Christmas and all that Jazz

Hello!!

To start things off, I hope you have had a great holiday so far. (: I know I have. Haha.

How was Christmas for you? Mine was pretty good. I got a lot of stuff that I wanted. It’s kind of made me more of a hermit than I used to be, because I got seasons of Ghost Hunters, so for the most of today I’ve sat somewhere just watching Ghost Hunters. It’s pretty awesome.

I went to a couple Boxing Day Sales. Let’s just say, they weren’t as busy as I expected. In fact, it’s busier on a Sunday afternoon than it was this morning. Haha. Anywho, I got some neat patches, so I’m pretty happy. They didn’t stick too well after a while, but my mom got them to. She’s awesome like that. (:

In other news, I finally got my Starbucks Vanilla Latte I wanted. Yay!! I’ve been craving one for about two or three weeks, and my dad finally caved and took me there. While I was there, something weird happened though. I was standing in line, and my sister was behind me, a little spaced out. There was no one near my back, as I was standing kind of sideways in line. I suddenly felt a sharp jab-type poke in my shoulderblade. I asked my sister if it was her, but she said no, as she was a little spaced out. I tried to recreate it, and the only way I could was to poke myself. It was odd. It could’ve been a really odd muscle spasm, but I’ve never had a muscle spasm like that in my life, so I don’t know. It was odd and cool, definitely set the mood for the rest of my day.

As I said earlier, I’ve been a hermit for today, pretty much chilling in my bedroom watching Ghost Hunters. When it got dark out, my family got the idea that it would be fun to try and scare me. Needless to say, it didn’t work too well; I had stopped the show and watched them. They didn’t realize I knew what they were doing.  There was scratching and banging on the walls, people running by my door, people flailing limbs in my doorway, among other things. It was hilarious. However, as I went back to watching my show, I realized how dark it actually was, and how freaked out I was getting. So I turned on my lamp. Haha.

As for the news, I haven’t really been paying much attention, because I’ve been so hyped up for Christmas. Haha. However, I noticed that right before Christmas, there were quite a few fires. It was kind of sad, because these people may have been celebrating Christmas, but had to deal with a burnt house two or three days prior.

I can’t believe I’m having writer’s block right now, while just trying to talk about my week. To be honest, my week was very dull. However, I did go on a baking craze. This was my baking schedule:

Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Cookies with m&ms in them.

Wednesday: Shortbread and Hot Cocoa cookies.

Thursday: Sugar Cookies and brownies.

Saturday: Pie filling for my mom’s pie crusts.

Guess how much of the stuff was eaten?? BARELY ANY. I put in all that effort, and there’s still a ton of it left. Haha. Except for the pie; everyone eats the pie. Oh well, what are you going to do, right?

Anyway,

I hate having such a “short” blog post (short compared to my others, haha), but I can’t think of anything else to talk about.

Have a great holiday season!!

Stay safe!!

Eat all the leftovers!!

Smile!!

-Jenn

P.S. Do something thoughtful and random this season. (:

Too Much School..

...Okay, maybe not this week exactly.

So in my previous blog post I went on about the power going out in the movie theatre. It's really funny because right when I was going to post the blog post, our power went out for about five minutes. Luckily, I hadn't pressed any buttons so my work was still on the page. When the power went on, I his "Publish" and it was all good. Haha.

So, that night, the winter storm kept me awake all night, with the wind blowing past my window. It was really loud, and woke me up at the worst times. I hated it. I got up around 5:30 AM, because I couldn't sleep anymore. My sister grabbed the computer and checked buses. They ended up being cancelled. My parents kept us home from school.

Sweet!! Long weekend!!!

At least, that's what I thought on Monday. Sure, I got an extended weekend, and it was awesome. I loved it, after I got over missing a day that I thought I needed. Turns out, I missed pretty much nothing. Whoo!! However, they really should've closed the schools because it was way too dangerous to be driving, but whatever.

One of the worst things I've ever woken up to reading as a text: The County is under a state of emergency. That's how my Tuesday started at 5 or 5:30 AM. Again with the early morning. Yaay... I got up around 6 AM to see if buses were cancelled, as I would have had band at 7 AM. They cancelled the buses again. I looked up this state of emergency, and found out it was because of the amount of cars stranded on the major highway. So I went on Twitter and proceeded to rant about how it's not safe, and they should close the schools. While I was ranting, I periodically checked the bus cancellation website. Turns out, they closed the schools during my rant. I made it seem like I closed the schools single-handedly via twitter. Haha. It was fun. However, I was worried too, because the State of Emergency meant that the county would be calling in the military to help. Someone like me would think it's amazing and terrifying to see the military coming to our little town, where it's never happened in my thirteen years of living here that I remember. I was also sick and tired of being at home, because we were literally snowed in through our back door, and it was really hard to get out the front door. I think our back door is still frozen shut right now and it's Friday. Huh. I felt better about staying home Tuesday because the schools were legitimately closed. My dad had signed up for the one-month free Netflix deal, so we watched Paranormal State for part of the day. Yay!!

Wednesday rolls around, and I still wake up around 5:30 AM. It was killing me to wake up this early. My sister walks in my room and says, "Buses are cancelled again". I grunted, then asked if we could go to school, in my 3/4 asleep mode so it sounded more like, "CanI gahooo too sschooolllll...??" My parents said yes, and I was overjoyed. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm one of those people who can't stand being stuck in one place too long. Yaaay. Haha. I had been in the house four days straight and I wanted OUT. I went to school, and it turned out practically no one was there. Again. Oh well.

Thursday was interesting. It was the only "normal" day of the week. But it really wasn't normal for the week, because two days the buses were cancelled, one day school was closed, and the other was a half day. But whatever. Most everyone was there, but we still didn't do much. The awards assembly was cancelled, and the concert for Wednesday night was cancelled, so my week was just torn apart and ruined. I think I'm still picking up the pieces of the plans I had made for the week. Haha.

Thursday was also interesting because it was the only morning I "slept in". I got up around 6:15 AM. That's sleeping in for me on a Thursday, but really sleeping in for this week.

