Fall Picnic

Sometimes life rushes at us so fast that we just have to be swept up in it all and don't have time to get off the highway and slow down a little bit. To me seasons are symbolic of slowing down because their change is so gradual and constant. Nature changes every day, but it's life is not like ours. Ours is constantly filled with rushing here and there, working late and getting things done as quickly as possible. Nature is a rhythm, a constant background to everything we do. It grounds us. It keeps us from floating away. We feel comfort to know that the sun will rise tomorrow morning and will set in the evening. The wind pulls at our clothes, whispering songs that fill us with emotion, but never quite speak loud enough for us to understand.

Out of all of the seasons the two that mean the most to me are summer and fall. Summer tells of freedom. It means long, blistering days of tranquility and sleepy happiness. Fall, however, is a different thing entirely. Fall is cool and soft. It's change and clear skies and bright colors. It's that feeling of coming home and taking wing all rolled into one. It's twilight and magic. Fall is belonging. And this is why I try to take time out of my busy schedule to go outside and enjoy the nice cool breeze and the pretty golden tint that seems to light up the earth during the autumn months. Believe me, it's worth it just to relax.

So Much to Do, So Little Time!

Ever since high school started it seems like I haven't had enough time to do anything besides homework. I'll finish one thing only to remember that I still have more work to do. Many times I try to stay on top of things and the get overwhelmed by them almost immediately.This post is to help those that need it figure out how to manage their time. It may seem hard at first, but once you create a system and stick to it, the process should get easier. Since I am still learning as well, I am probably not the best person to teach you this. Here are some of the links I found helpful:

Study Guides and Strategies

This is good for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and even college students. It offers valuable information as well as strategies like a place to fill in your schedule to see where your time goes.

Time Management Guide

Another site about using your time wisely, this time mostly for adults.

Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk is a site for easily managing your to-do's. They are still working on it so it may take a little bit of time to learn, but it is all worthwhile. The goal is to write everything you can think of down so that your mind is free to pick which things are most important.

Well that's all for now. I hope you found these links helpful!

In the Garden

Wandering Jew Plant

Rusty Garden Fairy

Pretty Butterfly

Pretty Butterfly

Hello everyone! This morning I decided to go out and take some pictures. In Houston it is still cloudy and wet, but a nice cool front has blown in and it's beginning to feel like fall. Of course, no one knows how long that will last. While I was outside a little butterfly showed up and began fluttering between the

bushes in my front yard. It landed on one bush and stayed for a long time, resting

it's wings. The little creature even let me get up close w/ my camera and I got some

really nice photos. Enjoy and please comment!

ps. click on the pictures to see a bigger version!

In the Tank: MANY More Arrivals!

Well, you won't beleive this, but we have 22 new baby fish in our tank! The older females are now in their new home and are doing fine. Above are pictures of the two baby fish containers floating in tank #2. If you would like to adopt a fish (or 5!!) please call:

713-668-5452

High School Schedule

I have been inspired by friend's blog to write this post. In the post before this I talked about how I loved sameness when I was little. Well, I still do. Here's my daily schedule:

6:30 AM: Wake up, usually I'm out of bed by 6:45

7:00 AM: Shower, eat, get ready to go

8:00 AM: Drive to school with my mom and my dog Scout riding in the front seat.

8:30 AM: School starts

8:35 AM: PE

9:38 AM: Geometry

10:31 AM: Spanish

11:24 AM: Art

12:12 PM: Lunch

1:06 PM: English

1:59 PM: Biology

2:52 PM: Geography

3:40 PM: School Ends!

4:30 PM: Arrive Home

5:00 PM: Do HW

6:00 PM: Do HW

7:00 PM: Eat Dinner

8:00 PM: Finish HW

9:00 PM: Free Time (?)

10:00 PM: Get ready for bed

10:30 PM: Sleep

As you can see I have a busy schedule. Of course, it fluctuates depending on how much homework I have. Anyway, that's all for now!

The World of Toys

When I was younger and I still made up stories for my stuffed animals, dolls, and little plastic figurines to act out, I was obsessed with the idea of sameness. One of my favorite characters was Wing, a tiny (about an inch tall) orange, plastic bear with wings and a tail with a white tuft on the end. Every morning he would wake up and drive to work in his beat-up pink VW Bug. At five o' clock he would arrive home and (depending on my decided storyline) would start working on his hobby, which was usually playing the guitar loud enough to annoy the neighbors or reading in a chair made out of building blocks. Many times wing had several prize possessions and the Statue of Liberty was always in his living room (yes, he was that rich). Wing would eat at 6:00 sharp and go to bed at 8:00 under a small plastic palm tree. Inevitably, his sacred schedule would always go awry because of the other townspeople, which were ingeniously played by my friend and her sister.

Eventually the games I played with my toys wormed their way into stories when I started getting into writing. I remember when I made a little dragon out of clay I wrote a story about how he selfishly ruled kingdom until something happened that made him change his ways. (I was 8 or 9 when I wrote it so I can't remember everything) When I was a little bit older I wrote a story about a little wooden snake I had gotten that day and a princess. Now that I'm in high school, and pretending has faded away into the past, I still think about all those unwritten stories and how wonderful it would be if we could write them as easily as we acted them out when we were

younger. Pretending is such a wonderful pastime for the little ones because it gives

them so much creativity. Maybe if we tried to re-teach ourselves to enjoy pretending instead of sitting in front of the computer or TV every free minute we would be alot

better off. That's right, you have an excuse to sit on the floor and play with your old stuffed animals! Go for it!

In the Tank: Octuplets!

That's right everyone! I have eight little baby fish sectioned off from the rest of the tank in a measuring cup.(see above)They are all happy and healthy. :) We don't know if they are boys or girls yet. If anyone out there wants some Guppies, and has the means to take care of them, PLEASE CALL!!! We need some adopters!

713-668-5452