Hasta La Vista, Baby

I'm going on vacation for a few days, 

but I'll be back.

Third Grade Potty Humor

     We went to Pei Wei and got fortune cookies after our meal.   We read our fortunes out loud and added the prepositional phrase ". . . in the bathroom" after each one.  The one in the picture would then read, "A lifetime of happiness lies ahead of you in the bathroom."   You've got to try it.  It's hilarious.  

Breakfast Haiku

     The eggs were fluffy,

the bacon was crispy, and

I wish you were here.

These Aren't "Pictures to Burn"

     Yep, I went to Taylor Swift's concert last night.  It was really, really good.  At the beginning of the concert, you could text a message to Verizon and it would show up on the three screens near the stage. You probably can't see the picture very well, but the screen says, "McKenna Lindsey is at Taylor Swift's concert.  WOW."  

     Before Taylor sang, a band called Gloriana sang. They were really good, too.  Then American Idol Finalist, Kellie Pickler sang.  She was energetic, fun, and really gracious.

     My favorite songs that Taylor performed were, "You Belong With Me" and "Change."  She even sang a song right in our section.  She walked right by me! I'll never forget last night.

Just Got Back . . .

. . . from my first concert.  It was truly awesome.

My Mom is a Computer Hog

     For Mother's Day, my mom got a new, green nano-chromatic from my dad.  On the back, it is inscribed with her name and "Happy Mother's Day." She absolutely loves it. Her favorite feature of her nano is being able to download pictures on it.  She watches the slideshow of all her pictures at least once every day.  I missed blogging last night because I was too busy watching Kris Allen win on American Idol and then because my mom wouldn't get off the computer.  She was loading all of her songs like "Hey Leonardo" by Blessid [sic] Union of Souls, "Save it for Later" by The English Beat, and "Smooth Criminal" by Alien Ant Farm.  Now she's like one of us. She's addicted. 

For My Momma

     Today I finished the bag that I have been working on for my mom.  I had originally planned it to be a Mother's Day present, but it took longer to make than I had hoped.  My mom absolutely loves it. Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Are You Too Kitchen to Answer?

     Okay, none of you left comments for the desk lamp brainteaser.  I know that at least three of you saw that post.  If you still want to leave a comment because you think you know the answer, then read no more and leave a comment now.

     This is the answer:

You turn the first light switch on.  You wait about 15 minutes, then turn the second light switch on.  When I take you into the room, you look at the lamps.  The lamp that is off corresponds to the third light switch.  Then check the bulbs of the other two lamps.  The one that gives off the most heat corresponds to the first light switch and the other the second light switch.

     

Not that hard, huh?

Happy B-day, Mark!

     This is my Uncle Mark, and today's his birthday. He is the family comedian and a little crazy.  (Not asylum crazy, just funny crazy.)  He absolutely hates Stanford because he's a Cal Berkeley fan, so we got him a Stanford hat and shirt two Christmases ago.  He loves Hot Tamales, runs marathons, makes songs about broccoli, and says, "chicken" instead of "kitchen." He always provides the prime rib, which he names Bob, for our family get-togethers.  We sent his birthday card along with a Fleming's gift card yesterday.  I hope you like it, Mark! 

Farm Fresh

     We went peach picking earlier today.  My family and I picked two boxes of peaches, and they are delicious.  I tried one there, and they were sooooo juicy.  My palms were covered in peach fuzz and sticky with peach juice.  The day was not as nice as yesterday when we went swimming.  Today was sooooo hot, except on the hay ride.  The breeze felt very nice.  

     After we bought all of our peaches, my family and I went to an organic restaurant.  The restaurant gets all of their vegetables and fruits from a farm a block away.  My favorite was the pickles because they were fresh.  They tasted like they were pickled yesterday.

Sunset Swim

     After school, I went swimming with my sister and my mom. We had a lot of fun, but I wished my mom would swim too. She just read Atlas Shrugged instead. The day was perfect for swimming.  It was 100 degrees outside, but it didn't feel that hot when you were in the water.  I wish every day was like that.

     My dad came after work with pizza and chicken wings.  My sister and I ate almost all the pizza. The food was sooooo satisfying.  The night became chillier, and the warmth of the car felt good. Summer has begun.

You Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone

     This is where I used to live, and I miss it a lot.  I mostly miss my friends, and believe it or not, I kind of miss my old private school.  Sometimes I want to go back and live there again, but my family and I are better off here.  My dad has a better job, I have my own room, and it's a nicer city.  I hope I get to visit there again sometime.

I Am Wielding a Knife

     I made a pita bread sandwich tonight for dinner. I got the recipe at Trader Joe's, and it was delicious.  It is made of ham, romaine lettuce, cucumber, Tzatziki garlic dip, and feta cheese. I also had a couple of cookies made from Australian ginger called Gingeroos. I absolutely loved them.

     Later, I went to an Assault Prevention and Preparedness Training Seminar.  I felt nervous, but I was glad that I learned how to avoid dangerous situations and protect myself.  Learning about the concealed weapons was kind of cool.  The whole evening made me wish I had super powers like summoning swarms of bees, or the power to fly, or super human strength, or fire breath.  I don't think pita power is going to cut it.

