A Whole Week of Dread

Argh, this whole week is plain awful, there's so much work to be done, but I guess not as bad as it will be at the end of the year. IRPs need to be finished, though I'll probably reread the book again after at a more relaxed pace, so I can actually enjoy it. And the Odyssey mini-book, it is so deceptively simple, but so time-consuming at the same time! I have to complete it at as soon as possible, and time is already slipping away. This is the worst possible timing for a science test, which I will have to speed-study, even though we've learned most of it last year, there is a lot of new information to take in! And then comes my first PE test on First Aid! It's hard to believe I've never had a PE written test before, so I actually need to study for it!
At least writing this blog relieved most of the stress, but I feel like I'm always at the verge of a panic attack. 3 more days, 3 more sleepless nights. On a lighter note, I changed my blog a little again, because November is just so gloomy, and I need something to cheer up this blog. I also should try to post more, since I barely post my blogs anymore. My main goal for this week? Survive. And then try to break this chain of procrastination, if that's even possible. Back to work!
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Memories of Grade 8

So we were cleaning up our messy attic, and I found a group project all the way from Grade 8! I looked at it, and at first I thought that it looked strange, and then it became familiar, very familiar. Turns out that it was that school invasion project that Mr. Sale made us do. I still remember working with Cynthia and Kathy C, coming up with the crazy Harry Potter Slytherin theme, and how they invaded our school. It brought back so many happy memories of our first days in Synergy, and it also felt like time travelled way too fast! It seemed like it was only yesterday that we were watching the Twilight zone in Sale's class, eating popcorn and watching Troy in Ms. Greskiw's class, listening to Ms. Smedley rap about the KMT, or even first discovering that we could spend all day talking at Olson's class. I hope that there will be tons of good times this year to look back onto and laugh!
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A Fresh Start

I guess with summer over, and school starting, I wanted to change this blog a little, too. It's no longer just for school, it's more of a personal thing now. I guess I really missed ranting on and on about nothing really, and just admiring the pretty horses on my blog. I'm sorry if I haven't posted over the summer. (I promise I'll post more often, too!) My main summer highlights are: a cruise to Alaska (built up a BIG appetite on the cruise, and got to see some awesome wildlife!), a 6-day tour of Yellowstone (I felt like I was fried from the heat), lots of volunteering at a vet clinic as well as a rabbit rescue shelter (fluffy animals to spend time with!), and horse-back riding camp! It felt really weird getting back on a horse after two years, but I really, REALLY enjoyed it. I'm going back for lessons in the fall, and hopefully I will finally learn how to jump a horse, and post pictures on it! Oh yeah, I've also taken up ballet for the first time during the summer, and I've got to admit, it felt pretty awkward in the beginning, but by the end of the lessons, I really started to like it! I've been saying constantly that I'm dreading the start of school, but today, I actually felt really happy to be back with my friends, and met a whole bunch of new ones as well!

Here are some pictures of my adventures!

We saw a pod of humpback whales on a whale sighting tour in Alaska...

Watched Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone...

This is Stuart, from the vet clinic where I volunteer...

 
This is Zoe, from the rabbit rescue shelter that I volunteered at, but I won't have time to come back to, now that school has started....

And this is Sprite, one of the ponies I rode at the riding camp!

So I hope this Super blog made up for all the times I forgot to post, or was at least a summary of my summer! And I always end this blog with...
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T3 B66: No sun, lots of heat!

Whoa, today the weather was just weird. It was cloudy, so the sun was really hidden, but it was so hot! This must mean that summer is near! Either that, or the weather is going to be freezing cold tomorrow to make up for it. For French, we started our final project, and it's a sports broadcasting! Mimi and I have already picked our topics, and here's a hint: we're broadcasting our absolute favourite sports! Also, we managed to get away with our orale quiz for another day, so we're doing that another day. During lunch, since Mimi left her very important math booklet at home, I ran with her to her house. It was even hotter than in the morning! By the time we got back, we just had enough time to get our stuff and head to Applied Skills. Today's presentations were so awesome! We learned about planets, forces, and Einstein! Although, after a while, the Prezi presentations started giving me a headache. The activities were great! And I actually had a really fun time trying to answer all those questions. For Socials, we started our Canada unit. Apparently, we're continuing with that next year, too. Starting with Climate is awesome, we're drawing graphs and learning about currents, and wind. It's a good break from studying Revolution for so long! Now, back to studying for that theory exam...
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T3 B65: A Special Little Violin

Aaack! I forgot to blog today. By the time I realized I still had to write my blog, it was already 12:30am. Which means that technically it was already tomorrow (or today) But I'll make up for it!

It was really sunny today, so we went out for a walk around a nearby (really nearby) park. It was awesome weather! While I was walking, I was bringing a whole bunch of notes with me, so I could memorize them better in fresh air. I have a theory exam coming up soon, so I'm studying whenever I can!

When I came back from my piano lessons, I went to my sister's room to help her make a wreath for her goddess presentation (ah, good memories!). I got a bit bored when we were almost finished, so I looked into her closet, and the first thing I saw was my little violin case, which I abandoned in Grade 5. So I picked it up, opened it, and found my little violin! It looked like it shrunk from the last time I touched it, but it was still in perfect condition. So I picked it up, and started to play. Playing on that little violin just brought back so many memories, all the way from Grade 4 elementary school! It was so nice knowing that I never forgot how to play the violin, even though I was very rusty at it. I remember giving it up because I was too busy, and that violin lessons really frustrated me. In the end, I had to pack up my little violin to go down for dinner. Even though I don't want to start violin lessons again, just looking at that little violin and playing it brought back so many good memories, and made me feel very, very happy!

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T3 B64: Time just slips by...

Whoa, today just passed by in a blur. I woke an hour later than I planned (I didn't look closely when I set the alarm, and it turns out that I set it to 8pm instead of 8am), so I didn't have a lot of time to get ready for tutoring. Good thing my student came right on time! After that, I went to my own tutor, which was actually pretty fun! We had to show her our report cards, and she pointed out that I did a little worse than last year. I admit that that's true, and saying that "Grade 9 is harder" isn't really much of an excuse. So after my lesson, I did a lot of thinking about my grades, and about the rest of this year. I really, really want to do a much better job this term, and I'm determined to bring most of my grades to an 90 (not shooting for over 90, because then I'm just going to disappoint myself) with the exception of PE (which I will reach for that 86). I know that all I have to do is try harder, because I was kind of slacking off before. Grrr. I'm determined to get a way better report card, and then maybe I'll be excited to see my marks for once!
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T3 B63: Report Cards!

In English today, it started out with another class of taking notes (we took notes for almost the whole class in Science) and then we got to make our own Shakespearean style plays! Only 5 groups got to present today, but they were all really hilarious and fun! It got to the point where everybody's plays had something to do with dying. In Celinna's play, everyone ended up dying in the end! I can't wait to see the other 3 plays next class! The Shakespearean unit is so awesome!
We had a sub for Band today, and he teaches script-writing. But he knew tons of movies, and so he shared with us this joke: Today is Star Wars day...May the 4th be with you! (4th and force, get it? haha!) I was really energetic for the first part of the day, but I guess I got more nervous at the end, and I barely survived P.E. So I marched up to my homeroom, and by the time I got all the way to the third floor, my homeroom teacher had already gone through half of the report cards, so I had to wait for him to read the rest of the names, and then go back to the beginning. I waited for quite a while...and then I got my report card. I stared at it. and stared at it some more. Yay! I got a little more than I expected, and I'm happy with it! I know I dropped a little (OK, a lot) in Science, but I improved a lot in every subject (except PE!). I had to change a mark, and ask Mr. Hurst for an actual term 2 band mark. After getting my report card, I'm happy, but at the same time, I want to do a lot better than I'm doing now. From now on, since I'm more motivated, I'm going to commit myself to boosting my marks and have fun at the same time! I still have a month or so left, so I really need to get some awesome work done!
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T3 B62: Presentation Day!