Today, Friday, went as usual, meaning I woke up at 5 AM. But this time, I stayed in bed until 6:15 AM ish. I went to school, learned nothing because the day was a write-off, and came home at noon, because of shortened classes. I proceeded to pass out on the couch for a bit, because of my ridiculously early mornings throughout the week. I was done with that. Now watch, tomorrow I'll be awake at 4:30 AM. Yeeesh...

I also learned something really interesting this week:

Okay, a couple of things:

1. When you don't get enough sleep, you do really stupid things.
2. While not getting enough sleep, you may try to drink soap.

I know both of these because I did a bunch of stupid things this week, and yes, I almost drank soap. I was getting a drink of water from the tap in a little paper cup, and almost grabbed the soap pump to fill my cup up. I stopped myself in time though, thank God. That night, however, I was washing my face and somehow managed to get a handful of bubbles in my mouth. I spat them out, thinking how nasty my mouth was going to taste. The soap I was using was vanilla soap, by the way. I thought it was just perfumed that way. No. It literally tastes like vanilla. I really wish I didn't know that, but I do, so that's interesting. Haha.

I'm a little worried for this weekend, just because of the state of mind I've been in this weekend. Seriously, right now, as I'm typing this, I'm thinking about squirrels. Yeah... I need more sleep in my life.

I'm so excited.

It's almost a week until Christmas!! Right now, I'm sitting in my room, typing this and listening to Christmas carols with only the Christmas lights on that are hanging in my room. They're purple. (: I'm also wearing a Santa hat. I'm so excited.

It's such a great holiday, because I get to spend that one day with my family, and everyone is there for dinner, and it's just a fun day. We are a pretty close family, and have a lot of family dinners, but Christmas dinner is always just so special. I love it. I love the feeling in the air, and having the Christmas carols playing in the background with the Christmas lights on all day. Oh yeah, the presents are pretty awesome, too. (:

Oh yeah.

Today was a half day at school because we have a two-week break ahead, starting Monday!! I'm so happy. It's going to be awesome. I don't know what I'm doing over break, but it will be fun. :D

Ever heard of www.xkcd.com ?? Yeah, I only heard of it a couple of days ago, thanks to Karl Pfeiffer from Twitter (@KarlPfeiffer). I'm hooked on it. It's funny. A bit of it I don't get, but for the most part, it's pretty funny. Or insightful. :)

Anyway, I need to rev up some more Christmas spirit into my family, if we can get any more Christmas spirit into this family we have so much. Have a great week!!

Smile!!

- Jenn

P.S. Don't forget to donate anything people need. (:

P.P.S. There's a daily version of these posts on my Twitter (@Jenn5655). Follow me for all my randomness. Whoo!!

I'm Smiling but I Might Just be Crazy

...Or not. Haha.

Soo....

Right now, there's an epic snowstorm (well, epic for this area anyway) and I'm annoyed at it, but happy at the same time.

ANNOYED because I was supposed to go see Harry Potter with two of my friends. We were sitting in the theatre, waiting for the movie to start. There was only about fifteen minutes to go when Poof!! The screen turns off and these lights on the side came on. We were confused. Finally, my friend Seb said they were emergency lights, so the power must be out. I was thinking, "Greaaaatttt...". It sucked. We sat there for about twenty minutes, then they evacuated us from the theatre into the lobby, where we sat for another ten minutes. then we got refunded and left. It sucked. To top it all off, the winter (fall??) storm got worse. Then it got better when we got home. Don't know why, but now it's worse again. Haha. I don't even know if the power ever came back on, but when we were there it was three hours ago now. I wonder if the power's back on.

It makes me HAPPY because I love snow. I just hope I still have Jazz practice tomorrow or this may be filed under ANNOYING. Haha.

OHMYGOODGRAVY there's THIRTEEN days until Christmas!! I'm so excited. It's such a good day because I get to see family members and there's always just a happy mood in the house.

Hey, so you, the reader, have you donated anything to any cause yet?? There are can drives, toy drives, money donations, etc. 'Tis the season for donating. (: It feels good to donate, because you know you're making another family happy. (: It's a reward in it's own.

In my school, we're currently doing a can drive and a Canadian Tire money drive. If you bring in a certain amount of cans, you will get a donut party in your class, and if you get the most a pizza party, and for the CT money drive, the highest raised class will win a donut party. This is what I ask: Why do you need these incentives to bring food in?? It's a reward knowing you're helping a family who doesn't have much. I've already donated a bunch of stuff and plan on donating more. It's a good feeling. If we win the donut party, cool, but honestly I could care less. (:

I guess what I'm saying is, have we gotten that greedy and selfish that we really need an incentive to do something nice?? I'm not trying to say anything bad here, but I just find it sad that we think we need to get something back for doing something nice. It bothers me.

ANYWAY, on a lighter note, I love caps lock. Haha. No really, on a different note, I'm getting back into Rise Against. They kind of slipped off my radar until someone tweeted about them. I looked around to see if they were on my computer, started listening again and now I can't get enough of them. :D It makes me happy.

So does Christmas music, but how can you not like Christmas music?? Unless it's become super commercial. Haha.

So, on another random note, I have a new stocking this year. It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from the classic claymation movie thing that is epic. :D

Here's the story behind my old stocking:

I used to have a singing Scooby-Doo stocking. It was so cool. And not creepy, remember that. It wasn't creepy when I first got it. A few years after I got it, we had a dog. Dog wasn't happy and there was something wrong with him. He went on a rampage and tore a ton of things apart, including the "not creepy" Scooby stocking. He ripped his singing mouth apart, so when you got him to sing you could see right through into his chips that made him sing. I could lift part of his face off. Scooby stocking is now creepy. Dog went away to another family, and I still had Stocking. This was a couple of years ago, and I still had it up until this year. Stocking could still sing, and scared the crap out of me when it sang. So I threw Stocking out. It made me sad because I love Stocking, but it had to go. So I got Rudolph. Now it is all good. Haha. No more Christmas nightmares. Yay!!

Hmm, what else is there to say that has happened??

Hmmm.... Ooh...

So I'm a drummer, right? I've been playing for over five years, and have been taking lessons for five years, so I'm decent. I had a Christmas party last night, and a couple of my friends were pretty much begging me to go rock out. So I did. They filmed me. This is what happened. Please watch and tell me what you think in the little comment box :D :

http://yfrog.com/28chjz

Yeah, that's a little neat jazz thing I did.

