Why does Vacation Bible School exist, other than to act like a baby sitter for parent’s and as a way to gain service hours for the group ‘leaders.’

I was lucky enough to get the title of the head of music this year. I have no idea if this means that I will be able to man the classes on my own, or if I will have to do the classes with the two blind elderly ladies again (I am not making this up).

Last year it was a fiesta theme (Ironically funny because I am Mexican) and this year it is cowboy themed. Could we move a little bit further northeast from the Mexico/Texas border?

If the songs are not bad enough as they are, they have motions. I have to know these motions and teach them to kids ranging in age from three to twelve. What twelve-year-old actually wants to partake in a VBS program? None that I know of.

I think the worst part is that the songs are actually kind of catchy. A year later I catch myself humming, whistling, or singing the songs from last year’s VBS. I want to smack myself.

This year we get to thing to these rousing tunes:

1. Wild Ride!

2. The Great Adventure

3. This Is The Day (Psalm 118:24)

4. Forever

5. God Is Good (All the Time)

6. Worship You Forever

7. Praise The Lord (Psalm 150:6)

8. You Are My All in All

9. Awesome God

10. Were You There

Yahoo…

Labels: bible, school, vacation

Remind me never to let my father out of the house without supervision.

There's these religious nuns that my family is pretty close with. My dad had to go over to their house to take care of some issues with their car. They nailed him about his health, my mom's health, their smoking, and my weight.

I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. It makes me put on weight, and makes the weight really, really really hard to get off. More or less along the lines of a half a pound a week with dieting and exercising. It's one of those deals that even if I tried harder than anyone on the face of the planet, I would never be able to be smaller than a size 12.

The nuns are from Nigeria, so their boundaries are a little different. They've decided to take matters into their own hands, and now I will be working out with them.

The other option is a small state-of-the-art gym that does not have any personnel at the location (You get in with a card key). This basically means that I will not be bothered by anyone and that I can work at my own pace.

I'm going with option B.

I swear to God that my life is a sitcom and I don't know it.

Labels: diet, family, nuns, weird

Over the last few months, two new families have moved into houses on our street. I live on a dead end with four houses on each side of the street, so two of the eight houses have new people in them.

Now, this may not be a problem for many people, but I dislike new people (and change in general) so I'm too happy about it.

I also have several, for lack of a better word, quirks, that take people a while to get used it.

First of all, I tend to sing. Loudly. I usually don't realize I'm singing loudly, but my parents have told me that I sing so loud that the people can hear me down the block even if we don't have our windows open.

No one has complained about it. Quite the contrary, actually. I've gotten complements on my singing abilities. Florida is quite the strange place, eh?

The newest family has moved across the street from us. They have two children under the age of 10 and no animals. They moved in yesterday. I think they're Hispanic as well. Or at least mixed Hispanic/White (I didn't hear an accent in the wife's voice).

I don't really care, because I'm mixed Hispanic/White myself.

All I really know about the family is that they have two kids, the daughter's name is Sierra, the husband's name is Diego, and that they are renting the house with the option to buy.

Another family moved in about a month ago at the end of the block. I'm not quite sure who lives there. From what I've heard they're a young couple with a little girl. They always seem to have people over, and I've heard them speak Spanish before.

This is going to be an interesting summer.

Labels: families, neighbor, neighborhood, new

Actually, school was out for summer last week, but I haven't gotten around to blogging about it. I managed to end the school year with a 4.2 average for the first semester and a 4.0 average for the second semester. Don't ask me how I did it, God knows I don't pay attention.

There's not too much I've got to do this summer. I am working for my dad at U-Haul. I'm not on the payroll because I'm too young to work there, but my dad is going to pay me $60 a week if I do my job correctly. This includes filing, ringing up customers, cleaning trucks, cleaning storage units, and cleaning the parking lot. How fun.

I really shouldn't complain, it is money coming to me. The best part is that I can spend the money however I want. And $60 is enough to buy video games. So it's not all bad.

