sickness and sunshine

I think I am sick.
This is a horrid feeling.

I'm working on a fun post, but I thought that I should just mention the fact that I have some sort of ickiness. I thought it might be allergies, and it still could be that, but...
Everything feels slightly off in reality. I feel sleepy all of the time. My nose is stuffed, I can't stop sneezing, and I don't feel comfortable in my own skin -- literally.
This too shall pass.
I need to be joyful and make the best of this.
But it is hard.
SO HARD when I feel miserable.
Benadryl has helped some, but it makes everything even foggier.
What's the lesser of the two evils? Mental fogginess and feeling okay? Or to have mental acuity but feel not so great?
Today I had my braces tightened.
When it rains, it pours, right?

I'm going to stop whining now. I'll go count my blessings.

This week is a chill week. It's summer!!

I got my SAT scores back, and they weren't terrible.

I have many friends who love me.

I have a wonderful family...

I'm going to keep going, but I won't post them all on here.

Wow, I'm feeling a bit better already...

Camp season!

Camp season is here people.

It's a happy time of the year. 

I'm SO looking forward to next week! When I get to counsel. 

This week I'm serving in the kitchen. It's fun, and I'd do it again if I was asked.
Feeding people is always rewarding. 

I'm becoming a pro at cutting large quantities of things, breaking eggs, and I have MASTERED (or have a better grasp of) saran wrap. That stuff is crazy. It loves to wrinkle up. ugh. BUT, after much practice, I can indeed use plastic wrap to cover various  food items.
What a feat!  

Housesitting and the Joys therein

I've decided to abandon the ABC title thing. It was becoming too confining. I reached the letter "p" but "q"... ah well.

This past week, I've been house/dog-sitting for a family in my church.
It has been great fun. There are many adventures to be relayed. I'll take time to post them later. But a taste:

The dogs are both shih tzus. One is Max, the other is Molly. They have some personality, that is for sure. The one in the picture is Molly.
Molly is a dog's dog. She rolls in the grass, attempts to eat things that are lying on the sidewalk, and loves attention. She's a bit on the dumb side, but she's CUTE!
Max is an old man at heart. He takes FOREVER sniffing telephone poles, plants, anything. If I let him, he'd stop every few inches to sniff.
The dogs go for at least four walks a day. (That sounds impressive, no?)
But really, the walks are only usually about half a mile to a mile in length. It's just so they have an opportunity to go. Because it's a townhouse that we're in and the yard is pretty much non-existent.
I like this neighborhood. All of the houses look about the same. I don't really like that part, but I love how the landscaping is so pleasing to the eye, and how the trees hang down over the sidewalk. It's also very well lit, so at night you feel like it's mid-day.

House-sitting has been great too! The family, or at least the dad, loves gaming. He has the set-up. Crazily enough, I haven't even used the 360 or ps3. I'm afraid that if I start, I won't be able to stop. I have been checking out thier vast collection of movies, I can use the excuse that it's only an hour and then it's done...
In case you didn't know, I'm compulsive. I think I inherited it from Mom. So if I were to get stuck on a level in a game, it could be HOURS, DAYS... who knows.

It's good to AVIOD temptation, right? What's that verse? About fleeing youthful desires? I don't think Paul was referencing gaming, but for me, it would be a time-sucker.

...Because I want to be productive while I'm here. In about a week, I'll be counseling at camp. I want to make sure I'm prepared spiritually, mentally, and physically. And any other "-ly" that I can't think of at the moment.

Camp is so fun. I pray that it will be so. I love my girls. I'm praying for them this week.

Prayer is powerful. That sounds cliché, I know. But prayer is you communicating and communing with the maker of the universe. I don't think I know that you can't get any more powerful than that.
Wow, have you ever thought about something and it gives you a chill? That just happened when I took time to actually think that I talk to THE MAKER OF THE UNIVERSE. I have a relationship with Him.
Wow.
I should so be unashamed of that.
It makes everything seem dull by comparison.
Serving Him to my utmost is going to be my goal this summer. It's easy to get bogged down in details, as I am apt to do, but I'm going to try out some perspective.

In which I say nothing, but there are words to be read.