Today turned out a lot better than I thought it would. For French, we had a substitute, but our activity for today was really fun! We got to make a skit and then perform to our groups so they can take notes on our skit. I partnered with Lina, and our group partnered with Mimi and Carina. They're skit was so funny! Leave it to Mimi to come up with a play on poisonous mushrooms and dying! We had so much fun performing our skits, and it was probably the best French class ever! In Math, we also did fun activities! We got into groups and made posters, and then had fun being both teachers and students, walking around talking to each other!
Then came Applied Skills. I didn't know we had an Earthquake drill, so that was kind of a surprise. We walked out there while it was raining, so for the most part, I hid under April's umbrella. Then we had to go in, and Mr. Olson told us the order of our presentations! I volunteered, so I guess it didn't really matter for me. Vivian Lee went first, and her presentation was pretty good. It was so neat, it made my feel kind of bad, because my presentation wasn't as organized. Then came Gabriel's. His presentation had such good narrative and good humour, I was so scared that it would make mine boring. But I ended doing my presentation last, and it went better than I thought, though I had to talk pretty fast. The most horrendous thing was that the timer went off right when I was about to read my last sentence, so I went over by 10 seconds! I was pretty horrified, because I would loose 10% just because of 10 seconds. I'm just hoping that it didn't count. I had so much fun wearing my cape around afterwards, though! It isn't everyday that you get to wear capes!
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T3 B61: Busy, Busy Day

I'm pretty sure everyone is working on their presentations today! The big day is tomorrow, and so far, only two people have volunteered. I was mid-way through making my presentation, when I suddenly got the idea of volunteering. I guess I was happy that I was almost finished, and I just wanted to get my presentation over with! Also, I am little scripts, and found a cape for my costume, so I was already all prepared! Now, if only I can finish the last slides, I should be done!
Then I'll have to finish French, and Math....Like the title says, busy, busy day!
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T3 B60: Interesting Presentations

We had two presentations, which was pretty cool, and also, that means that we spent half our day in the auditorium! Anyways, the first presentation was on nanotechnology, and I knew nothing about it, so it was nice to learn about it. I also found it really awesome that he was a student of Mr. Olson's and that they had managed to stay in touch for so long! Technology must really be something.
We got back to French class just in time for the teacher to give us homework, but we were lucky enough to have run out of time to do our oral quizzes! Then in Applied Skills, we went down to the auditorium for the Green Thumbs presentation. This one was amusing,  I thought it was great! They really got through to us, because their presentation was how  people our age actually speak and act! For Socials, we got our marks back for our debates and web (which I shall never mention!) and then we worked on some more child labour questions. We also found out that we'll have a Socials test next week (to add to the stack of homework and stress), but at least it's not this week! I can only juggle so much homework and stress for so long until I crack. Hmm...at least it'll prepare us for next year?
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T3 B59: Not sleepy, for once!

Yay! So last night I went to bed earlier, and I actually manged to get 8 hours of sleep! That was my goal, so now all I have to do is to try to keep it up. It's going to be hard, since I'm going to be really busy this week, but it'll be fun to have a challenge! In English, we're starting our Shakespeare unit! It's going to be so much fun! I've already studied a Comedy of Errors and Antony and Cleopatra in grades 6/7, so I guess I'm used to reading the old English. This year, we're studying A Midsummer's Night Dream, and maybe watch the play! I'm so excited! Learning Shakespeare is going to be the funnest thing ever! The only thing we did in class today was watch a documentary on Shakespeare, and then we had a quiz on what we saw. I actually learned a lot of new things, and there were some weird things that I learned as well, for example, did you know that Shakespeare probably had a love affair with another man, and probably dedicated one of his sonnets to him? I was really surprised, because I thought that he loved his wife, and dedicated that sonnet to her, but apparently not! I hope we'll learn a lot more interesting things! I love a lot of his works (since I admit I read a lot of classics, and maybe prefer them over fiction), I can't wait to start!
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T3 B58: Tough Day at Ikea

We wanted to check out the new Ikea, but then we figured that it would be really, really busy since it just opened. So we traveled to Coquitlam, and went to that one instead. We haven't been there for so long! I remember playing in the Kid's place, and it was so fun! Today, we just looked for things to add to our rooms. We got a bedside desk thingy, a lamp, a night light for my brother, really cute cushions (with little bird cartoons on them!), a laundry basket, and so much more! We were really hungry, but by the time we got to the cafeteria, it was already closed. We missed it by 5 minutes. So we decided to get ice cream after instead. We shopped around a little more, got new plates and knives, and then went to check out. By the time we got to the ice cream place at Ikea. It had just closed. We were so disappointed, so we decided to go out for dinner! Now I'm really stuffed and full, and I'm really happy with what I got! The bird cushion that I found is so soft and so cute! It's awesome decoration for my room! I would take a picture, but my phone's kind of dead right now. But really, it has got to be the best piece of decoration ever! Also, I cleaned my whole room today, so I feel really good. Even better, I don't have homework for tomorrow, so I'm going to go to bed early! I really got to work on that!
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T3 B57: Recalling this week's substitutes

Whoa, this week we had some pretty weird substitutes. First, for Olson's we got Mr. Pears as our sub. He read us a chapter out of this book that we had to take notes on. It was pretty interesting, since it wasn't every day that you got a PE teacher as a sub. Then on Thursday for band, we had Ms. Calder for our sub. Ms. Calder out of all people! It was really dramatic and fun, even though she really couldn't teach us anything. Spencer just directed all of us, and we just ran through our pieces, playing them perfectly horribly. By the end, we were just begging to pack up our instruments. Apparently they ran out of subs, and so they gave us teachers who had spare blocks. It's pretty interesting, and I wonder what other familiar teachers we'll have as subs the next time another teacher is away!
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T3 B56: The Truth of Cocoa

Today was a pretty sunny day, even though the weather forecast said that it was supposed to rain, so I was in a pretty good mood. The problem was that we got loaded with a whole bunch of homework! For French we have a orale quiz next week, which is what I was really afraid of! For math, I did paper folding activities with Leslie, and it ended up not as torturous as I thought! Paper-folding activities are actually a lot easier! Then for Applied Skills, we watched Contact, which was really interesting. I wonder if that might be possible in the future! Communicating with aliens is really interesting, and those weird sounds that they heard were so creepy!
For Socials, we watched this video of how cocoa was produced, and how child labour was involved. It was so sad, especially the part where the host person hands the children and a worker a chocolate bar, and he found out that they never tasted chocolate in their whole lives, even if they spent most of their lives making it! It was so, so sad when the child's face lit up when he ate the chocolate, because it was like heaven to the child, and he never tasted anything so good. But it's not like stopping people from eating chocolate will do anything. But I just hope that one day, some of us will find a way to stop child labour!
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T3 B55: Chemistry Unit

Today was our second class working on the chemistry unit. We had to use our periodic table a lot, but it really was just like simple math. Sometimes taking and adding electrons would mess with my mind, because you had to do the opposite of the instructions. Sometimes it got pretty confusing, but then you would figure it out. Chemistry is actually not as bad as I thought it would be, even though I used to really dislike it!
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T3 B54: Geogebra

Today, Ms. Knott introduced us to self-centered learning! I thought it was the best thing ever, since I did that kind of learning all through grades 5-7! It turned out to be so much fun! We get to work at our own relaxed paces, and of course, we still had a due date. But we had online activities, and paper folding exercises, and we had homework that we were expected to do! This is really cool, because if I wanted to, I could finish my homework and decide to learn concepts in any order, and it was just fun organizing yourself and deciding when to do what. I can't wait to start this! I can actually do almost everything at home!
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T3 B53: Recalling the Intense Debates

I also forgot to mention the intense debates that took place yesterday. There were two groups going yesterday, and it was so awesome! The first group did really well with reasoning, and I had to admit, although they were really nervous, their debating skills was pretty good! The second group was really intense as well, but both sides had really good points and debating styles, so it was really hard to decide who to vote for. In the end, the opposition side won by one point!
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T3 B52: Math Test

Normally, I really dislike math tests. Ms. Knott always have trick questions that I don't know how to do, but after the exam, I got it. This time, the test was actually pretty easy! I managed to remember all those rules, and even managed to do reasoning! I guess I got pretty confident after a while. As always, there was a trick question. I only had 5 minutes to do it, but I still couldn't figure out how to flip the triangles to get the right answer. Turns out that Ms. Knott is lowering the worth of that question, so it wouldn't weigh down our test score. After that, the rest of my day was pretty good!
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T3 B51: Marking that mock exam

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that during my exam yesterday, I got kinda distracted and so I stared out the window, and the coolest thing happened! I watched a tiny mosquito get stuck in a spider web, and then watched as the spider raced down and wrapped the little mosquito in silk (or whatever you call the stuff that come out of spiders). It was struggling, and then it suddenly went still. then the spider picked up the silky web-y bundle, and brought it to the edge of the windowsill. And then it started eating it. It was eating it for a long time, but by that time I got bored, and went back to my exam. Whoa! It was definitely really cool to watch!
Also, my teacher didn't have time to mark my exam, so she let me do that while my sister had her piano lessons. At first it was OK, and then in the middle, I had to make so many corrections and filled in answers in red pen, and my exam just looked like a sea of red. Sigh, I really do need to study.
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T3 B50: Theory Mock Exam

Today, I went to my piano teacher's house to have my mock exam for theory. I studied like crazy yesterday, since I normally didn't have time to study. I was really nervous. And it turns out that it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, but there was still a lot of things that I couldn't remember! I ended up finishing three quarters of the test, but leaving the rest of it blanks. Yikes! I guess that means that I should study harder from now on. There's only three more weeks until I take my exam! I'm starting to get scared!
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T3 B49: Birthday Party!

