Back by Popular Demand

...Well, maybe not popular. Maybe just one person said she missed my blog. But I'm back, anyway!

I'll not even try to catch you up on everything that has happened since I last posted. Just a brief overview.

In February, we went to the Rock & Worship Roadshow in Madison. That was a lot of fun, especially because that morning, we visited Redamte Coffee House and had the privilege of singing with Tenth Avenue North for their upcoming album, The Struggle. Then we spent hours and hours in line, waiting for our awesome seats.
You can access the entire Facebook album here. If you ask nicely, I'll even do a full post about the concert!

Spring has come very early to this neck of the woods, and I have to admit, I'm enjoying it fully. 80* days for the past week! Can the weather get any better than this?
The trees have their little green flowers, ready to burst into leaves any day now. Lilacs have leaves as large as my thumb, and the tulips have begun to bloom. I discovered today that we have a daffodil in the middle of the yard. Nobody knows what it's doing there. The former owners seem to have scattered random flowers at random throughout the yard, with no plans or flower beds. I had never seen this plant flower before, so I was very surprised to see one solitary bright yellow daffodil!

My job has been interesting, and busy, and tiring, and boring, and everything rolled into one. This morning I wrestled with wire baskets, inserting or removing dividers, reinserting, re-removing... Once I had them all in, the task went quickly. (I was just putting new products on the pegs or in the baskets.) But we didn't have enough dividers to make as many basketletts as we needed, so I had to Improvise. Hopefully my improvisation goes over well, otherwise....
I'm not doing that section over again! I am NOT!

And then the last thing I'll tell you about are my Plans for Tomorrow.
Because Tomorrow just happens to also be my Birthday.
It is my Twentieth Birthday, in fact.

And Tomorrow, in Waukesha, the Called To Love Tour is making a stop. (CTL Tour consisting of Downhere, Jason Gray, and Aaron Shust.) If you have been reading my blog for a while, you'll remember that I saw DH and JG on December 14th, 2008. You will also know that Downhere is pretty much my favorite band, and Jason Gray my favorite singer.
And even if you haven't read my blog before, that paragraph should give you a hint about how excited I am!
I'm trying not to use too many exclamation points, but a few more than necessary might slip out.

From what I've heard, the CTL Tour is going to be amazing. Not only are two of the three my favorites, I like the third, too. AND, I'm meeting some 'Downhomies' that I've only ever talked with online. After knowing some of them for over a year and a half, I'm eager to actually meet face-to-face.

I'll let you know how it goes!

And hello to Abbie, who demanded my return to blogging! Now you must surrender to my demand to write a letter back! ;)

Adios,
~Kiwifruit~

A bunch of quotes

Hello, I had meant to blog Monday, but....it didn't happen. Therefore I shall blog today. =)

I just finished reading Emma by Jane Austen. It's a good book, with lots of interesting quotes in it, such as:

"'It is very pretty,' said Mr. Woodhouse.....'The only thing I do not thoroughly like is, that she seems to be sitting out of doors, with only a little shawl over her shoulders; and it makes one think she must catch cold.'

'But, my dear papa, it is supposed to be summer; a warm day in summer. Look at the tree.'

'But it is never safe to sit out of doors, my dear.'"

(Mr. Woodhouse is always mildly ill, has to sit by a fire even on sweltering days in summer, and is always afraid that his daughter, or "Poor Miss Taylor," or Someone is going to catch cold or get indigestion. He's sort of entertaining that way, but I don't know if I'd be able to handle living with someone that cautious!)

"It may be possible to do without dancing entirely. Instances have been known of young people passing many, many months successively without being at any ball of any description, and no material injury accrue either to body or mind: but when a beginning is made-when the felicities of rapid motion have once been, though slightly, felt-it must be a very heavy set that does not ask for more."

"She checked herself, however, and submitted quietly to a little more praise than she deserved."

Those are all from Emma, and this is something Jane Austen said in a letter to someone:

"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal."

And this is from a wonderful movie called "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." (If you haven't seen it, go find it and watch. It's one of the best. =)

"Now Adam, you're my oldest brother. I always looked up to you, tried to ape you, but I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't tell you how I feel. *POW!!*

And lastly, Downhere has a new song!!!! 

Isn't it a good one?!? I can't wait to hear more from them! =D
Goodbye for now, I must leave.
~Kiwi!~

Videos

As three out of the four voters said to continue with the fashion photo posts once a month, the series will make its second appearance this Saturday. (My apologies to the person who voted against it, but that's the way it works in a democracy. C= Oh, and out of curiosity, who are you and why didn't you want me to continue the series?)

But you'll have to wait until Saturday to see the pictures. I'll set it to automatically post at noon central time. In the meantime, you can watch these videos from Kutless, DC Talk, and Marc Martel, if you wish.

Kutless:

(Radio needs to play this song and Kutless's other songs more often!)

Marc Martel of Downhere: (Not sure why I like this song so much, but I do! Originally by Queen, and this sounds almost identical to the Queen version.)



Queen: (Just to prove that they sound the same. Oh, and don't watch the video, just listen to it. There's nothing terrible about it, just the people in it are creepy-weird and dressed in weird-weird costumes.)


DC Talk: (Thought it was interesting enough to put on here. Words are below)

I am solo in this world of water

Only the tip of a sunrise visible

Like the morning light in a little girl's eyes

I crave this freedom

I find it only in this little ship

Just my soul and this bread and butter

I am comfortable

But there is a treason at sea

Is it me?

It is a wonder, supernatural cover of war

The dark ones who eternal in damnation grow

Set about me now

How they whine and crow

I am solo

In this world of wet

And bitter is my temperament

I close the door to sentiment

And relish all my youth

I realize that I am doomed

Fear of love and fear of you

But you give me the keys to paradise

It is you who sympathize 

You and your perfection grow

I am cradled in your ocean's throw 

I crave your freedom in this little ship

For you alone can chart my trip

And like these waves I lose my grip

And I sink into your arms.

Enjoy, and I'll see you Saturday.
~Kiwi~

Christmas Video Post No. 11 "Bring a Torch" by Downhere

Here's another of those Downhere videos. I'd never actually heard this song sung before, just some of the melody. What do y'all think of it?


Christmas Caroling at Walmart tonight! Be there, y'all!

