Reflections on a Birthday

I suppose this is the first 'pearl' I've written about in a while...surprisingly I've had a lot of fluid opinions flowing through my head, and they've organized themselves into words without difficulty. Today however, I've decided to dedicate a post to my birthday and everyone that helped to make it special. 

My Locker After Period One

As many of you know, this past Thursday I celebrated my sixteenth birthday.

In my family, it's tradition to take the week before your birthdate and celebrate each day leading up to your birthday as your "Birthday Week." This year was no exception. 

Amongst the business of our differing schedules, my family still found wonderful ways to make my birthday an important event, with different flowers each day, special meals and little present all leading up to April 3rd. 

On my birthday I woke up to find the kitchen decorated beautifully with pink streamers, purple balloons and several other things that had come as a result of my sisters' creativity. For breakfast, I ate a delicious display of waffles and bacon, with raspberries and whipped cream, and afterwards I took part in a dance party with my sisters before rushing off to chapel. 

My school day was full of amazing surprises from all of my friends, including incredible locker decorations, a disco ball, a tiara and presents galore! It was a wonderful day that was finished off with an even better dinner at a local pub and a very interesting game of pool. 

That night I opened a few presents from my sisters and watched a movie, while catching up on the night's homework. (Oh, the benefits of having a mid-week birthday...)

The next night my family treated me to a scrumptious supper at the Syndicate in Grimsby: a creamy mango chicken soup, eight ounces of rare steak accompanied by potatoes, followed by a creamy crème brûlée. Mmm.  

Saturday was spent in complete preparation for the family party that would take place the following day. I prepared ribs and sweet and sour meatballs to go along with several other decadent dishes, and by the end of the day everyone was exhausted. 

Sunday was wonderful! My family came from all over the place to celebrate my sixteenth birthday with me, and all in all we had a lot of fun. My birthday cake was extravagantly created by my little sister, who had put months of effort into sketching and designing the dessert. My reaction, when I discovered it was entirely musically themed, was priceless. The three layer chocolate cake with both dark and light chocolate ganache was delectable...especially when paired with espresso! 

Taken by Holly 

I'd like to thank everyone that was involved in my birthday-both my family and my friends. 

From surprises, to smiles, treats, and cards that made me cry, you all pitched in to make my 'Birthday Week' something special, and it means a lot to me. It's because of your love and your hard work that I can honestly say I had the most amazing birthday ever! That is...until next year!   

Thank you. 

Summer Fun...Pearls

Where to begin? 
School has been out for officially two weeks and I'm absolutely loving it!!! 
My new goal is to try to blog at least once a day...emphasis on try. Fingers crossed I'll find something new to write about every day. 

For now however, I plan on summarizing what the beautiful summer has brought me so far!

The past few weeks have delivered me screams, tears, baskets of giggles and tasty treats! A Toronto Trip to Taylor Swift left me in awe, while a superb Sunday swimming at the city pool kept me smiling. A classy creation of clam chowder last night was my addition to our dinner, and that being one of my favourite soups, I was quite pleased with myself! Last Thursday gifted me clear contact lenses and I was ecstatic when I realized that up to that point, I had never been able to look into the mirror and see myself without glasses-I've had glasses my entire life. I was entirely blown away, and my little sister's joke about me being able to see myself for the first time in fifteen years almost made me sad. That took care of the tears I mentioned earlier. 

Afternoon visits with friends and family have made my heart melt with joy at the realization of how blessed I am, and the result and rave of my edible project last night put me in a good mood! For those of you that don't know, I seem to have a love affair with baking things. Usually I stick to simple cookies, but last night as a treat for some friends, I tried my skill at a batch of scratch, maple bacon cupcakes with chocolate icing. Although I have to admit I was too lazy to make scratch icing and left it to Betty Crocker to save the day, as well the fact that I accidentally let the cocoa and brown sugar marinated bacon in the oven escape my mind...needless to say it was a little too crispy. In the end though, the silky, maple sweetened batter made up for it all, and as it would turn out, my cupcakes were quite a hit with our friends today! 

So far, that's about it! I sit here at the kitchen table, marvelling at the sunset shining through the window, recollecting on what an amazing year I've had, and looking forward to every single thing that awaits me from here on in...

Remembering a Passion

     February has started, along with Semester Two on the school calendar. After just about a week I'm beginning to adapt to my new classes and locker location, but I still find that I miss my old habits a little. The one that I miss the most is spending second period in the music room, pouring out my heart into something beautiful, (sometimes something not so beautiful) and learning about ways to expand my musical horizon. 

     After school today, I sat down at our piano and realized that it had been over a week since I played anything at all and I felt out of practice, even though a week is hardly drastic. I miss being able to sit down and work on pieces that I'll be presenting, writing or recording, the way that I did for music class. 

     I decided to make a list of every song that I remember playing throughout last semester and combine them all into a giant medley that I can listen to, not only for remembering what I learned, but also because each song has its own knapsack of memories that makes me smile. It took me the night, but I think I finally worked in every song that I either performed, wrote or recorded throughout all of my music classes.