Today I had a birthday party, since I couldn't actually have it on my birthday because of Sun Run and because I had piano. So I had it today! It was loads of fun! We met at Ebisu, a sushi place near West Broadway, and we waited a while for everyone to get there. We ordered a lot of sushi, and stuffed ourselves! Then it was time for presents! I opened all my presents, and I was really happy with I got! Thanks, guys!
And then came the cake! I made my wish, and then blew out the one candle. Then I sliced the cake, and attempted to cut it into slices, which didn't really work. Yunyi eventually took over, or I would have taken forever! We each got a huge slice and then chomped away! I've got to admit, I've never ever tried tiramisu cake! After that, we tried Emma's homemade cake, which was really delicious! I only had a tiny slice, since I couldn't eat anymore! It was late after we finished eating, so we decided not to go bowling. Instead, we traveled to pacific center, and did a little shopping. We stopped at Bath and Body Works, and because I didn't really want anything from there, I had a funny chat with Carina outside about what we did when we were little. Then I shopped at the Body Shop, and got some pretty neat scented things. We walked a little bit more, and then we had to go home, since it was getting late. It was a pretty awesome birthday party, and it was nice, because I didn't have one for a while!
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T3 B48: Dead Animal

Today, I was walking home with Yunyi, Celinna, my sister, and her friends when we passed the remains of a dead animal. Actually we only found out when my sister and her friends suddenly screamed and dodged something on the grass. We walked closer and found that it was actually the remains of a dead animal. It looked really cool actually, and I was actually kind of amazed at myself for not being creeped out. It was decomposing, so there wasn't really that much flesh and fur on it. We saw the tail of the animal, and it was pretty long. I thought it was a rat, but it was kind of too big to be one. Celinna thought it might have been a squirrel, and it looked like it too. Interesting, so this is what dead squirrels looked like...
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T3 B47: Science Genetics Test

Grrr. This test really made me angry. I was actually looking forward to this genetics test, because I've studied genetics before, so I didn't think it would be so hard. The test itself was ok. I started off with the short answers, which was pretty easy, except for some confusing questions. I got that part over with, but took a long time thinking about the answer to one of the questions. After a loong time, I started the questions with all the punnett squares. At first it wasn't so bad, and then after a while, punnett squares got pretty annoying. There were so many of them! I managed to finish it with 20 minutes left. Then I went back to ponder about that annoying question I couldn't solve. There was only 10 minutes left when I remembered to go back to do the multiple choice questions. At first it was easy, then there were all these questions calculating with punnet squares. It was really annoying and it really, really slowed me down. By the end of the test, I had to guess 10 multiple choice questions (right when I handed it in, I found a really easy question that could have been right, but I wrote it wrong, and couldn't change it.) Also, it wasn't until a while later that I realized that I still didn't finish writing the answer to that really annoying question. At least I wrote down the first important part! But lesson learned! I shall manage my test time really carefully next time, because sometimes time can be evil. It's true, time really doesn't wait for anyone! Too bad I had to find that out the hard way!
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T3 B46: Geneskool

This was actually an awesome field trip! I got to school early, since my mom had work, and I waited until people showed up. I was supposed to go with Leslie, but Ms. Jay put me in Cynthia's car, and we went first! Nobody was there when we got there, so we found our way to the classroom, and since our class didn't come yet, we got a tour of this little room where they keep animals. The first thing I saw when I stepped in the classroom was the snake. It was really cute! It's tongue was slithering out and it had little black eyes, and it was looking at us from the corner of the cage. I didn't have the nerve to hold it, but while Judy and Cynthia held the snake, I just pet it. It was really smooth, and not what I expected a snake to feel like! We also saw this lizard from the desert, and it's skin was really smooth as well! We also got to see sea urchins, and starfishes (including this sun fish, which was really cool! After a while, we had to start our lesson. It turns out to be really interesting! We worked on a mystery, and used pipettes. Somewhere in the middle, I suspected that I've already done Geneskool in Grade 5, but didn't remember it. We took a lunch break, and we wandered down to the college cafeteria. It was so cool! We ate our lunch quickly there, and then watched Jessie reclaim her prize doughnut. That was pretty interesting! We got back to our classroom, and injected the DNA samples into the electrophoresis machine, and that was so fun! We played an intense round of jeopardy, and came really close to winning! To make the day even better, I got dropped off at home right after the field trip (since it was on the way back) and that just put me in an even better mood. I'm going to enjoy today while I can!
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T3 B45: Birthday Presents

Ok, so here's what I found in my room yesterday. From my parents and grandparents, I got birthday money! (Which I will save of course.) I'm actually really picky on birthday money, since I consider it "sacred people" that gave it to me. It's like special money, which helps when I need to save it. I also got an alarm clock which is awesome timing, because I really wanted a new one. This one is really cool, because it has many functions! It's an alarm clock, radio, and an Ipod dock, which is really cool! I also got gel pens which I asked for (running out of fine-liners) and a cute card from my brother. Thanks for the presents!
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T3 B44: A Sunny Birthday

Yup, I'm now officially 15. Sigh, when my friends talk about it, it's like I'm old. Geez. Anyways, I ran the Sun Run today! It was totally not what I expected. I arrived with my mom, but she was running in another section, so I dropped her off and then went to find my friends. Turns out they were late, so I had to wait a while for them, and it started to get crowded. We got there just in time, and we were able to squeeze in the back. I ran with Mimi and Fang-yu, and later found Cynthia. We ran for a bit, but Mimi and Fang-yu got injuries, so I just stayed and walked the rest of the way with them (with occasional running). Cynthia left to run with another friend, and we sprinted towards the end. Our time was 1hr 30mins. That's pretty good for walking most of the way. We went to BC place to get food and drinks, and it was so crowded there! There were long line ups of people, so I left after a while. I made it home in time for lunch, and then I went to piano lessons. It's a pretty good way to cool off, and I got a birthday hug from my teacher!
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T3 B43: Thoughts from Yesterday

Ok, I know it's Saturday, but it's still early, so I don't have much to talk about. Day 1 rotation is actually ok! I start with French in the morning, which isn't really bad come to think of it. We switched desks, so now I sit with Roy and Seline, and it's....interesting, since I rarely talk to them. At least I'm more alert in French. Next comes math. It's not the best, but I'm happy I get to get it over with in the morning, before I get too tired in the afternoon. After lunch, I have applied skills. It's when I usually get sleepy, but since I have friends and work to do, it keeps me awake! After applied skills is Socials, which is great! I'm kind of tired at the end of the day, but being tired makes you perfectly ready to argue about things, which is what we normally do anyways. It's really fun, because it makes me feel so much more less tired. And it's right near my locker on the third floor. Perfect!
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T3 B42: Applied Skills Project

Whoa, this totally blew me off my feet. We got another project for Applied Skills. Yup, a "Quantum Mechanics" project in the disguise of the Brain project from last year. Almost exactly the same format. Gah. I thought I was finished with projects from Applied Skills. This actually sounds kind of interesting. We had to fight each other (not really!) for our topics, and although I really wanted to learn about stars, I got Mercury, Venus and Earth, which actually isn't all that bad. We're also supposed to present in first-person, so I'm trying to think of ways to present. Sigh, I need a break from all this researching.
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T3 B41: Block Rotations

Block rotations are really weird for this round. For day 2, it's horrible. The first half of the day is ok. I like science, and at least I won't be really tired if it was at the beginning of the day. Next comes English, which I find really hard to switch from, since Science and English are opposites. You have no idea how it is to switch from reasoning and scientifically thinking, and all of the sudden analyzing, discussion and expressing. It's two very different ways of thinking. Sometimes it's really confusing, especially since we're all still talking about science. All of the sudden we have to talk about Christopher and how his perception of life! Weird, it'll take me a while to adjust. After lunch it's band, which I guess isn't very hard. But the toughest part is having PE last. Not only do I have to rush to change to get to the third floor in time to pack my things and go, but I'm completely exhausted at the end of the day. Grr. I almost couldn't make it through warm up! Maybe I just have to become more fit. Hey, that's what horseback-riding will help me for! Err...When I go in August.
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T3 B40: The Dreadful Day

Yup, my doom had arrived finally. But I was hoping to get this over with quickly. Too bad it seemed to last forever. So Jessie, Josh and I took our seats beside Vivian L, Kathy X and Tony and we started our debate. At first it wasn't that bad. Vivian L made some points that were refutable, but her formality was a little intimidating. Josh had good points, and at he did make some effort to rebut. And then came Kathy X. Her speech was great, and she had so much power and good points, I think it kind of shook us up. I tried rebutting, but I'm really horrible at it, so I did it quick, and then went on to my points. And then came the worst part. It was Jessie's turn, and she did a good job starting the rebuttal, and then Tony cut in, and it went downhill from there. Still, I applaud Jessie for standing her ground, because it is really hard to come up with points while everyone is staring at you and expecting you to make a good comeback. I'm just feeling so bad that I couldn't help her out, even though it was supposed to be her speech. Gah. I shall learn to be better at debating.
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T3 B39: Dinner with Grandparents

So right when my grandparents came back, they weren't even jet-lagged or anything. They just fit right in, and didn't even feel like taking a nap. That's amazing, because every time I go to China (which really isn't often) I am so confused with time and everything. It was a good thing they were like that too, because the rest of my family (aunts, cousin, grandparents on my dad's side) planned a dinner party for them. It was a nice night, and I feel even more happy, especially since I'm all full from that yummy food!
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T3 B38: Grandparents come home!

So today, my grandparents came home! It was awesome, because I haven't seen them in half a year, and I really missed them. They come to Canada when it gets too hot in China, and then leave when it gets too cold in Canada. Anyways, our van couldn't fit so many people including the suitcases, so I stayed home and my dad went to work while my mom and my siblings picked them up. At first, they gave me phone calls saying that they haven't arrived yet, so I told them the flight time, and they waited. I waited a looong time for them to come back. So I did everything I could to get my mind off it. Eventually, after about 2 hours, they did come back, but way later than I expected. Turns out, they got stuck waiting in the wrong line, which slowed them down. Then they went shopping together afterward, because my mom needed to pick something up. We had a big lunch, and it was just really warm and happy. I'm so glad their back! Our house is now more packed, but I like it, because it's really cozy!
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T3 B37: Sunny Day!

