I'm Back!

Okay, so I haven't really been away...except from the blogging world...but life got incredibly busy and so I didn't get around to blogging. Let me fill you in.
Just after my last post, midterms started. Now, I managed to opt out of Honors New Testament (with about a 99), Early U.S. History (with a 100), and Spanish (with about a 98). But I still had to take Lit, Honors Geometry, and Biology- in my opinion, the three worst exams. Lit consisted of writing three essays in the space of two hours. I walked out of there and spent the next hour massaging my hand intermittently. I got a 95 on that- not too bad. Then, Honors Geometry. Now, I'm REALLY not a math person, don't ask me why I took that class, I think it was a temporary bout of insanity. Anyway, I studied for hours and managed to scrape a 76. Which, in another class, I would consider really bad, but in that class I don't think it's that bad. Then there's Bio. A 203 question test- another class that I walked out massaging my hand. In that class I got an 87 on the midterm, which I'm happy with. Science is my second-worst subject after math. So overall, I'm content. I really would have liked to make it into the 80s on the geometry midterm, but I'll take what I can.
Anyway, while that was going on, in my little breaks between studying, I've been working on an essay for the Colonial Dames of America contest. My history teacher invited me to participate. I wrote a two page paper on which president between 1850 and 1950 I admire most- which would be Teddy Roosevelt. I turned it in today, and I think I did okay after my teacher "bled on it," or edited it, a few times. Anyway, now it's off the the Colonial Dames for judging at the regional, state, and national level. I'll hear how I did in March or April. The prize is pretty cool- it's an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the Washington Workshops Congressional Seminar. Hey, it sounds cool to me!
Then there was last weekend...which was so far beyond awesome! I went to Snow Camp, a place in Rumney where youth groups go for a weekend of skiing, skating, tubing, air hockey, foozball, Ping-Pong, pool, and worship! It is an amazing place. I went skating the first night and tubing the next day, which were both way fun. The conditions for tubing were great when I went out, and I went down in a line with a bunch of friends. It took about six guys two minutes to get us started! Anyway, other than that, I played a whole lot of air hockey- so much that my hand got a little bit bruised and blistered! It was worth it, though. I won most of the games I played (only lost three out of thirty or so played), and I met a whole bunch of really cool guys and a couple of really cool girls. Actually, my friend Cathy said that whenever she'd see me, I would always be surrounded by a bunch of guys. Which I guess is kind of true, although not exclusively true! There was one guy who was really neat, Nathan. We're a lot alike, especially in appearance- he looks enough like me to be my brother! Anyway, he likes chess and history like me, and will try just about anything. He is really modest, which is a nice change, and has a sarcastic streak like mine. He played me at air hockey a few times even though he knows he's really bad. He also taught me to play foozball, which he's good at and I'm not. We had some good times together. At Snow Camp, which is a Christian organization, there were some wonderful worship services too. The speaker, Peter, was good. First night, he was kind of awkward, but by the next night he was completely warmed up and delivered an awesome message. Well, there was so much more that happened there, but I haven't got time to go into it now. Suffice to say that when Sunday came around, I did NOT want to go home and face reality- I wanted to stay at Snow Camp!
Well, that's pretty much how life is going right now. Only other news is that I dissected a sheep's heart in Bio today (very interesting); that I now have to start getting ready for the Valentine's Semi-Formal Dance; and that there is a big Quiz Bowl meet on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed about that- I'll post results when I get home from the meet!

Thought du Jour:
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularily dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
-from the movie Love Actually