Two thoughts:
Less than a week until Christmas!! Scary.
Scarier: Do you have all your Christmas shopping done yet? >;D
~Kiwi~

Christmas Video Post No. 4 "Making How Many Kings - Songs for Christmas" (Downhere)

I searched youtube for Downhere Christmas songs and found several that I might use. This first one is a compilation of clips they did while recording "How Many Kings" earlier this year. I can't wait to get my hands on that album! Or, maybe even better yet, *coughlistenupmomanddadcough* see them in Waukesha on December 18th....*coughdidyougetthehint?cough*
But anyway. Here's the video:


Cool stuff, isn't it? I especially like the bit with the drums. And "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," which I heard on the radio the other day (it's awesome.). Ever notice how, no matter how tired you get of a song, hearing it in a new arrangement is (nearly always) refreshing? I'm not tired of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" at all, but new arrangements are great.

Okay, I've posted, now bring me some figgy pudding!!
~Kiwi~

Black Friday Sale!!!! Doors open Saturday.

(Something's wrong there....^)
Yes, my friends, that is a true statement. I saw it on a Sears commercial last Saturday. I just thought it was odd...
Okay, so I'm working on a Christmassy tag. I'm not sure why it's Christmassy, but it has to do with "The Sound of Music," which is always played around Christmas (I'm not sure why), so it must be Christmassy.
I've been painting non-stop for the past four days, and now have three and a half Christmas cards to show for it! One of them is completely unlike any painting I've done before, yet it turned out (if I may say so) awesome!! So some of you will be getting that from us before too long, and the rest of you will have to wait until all our cards have gone out to get a glimpse of it on here. :) Actually, Most of you will get them in the mail.

Grandma and Grandpa said I should put my Christmas List on here, so here's a partial one. Maybe I'll stick the full thing on my sidebar. (* marks the ones I want, @ marks the ones I need, and # marks the ones I want so bad that I almost need them. :)

• @Paint brushes (Mom has a set that I like. It's Loew-Cornell brand, and it has 10 brushes in it. The reason I like her set is because the bristles are stiffer than the set I own. I guess just about any watercolor brushes would be great, especially if they're rather stiff.)
• @paint palette (porcelain or plastic, either one works well for me! 
• @watercolor pad (I'm half-way through the last page in mine! I love the way this one looks, or one of these three books would be nice. Except I don't care whether or not it's wind-powered paper.)
• *knee socks!! (How can you NOT like knee socks?!?!? They're so much fun! And if you get one pair of every color and pattern, you'll have one pair for every outfit you own.)
• *Diary from Walden Books. (I was there the other day and found this super-cute diary there! I wanted to buy it, but I was already buying another book for myself. Wish there was a picture online, but Walden/Borders apparently 'doesn't have' diaries. >:P Maybe I'll take a picture of it to put on here sometime.)
• #fluffy fleece bathrobe (Sis has one, and I want it! Mine was pale pink [and not fleece], but now it's kinda dirty pink, and no amount of washing is going to get all the little fuzzies off!)
• *#@volleyball 
• *Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery. (I found Emily of New Moon at Goodwill the other day and read it in 36 hours. Now I want the other two in the series!)
• *pretty much any interesting books
• #waterproof pens for my pen watercolor work
• *jewelry
• **Downhere cds: "How Many Kings?" "So Much for Substitutes" "Thunder After Lightning" 
• **Jason Gray cds: "Everything Sad is Coming Untrue" and "All the Lovely Losers"
• **Daniel Kirkley cd: "Let Love Win" (only $5.00 in his online store! :D)
• *Kutless cd? "It is Well" and possibly "To Know That You're Alive" (ya, they weird looking, but he has a good voice!)
• @@@snazzy new car (It has to be large enough for me and at least 3 friends, it has to be able to drive on the road legally, and it has to look cool. I specify the first two because, knowing my relatives, they'd think it funny to give me one of THESE.)
• @@@laptop computer (identical to this one, only with a better temperament.)
• #diamond earrings.
• **bandannas and scarves!
• #gloves
• @@@dishwasher (electric. to put in my kitchen and wash all them dishes for me!)
• **##@@Bermuda. The whole island. 

Okay, that's most of it. I'm sure I could think of some more, but, given the time, I'll quit now. :D For some of those things there's a very fine line between wanting and needing them (Bermuda. Laptop. Dishwasher.). 

what are some of the things that are on your Christmas lists, all you readers?? Let me know. :D

Ta-ta

~Kiwi~

p.s. the background on here is going to change again on December 21st, just to give y'all a warning!

Happy Ganksthiving!!!

Howdy, everyone! It's that time of year again, when we gather 'round and munch till our hearts are content. And until our hearts are no longer content and burn within us. And that once-in-a-year'stime experience of turkey. My grandma knows how to make a gooood turkey. And we have our family recipe for Dressing (with oysters:), and fruit salads, and sweet potatoes, and I'm not sure what-all else we're having this year.
Pie. I like pies. We get four this year; pecan, pumpkin, cherry, and apple.
Mom and Grandma are saying that this year, everything will be ready to eat by 12:30 at the latest. LOL out loud! EVERY year they say the turkey and everything will be cooked and on the table by a certain time. And I don't remember eating before 2:00 on Ganksthiving. Ever. Let's see if they can get it on time, shall we? I'm taking monetary bets on this......;)

Why do I keep calling today "Ganksthiving"? Allow someone else to explain:


Most of the movie is irrelevant, but I think you'll spot the part that is relevant. :D

Um.
I'm working on a new post series to start on here in January, probably. But I can't tell you more, 'cause it's a s'prise. :) Which is too bad, 'cause it's really looking like a good idea!

Lastly, I'd like to know what made my last post so special? I got ten comments!! I haven't gotten ten comments in ages! What made y'all like that post? Tell me so I can do it again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!
~Kiwi~

a tag from Judi

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” Please include your blog address unless I already have it.

2. I will respond by commenting on your blog with five questions. I get to pick the questions.


3. You will update your blog/website/whatever with the answers to the questions.


4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.


5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


Here are my interview questions from Judi:
1: If you could choose any place in the world to live, where would it be?
Well, if I could move all my friends there with me, Tennessee would be nice. Or maybe a bit further south. But if all my friends would have to stay behind, I'll just stay here. :)

2: Favorite animated movie of all time?
The Incredibles or Ratatouille. Or maybe Finding Nemo. I think those are my top three in that order.

3: Can you play an instrument, if so, what kind??
Nope.

4: Who and what inspired you to first start blogging??
My good friend Dagmar got a blog a little over a year ago, which drew my attention to blogging. (Oh, speaking of you, Dagmar.....post again!!)