So yeah, that's what I did. There's more, but I don't want to bore you with anymore. Haha. So anyway, we played foosball afterward. NOTE TO ALL OF YOU: If you have a bad wrist, don't play foosball and drum in the same night. You get nasty wrist pain to the point where you can't move your wrist the next day, and then you actually need to take medicine for it. I have wrist pain almost every day, but today was the worst of all. I never usually take any kind of anti-pain, anti-swelling pills, but my mom made me take a strong one because of how much pain I was in. Here's a judgement for you: I could move my wrist without it feeling like someone was jabbing daggers into my bones. Yeah. It was bad. Anyway, this medicine did help, but not too much. As of right now, it hurts a bit to type, but I'm okay. I can actually move it without too much pain, and it's almost back to it's normal pain level. Yay!! Just in time for a Christmas concert!!... Yupp, still hurts to airdrum. Hope I can play the real drums, considering I'm a drummer/percussionist for both Jazz and Senior Band at school. Haha.

Yeah, I'm rambling. A LOT. Whoo. I'm tired, bored, and a little hyper, so I'm just typing a bunch of random crap. Yay!! Anyway. This video I posted is taking a really long time to load. Whoo.

Right now, as I'm typing this, I'm watching The Simpsons. How many time has Fat Tony died? It's got to be quite a few, haha.

Of course, his cousin showed up and wants to kill Homer. No surprise there.

Anyway, so I went to the mall today. I don't like being by myself in public places, okay? Remember that. So I was supposed to meet my two friends I went to the theatre with there. We were supposed to meet in the food court, so I went there. Naturally, I couldn't find them, as the food court is usually super busy. I walked through the mall, getting more and more anxious as I went. I don't like being around strangers or crowds or being alone in public places. Unluckily, I was stuck with all three. I stood, leaning against a pole and had a panic attack. I went to the most familiar place to me in the mall: the bookstore. Silly, right? It made me feel better though. When I left the store, I went back to the food court and found them, thank God. I was still super shaky and scared, but felt better as time passed. Woohoo.

I wonder how long I can keep typing before I run out of things to say, or until you stop reading?? Forget it you've probably already stopped reading. A kangaroo just ate a hippo. Haha, got you. Just made sure you were paying attention. On to other things.

I have a big media project due in the new year, and needed to find evidence to prove my hypothesis. Guess what I had to do?? Watch Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters. Wow, such a shame, eh?? I watched both for about four hours, and found everything I needed. Hooray!!

This video is taking waaay too long to load, haha. Ahh well. I've got water and some chips to have while I'm waiting, whooo. Also, now it's Family Guy on the tv. Cool.

Anyway, back to real life.

This week is the last week of school before Christmas Break, whoo!! I'm so excited, because it's going to be so much fun. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do during those two weeks, but I'm sure it'll be fun.

Have you noticed how much smaller my paragraphs have gotten?? Yeah. It's because I'm running out of things to type, whoo.

Ooh, so anyone else a Paranormal fan?? Anyone like Paranormal State?? Have you read Ryan Buell's book? I'm going to post a review about it......... now:

So, when I first started watching Paranormal State, it scared the crap out of me, then I thought it was kind of hokey. When I heard Ryan was publishing a book, I thought, "Hey, let's read it, and see what he has to say." All I can say is, "WOW". I never looked at Paranormal State the way he decribes it in his book. It's opened my eyes to new possibilities and realities in the world of the Paranormal. It's so scary, but interesting. I have a whole new respect for him and his show. It totally became an actual reality show to me after reading this and seeing exactly how much work is put in, and how much everything affects him and his team. I believe you can't fake things like that. I am a little ashamed to admit the fact that I thought it was hokey because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but now I can say it, because I think it's definetely real now. It's scary to admit that, because of the things it opens up to someone who watches Supernatural and thinks things like demons and other things on the show aren't real. Now, I'm curious about these things, but also kind of terrified. Anyway, anyone who's interested in Paranormal State or the Paranormal in general should check this book out. I give it an A. Four and a half stars out of five for sure. (:

To keep this marathon blog post going while I wait for this video to post, I'm going to talk more about Christmas and giving, because I can't think of anything to post otherwise, but I want to type more. Haha.

So, at Christmastime, we have a bunch of fun making food, giving gifts, recieving gifts, etc. We should always remember to donate food/toys/anything else anyone needs this season. It's a cold season, and some people need jackets, hats, scarves, etc. I'm sure you have something lying around you can donate. If not, donate some money, then they can buy stuff they need. (:

Sorry for being pushy. :D

This is taking way too long. I'm debating whether or not to remove it and just link up my twitter video of it... Hmmm....

Yeah, that's what I'll do. It'll be easier that way. (:

Anyway, the link is up. Please check it out, then comment below. You'd be so awesome if you did that. :D

Anyway, I'm going to go before my power cuts out again. Snowstorms are awesome, but they suck for keeping the power on.


Smile!!

-Jenn

P.S. Thanks for reading this far, if you did. (:

P.P.S. Don't forget to do something(s) for others!!

The Weather Outside is Frightful

As the song goes, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Hello!!

It's been an epic weekend so far.

First, my favourite minor league team won an awesome game last night. It was really active and a really good game. (:

Second, I heard last night that we were supposed to get a pretty active snowstorm. Okay, not really. I mean, it wasn't a snowstorm, but it was pretty crazy. :P

We shoveled the driveway, and when we finished, we turned around to go back up the driveway, only to find the driveway looking the same way it did when we started. I don't mind though. It's terrific because it's our first significant snowfall of the season. (: I'm excited for Christmas now. :D

Third, I have a Christmas party thing to go to tomorrow. Provided the weather lets up so we can drive relatively safely. It's going to be fun. :D

What's not going to be fun is all the projects I have to do, and the tests I need to study for. Whoo hoo. Ahaha.

What are you going to do, right?