Another thing I have to do this summer is work at a Vacation Bible School. I get to teach songs to kids from 3-12 for three hours a day. I am really thankful that it is only two weeks and that it's indoors and it gets all of my volunteer hours in for school.

Labels: Catholic, school, summer, vacation, VBS, work

Today, my friend's dad found out he was getting fired after working as an English teacher, stage manager, drama teacher, and stagecraft teacher for years.

They really didn't need to fire him. He's a great teacher and the majority of the student body really likes him.

We got a new principal at the beginning of the year. She has taken it upon herself to review each teacher and decided whether to keep them or fire them. Most of my favorite teachers have no idea if they are going to be rehired next year, and most of the teachers that really can't teach have still have a spot in the school. So far this year she's gotten rid of three teachers and two staff members. We only have about 30 teachers and staff members at the school.

The principal has also made some other unnecessary changes. She has a set number of service projects that the school can undertake (It's a Catholic school!) and it takes forever for a teacher to meet with her (One of my teachers had to make a meeting one month in advance). I've seen her only a handful of times, but she has made such an impact on the school.

A lot of people are upset, and I have no idea if there is

My friends, this is the hidden agenda of Catholic schools.

Labels: agenda, school

I know I've been neglecting my blog. I'm going to put the blame on school, although laziness has gotten in the way as well. I wonder if Blogger is blocked at school (I have the most free time there, oddly enough).

Well, the big news is that the school year is starting to wind down and come to a close. I hate to say, but I am going to miss being a freshman. I know that's a little weird, but becoming a Sophomore means that I am one stop closer to graduation and leaving everything I know behind to go to college and start a real life. I would really like to be a kid forever, but sadly that isn't going to happen.

Blah, enough with the sentimental crap. Onward!

I turned in the paper saying what I want to take next year. I was looking forward to having at least one elective, but I am once again bogged down with courses. At the beginning of the year, the school administration said that if we tested out of a course, then we would get the credit. That didn't happen, so I am stuck taking another three years of science and another year of Spanish. I like both classes well enough, but if I had known what I know now, I wouldn't have tested out of it and I would have just taken the easy courses.

Now, these are the classes I am going to be taking:

Spanish III Honors
English II Honors
Global Studies Honors
Chemistry Honors
Prayer and Spirituality
(Some other religion class I can't remember)
HOPE (PE and health combined)
Geometry Honors

Why the hell am I going for honors courses? I don't have a clue. I hate work.

Hopefully I won't drop off the face of the earth anytime soon.

--Kaitlin

Apparently I pulled an arm muscle picking up my backpack today. I started having chest pains about 9 this morning. I knew it was something funny because it only hurt down the breast bone and under my right breast. Believe me, for a while there it hurt so much I couldn't concentrate. (And this does not give you the right to visualize!)

I went to the office a little after 11. Yea, that was also fun. First I got lectured by the secretary (She doubles as the nurse. Ya know, with all the money they make from tuition, you would think they could hire a nurse and have an actual clinic.) about having GERD (I was diagnosed when I little) and not taking care of myself. She thought it was indigestion. But I knew it was not. Indigestion doesn't last for hours, or at least not for me.

So after about 15 minutes of her going on and me sitting and nodding like I didn't know this information, she finally called my dad. My dad was busy at work so he sent a coworker to come and pick me up.

It took said coworker an hour and a half for a twenty minute drive.

So, in the meantime I sat in a room off of the main office. I finished reading The Pearl for English and scared a delivery person when he spotted me (Come on, the lights were on, for Peat's sake!).

When he finally showed up, the coworker took me to the house that I live in (He's also a family friend) and dropped me off at a little before 2.

How do I know that it is muscle strain? I just went to put a night gown on (Yes, night gown) and when I lifted my one arm over my head it felt like someone punched me in the chest. I'm still trying to catch my breath.

I hate Wednesdays.