What a CRAZY awesome week (with one exception).
It was pretty much fun with the friends EVERY day until Friday. I'll give a brief rundown of the incredible awesomeness before I go on to the more serious things.
On Monday, there was a lot of rockbanding, during which I did what I do best and wailed on the drums, still unable to play past the medium level unless someone else did the footpedal for me :(. I also got a new song addiction: Move Along by the All-American Rejects. I also watched the best Pixar movie ever. Yes, Wall-E was great but Up is just AMAZING. There was no random, magical ending. The physics of it might not have been perfect (if the house could float with them inside, then how could they anchor it to the ground?), and I was slightly dissatisfied that the Asian boy was portayed as chubby and having very little real-life experience (instead, invested in his books and what they taught). However, it must be noticed that his VA was actually Asian. Baby steps, I guess.
Then there was mooching of free food at the school barbeque, and afterwards the Senior Awards Ceremony, during which both Quail and I were regaled with awards. I got a few that I didn't know existed. A bit shocking, and random parents came up to me afterwards to express their congratulations. EGO BOOST X 1000!
On Tuesday morning was graduation practice, which was not notable in any way. However, it also came with a trip to Raging Waters! It wasn't perfect weather--kind of cold and foggy, which sucks when you're spending the whole day dripping. Still, we managed to make fun our own way while standing in long lines, whether it was by singing "Chickenman" or becoming involved in long, completely pointless discussions. We also almost missed the bus, apparently having gotten the departure time wrong, but we made it :).
Wednesday, of course, was graduation. WAHEY--or not. It was a lot less exciting than it sounds, and a lot shorter-feeling than I expected. I spent the entire time worrying that my cap was sliding off my head before I figured out how to use my tassels to maintain it in horizontal equilibrium on my head. Still, I had to walk extremely slowly to shake the board members' hands, which was kind of embarrassing. Note to the next generation: unless you have a large head, clip your hat to your hair to save yourself a lot of worry. I lost my cap in the tossing afterwards, but I didn't mind because I had taken the tassels off (another note to those of you graduating later).
Immediately afterwards was a trip to the USS Hornet. That would require a blog post all by itself, so I'll just say that it was AWESOME. Except for the tour through the boat. Tip: when there's a party on a boat, no matter how bored you are, don't spring for the tour because it's a waste of your time...you also have to spend a lot of time standing up while your elderly tour guide takes a leisurely break in the only chair. That sucked.
We got back to school at about 4 am, then there was a mini-sleepover, during which an all-nighter was attempted and failed. We slept until 12, then had a productive time planning JAPAN. We're leaving in 8 days ^_^ How exciting is that?
Then all the things I need to do hit me in the face. I gotta start being concerned with finances as far as paying for Japan goes. I've sold books on Half.com and made about 20 bucks (even subtracting the amount I paid to ship), but unfortunately I don't have a checking account and all the money was diverted to my parents--so I pretty much just lost a lot of time spent walking to the post office and spent 10 bucks out of my own pocket.
I also really need my license, but haven't gotten the insurance papers today in time for my test tomorrow. I also don't even know if I CAN take the test tomorrow because I may need to work. Lifeguarding, which I planned to do in order to earn the money I need for Japan, turns out not to be as reliable as I had hoped. With the two weeks' leave for Japan, I haven't received constant hours yet, a fact that my dad saw fit to lecture me on last night.
Talk about your pointless lectures. I don't even know what he was trying to tell me. He was pissed about the lack of a definite plan. I get that. But I offered to cancel Japan (did not LIKE it, but if I had really needed to I guess I would have) and he got even madder. When y'all become parents in the future, before giving your kid (or charge, because I am no longer a kid!) a huge lecture, PLEASE have an idea of what the hell you're trying to tell them and don't drag out the lecture while you're trying to figure it out yourself. And especially don't repeat yourself 20 times and keep cutting off the other person when they try to repeat themselves to hammer it through your thick skull. Also, when they stop talking, it's not because you're right (so PLEASE don't feel like you are), but because they are SICK and TIRED of you not listening to what they're trying to say and have just given up on you. Because, seriously, repeating your point does not make it right and will not change the "facts" that you are hung up on.
Sorry about the rant there, but I'm pretty sure a lot of you with occasionally unreasonable parents will understand. But I'm not condoning precociousness and impudence on the Eyrie here, because your parents are your parents, and no matter how much you hate them at times, they did pay about a million bucks to raise you by the time you're 18. That's a million bucks they could have spent on themselves. So...note to self, don't begrudge $20 going to their bank account, earned by selling books that they paid for.
Once again, countdown to Japan: 8 days!