Little Bit of Logic

     You are in a room with three light switches.  In the next room, there are three lamps.  There is a closed door between the two rooms that you cannot open.  You need to figure out which switch turns on which lamp.  The switches are all in the off position, and there are no windows. In thirty minutes, I'll bring you from the first room to the second room, and you'll have to tell me which switch turns on which lamp.  How will you solve this brainteaser?  Leave me a comment if you think you know the answer.  No cheating because you'll lose the satisfaction of figuring it out yourself.  Stay tuned for the answer.  Good luck!

I Can Pretend

     It may look like I'm on vacation in Panama, in a kind of dream land, but I'm not.  I'm actually on a three story observatory right in my neighborhood. I've just finished a tennis lesson and a yoga class tonight. The photograph was taken on my mom's cell phone, and it has been antiqued and softened to make it look like I'm in a tropical paradise.  The tropical jungle makes for a better story especially since I've never even left the continent.

Happy Mother's Day!

     Last night my family and I went to a ball game. The home team lost 1-2 and left over a dozen guys on base.  But on the bright side, my mom packed two of these snack packs full of some of our favorite snacks.  (In the upper right hand corner, you can see some mini meringues.)  These were gone before the third inning.  I'm sooooo glad that my mom does these things for us. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  And Happy Mother's Day to all motherly women!

Aunt Wendy

      This is my Aunt Wendy.  She lives far away from us and only comes to visit us twice a year.  We can't wait for her to come this year.  She is a linguistics professor at a university.  She laughs at nearly everything we do or say, and she never yells or ignores us.  She'll play board games like Monopoly and The Game of Life for hours if we ask her to.  She runs marathons, snowboards, is a terrible bowler, is an awesome gift giver, and she's just sooooo pretty.

Teensy-Weensy Treat

     Today I went to Trader Joe's.  We were in desperate need of some soy corn dogs and almond milk. But we got side tracked.  I asked my mom what meringues taste like.  She was going to buy the big ones that take about three bites to eat when she saw these little ones.  We bought them and my mom said that they taste much better than the big ones.

     Have you noticed that everything tastes better when it's minified?  Meringues, M&M's, grapes, blueberry pies, Snickers, marshmallows, currants. Maybe it's because they're cuter.

Top Ten Jobs That I Will Never Have (Ever)

1)  Football Player

2)  Fish Gutter

3)  Astronaut

4)  Roughneck

5)  High Rise Window Washer

6)  Rodeo Clown

7)  Boxer

8)  Butcher

9)  Roller Coaster Tester

10) Police Officer/Parole Officer

Top Ten Jobs That I Want

Note: These are not in any order at all.  They are random.

 1) Baker

 2) Chef

 3) Marine Biologist

 4) Blogger

 5) Writer

 6) Cellist

 7) Flutist

 8) Pianist

 9) Teacher

10) Artist

My Sweet Far Wish

***Spoiler Alert***

      Yesterday, I finished The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray.  It is the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels.  This book was really good but depressing and disappointing in the end.  Once I finished it, I couldn't get it out of my mind.  I reread parts of it, talked to my mom, my dad, and my friend about it, and wrote about it.  One of my favorite characters, Kartik, sacrifices himself to save Gemma.  I think that this was unnecessary.

     The rest of the book was really good.  I loved the climax because it was sooooo suspenseful. I wish Bray would write a sequel to this book.  I would call it a tri-quel.  

    

Like the Swine Flu

    

     Master of the house, keeper of the zoo,

Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two,

Watering the wine, making up the weight,

Pickin' up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight!

It's sooooo catchy.

Eye Candy

     I took my mom's digital SLR, a Nikon D80, out today to take some pictures of my front yard. The three flowers that I took pictures of are my favorites: ice plants, boughanvilla, and lantana. My mom's camera is sooooo much better than my wimpy, automatic, digital Canon camera.  I mean, I love my camera, but I wish it could do more.  Plus my camera makes my shots look "noisy." I'm glad I know what that means.  If you want to know too, click here.

Quite Contrary

***Picture Taken by Me***

     This is my cactus that is in our front courtyard garden.  When we first moved into our house, my parents each let us pick one out.  My sister, my brother, and I picked out a Bunny Ear Cactus, a Beaver Tail Cactus, and a Golden Barrel Cactus, respectively.  My sister's cactus grew a lot and bloomed white flowers, and my brother's cactus grew and bloomed tons of pink flowers. But mine? Nope. Didn't do squat.  Mine didn't bloom or grow, in fact, it actually looks a bit smaller than when we bought it at Lowe's.  But I still love it.

Early Influences

**Picture Not Taken by Me**

     This is my old preschool, The Dodge Nature Center in Minnesota.  It has a farm with chickens, horses, goats, and sheep.  Sadly, no cows. But I love this place, even though I haven't been there in years. The teachers would take us around the farm to see all the animals.  And when it was snowing, we would have a field trip to the forest.  We learned how syrup is made from sap.  I wish I could be little again and go back there.  Maybe it's because I love this place so much that I really like farms and animals.