Photobooth Failure

OHMYGOD I'M FINALLY UP TO DATE!

-celebrates-

Alright well today I cleaned when I woke up, and it was a chill day. Whenever I clean I love to blast music and just have a beat. Then, I watched Dracula as a Free Movie on Comcast On Demand. It really cleared up the story for me because I tried to read the novel a few years ago and all I can remember is my eyelids drooping!

Tonight came around and I went to the mall with my parents and sister. I was really hoping it would be my sister and i in the front seats, but my dad insisted to drive. I don't understand this because he didn't want to come in the first place! I was really hoping to go to Garden State Plaza because there is so much more variety with all the stores. I was hoping to go to Urban Outfitter, but that wish failed as well. So here we are at Willowbrook Mall, as usual, and we split up. I stuck with my sister and wandered around. We conquered the second floor in about 10 minutes, just going in and out of stores. I wasn't really in the shopping mood, but I liked being there anyway! We went to a store called Pink-O, which made me feel skeptical. It was one of those small quaint stores that don't get a lot of attention. As it turns out, the place is pretty chill with some nice prices! The cashier there was also very chill! She joked around about the own necklace I purchaced and how she actually wanted it, and how there is a matching dress fron Daffy's that would go so well. We found our way to Hot Topic where I found this amazing backpack! TMNT ftw! It reminds me of how last Halloween, Jaelynn, Ana, Abby, and I made our own cardboard shells that were very epic, I will admit! It was also kind of funny because all day my sister was trying to take pictured of herself on her phone. Every one just came out bad, but when I took the picture it looked great! :D Its just the natural touch. just kidding. lol

Oh then on the way back, I wanted for my sister to drive, so we could go to Coldstone, but my father being the party pooper drove home. Ugh, today was bad with my eating. I ate about two muffins, chicken, two cresceants, Nutella with Skyflakes, and oh god much more. >.> To think, I wanted to work out earlier this morning! Its a sign: this is the reason why I CAN'T stay home!!! The fridge and the pantry become my best friends! Or maybe its another sign: maybe my other friend is coming. >.>

btw. My parents are cute. :)

Peace Be With You - Amen

Hrm.. Sunday. I actually went to church t0day!! I hadn't gone for two weeks prior to that. Last week, I was too busy dying at my fathers company picnic, and the week before that I kind of just skipped out to go to Mt. Creek. hehe..

I really thought we were all going that morning. I was wrong. Apparently my parents got into a stupid argument whether or not my mom took a shower or not. It was like the biggest misunderstanding in the world, but whatever. My parents argue once in a while, but it usually settles down after a while. That morning only my sister and I attended church. As I sit there in the pew, I never really pay attention to the service. All I can ever really think about is new sabre work we learned. I go over it again and again, making sure I get it right. But what can I say? Catholic masses aren't the most exciting..

Sneak In For What It's Worth

Oh yes.. the weekend is finally here! That Saturday played out as a typical morning with errands to be done with my parents. The car included my parents, my brother, and myself. One of the first things we did was get my uniforms for this coming school year. To be honest, its not that bad; the idea of wearing a uniform, I mean. I've been shopping recently and I think to myself, "Oh well there's no point in getting this because I won't be able to wear it anyway." I'm aware of going out on weekends, but I already have a huge amount of clothes to begin with. After uniforms, I believe we went to Costco for food shopping! For some reason shopping at Costco makes me happy. It must be the "wholesale" thing its got going. We got a bunch of fruits, cereal, and rotisserie chicken. [The chicken there is to die for!!! SO GOOD.] We also went to the mall that morning because my mom needed to pay bills in person. I also wanted to look for khaki pants, because the pairs that our school provides is for guys only. [Not very flattering on a female's body] We went to Kohl's after that, where I finally got my pants. Three pairs came up to $78.00. Insane.

So I get a text from Michael inviting me to go to the movies; more or less, an invite for an adventure. I met them up at Jeremy's house, but he wasn't coming which was kind of sad. It was Jill, Jamie, Marison, Michael, and I. We picked up Olga and headed straight for the movies. Walking up to the front, we discovered a nice, long line to buy tickets. I had my card with me, but apparently the kiosks were out of order. We went inside to look for people we knew who worked there to get us free tickets because a couple of us were under-aged! We were planning to watch THE Fninal Destination 3D which was starting at 7:15, and it was already 7:00PM. Time was wasting as we stood there in the middle of the concessions lobby, until one of Marison's friends passes by. They start talking and a plan arose! Sneak in through the side door! I've never snuck into a movie before, so the adrenaline was rushing! No hesitations were rising; I was all for it. We all started walking toward the side of the building [how fishy must that seem?! A huge group of asians walking in through the side] as Marison's friend came out from the AMC and pushed open the door while no one was looking. We al rushed in and from what I heard, Jill just stood there so Michael had to pull her though. haha. I giggled to myself silently as we rushed to the theatre door. It was a 3D movie so we all needed glasses, right? How did we get them, you ask? As we walked through the doors, I shoved my arm into the recycle bin for glasses and grabbed as many as I could! Unfortunately, that "many" only turned out to be 2 pairs. I gave one to Olga and we continued in. Goodness that theatre was full!! Our only option was front row. Front row and 3D. Greattt. Despite that, we laughed the entire time and the movie was horrible, by the way! I sat next to Michael and Jill and we commented throughout the whole thing! After wards, we headed into Nutley to catch Bryan as he got out from work. We met him at Rita's where we endlessly asked for Sweedish Fish Italian Ice samples! IT REALLY TASTED LIKE IT. Leaving Rita's, the plan was to go back to Bryan's, where we would all go into one car [some how] and go to Red Robin's.