5: If you could interview one famous person/group, who would it be and why??
If I have ever heard an unfair question in my life, and I've heard plenty, this one must be the least fair of all! Which ONE, indeed! Ummmmm.....of the famous people I can think of, I guess Daniel Kirkley or Jason Gray. I've met both of them before, but, of course, forgot all the important questions I should have asked. :P Group? Newsboys or Downhere would be my top two picks.


Anyone want to be interviewed?
~Kiwi~

hola, folks!

Hello. I just noticed that it had been a few days since I last posted, so I decided to post again. :D

Today, Sis and I are going to the mall with Short Stuff, J. Shrimp, and KK. Mom and Dad are in IA, sorting stuff out about our other house. The people living there now are moving out on Sunday, so we have to go down Sunday afternoon/Monday morning to clean the house before it's put back on the market. *sigh* I don't like cleaning house after us, much less people I don't even know! I hope they leave it neat.

Saturday's wedding was pretty. The bride & bridesmaids had pretty dresses....You know how some bridesmaid's dresses couldn't be worn anywhere else, no matter how much people say "oh, you could wear that many other places"? These you could wear to church. They were nice, but not terribly fancy.

They didn't decorate the church much, just some flowers around the candles and on the reserved front rows. Julie's colors were blue and yellow. My friend Short Stuff made the cake. I hope she puts up a picture of it! We didn't get to go to the reception, so I didn't get to see it. :(

Our neighbors invited us over to a cookout in their front yard. It's the thought that counts. It was very nice of them to invite us, but it was so.....boring....! Everyone there was 40 or so, and they all knew each other, but we didn't. Most of the half hour spent there was listening to other's conversations. I wish I could have gone to the reception instead. There was food and cake and dancing, and even a double rainbow! *doublesigh*

On Sunday we had Kris and her sister over for lunch and volleyball. It was impromptu, which made it all the more fun!

Volleyball was okay, but I'm never going 3 weeks without playing volleyball again! I wasn't at my best. And then we had extra players, so we rotated into the serving spot. That doesn't work for me. I can't just leave the game, then come back 5-10 minutes later and serve well.

By the way, does anyone know a polite way to say "Andy (or fill in any name) that was my ball! Go play in your own 'zone' and let me play in mine!"? Because saying it that way sounds mean, but sometimes it needs to be said!

Yesterday I hung around for a while, then Sis and I went to the church ballgame. 'We' won two out of three games! I wish I was good at baseball, but I hate batting. I'm not good enough to hit consistently, and I feel silly standing there, striking out! My catching isn't too bad, and I love running. Need to work on my aim some. I think I'll just stick to volleyball.

'Twas mildly annoying. I sat between a girl named Kelsey and a boy, Evan, during one of the games. There was one conversation 'loop' going on from Kelsey on down the bleachers away from me, and another 'loop' starting with Evan and headed away. So I was kind of stuck between two 'loops.' It wasn't all bad, I guess, but sometimes when I came in at the end of an interesting-sounding conversation, or I couldn't really break into a conversation....

Okay, I'll leave you with a few pictures:

That's the oil painting I did a month or two ago.

Here are the outside and inside of my latest card, the one I was talking about in my last post.

Front:

Inside:
(I know it's sloping downhill here, but in the actual card it is straightened and done in 'stairstep' style.)

Last, but not least, is the painting I did for the Downhere tee-shirt contest. I ended up not actually getting to put it on a tee shirt because of lack of time. Instead, I just did the postcard entry, with that on the postcard. Across the sun is supposed to be "Hope is Rising," but I didn't put it straight onto the painting. I just added it digitally.

Oh, I almost forgot.
I'm thinking of doing the "Feeling Feminine Challenge" next week, just for the fun of it. I don't think that skirts are always more modest than pants (it all depends on the skirt or pair of pants itself and where you're wearing it to), but I have noticed how I act differently (different?) when wearing a skirt. I will wear pants for volleyball, though, because in my opinion they're more practical. Would anyone care to join me? We can blog about it together, and post pictures!

Maybe some of the girls who live nearby? *coughShortStuffJShrimpKKLadyFlorimelcough* :D

So, that's what I'm up to. :) What about you-all? What are you doing? Does anyone have an answer to my volleyball-related question?

See ya!

~Kiwi~

100th post!!!!!!!!

On a blogger's 100th post, it is customary to post 100 random things about yourself. Here's my 100 things. I hope you don't get too bored!