Much to say...

So, I decided that I wouldn't post anything until I went for my run.
Tonight, I got one in.
How I LOVE running.
The endorphins, the accomplishment. The feeling of being fit...

Okay, now I don't know what to blog on.
I have a wide variety of topics here.
I could talk about my life, my thoughts, etc...
Ugh. before I thought I didn't have anything, now there is too much!
Should I go chronologically?
That would make sense, I suppose.

Welll, next post will pick up where I left off.

This post is simply here to annoy you.

Did you notice something about my posts? They're alphabetical. In reverse order.
Q may be a hard one...
Oh, and this one does not count as a "real post".)

mkay, where is that sign off button?
ah,

Pensive Pondering

I've been reading about HOPE. 

Where do I put my hope? This passage is a good self-check.
Asking myself, "are my eyes haughty? Am I messing with things that aren't my business?"
 I like the peacefulness of this passage. That's how my soul should feel when I still and quiet it before Him:

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

 ¹ My heart is not proud, O LORD,
       my eyes are not haughty;
       I do not concern myself with great matters
       or things too wonderful for me. 
² But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
       like a weaned child with its mother,
       like a weaned child is my soul within me.
 ³ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
       both now and forevermore.

osculate vs. oscillate

I feel like I need to be inspired. 


There is plenty of inspiration all around, I know. 
But getting the creative juices flowing is an arduous task. 


Did you know that to osculate is to kiss
but for something to oscillate is to "vacillate between conflicting opinions"? 
...be careful in your pronunciations....

The nuances of being a neologist

I feel like rambling a bit
...again
This is what this blog is for, right? Right.

Summer is OH SO RAPIDLY approaching. I'm feeling giddy.
Summer is pretty much the best time of the year. At least right now it is. (In August, I just might be ready for some snow, but I doubt it.)
I remember this past winter thinking to myself,
"I'll miss the cold in July. I'll be whining about how hot it is. Maybe I should just soak up the cold."
So I did. I sat in the car, before the heat cut on, absorbing the chill. Let me tell you, it was nothing like soaking up sunshine or a warm day.
It was, well, cold. Not terribly pleasant. But I did it so that I wouldn't complain in the summer. And this past summer, I did not complain (about the heat, at least).

I've begun to value sleep. Perhaps that's a sign of maturity.

There are some cases where sleep is unimportant.
And that's okay. Every once in a while.
But trying to stay up every night does a number on one's immune system, brain, etc.

My sleeping patterns have been messed up lately. I've been feeling sick and crummy.
So, the past few nights, I've been going to bed at a somewhat decent hour.
The difference is drastic.

I'm still a night owl, but...
I'm beginning to understand that if I don't get at least 8 hours in, life becomes a haze. Life becomes no fun.

So a word to the wise: sleeeeep!

(and a neologist is someone who coins new words! FUN FACT ALERT!)

My name is Makenzie

Yes, it is.
Spelt M-A-K-E-N-Z-I-E. NOT Mckenzie, MacKensie or any other way.

MAKENZIE.

I understand that it's hard to know the right spelling... but if you can help it, please TRY to spell it right. I don't really know why, but it's one of my pet peeves.

And Brain Regan does a nice little piece on that:

Names.... click here to watch

It's a family name.
Mom wanted the name to have its own special twist, so she and Dad decided it should be spelled that way.

My middle name, Elizabeth, has a backstory too.
Both of my grandmothers and one great-grandmother has that middle name.
It's my Mom's middle name too.

Just a random factoid about yours truly...

Love of Strawberry Picking...

Today, we went out strawberry picking. It was so very yummy. Like an all-you-can-eat-buffet. SHHH.
I ate my fill.
I was a VAMPIRE.
Sucked the juices right from the strawberries.
It went like this:
see a beautiful red strawberry.
pick it.
nom, nom, nom.
repeat. repeat. repeat.

Oh, juicy, sweet, berries. Yummy yum yum yum....

Like that song. Strawberry Fields Forever? So true for me.

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.

Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.

Strawberry Fields forever.

ohhh, I had my fill. I don't want any strawberries just by themselves. But maybe tomorrow...