Surprise Surprise. We got lost. In Nutley. We went around in the same square like twice, haha. Getting lost is a fun experience! Red Robins was good, just being able to chill out and feast on one order of macho nachos. :D good night. it was.

I've Found You

Hrmm.. Nothing really happened that Friday.. I definitely took advantage of sleep the night before. Band Camp was over, and there was no way I was going to be awake before 11:00AM. I woke up at 2:30 that day, and I didn't do much. When my father came home, we tried to get uniforms, but apparently all the places were closing early on Fridays. I had looked up times for Atlantic Uniforms, and the website stated that they close late on Fridays at 8PM. They're such liars. =P

OH. And I finally found my book that day! I was so happy yet upset at the same time. Obviously I was happy for finding it because now I could actually finish reading and continues the series [ as well as do summer reading]. I was upset because it was right where I had left it. I thought it wasn't there because I had checked the area multiple times. It was in a bag under the counter of my kitchen. I clearly remember putting it on top of the bag, but as I checked, I never looked deep enough into the Macy's bag to realize it had fallen in so far. ._.

And now I continue the Cirque Du Freak series. :)

And Now For The Finale!

That Thursday was a nice day! Band Picnic!! The first thing we did that day was take pictures. I guess it didn't matter if you were late or not, but a good feeling came back when I put that ugly blue uniform on. Maybe it was the oder of never being washed or the scent of memories at football games, cheering at the top of my lungs. My jazz shoes still had dirt from the last muddy, rainy football game we cheered for- gross. Standing outside in the front with the photographer seemed like forever trying to figure out how everyone should stand. The double in size didn't help, as it only made it harder to get everyone in the shot. We had about two extra rows to fit the entire guard. Group 3, baby.

After pictures the rest of the band went outside to practice for a few ours. I would have joined them, but Stephanie, Jaelynn, Rachel, and I had to stay inside to make copies of superlatives and fill them out. It took about half an hour, but hey I won't lie: it was kind of nice to stay in for a little bit longer. Then we went out to practice for the rest of the day. At lunch, we gave out superlatives, which needed a lot of yelling to pass them out. It was hilarious when Mike and Tiana got "Most Likely To Be A Couple" He began to chace her to the back of the auditorium and harrass her. It was great.

Afterwards, everyone left and I went to Ana's house to chill with her until 4:30. I love chilling at her house. Whether we are dying hair, watching Degrassi, or nonetheless sleeping, I still manage to enjoy it there. Maybe this is why I hate being home.

We returned to the hs by 4:30, meeting at the big field to practice a few more times. Parents began to show up and we performed our show. I fail to feel nervous anymore; I already knew it would be bad, but that's how it always is. Performing has become second nature to me; I just wish the rookie girls would catch up to be the same. We brought in the stuff inside and to my surprise, a good friend of mine had broke down. My eyes froze, and I wasn't sure what to do. I thought to myself, "Isn't this supposed to be a good night? Why are there tears already? The night hasn't even begun." I sat outside with my friend for comfort and help. Honestly, I suck at situations like that. I tend to freeze up and not know what to do. But as a friend, I do what I can to keep you together. Things gathered up and we went back inside.

The picnic that night was so fun! People were getting clothespinned all night, and chatting stayed strong. We all laughed around and jokes were going everywhere. The food was good and with that- my two weeks of healthy eating kind of ended. I filled my stomach with toron, cookies, pasta, and many more goods. :)

We're So Glad You're Home, Momma :D

This Wednesday was greatt! Guard didn't do anything. It was the second to last day of practice, and we all knew that the last day on Thursday didn't count at all. I didn't even get to practice on time that day.

Forcefully awoken, my brother, my sister, and I left around 5:30 to retrieve my mother. Her flight was arriving that morning at JFK Airport all the way in New York from her two week stay in the Philippines. She had gone because her father had passed. Therefore it is only right to find your way back home to pay your greatest respects. Anyways, I wasn't all up for the early wake up call. I was completely glad my mom was back home, but come on- that early?! I slept in the far back seat of our Gray Toyota Sienna, stretched out as comfortably as it allowed me. The stop at a Dunkin Donuts in Newark didn't help either. As soon as I got my regular medium coffee, I put it down for it was far too hot to even drink. Caffeine couldn't save me now. [But hey, I needed the rest for practice]

So finally we arrived at the airport, after paying wallet devouring tolls, and began looking for our mom. We ended up at a quiet terminal A and stopped by a Starbucks because my sister wanted some soup. I had cont\acted my mom and it was clarified that we were in the wrong baggage clain and arrival area. She was at Terminal C, baggage claim D-1. We were far from that. Unfortunately, we had to go all the way out and around back to the parking lot to drive up to where we had to be. Down the elevator for the third time, we finally found our way to the right place and sporrted our mother in a small crowd. We shared loving hugs and kisses, got her luggage and left. Those baggage carts are tricky! My sister didn't realize that one had to push down or lift up on the handle bar in order to let the wheels roll.