Today was gorgeous! (Is that how you spell it? I almost never write that word) Anyways, I had piano today, but I had an awesome time playing with my piano teacher's dog. He's called Nino, and he's like a cross between a golden retriever and a lab. He's so gentle and sweet, but he's getting old. We ran around the background playing fetch, and then I just sat down on the grass in the sun watching Nino chew his bone. I love days like this. It's so beautiful!
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T3 B36: Dim Sum with Friends!

So today I went out with my friends (Yunyi, Celinna, and Emma showed up) and we had an awesome tea party! Hehe. Basically we ate a lot of dim sum at my uncle's restaurant. Even though I eat it a lot, and honestly, I'm sick of it, it was really fun and the food was great! Afterwards, my mom took us shopping, and my cousin bought me a blouse for my birthday! It's really nice, and soft, and I'm just sitting here admiring it! It's awesome! But it's a little too fancy for school, so I guess I'll wear it around the house. I can't wait to wear it after it goes to through the washing machine!
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T3 B35: Debates

Our debate is next Wednesday, which is the next class, so I'm really nervous. I'm spending today doing some debate preparing! Our topic is Minimum Wage, and we're arguing to lower minimum wage. It's going to be tough, since we'll be against Vivian L, Kathy X, and Tony, but I think we'll have lots of fun! Since we're on the opposition side, which is the pro-business side, I'm going to ask my dad for a little help for research, since he knows all about this, because I guess it's affecting him too. I've got to go back to researching! Our points are really unclear and weak. Gah. I hope we'll have a strong argument by the we have to actually debate! We'll need all the information we can get!
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T3 B34: Course Planning!

It makes me really happy whenever I organize or plan anything! This time, it's course planning for next year! Picking out electives and courses are so fun, because there's so many options! Sometimes it gives me a headache, since I'm torn between two awesome subjects. We went to Ms. Salter's office today, and she just updated our information, since we're now in Pre-IB, or going to, at least! I have English, Science, Socials with Pre-IB, and then French 10, and then I'm deciding on 11E (oh no, it's going to be a lot of hard work from now on, since I'm going to be taking grade 10 online. and the provincials!), also, Senior Band 10. This is going to be interesting, because I don't know if I'm good enough, and they always seem so scary to me. It's going to be more fun that Intermediate Band, because I'll be able to learn more new things! Then there's the course planning 10, and half year international studies. And last of all, Leadership PE. I hope. I'm really excited to do volunteer work, because that means I'll have an excuse to go to the Southlands farm for work with the horsies and little kids! Hehe.
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T3 B33: Science Test

Argh, that has got to be the worst science test I've ever taken. Physics has always been my enemy! It's horrible because the whole unit of electricity frustrates me, because all that voltage and current and resistance just confuses me. The test itself was ok at first, but then we got to the written part. I guess you would have heard of it by now, but he lied! He said that he would give us the equations, but he never did, so most of us just guessed or made our own equations! After that, there was an even harder page, with harder questions that we've barely touched on in class! It was so frustrating, I just hope I never have to see the mark for this one! My mark's probably dropped a lot by now.
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T3 B32: Math Homework

We got a new teacher, Mr. Lupin for math! He gave us a package of homework that we had to do. The first few pages were ok, but then they started getting more complicated. Now we have to use rules and reasoning to figure things out. Sometimes it's really confusing, but I like that Mr. Lupin is going at a slower pace, because I can actually understand things that he talks about. And there's so much homework! I guess I got to catch up, or I'll never be able to keep up!
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T3 B31: April Fool's Day!

Whoa, April's Fools day passed without even me knowing. It was good, because no one played a joke on me, which was great! I didn't get to play tricks on my family, but that's ok, because I don't think I could have come up with an awesome trick to play anyways. Now, that's it's finally April, it's only a couple of days before me birthday! I'm so excited!

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T3 B30: Sleeping In!

Ahh..Sleeping in never felt so good! I haven't been able to sleep in. Never in a million years. On weekdays I have school, on Saturdays I have to tutor, and on Sundays I used to have skating lessons. Now, since skating lessons are over for a while, I can sleep in! So today, I woke up at 11, which is pretty late for me. It felt awesome waking up to the sun shining through my windows. I got out of bed pretty quickly though, I don't want to be too lazy!
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T3 B29: Library, Another Home

Yay! I went to visit the library today! It was awesome! I found all these new books that I'm so excited to read! I love browsing through the library, looking carefully through each section, and I usually grab tons of books! The library is like another home for me, I could spend so much time there without getting bored! It feels so good coming home with a heavy load of books, and then snuggling on the couch reading the first book! That seems like just the thing to do right now!
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T3 B28: Math Sub

Since Ms. Knott's still recovering from her operation, our new sub is Mr. Schmitt. He seems ok, but he's really quiet, compared to the chaos that our class is. He really does look like a mathematician! Anyways, he's a good teacher, but I can't really tell because I get really tired when I arrive at Math, since it's right after lunch, which is when I'm all full and warm. Speaking of tired and sleep...I'm going to bed early today!
Good Night!
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T3 B27: No Report Cards?

So, looking at the calendar on my agenda, we were supposed to get our report cards today, but because of the teacher's strike, we aren't getting any. I don't know if that's supposed to be a good thing or not, since I wanted to see my marks, but then I'm kind of afraid at the same time. I know I haven't done a great job at some subjects, so I just don't want to see the final thing. But part of me wants to see where I've done great as well! Sigh, I don't know. I guess I on't have to see them yet, but sooner or later, I'll meet my doom. Hehe, just kidding!
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T3 B26: Social Debates

Oh noo...Just when I thought that debates were over for the rest of this year...We got assigned a debate for Socials. My team is Josh and Jessie, and I guess we don't really know our topic yet. This is a pretty good team, and it's pretty equal, so I hope we'll all work together against whoever we turn out to face. Sigh, I just hope I can get this over with.
I'll do my best!
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T3 B25: New English Student Teacher

Yay! Today we got a new student teacher for English, and her name is Ms. Ele-Gabaly? I'm not sure, all I remember was that is was really hard to pronounce. Anyways, she seems so awesome! Mr. Hauck is awesom, too, but I'm really excited to get a student teacher who really understands us. She gave us a fun introduction about herself, and then assigned us a book for novel study. I love doing novel study! It's one of my favourite things to do in English, I'm not really sure why, but the idea of reading for homework is awesome! Hmm...maybe it's just me. Anyways, I'm glad that we get an awesome student teacher! She teaches like it comes naturally to her, which is really cool!
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T3 B24: School Starts...again.

Awww, I don't like complaining, but I was having such an awesome Spring Break! But I'm really excited to see my friends again, and so I'm kind of torn. Anyways, I didn't feel really tired, since I had so much sleep over the weekends, and I'm just full of energy, for now, at least! I predict that by the end of this week, I'm going to be so very exhausted!
You'll see. I guess I'll enjoy my hyperness!
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T3 B23: Last day of skating!

Today's the last day of skating, because I'm pretty busy in the spring, but of course I'll continue in the summer...I think. Anyways, we worked on sit spins today, which I've never done before. I was kind of scared of spinning, because I could feel my skates getting duller, and I didn't want to fall. But I think I did ok! It was weird, because the more I practiced it, the more out of control it got, and when my teacher left to teach another student, I almost forgot how to do the sit spin, because I've practiced it so many times. But I practiced some footwork with added spins, and I think I'm getting a lot better. Of course I'll still practice during Spring! I just need to find time to go all the way to Sunset...Maybe I'll go with some friends!

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T3 B22: Masterclass

Once every three weeks, my piano teacher holds a masterclass. It's not actually a masterclass, it's more of a mini recital at her house. Her students who are taking an exam soon, or just wants practice performing in front of an audience goes to her house, and we just play our pieces while other people watch. Today there were an extra lot of people, and so it took way longer than usual. Most of the students taking exams were taking lower grades, so they're songs were all very familiar, and it was nice to hear the songs that I used to play! Some of them are really talented as well!
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T3 B21: Old Friends!