1. I know and can sing many many songs. Most of the songs played on Air1 and K-love in 2008 I know by heart.
2. I love to read. (P.G. Wodehouse, Shannon Hale, Christopher Paolini…)
3. I have been home schooled since birth.
4. I’m going to graduate in ’010!
5. I am hopelessly addicted to blogging.
6. As I write this, I’m listening to “Protest to Praise” by Downhere.
7. I simply adore biking.
8. I’m contemplating getting a bug-shield for my bike.
9. I nearly had a bike crash earlier today.
10. One of my favorite hobbies is painting.
11. My “Old Movie Blog” is fun to do research for!
12. I have met 15 famous people: Daniel Kirkley, Jason Gray, Jason Germain, Marc Martel, Glenn Lavender, Jaime Jamgochian, Lanae Hale. Brian, ’Nirva, Gabe, and Tedde from the Diverse City Band, and Hawk Nelson.
13. Concerts are great fun to attend!
14. But I’ve only been to three: Newsboys, Bethlehem Skyline Tour concert, Winter Jam ’09.
15. I don’t have a boyfriend, and don’t really see a need for one right now.
16. I really need to build up my “Artiste’s imagination”
17. No, I don’t have Facebook, Myspace or Twitter.
18. I should be doing chemistry right now.
19. I love to run, but I haven’t got any endurance.
20. My name doesn’t actually have a ‘k’ or ‘w’ in it.
21. “Rockstars need money,” and so do I.
22. I really really really want to see Paul Colman in July!!
23. I have one of the starring roles in The Play.
24. I used to sleepwalk on occasion. Who knows if I still do so…
25. I have two brothers and one sister.
26. I know at least the choruses to 80+ Newsboys songs. By heart.
27. I was ecstatic to get a letter from my friend the other day. AND it had a picture of her in it!!
28. Writing 100 Random Things about me is harder than I originally thought!
29. Sometimes I (randomly) burst into a (random) song.
30. I used to have a sheep that I showed at the fair. Her name was Mandy, and then she had a lamb named Freddy. I still have a 3rd place ribbon that Freddy won…
31. I was in 4-H once, but didn’t like it.
32. My sister and I are NOT twins!!
33. I like having my nails brightly painted.
34. I recently memorized the first stanza of “What is so Rare as a Day in June?” by James Russell Lowell.
35. I prefer geometry to chemistry.
36. I am quickly running out of things to say.
37. I really really really want to enter Downhere’s tee-shirt contest!!! Really!
38. I don’t get to wear pj’s to school. Horrible, isn’t it? :-P
39. I have a stuffed turtle.
40. Flip-flops rate higher with me than tennis shoes.
41. I have never broken a bone. (Of my own, that is…)
42. Volleyball is amazingly fun!
43. I do a lot of diving in volleyball.
44. I have 6 cds: the Newsboys’ GO, Thrive, In The Hands of God and the ITHOG EP. Michael W. Smith’s Live the Life, and Avalon’s Testify to Love.
45. My dresser top is always a mess ‘cause it’s my “catch-all.” But more on that later.
46. I can’t believe I accidentally skipped this one!
47. I love the Newsboys’ Going Public cd.
48. I want a new pair of shoes.
49. I can’t wait for consistently warm weather.
50. I have a “Zits” cartoon taped to my door that describes me perfectly! I’ll have to give y’all a pic of it sometime.
51. I cannot brain today. I have the dumb.
52. Sadly, I appear to be the “Teasable Type.”
53. Colors are cool!
54. I don’t like washing dishes.
55. My occupation? Dishwasher, scullery maid, bathroom scrubber. Oh, and most-of-the-time student.
56. My plan for this summer is to stay as active as possible. That means bike rides, volleyball, double Dutch jump rope, anything else that’ll keep me moving!
57. This has been 57 random things already!
58. One of my friends ‘owes’ me $31.64 already. It’s a long story…
59. I went horseback riding once in Tennessee in ’06.
60. Skip-bo is a good card game.
61. I don’t play any instruments.
62. I accidentally skipped #s 46-49! Oops!
63. Hopefully I’ll be able to hand out awards to my faithful blogreaders soon…
64. I learned that it is possible to start a Twitter account with a fake email.
65. But I either deleted the account or forgot the password. I forgot the password, anyway. The account may still be there. *runs off to check* Nope, it’s still there! www.twitter.com/kiwidafruit. No updates, though. Unfortunately, I can't get in to delete it because of the forgotten password.
66. I luuuuuuuv my digital camera! (Thanks, grandma & grandpa!!)
67. I have been hit in the face by the ball in the following sports: soccer, baseball, dodgeball, and basketball.
68. I have been knocked down in the following sports: dodgeball, soccer, basketball, football (LET IT BE KNOWN: I was not playing football voluntarily. It was entirely against my will that I was standing out there in that field, watching everyone else know what to do!), tag, and, as of Sunday, volleyball.
69. I used to be quite accident and injury prone.
70. I enjoy beading earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, but haven’t been ‘inspired’ to do so lately.
71. Writing is fun, but not ‘on demand’ writing.
72. Geometry was so much better than chemistry!
73. I like the game Bomber Penguin. (Skittles, you'd like it! give it a try.)
74. I just found two cool videos of Marc Martel that I'll have to post soon!
75. I am ¾ of the way done with this thing!!
76. My toenails are pink right now.
77. I want to visit my great-grandma (and Skittles!) in Florida!
78. Have you ever played ‘Pit’? I have.
79. I am 17 years old, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days old.
80. I want my own email address. (Hinthinthint)
81. Blogger frustrates me!
82. I like music videos.
83. I want to make a music video to “Praying for Sunny Days” by Hyper Static Union.
84. Catchphrase is a good game to play with friends, especially when it gets rowdy!
85. I’m going to give 25 points to whoever reads all of this!
86. I think I’ve been on blogger for about one year.
87. I just read through a year’s worth of my life in my diary.
88. I have had one of my watercolors sold at an art auction.
89. I want to see Dagmar soon ‘cause I have a s’prise for her…
90. My room is a wee little bit messy right now.
91. I had no school today.
92. My middle name is Elizabeth.
93. My hair, after being twisted up in a bun for 24+ hours, looks really odd!
94. I am/Praying for sunny days to return to me…..
95. I don’t have a best friend…I have about 20!
96. If you looked at my dresser right now, you would find: 3 porcelain dolls, a crystal bell, four cds, a Willow Creek angel, a little-bitty doll, five glass bottles, perfume, Mary Kay product, four ponytail holders, an IOU note (from my friend, now worth $31.64), a library card, four barrettes, two pairs of earrings, a cd insert, two batteries, song lyrics, bangle bracelets, two necklaces, flattened-out foil from a blue Easter crunch-bunny, a ring case, bookmark, a radio, and $1.33 in small change. I hope you found that fascinating!
97. Three houses ago, ‘Punzel and I chased the landlord’s cows around. (I was 6-7)
98. I have a signed Newsboys poster with a large, long haired hole in it…;D
99. I am very very very distantly related to Dan’l Boone. I think.
100. I survived my first 100 Random Things post!! Hallelujah!

Okay, I'm going to make the rest of this brief. I owe a big thanks to Dagmar and Matt, because they got me started in blogging and have answered numerous questions about it.
Thanks to Mom & Dad, for letting me get a blog.
Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and comments.
A smaller 'thank you' to the people who read this but don't comment. Comment if you want to get a big thank you.
And thanks to my followers, just for following.
Basically: THANKS ALL Y'ALL TO EV'RYONE WHO READS THIS!

So long, readers!
~Kiwi~

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

Happy New Year!! / After the Concert, part 2

Happy New Year, Y'alls! Isn't it a wonderful year? I sort of expected it to be a bit different than last year, with all the hype and celebration. It feels like 2008 still. Now I need to practise typing '2009' 2009 2009 2009 2009............

I still catch myself writing 2007 occasionally. It'll take me forever to catch onto this 2009 thing.

A quick overview of the New Year celebration at church: We had two hours of singing/prayer to begin with. I nearly died of smothered laughter twice (thankfully during the singing, not the prayer! That would have been embarrassing!). The first time needs a lot of explanation, so I'll skip it. The second time, we were singing "Everlasting God" and it kept getting higher, and higher and higher so that even the worship leaders were having a hard time singing it! I was sitting next to a friend, then Rapunzel and two other friends. We all started giggling a bit, but the friend next to me and I got it the worst, and I laughed so hard I was crying by the end of the song. Thankfully, it was the last song....

Then some friends and I played a rousing game of Pit. It's an awesome game we got for Christmas from Mum and Dad. I won twice. Next, I played a lot of Apples to Apples and won two green cards in a row. I ended up with three, I think.