(I haven't been posting much. But I'll try to get back into it here...)

Kaleidoscopes con't

So, I feel like I’ve some sense of composure now. Regained some amount of sleep, and therefore I am slightly sane. Sane enough to post something anyways...

This past weekend was simply one of the best. I had such a very fun time. I’ll try to think of good synonyms for fun.  

I’ll just fill you in on what went down. My perception of the whole thing. Well, part of the whole thing. This post would be wayy too long if I posted my thoughts on everything that happened.
As it is, it’s long enough. Really. Maybe too long for you to read. 

(you can commentate and such. I love comments. You can even comment “anonymously” if that is your wish.)

At the start was the getting ready for everything: 

It was a girl party!! 

Painting nails, curling hair and all of that fun stuff. 

(I think that we need to do spa parties more often.)  

So, then the actual prom part...

I went with Peter. 

(I think he’s the reason the prom was SO very fun. It would have been *meh* if I had gone by myself; nowhere near as entertaining or exciting. But don’t tell him that...)

It worked out so perfectly for him to come. I was really happy that he attended. 

My corsage was lovely. I managed not to stab Peter badly with his boutonnière pins. 

I hope.  

(I already posted a "formal picture"... scroll down to the last post to see)

We arrived at THE SUTHERLAND (it has to be in all caps. always), made an entrance scene (of course), signed in, and stood in line to have our OFFICIAL picture taken. It took a while. 

The sky was blue. 

The line long. 

There were paper bag lanterns all around. 

The prom dresses vibrant. Everyone looked very sharp. No balloons, thankfully.

Talked to a few of the people in line in front of us.

We made origami out of the picture order forms that were handed to us. 

Who orders pictures they haven’t even seen? Not me. The photographer was good though. She looked pretty legit. 

I origami-ed a little paper hat, Peter folded a rectangle. Yep, we were pretty pro.

We commentated on things, and thought up (aloud) topics to discuss in case things got dull. We didn’t end up needing them. 

After having our picture snapped, we went into the tent to eat. 

The food was fine; but it’s hard to want to eat when you’re wearing fancy clothing. 

Earlier we had placed our name cards on a table. (we chose the table by looking at other place cards, and the unseen people had cool last names). 

We lucked out. We sat next to some entertaining and nice people.

There was the dancing.

It all started with the electric slide. 

(I halfway wished that they had tried it again. Because I admit, I hadn’t done it since my friend’s 7th grade dance. Once I had remastered it, they had moved on...)

The songs the DJ picked were USUALLY okay, but a few were on the edge lyrics-wise. So I attempted to not over analyze the content, you know. 

It worked out. 

The dancing area was sweet. There was this crazy laser show, and a fog machine. We danced right next to one of the HUGE speakers. I think I lost some of my hearing, but it was so worth it. 

It was still gorgeous weather, the sky was clear, the stars were out.

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to get too detailed and bore you. 

(this is us after dancing for a bit...haha)

I can tell you something, though. By the end of the evening, I was TIRED. At least my feet were. You try wearing stilettos for 3 hours of dancing. It takes some work. 

But I could have danced and danced and danced all the same. For a long long time.

I didn’t really notice my hurting feet until we were headed home.  

So we got back to my house, ate some peanut butter captain crunch. It’s good stuff; the official cereal of my weekend. 

Product placement. 

Announcer: “We interrupt this blog post for a brief announcement. After a night of dancing and fun, this girl enjoys a bowl of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. It’s the cereal of prom-goers everywhere. Now back to the blog.”

We watched some monty python. John Cleese on “how to irritate people”. 

Not that I really needed it. 

See, I’m pretty much a pro at irritating people. 

But it was informative, all the more. We figured out who Monty Python actually was. You'll have to find that one out for yourself.  

The whole cliché about “time flying when you’re having fun”, is SO terribly true. 
I had a lot of fun, and the next thing we knew it was...

Psh, whatever. The next day would be Saturday (as usual, Saturday followed Friday) and people sleep in then. 

So don’t judge. You’re only young once...

