of turkeys (why 'rafter' and not just flock?), and a pair of swans in an over-sized puddle in a field. The field was just outside of our old farm, and there's a sunken spot in it that always fills with water. Why the swans chose to land there, and not in one of the nearby ponds, I don't know. I wish I'd had a camera, 'cos then I'd've taken a quick shot of 'em.
Saturday I slept in till 9:30 because I hadn't slept well. We went bowling for my friend's birthday, which was jolly-good fun! I can't remember my scores. They weren't terribly high, but who cares when you're just playing for fun? (by the way, hi Race! 'Twas nice seeing you again!)
Saturday night I opened the small present. I'll show you pictures of what I got when I get them loaded on here.
And we had Lime Cheesecake!!!! O, I want more Lime Cheesecake! I would be supremely happy if I could have more of that scrumptious Lime Cheesecake! My grandma made it. If any of you want to order one from her....;D I told her she needed to sell them, but she's "not sure" of the price she'd charge. :P
Sunday we went to our grandparents' church. We used to go there, too.....twelve years ago. Rapunzel and I saw a few people we recognized, but not many. Mostly they were adults who had taught our Sunday School classes when we were little.
I got to drive some on the way home, about 45 minutes. Man, I need to drive more often! I have trouble paying attention to every single thing: speedometer, mirror, mirror, mirror, make sure you're still on the road, slow down, speed up, mirror, oops, drifting to the left, don't over-correct, etc, etc, etc. That brings my time up to about 4 hours, 45 minutes.
I finished a new post on my Old Movie Blog, which you should go check out. It's for The More the Merrier, a 1943 movie with Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, and Charles Coburn. Hilarious.

Today, Mom baked me a second cake! Lemon with creamcheese icing. :)
Avalon, Catfreak, and family are due to arrive shortly. I can't wait! We haven't seen them in 6 months! :) :) :) :) :) :)
Tonight, Daniel Kirkley is doing that live show/chatting w/ fans. I wish that a Certain Computer *coughFritzcough* would suddenly find it's sound stuff working so I could watch it! That would make my day *hintFritzhint*.

An' that's what's happening here. What's new with y'all?
Does anybody know what to do with a "Friend Request"? I looked at the 'help' page for it, but it just got me more confused. I dislike this new Following Thing that Google/Blogger came up with.

The Song of the Day Contest: Owan and Skittles both got it! (Surprised you, didn't I Skittles?) Owan guessed the whole song title/artist, so she gets 5, while Skittles found the title and recieves 2 1/2. The song was "The Motions" by Matthew West.

Now I must go prepare for Avalon and Catfreak's arrivals. Adieu!
~Kiwi da Fruit~
P.S. There is no song in here, 'cos I couldn't come up with an easily-hidden on. Sorry!

My days-late post

Sorry this is so late. But anyways.
We're at our grandparents' house now, so I'm gonna make this short...I've already spent too much time on here!

And I have a cold! In March! So I'm on Sudafed (sp?), on auto-pilot, if you will. Just going through the motions for now. I sure hope it's gone by Sunday. It's no fun having a cold in church! I either have to sit there and sniff, or disrupt the whole service by blowing my stupid nose!

Firstly, I'm excited because Daniel Kirkley has a new song out as a fore-runner to his new album! And it sounds good! Here's a link to the website where you can hear the song: http://www.danielkirkley.com/ He's doing a live video thingy on Monday of his performance, and then he'll be chatting with the general public. WHY ON MONDAY??? It makes me unhappy. You could say he's doing it for my birthday, but what good is that when I can't watch it, and even if I could....I can't hear it! Maybe I'll try to find out when he'll be chatting, and just get on then.
Of course, we'll probably do presents and cake earlier in the evening because Jordan has boy scouts to go to at 6:00. The concert starts at 7:30, I think. Drat Angus, drat him drat him Drat him!!!
That's what I'll try to do. Hope this works!

I finally got to see the video on Duncan's website. Here are three of my favorite quotes:

Habibi: "What kind of farm was it?"
Duncan: "It was a sod farm. Turf. Y'know, like...uh...grass."

Duncan's nephew: "Uncle Duncan, the boot's not closed! The boot's not closed!"
Duncan: "Abort, abort! We've got an open trunk, an open trunk, c'mon."

