My AMAZING 1st Day of 7th grade!

      Well I thought I was all ready for seventh grade, but boy was I wrong! All my friends looked different, I did not know any of my teachers, and to be honest I was a little nervous. I had no Idea that the hallways are always so crowded in West Hall. Some of the times I was out there I heard my name, but because we were so packed in together, I had no idea who was saying “hi” or “how was your summer” to me. From the time I woke up this morning, to the time I got home; a lot has happened.

          When most kids wake up on their first day of school, they wake up to an alarm clock, or their parents turning on the lights while telling them to get up. Well, sadly, I was not one of those kids. Instead, I woke up to the flash of a camera. The thing is, this was not just any old camera flash, it was my mom’s camera flash! I was quite aggravated, but decided to not let it get the best of me, because I was determined to have a good day, and a good day always starts with a good morning. When I went to brush my teeth, she was there again with the camera. I thought to myself, it is fine, and kept on with my normal school morning schedule. So I was getting in the car to go to drop off my little brother, Brent, to his school (Lee M. Waid) and noticed that my mom was sitting in the front seat next to my great-aunt, who is also our babysitter in the afternoons. After we had dropped off Brent, my mom pulls out her video camera and hands it to my great-aunt as she places her big Nikon camera in her lap. When I got out, I saw that dreaded flash again.

 
          I walked into those large double doors, my excitement turned quickly into nervousness. It was almost as if I could feel my happiness and excitement drain from me slowly as I took each step getting closer to entering the school. At my locker, there were a lot of people in the hallway I knew. Once put my things were in the locker. I went to homeroom. In my homeroom class, and there were tons of my old friends, and as I was talking I noticed some of them were a little nervous and slightly confused, just like me. It built my courage to know that they were nervous too, so I took a seat next to some of my friends, and we talked for what seemed like only a few seconds before the bell rang. After fighting my nervousness, it was actually easy to get to all my classes quickly and on time. I was also excited to introduce myself to all my new teachers.


     All of my classes seemed to start the same way, “Hello I’m going to be your ________ teacher this year, and these are my rules…” I seem to have some amazing teachers and, I am planning to have a wonderful year with all of them. After my long day of classes, seeing friends, and my fight with my slight fear, I got in the car to see my mom sitting in the passenger seat of my great-aunts old Honda Accord. This time, I was quite surprised, and even happier to see my mom smiling, and not holding that annoying camera in her hands.


      So as long and nerve wrecking as it was, I think I had a great day. I have officially decided that I love seventh grade! I cannot wait until it really starts. I am so happy that I am not as nervous as I was this morning, because now I realize that there was nothing to worry about the whole time: no more fear, and no more flash.

Brent, My Bubbly Brother

Chicken Circus Act

Check out this video my mom made of us with the chickens since the batteries were dead in my camera. My step dad, Shannon, and I caught a lot of night crawlers the other night. So today we fed them to the chickens. Then we turned it into a circus act for the chickens. If I spun the worm I was holding, their heads would turn and follow. If I stood and waited, they would jump about three feet in the air, grab the worm, and swallow it whole! 

Got to go we still have like 20 worms to feed them tonight.

Peace.

P.S. Please leave comments.  And here is a shout out to Sarah Ellis!

Beach Misery

My family and I went on a beach trip to catch fish, at Cape Lookout. I had planned for this to be a nice little quiet trip. Turns out it’s a whole different ball park. It was windy, cold, and sandy. The wind would move the sand and it would hit your legs like tiny meteors crashing from space. Adding a sunburn to that, your legs felt like they were on fire. Not to mention having to sleep in a half bed with my brother, with sand all over the bed just to make it worse.

My mom and I went to the lighthouse and its museum. These are some pictures of the trip to the lighthouse. It was really educational and my mom had a good time too. But, the sun, sand, and the whole no toilet thing ruined almost everything.

Even though there wasn’t much to do we did find some awesome shells: conches, clam, and many more. The view was also absolutely gorgeous when the orange, red, and yellow sunset would shine. The sand dunes were huge. Thank goodness for that, otherwise you wouldn’t have privacy when using them as a bathroom.

The downs of the trip were there were no showers, no toilets, and no electricity. If you wanted a half decent shower, you would have to drive several miles to get there, and guess what we did.  It was dark, and it smelt like crap, but a shower is still a shower and I’m still living, so it was safe. It was also hard because living without toilets was very complicated. So picture this: you are crossing your legs because you have to pee, you’re sticky from salt water, and you stink pretty badly, then you have to find a dune to use as a bathroom away from home. After you finish, your hands are sandy and there’s no toilet paper. I would rather use the outhouse at the cabin. And don’t even get me started on the spiders in there.


So in the end, it had its ups and downs. Yet my mom wants to go back in the summer. She wants to go back so we can go up in the lighthouse when it’s open to the public. I wish to see the view of the beach and the island from there. Hopefully next time we will be able to see some of the wild horses too.


Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put indoor plumbing to a good use now. So bye.


Peace.

Adopt a Pet and Make a Friend

I've always been crazy about animals, as far back as I can remember. There are 3 boxes full of stuffed animals in the attic that I've collected, I have over 30 webkinz, and we don't even need to talk about Littlest Pet Shop. It doesn't matter if it's pictures or videos, anything with an animal is my favorite thing in the world. Who doesn't love an animal? I mean, they're so cute, and can be so funny. Check out this crazy cat video my dad sent to me. LOL

How could somebody be mean to something so cute and innocent? It's not like they did anything wrong on purpose. I've seen so many stories about the poor things. Put yourself in their shoes for a minute. You're locked up in a cage or outgrowing a rope attached to your neck, bugs are crawling all over you, you're starving, and haven't had anything to drink. And the worst of all, you're lonely, and just want to be loved. If you want to save some animals, visit your local SPCA or Planned Pethood, and adopt a pet. Give it the best love and care you can. You can't erase the scars left behind, but you can try to heal them.