During the Apples to Apples game, one girl was trying to take pictures of another, who did not want to be photographed unawares. That was quite entertaining, trying to get pics of her. And then, after we got bored with it and some people had to go home, I stood around talking with my friend and her friend, who I'm not quite sure what to think of. He has a very confusing effect on people. Sort of a talent for getting your mind muddled. It's really hard to get a coherent sentence out around him.

Then, it became 2009, and the three boys left there (my bros and another kid) blew noise makers and laughed and clapped. Woo hoo! Somehow, it doesn't feel like the future. No flying cars, no hovering cities, no transporter beams....what's the point of '09? *sigh*

So. On to the "After the Concert, Part 2" part of me post.

*ahem*

Where were we? Ah, yes, I had just met one Daniel Kirkley. After chatting with Daniel Kirkley some, we moved on in the line to Jason Germain, who is tall and makes me feel short even though I was wearing two-inch heels. Here is us meeting him:

That's my book he's signing. I look sad, don't I? Well I wasn't!
Inbetween this picture and the next, he asked us:

"Sisters?"

*nod heads and answer in unison* "Yes."

"Twins?"

*laugh and shake heads and answer in unison* "No!"

"Oh, do you get that a lot?"

Ha! Argh! I wish we had used the answer that we have practised many times, but never had a chance to use: "Yes," I say, "She's the older by two years...." I thought of that, just as we were shaking our heads.

He also asked if I'm a musician. Because of the necklace I had on. (note to Mom: And you said no one would notice my jewelry! *reserves the right to say 'I told you so'*)It's some sort of musical sign, but you can tell from that description how much I know about music! I said, no, it's my sister's, but I do sing a lot.

Jason figured out that Rapunzel, Owan, and I could form a band.... :D He's really nice, too.

And here are, from left to right, Miss Kiwi, Mr. Jason Germain (all bent over so he could fit in the same picture with us and not have his head cut off), Miss Rapunzel, and a bad picture of Miss Owan. (Sorry, Owan! I don't know how to edit the picture.). Look at the guy in the background. Behind and to the left of me. Doesn't he look like Jason? When I first caught a glimpse of him, I thought it was Jason, with a bit of lip fuzz.

And then, we casually sauntered over to Jaime Jamgochian and Lanae' Hale. We enjoyed a good talk with Jaime. Rapunzel was in a musical year before last which included a song by Jaime. I'll give you the song title once I get it from my sis. Jaime asked Rapunzel to email her a link to it, or if we had Facebook to show it to her on there. So far, we haven't found it on the Web. :( And, somehow, Jaime avoided the camera and we have no picture of her. :'(

But, here're two of Rapunzel and me with Lanae' Hale and Daniel Kirkley:

This is a good picture of Daniel and me.

And this is a good one of all of us. I thought there were two messed up pictures, but I guess there weren't.
Y'know, here I look a lot taller than Daniel, but if I hadn't worn heels we would have been almost the same height.

And that's all I'll say about The Concert for now, because I still have material for one more post, plus copies of autographs. :) I'm getting quite a bit of Blogger Fodder out of this. :)

Note to Soul Skittles Regarding her Last Comment: Sorry I 'lied'. :) But I think you lied, too, in your last comment, about me having "like one thousand" up on you.

Note to Owan Regarding Several Things: This is a warning. Be very careful in all you do. You do not want to anger me. The last person to anger me.... well, let's just say that her movie collection was raided and it was Not Pretty. That's all I have to say. That and, how are your 'poachels'?

Note to All who Read This: My friend, HMS Avalon, wishes me to tell you that she wants a few more readers and y'all are all welcome to visit. At least, I think that's the message I'm supposed to give you.

And now I must go to Bed. Ugh. I don't like Bed.
Last thing: I'm going to try to blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and possibly once on weekends.
There. I'm done. Y'alls can comment now!
~Kiwi

The Bethlehem Skyline Concert

Okay, I have no clue where to start, so I’ll try starting at the beginning. Oh, wow, so original! But I’ll only go about half-way through the evening. I’ll be able to get some good posts out of this.
So. We arrived just as the doors were scheduled to open, but some people managed to get in there earlier and so the front rows were taken. :( We got some pretty good seats off to the left of center stage. =D
While waiting for the concert to start, we played a hand-clapping game where the loser had to get up and do a fifteen-second ‘random dance moment’ as penance. That was fun! I only had to do it once.
Then, the pastor (or I’m assuming he was the pastor) went up and announced that the concert was starting. Ten seconds passed, and no one appeared on stage. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds is as long as impatient people like me can wait, so Owan, who came with us, started a slow clapping rhythm that slowly grew louder and faster as more people joined in. That was cool! I’ve never been an instigator of something like that! Behind the clapping, we could hear sheep and angel voices. Jason Gray came out after what seemed like an eternity and said something like “I heard that and it sounded like a rock concert starting, then you hear angels going ‘aaaaahhhh’ in the background!”
Jason was the emcee for the evening, and he did a great job at that. Jaime Jamgochian came out after Jason did “Miriam”, and she sang “­O Come, O Come Emmanuel” Next, Daniel Kirkley was called out. He’s amazing! Centricity got some really talented artists for this tour. He sang “What Child is This?” I’ll post a video of him doing this song, because I haven’t got a clue how to describe his voice.
Lanae’ Hale came out next, and she did a nice song. She has a pretty voice, but she’s a little more country-music-style than I usually listen to.
An’ den….. Downhere! Their first song was “Glory to God”. I’ve only heard it twice before Sunday, but I know most of the chorus already. Here's a pic of Marc:And another: We didn’t get many good pictures, but I do have to thank Mom for loaning her camera. Without it, the pictures wouldn’t be even this good!

I’m going to just post a few more pictures of the concert here, because otherwise I’ll end up writing up the entire concert. You can watch video of the last Bethlehem Skyline concert at www.mogulus.com/downhere if you want. Here’re the pics!

I’ll post more tomorrow or day after. Have fun!
Kiwi da Happyfruit

TONIGHT!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAH!!!!! IT'S TONIGHT!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!! I'm soooooo excited, thus the exclamation points, all cap. words, screams, jumping up and down, and excited look on my face!!!!!

We are leaving in about ten minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will be my shortest post ever!
BTW, the reason I haven't posted in a while is because I was banned from the computer for a loooong time. :(

See ya'll later! I'm going to a CONCERT!!!!! YEEEEHAW!
~Elated Kiwifruit
okay, I'm not actually going into hysterics or anything, but I am really excited!
Bye bye!

50TH POST!!!!