As we crossed the little street my mother passed by a woman with grayish white hair and glasses and waved goodbye. She pointed to us and said we were her children. [The lady looked like she was a Lenscrafter ad with her clean look and glasses.] Thats the only way I can describe her! My mother apparently sat with her during the flight and they talked and whatnot. Its always fun to make friends during transportation, I guess. The ride back home was better, as I could actually remain awake and watch my sister pay the $11.00 toll just to get across the Verrazano Bridge. Crazy, right?!

I had texted Shannon to warn her that I wasn't going to make it on time. I also texted Regina, becaus eI would be able to pick her up. It was kind of awkward because as we drove down a local street I saw her walking with Jonathan to catch the bus. The only thing I could do was wave..

I got dressed and hopped in the car with my brother and sister. We dropped off my sister to work and then I to the high school for practice. I found out Shannon was not at practice that day because her apartment building burned in a late fire the previous night. I felt bad, because just a day before she was bleeding from the forehead from a sabre accident! She came back later that day to join practice. The guard spent the rest of the day inside as we learned sabre work and the flagline practiced dancing. Also, we did uniform sizing and pants fitting because we all knew that Thursday was band pictures! Only one day to go!

So All We Have To Do Is Get Through Practice, Right?

That Tuesday, Belleville's colorguard had everything to look forward to. All we had to do was get through a straight 9AM-5PM and our reward was at hand. We would be swimming in Kelly's relaxing pool after a hard days work and making t-shirts. Easy, right? Thats what I thought, too.
That day was a tough one. We were out on the field doing drill and putting new saber work with it. There is this one part of the drill at the end of the first number where the saber line tosses a quad while moving quickly into a diagonal. The order is Jaelynn, Me, Shannon, and Regina. From what I heard, Shannon tosses her quad and was still moving back, while Regina who was behind her, tosses and stopped in place. I turn around to find a bleeding forehead on my Captain. Everyone on the field stood quietly, watching. Apparently, Shannon and Regina's sabres collided in the air and one hit her. It was pretty crazy. I thought to myself, "Wow, I thought today was going to be easy. I didn't know bloodshed was part of it." Apparently she came back a while later after finding medical assistance ready to continue practice. She is such a trooper!

We eventually got through the day and relaxed at Kelly's house and in her pool. When I changed in the bathroom, she had a full-sized mirror which allowed me to examine my amazing tan lines. It was as if I wore a bodysuit ll summer! Shirt making was hectic, trying to find room.. but hey we got it done.

Rookies Love Basics, Don't They?

Welcome to the first day of week 2 of Band Camp! -cheers- So it was a Monday, and I was still iffy with breathing. I was kind of worried that morning because as I got ready to go downstairs short breaths started to attack. As I had previously read online, I took the time to take as deep breaths as I could through my nose and slowly blow out through my mouth - like a trumpet. Great, I was a trumpeteer. I might as well go join the section. So we picked up Regina and Jon and got to the high school. I almost thought we were going to be late because of the BMW that was driving in front of us. I can't put it together how someone owns a nice car and decides to drive as slow as a senior citizen. Strangely, the BMW pulled up to the hs as well and guess who pops out? The one and only Mike Laboy. Haha..we came out of the car and thanked him for going 5 mph and stopping in the middle of the street at a stop sign. So we got inside and I told Shannon about the weekend and I had no guarantees for today.

Today's practice was a lucky one. The guard stayed in sectionals about the whole time just outside of the highschool. The band stayed inside for full ensemble while we did basics for the longest while. I counted as loud as my lungs allowed me to, until gasping for air started. Our rookies need the help of some kind of miracle. The guard earned themself a lap for not listening to directions and just failing. I asked Shannon if I could not run it, for obvious reasons. Later, the rookies pulled another one. They couldn't hold one damned count at a good angle, so we stayed there for EVER. Thanks rookies. You have a long way to go.

Oh, so I definitely forgot to put the second half of that day! After 6-8PM practice, I went with Shannon, Fabi, Jae, Momma 2, and Kevin to AC Moore. We were to buy blank yellow t-shirts and fabric paint for the Band Picnic. Its a bit of a band camp tradition where each section has matching shorts and t-shirts. It was a little crazy counting about 20 shirts to purchase and making sure we had the right sizes. We also stopped by the ACME store to get some chips and soda for tomorrow's guard pool party :)

Still Not Up To Par

This day was a continuation of Saturday's feeling of death approaching. The only word that could symbolize this day was sleep. Actually, I slept until about 12 noon. I was actually feeling a lot better, under the fact that I could breathe a bit better. It took me a while to realize that I needed to arrange the pillows in an upright position and that that's how I was supposed to sleep. It was weird at first- sleeping while sitting up, but I got used to it.. I would turn off the lights after I took my meds, lay in bed, sit there with my hands folded, and stare into the darkness until sleep came. It wasn't too bad because I almost immediately fell asleep.

Around noon, I got bored of sleeping all day and decided to get up and on Facebook. As sick as I would be, I still find my way to get onto a computer and update my status. I still thought about the next day and how that would turn out. I had gotten a bit better, but I wasn't up to par. Running was not an option for me because I knew my body well enough to acknowledge the stupid things to be doing in this state. It would only make it worse. So I prayed to God we wouldn't have to run.

Puff-Puff, I Still Can't Breathe

August 22nd, 2009

I remember this day well. I was so busy dying for air I can't forget it.