Duncan's nephew: "Something's wrong with you, Uncle Duncan."
Duncan: "Absolutely"

I liked the snake part too.....and the walkie-talkies.

There was one more thing, and now I forgot it.

The winners of Tuesday's Song Contest are: Zoe "Okay, this could be too totally obvious, but is the song for this post, "High of 75" by Relient K?" and Owan "Is the song High of 75? Best Relient K song ever? :D"
Congrats! Five points apiece.



Oh, now I remember! I'm changing Angus's name, in hopes that he didn't like me because I gave him the wrong name. His new name is Fritz. Because he's always on the fritz. I hope he likes his new name. I haven't told him about it yet....

so that's what's happenin'.

I think I'll end the post where it is, and go work on an old movie post.
Bye-bye-bye!
~Kiwi da Fruit~

Maybe You Could Help--Monday

I need some help. Firstly with the titles. Which are boring. Secondly, last Autumn, when we first moved in, there were this little, nasty, black gnats all over my window. The holes in my screen are just big enough for the little buggers to get through. Well, with the warm weather and all, they are BACK!!!! And in full force, too! So, what do I do to keep them away? I'd appreciate it if y'all could tell me what to do about them. Fifteen blogger points to whoever can come up with something that works!


So this is what we've been doing this past week:

Monday and Tuesday: I believe we just did school. If I did anything else, it must not have been important!


Wednesday, I had Bible study at our friends house. It was also Avalon's birthday, so I did a Happy Birthday post for her. I think I'll have to mark down all my blogger-friends' birthdays, so I can do it for all of them.
We stood around afterwards, talking, and gazing at Noah's "Itouch....Udon't" as he checked to see who shared our birthdays. I don't think he checked mine. >:-[ We're working on a scoring system. Jumbo Shrimp had an Emperor born, but then two Kings died, canceling out the Emperor. I think she ended up in the 'negatives.'


Thursday I worked on a totally annoying painting that WILL NOT come out correctly. I've tried three times. The first one looked good in my head, but not on paper, so I took the element that DID look good and put it on the second sheet. It didn't look good. So then I tried a third time, and yet again it doesn't look right. I didn't give up, but it is set aside for a good, long while.
At 1:00, JS and Kirsten picked me up and we went ice skating! It was so much fun! It was homeschool skate afternoon, and I got to request which station was to be played, so I picked the Christian station with fewer commercials. We heard ITHOG and another song I haven't heard in forever: "My Deliverer" by the Ragamuffin Band. Love those two!
Skating was so much fun....I fell only once, and even then it was more of a slide than a fall....we danced the Virginia Reel on skates and played Crack-the-Whip. Friend of Narnia was there, and Kirsten, and Jumbo Shrimp.
I had a grand time, even though I now have a rawish spot on my ankle from the skate rubbing.


Friday was 'Jordan's Thirteenth birthday....turning thirteen on Friday the Thirteenth....:D Bad luck. He started the "seven years of insanity" period common to teenage boys. (not all, mind you. Just many. Don't get angry at me, Matt!) Also, the entire family entered the "seven years famine"........I'll leave y'all to figure that out..... ;D


Saturday it was warm and nice so (if I remember correctly) we got together with some friends. Ah, yes, we were out in the back yard, saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa G. when Monkey said "There's some people waving to us from the street!!" So I thought he meant just some of the kids that live back there. It was actually JS, Kirsten, and two other friends, Alena and Elizabeth. So we went back there and rode around. I would tell you the name of the street, 'cos it's kinda cool, but I googled it and the correct one came right up. Rats.
Monkey rode with us back there, but then we struck out on our own. Alena and Elizabeth's older bro showed up, which was good as I was having bike troubles. We had to put my chain on twice, and then Nathan got it to stay on. Now it just makes a slight grinding sound....and it's stuck in low gear. So I have to pedal really hard to go anywhere. It's tiring to do anything on it!
I want to get the Jolly Green Giant fixed.....(here's a link to a picture of a bike like it.....here's another....and this one's pretty close. My bike is brighter and has the handlebars like the last pic, only green. Anywho.)
Drat. I forgot to call the bike repair shop today. Again. There's always tomorrow.....