Tonight, since my mom was too tired to cook, we went to a new restaurant owned by one of my dad's friends. It was a really fancy cool place, and the food was Shanghai style, which was really good! It turns out that the cook used to be one of my old friends' dad, and that was pretty neat. While we were there, another family came in, and it turns out that it was my brother's old friend from grade 1! They used to be best buddies, and so when they saw each other, they were so happy and started talking right away. The only reason they lost contact was because my brother's friend moved to China for a while, but now he moved back, and he goes to Jamieson, which isn't very far from our school. So right away, they arranged a sleepover at his friend's house, and now they're just so busy catching up! It's actually really amusing to watch.
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T3 B20: Chinese Essays

Oh no. I had Chinese tutor again today, and this time we had to write Chinese essays. I'm really bad at writing Chinese essays, because my Chinese vocab is so limited, so whenever I write, it never sounds sophisticated and good enough. At least the topics that our teacher assigns us are open-minded, and it's easier to talk about those topics, than something so much more specific. Most of the time we do all our essays in class, which is fine, but I always have to rush to make the time limit, and I constantly have to ask my teacher to help me write the Chinese words that I forgot how to write. This week we had to talk about a beautiful place we went to, so I decided to talk about Banff National Park. It really is an amazing place!
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T3 B19: Pizza Lunch

My legs are still kind of sore from yesterday, so I didn't want to go out today. We have a lot of frozen pizzas in the freezer, so I decided to have one for lunch. I heated it up, and it was all warm and awesome. It was Mexican pizza, so it smelled really good. So I got to the point where I was going to eat it, but I noticed green peppers on the pizza, and I didn't think they would be spicy. My cousin couldn't take spicyness, so he piled all his green peppers on my pizza. My sister didn't feel like eating anything spicy, so she gave me all her peppers as well. So I took a bite of my loaded-with-peppers pizza, and my mouth totally just burned. It was so spicy! Next time, I am picking all the green peppers and eating the rest of the pizza, which wasn't even spicy. Still, it makes me so sad to see all those green peppers go to waste. But if you think of it this way, even if you could send these spicy green peppers to the poor developing countries, they will need to drink a lot of water after, and because they don't have enough fresh water, won't that do more harm?
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T3 B18: Long Library Trip

Since both my parents were at work, and I didn't feel like staying at home, I walked to the library! Which was about 20 minutes walk away. I got some pretty good books, and since I'll have time to read them, I borrowed a lot. I'm so excited to read them! I almost don't have enough time to read, unless I sacrifice some of my sleeping time, but this reminds me that I have to work on breaking those procrastinating habits... The walk home was so much more agonizing! The walk seemed to take forever because I was lugging all those books, and it was really warm, so I started to get all tired and hot. But I made it home, and the first thing I did was jump on the couch and start reading the first book. I was that desperate to read!
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T3 B17: Sisterly Shopping Trip

I finally went shopping with my sister, and it was pretty fun. I didn't want to go everyday of break, but we haven't gone for a long time, so we decided to go today. We walked around for about 3 hours, and then went home! I'm pretty satisfied with what I bought! It was a fun sisterly thing to do, and I hope we get to do it again at least one more time before spring break ends!
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T3 B16: No piano lesson

My piano teacher's away in Italy (lucky!) because she's going to her daughter's wedding! It's pretty exciting for her, and she'll probably be a lot more relaxed when she gets back, which is good for me! Also, I've seen her daughter a couple of times, and she's really nice! Thinking of weddings, I haven't been to one for a long time! I guess most of the people in my huge family line is already married, but weddings are so fun! The only ones I could remember going to was when I was really little, so I want to experience one as an older kid. Anyways, at least I get two weeks off for piano!
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T3 B15: Poor Mom

This week, my mom got her wisdom tooth pulled out. She went with my dad, and they gave her anesthesia (is that how you spell it?), and they just took it out. They gave her some cotton cloths, and she had to clamp her mouth on them. She looked like she was in pain, and she just went home to take a nap. Now we have to do more chores, but I hope she gets better soon!
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T3 B14: Birthday Party continued...

So after skating, we rushed back to my cousin's house. Soon after we got there, one of his friends was already there. My siblings and I just stayed in my cousin's house and fooled around on his computer. Then more of his friends came, and they kept ringing the doorbell, and it got pretty annoying. But they did bring yummy food, so we stayed outside for a bit eating food. Then we took some birthday pictures outside, too! It was kinda fun and we also had hot pot at night, and when my dad finished work, he joined us for yummy food! I'm really tired and sleepy now, so I'll talk more tomorrow!
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T3 B13: Cousin's Birthday Party!

Today is cousin's birthday party, and his real birthday is on March 17th, which is this Saturday. Anyways, we got dropped off at his house pretty early, because my dad had to go to work. Since it was pretty early, and his friends weren't there until the afternoon, we went to the Killarney Ice Rink, which was 5 minutes away. And guess who I saw? NATASHA! :) I really missed her a lot, because she was always my running buddy and late-night studying buddy, and we did a lot of things together. I guess I could say that I half knew that she was there, because I read it in her blog, and I guessed that she would be at Killarney, and I was right! We skated a lot and then talked for a loooong time. Then I had to go, and she insisted on taking pictures! It made my day finding old friends and being able to catch up after a long time! I hope I see her again sometime!
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T3 B12

I had Chinese tutor this morning. I feel so bad because I'm always procrastinating when it comes to Chinese, and it's so hard to start work because sometimes I really don't want to make sentences in Chinese because it's so hard for me....Anyways, today's lesson went by really fast, and I gotta admit, it was kind of fun! We learned about fairy tales and it was the Chinese version of Cinderella, which was pretty neat, because it was slightly different. Anyways, back to do fun things! (Not that writing blogs aren't fun)
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T3 B11: Speedy day!

Today went by super quick! I took a little walk in the park today, because it was such a nice sunny day! Right now, I can't stop staring at the glossy horse on my calendar. It makes me want to reach out and pet it. Or....jump on it's back and start galloping. Sigh. I really miss going riding, and hopefully I can do it again in the future. My ultimate awesome plan is to start my own farm/ranch and become an awesome vet! I'm really determined to accomplish this, and no matter what other people (or even my own family) think about this, I really want to accomplish it, because it's just my life dream. And it's horrible to shatter a kid's dreams because it's the only way I stay motivated, and my source of hope!Dapple Grey

T3 B10: Spring Break!

YAY! Spring break is finally here! I can't say how much I missed having days off school. No more stress, oh thank goodness...I felt so much better after having more sleep, and it feels so good waking up in the morning, seeing the sun shine through the windows, and not have to worry about catching up on homework. Except for going to tutor tonight, I spent my day doing things that made me very happy! I finally have time to read books and start cool little projects!
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T3 B9: New Knitting Project

I don't remember if I told you this before, but I'm starting a new knitting project as a birthday project for me cousin. Hint: It'll be long, i'm not kidding, like really, really long. Also, very thick. Very thick and very fluffy! Lots of stripes. Navy blue and creamy white. Basically, I want it to touch the floor on both sides after being wrapped around. Why? It was custom ordered, and I figured he'll want to "dance around" in it afterwards. Interesting project for me!
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T3 B8: Cool New Blogger Layout

Whoa, this is so cool! Blogger just totally changed and it's so interesting! It's like when I just started blogging! I have to look for where everything is, and there's all these new features, and even blogger itself looks so much more pretty and amazing! COOL!
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T3 B7: The Future for this Blog

During my long unintentional break from this blog, I've been thinking..What am I going to do with this blog after Synergy? I really want to keep blogging, because I've come to realize that I actually love doing it! Sometimes I come back and read my old blogs, and it almost makes me laugh at how different I was before, and how I could have done things differently. Sometimes, it's almost like reading about another stranger. I think I'll keep on writing these blogs until I get too busy to write them, which will probably be never. The goals I want for this blogs is to remember to blog everyday, to remember to send them to Mr. Olson, and to picture blog more often. Picture blog, or I guess Super blogging is really fun, and taking pictures of things I find interesting will be pretty cool. It'll be like being a unprofessional photographer in a way.
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T3 B6: Dapple Grey is back!

I'm sorry, you're probably wondering why I haven't blogged for a while. I guess I really need to work on this goal...Anyways, I am totally going to make up for what I missed, because I actually really enjoy blogging, I just keep on forgetting....So here's to replacing all the blogs I missed! I wish to do this before my birthday (this Sunday!), so I don't feel as guilty...hehe.
P.S. you don't have to read all these blogs, just the most recent ones! Making up for these blogs are only to make myself feel better!
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T3 B5: The last strike day

I had a Chinese test early in the morning, but it was not as bad as I thought! I have a Chinese tutor who comes to our house, and at the same time, my mom scheduled my siblings' Chinese tutor to come, so we had like two Chinese tutors in the same house, teaching at the same time! It was kind of awkward at first, but we learned in separate rooms, so it was OK.
My cousin stayed over after that, and so we just fooled around and played games! He wanted to dye his hair, and he brought over this hair dying thing, and so my sister dyed her hair with him. It wasn't that bad actually, their hair only got a little bit lighter, but it wasn't that noticeable. Even with that, I wouldn't ever dye my hair!
We also went to a yummy Vietnamese place for dinner! We haven't been there for a while, and apparently they renovated it, and today it opened again! I guess we were pretty luck, and it looked a lot better after they changed it!
I'm in a happy mood! I guess that's good for school tomorrow!
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T3 B4: Vet

Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you about our vet visit on Saturday! We went all the way to Kerrisdale, because that's where the vet clinic was. We've gone there every since we got our first hamster, Shadow. Aw, I still remember her, she was the most gentlest hamster ever! We haven't visited the vet clinic ever since she died, but now we have two twin hamsters! My sister's hamster is fine, but my hamster is loosing so much weight, it kind of scares me. He's so much more smaller, almost like a mouse! The vet said he just needed more calories, so now I have to fatten him with human food! Then the Dr. Potter trimmed their nails, and it was so cute watching them being picked up by the scruff, because we could never pick them up!
At least they weren't naughty at the vet's.
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T3 B3: First day of strike!