Hi, I'm Stefanellie, and I have asthma. It hasn't acted up too badly, until this weekend. Yesterday's crack of my voice kind of hinted the events of that day, but I never knew what to expect. The previous night, I had trouble breathing while I slept. I had assumed it was just a spur of the moment thing, so I didn't care. Morning swang around and things weren't any better. I generalized that I had simply got sick from hot days at practice. I had a constant cough producing flegm, so what else can I really think? Saturday was my father's company picnic. He kind of forced me to come with him being that there was no one else available from our family to come.I took a while to get my stuff together and finally leave the house, but we were soon on our way. We stopped by Dunkin Donuts and went to my dad's job first. He had to take care of some things and so I was led to his office to chill around. I walked in with the medium regular hot coffee in my hand and looked around. To see photos of my family all around made me smile.

At this point, the waiting game began. I sat in his comfy chair and swung around out of boredom. Another lady came in who was also waiting for the picnic. i think she was an employee's wife. She was freaking weird.. she offered me a granola bar..and tried to start conversation. Her japanese accent was heavy and I just nodded at everything she said with the occational "okay". I fiddled around my fathers desk and left him a stick note message.. and continued spining in the chair. I soon realized I couldn't breathe. I was taking quick breaths of in-out-in-out, as if I was gasping for air. Confused, i tried to slow my breathing down to a normal rate, but I was only suffocating myself. Finally we left and we were on our way to the picnic grounds. I confessed to my father that I had trouble breathing so we had to pass by an A&P to get some Cepecol losenges. They didn't work. By the time we got to the grounds, i refused to leave the car. The whole time I stayed in and tried to gather myself. For a while, I couldn't figure how to turn the air on. I did get it blowing but there was no temperature difference. I began to sweat and I still couldn't breathe.

To be honest, I was beginning to get scared. I looked up the symptoms of an asthma attack and it was all fitting: "short breathes, weakness, inability to do normal processes, blue fingernails or lips" So great. I was having a slight asthma attack. I tried to sleep and reclined the chair. I fell asleep for a while, but woke up to a knocking at the window. A brother and sister came with a wheeler and crate to retrieve the watermelons from my van. I awoke so suddenly, realizing that I was sweating like there was no tomorrow and it didn't feel nice. I walked back to the grounds where they were and the walk seemed unbearable. I asked my dad about the air, and he told me I had to turn the entire car and engine on. >.> Yeah, didn't know. sh. Walking back, the sun beating down on me made my feel weaker and the distance felt doubled. Eventually I got the air running cool and my fever wasn't hiking up. Although, as soon as I stepped out to use the bathroom, the walk back got me dying again. I felt like I couldn't walk the entire distance which wasn't even too far. My legs were ready to give out and just lay there. I also came back to the picnic with my saber to practice and it wasn't working. I couldn't keep focus and it all failed. My dad's friends tried to talk to me about guitar and I couldn't even focus on him. I stayed in the car for the rest of the day.

FINALLY, we left around 5PM and I still couldn't breath well. I used my inhaler, but it wasn't the best of help. My breaths were still short. On the drive back my dad was falling asleep and I almost thought we wouldn't make it alive. He was throwing water in himself to stay awake and whatnot. Back home, I got out of the car and I couldn't walk at all! In order to go on, I was at a turtles pace, trying to keep my breaths together. I barely made it up the stairs. As soon as I did, I crashed on the couch and tried to breathe.

I think I almost began to cry. It was terrible.

I ended up in my parents room trying to breathe and sleep for the rest of the night. My father went out and purchased medicines for my fever and coughing.

That day was everything to not expect.

TGIF, Right?

That day was a 9-5PM practice same as the day before. It was still hellish, just not as bad. JT had come once again, after lunch to help out with our oh-so-faulty guard. We stood in a block on the blacktop parking lot of School #7 getting ready to do some basics. The few trees that stood above our area only covered the front line and more space to the right of us. This is why I like being a veteran :) As a 3rd year, I stand in the front as a reference point for new girls to follow for timing. With that, I get the limited amount of shade! Itwas great. I do feel bad for them, but I've already had a share of sun in my eyes and burning on my back. It sounds harsh, yes, but they really need to pull it together and learn what real work ethic is. Whining is not an option and asking questions is obselete.

So, what figured to be some peggy-spins and drop-spins turned out to be more than 400 of them. Just a tip for life: Do it right the first time and so we don't have to worry about doing it again. The clouds seemed nicely placed in the sky: dark and shady. After suffering so many reps with Shannoin at JT was on his phone, we ended up going inside to excape the heat and watch som '05 Drum Corps. He had marched Cadets then, pointing out his flaws and memories of the show from Finals. I don't know, but I like him and all, but I just didn''t end the week with a good vibe from him. Whatever. It was his last day anyway. On the way coming inside, my voice cracked and it surprised me. I wasn't planning to get sick on a Summer day; nor did I think it would ever happen.

Then, the rain came. Apparently a "deadly storm" was on its way and the entire band came back inside as it began to pour. Lucky me left my purse and drill binder on the field for sectionals because I had assumed we were coming back. wamp. Meeting back with the band I found that myu purse was safe, but my binder was still out there. Every page is in a page protector specifically if I ever left it out in bad weather. That purpose failed. No one picked it up, but apparently everything else was achieved. Later after practiceended early, as the rain was settling down, I went back to the field and retrieved my soaked drill book. I worked so hard on it, too!!