I'm in my school's jazz band and senior band and I play percussion for both. For jazz, it's mainly the drumset, but for senior band it's everything, minus the keyboard, xylophone, things like that. For example, for our Christmas concert, I'm playing the timpanies (my loves :P ), the cowbell, the snare and the sleigh bells. I think that's everything, haha. There might be more. I've played tons of instruments over the few years I've been a percussionist, and I've loved almost every one of them. :D

No, my mind track isn't getting distracted, I actually meant to blog about my band experiences, but it did just kind of pop up now. :P

Ooh. So this week, I got new glasses. Well, last Friday, I did. They're bright red. I mean, obnoxiously bright red. I stand out. :P I also got new sunglasses, which came in today. They're pretty nifty. (:

These are my glasses:

Photo from http://images1.opticsplanet.com/640-640/opplanet-d-g-eyeglasses-dd1105-with-no-line-progressive-rx-prescription-lenses-2.jpg

My sunglasses:

Photo from http://www.go-optic.com/SUNGLASSES/IMAGES/0RA5084__666_11.jpg

Yeah, they fit my personality pretty well. :D

Any way, I have to stare at my new purple lights for a while. :P Just kidding. Haha..

Thanks for reading and have a terrific weekend!!

-Jenn

P.S. Don't forget to smile!!

My Adventures at Guelph University

My weekend started out boring. I had just been told I was going to Guelph to check out Guelph University. I packed my bags slowly and complained silently to myself. I was being dragged along because my sister wanted to go. Now we were at the hotel in Guelph.

It was seven o’clock, and I was on the computer. I sat there, working on homework, trying to focus. I shook my head to clear it, but it didn’t work. I looked up and stared at the wall for a while, trying to gather my thoughts. I checked my phone, and realized it was 7:30. I had been trying to focus for half an hour. I put my phone down and looked back at the computer screen. I was determined to get something done. Suddenly, I looked up. Looking around the room, I tried to pinpoint the scratching noise I had heard. When I figured it out, I realized the noise came from the wall beside my parent’s bed. Being the only one paying attention, I listened and stayed silent. I didn’t hear anything else, but I wasn’t disappointed. The noise had scared me, but excited me at the same time. I spent the rest of the night thinking about it.

                Because of it, I had a bad, broken sleep, consisting of only about five and a half hours of sleep. But it was broken into hour or half hour intervals. I kept thinking about the strangeness of sleeping in a hotel, and mostly, about the noise I heard. I was thinking that maybe it was an animal. But if it had been, I would have heard the noise again, not just the once, and would maybe have been able to hear it make its way up the wall. I knew it wasn’t an animal in the other room, because the hotel had a no pet policy. That’s what I was told, anyway. I thought, in my half-asleep brain, that it could have been something paranormal. That set me off for the rest of the night and the next day.

                At about 6:30 A.M., I got up and got onto the computer. The first thing I did was look up the hotel I was staying in to see if there were any claims of hauntings. I couldn’t find anything, so I was a little confused. I shrugged it off, hoping not to worry about it, and proceeded to look up Guelph University to see if it was haunted. There, I wasn’t disappointed. There had been reports of footsteps, and a sighting of someone. I was excited. Maybe I’d experience something after all! I waited impatiently to go to Guelph U to check this out.

                When we got there, it was really cold. Not winter coat cold, but “my hands are going to fall off” cold. So my mom bought me a cappuccino to keep me warm, and awake. I drank that down quickly, and was a little wired. It was boring, to start off with, but when the caffeine kicked in, I was starting to laugh at everything. Yeah, that’s what I do when I have caffeine and am really tired, I laugh. A lot.

                Throughout this entire “IMMA BE UBER CRAZY” state of mind, I was also on the lookout for footsteps or entities. Sadly, there were too many people there to distinguish footsteps or to tell if someone who was there wasn’t supposed to be. That was okay, however, because I was having the time of my life. My mom had bought me a vanilla latte, which lasted me the rest of the tour. Someone would say something to me, and I’d just grin at them. I’m pretty sure I freaked out half of the parents on the tour. They kept looking at me, expecting me to check out the dorms, but I never did. Instead, I tried to figure out why my shoes kept untying themselves. Yeah, that’s what I do when I’m bored, extremely tired and completely wired on caffeine. It’s fun. I kept bugging my mom about it, because I had to stop three times in ten minutes to re-tie my shoes. While doing this, a thought popped into my head. Hey, maybe some ghost is messing with me. I stuck with that for a while. When I woke up the next morning, however, I laughed at my craziness about that. No ghost would spend it’s time untying one of my shoes. Who knows, though, maybe they would, or maybe I was just having really bad luck with my shoes.

                Anyway, when we finished the tour, I still hadn’t found anything paranormal, but that was okay. I still had my latte, and I was still giggling like a maniac. When we got in the car, however, I put my earbuds in, put some music on, and fell fast asleep. That’s my attention span, right there. :P

                So, to this day I still don’t know what that scratching noise was, and I still spend time thinking about it almost every day. Usually when I’m bored. Also, I don’t know if it really was a ghost playing with me, untying my shoe, but I doubt it. I probably wasn’t tying them as tight as I thought I was.

                Anyway, I still have Mount Homework waiting for me.

Smile!!

-Jenn

P.S. If you want to read my ramblings on a daily note, follow me on twitter via @jenn5655.

A Christmas Story

So last year, I had to write a story for English class. I chose to write a Christmas story, because it was near the end of November, and I was in the Christmas mood. I found it today, and wanted to share it with you. (:

A Christmas Story: The Legend of a Christmas Idol

    

William Overly was a very wealthy man. He was plump and jolly looking, with his white hair and beard. A pipe almost always hung from his mouth, and he always seemed to have a smile on his face. William moved to Lauderdale in the summer, and now it was nearing Christmas time, his favourite time of the year. William decorated his house in very vibrant Christmas decorations, in shimmering colours like white, red, and green. At night, his house was the brightest in the town. Actually, his house was the only one decorated. William was surprised. The next morning, William asked his neighbour why the houses weren't decorated. The man replied, his breath coming out in billowy white clouds, “We don’t celebrate Christmas anymore. The spirit’s just kind of… Vanished.” The man waved goodbye before turning back up his driveway and disappearing into his house.