I wanted to say something before I forgot it, but am now beginning to think that it's too paltry a post for this honored position. Fifty posts. And since I've been on since Wednesday, June 11th, 2008. That makes fifty posts in 167 days. Averaging .2994 posts per day, about 2.08 per week. While Soul Skittles, for example, manages to churn out a lot more in the same amount of time.

Of course, all that was typed last Wednesday, so now my average has dropped even more. :'( I need to post more.

So, when was the last time I posted? Ah, yes, Saturday, the 22nd. What has happened since then?

Sunday (23): Nuthin. Church, as usual. I can't think of anything else.

Monday (24th): Instead of school, we cleaned some, then went to the library. I got a really stupid book that had a deceiving cover. It's called In the Shadow of the Ark, and it's about this girl, Re Jana, who travels to where Noah is building the ark. She falls in love with Ham (That sounds so funny. "Oh, I'm in love with Ham! *sigh*"), who loves her back, but he has to marry this other lady, Neeleta, because of her financial status. Re Jana's mother dies (actually, she knows she's dieing so she has her husband burn her alive to get it over with), so Re Jana's father builds her a reed gondola, as is their people's custom because they used to live by the sea and put the dead bodies in the gondola, then set fire to it and let it float out. But the mother refuses to be put in the gondola, so it just stays there. Then, after a whole lotta stuff happens, the flood starts, Re Jana's adopted brother, Put, is secreted onto the ark by Neeleta, and Ham sneaks Re Jana on, also. So long, complicated story short, Japheth's wife finds Re Jana and forces her to sacrifice some of the animals (including Noah's dove) to the old gods, hoping that then the waters will go down. No one notices that half the quail are missing, or some of the other birds. And then, it ends up that Re Jana, Put, and even their father (who floated in the gondola all that time) survive, even though they were not the Chosen People. It didn't make any sense to me, and I don't recommend it.

Tuesday (25th): Ummmmm... I made the scalloped corn for Thanksgiving dinner and stuck it in the freezer. I also discovered that I hate this kitchen. It's nice and large, yes, but the cabinets come down too low, and the counter isn't wide enough. And there's no counter next to the stove (that fact will play a role in my next adventure), so I had to keep scooting back and forth between the counter and the stove.

For supper, Mom made 'Cheesy Ham Potatoes'. The pan was sitting on the stove with a dish of corn beside it, and I was dishing up my food with my plate in one hand and the spoon in the other. Suddenly, the pan decided to scoot, and it burned my hand! Thankfully, Mom saw right away and was able to move it quickly. If there had been a counter by the stove, I could have set my plate down and avoided that mishap. >:-[

Wednesday (26th): I made a Cherry Pie for Thanksgiving. We went to our church's Thanksgiving Eve service. Oh, and I finished Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas card. Here's the front:

It's actually a bit brighter than it appears to be here. Inside, in the same font and color as the 'peace', is 'Peace on earth and goodwill to men.' That earned me $20, minus the $3.50 Mom and Dad charged me for paper and ink. $16.50. Sweet.

Thursday (Thanksgiving, the 27th): We drove three hours back to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Iowa for Thanksgiving. I LOVE the smell of turkey! And I love Thanksgiving meals. And we had PIE, four kinds of it. Cherry, Pumpkin, Apple, and Pecan. I'm sorely tempted to re-post my PIE post, but instead I'll just put that link up.

We watched about six and a half hours of Newhart. WGN was playing a marathon of it. I like Newhart! My sister said that afterwards, I was starting to sound like Stephanie! I think that's bad....

Friday (28th): We left Grandma and Grandpa's house after lunch, and stopped by Borders book store so Rapunzel could get a book. I had hoped to run into a friend or two there, but nope. Then, Dad drove until we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, and then he pulled over and (here's the good part) they let me drive!!! It went well. I had to pass a tractor *shiver* and only one person passed me. I need to work on my turns a bit more, because the other two drivers in the car who kept telling me what to do and distracting me, so I couldn't concentrate. I will name no names, but they're my parents. I like driving. :) I drove all the way from the Iowa/Illinois border to an unnamed little town near the Illinois/Cheeseland border--about two hours of driving. :) Driving is fun.

Saturday (29th): We carried, dragged, lugged, and hauled boxes into the basement from the garage. Big whoop. Quite entertaining.

After lunch, TOO (my new nickname for my twelve-year-old brother. The Odd One.) informed me that some friends had been walking by on the street behind the empty lot behind our house, and invited us to go explore the woods by the park with them. TOO left about five minutes before I could, and it was agreed that we'd meet at the park. I arrived, but no TOO, no friends, nobody. Long story short, they weren't at the friends' house, where I checked next, so I went back to the park and found them then. While we were back in the woods, we started construction on a 'fort' or 'hideout' or whatever you want to call it. I think I'll suggest calling it 'The Stronghold' or 'The Keep' (the safest part of a castle) instead of 'The Fort'. The Fort sounds more like some little hideout a kid would build, while The Stronghold sounds better to me. It's sort of a hexagonal structure. Starting at the west corner and going counter-clockwise, it's pine tree, tall-skinny-unknown tree, tall-skinny-unknown tree, pine tree again, another unknown forked tree, another unknown forked tree, then back to the first pine tree.

Sunday (30th): I woke up around seven-thirty and it was unnaturally dark. Looking out my window, I found the problem. Snow. Probably about an inch and a half? I don't know. Then while we were in church, it all melted. It was snowing hard most of the way through the service but not sticking. Then we came home, ate, cleaned, and a new friend (who just happens to live about five minutes away) came over and we watched Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in The Road to Morocco. We were going to watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but that VHS tape wouldn't work. The library needs to start replacing VHSs with DVDs. We made hot chocolate (hint: add dried coffee creamer to the chocolate mix. Hazelnut is good. Or, if you put milk in it also, replace some of the milk with coffee creamer. It makes it even better.), and as we watched the movie about three inches of snow fell.

Monday (1st): I did my school work, which involved watching Amazing Grace for history. I really like that movie! We saw it in the theater either the day it came out, or soon after.