I didn't get to sleep in, because my mom scheduled my tutor lessons today. But it was ok, because it was a lot of fun. Her house was close to a bus going to Metrotown, so we went there for lunch. Then we got to shop a bit, and while my sister left to go to her friend's house, my brother and I wandered around and found some neat stuff!
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T3 B2: Spins!

So Lianna's (skating teacher) brother taught me today. It was really fun, since he taught me a new set of footwork to work on. It was kind of weird at first, backwards Mohawks. Eventually I got it, but I'm still scared of tripping once in a while! We also worked on spins! I'm finally getting better! I love the feeling of swirling around and going faster. It's just an awesome experience!
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T3 B1: First blog of term 3!

Like I said, I'm going to start work extra hard this term. But it's a 5 day weekend! That's an awesome way to start! I guess I'm going to have to finish everything extra early this term! I seriously need to work on some of my goals! I guess writing this blog motivates me to finish them! Oh yeah...one of my goals is to remember to send in my blogs!
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T2 B99: Strike or no strike?

There's all this talk about teacher's striking. Some say it's they will, but some say they haven't decided. I want them to strike, but at the same time, it might mix up the teachers and students.
I had a fairly normal day, starting with Applied Skills. Except for when it came to singing. It was better than the flashmob dance, because this time singing was more quiet, and so less people shot glances at us. As I expected, we did elimination rounds. I really didn't want to be the last one standing, but I have a pretty quiet voice, and the range for the song is pretty high, so it's kind of hard to sing loud and high. Fortunately, I got picked off somewhere in the middle, so I had fun watching the other people sing their heart out to be eliminated. Andy and Roy ended being the last ones in both rounds, which was also expected, since they both prefer to keep mostly silent.
For Socials, we had our agents of change test, and it was so fun, because I recognized so many people in the quiz. He could give us bonus marks, for other people we know. We could only answer up to 16 questions, but I really wanted to answer more! So I got rid of the ones I wasn't sure of, and put the ones I knew about, which was really lucky, since I found out that some of the answers I got rid of were actually wrong! I'm so glad I listened to my intuition or common sense, or whatever it was, because that totally saved me!
In French, we did more work on sports. It was really fun, because we did this activity where we went around asking people what sports they liked/disliked. I love these kinds of activities because you get to learn so much more things about other people, and sometimes it's really surprising.
At home, I almost fell asleep while reading a book (no, not because it was that hard to read), but because I was so tired. I spent so much time taking notes that weren't really of use on the Socials quiz. So now I'm going to bed early!
Good night, before I start my yawn attack!
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T2 B98: Field Trip Day!

Today we got to go to the Jewish Community Center/Holocaust Education Center! I still had band in the morning, and then P.E. Ping-pong is actually better than I thought. Fang-yu and I played with Jessie and Julienne. It was ok in the beginning, we could do rallies sometimes, but then the game got kind of crazy in the end. Supposedly this was "Jessie's way" of playing ping-pong. Basically we started to rally, and then even though the ball went off the table, we just kept hitting it. We hit it back on the table if it touched the ground, we hit it back even though the ball's already super high, we hit it if it makes super tiny bounces off the table, you get the point. Julienne managed to hit the ball even after it bounced off the wall! Let's just say that it was a very...interesting game. We also did some Orienteering in the Cafe, but it was basically reviewing our directions, using the compass. I hope we get to go outside and actually play with the compass, and run around like other classes have been doing. After a yummy lunch, we met at Mr. Hauck's room, and then walked to the Holocaust Education Center. It was interesting, but I think I've visited in Grade 6. I didn't really remember the place, but coming back here reminded me so much of my last field trip there. In Grade 6, we had a Holocaust survivor come in, too, but this time it was an older man, Tom, I think was his name. His story was really interesting, but sad in a way, when you were reminded of how his grandfather and father died. Before he came in, we watched a really cool film called Pigeon. It's amazing how so much could be told without words, so much emotions expressed. I really liked the film, but I'm still frustrated on how I couldn't figure out why the pigeon died in the end. I still don't have the answer, but I think it's supposed to be open to interpretation. Hmmm, it would be interesting if I could talk to the director, and learn why he put the dead pigeon there. After the field trip, Jenica, Celinna, Leslie and I walked over to Oakridge, because we had to get home. We got warm, steamy drinks, and then Leslie stayed at Oakridge, Jenica and Celinna waited at the bus stop, while I got on the Skytrain. I got home pretty early, so I had lots of time to do whatever I wanted. (More like working while snacking on yummy foods!)
Of course, there's all that talk about the teacher's strike. From what they say, teachers on striking on Monday, Tuesday for sure, but Wednesday is undecided? I'm really confused, because everyone all have different stories. Whatever happens, next week is going to be a very complicated one. Sure, we get to rest for 2 or 3 days, but then when we get back to school, it's going to be pretty chaotic. What happens to all the tests and projects supposed to be due on the strike days? IB Offers? Teachers are going to cram 2 or 3 days of work into the last day before spring break, and we'll get so much work piled onto us. Whatever they decide to do, at least we have spring break to be able to recover!
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T2 B97: Walking Home Again

My mom changed her work schedule again, so now we're walking/busing/skytraining all the way home again. I guess it's not that bad, since we get home the same time we would get home if we were driven. It's just more tiring for us, but at least it's almost spring, and it won't be raining as much anymore!
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T2 B96: Idealess

We're still idealess for the science project. I really forgot about it until we came back to science class. I'm pretty sure we want to do something with wind turbines or solar panels, but we really have to come up with an invention soon. I hope a miracle would happen or something, and we wouldn't have to hand it in on Monday..
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T2 B95: Groggy...

Whoa, I was pretty tired and feeling groggy today...
I guess I'm not that used to Mondays...
One thing I remember, Mr. Lee said we're going to sing in the Cafeteria next class!
Oh no, I bet he's going to make us to an elimination round! At least I'm going to be prepared for it!
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T2 B94: Snow?

Today I enjoyed skating a lot! We did a lot more spins and it was awesome! I've finally found something that I can actually master! I might not be the best at jumps or footwork, but I can really improve my spins! And I don't get dizzy doing them anymore!
I also had to go to piano lessons again, because my piano teacher came back from her daughter's wedding in Italy! It was snowing a lot there, and to welcome her back it snowed again today! It was so pretty, so much snow falling down, but it didn't stick well, so there was only a thin layer on the ground. Later it was snowing a lot more, but my piano teacher's house is in Burnaby, so I guess that's why...
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T2 B93: End of term?

Whoa, I've just realized that next week is already the end of term!  Ahhh! I'll have to remember to send in my blogs. That means all those tests and projects due soon are going to be pretty important, if I want to raise my mark. Sigh, time passes too fast. It's already term 3! I'm going to work extra hard next term, just you wait and see!
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T2 B92: Five Minute Lessons

Whoa, we have a science project to work on now! It actually looks kind of intimidating! It requires a lot of creativity, so I hope Leslie and I come up with an awesome idea! Also, for English we're doing five minute lessons! Basically we present on a poetry keyword that has been assigned to us! It's so much fun! And it's so much more interesting learning from our classmates! I actually paid attention more, and it was pretty exciting seeing how some people present!
Mr. Hauck has endless awesome ideas...
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T2 B91: Band Recordings Finished!

Whee! I finished them! I expected to only take an hour, but of course, it took way longer. I'm just so happy and relieved that I can get this assignment out of my head! The only thing I'm nervous about is checking my email now! I'm excited to see my mark, but I'm also dreading what it can turn out to be!
Hope my recording doesn't turn out as bad as I think!
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T2 B90: Band Practice!

Ack! Band recordings totally just sneaked up on my! I totally need to work on them!
On the other hand, I'm still kind of sick!
What do I do?
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T2 B89: A whole bunch of...French Homework?!

Whoa, french homework! And a lot of it, at that! Ms. Todd's asking us to make 40-ish Que cards for all the sports vocab that we just learned! This is actually one assignment I actually need to work hard on! Sigh, French homework is usually so quick and easy! Who knew?
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T2 B88: Horse Doodles!

Whee! Mimi's switched to horse doodles on my agenda now! It's so much more refreshing and nicer to look at horses and ponies galloping across my pages! Ahh, now I'll actually be motivated to write in my agenda!
Just as long as I don't accidentally flip to the pages in the front...
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T2 B87: Furniture Shopping

My parents have this idea of updating our house! It's really exciting for us, actually! First, my dad started with replacing our TVs. We have two new ones, and then our old TV! So we cleaned out the whole living room, and now we have this big TV on the wall. Then my parents decided to by a new couch. We still have our old one, but it's moved to the side. Our new couches are black and on the other side it's white. The black side is so long you can lie on it and fall asleep! It came with these comfy cushions as well!
Today, they went to look for a new dinner table! First we visited Once, a really awesome furniture design shop with all sorts of furniture made from real wood. The furniture was so pretty! We looked around for a bit, and then decided to come back another time. Then, they dropped me off at Michael's for a secret project I'm working on for my cousin's birthday (revealed later). After I bought my secret supplies, I walked over to Pier 1 Imports to meet my parents. There were deciding on these lounge chairs for our living room. Really, there were outdoor-ish chairs, but it actually looks great inside our living room. After much arguing and deciding, they decided to buy both of them, and so it's making our house look a whole lot neater and cozier!
Actually, I'm typing my blog while sitting on one of the chairs now!
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T2 B86: Normal Saturday

So a normal Saturday...as normal as a Saturday can be.
Wakeup
Tutor
Go to my tutor
Home to play? work? blog?
Dinner
Family tv time!
Sleep!