William was confused. How could the spirit of a holiday just be gone? William shook his head, confused and disappointed, and turned back into his house. How could he enjoy his favourite holiday, when the spirit had left this little town?

His worries weighed him down as he sat in his favourite easy chair. He put a pipe in his mouth, puffed a couple of times, and watched the fir in the fireplace. The flames danced across his face, making the creases in his face much darker and more vivid. He scratched his beard and put down his pipe before leaning back in his chair and shutting his eyes.

William had fallen into a deep sleep, and woke into a dream. He was walking down the street, dressed in his favourite winter clothes. He could hear the crunching of snow and could feel the cold flakes as they fell from the sky, muffling the sounds of everything else. Even from a distance, he could hear Christmas carols coming out of all the houses, and he could smell the Christmas baking and cooking. Smiling to himself, he thought this is what it should be like at Christmas.

His eyes flew open as he was pushing his easy chair back into its regular position. That’s what he had to do! He threw off the blanked he had on and jumped out of his chair. He ran to the door, only stopping for his shoes, a coat, and his keys. When he locked the front door, he raced to his truck, started it and drove down to the General Store. He bounced out of his truck and sped to the door, throwing it open. The resounding ding from the bell echoes through the empty store as William strolled up to the cashier and asked, “Where do you keep the decorations for Christmas?”

“’M sorry, we don’t got no Christmas decorations ‘round here no more. We don’t celebrate that there holiday. ‘M sorry, sir,” the man replied in a gruff tone. William sighed, said goodbye, and walked out of the store. He sat in his truck, disappointed. Then an idea hit him. It was only 200 kilometres to Higherton! He knew they had decorations there. William started up his truck, new energy coursing through him, and drove to Higherton.

William got there late at night, so he got a suite at the local hotel, and spent the night. He found it hard to sleep, however, because he was too excited about his plan. Finally, he got to sleep, and woke up the next morning refreshed. He checked out of his room, and got back into his truck. He drove to a department store and bought almost all the decorations he could find. When he had enough to fill his truck, he drove home.

That night, he spread all his purchases across the floor in one of his spacious rooms. He separated it all into piles for his plan. It was easy to do, because there were only thirty or fourty houses in the town. William, satisfied, went to bed, eager for the next night.

When the town bell chimed eight o’clock, William went to work. It was at night, so it was easy for him to move around without being seen. He wore his red jacket with white trim, red snow pants, so if he fell he wouldn’t get wet, and his red snow hat, so his ears wouldn’t be cold. He had received this outfit from his wife one Christmas, before she passed away. He wore it every Christmas since. William went to every house on Christmas Eve, setting up Christmas lights, front yard sceneries, and putting Christmas trees in the front yard, waiting to be decorated. He brought decorations to each house for trees, and decorations for houses. He put turkeys in front of each house, waiting to be cooked, and ingredients for baking Christmas cookies. When he finished, it was nearing dawn, and he ran back into his house, waiting for his neighbours to wake up.

Keeping himself awake with coffee and excitement, William kept watch until his neighbours started to get up on Christmas day. He watched them open their front doors and stare, surprised at the package waiting for them. They walked out of their houses, in their robes and holding a cup of coffee, and stared at their houses. There were gasps of shock and surprise, then gratitude as they all realized, one by one, that today was Christmas, and someone had decorated their houses for the holiday. William smiled to himself.

Later that day, William walked down the street, in his red outfit, holding his cup of coffee, and listened to the snow crunching under his feet, watching the snow fall, muting all the other sounds, except for the Christmas carols that poured out of every house. As he continued his walk, he could smell the turkeys and the turkeys, and grinned. This was Christmas, and no one would forget it for a long time.

So there you go. I wrote this last year, and I'm not completely satisfied with it, but that's okay. Writing it, I remembered why I wrote it. It's because I love Christmas so much, and I would do what William did if I had that kind of money. So enjoy the holidays, and remember, Christmas isn't about what you get, but who you spend it with and that everyone's happy. It's like Thanksgiving in a way: you're spending time with people who you love. (:

Don't forget to smile (:

-Jenn

Blabs about Anything

So it hasn't quite been a week since I last posted, but I felt like posting. Whoo.

Hmmm... Where to start...

Ooh.

I have issues with people. If I spend too much time in a crowd, I start to get twitchy and panicky. Usually, I can last about twenty minutes before the twitching starts. For school, I can last all day, usually, without freaking out.

My entire weekend was filled with people. Strangers, mostly. On Friday, I went to a lighting ceremony for the city, and there were people in front of me, beside me, behind me, brushing past me, and elbowing me. I was on the edge of the crowd, too. So after Santa showed up and turned on the lights, my dad led us out of the crowd and into the lights. While we're walking, there are groups of people behind us and in front of us. At this point, I'm wringing my hands and glancing around a lot, as if looking for an escape. Well, actually, I was. I needed to get away from everyone. So my sister asked me what was wrong, and all I said was that I needed to get away. She looked at my dad and told him that. He led us away from the crowds. Thank God. I calmed down before we got to the car and was fine. The lights were pretty cool, too. After I noticed them when I calmed down. :P

Saturday, I was helping out at a usual place I helped out. They were holding a bazaar/café thing, and I was running the café side. For half of the time, I had help. But that didn't stop the flow of people. I couldn't move around, and at one point, I was trapped in the kitchen where I was making coffee. I didn't like that. I started pacing a bit, until someone moved. Then I grabbed a pot of coffee and ran around, offering it to people. There were times when I couldn't move an inch because people were in my way, and I didn't want to bother them. It was bad for me. when the rush died down, I walked around a bit, getting my bearings back. It didn't help that my helper left halfway through and no one else really came to help me. I was serving coffee and tea, making both, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, clearing tables, setting up tables pretty much at the same time. It was bad. When it all died down, people helped me clear up tables. When it was over, I sat down in an empty chair and almost fell asleep. It was brutal. Thank God the room was empty except for maybe five people.

Saturday night, I went to a local hockey game. That wasn't so bad. I kept my head down through the crowds and followed my dad. We had a lot of fun. (:

Sunday, I had to work on a math project, where I had to go out and survey 100 people. That didn't go too well. I was scared of talking to strangers, because there were just so many around. I kept thinking that the one person we ask will kidnap us and take us away. Haha. I'm pretty paranoid when it comes to strangers. We finally finished surveying people, though, and all was well.

