Of History Fairs and Life Lessons

Friday we embarked on a quest for fame, fortune, and the chance to win title of first or second place in the state history fair competition. My brother and I had entered a documentary on the topic of The Gamma Knife procedure, a very fascinating subject if one would take the time to learn about it. Unfortunately the date of the regional history fair was right before the date of a charity 5k race that my club was hosting to raise money to build a church in Southern Sudan. (www.studentsforsudan.org, check it out) Anyways, we had our minds preoccupied on the race, and therefore could not create the best of documentaries. Sam and I went into the history fair expecting the inevitable, and received no less. Out of five we got fourth, and only 1st, 2nd and 3rd were allowed to move on to the State History Fair. After the race was over, we were contacted and told that by default, we had placed 2nd, and were now going to move on to the state competition. Not unlike the charge of the light brigade, we charged into the valley of death with our project that, only by default, had made it to the State. We worked vigorously, interviewing, writing, reading and studying our subject. We had been cheated of our chance to win once, and would not chance it again. After hours of work, we packed our bags and left for Nashville on Friday. We spent the night at my cousins house, and taught her how to make bombs. The next day we went to the senate building, and waited for our turn to present our documentary. After a few hours we walked in, presented it, answered questions and were out in twenty minutes. We waited for a few more hours until the winners that would go to the next round were announced. We scanned the screen diligently, seeking for our name, but it was nowhere to be found. After all that, we did not place. We were not bothered however, because there is always a reason for what happens. Thats why I have a club that helps the people in Sudan, because I lost a history fair contest, and wanted to tell people about the Christians over there. So even though a loss can mean not going on in a contest, or missing out on something, or not seeing someone again, God can use that as leverage to do something great. Like me being able to have enough time to go back home and attend a birthday party:) The party was fun, and I felt like I was going to throw up more than once. We played a strange version of hockey on a tennis court, where I got a large bruise, and made a kid bleed. After that we went inside and tried to find more food and a place to sleep. I, having the kind of luck I do, wound up sleeping on a small sofa where my legs hung off the end. But I rested very well, and long into the morning, because my friends church starts at 10:30. We ate a breakfast of pancakes, and then I went back to sleep. Then I had to get dressed, did so, and went back to sleep. Eventually we had to leave for church, so reluctantly I rose from my comfortable yet small sofa, and got in the car. And here I am, writing my blog so that you may read it.

Natural Disasters In Your Own Backyard

Today I awoke as usual with my mother ripping the blankets from my comfortably warm body, exposing me to the fan-cooled room. In my defense, I tried very hard to get up out of bed. But as you all know, it was very difficult, and proved fruitless. As I lay there, another blanket properly applied, I slowly drifted back into the world of dreams. And then BAM, like a whirlwind there she is, my mother standing over me with the blanket once again in her hand. As she strode from the room, I knew I must now get up. The first two wake-up calls were "nice". The next one would involve a large glass of cold water. So I crept from my bed and went to recline on the couch. Now some of you may wonder how I do this on a school day. Well, for one, my mother is trying to break this habit of mine, and has so far done a splendid job. I used to rise much later. But the reason I can "rest my eyes" for a bit longer is because I am homeschooled. I lay there on the couch for some time, and then finally, for the last time, was risen, commanded to wake up and start my day. So I did just that. Cleaning and history fair work until 11, when I prepared to get hassled by children at my job, as I have previously mentioned. On the way there we passed our neighbor, and elderly lady, holding her hips down watching her fire. This amused us because it brought back funny memories. The last time she burnt garbage, she also trimmed her grass all at once. Now before you say "how terrible that you poke fun at an older woman because her fire got out of hand and could have nearly killed her!" let me tell you the story. Now when "granny" burns trash, she burns TRASH. I don't mean wood, sticks, leaves and grass clippings. I mean all out trash. Bags, cans, old food, she burns it ALL. So anyways, my brother is in the yard playing football, when he sees smoke. Not unlikely in redneck county, but he goes to investigate just the same. So theres the fire pile in all its glory, burning everything but what was on it. In the midst was the elderly woman of whom I spoke, beating the flames as if fanning them would cause them to extinguish. As we all know, this caused them to rise all the more, and it didn't help much that this was mid-summer, during a drought. So Sam runs yelling from the scene, alerting the entire neighborhood of the dilemma. As God would have it, it was a Saturday, and my father and I were out by the pool. Hearing the cries of desperation, we told my mother to call the fire department, and decided to rush over and help. Thoughts of Indiana Jones and James Bond rushed through my mind at we beat repeatedly at the fire with shovels, as it started to consume the trees and bushes. Soon we heard sirens, and in the next few seconds we were working alongside firemen in full uniform while we stood in our swim wear. To create an even greater memory, my little brother rushes out to help wielding a rake. What a rake would do to prevent the fire from spreading is still a mystery to this day. Soon we had our forest fire under control, and were coughing up our lungs. To top it all off, poor Granny was charged a fine. To this day she has not lit a fire without watching it all the way through. Because who wants to pay a fine for burning trash and having your neighbors beat your bushes? Though some of you doubt this is funny, it was one of those moments when you had to be there. Although for all the trouble she gave us some money, and I have always been able to bring that up to top any of my friends vigilante stories. Now that that tale is done, I can finish my day. Anyway, at work I was once again bombarded by dodgeballs, but this time only because the kids had terrible aim at the basketball goal. The children were few and far between today, but I did get to read a great deal of my book. And discover that the CD player does NOT play DVD's, no matter if you DID just burn songs to it. At the end of my shift my mother and sister arrived, and Allison and I practiced our swing dancing routine for the variety show. Not TALENT show, VARIETY show. Because a talent show requires that the performers have talent. Something which all us at the YMCA homeschool program lack. We do look pretty good though, if I do say so myself. After that we drove home, and I got on here to share my adventures with all of you. The end.

Monday.

Monday. The beginning of the task force week. The beginning of the school week. The beginning of the so-much-to-do-yet-so-little-time-in-which-to-do-it week. Mine passed uneventfully enough. I went to work at the YMCA, where I am priviledged to watch small children scamper around and have fun. Most fun of which consists of throwing balls at my head. Then laughing. Then doing it again. A great hit among six year olds. Anywho, I cleaned the inside playground for awhile, continuously thanking God that the kids were potty trained, and after that rushed off to take a drug and alcohol awareness class in order to recieve my drivers liscence. Let me tell you, I learned more about booze in one hour than I've heard in a lifetime. I now know how much gets you loopy, crazy, drunk and dead. Good to know. I guess. But it doesn.t matter, because I passed the quiz, and in two days time will be the proud bearer of a brand new, shiny, plasticy drivers liscence, which will most likely have a terrible picture, leaving me to ponder for the next few years: "Why did I smile like that??"

Hi, I'm New Here....

Ok, I'm new at this. Hi my name is Adam, and I am going to write about my life. To some this would seem a pretty lame subject for a blog. Well, my life is pretty cool sometimes, so I'm going to write about it. Thats all for now.