9-5 Freak My Life

From what I remember..this day was god awfully long. The previous days of band camp, we've been having only 9AM-3PM practice and then 6PM-8PM practice later that night. In general, the hours all added up the same, but the 3 hours break inbetween made all the difference! It's such a pain in the but to stand on that dreaded, hot field right after lunch from around 1PM-5PM doing drill over and over again! As simple of a task it is, things just get to you when you're standing in the heat for so long. You start to notice the small things in life; like the guy with only one arm and a prosthetic leg who parks his car out in front to go for a little walk; like the same damned trucks that always pass by around the same time; like the motorcyclists who look silly in their hard shell helmets. The best part of all is praying for wind and rain to come. Shade is another great factor. Everyones eyes wander to the sky to look for any overpassing huge clouds, hoping for an answer to their whining.

This photo is from the second to last day of school when I skipped to hang out with Raymond, Abby, and Julie at the park :)

Also, none of our instuctors like to come and teach any more.. so from what I remember, that whole week PJ's friend came to help teach basics with us. As cool as he was, I didn't like the fact that he made us do so many reps and hold at certain counts that were a pain in the ass. Oh, he also made us do 20 pushups. Hard, right? No? I should probably mention that all 16 of us had to do them together. Out of my own physical ability, I can do 20 pushups. But to make me wait for everyone else who is struggling and having to do it all over because we cant get through 5 together was hell.

Look, I Told a Joke!

So..I can't remember what happened today.. uh.. yeah.. dot dot.

Wanna hear a yo mamma joke? No? Okay. :D


Yo Momma so fat I ran around her and got lost!


How about a black joke? No? Okay :D


How long does it take a black woman to take a shit? 9 months.

i love you.




btw, look my grandparents are having a great time in Cali, site-seeing. They're on a cruise right now to Mehico. I wish I was them.

Beginning Le Sabre!

As discussed in the previous post, I have begun band camp. This day was day numero 2. I can't say anything was too different but the weather sure was the same! HOT. HOT. and. HOT >.> All I can tell you is that my tanlines are improving and hey, theres nothing we can do about it is there? On that Tuesday, I remember being able to feel the heat burning my skin tone 2 shades darker than it already was. I knew that when I would get home and look in the mirror before jumping into the shower, I would find a greater contrast in what my skin looks like now to what it did only three days ago. Oh, I also started spinning sabre that night as well! Our instructors came that night and pulled us separate from the rest of the guard. Shannon, Jaelynn, Regina, and I were about to begin weapon basics. We stood in a small block of four, in first position, with best posture possible. I borrowed an extra pair of Shannon's guard gloves, being that I lost my own pair earlier into last season. Booyyyyyyy did those glove smell bad! They've been through seasons of lots of sweat! Blegh, thinking of it doesn't give me a good feeling. I stood in the back line, with my sabre at a good left flat, as we began to do basics. PJ only asked for one count, but I still felt that nervous butterflies feeling in my stomach. It was not that I had never practiced with a sabre before, but it was the first actual practice where I was spinning with others and not at home. Also, as I stood in the back I look at the other three girls and thought, "Wow, it feel like our first day all over again..". Despite how long any of us had been spinning, we were all in the same scenario right now. We were all equally quiet; no egos were shooting into the sky, and no one was being a smart ass. At first, he said to do simple spins. Then, he moved up to blade tosses (which I love!) singles, doubles, then triples. NEXT, we jumped to regular tosses: singles, doubles, triples, quads, fives, sixes.. oh then we stopped there because we couldn't go any higher. haha. I just thought it was crazy how he was making us do all that in one day! We're spinning sabre in this year's show, and all I can hope for is to be as good as possible!

First Day Of The Longest Stretch

So that Monday was a good one. For some reason, I always get excited on the first day of band camp. I mean really, who isn't? I woke up that morning feeling ready for some hardcore work. I had my water jug ready full with ice cold water, sunblock ready to be applied, money for lunch, and soffee shorts and tank tops ready to be sweat in! (yeah that last one was kind of gross) It kind of felt like the first day of school, but better. When I woke up, I also felt sore in the legs. Thanks to the day before at Mt. Creek and all the walking!

As nice as I felt when I woke up, that feeling didn't last very long. At about 8:40 AM, I was ready to leave, so I woke up my brother. Actually, I've been trying to wake him up since about 8:30 AM. I had everything ready by the stairs, so I was just waiting for my brother. By the time he woke up for real, I thought, "Alright let's leave..any later and I might be late." My brother started looking for his car keys and we started realizing he couldn't find them. Now for a little side note: To know me, you would know that I tend to panic sometimes on last minute things. It was about 8:45AM and I was tearing our living room apart. It didn't help that our house was a mess to begin with since there were no parents in state to clean up. Papers were going every where, bags were being thrown around, and pillows and blankets were on the floor. That scene looked exactly as I will describe: me throwing everything around and looking under the couch and whatnot panicking like theres no tomorrow. I thguht to my self "how the hell am I gonna be late on the FIRST day!" I wasn't up for running laps on day 1. Then, there's my brother still half asleep, walking around, chill, just looking for his keys. I think that moment got my blood pressure off the charts! (I also had to pick up Regina for practice as well. so, that didn't help either.)

My brother then decides to call my sister asking if she took them. She replies stating that my brother had left them in the door the night before, so she took them out and placed them at the bottom of the steps. At this point I'm thinkinging, "grrrreeeatttt....CAN WE LEAVE NOW?!" I really am such a spaz. It's nothing to be proud about haha..me and my procrastination..