     Maybe you'll recognize some of the songs, maybe they'll hold memories for you too, or maybe they're nothing but pretty melodies to listen to. For me they are a great reminder of the things I learned, and a memento of all the amazing, talented people I met and got to work with along the way. Here's to learning, passion, friendship, music and what was simply, an awesome first semester!  

 ~In Honour of Music Class~

Let the Countdown Begin...with a sprinkle of thankfulness

Our bedroom that now looks like a
gingerbread house. 

     With less than a month left until Christmas, I have to admit I'm pretty excited...but it might not be for reasons you's expect. I look forward more to writing Christmas cards and buying things for other people, than I do to getting lovely little presents on Christmas day...I'm not sure why. It might sound strange to you that whenever Christmas comes around, the first thing that goes through my head is "What can I get for (Insert name here)?" But other than that, I love skating, (which we did the other day) and baking and dancing...and decorating is always fun too!

Lights

     If it wasn't for my incredible older sister, I don't think we would have decorated at all this year, so my extreme thanks go out to her since our house-both inside and out-looks absolutely beautiful. lit snow-covered candles accenting the ebony of the piano, garland twisted around the banister with lights, and red and silver runners on tables here and there. I congratulate myself because I have the privilege of being able to say that I helped out in this enchanting setup. 

     Another thing I'm very proud of myself for is the fact that I actually got around to Christmas cards this year! I bought my own, pretty cards that are sprinkled with sparkles and carefully wrote messages in each of them, which is a huge improvement from last year...when, I confess, I never got around to completing them. Now, all I have left to do is address those of the envelopes that I'm sending and then I can check cards off my mental to-do list! J

       One thing I have yet to check off however, is snow that lands. We've been lucky enough to have some of it sprinkle on us like icing sugar on a cake, and if my story book hopes and dreams come true, we'll have the first bit of it on the ground by 2:45 pm on December 21st so that I can finish fourth period, say goodbye to friends and teachers for Christmas break and then wait to get picked up while snowflakes find themselves in my hair and eyelashes. Fingers crossed, prayers said, that would make my last day ten times better than I'm already anticipating. 

     Finally, I add a touch of thankfulness to this post. 

After another amazing day at school I am exploding with happiful feelings and warm thankfulness for everything! Amazing people that care and make me smile and laugh all day long, for teachers that help me learn along the way. For a family that picks me up after school, for a little spare time to write before I enslave myself to studying for a chemistry test, for dinner downstairs that smells amazing, and for Christmas music playing in the background off of a koala shaped speaker to give me inspiration.

Battling Writer's Block...One Blessing at a Time...Both a Pearl and a Point

     It's another day that I'm sitting directly in front of my computer, staring emptily at a blank post page writing...or at least trying to. For the past week I've been in this situation, a new post started every day, Lord willing I'll finish and publish one of them! I'm a terrible liar, so I'll confess that I have eight, if not more, posts in my drafts box that are waiting for their moment to shine. Whether that time will ever come I have no idea, hopefully it will, but before it does I need to battle this writer's block that's got me at a red light in my creative intersection.

     I came to the conclusion that of the two ways I know how to defeat writer's block, it would be best to take action on one of them. Either A.) Take a break and come back to the post in a week. Or B.) Write something entirely new and simple. My obvious decision, since me and writing are inseparable, was B. I then found myself on the question of "What is the simplest thing to write?" The answer I was searching for was simple as I found it in everything around me.

     Please bear with me as I take a stab at writer's block and attempt to list all of the things I'm thankful for. As it is an endless list, I've tried to make it a relatively normal length for everyone's sake.

1.) Number one on my list is an obvious one, but the amount of thankfulness I have towards and for it can never be stretched enough. I am thankful for my family who, through everything that I say and do will never stop loving and supporting me. All of you make me laugh and smile on a daily basis and can always somehow perk me up when I'm feeling sad. There is never an end to the fun we have, and you also pay for things which saves me money, so I'm thankful for that too!

2.) Secondly I'm thankful for my friends, of which there are quite a few. I can't honestly say how happy I am to have you in my life. From making me laugh, to eating lunch with me at school, and encouraging me that my scissor splits aren't really as bad as I think they are. Even just making my overall miserable day lighter and worth waking up to. Thank you!

3.) I'm sure some people thought I might never say this one, but it's true. I'm thankful for my school in which every day is exciting and incredible. So much so, that I look forward to Mondays so that I can be back with all of the amazing people, learning something new. For teachers who inspire and encourage me, the people that are never elitist, and the SLD that is always there, I can't ever be thankful enough. I'm always learning, always laughing, always growing and always improving someway or another.

4.) I'm thankful for my dance school. The two of you teachers are incredible and inspirational to me. You make me want to pursue dance every time I find it difficult, help me every time I ask and always are willing to eat my cookies...even though there's a chance they might taste terrible.You stuff each class full of both an intense workout and smiles so that we're not afraid to try and risk falling on our faces...because it has happened. ;) 

5.)  For number five and my last one, I'd like to thank God. When I look at everything that precedes this, I realize that there is no way, no how that any of this could have even been possible without you behind me to keep pushing me forward when I feel like I'm ready to quit. Out of difficult situations you have shown me solutions. Out of first time meetings you have created beautiful friendships. Out of a love for movement you have given me the freedom to express myself and so much more! You have backed me up and given me everything I need and more to survive. Without you, none of this would have been existent, so I believe that the least I can do is acknowledge that. Thank you. For everything you've done and will do, there is no end to my gratefulness.