So yeah, I'm a freak when it comes to people. I can't stand talking to strangers. One time, at Walmart, I was standing in the battery aisle, figuring out what brand of AAA batteries were cheapest when this sketchy guy with a camera bag walked up to me and asked me how I was doing. Straight away I was creeped out. Then he asked me if I worked there. I said no, and he wished me a good day and left. It wouldn't have been so bad, however, if he hadn't been everywhere I was in the store. I went to the games, he showed up. I got in line, and he was RIGHT BEHIND ME. When we got out to the car, after waiting for him to leave before us, I broke down. I was terrified. My mom comforted me, and we went home. I gave my dad a big hug and felt better. Since then, I have not been able to be in a store by myself without looking over my shoulder every thirty seconds. However, I never go in stores by myself. It's hard to do that, though, when someone makes fun of me for being like that. I guess they just don't understand my mind. It's kind of hard to. :P

Anyway, since then, I always need to have someone that I'm with in my line of vision, or I'll start to panic. Whoo. Sorry, guys. (:

Hmmm... What else happened these past few days...

Oooh..

My phone is all busted up. The 5, 9, *, and back buttons don't work that well, the phone restarts sometimes when I take a picture and it loops when I send a message. I've been complaining about this for a couple of months. Finally, my mom took me on the weekend to send it away. I got this nifty loaner phone that's way better than the last loaner phone I got. This one is a LG 285. Brand new... ish. I'm the first to use it, but it's old. Yay! The last time I sent my phone away (got it "fixed" for the looping and the 4 key not working), I got the Motorola w385. I hated it. It was confusing. When I put it on silent, it still made noise, and all the keys were just weird. I'm used to my phone, so it was hard to adjust to that one. But I made it through for two weeks, then I got mine back. When I got this one, I knew I'd like it, because it's the same size, pretty much, of mine, and it's similar. A little older, but similar. Nevertheless, I want mine back. (:

Loaner phone
Image from http://www.gooint.com/

My phone
Image from http://www.telusmobility.com/

Anyway, I miss my phone, even though it's only been gone three days. Haha.

That's about it, I think. So you're all updated on my life. For now. Haha. Thanks for reading. (:

Have an awesome week and don't forget to smile,

Jenn

Random Poems

So on the weekend, I told my facebook friends to give me words and I will write poems about the words.

That was stupid.

The words I was given were:

Triangle
Contusion
Cows
Centrifuge
Pickles
Deranged

Enjoy.

Triangles
Three Sides
make a chiming grace.
Once told so easy to play,
But to learn could take a full day.
Saying nothing but says it all,
The impact could be so touching.
Smashing a song,
While staying so quiet,
Makes you listen so closely.

Cows

Black, white and brown

Stay so softly sound.

In their pastures they graze,

In the long summer days,

And in the rain they all lie down.

Pickles

Crunchy, soft, sour and sweet,

There are many different pickles you could eat.

Garlic, dill and polski ogorki,

Yeah, I know, this sounds dorky.

Pickles are tasty and good for you,

So think about that the next time you chew.

Centrifuge

A division, a separation,

caused by a centrifuge.

Stealing a strong heart's desire,

Making it weak with vicious fire.

Building a wall that cannot be broken,

And taking the blame for all pain awoken.

A divison, a wall,

Bringing heartache to all,

And keeping everyone apart so to eachother they cannot fall.

A barrier to be built,

And kept in check,

So no one can visit the other,

Because of the wall they cannot wreck.

Author's note: I took the definition of centrifuge metaphorically. It kind of sucks. :P

Contusion

Pain like fire,

Shooting through my leg.

A faint blue colours taints the pain,

Causing discomfort and anguish

Every time I move.

But yet it's not hurt,

For there is nothing broken and no blood.

So what happened?

Am I hurt,

Or is it in my head?

Deranged

You drove me here first,

In your blue mercedes,

and watched as I took my first steps alone.

When you could see me moving,

You took off, leaving me scared, alone, and helpless.

You watched from a distance as I wandered these far banks,

And scared myself with wandering thoughts.

Yeah, you drove me here first,

In your blue mercedes.

And watched me lose my mind.

Watched me take some steps into the ocean of insane,

And never helped me out.

You watched my mind crack and break,

Until nothing was left.

When I finally found my way back, you just drove me there again.

Yeah, you drove me there first.

So, I liked this one so much, I decided to write two different poems. :D

Deranged II

I saw you standing there,

All happy, and fine.

I waited in the shadows,

And bided my time.

You never saw me coming,

Until it was too late.

And you could never explain,

Your mind or your mental state.

I waited in the shadows,

Just biding my time,

And came out to strike when everything was fine.

You blamed everyone.

You made sure they knew.

You told them you weren't crazy,

You just weren't you.

But it was me.

I waited in the shadows,

Just biding my time.

And struck,

Just when you thought everything was fine.

So,

I hope you enjoyed that. (:

If you have any other ideas you'd like me to write about, go ahead and post them in the comment box. :D

Don't forget to smile.

-Jenn

College, Remembrance Day, and All the Things in Between

Hello!!
Things have been crazy. Okay, not really, but they will be. Hooray.. :P

Remembrance Day is tomorrow, and of course I'm in the band for it at school. This will be fun. The first time, anyway. I get the play the big crash cymbals, like every other year, and I get to play my beloved timpanies. It will be fun.  It will be a sad event, but for some reason, I always find myself having fun in the band. I guess that's a good thing, since I'll be twiddling my thumbs for the entire assembly. I get to sit behind the big screen, so I can't even watch the video. I get to stare at the entire audience for half and hour - forty minutes. Yay. Ah well. I've been waiting for this, because I love to play "March For Freedom". It's a great way to end the assembly, playing as if everyone's marching out of the gym. Enjoy!!

OOH. SCARY THOUGHT.

I applied to college the other night. It's a scary thought. It feels like just yesterday I was in my first year of High School. Now I'm going off to college. Man. This is huge.