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T2 B85: Pro-D Day!

I spent the Pro-D day just relaxing, and just having a ME-Day. Sometimes you just have to sit back, and relieve all that stress. You have to unwind, and release all that stress and tension bottled up! It felt so great to have a nice, long weekend. Sigh, I hope days like this just stretches on forever...
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T2 B84: Math Quiz already?

Sigh, I'm doing so bad in Math right now. I'm not even kidding. It used to be the subject I could pass without studying or paying attention much. But now, it's a lot more harder in Enriched, not that I can't handle it, but such a difference than last year. We have a substitute, too, and Mr. Schmitt's way of teaching is really different from Ms. Knott's. I'm not really sure I understand everything he teaches, but the textbook helps a lot. He's giving us a quiz soon, so this time, I've really got to study!
Studying for a math quiz? So rare.
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T2 B83: Immunization shock!

I was looking at my agenda, and on today, it says "Immunizations". I got pretty scared because I really wasn't ready for another round of shots! I head P.E. today, too! I was staring nervously while they set up the immunization site during Collab time. Later, while talking to someone, I found out that the shots were just for the people who didn't get their HPV shot, and whoever needed other shots.
Phewf! I was so scared!
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T2 B82: Here Comes the Sun

We started singing in Applied Skills today! Here comes the sun is pretty familiar to me, so I don't think it'll be that hard to learn it. Also, it isn't very hard, so our class won't have that much trouble learning it, I hope. I heard Mr. Lee was going to help us out! I already have him for band, and he's a pretty nice teacher so I can't wait to see how he manages Synergy!
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T2 B81: Do Something Project

I love how Mr. Hauck is so open about what we do. We had a "Do Something" project where we could do anything we wanted. Mimi and I made a Moose book. It turned out great! Mim's just an awesome artist! I feel kind of bad for not being able to help her draw, but at least I contributed my share of work! I love how English projects are so creative and free, it gives us so much room to explore!
But also a huge headache trying to decide what to do...
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T2 B80: No piano!

Hurray! I spent my whole day doing work (...and playing!) since I didn't have piano today! It literally takes up 4 hours of my Sunday, which is practically the whole day! I feel so free now! I'm not saying piano lessons are bad, I really don't dread it. It's pretty comfortable at her house, and when I'm waiting for my siblings, I have a nice, quiet place to finish homework. One of the best things about it is that I can't get distracted! I actually work way better there than at home!
But of course, who doesn't like freedom?
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T2 B79: Tutoring

This morning I dragged myself up to tutor piano. Sometimes I wish to sleep in, but after I'm more awake, I start really thinking. I'm pretty much a morning bird. I barely sleep in anyways, I guess the only reason I'm so tired is that I never go to sleep early. I guess I really should improve that...
and SPRING BREAK is the perfect time to finally work on my sleeping schedule!
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T2 B78: Looking Back

Sigh, this week was pretty enjoyable, and I'm glad that it's finally over. Today we had to do our Napoleon Essay, and I got to admit, it wasn't that bad. I'm just so happy that all that staying up and hard work is over, since I really do need a break. Looking back at my blog history, a year ago, today was a Science Fair day. I still remember what it was like last year, it was so different from this one! If I had only known who my trusty friends would turn out to be, I would have spent a whole lot more time with them last year! I remember being so scared, but looking back, I can only laugh at that thought.
How different could next year be?
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T2 B77: Mimi's Doodles

So, Mimi loves doodling. More Specifically, she loves doodling on my agenda. Don't get me wrong, she's an awesome artist, and her doodles  are great, but sometimes she gets too creative...TOO creative! On one page, she started with a pair of eyes, and then another pair of eyes. Next, she adds two heads, moles, and a worm body. Don't ask me what happened when she showed me that page....
Now, I'm scared to flip through my agenda in fear of facing another worm body or mutilated drawing.
Help?
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T2 B76: Socials Map

Ahh, so the socials map was due today, and I'm so happy that I actually finished it! It was on time too, and I really didn't have to rush! I feel so bad for asking my friends to see their maps, since mine looks pretty crammed together. I'm so glad that we don't have to do a scale for our maps, since it is such a pain!
Hopefully I get a good mark, I'm so proud of the hard work I put into this!
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T2 B75: Science Fair Day

I only have to go to school for half the day today. I ran in this morning to drop off my science fair, and there were so many people! I was pretty sleepy from working hard yesterday, so I took a nap when I got home. (P.S., I never take naps! This is actually pretty rare for me) Then at around 12, my old violin teacher picked me up, and we headed to the exam site. The violinist I was supposed to accompany was pretty nervous, but his exam went pretty well! I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be, but I was pretty relieved when we were finished. Sigh, I'm so happy that that's over with, now I can actually focus on my own piano stuff.
Can't wait for that Spring Break!
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T2 B74: Science Fair Work Day!

So much work left for science fair, this might be my last post, in case I might not make it through today...just kidding! But I really have to work, since I really, really don't want to stay up the whole night. Good thing I have my late-night buddies to keep me company!
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T2 B73: So much data...

I didn't wake up for skating until I got a phone call from my cousin. Good thing, or I would have slept right through it. I was so rusty during skating today, I haven't skated for 2 weeks. So Lianna and I spent the whole lesson to re-teach me "proper" cross-overs. I got it after a couple of minutes, but I forget how it should feel so quickly after I learned it. So I spent the rest of my practice session doing crossovers over and over and over again...

I felt so relaxed, so I rested for a bit after that. Then the science fair stress came back, and I worked on that. I looked at my log book, and then realized that I had so much data to analyze. I have to average my 3 repetitions for each trial, and then average all three trials to get the summary for the whole experiment. I spent so much time organizing my data. I also got my board today, and came up with an ok title for my science fair. It's not as much as I wanted accomplished today, but I'm still determined to do everything I can tomorrow so I won't have to stay up...

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T2 B72: A lot of catching up!

Today was mostly working on work, and trying to catch up to everything, which still isn't very caught up yet. At least I've caught up on most of my blogs, and I hope I'm not missing any!
I had tutoring to do, and then I went to my tutor, so that was a busy morning. Since I still had time, I finished some of my science lab there, and managed to plan out some of my graphs! I'm pretty happy to be making some progress on science fair. Tomorrow I'm planning to finish typing up my abstract and most of my paragraphs. I'll finish recording data in my log book, since my last experiment officially ends tomorrow, and then I'll make my graphs, too! Then I'll spend Monday putting things together. Putting things together seems really easy, and less time consuming, but it really isn't. That was a big lesson learned last year, and I really don't want to repeat that. Hurray! I feel so much more assured and less stressed having a plan, even though I know that I'll have to work hard at it for it to actually work. And that means that I won't be able to enjoy that lovely sunshine. Hmm...maybe a little walk to relieve stress might be nice for tomorrow...
Catching up...slowly,
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T2 B71: Pro-D

Whoa, I actually overslept this morning. I was really surprised to find sunlight streaming through the windows! I can't believe it! It's like I haven't seen the sun for such a long time! I had a late lunch, and then worked on my English project and some of Science Fair! I feel like I can actually finish by the due date and not stay up!
It felt great to have a whole day to look forward to, the whole day free to do whatever I wanted to do.
Then in the afternoon, Calvin came over. I might as well explain. I'm an accompanist for Calvin (my former violin teacher's student) who is going to take his violin exam. It's right on science fair day, so I'm only going to be at school for half a day that day. We played over our 4 pieces, which weren't that hard I guess. I just need a lot more practice, because I wasn't sure of the tempo. He's going to come again for practice tomorrow night, and hopefully I won't be too horrible then.
We had a quick dinner, because it was getting late. But then I got more time to catch up on work! Now I feel so much more happier about my work! Gotta keep this up!
Good night!
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T2 B70: Just Dance!

This morning was a storm. I woke up later than usual, and I had to run around the house, getting ready for school. But I still made it early!

I'm getting pretty used to the dance we're learning in Applied Skills. Last class I was still kind of confused, but we've practiced it so many times today, I don't think I'll ever forget it! But I still wish we got the dance video sent to us so we could study it at home...

For French we had our big dreadful test, and turns out that it wasn't as dreadful as I thought it would be! We only had to say about 3 sentences in French, and that was it! We also have this really fun fashion show project to work on, and my team is Mimi, Carina, and Alex! I can't wait to see how it turns out! We're going to have so much fun working on it!

And then came the Math class at the end of the day, which I'm pretty sure I came close to flunking. The multiple choice part was really easy, but the word questions just confused me so much. I didn't even come close to finishing the bonus question! And the worst part of it all? Right after class, everything came flooding back to me! Grrr...I checked my updated mark. I'm barely surviving! I guess I'll have to work a lot harder from now on! 

I've also thought about doing Senior Band Off timetables next year. I mean, I could follow my mom in the morning, since she leaves earlier, and since she picks me up later, after school would be no problem! I just have to see if the times work out! Too bad I'll miss the first day of course planning!

It's a Pro-D tomorrow! I can't wait to...work?