On Saturday, we did some REALLY happiness-inducing (good synonym for fun?maybe...) stuff. The day ZIPPED by. We proved the time flies thing once again. We referenced it, but tried to not actually say it. Because that would have been too cliché of us. We were not about to become cliché people. (such a fun word to say and type...)

We went to the flea market and looked around for a few hours. I didn’t buy anything. Peter bought some sweet striped socks. (see below for picture)

The Asian man who ran the sock booth told us several times about his e-bay account. 

We liked the socks in front of us well enough. 
Without waiting for the three weeks for shipping, or nervously hoping that someone wouldn’t out-bid us... on a pair of SOCKS. 

I was happy for Peter and his purchase. Because previously, he only owned black socks and white socks and one pair of fuzzy socks. He was so very deprived. 

There were other interesting happenings, but they would make the post too long. And maybe they were only funny if you were there. Yeah...

SO. 

Then we regained our sophistication and cooled off by going to the art museum. 

The art museum may SOUND dull, but it’s not. 

There are many adventures to be had...

and it’s air-conditioned. Cool in both meanings of the word.

...one painting had a hair stuck to it. Stared at it for a while, but decided to leave it alone. The hair was there to make a statement. About something. Cosmic and vague. Like pretty much everything else at the museum. 

Then the curator came up and suggested that we should stand 12 inches from the paintings. (I think we were scrutinizing and trying to understand the paintings a little too much.) 

We obeyed, more or less. 

But we didn’t have a ruler, so Peter used his shoe. Held it up to the painting and stood back that far. It turned out to be close enough to 12 inches. 

(kidding...)

We went to five guys for lunch, and it was pretty scrumptious. They gave us way too many fries, (a good thing) and we colored cards using crayons with names like “awesome”.

(we were both rather clever with our wordplay, as you can see)

We frequented other places that were equally diverting and amusing. I made a list. We were hoping to swing by the Goodwill stores here (because they are so very eclectic and not too cliché. yes, that word is one of my faves.) but by the time we got to the goodwill it was too late. 

I didn’t know that they closed at 6. 

6 on a Saturday?!? 

Huh. that just means we’ll have to take another trip sometime soon... 

There were only a few glitches that took place. 

Like, I was “helping” with the navigation. Riiight. 

Um, please don’t ever call me Sacajawea. EVER. Not that you would, but still. 

I am not gifted with her innate ability and sense of direction. 

Let’s just leave it at that. 

We pretty much didn’t go to sleep on Saturday. 

Which was fine with me. Sleep was unnecessary.

We made it through church on Sunday. I actually was cognizant, but I can’t vouch for Peter. I hope that he was okay.

We ate a French-style lunch, with cappuccinos and ice cream following. 

Later, we played Cranium (on our sleep-deprived minds) and it was a humorous experience.  I’m not so very good at spelling backwards, and I’m REALLY bad at spelling backwards when I can’t think properly...

Peter was SUPPOSED to go back home Sunday afternoon, but we (me and my family) heavily hinted that he should stay longer. He did! It was wonderful. 

He had exams on Monday, though. 

So it all ended on Monday morning. Much too soon. 

I was sad. Because it was SUCH an enjoyable weekend

...I moped around. I slept. My body was screaming for sleep. Throwing a temper tantrum, really. 

I ignored my body for awhile, but eventually gave in.

Some great memories were made that weekend. I hope more will be made soon... 

I’ll quote the much quoted Dr. Seuss: 

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”  

How very intuitive of him. 

I am indeed smiling. Beaming is more like it.

My only complaint about this past weekend:

I smiled and laughed a LOT. 

As a result, my cheeks/face got a serious workout. 

But any downsides were so very worth it... 

Jumbled Jingles...

I don't know if you're like me in this respect.
But I'll share my problem with you so that perhaps you can share in the burden (maybe I'll get an "Amen, sista!")
Maybe it'll help others to recognize their problem as well.


So here goes. This is how it would be in a anonymous support group:


"Hi, my name is Kenzie."
Hi Kenzie
"I have a problem."
Ohh, a problem? We understand. Tell us about your problem. Share.  
"Well, I have this problem with random things running through my brain constantly.
Also songs.
Lots of them.
Sometimes they get so loud I just have to start singing or verbalize them in some way.
Which could be potentially embarrassing for anyone who might know me."