Sunday Mom and Dad were at membership classes at church from 1--4.
My Grandma M. was over for the weekend. She came on Sunday afternoon, and she left today. We played a few rounds of Rummy, Uno, and Checkers together.

Monday (the day this was supposed to be posted) I did an agonizing amount of schoolwork, and was finally released (thanks, Mom) and went to the park to hang out with JS and Kirsten. Know what's awesome? There were quite a few people there and......I heard not a swear word. Neat, isn't it?
And then yesterday evening Grandma and I took a walk together around the block. Our neighbors (the ones who's garage lights are on half the night and shine in my window and keep me awake) across the back lot were out and said 'hi.' Grandma thought that was so nice of them, because I said we hadn't met any of them. She also found several houses that she said (jokingly) she should buy, since they're so close by!
I don't think I've really taken the time to actually look at many of the houses in the neighborhood! There are some really nice, pretty ones that I never really noticed. I'll have to take another walk sometime soon.

Today, our friend Anna came over and we did facials. She's starting out in Mary Kay. It was cool and weird at the same time. I don't think I've ever put on eyeshadow and mascara before! Okay, maybe the eyeshadow, but not properly. We got a few good pics that I'll have to put on here.
And I went to the park again. It was sunny with a high of about 75. sweet.

Now, Soul Skittles wants me to make a big production out of this, so..... drum roll pu-lease........ Miss Skittles, I would like to present to you an over-sized check for....... FIVE (5) blogger points!!!! Yay!!! *streamers, balloons, and confetti!!* Three cheers for Skittles!!
She found the Song of the Day when no one else did! I thought it would be too obvious, but it wasn't. The song was Thrive by the Newsboys. Go see if you can find it. (but no points if you do now.)

In reply to the some of the comments left on my last post....

Judi: Yes, I should....I have a post started, but I just never get around to finishing it. I'll work on it! Yes, I've been on your blog lately, I've just been reeeeaaaally bad at commenting. Sorry! I'll head on over as soon as I get a chance.

JON MEYERS: Hi, nice to know you're still reading this! Sure, I'll write an obituary for it. What's it's name? Oh, and I saw a pic of Savannah on your sister's blog! She's so cute! I can't wait to see her in June!

Zoe: Shame on you for laughing at Everett's untimely demise! ;D Yeah, you should have heard Mom and Dad's reactions.

Skittles: I'M NOT FURGETTIN' ANYTHING! *subtracts five points from Skittles' point thingy because of impatientness on Skittles' part* JK.

guitargirl: Thanks! I will, but it won't be entirely finished for about a year. It's a once-monthly ladies quilting bible study, and there are twelve blocks. You do the math.
No, I'm using the machine. Yeah, it's slightly lazy, but....
Yes, I'm turning 17 on Monday. My counter-that-you-cannot-find is up above this post, below the video. I moved it there so that it would be rather prominent....apparently not! :D

Alayne: I saw that you're following me. Thanks! Do you have a blog? Might I ask how you found me?

And that's all I have time for today. I'll be seeing y'all later. tomorrow, probably.
Have a good day, y'all!

~Kiwi da Fruit

Free-For-All-Friday

I don't know what to post about...

Oh, yes, my quilt blocks! Here're a few pictures:

This is the first block,

And this is the second one that we had so much trouble with.

They both turned out fairly good!

I also have some sad news for y'all.

Everett "The Triceratops" Fruit

December 26th, 2008--March 6th, 2009

Everett "The Triceratops" Fruit left us late last week at about 2:30 pm. He was exactly 10 weeks of age.

Everett was lovingly sculpted by the Fruit and the Friend families late last year. Much adored by his creators, they lovingly nicknamed him "The Triceratops" and enjoyed climbing on him and admiring his massive size.

The first sign of the impending doom was noticed on December 27th, 2008 (one day after completion), when his head fell off due to the sudden rise in temperatures. After that disaster, Everett slowly but surely shrank. The recent heat is blamed for his demise.

"The Triceratops" was preceded in death by his cousin, "Baby Triceratops" earlier this winter.

No funeral shall be held, as his body cannot be recovered, but a memorial service may take place this Sunday.

He shall be missed.

A last picture with him....