So we are finally on our way and I text Shannon that we would be a little late right after picking up Regina. I get the reply:

Shannon 8:52 AM

Oh its okay we're not doing anything yet

Monday, August 17th, 2009

I stopped to think. It was the first day of Band Camp. We have a Breakfast on the first day, every year. I just panicked for no good reason. I'm such a failure. Haha..so yeah go ahead and laugh at me right now. -waits-

So we get there and have a nice, subtle breakfast of bagels, eggs, munchkins, snacks, and drinks in the auditorium. Excitement is shared between rookies and veterans as we eat away. When everyone finished, we made a circle on the stage and sat down to introduce each and every person, new and old. It was kind of nice to know that this year we couldn't even fit every one in the circle! This year our size has moved from about 45 member knocked up to about 70! After that, we went onto the field and did stretching and all that warm up jazz and started drill and basics. By the end of that day I was worn out, anxious to jump in the shower, and sleep; only to do the same thing the next day.

Call be a band nerd. I don't care :) It makes me happy.

Hike Up A Mountain, Why Don't You?

From what I remember, that day was decent. Me, my sister, her boyfriend, and Kim went to Mountain Creek. I believe that everyone should go there at least once every summer, just for the sake of it. It;s one of the best water parks, in my opinion. Anyways, as much as I felt guilty for not attending church that Sunday, I skipped it for a water park. We left early morning and got some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, later realizing we could not find the discount coupons for Mt. Creek that we picked up weeks ago. That pushed us about an hour behind schedule, as we began Dunkin Donuts hopping to look for the same vouchers. Unfortunately after stopping at each of like the billion lacations in town, we could not find them. It really was pointless because it was only a $5 discount. Oh well..


Ugh, the DD hopping was a bad idea. It falls on top of the fact that we unknowingly chose the hottest day to go. We ended up getting there by noon only to find that the initial parking lot was way full, and we would have to go park at another one, costing us an extra three bucks. To our luck, the extra parking was down a nice, steep hill that we would have to climb back up. [fml] The line to pay admission was insanely long!


We finally get in and I'm seeing these guys with dirt bikes taking the ski lift. I looked at them and thought, "wow..I wish I could do that." I took a second llook at them and thought again, "Damn, nevermind I wouldn't wanna wear all that
























clothing on a day like this!" I really don't know how they do it! there were wearing like the long sleeves, gloves, the pants, the shoes, the helmet.. on the hottest day ever, too! They crazy fools. lol


The day at the park was okay its just that the lines were insanely long! If anything we should have gone on a rainy day. Kind of like the day I went to 6 Flags when it started pouring. That was by far by favorite day this summer! There were so few people, and it was a great, different experience! lol Oh, and tell me how it took 2 hours of waiting in line to get food during lunch AND to find seats! so ridiculous lol.


Oh. I failed on the Tarzan swings, but you don't need to know about that. =P

So I Found My Way To Urban Outfitters

Today turned out to be pretty chill! It was better than I had expected, noting the new discoveries we made tonight and new people we met. Today started off with me and my brother going to Garden State Plaza for the third day in a row and it was just as great! I really want that to become a mall we go to more religiously..I am so tired of Willowbrooke Mall in Wayne lol I know that place like the back of my hand! Its more fun venturing around the hugest mall around and getting lost rather than knowing where you are all the time. ..Its actually also more fun going with friends..I should do that more often also >.> So I found my way to the Urban Outfitters store and decided this is where I would buy my gift for Angela's party tonight. I absolutely love that store; not for the clothes, but for all the miscellanious items they sell! You've got books about sex positions and old school childrens books like Where the Wild Things Are sitting right next to fisheye cameras and gigantic DJ headphones ranging from $40-120$ ! I really want to get one of those cameras! But I believe one of the most interesting items there was the Hamburger Telephone remeniscent of Juno! haha and right beside it was a French Fries telephone, too! That was the best. I ended up getting her a Muffy [or is it Duffy?] figure which is a blank figure you can draw on and stuff and put stickers on and dress it up and just go all out creative on it. To be honest, I would have liked to get it for myself as well as this one book where each page gives random, crazy directions to do and by the last page, the whole book is destroyed! As I know myself, I want everything :P I have to contain myself and my wallet.



I played a true Filipino and arrived at Angela's party 40 minutes past 6PM , when the party had meant to start. At first everyone was just sitting in the backyard chilling out and it was a little quiet but after the food was ready and blessed, things started livening up. After getting devoured my many moquitos, Ana and many of us decided to go inside and chill around in the living room and whatnot. Two of the other guests had brought in a guitar and were playing in the kitchen, while me and Ana were on the Mac [I want one!] Ana asked to go on because she wanted to look someone up on Youtube. She searched Napon Pintong and declared that one of the guys in the kitchen resembled him. We eventually found out, thanks to Resyl, that it was him and a friend, Noel! We were excited at this point. We went through introductions and ended up sitting in the kitchen as we got a little mini-show. They played through song requests, freestyles, and old school music and it was all great! I must admit they are very talented!! :)

http://www.youtube.com/nap3s



He played some of my favorite songs : Nice and Slow and You Remind Me by Usher :)