I finished a scarf I have been knitting since late October. It's taller than Monkey by quite a bit, and almost as tall as TOO, who's just over five feet. It's long enough for me to wrap around my neck twice and above my eyes 1 1/2 times! Sort of like the scarf Randy Parker's mom put on him in A Christmas Story. Then, we called up our friends and went out into the woods again. You would not believe (okay, maybe some of you would....Dagmar and Matt) how different the woods look when they're covered in snow! Two of the pine trees we had used as landmarks were unrecognizable, as they were bent over with snow--all the way over! We got more work done on the Stronghold. Saw deer tracks. Heard voices in the woods. Saw strange footprints in the snow. Heard something that sounded like a cross between yip-yap dogs, birds, and a group of wild indians. Picked up two trees. (they're about twelve-twenty feet in length, and they're the tall, skinny ones without many branches. The trees fall over, sit there on the ground for who knows how long, then we pick them up and prop them against things.) So far, all the walls have framework, now what we need to do is weave other sticks in with the big branches and logs.

Tuesday (today, 2nd): I finished my work quickly, except my STUPID LITERATURE where they ask me DUMB QUESTIONS that I don't have answers for. Dad gave us ice cream after lunch. I started serious work on our Christmas card for the year. No picture of that yet, not until it has already been sent out.

I'm planning on going tramping again today. There's not really much else to do. Read, computer, television, paint, wait impatiently for the Fourteenth of December. I need more exercise. Oh, that's something to do! I'll look up the My-ville ice skating arena and see when they let us mortals who are not prodigies at skating in. Perchance after Christmas we can go skating.

Now, I have a tag to do, but I'm going to save that until tomorrow. If I post it now, I won't have anything to post tomorrow, will I?

Goodbye. I'll try not to freeze.

~Kiwi da Fruit

P.S. I sat down and figured out that I have only recieved ummm.... three letters here at this address. I have about ten friends who promised they would write to me, and still have not. It makes me very unhappy, very unhappy indeed. Please write to me, Dagmar, Avalon, Catfreak, Miranda, Abbie, Rachel, Avalonandcatfreakssisters! I miss you! Write soon!!

By der way, Thanks for the comment, Rachel!

Joy!! Happy Day!!/New Poems

Rejoice and be merry, me fellow bloggers! Yours Truly is going to see Downhere. Live. In concert. In 26 days. Wooooohoooooo! I can't wait!! *does a little happy dance* After I get this posted, I'm going to try to find a countdown thingymajig that will actually work on here (for some weird reason, unknown to mankind, animalkind, and most likely alienkind also), set it for December 14th, and host a party every time it counts down one week. Big party on the 13th. Y'all'll have to party without me on the 14th. Why? Because I'll be at The Concert, of course!!
=^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D =^D
And Daniel Kirkley will be there, and he's got an amazing voice, too, and Jason Gray, and Jaime Jamgochian, and Lanae' Hale.

Like I said. Happy Day.

Now, here is a brand-new poem, written just this afternoon, never before seen by anyone outside of this family. I hope you enjoy the privilege. ;) Please ignore the dots. Those aren't supposed to be there, but it was the only way I could get the words to align correctly.

..........................I wish I could be
.............................................as happy
.........................................................as
...........................................................a
...........................................................CLAM
...................................For then,
..............................................when
.................................................people say
...................................................“you look
.......................................................as happy
...................................................................as
.....................................................................a
.....................................................................CLAM,”
...................................................I can say
...................................................................“I
.........................................................................AM!”

There is my masterpiece. D'you like it? I've always wanted to write a 'stair-step' poem--one where the lines sort of end up looking like stair-steps. And now I have. But now that I have fulfilled my "life's dream", what else is there to live for? I am no longer as happy as a clam. There's no reason to be. ;-(
Anywho; this was the third day in a row that I wrote a poem in. I think this is the best poem out of the three. Here's my second favorite. It was written on an envelope to some friends back in Iowa. (Catfreak and Avalon: if you have not yet received my letter, wait to read this.)

I say 'How're you?'

To my friends back in Iowa

And wonder what they do

Without me there.

I talk and talk

'Bout random things

Like how I want to walk

O'er to their house like I used to.

Sadly, then, I write 'Goodbye'

And wonder how long

Till I can say 'Hi'

And stand there right beside them.

And then here's my least favorite. It needs more work on it, like on the last line of the first stanza, but I can't find anything that'll work better.

Angus

Although you came into my life

Just a few short months ago,

I feel that I know you well,

As if you were my beau!

The reason for our meeting

Was not a happy one*

But we got past that quickly

And went on to weeks of fun.

Me, clicking happily away,

And you just sitting there

following my every whim

With complementary flair.

My every wish

Ends up as your command,

To get what I want from you,

I barely need raise my hand!

Occasionally, however,

for reasons unknown on earth

You provoke me nearly to tears

Making me wonder about your worth.

Is what I'm doing

Worth begging your co-operation?

Or would I be better off

Sending you on extended vacation?

Yet when all is said and done,

Instead of making a fuss,

I will love you (almost) forever,

My dear computer, Angus!

See what I mean about that last line of the first stanza? But there are no other words that rhyme with 'ago' and still make sense in the poem! Doe, foe, low, mow, moe, snow, bow, beau, go, hoe, joe, no, oh, poe, row, stow, sow, sew, toe, tow, woe, yo. None work! A large virtual high-five to someone who can give me a better line.
*The story behind this poem goes like this: I wrote a eulogy for Bob and Larry, and I fear that Angus has gotten a bit jealous of them. He won't work consistently for me because of this jealousy, so I wrote him this, hoping to appease him.

Oh, before I leave, I was tagged by Soul Skittles to tell 7 random things about meself. So here goes.

1: I hate being trapped inside by cold winter weather.
2: I discovered that chap stick works well to keep your nose from becoming raw when you have a stupid cold and have to blow your nose fifty times per hour. But it's best to use clear stuff, not blue or purple. :-)
3: I'm waiting (rather impatiently) for the day that LOST comes back on tv, 'cause I'm addicted to it.
4: For some reason, I keep waking up at some time in the middle of the night, but I don't know when because I don't have a clock in my room. (hey, you wanted random...)
5: I LOVE listening to Christian music. To name just a few: Newsboys, Downhere, Kutless, Stellar Kart, Paul Colman, Paul Colman Trio. I could continue my list for a few days, but I didn't think y'all'd appreciate that
6: I run out of random things very quickly, and dread finding more.
7: I'd like to visit Australia and New Zealand someday.

So, I tag:
Judi
Catfreak
Avalon
Zoe

So ends this insanely long post. Will this keep you all happy for a while longer?
~Kiwifruit

P.S. It snowed yesterday, but didn't accumulate. I don't like snow right now.

Hello, my friends!/Cancellation of Comment Blitz

Sadly, I must cancel the Comment Blitz. Well, actually I guess it's a good thing, as Avalon has finally posted again. But I was looking forward to blitzing her again! ;-D (I wish I could put little emoticons on here. Their faces are so much more expressive.) Thank you, Avalon, for posting again!!