I think that the reason Triceratopses (Triceratiopi?) died was not the ice age, infact, I'll bet the thrived during the iceage! It was when all the snow started to melt that the problems came.....;D

And lastly I shall do a tag from Julia.

1. Go to the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers to join in the fun!

This was taken at the Gardens in My-opolis at the same time as THESE pictures. We were there for family pics so Mom could frame them and put them on the wall. Which has not happened as of now. She's going to wait and find a replaceable picture and put it up with the others, so my SENIOR PICTURE that'll be taken NEXT YEAR(!!!!!!) won't muss the arrangement.
Anyway, the Gardens are very pretty, even later in the season. We went here in mid September....
And that's the story behind the photo.
I tag: the first four to comment. If they want to do it.

Wednesday's Song of the Day was......(hold on, let me remember.....)...."Whatever You're Doing" by Sanctus Real! I'd forgotten, and was about to tell Owan that she was wrong. But then I remembered, and she's right! Here's five points.

And now I need to go hide a song title in here, and then go socialize with my family. Today's "Jordan"s birthday. He has entered into the "Seven-Year Insanity" common with thirteen-year-olds. Happy Birthday, Jordan!
(isn't this interesting? He's turning 13 on Friday the 13th. Oooo, spooooky!)

Goodbye!
~Kiwi da Non-Kiwiian Fruit

(Gar!! Why doesn't the 'Preview' button show what it'll look like on the actual blogpage?? What good is previewing it when I don't get to see what it'll actually look like?!?!? Stupid blogger!)

Wednesday: Happy Birthday, HMS Avalon!!

Today is, as the title suggests, my dear friend HMS Avalon's birthday. In honor of her, I am doing a special 'happy birthday' post.

First, a speech.

Avalon, I've known you for about 3 years. Or has it been 4? I can't remember. Anywho, I've known you for quite some time.

I remember you and your family were answers to a prayer that had been ours for quite a while: that a Christian family with girls close to our ages would move into town. Lo and behold, one fine Sunday morning at a church potluck, we discovered each other. My family was amazed to find that you and your family (of a total of FOUR girls our age) had moved a mere 2.5 miles out of town!

After that, we quickly became close friends.

We met in town often in 2006....by Summer of '07, we were biking together almost every morning! The LMGC ('Little Town' Girls' Club) was established.

We share a love of horses, cats, the occasional dog, TobyMac, The Newsboys, ITs (you know what I'm talking 'bout! ;-D).....too many to name!

One of the most unique things about you is your sense of style. Clothing combos I would never dream of putting together, much less wearing in public, you wear all the time....and you look good like that!! I don't know how you do it!

You have a grand sense of humor, too. It's so much fun to tease you! (Speaking of which.....how's Shorty? ;-P Sorry, couldn't resist!)

So here's to HMS Avalon and her friendship, her 'teasability', her sense of style, an' everything else we love about her! *raises juice glass*

(That's grape juice, not wine!)

Here is your cake (sorry it's a few candles short):

Some fancy ice cream:

And a Present. A pair of little Kittehs for you!

You likee?
And a LINK to a Kitty-picture website.
And one more LINK to an interesting horse website.
I hope you enjoy your birthday!!

Song of the Day Game: First guitargirl, and then Skittles caught the Song Title! Here're their comments. Guitargirl commented: "The song is either "Real Good Thing" by...by...*sniff* *cry* y'know ;) Or it's "History" by PC." You were right the first time, guitargirl. Skittles said (I like this one!) "Kiwi, i thought this was rather obvious but i might as well just guess that it's Real Good Thing by newsboys...since i'm not gonna get it anyways. =P" Guess what, Skittles...YOU GOT IT RIGHT!! Learn to have some more confidence in yerself....and capitalize your letter 'I's. That really bugs me when people don't do that. Ever seen Adam-from-Stellar-Kart's blog? Painful.

So anyways. Happy Birthday, Avalon! Once you get your permit, you need to drop whatever you're doing and drive up and see us!

So long, all.
~Kiwi da Fruit~

Oh, I almost forgot! A POEM for you, mah friend!

HMS Avalon:

Humor. You have a good sense of it.
My friend.
Stylish...it's unique and cool!