Ever since I started watching Ghost Hunters, I've noticed I'm a lot more aware of the noises in my house, outside, or in my school. I keep thinking that maybe I'll catch a noise that could be something paranormal. Hee hee.

I just wanted to check in and post something. I know this is short compared to my other posts, but I wanted to write something.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

I'm going off to watch "Hell's Kitchen" now.

Bye!!

Don't forget to smile,
-Jiffypop

Toy Story and Hallowe'en

First off, hope you had a terrific Hallowe'en. (:

I know I did. I had a big chef's costume I wore. It was awesome. Of course, it was fitting because that's what I would like to be when I get out of school. Haha. Anyway, this was my last year for Trick or Treating. Yupp. I'm finally stopping. Don't need that much sugar anymore..

Who am I kidding. I'll be stealing candy from the candy bowl all Hallowe'en. Hooray. d:

Anyway, so when we went Trick or Treating, me and seven of my friends, we went all through my neighbourhood. It's a new neighbourhood, so there's a lot of young kids. That means lots of candy. Haha. So we went up to this one house, and I heard one of my friends say something about a mask. I looked around, but didn't see one. When the guy opened the door, he ran out with a mask on. I screamed and back up a bit. He couldn't go any further, because he was laughing too hard. He took off his mask and high-fived me. I think I made his night. Yay. d:

We got a good haul. It was a great last year. Got to spend Halloween night with a bunch of my friends.

So, onto other topics.

I watched a marathon of Ghost Hunters on Sunday, and scared the crap out of myself. Everytime I'd see something move out of the corner of my eye, I'd leap around and look at it straight-on. Thanks, Ghost Hunters. I am forever paranoid in my own house. Haha. That's what I've come too. Take this lesson, don't watch a marathong of Ghost shows. You just end up scaring yourself.

It was a good marathon. I really enjoyed watching the show, after not being able to watch it for a couple of months.

I don't know if you remember, way back in the day when the first Toy Story came out (haha), but now they've released a third one. It's been so long!! I remember going in June with my friends to see it. I went with one of my best guy friends to see it in 3D, and my other friends saw it in 2D. They were almost crying at the end, where my best friend and I were killing ourselves laughing. Different, much. Anyway, I loved the movie. I think it was the best way to end the series. Now please, don't make a tv show spin-off and ruin it.

It comes out on DVD tomorrow. Personally, I think they should release it on VHS as well, because of the fact that the other two are on VHS, I think. That'd be cool, anyway. Haha. That'd really send people back a decade.

So this weekend, other than having fun during Trick or Treating and scaring myself silly, I managed to hurt myself. A lot. In a span of three hours, I managed to get three cuts on my hand from a rose bush and burn myself with a pan. Yupp. Not to mention I still have a slice in my finger from trying to cut a pumpkin on Wednesday. My hands are also going very dry, so I'll have cuts all over them soon. Haha. Yay.

Oh yeah, Wednesday. The concert. Yeah, it went great. :D I'm so proud of the bands, you all did a terrific job. I hope I hurt someone's ears while playing the timpanies. Then maybe I will have played them loud enough. Hooray!!


Anyway, math homework awaits me. I must do that, even though I'd rather stay here and type a million more words. Haha. Maybe I will post another poem at some point.

Enjoy your Monday and don't forget to SMILE!!

-Jenn

Some Random Thoughts

 I've had a lot of thoughts running through my head, and I want to write them down so I can clear my head to make space for silly things, like the next time I get to watch a Senators game on TV.

So I don't know how many of you watch Ghost Hunters, but I do. Lately, I've been watching the second season, so I'm pretty far behind. But I have seen some of the sixth season (the newest season). I heard today that one of the newer ( I think) Ghost Hunters was fired!! Britt Griffith was fired for some things he said in an interview recently (as in the last week, I think). It's weird, because I actually found this whole thing while looking up Paranormal State. Apparently, Syfy doesn't put up with the things Britt said. Good for them. Too bad, though. I liked him. Still, you don't talk like that and get away unscathed. I mean, come on. If you want to know what I'm talking about, from the point of view of a Paranormal State person, read it here: http://www.ryanbuell.net/blog/2010/10/22/my-response-to-britt-griffiths-offensive-remarks.html .

So, on the topic of Ghost Hunters, I'd just like to say, it's been a while since I've been able to watch the show and really enjoy it. Why, you ask? Because in season two, they are missing their "perfect" team. They have had so many problems with old teamates. By about halfway through season four, I think they got their perfect team, which consists of Jason and grant, the lead investigators and co-founders of TAPS (The atlantic Paranormal Society), Steve and Tango, possibly the best bromance I've ever seen in my entire life, and Kris and amy, the only girls on the team, and who work so well together. As far as I know, they haven't had any problems, and I like that. It's much easier to watch a Ghost show and only have to worry about how scared I'll be when I go to bed at night.

Lately, I have found myself interested in Paranormal State. Normally, I find the show terrifying, but after looking up the only two investigators that seem remotely familiar, Ryan and Sergey, I have found myself respecting the pair, and wanting to watch an episode of Paranormal State, to see how the team works together on that show. I know I'll be scared, because that's what that show seems to be all about, is scaring the audience. Unfortunately, I get caught into that. With Ghost Hunters, I feel safer because Jason and Steve are strong, burly guys, and Grant and Tango are the kind of compassionate guys, who are nice and funny to watch. So I'm curious as to how the Paranormal State team works, and how different the two shows are.

Alright. Enough about the Paranormal. Onto a passion of mine that doesn't scare the crap out of me. Cooking!! Lately, I've found myself IN LOVE with making chocolate suckers or candies in moulds. I've made a ton, including a bunch today. It was fun. I've taught myself how if you paint one part of the mould, and let it sit, then put another colour on top of it, they won't mix!! I know, sounds obvious, but I'm just weird like that.

