012902
[6:03pm] Today Courtney quit guard. I was two things: happy (because she didn't come to practice very
often or when she did come, she didn't seem to work like she should, but now we have an even number)
and sad (because she quit.) Also today spring trip was canceled. They needed a minimum of 50 people
going and only 31 gave their forms to Mr Wisdom. So whatever. I probably wasn't going anyway. Blarf
blarf, what else? I saw Shawn yesterday: he came to practice. He's not on guard, but he wanted to see
how it was going. He has sideburns now. He's just looking normal again. Anything else? Oh yeah.. I was
supposed to go to Andy's wrestling meet tonight but I had guard practice til 5 and it rained on me
while I walked from the middle school to the high school. I was wet and frozen and gross and my feet
were dirty, sort of pasty from the rainwater/babypowder/peeling paint/foot dirt mix. Great fun. So I
soaked my feet in hot water and then my ankle-butt nerve began pounding and I called Kris and she
couldn't go with me anyway, so whatever. I'm not going. I go to enough to his stupid football games
and I'm not even his girlfriend so screw all that. Whatever.
012602
[9:21pm] Ended up not going to the movies with Ashley. Took the SAT today at the Principia, where the
teachers are helpful and dorky, and the kids drive Mitsubishis and BMWs. Then went home and changed,
then painted the tarp. Again. Then went shopping. Had very little luck. Really wanted these striped pants but I wear a 9/10 and I tried on an 11/12 and a
7/8, but no luck. Respectively, too big and too small. We nearly ended up buying this lace-up shirt but it was too cold, really. We did end up buying a
rose-colored two-layer drape top with a nice little rose on it.. it's purdy. Wait. I gotta order those
pants.. I'll do that.
012502
[3:59pm] I got straight A's today but Carranza really did forget to go up to the office and change my
grade from first semester from a B+ to an A- like he said he did. So I made him write it down today and
promise to do it. Difficult man. Anyway, Kris told me that when she went to the office to get her report
card at lunch, she saw Shawn with his mom, and that he looks like just old Shawn. Yay! I'm so happy. I
think he's coming back to school on Monday or Tuesday. Yay again! We were talking about it today at lunch
nd someone said that if he came back at the beginning of next week, he'd have to sit in a wheelchair and
have an IV. I was hoping not, and he won't! Yay, a third time! Okay. Time to do dishes and homework. One
last note. Ashley wants me to go see I Am Sam with her this
evening. Okey dokey. I'll have to see.
012402
[6:37am] Yesterday at guard practice, Anni P told me that she had spent her afternoon (we had a half day)
reading my archives. Wow. That's a lotta stuff. Anyway, I was wondering how she knew.. but I don't have
time to explain right now. Off to school!
012302
[3:46pm] For my friend Kris's 17th birthday (coming soon to a theater near you, Feb 1), I'm making her a
mix-CD. Mix-tapes are so passe (too lazy to go find the correct e, the one with the mark over it, don't
even know which mark.)
012102
[9:45am] I guess I'm tired, but I just listened to David Bowie's "China Girl" with my eyes closed and it
gave me shivers. That was fun.
[8:24am] And the deal with my cat, Buddy. Well, one day I went outside to practice winterguard and I went
through the work and everything and I saw a patch of orange fur over in the garden by the air conditioner
unit. So I went over and it was Buddy. I said his name, but he didn't move. I said it again and he didn't
move. He wasn't breathing. I went inside and told my brother. He called Mom and Dad, and Dad buried Buddy
up on the hill by the tree my brother planted when he was in fourth grade. It makes me so sad. But he was
an old kitty.
012002
[2:57pm] Okay. So here's the deal with Shawn: On December 28th we had a winterguard lockin. Shawn had been
complaining of being tired all day long, and for a few days before that. We thought really not too much of
it because people get sick but they come to practice because they care and they needed to learn the drill.
So Shawn came and took a lot of little breaks. Once I sat next to him and he said that he didn't feel well
at all and I suggested he tell Lori or Erin and he said "No they'll just get mad," because they had just
finished giving their speech of how sometimes we confuse exhaustion with actual illness. So later we were
working on this dance segment with the rifles and Shawn reached over through a frame to Ciara or Courtney
or someone and said "I feel dizzy." Whoever it was replied back, "Shawn shut up, don't even joke like that."
Then he took hold of the frame and then he fell backward. At first I thought he was just being a spaz,
falling over for fun. But he began shaking and turning purple. Lori got her cellphone and dialed 911
immediately and then told us to get out of the gym. We all went into the commons and Jenn B was telling us
about her mom who has seizures sometimes because she has epilepsy. The information on the subject made us
feel a little better. The EMT guy came and we were moved to the auditorium so that we wouldn't be in the
way. There were people who seemed to be underreacting severely, but I won't say names. People were crying
and everything (Lauren and Kris mostly) and then the EMT guy came to talk to us and said that Shawn's
blood was okay, there wasn't any chance for diabetes or anything like that. He left and we had a
discussion with Lori and Erin and Castor and then they said that we were going to end practice for the
night and we'd continue in the morning. They'd also call Shawn's doctor in the morning. So we went to
the band room and slept (sort of, I only got an hour and a half of good really "lights out" sleep.) In
the morning Christy (Shawn's girlfriend) came in, about half crying, and she was saying how the doctors
thought it was encephalitis,
swelling of the brain.. stuff like that. Not good. Castor called Shawn's personal doctor later, and they
found out that it was some kind of meningitis. That's all we found out by the time we left practice. Later
on, after Shawn got a spinal tap, we found out that it was viral meningitis. My mom called my doctor and
the doctor basically said just keep an eye on me and make sure there are no flu-like symptoms. And there
were none. He stayed in the hospital for about a week and then he got to go home. A day or two after that,
he had another seizure and they took him back to the hospital. They ran a few tests and discovered that he
had had a slow heartbeat, and that his heart was overcompensating.. so he had like a mini-heart attack or
something. I don't know. But they gave him a pace maker and that's about as much as I know right now. Oh,
but he's not coming back to winterguard and he'll probably have to do this school year over again. Anyway,
that's what's up with Shawn.
011902
[5:12pm] Wow. That took almost a month to complete this layout. I worked hard. I'll continue to do so for
a while until I get all the things going on in my life on here.
011602
[3:10pm] I have so much to write about. Shawn, Buddy, my normal life.. There's so much. Not now. I need relax time.
010502
[12:52pm] I slept through New Years, and not once have I out loud said Happy New Year.
So ha. I didn't want to keep this layout so long because I thought that I would have
my really awesome cool big layout would be done sooner. But it's so awesome cool big
that it's taking me longer than I thought before. So chill with that. Note: I got my
ACT score back. 28. Individual scores: English 94th percentile, Math: 89th percentile,
Writing: 99th percentile, Science: 65th percentile. Hmm, what sucks here? My mom is
going to teach my chemistry and I'm going to go back to the ACT and whoop up some
you-know-what. And then I'll win. Ha!