An interesting addidion to my circle o' friends!
Vivacious.
Artsy.
Loving.
Oh snap! at least used to be your favorite phrase...
Nutty...in a good sort of way!

And, you share a birthday with Lawrence Welk, Ezra Jack Keats, Jesse Jackson Jr. (ugh), and Christopher Rice...NOT the Chris Rice we like, though!!
I was looking this stuff up yesterday, and saw Carrie Underwood, Chuck Norris, Emily Osment, and Osama bin Laden. Unfortunately, I was accidentally checking under March 10th instead of the 11th. Rats.
Oh well! Happy Birthday!

My Life--Monday #3

Huuuh. I think I'll start out this post with a quick overview of my past week.

Tuesday, March 3rd: I.......did.....schoolwork aaand....schoolwork. I don't remember doing anything else. If I did, it was obviously not important.


Wednesday I had a very difficult school day, filled with insightful, meaningful, and sentimental thought-provoking questions, cruelly confusing chemistry, weird writing assignments, and horrible history. Okay, maybe the history wasn't that bad, but I spent an entire beautiful, sunny, warmish day sitting inside working. And illiteration sounds good. :)
We had bible study that night, and afterwards we had quite a few discussions based on the videos: Jordan is not real, the pain from my non-real fist is not real, the crumbs from my tortilla chip? Not real! :D It was Theology, and he grazed that subject. I'm just glad that the teacher didn't go in depth about it!


Thursday was a Day of Firsts! Rapunzel and I went on the First bike ride of the year, I heard the First red-wing blackbird (they don't come up until Spring!), and I went outside in short sleeves for the First time in 2009. We had a simply grand time out in the 60 degree sunshine!


Friday had its Firsts, too. First robins....the robins are back!! First day of bare feet!! We played all over the structure at the park (mostly where we weren't supposed to play--on the tunnel, on top of the enclosed slide....), and I went barefoot because it's easier to clamber with bare feet.
Note to self and all concerned: The first time you go barefoot after a long winter, don't walk on the road barefoot. It's slightly painful.


Saturday we went to the library and unexpectedly ran into people from church, including Friend o' Narnia and Julia. I like seeing people from church at random places around town!
I finally got to hear the videos Downhere put up of the Christmas Album Recording Process. But I forgot/ran out of time to watch the video on Duncan's blog. *aaaaaaaah*

Rats.



Sunday we went to church (of course) and got to see Owan at long last. (Before I forget again, Owan, could y'all send me a few pics from the Winter Jam concert? Especially the one of me 'n' Nirva, and me 'rapping.' Lol! I can just imagine how weird I must have looked! I think Heather has our email.)
We also had Jumbo Shrimp, Kirsten, and their younger brother over yesterday. We made a soap opera, and managed to get two people murdered by the jealous 'Iris'. :D In the next episode of "Young Stomachs Churning," We'll hopefully have another guy in it so we can get a little love-triangle going.
(Please do not think that we enjoy real soap operas. This is making fun of them. Just in case you wondered. :)


Today I rediscovered my detestation of cleaning bathrooms. They're gross and disgusting. (I wish I were in Star Wars or Star Trek. I'll bet Anakin and Princess Leia and Spock and T'pol never had to clean toilets!)
And I made banana bread, which smells quite delicious.
Now I get to spend the rest of my day in relative leisure. I'm gonna paint somethin'!


*aaaaaaah*
I keep remembering. Hmph.
I guess I may as well go ahead and post my thoughts on the Newsboys Stuff. I'm refraining from looking at the official notice until after posting. I'm afraid I might be too upset after reading it to post.


Oh, why do this? If I'm too upset, I'll simply hit 'post' and post what I've got. I can't sit here another minute and keep wondering!
Here goes! *runs over to NBSite with worried look*

*returns*

Hallelujah! (no that's not the Song of the Day:) It's not as bad as I'd feared!! I was scared that Pete was leaving was an "entirely, for-good, ne'er-comin'-back-again, nothin'-to-do-with-the-band-from-now-on" kinda leaving! I'm still horribly sad that he's not going to be at most of the concerts, but hey! It'll still have that 'Peter Furler style' to it! Does anyone know if he'll still be on their cds?
Here's the scoop for those of you who haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about: apparently, a few concerts ago, Michael Tait came out instead of Peter (?) and announced he was the new front-man (lead singer). Without any notice ahead of time. So there's been LOTS going on on the NB Message Boards about that. Every time I've been on them in the past 48 hours there's been at least 40 people on! And the comments on the Big Announcement have been jumping every time I refresh the page!
I'd actually sat down and written out a whole big, long speech about how I don't want Michael Tait to join and Pete to leave, but if the 'Boyz are sure that's what God wanted done, by all means, Do it! but I'm not going to post all that. I am behind Pete 99% in this decision. I'm having a hard time reconciling myself to this, but.....this should be interesting. Maybe it'll be the start of something new, a real good thing.