The Flight of Time...A Point

Six months. 
Twenty-six weeks.
One hundred and eighty-two days.
Four thousand, three hundred and eighty-two hours.
Two hundred, sixty-two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-four minutes.  
fifteen million, seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand seconds. 

     Time is a wonder. So much of it, but so little at the same time. Why do hundreds of trillions of minutes soar past us so quickly? Already today marks the half year time stretch since my last birthday, yet I remember everything as if it was yesterday. Finishing dance class and getting hugs and birthday wishes from everyone before putting on my dress and going for dinner. Six months since I sat at the Italian restaurant and tried to decide over a dish for my dinner. Six months since my little sister surprised me with a copy of The Hunger Games and I was exploding with astonishment and happiness. Six months since I sat on my Aunt's couch and opened what is now my favourite hoodie. It's incredible how long ago it is already.

      I've been going to high school for one month exactly as of tomorrow, but in reality it only feels like two weeks. Already we are eleven months away from summer and only a little less than three months away from Christmas. Why time? Why are you going so fast? Stop for a little while won't you? 

     People have asked me, after reading one of my first blog entries, why it is that I cry on Christmas. It's true, every Christmas Eve for the past few years has brought me to tears. This is the reason. I cry because time has slipped so easily through my fingers, it has gone away forever with no way or hope of ever getting it back. It's slowly, day by day, minute by minute, becoming a little farther out of my grasp and disappearing from my view. I can go through my life smoothly, shallowly and without concern but every once in awhile it hits me like a rock again, how far I am in life and how much I've been missing. 

     It makes me upset and truly, scared to think that each day is all I have. I wish so badly that I could freeze where I am now and live in it forever, where there is no tragedy, heartbreak or hardship. Where all of my relationships are good and everything is perfect. Coming into September was extremely hard for me because I was terrified that I would lose every good thing that had happened over the summer-friendships that had become one hundred percent better than they already were.

     But looking back, I see that all of the worrying was pointless. If anything, the friendships have become even stronger and the good things have grown into positive experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. Yes, time does fly past us and no amount of wishing or begging can slow it down, this is sad. But the one thing we can do to make it last, is live to the fullest in every single moment. As hard as it is, forgetting tomorrow, putting aside next week and thinking only about the present minute, that's what we should do. No matter what happens today or any other time in the future, take what you're doing right now and rejoice in it because it's a beautiful gift from God, no matter how short it is. 

Proud Parents

Kiwi the Kitten

     They say dogs are man's best friend. But what about the rest of the animal kingdom? It's clear to see that since the beginning, man has had the company of other animals, just Google "Pet Bonds" and see for yourself. Rows among rows of pictures will be displayed of human and animal love. The best of this love is found in first time pet owners. They're the ones that take giant leaps to meet every need of their new friend, while the rest of us, who are familiar to animals, see them as spoiling. Yes, maybe a lot of the "extras" aren't necessities, but the love that is the motive is truly sweet.

     Two siblings, a brother and sister had asked me to come to visit them and their brand new pets. She had gotten a kitten, he a rabbit. It was with ecstasy that I went to visit them and what I found was this "new" love. When the kitten was placed in my arms I, being a previous owner of a few cats, tried to cuddle her. But it was clear that the cat wanted nothing to do with me...I was strange. I had a bit more success with the rabbit, but not much. "Ralph," the owner said to him. "Be nice." The dwarf lop's powerful legs scratched at my arms until eventually I was forced to put him back on the ground, where he was happy to eat grass from his harness.

     Oh well. I thought. But what was really nice to see was the owner's interaction with the animals. "We've trained her," The cat's owner said. "She licks your nose when she wants down." Among other things, I discovered the cat was also being potty trained when I went to use the bathroom and found a red ring filled with cat litter on the top of the toilet seat. We had fun watching the animals natural instincts as well. The owner would let the cat off her harness and, from a close distance, throw her towards the base of the tree. We'd watch the cat's claws grip the bark and climb to the highest branches. Of course, the fun part was having to climb up the tree and bring her down. "Firefighter." I called it. As for the rabbit's enthralling instincts, I enjoyed watching his nose twitch as he picked the clovers out from the grass.

     After the fun, the owners took turns snuggling their pets. When the girl picked up her kitten, the cat seemed to melt in her arms. Purring, licking the tip of her nose and meowing sweetly. The rabbit squirmed constantly in my eyes, but when cuddled by his owner he was happy to sit on his lap and be mauled. The cuteness of it all was unbearable. 


     Other than the fact that animals don't take care of themselves, I think we can all agree that they make great companions. I know that after that short visit, I left with a joy bubbling up inside of me both for the proud parents-who are in for the rides of their lives-and for the animals who are sure to have a happy life.   

Ralph enjoying a belly rub.