All of the pets I've had have been adopted, 3 cats and one dog. They've all been great buddies, and even better snugglers.


Muffin was the first to enter my life. She was a little mischievous, and didn't like me very much. I couldn't help it because I was only 3 years old then. We won't talk about how she would pee in my room. The cat never went anywhere else in the house, just my room, and especially my bed. Mom finally let our neighbor have her since they didn't have any kids.  Muffin was much happier with their family.


The only dog I've ever had is Clifford. He was the runt at the pet store, and the choices were very slim. It was either him, or some old dog that would probably only have lived for a few more weeks. When we brought him home, we expected a normal dog. Instead, we got a gassy, nightmare having, screen door ripping puppy who would keep you up all night long. The one good thing was that I knew his name as soon as I saw him. He was named Clifford, after my favorite tv show. He still lives with my dad, and he still has the same nightmares. We think he may have been treated bad as a puppy.

The crazy one!

Then my mom and I found Whiskers under my grandparent's porch. We came to visit them after kindergarten and we heard a kitten meowing like it was hurt or stuck. We tried to get it out, mom and my grandpa both tried, but she wouldn't come to them. Everyone else went back in the house, and I decided to try by myself. Well, I didn't really have to try too hard, she climbed right into my arms just like she knew me! I ran inside while holding her, and Nanny made me take her right back outside. Mom called Shannon, my step dad, to tell him what happened and to say I wanted to keep her. Of course the softie let me, all he asked was what I had named her. I looked at her ears and said she looked like she should be a Whiskers because of all the hair sprouting from them. So that's how she joined the family. Whiskers was the best cat ever, and I miss her very much. We don't know what happened to her because she left one day and didn't come home.

Me cuddling my baby.  :-)

It was a long time before any of us really wanted another cat, but we ended up getting another one last year. My grandparents found a cat at their house during the winter, and she had a litter of kittens. There was one that looked a lot like Whiskers, except that she had shorter hair. She was a lot wilder than Whiskers, so we named her Recess, like the fun outdoor time in school. Some unique things about her are: she loves to snuggle with Brent, catnip makes her crazy, and she loves car rides. She must really love us because she brings us mice almost daily. Did you know that was her way of showing her appreciation?

That's Recess, helping Mom paint.

So you see, having a pet is a big responsibility, but it's a great way to make a new friend. If you're scared of thunderstorms, grab a book, pillow, and blanket to snuggle up with your new buddy.


Peace.

Are You Constipated Yet?

Have you ever been embarrassed? So embarrassed that your face turned red?

Well I know my friend has. Here’s the story. One day when Jess and I were in the car with her mom and brother. In my family, we show that we like each other by joking around and playing, sometimes we do it to the point that we’re annoying. It’s all in fun. :-) This time, I was bugging Jess by hugging her. It must have really gotten to her because she asked her mom, “Hey, mom have you ever been constipated?” Everyone started laughing so hard. I almost choked. Lori said, “I think you mean claustrophobic.” Then Jess said, “Oh yeah that’s what I meant.” That was only the beginning.

We told my mom the story too. Now when Jess comes over we get in bed with my mom, crowd her and say, “Are you constipated yet?” It’s really funny when she finally gives up.

So now it’s a game we play. We always say “are you constipated yet?” I think I’ll hold that over her for the rest of her life.

Isn’t it easier to get over something embarrassing when you can laugh at it?

Peace.

The Great Creature Adventure

          As you should have read, I have recently gone on a hiking trip, and boy was it something else. My family and I had found some frog eggs, which you can see on my video blog.   You’ll be able to check back each week to see how much they’ve grown.  All the information we’ve found says it could be 9 days to 3 weeks before they start to change.  That’s if they survived my brother shaking them on the way home.

The eggs where we found them.

When we first got there the ground was like quick sand and there were thorn branches everywhere. If you turned around you would be hit in the face by a tree branch. Once we got on a deer trail near the water, it was much easier to walk.  While at the creek we found a crawfish. I thought it would be a good idea to see if it could snap a stick in half. It can’t, but I still got to hold it.

It wouldn't let go until we put it back in the water.

My keen eye site came in handy on this trip because I spotted a small red bug while we were walking.  I told my mom, so she took a picture, and immediately googled it when we got home. It was really a red velvet mite that you see here.  It was ketchup red, the same red as one of my stepdad’s shirts that I’m a little embarrassed by.  Too bad I don’t have a picture of the shirt so you can compare.  

My step dad may not have the best taste in clothes, but he’s an awesome rock skipper.  He’s been trying to teach me how to do it for at least 2 years.  The secret is to find special skipping rocks that are small and round.  Shannon (that’s my step dad) actually put some in a bag to take home with us.  He’s been skipping rocks for 30 years, so it’s no big deal to him anymore.    

            My friend found a bug also.  It turned out to be a hellgrammite.  Shannon knew what that was, because it’s great fishing bait. We found the hellgrammite under a rock while building a dam in the creek. It looked like a black centipede but with big black jaws.  I don’t think you would want it to bite you.

It was a great hike!

Peace.

Stay tuned...

Dear Reader,


Tomorrow you'll read about the hiking trip my family took over the weekend.  It was so much fun, and we saw so many crazy creatures, you won't want to miss out.

Meet Mr. Helgramite - YUCK!

We saw a helgramite, a crawfish, red velvet mite, and even got some frog eggs to bring home.  You can e-mail me at courtney@thecourtneyshow.com to ask questions or let me know what you want to hear more about.  


Make sure you bookmark or add www.thecourtneyshow.com to your favorites. 


Peace.