Luscious Lavender

Today was a decent day.. I reluctantly woke up at 8:30 to prepare for practice at 10 -12. I am so glad a lot of the girls showed up and we kind of started tossing haha..anyways, afterwards I ended up going to Anas house as usually and finally dying my hair! This started as a single

picture, and stretched out into a collective progression! It came out and amazing blonde color and when we started putting it the color it looked like PB&J! Mmm haha We also went to Ritas when my hair bleach was still setting in. My hair was crazy and all over the place, but who cares. haha I don't know how my paents will react when they find out, but whatever..I did this in a feeling of "idgaf"

Nothing

So I have practice in 8 hours and I'm sorry for not posting earlier. Nothing rlly happend today..But i did chill with my brother and his friend so that was cool..oh and i hemmed up the Crusaders shirt I got ;D


Oh, we went to GSP today too..I had crap bubble tea, but I got my whale belt!! :D The employees at Zumiez are chill :D

Here's a filler photo

Tension Rods Electrocute My Moods

Today has been a stressful day..well i should say night. My mother left earlier and I went to practice from 6-8 PM stress is a word that underestimates my moods from tonight. ._. Oh, and I got locked out the first day I'm home alone. failure. The lightning was craazy

Webcamming makes up for a crap night lol Thanks guys!

Doing A 180

Oh god..today has been a day. As most day this one seemed to start off good. I had canceled practice this morning in order to spend time with my mother, who is leaving tomorrow morning for the Philippines. We really did our best at having a relaxed, chill day in Atlantic City and that is what happened. We had a chill day in AC. My mother, my sister, and I had sushi, layed on the beach for like 5 minutes, walked into the seaweed filled Atlantic Ocean (gross), shopped, and so forth. I even got to go to the Converse Outlet!! finallyy!! I got me a nice, clean pair ;D




So yeah. We had a good day at AC. Our night back in Belleville, on the other hand was something completely different. When the three of us got back to town, we all got pedicures to beautify our les pieds hehe. But. Coming back home was killer. Things started happening al at once and it felt like the world itself was falling apart. My mother was no longer calm, argueing with my brother about her flight tomorrow morning to go to the Philippines. She was being herself again >.> Oh well..people are people.













Meet my sister, Christianne.

NYC, BABY!

As of this past day..it has been fun and interesting! This morning began with doing some errands with the brother and mother. We went to St. Michael's Hospital in Newark, to take care of some stuff for my mom's leaving on Wednesday. It made me feel a little bit iffy to see my mom breakdown as she talked to a couple of co-workers. But to be honest, she has been taking it very strongly, and I give all that I can to her! Then, we went to Costco and Chipotle where my bro had this GINORMOUS BURRITO! For me i would say it would take about an hour to eat that thing! WHERE AS..he devoured it in 10 minutes! ehh crazy shit!

Around 2, I met up with Olga, Michael, Greg, and Phillip to head to the city. Today we all have admitted it about once or twice, but it is a very random group! We never really hang out all together, but hey, change is good right?It's too much to type but I know its a day I won't forgot.. I hope a MrVangeldren post up some of those pictures soon! >.>

BTW..meet my brother, Marc. haha He bodybuilds.

(IDK..i just needed another picture, I didn't take any today!!)

Cooookies

So there is apparently no post for August 9, 2009 BECAUSE I fell asleep around 5PM and woke up at 3:30AM!!!! But in all, its my fault. The night before that, I slept around 4AM and had to wake up that Sunday at 7:30AM to catch the 8AM mass..uhh I think it was because..oh. It was because we wanted to spend time with my mom since the passing of her father and my sister had work that afternoon by 2PM! .. see. my memory isn't that bad >.>Anyways..my on August 9th, I made cookies. :) Thats my broad post make-up for yesterday. xD

Bonding

So every since Thursday, I've kinda promised myself to always be there for my mom until she leaves for the Philippines. I've been with her this whole day and we did a lot - subtle things, though. We all went to drop off my father and his parents to the airport and when we got back it was just my mother and I at home. We bonded today lol. We shared a little snack of pandesal with butter, and some hot chocolate.

Because we share this love, I 'm apparently "Truely a mother's daughter" xD

Then, I walked with her to Stop and Shop and PathMark..as much as I didn't want to.

Finally, with my brother home from military drill, we had some dinner at the Nevada Diner in Bloomfield; that is by far, my favorite diner =) Belgian waffles with strawberries and ice cream always get the best of me!

wtf I hate my neck!

Hello Stefanellie!, You Have (Too Many) Unread Messages

So uhh..people have been telling me to clean out my inbox, due to the quantity shown above. Soemtimes I feel like listening to them and doing so, but other times like now, I look at it and laugh to myself a little. Yeah, I'm not cleaning it out.

Let's see if I can get to 10,000 unread.

Oh btw, a crazy lady tried to ask for help by pulling on my car's door handle tonight on the way to Applegate. We were at a stop light Freaking crazy..

EDIT
IS THIS LEGIT ENOUGH FOR YOU, MRVANGELDREN? LOL

Dreading That Key

This is the earliest post yet, but my wake up call this morning was not the same. On a typical day, I would wake up around 8:30 AM to the cheerful, persisting voice of my mother calling out to our pets. Thats one of the downsides of sleeping in the living room; you hear everything. Whether you are awake or not, you are part of the life that flows through a tiny apartment. On a typical morning, the phone likes to ring A LOT. Sometimes we don't bother to answer, but my sister picked up the phone out of failure to ignore it.
The phone ringing let alone annoyed me. Then, was the sound of confusion in my sisters voice trying to understand the language on the other line. It was my mothers relatives in the Philippines. Half conscious, I detect a shocked, and indescribable "OH." My heart suddenly dropped. My mind began to race as I waited for my sister to put down the phone. I immediately came to full consciousness, forgetting about the glories of sleep.

