Merry Christmas, Friend

Uhm... I would just like to dedicate this post to all the brave men and women who are fighting to protect our country.

Love, grace

Birthdayssss

Hey, blogger family!
Today, December 8, 2008, I am 18.

I love birthdays.
I love a day all about me.
This year I didn't build it up though.
I don't feel any different.
I'm a legal adult now...
But from 17 to 18 there's no major change overnight.

At exactly 12:00 in the morning I was woken up by my friend Tracy.
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."
We talked for 6 minutes and thennn...
Alexis called
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."

I love my friends.
I just got back from Mass for the Immaculate Conception of Mary and now my mom and my brother Tom are taking me out for breakfast. [We don't have school today because we had open house yesterday.]

So here's to another year =]

xoxograce

a needed update

So, I have been sooooo busy lately and have not had time to update. (aka I've been really lazy)

So my fall has been filled with college applications, homework, and rehearsal. I had the supporting role in the musical Kiss Me, Kate. I played Lois Lane/Bianca. It was really crazy and I wasn't sure that things were going to work out, but they did =]

The first picture from left to right is me as Bianca, Colin as Lucentio, Maria as Kate, and Zack as Petruchio. Kiss Me, Kate is a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. It's a play within a play so we each had two characters we were playing. One of my favorite things about the show was all the costumes... we had costumes from the 1940's and from Shakespearean times so it was a lot of variety. The second picture is me as Bianca with Colin as Lucentio and Andrea as Baptista. Our family was kind of awesome. Then is me as Lois with Katie, and finally, me with my beloved assistant stage manager, Genevieve. (that kiss on her cheek is from me.)

Because of choir and the play, I made a new best friend this fall. Her name is Alexis and she is pretty much awesome.

Other than that, things have been great. Two of my friends and I have reconnected after fairly long periods of not talking. I'm happy in school right now... except in the math and science departments because I do not think with the left side of my brain.

One of my best friends Amy helped me with my mom's golf outing for Breast Cancer in October. It was a lot of fun spending time with my friends and family.

Thanksgiving was... delicious. I ate so much I had trouble getting up off the couch. We went to my cousins for dinner and then my aunt and uncle's house for dessert. In the morning we went to the Turkey Bowl with my mom's cousins and played some football. I caught the ball twice =] I was very proud.

I'm excited because my birthday is on Monday =]

We don't have school Monday and I like having my birthday when school is in because I like seeing everyone and it's always a dress-up day for Mass because my birthday is on the Immaculate Conception of Mary. I'm glad that I will have a relaxing day, though.

I drank a Sprite the other day. It was kind of delicious... I'm normally a diet pepsi person...

Haha today Andrea sent me to go fetch her some water and I accidently got her citrus water and I thought she was going to kill me... but it wasn't as bad as expected.

I have a really unique laugh and lately people have been coming up to me in the hallway, asking me if I was laughing in class because they heard me down the hall... oops =]

Okay, it was lovely catching up. I'll try and post again soon.

xoxograce

Dog's Death by John Updike

She must have been kicked unseen or brushed by a car.
Too young to know much, she was beginning to learn
To use the newspapers spread on the kitchen floor
And to win, wetting there, the words, "Good dog! Good dog!"

We thought her shy malaise was a shot reaction.
The autopsy disclosed a rupture in her liver.
As we teased her with play, blood was filling her skin
And her heart was learning to lie down forever.

Monday morning, as the children were noisily fed
And sent to school, she crawled beneath the youngest's bed.
We found her twisted and limp but still alive.
In the car to the vet's, on my lap, she tried

To bite my hand and died.
I stroked her warm fur
And my wife called in a voice imperious with tears.
Though surrounded by love that would have upheld her,
Nevertheless she sank and, stiffening, disappeared.

Back home, we found that in the night her frame,
Drawing near to dissolution, had endured the shame
Of diarrhoea and had dragged across the floor
To a newspaper carelessly left there. Good dog.

unconditional love

So, I was in religion class yesterday and we were discussing how God is a mystery and we can never completely know the being that God is. I kind of started thinking on my own, just some shallow contemplation, but I came to the conclusion that God must be a really cool guy (or being, if you want to be completely correct.) I was just imagining what it would be like to be God, and I thought about how bored I would be. Seriously, God must love us so much. He does so much for us, he watches his people make mistakes over and over again and he still loves us. He’s watched us for millions of years. I would honestly be extremely depressed if I saw all the evil that happens in my creation. But I am not God. And I am very happy about that. God sees the evil, but he also sees the good. He sees the need to please. He sees that we are trying and struggling to do his will every day and he gives us credit for that. We are not perfect; we can never hope to be. But we can be grateful that we have a God who loves us unconditionally.

I Love You, Lady

She's number 5 on my speed dial.
Number 1 is voicemail.
2 is home.
3 is Mom.
four is Dad.
5 is Tracy.

Granted I don't call her that much. Tracy was my best friend freshman year. We don't really get to see each other much now, but we're still close. We will always be close. You know how there are some relationships when if you don't see the other person for a while, it gets awkward? That didn't happen with Tracy and myself. We were always fine. Grace and Trace. Except not really because my name isn't really Grace =] Well, I just wanted to make a post for Tracy. Her father passed away yesterday. This man was the funniest man you will ever meet. I guarantee you won't find anyone who cares about being a good father more than Mr. K did. I just wanted to let TK know that I love her and that everyone loves her and that we are all here for her, and I wanted to ask that everyone keep her and her family in their prayers. Thank you.

love,
grace

God Bless America

Everyone,
Please make wise decisions today. You should have done your homework. You should know the issues. Please make informed decisions.
-grace