Also, I've been making a bunch of different cookies. Just this and last week, I've made chocolate chip cookies, jam thumbprints, and sugar cookies. I have iced the jam thumbprints, and they look.... odd. The chocolate chip cookies are just normal. With the sugar cookies, I figured out that if I put toppings, like icing sugar or sprinkles into the moulds before I put the dough in, they make a really cool pattern. I got the black dough to sparkle by addnig orange sugar. It was cool. (:

My other big passion is drumming. I'm completely and utterly in love with drumming. Often, you'll see me somewhere, and I'll be tapping on something. If not, my foot will be tapping, or I'll be bobbing my head, or even spinning a pencil. It's become almost a way of life for me. Seriously, I've tried to sit still. It's impossible. I twitch, and then I'll shiver, then I'll either get up, or start tapping. Usually, someone will tell me to stop, or ask me what I'm doing. To be honest, half the time I don't even notice it. I feel bad for people who point it out and ask me to stop, because I'll probably start tapping thirty seconds later. As I'm typing this, I'm bouncing my feet off the chair I'm sitting in. Abuot 50% of the people who notice my tapping will ask me to stop, 35% will ask me why, 10% will give me a weird look, and 5% will join in. At lunch, I've found myself in epic "leg drumming" sessions, where the person sitting beside me, usually one of my guy friends, will tap along with me, then we'll go back and forth until we start to laugh too hard. I think it's amazing though, that the 5% who join in will get weird looks too, but won't stop. Thanks, guys. (:

Haha, sorry about the rambling.

So, if you have read this far, congratulations. You must be dedicated. I know if I go back and read this a year from now, I'll probably skim it.

I'm sorry if I'm boring you by writing so much. I just had a lot on my mind, and when I start writing about something, it usually translates into fifteen hundred other things that I think about, that somehow just slip into my writing.  Heh heh.

Anyway, so this weekend has been a blast so far. It's only Saturday night, and I've made sugar cookies, chocolate pumpkin candy thingers, decorated some cupcakes, and lazed around. Yupp, A BLAST. :P No, the cooking part was. But I hate lazing around. If I could, I'd be outside, hanging out with people and just goofing around. I don't know why I don't, but I just don't.

See you all later.

-Jenn

Vegetable Vampires

Hahaha. I don't really understand the title, because this note is about my fears. Haha.

So, I guess I should start with my first and biggest fear ever. SPIDERS. Yeah.

How many of you can pick up a fake spider, hold one or just look at one and shrug it off? Well, that's good for you. Because I can't. If I go within two feet of a fake spider, I will start to shudder. If I see one down the hall, I will freak out. It's kind of weird. Hallowe'en's the worst for this, because they are EVERYWHERE.

But it's not just the fake ones. If I see a real spider, I will scream, run, stare and point, or call someone over. Yeah. I will freeze up, too. It's sad. Haha.

Here's how you know you have a problem. One day, I was lying on my bed, reading a book. My brother walked in, spoke to me about something, and left. When he left, I heard this weird sratching sort of noise. I looked under my bed, and all around my room. But I never once got up. There was nothing anywhere that I could see. So I went back to reading my book. Then I heard it again. I realized it was coming from in my blankets. It didn't really bother me, because I figured it was going to be something like my foot rubbing against the velcro on my wrist brace, which might have been at the end of my bed. So I reached under my blankets and felt something odd. So I pulled it out and looked at it. It was a remote control tarantula!! I screamed and whipped the thing across my room, and sat up at the same time. There was a crunch and the tarantula was on the ground. My brother walked back in my room and sighed. He thought I broke it. I was hoping I had. But I didn't, sadly. But holy, it scared the crap out of me. I couldn't sleep in my room until I flicked out my blankets three or four times to make sure it wasn't there again. So everytime my brother would take it into some common area, like the kitchen, and show it off, I would run and hide somewhere else.

Yeah, me and spiders don't mix.

I have space/people issues. I can't stand in a group of people and be comfortable unless I'm on the outside. I need to have an escape. If there's a wall behind me, and people standing really close to me, I will start to have a panic attack. It's happened before, mostly at school. Haha. This sucks.

Strangers. Yupp. They scare me. I had a creepy older guy walk up to me one day in Walmart. This is why I will never go into any store alone. He walked up to me, creepily, and asked how I was. I answered him, with my guard up. He asked me if I worked there. I said no. He said, "That's funny. I thought Walmart employees dressed in all black." Of course, I was dressed in all black, but that's just how I chose to dress that day. He said good bye, and walked away. My mom and sister were at the other end of the aisle (the battery aisle) and were watching me. I walked up to them, shaking a bit (I was freaked out) and stayed with them. From that point on during our trip there, I kept seeing him. I was standing in line, waiting to buy something, and my mom pushed me in front of her. The man was behind me in line. So I bought what I was getting. We started to leave, when we realized he was heading in the same direction. We went in the other direction and waited. I was terrified. My sister had found a tambourine she wanted, but didn't have any money for it. I gave her the money for it, because I wanted to stay in the store until I was sure the man was gone. My mom called my dad and told him what had happened. When we got out into the parking lot, we unloaded the car and got in. My mom went to put the cart away, and I started to cry in the backseat. I don't know why I was so scared. It was just one of those, "I don't like this guy, get away from me" feelings. My mom looked into the car, smiled at me, then realized I was crying. She gave me a hug, told me it would be alright, and drove home. When we got home, I practically flew out of the car and hugged my dad. He told me I was alright, and that I was safe.

Yeah. I'm a freak. Haha. My fears are pretty silly, I know. But there are more. I'll only share with you my other biggest fear.

Claustrophobia. I can't be in small spaces for too long without panicking. I find myself being scared in public washrooms. Also, if I can't get out of somewhere, I really start to panic. So, yeah. Haha.

Thanks for listening to my fears. :P

Yupp.

That's it, for now.

Thanks for reading,

don't forget to smile. (:

-Jiffypop


P.S. I don't know why, but whenever I'm writing something like these long note thingers, I like to listen to piano music. You should listen to it. It's awesome. These songs are by Grant Wilson, from the Syfy show, Ghost Hunters. http://www.myspace.com/grantwilsonpiano

Introducing Me

Hey, and thanks for checking out my blog!! Much appreciated.

I'm Jenn, and I'm a teenager with a lot of thoughts I like to write down. It helps me keep my "sanity" in check. Haha. Anyway, I'm not going to say much about me right now, because you'll learn about me in my posts. Happy reading!!

-Jiffypop

P.S. Jiffypop is a nickname my best friend, April, gave to me.