My grandfather, my LoLo Pol, had just passed away earlier this morning.

We got the call at 6:10 AM. The biggest thing about this is that my mother has not yet arrived home from her night shift at the hospital. In hopes to understand what to do, I hopped into the shower as my sister packed her things for the day, as she already had plans to go to the beach. She was not sure whether to go or not, but it was decided.

I'm sitting here, in the living room, dreading the hear that key shove its rough metal self into the door lock, allowing my mother to enter.

I sit here in a towel and robe, dreading it. I am the one who has to tell her about it. I wasn't sure, nor have I ever thought about carrying the title "The Bearer of Bad News". For a good while I pondered about how am I going to take care of this? Do I give her the number they left to call back? Or should I tell her first, only see her drop her pink bookbag that she carries her work supplies in; only to see her eyes once again swell up with a redness that I have seen in 2001; only to see her heart drop as mine did earlier; only to see her take in the final death that verifies that both her parents are deceased?

I wasn't very close with my Lolo, but I have visited the Philippines a few times well enough to know that I care for him. My greatest sympathies go out to him as mourning his death will be something to edure. But what hit me the most, emotionally, was the fact that I would have to watch my mother mourn once again, the passing of her parent.

I HATE seeing my mother cry. I absolutely hate it for a few reasons. First of all, no one wants to see their parents cry. We see them as strong people who always hold ground for the family. This expresses the characteristic of vulnerability that every single human being shares. Secondly, I despise the site because sometimes I am the reason for those tears. If not, I am part of the reasons - no, I am, whole, one separate reason as to why there is so much stress in her life.

I admit to myself and to you, and I have been a very difficult child to have raised. Chores never done, attitude thrown around. I regret it all. Its all been like a cake; problems layers on top of another and another. There is icing inbetween that represents the good times we shared inbetween, but I soon enough would see the shadows of another layer coming from overhead.

In bed, I prayed to god. I prayed for his loss, but moreover I prayed to Him for strength. Just so you know, this isn't some holy faith blog, if you are reading this right now. I prayed to himm, begging to give my mother strength; she needs all the strength she can find to get through this.

I know I might not know you, but can you please just take a second to pray for them both: his loss and for her strength.

I'm not the type to be asking out for your prayers, but for the past half hour that I've been typing this, I'm still finding some strength to actually tell her.

There is no picture for this post.

LEGIT.

This is my excuse tonight. I found The Might Morphin Power Rangers movie on Hulu.com. I have had THE BIGGEST urge to watch this again for so long! It brings backk good memories :) Its almost done.

12:40 AM Shhhhhh!

Danngg..last night was a messy night!! My hands were plastered covered and I wasn't sure if I was making a model of a dinosaur or that of my hands! Well, I'm very happy because i got all the plasterin done but when I began to clean up, I saw the little mounds of white pouder everywhere that resembled cocaine.. Because of how I molded it, the T.Rex refuses to stand up on its to hind legs, and the upper body and head account for about 65% of the weight. I got to painting it tongiht which came out decent, but it's missing teeth. I give it away tomorrow morning.

I blame a Jeremy Buhain for this late post. :)

..and a Mr Vangeldren and a Ms Villaruel..

Have A Super-Sonic Day!

Okay, Okay, even thuogh you can't see the time I post this, its already 12:30 AM . It is now the first time I have failed to post a 1 blog per day, thoguh I have only started three days ago. Well, as my excuse I will tell you that I went to Sonic tonight and had a great time! We discussed the fact that the hype Sonic has created on Rt 46 is not due to any idea of the place having amazing food, but simply because..we don't have one around here! Another example would be WaWa! [waaawaaa] fun to say, hehe The only time you see either of these two chains are if you are down the shores of NJ.

Roar Goes the Dino, and Squish Goes the Clay

I'm really sticking to my old habits: procrastinate until the last minute. Haha..well hopefully I do get better with this and upadate during the day, but right now I'm currently watching a show about parasites and strange deaths and whatnot.. lol. If you hhave watched the last post's link, you would understand my awkward liking for gruesome thing. Now to the point. Tonight's post is a little picture of something I'm working on. I went to michaels today to buy some clay (Crayola Air Dry) to make a T Rex.. Originally I was supposed to simply purchase a toy T.Rex for a friend, but the one i found was abotu 3in. high. Lucky me, I have the friend who wants 6 in. ._. Hell, asI make this now, it will be bigger than that! Clay is such a messy medium and my hands were stone white; they felt like stone anyway..

Now, to continue watching gore stuff. :)

The Taste You Can See

lol so had I posted this 15 minutes from now, I would have been an automatic fail at this blog xD Well anyways, straight to the point. I've recently been on a sugar rage [more than usual] and devouring boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch; also, I have recently become aware of the result of Diabetes @.@ Apparntly tissue functions can fail and people can end up having holes in their feet. youtube it. i dare youu.! No, nevermind I'll just link you to it haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAY7OKp6D7w

*Wow..I spelled the cereal wrong on the drawing, sorry. lol