Sixteen Reasons Why Big Families Are Awesome

1) There's always someone to hang out with

2) There's always someone to bother you

3) There’s always someone to bother

4) You don’t have to do the dishes all of the time

5) There’s always someone on your side

6) There’s always someone to help with your chores

7) There’s always someone who has gum

8) You get ten times as many books from the library

9) There are ten times more friends

10) You get to share stuff like laptops and clothes

11) You never get in trouble alone

12) Everybody tells you what an awesome mom you have

13) There’s always a good joke being told

14) You have big sisters who double as chauffeurs

15) Everything gets bought in bulk, which means there are a lot of big boxes to play with

16) A four year old gets to be an uncle

More Randomness

On Saturday I spent the day at the Nashville Zoo. I always volunteer there during the summer and during special events. The event was called Harvest Days, and it’s to show people what it was like way back in the day before television and cars and stuff. Me and the next girl under me, DD, got to work at the bracelet making table. You had this really gross-smelling twine which kept unraveling and you threaded on these wooden beads. It took forever to get them on, by the way. Whenever a girl came by we’d ask if she wanted to make a bracelet. If it was a guy we’d call it a man-band. DD was cracking up about that ALL DAY. Once she gets going with a joke she’s on it like a dog on a bone :)

On Friday I watched the Two Towers. It’s kind of sad, I know, but I almost cried twice. First when Gollum was arguing with himself that Frodo was his friend, then when Gimli and Aragorn jumped into the middle of all those orcs to defend the bridge and I thought they were going to die. Gimli is hilarious. He’s my sister’s favorite character. Him and Eowyn.

LOTR 3 is waiting for me at the library! I can’t wait to watch it! I’m fast becoming a devoted LOTR fan :)

Pencil Splints, E.J, LotR, Etc.

I am so mad at myself. On Monday I had the bright idea to do my back handspring with my fingers bent backward. Turns out it's very painful. So now I'm walking around with my finger wrapped up in purple tape with a splint made out of a broken pencil holding it immobile. I can't pick anything up, my typing speed has slowed by fifty percent, and pretty much the only thing I can do easily is watch movies.

Speaking of movies, I finally watched Lord of the Rings! I love that movie. Only my and my sister Liz watched it, so nobody but her gets it when I crack a LotR-related joke. My favorite character is a tie between Aragorn and Frodo. And then the beautiful horses that the ring-wraiths were riding.

So, the doctor changed his mind for the THIRD time about when my nephew E.J is going to be born. First it was late December, then it was late November, and now it's early December. We'll see how long it is before he changes his mind again :). Ne-Ce (the eldest sister and E.J's mom) is always sleeping now. I'd call her a zombie but then she'd probably hurt me and I'm practically not even allowed to glare at her in case I hurt E.J. Back when Ne-Ce babysat me and my sibs all the time she used to make us do push-ups when we didn't listen. And now she'll randomly decide to whack somebody when we're in the car and there's a red light. That's Ne-Ce. But we love her anyway :) - even if I never did get a chance to push her into the foam-filled pit at the gym. At least I'm taller than her now.

Here is a movie my sister found on Youtube. It is really funny. Consider it rated PG cause there's some language. Enjoy

The Dark Knight Meets Superman

I'm Sixteen!

Yesterday was my sixteenth birthday and my parents bought me a laptop! It's a Toshiba and I named her (just randomly decided it was a her) Tasha. Tasha is really dark blue and makes all this funny tinkling noises whenever I open a document or something. I loooove her - it - whatever.

My other sister gave me Crazy Core Skittles, which I love. She got two bags of Sour Skittles about five days before my birthday, and those were actually going to be my present, but we got tired of waiting and we ate them. So.

Jazzy and Buddy (Mom, really, but they got to put their names on it) got me this totally awesome little carousel. I'm waiting to see how long Liz will wait before she hides it because she's tired of me winding it up all the time. And Jazzy was so sweet. Since she couldn't get me a present she wrapped up a Starburst she got with lunch and gave it to me.

I think my siblings are going to be laughing for the rest of my life at the look on my face when I opened Tasha. Zeke said my mouth was hanging open but I really don't think it was. Although I'll admit I forgot to breathe for a second...

Just Catching Up

It’s almost November!

Okay, not really, but you know what I mean. It’s almost time for NaNoWriMo. This will be my first years doing it. My friend Hannah, who I volunteered with at the zoo, told me about it but I totally forgot until we were halfway into December. Basically during NaNo – short for National Novel Writing Month – you try to write 50000 words in one month. You can’t just write fifty-thou on another story; you have to write it so the quota can stand alone. I can’t wait for that.

As for more good news, my sister Ne-Ce thinks the doctors miscalculated and that EJ will be born late November. The original date was Dec. 21. I hope she’s right. No way am I going to be able to wait until December.

We went to Nashville Shores last Friday. That was sooo much fun. We rode the Big Scream, which is crazy fun. You slide down this practically vertical wall in a big float. You should have heard my sister Kay screaming. It was hysterical. First we all rode in pairs because everybody was scared to go by themselves, then my sister Natalie decided she was going to try it alone. We practically had to drag Kay up the stairs. I offered to go first. Going by yourself isn’t half as scary as going in doubles. Go figure.

Only ten more days until my birthday! I’ll be sixteen years old and I can finally get my learners permit.

I just sent my friend MK the last chapter in my book that she’s proofreading for me. I’ll finally be done with that. It’s weird, but I feel like I can’t write anything until I’m done with that. And I wish it was November already so I could start writing on the plot I have for NaNo.

I’m pretty much just twiddling my thumbs until November, or really until school starts. I don’t go back until Sept. 8. I can certainly wait for that. I love school, except for Spanish. I can’t seem to grasp it despite the fact that my mother is pretty near fluent in it. Ugh. Whatever.

I’ve gotta’ get out of here. I’ve been challenged to write a complete main character profile in fifteen minutes. We’ll see how that goes. Gabrielle aka Erudessa

P.S What is the Elvish word for sister?

- The honor is not in the destination, but in the first step of the journey

What two qualities do you want most in your future husband?
Puts God before everything else and doesn’t care that I smile all the time
Is there a fictional character you see as a model for your future husband?
I d’know
Where do you want your wedding? On the beach, on horseback
What are your views on courtship?
I d’know. Never thought about it
What are your views on your first kiss?
I’ll be wearing a wedding dress when I give it
Do you have or want a purity ring/locket?
No. I’d probably lose it
Do you have or want a hope chest? Sort of.
Will you wear a veil at your wedding?
yes
What kind of wedding dress do you want?
A white one.
What flowers do you want in your bouquet?
Californian morning glories
What do you want to name one of your daughters?
Jillian
What do you want to name one of your sons?
Caderyn
Do you believe in the 'knight-in-shining-armor' view of courtship?
Not really
What music do you want to play at your wedding?
Taking my sisters into consideration, I probably won’t get a say
Are you a hopeless romantic?
Yes, I admit it, I am.

No idea who already got this, so sorry if you've been tagged twice. I tag Rachel Danielle, Chloe, and Elrania.