Rapunzel says to tell y'all that she's rejoicing that Pete isn't leaving entirely by wearing black today. I wish I had some black to wear. I wish I had an NB tee shirt to wear. I wish I could have attended one of the more recent concerts (one with Pete in it) and gone ahead and bought a shirt. I got money for it now! *sigh*

Lastly is the Song of the Day. No one found my last little hidden title which was "A Better Way" by Downhere. "There's gotta be a better way to do school work than slogging my way through!" One point for me!

And Avalon gets five points for finally blogging. That brings her total up to (drumroll, please!) 0! Well, it's better than -5, isn't it?

I'd better get off now and do something else. I'll post again on Wednesday.
Ciao!
~Kiwi the Bitterly/Sweetly-Happy/Unhappy-Weirdly-Emotional Fruit

Bother.

Oh bother. After seeing what's goin' on with the Newsboys now, I'm not sure I feel like posting. >:(
Although I should anyway. Ugh. I'll try to wait until tomorrow to....talk about NBs and PFs and Official Announcements and MTs.
*vents all over the keyboard, then backspaces it all again 'cos you don't want to read all that*
*Big Fat Juicy RASPBERRY at all that's bugging me now (not at anyone in particular)*
I'll go ahead and post, I guess. I've been tagged a few times....

Tag from Zoe (yes, I do read your blog....sorry for the infrequent commenting!):
Rules:
Erase my answers and put yours in. Use the first letter of your name to answer ALL of the following questions. If the person before you has the same 1st letter pick a new one. You CAN NOT use anything twice, and you CAN NOT use your own name for the boy/girl question. After you are done, tag 5 people.......

1. What is your name?: Kiwi da Fruit
2. A 4 letter word: Kiwi :D
3. A boy's name: Kyle
4. A girl's name: Katie
5. An occupation: Kite-flyer
6. A color: Khaki
7. Something you wear: Kilt!!! (took me five minutes to find something for here...)
8. A Food: Kiwifruit (huh, interesting. I'm named after a FRUIT!!!)
9. Something found in the bathroom: Kleaner?
10. A place: Kiwiland! Or, if you want something proper, Kazakhstan
11. A reason for being late: Kite string being tangled?
12. Something you shout: Kroikey! (For those of you who watched the Croc Hunter...:)
13. A movie title: Uuhhhhhh.......
14. Something you drink: Kool-aid (thank goodness they misspelled that!)
15. An animal: Kiwi (a bird native to New Zealand.)
16. A song title: "King of Wonders" by Matt Redman. I've never heard this song before, but they're playing in on Klove...
17. A verb: Kwikly? Kreative? Kwestionable? I'm not coming up with anything.

And I tag:
Whoever
Wants
To
Do
This!

And now I have to go. Sorry for not posting on Friday....I ran out of time, and when I did have a bit of time didn't feel like posting.
I'll try to post tomorrow (Hopefully BEFORE the big Announcement. )-:<

Later.
kiwi

P.S. There is no Song of the Day here. You can search high and low, but all your answers would be wrong. JSYK. :D

Wednesday #2

Um, I think I shall delay the Exhaustive History of the Newsboys until next week. I had promised Jumbo Shrimp and Short Stuff that I'd be doing that today, but given the circumstances.....I don't think that's gonna happen. I have spent the last....five-and-a-half hours working on school work. Chemistry went slowly, because the teacher did not give me all I needed to complete the lesson. Literature was exhaustive because I was supposed to figure out all the stinkin' symbolism in a horrid, long, boring story. There's gotta be a better way to do school work than slogging my way through!