(But by this time everyone in my support group is shaking their heads sadly.)
We're sorry, but there isn't really any help for you here.


So I left that support group.


Oh well. I'll find a way to deal. 


Just don't hang around me if you don't want to be embarrassed. 
Problem solved? 
It's rather annoying, but I have to come to terms with it at some point. Ah, well...


The past two weeks have been a wee little bit BUSY.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything. 

Life has been a bit demanding of my time.

But I’m back.

For a short visit.

Maybe you’d like some hot tea and ginger snaps? (Because that’s what I’m having right now, and I’d be more than happy to share) 

Let’s get re-aquainted here. 

In my last post I talked about the pollen, my cousins, movie-making and such. 

Having the cousins here was a blast! 

It was very energetic, and I loved pretty much every minute of it. 

(Other than when they were overdue for a nap. Or when it so happened that the little one needed a diaper change... )

But cest’ la vie. It was indeed wonderful. 

Then that weekend was the youth rally for NC. 

It was really a great time to reconnect, to be up on a mountain, and get to know some of the other kids in my youth group better.

It was also a quiz rally. 

My church had a “team”. 

Talk about nerves! It was a pretty low-key quiz bowl, but still. Pushing a buzzer and blurting out what you pray will be the answer that the judges are looking for is nerve-wracking. 

The hot-spot is indeed hot. 

Our team got third (out of six). So we were the “average” group? 

The cool thing about the quiz rally is that it was on the book of James. The five of us on the team (plus a few stragglers and the great leaders who helped us) got to know those five chapters really well. 

Pablo Plays Guitar While Making Goodies Without Plucking Hard. 

(that was to help remember the traits of heavenly wisdom...) 

Then this past weekend, I got to hang out with a friend at the mall. 

So. FUN!

We went dress shopping, even though neither of us needed a dress (nor had the budget for most of the $$$ dresses!) 

I’m surprised at what some people would actually pick out for prom. Seriously. The marshmallow dress (as we dubbed it) is IN, apparently. And it doesn’t look good:

So 2010. 

Ugh. Someday we’ll look back and say that. 

Annnnnd, I did something I’m terribly ashamed of. 

Okay so we were at the mall, right? 

I can try to justify it, but there’s no excuse. 

Everyone does it at some point or another. 

I’m only human. (Keep this in mind, please.) 

Well, here’s what happened. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever gone intense shopping before. Well, being at the mall, walking around, trying on hideous dresses, it wears you out. 

Don’t believe me? Try it. 

You’ll have a blast, but you’ll be exhausted. 

So we’d been shopping for going on two and half hours. 

I needed a cold drink. 

There was a smoothie kiosk in front of me. Magically. 

Starbucks would have been cheaper (so you get an idea of the prices...) Starbucks was also on the other side of the mall. 

It's a big mall. Lots of walking to get to starbucks.

But this place was right there in front of me. 

("Five dollars for a jr. sized drink?!?! 

are you insane?!!?", is what my brain was telling me)

I was insane, apparently.

The nice guy with the strange piercing and even stranger lisp even said he’d make me another kind of smoothie if I didn’t like it. 

I was hesitant. 

But I never go to the mall. 

And an icy cold banana smoothie sounded SO GOOD. Starbucks was so far away. My legs were worn out from walking. It was warm in the mall. 

A icy smoothie was just what I needed.

So in great weakness,

 I bought it. 

Looking back, I’m terribly ashamed.

But I did do my part for the economy...

(I can say this though:

The first smoothie he made was okay. Not great. 

So I said I didn’t like it.  Just to see.

And he really did make me a different smoothie. 

Cranberry-banana-guava or something. Not bad. 

But NOT worth five dollars. )

I'm glad that I already have a sweet dress though. 

Because finding one would have been hard. I don't have that kind of $$$, either. 

With my dress, it worked out perfectly...

That's another story. You'll be enlightened later. 

Maybe. 

There's much to do. 

I hope you enjoyed your tea and cookies. I did. 

Have a lovely afternoon.