Ho hum bug.

Sorry, I'm just a little bored. I had a great idea of what I wanted to say today, but it just up and left.
I'm bummed. Downhere, Jason Gray, Daniel Kirkley, Jaime Jamgochian, and Lanae Hale are coming near My-ville on a Bethlehem Skyline Tour. Tickets are only $20, for five artists plus dinner, but I don't got twenty extra bucks! So donations are accepted, the larger the better.... Just kidding. But I'm trying to buy Christmas presents now so that if I can get my sticky fingers on $20 I can spend it on a ticket instead of presents. So I need to finish buying things, and make twenty bucks, but then I need to actually find where I can get tickets, 'cause I've been searching the Internet for 'em. But THEY'RE NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!!!! ANYWHERE! I searched Downhere's website, Jason Gray's, the Bethlehem Skyline Tour site, and HMPH.
WAIT A SECOND!!!!! I FOUND 'EM, THE TRICKY LITTLE BUGGERS! Hahaha! The Kiwifruit triumphs yet again! I found them on the website of the church that the concert's gonna be at. But that's odd. This website says tickets are $12, whereas I was informed they were $20. I'll have to research that, but this'll make it easier to get to go!!! Happy Day!

I'm going to publish this now, to appease the public (namely Judi, whom I think is just itching to bug me into posting :-), but I've got a poem to put up later, so keep checking back.
TaTa For Now!!
~Kiwifruit the Konqueror

hey, all, just a quick update.
I got to go in and see Grandpa on Thursday. He can't talk or move much yet. Although I'm pretty sure he wanted to laugh at some of the things I said. Almost every time I see him, he teases me about my (non-existent) boyfriend, and asks how 'he' is and stuff like that. So I told him that "the boyfriend situation isn't going too good." I think he was laughing inside.
Today, Mom, Dad and the boys are down @ the hospital while Sis and I are here. I'll probably go down tomorrow.

So, how many of my relatives are reading this?? I gave the address to my Aunt B., and now Pooky's Girl is reading it, Christina, Aunt J., Jon, and who else? STOP LURKING!! Comment!

Lastly, I've got a new blog started and am getting disturbed by the lack of comments. Two posts already, and a follower (hey, Matt), and NO comments! Check it out! Comment, for Pete's sake!
Alright, I'm going now. I'm going to re-arrange my room a few times, listen to some Downhere and Stellar Kart, and um......, and read my book, and rot my brain on the computer and tv. I'll see you later!
~Kiwifruit
P.S. wow, I think that's my shortest post so far!

Fellowship of the Ring/House/My Last Amen

Hola, all my faithful readers! Sorry for taking a while to write again. I'm terrible at writing things often, just take a peek at my diary (DON'T actually do that!) or talk to Dagmar. Either one will confirm my ineptness at frequent writing.
I just started reading Fellowship of the Ring a couple days ago, and I really like it! I've already seen the movies, so it's rather difficult to keep my mind from jumping ahead and thinking about the end or what happens next. I watched the movies first because I tried reading it and listening to some cds of the books, but it didn't make much sense and the cds were hard to follow because of the similarity of voices. Now, the first movie is playing on TV, but Mom says we've been watching too much TV lately, and won't let Rapunzel and me watch it!! AAAARGH!! And I really want to!!! But I did get to see Pippin deliver one of my favorite lines:
"What about breakfast?"
"You already had breakfast!" Strider replies.
"I know, but what about second breakfast?"
"I don't think he knows about second breakfast." says Sam or Merry.
"What about Elevenses? And Lunch? And 4 O'clock Tea, and Supper, and Dinner??"
I just loved Billy Boyd's (Pippin's) accent there, it makes it sound more like 'sickond brickfist'! I love listening to different peoples' accents. Call me weird if ya want.

Okay, now for the house part. Recently, Mom and Dad decided to try to rent or rent-to-own our house to some one, while still trying to sell it. Whichever happens first. We've been flooded with requests to come see the house after we put it up 'for rent by owner' on Craig's List and have been cleaning almost non-stop (I'm getting good at just 'surface cleaning' the house at a moment's notice!). Tomorrow at noon, my parents are meeting with our realtor to talk about something (I'm not allowed to say what at this moment), and we just need prayers that our house will be sold or rent-to-own-ed or something this month! It's been over a year since Dad got the job and we put the house on the market, and he's been working up in Wisconsin during the week and traveling back here for the weekends for a year. So we really need to sell quick, especially because we have our eye on a house up there that would be just about perfect for us.

I've been listening to music off of Downhere's myspace page while I type this. My favorite on there (or one of them, anyway) is 'My Last Amen'. Here're the lyrics, as best as I can get them. The cd it's on isn't released yet, and neither are the lyrics, so I've got to write them down as best as I can, all by myself.

"From the corner of my eye
There’s a tear I’m trying to cry
But the feeling can’t be found
Like a note thrills in a song
When I play it again it’s gone
‘Cause if it’s never been the sound (?)

And it keeps me wanting
That mysterious thing
Like a night is waiting
For a dawn

CHORUS:
Every prayer I say
(A little closer)
To my resting place
(A little closer)

When my final breath is the beginning
To never leaving (?)
And I will find my last amen
My last amen

Vs. 2
I could swear I have two hearts
One to stay, one to depart
This sad tragic kingdom
And it burns me down to the core
Because I know there’s so much more
It’s just a pale reflection

And it keeps me wanting
That mysterious thing
Like an outcast waiting
To be loved

CHORUS:

Aaaah aaaah ooo ooo
And while the thrills are fading (ooo ooo)
The joy is in the waiting
Somewhere in the grand design
It’s good to be unsatisfied
It keeps the faith and hope a little more….
Alive.

Aaaah aaaah aaaah
(Oooooo)
A little closer
(Oooooo)
A little closer
When my final breath is the beginning
To never leading (?)
And I will find my last amen
My last amen
Amen
My last amen
Amen"

I'm not quite sure a couple of the lines are correct. I heard a rumor that this song is downloadable, but the wording made me start to wonder if it's still available. Care to enlighten me, Matt? There's an article about it at www.thefreechristianmusicblog.com, it's the second one down. And even if you don't download it, check it out, it's a cool song. Just get on Downhere's webpage (I have a link to it here on my blog), then at the bottom of that page is a link to their myspace page.

K. is bugging me to "get off the computer!!", so I'd better go now before I get in trouble.
Ta ta for now, friends!
~Kiwifruit