So instead I'll give you my history project that I've been working on for an hour or so. It's about the Salvation Army. Enjoy!

3-4-2009

A Brief History of the Salvation Army and its Accomplishments
By Kiwifruit

William Booth and his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army in 1865.
William preached to the poor while Catherine spoke to the wealthy, asking for financial support. One of the unique things about Catherine was that she was allowed by the Salvation Army rules to preach. Quite an interesting fact, considering that very few women were allowed to do so at the time.

In 1880, the Salvation Army started work in Australia (a colony of Britain made up of primarily convicts), Ireland, and the United States. Within the next ten years it had spread to twenty-five other countries, such as Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa. The Salvation Army has continued to spread throughout the world, with Namibia, Mali, Kuwait, and Mongolia being the most recent. The Army now covers over one hundred countries.

Eleven years later, the first kettle fundraising drive took place, starting what is now a Christmastime tradition. In 1901, the first Christmas dinner was served to the masses. Now the bell ringing and Christmas dinners are yearly occurrences, with the bell ringing raising millions each year and the dinners feeding hundreds of thousands in the United States alone.

During the World Wars, the Salvation Army was active offering its services to the Allied troops. After the wars, promoted a program called Marching Forward, the main objectives of which included the promotion of evangelism, the prevention of juvenile delinquency, aid to veterans and their families, and the rehabilitation of Salvation Army work in countries devastated by war.
During the Great Depression the Salvation Army found ways to provide food, lodging, and jobs for the needy whenever possible.

The Salvation Army is continuing to serve the world with its charity work through second-hand stores, rehab centers, and disaster relief.




http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=221402
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salvation_Army

There y'are! It'll probably have a bit more added to it, but that's all there is for now. It was rather interesting doing research for that. Did you know that for quite a while, S.A. Officers were only allowed to marry other officers? And in some countries, they still stick to those rules.

Interesting.

Monday's Song of the Day was guessed correctly...eventually. Catfreak got pretty close when she said "Hallelujah, Sunday's not that far away," so I'll give her 2 1/2 points for getting that close. guitargirl won by answering "Sunday" by Tree 63! This was found right here: "I was also thinking 'hallelujah, Sunday's not that far away!' because I hadn't seen Owan in two weeks." I'm surprised, however, that none of you went back to guitargirl's birthday post and checked for the song there! It was quite obvious. "Happy Birthday" is a song. :D I snuck it past again. :-P

Squirrel Update: Thursday we hung the suet feeder on a clothesline pole, hoping that the squirrel wouldn't notice or be unable to get at it. *raspberry* He shimmied up the pole, and took the suet feeder off!!! That squirrel may not be as dumb as we thought! He didn't just slide the feeder off, he unhooked it!! Rrrgh! So now the feeder is back on the tree and I'm sittin' here watching him, proped up on the mothballs that are supposed to repel him, eating the suet. There's nothing I can do...at the moment. >:)

So now I'm all caught up! I'll see (or rather, write to) you on Friday!

~Kiwi da Fruit

My Life--Monday, #2

This past week, my life has been interesting, boring, entertaining, and just plain dull. And everything in between. And so on and so forth, etc.

Wednesday night we had Bible study at a friend's house. It was interesting, although I sometimes have a hard time keeping my mind from going off on something else. (We're watching video-lectures.) And we stuck around for an hour afterwards, talking with friends Jumbo Shrimp and Kirsten and Noah.

Thursday we were bored. I had to slog my way through school, especially my half-hour-turned-hour-and-a-half chemistry lecture. Ugh. As I worked through the rest of my stuff, Mom said to me "You get your work done while I make us some comfort food. When you're done, we can watch a movie." Once I was done, we ate popcorn and no-bake chocolate/peanut butter/oatmeal cookies while watching Ballet Shoes. I enjoyed that movie because it was so true to the book! I thought they'd find a way to morph it, but they didn't. Posy was a bit older than I thought she should be, but other than that.... I'll tell you more about it on my Old Movie Blog sometime soon.
We were supposed to have thunder storms that day, but all my area got was a few feeble rumbles. I like a good thunderstorm during the day. And, since Spring is coming, we ought to get a few of those. :D (Once again I must say...Melikee Spring!)

Friday, Mom and Da Boys had to go out shopping, so she gave Rapunzel and me permission to go to the MALL for the day! :D We decided to invite Short Stuff and another friend to come along, so Rapunzel forced me to wait until noon to call. I did a lot of impatient foot-tapping. At last, we got to go. Short Stuff was picked up at 12:15 and we were off (the other friend couldn't make it)! I already told you all about the mall experience. We decided to see what was upstairs at Sears, just as an excuse to ride the escalators. We found a lovely little sale up there, in which I found my $60-reduced-to-$7.50-dress. Somehow, riding the escalators isn't quite as thrilling as it used to be. Huh.
We also had way over-priced ice cream cones ($2.42 for a little itty-bitty one-scoop cone. But oh-well, we didn't spend anything else, and it was good. :)
I was also thinking 'hallelujah, Sunday's not that far away!' because I hadn't seen Owan in two weeks.

I had a women's Quilting Bible study to go to on Saturday morning. We got instructions for a new quilt block which shall be altered for me due to it's difficulty. My friend Anna is coming over tomorrow afternoon to sew our blocks. I sure hope they go together well! I'll post a picture of my two on Wednesday or Friday. Maybe. If I get around to taking one.

Sunday we went to church. I got to see Owan at long last. Which reminds me: has anyone else (Blueh?) heard anything about In the Hands of God's release date being moved back to Jun 1st? I was listening to 20, The Countdown Magazine, and Jon Rivers said that he thinks ITHOG is being released then. I wish they wouldn't move it back, but if they have to, I guess they have to.

Today I had school. I tried to scan a painting onto Angus to make another card set, but the pale green background was turned to a sickly yellow by the scanner.
We warred more with the squirrel-who-eats-the-woodpecker-suet, and tried mothballs beside the feeder, which (according to Birds and Blooms Magazine) is s'posed to deter the squirrel. *raspberry* It don't. It looked at the mothballs, laughed, and ate the suet. So I threw rocks and sticks at it. (I did, too!) It just looked at me, smirked, and ate more suet. (I could almost swear I saw a little pink tongue come out and go 'Tbtphbpbh!' at me!) The stupid squirrel is so stupid it don't even know it's stupid!!! It's so stupid it doesn't even know when to be scared of something (i.e, a ROCK hurtling at its [empty] little noggin!!!). *raspberry* I'll git 'im eventually, and tack his mangy little pelt to the garage door.
ASPCA, I plead temporary and justifiable insanity. STAY AWAY! This one deserves what ever I do to it!

An' that's what I did today.

Song of the Day: Friday I snuck it past y'all! The line you were supposed to look for was "Every Little Thing" by Hawk Nelson, found here:
"Just about every little thing in the mall caught our attention. Even the ugly, huge-belt-buckle kiosk that was being set up...."
Hee hee hee. I just love sneaking it by. One point for Kiwi!
And, I don't normally put in a song title on weekend posts, but I did yesterday to see if you were looking. You weren't. So I'll give y'all until Wednesday to find yesterday's and today's.

badeebadeebadee, that's all folks!

~Kiwi da Fruit

P.S. Tomorrow's Duncan's birthday! Happy Birthday Duncan!

Happy Birthday, guitargirl!!

My friend, guitargirl, is having her birthday today! She's 18 now.
First for the cake. Do you want white cake....




or chocolate with Reeses Pieces on it....
or a chocolate cake with mandarin oranges on it (what's with the oranges??)?

Your choice, guitargirl!


Now for the present!!
I know you like Charles Dickens, so...... Here is a Link for you!! Over 600 Dickens quotes at your disposal.


Thoughtful note from Rapunzel on being 'grown-up':
You have two more years to be a teenager, so make the most of 'em. Partly because if you have to start acting grown up, there's no hope for me (being a year older than you)! 18 is an interesting year, a lot of new stuff, but it's pretty good. Have fun!


GUITARGIRL:
Great blogger,
Umm,
oI boyz lover,
Talented (with the guitar),
Article-one-moose giver,
Rabbit named raisin,
Guitar player, hence the name,
Interesting posts,
R...(what begins with 'r'? I can't think of any 'r'! Sorreh.),
Lovely house.
Here ends my lame little poem.

Happy Boithday :D
~Kiwi da Fruit~