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T2 B69: Little Raccoon

This morning, on the way to school, we saw this little creature dart across the road. My dad swerved so he wouldn't hit it, and we later saw that it was a little raccoon. It was a little raccoon, but it was crossing the big Cambie street. I kind of felt sorry for it, because it was so out of place, and I really hope it didn't get hit! It makes me kind of sad to see all sorts of wildlife being in danger!

Today was the last day of gymnastics testing for P.E., and I gotta admit, I'm really going to miss having fun with all those equipment. I really wished I wasn't so scared to try the equipment at the beginning, because they all seem so easy to me now! Vaulting, pommel horse, and balance beams were so awesome! I've never felt so comfortable during P.E. class. I guess the next unit is Volleyball! That sounds fun too, since we've only gotten one week of Volleyball last year!

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T2 B68: No more walking

Blah. Turns out that the Day 1 schedule isn't as great as Day 2, but it's still ok, I guess. We learned our applied skills dance today, and it was kind of awkward at first, but by the end, we all got the hang of it. We're getting crash-courses on this dance, so I hope I get how to do this dance before we actually have to dance! Yikes! It'll be horrible getting lost in the dance while it was being filmed! My mom also changed her work schedule, so now she leaves home really early, but she ends work earlier too. She can pick me and my sibling up from school, so we don't have to walk anymore! The bad part is, I'll have to find something to do in the hour I'm waiting.
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T2 B67: Block Rotations!

Whoa, I feel so much better today! It was like my sickness was almost cured! It was like being sick only for the weekend! At least I know that I'll be alert and ready to work this week. So many projects to weigh me down! But I have my trusty agenda, and a nice schedule planned out, so I'm more than ready to tackle my assignments! Oh yeah, we had block rotations today, so it's kind of disorientating. I have to think before heading to my next class, because it'll be really embarrassing marching into the wrong class! At least the teachers will be understanding!
Day 2s work out pretty well for me. I hope tomorrow's a great day as well!
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T2 B66: Stay at home day

I was getting worse, so my mom cancelled my skating practice today. I actually slept until 11:30, such a big record for me! I almost never sleep past 10 now, because I can't. I guess I was so tired, and I really needed the rest. I do feel much better now though! I still have a runny nose, and a little headache. During piano, while I was waiting for my siblings, I felt like I was overheating. I probably had a mini-fever raging inside me, but it was over by the time piano lessons were finished. Oh yeah! Today was our last piano lesson before my teacher leaves for Italy for 3 weeks. Her daughter is getting married! Congrats to her! This also means that we get to skip three piano lessons! I'll be free on Sundays for a while! Good thing too, because I really need to catch up on some work!
I'm feeling sleepy now, and that headache is getting worse! :(
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T2 B65: Sick?

Oh no, I'm starting to feel sick...I've felt bad a little yesterday, because I could almost feel the sickness taking over me. I had a little headache, but nothing compared to today. All through tutoring, I was sniffling, so I hope I really didn't annoy my student too much. Now, near the end of the day, I feel so tired, and my headache is getting worse. At least I've done the work I needed to complete for the weekend! I feel so sleepy now...
Good early night! (For once)
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T2 B64: Business Projects!

Oh no, I just remembered that the Business Projects are due soon! Our company is so slow in getting products delivered or designed. But that's because we're putting so much pressure on April. She's the only one in our company we knows and is skillful at designing our products, so we have to wait until she's finished the product until we can deliver them. Thanks April!
I'll have to get my group (Jessie as CEO, don't worry I'm not taking over!) together soon!
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T2 B63: English Test

Yay! I'm so confident about my English test today! The studying strategy actually works, because I mostly remembered everything I needed to know. My friends helped a lot, because I remember them correcting me when I answered questions wrong during our review sessions. I wrote a lot for the written part of the test, and always ran out of room near the bottom. But overall, I think I'll do great!
How do teachers stand having to mark so many essays and tests?
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T2 B62: Math Contests

So I've officially signed up for the Kayley Math Contest. I know this is going to be pretty hard, since it's at the Grade 10 level, and I don't have much practice with math contests. This is going to be a fun challenge, and I hope I don't get too discouraged on the online practice contests!
I know I won't do that well, but I still want to try my best!
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T2 B61: Tests!

English test coming up soon, on everything I've learned. This one is actually scaring me a bit. I hope I'm going to be prepared, because it seems like it'll take a lot of studying and writing. Oh! This will be a great way to test out my new studying routine! I'll studying a little too nights before, a little the night before, and then have a little review session with friends. I tend to remember what my friends say more than what's written.
Let's see how this turns out!
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T2 B60: Mimi drawings

So I have these creepy drawings of made up characters all over my agenda. All drawn by Mimi. Sometimes, I flip to a random page and have a mini-heart attack. It's just that the drawings are so weird, limbs and features all stuck together. Especially those worm bodies. There's one smack in the middle of this week's page too.
I hope I don't die by the time I get through the whole year. By that time, my agenda would have probably turned into a drawing book.
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T2 B59: Skating Exercises

If my mom ever though that figure skating was all about moving your legs and just looking graceful, she was so wrong. There's so many hardships hidden under all that beauty. "Back straight!" "Toes pointed" is kind of all I heard today during our skating exercises. Now my legs feel all tired and jello-y, but it's nice to feel that you've worked hard, and in the end, I got it.
Who knew people could have invented so many ways to practice one skill?
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T2 B58: Sick people everywhere?

A lot of my classmates and friends are sick. My mom's sick, too. There's probably a flu going around, and everyone's either sniffling or coughing. It's getting pretty hard to avoid all the germs going around. I really don't want to get sick now, especially when it's so close to Science Fair and all these projects are requiring so much attention! I've got to start working hard now, so even if I get sick, I'll be able to complete everything.
Get working! Remember to have good hygiene!
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T2 B57: Identical Twins

We talked about identical twins in Science today. Turns out that Ms. Jay's husband is a identical twin! It's so interesting! Identical twins really do look so much alike! It's like a cool photo affect, and their image is just reflected! We looked through the National Geographic magazine. It had really cool photos of identical twins! Some looked like reflections of each other, while others only had slight similarities. They looked so alike that it was almost scary!
What would my life have been like if I was an identical twin?
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T2 B56:Film Blog

I know, I know. I'm guilty of still not blogging about that film Mr. Olson sent us. I keep having to stop at parts because the film was so long but it's still interesting. I'll finish it around this weekend, and then I'll post it when I have time. For now, homework is chasing me!
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T2 B55: Maus Project!

So we just received another project. This time for English. At least it sounds kind of fun! We get to do whatever we want! As long as it is all about Maus. I'm thinking of doing a board game with Jessie, but I have many other ideas too! I'll like to work with a partner, it's more creative that way...Maybe I'll do a comic with Mimi!
Can't wait to see where this takes us,
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T2 B54: Walking home...

Today was just another typical day. Walking home is still tiring, especially when it's drizzling and you don't have an umbrella. But at least we have Yunyi and Celinna as company. It's more fun to be with your friends, who share the same burden: taking transportation for far distances to get home...
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T2 B53: Genetics!

Yay! I can't believe we're studying genetics! It's one of my favourite areas of science! It's so fun and I actually understand it. Sure, drawing Punnett squares can get really annoying sometimes, but it's so interesting! We did this in Grade 6, most of the stuff we did in class was a review. The homework seems pretty easy, but the best thing was the activity we did in class! We had to compare and see if the class had a dominant or recessive trait for a characteristic. It was so funny watching everyone determine whether they were one or the other. It was fun, and science has become more awesome again!
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T2 B52: Skating!

So this morning, I reluctantly woke up to go skating. I was feeling so sleepy, but I snapped awake as soon as I got onto the ice. It's always so smooth and awesome at the beginning, and mostly stays that way because there are only private lessons, and there aren't as much people. My cousin and I were warming up, and even when we were finished, my instructor still didn't come. It turns out that she couldn't make it today, so we just had a practice session to practice our moves. It's a good thing too, since my skills were getting a little rusty. I got back on track, and I'm ready to have my lesson next week.

Hopefully, I won't forget everything by then,

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T2 B51: Just the usual

It was a usual Saturday. Usual tutoring. Usual being tutored. Then wait! Something different!
Some of used-to-be violin teacher's students came to my house to do their theory exams. My mom qualifies as kind of a supervisor for them, so she was supervising them the whole time. It was pretty interesting, since they worked under a different music organization, where as I've always stuck to the RCM exams. I've always been to different centers for my exams.
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T2 B50: Math Tests?

Ms. Knott's math tests are so unique. She always has these questions at the end that really tests your math skills. I barely had time to finish my math tests, and near the end, I had random answers which I was pretty sure didn't make any sense. Oh well, at least the rest of my test was ok?
For socials we have two new projects. I'm doing a project on Harriet Tubman, and then we have to do yet ANOTHER essay test on Napoleon. I really have no opinion  of him right now. All I remember from what I've read, was that he was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo and then exiled.
Things are starting to build up. A storm is heading my way.
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T2 B49: Science Fair Update

Whoa, we've never tried this before. I guess it's just a reminder to everyone that Science Fair isn't very far away.  We had a science fair update, where we just told Ms. Jay what our progress was. I've seen some people rushing their experiments or rushing to start them, just so they could have something to say today. Also, she gave us some feedback, and suggested some changes. Thankfully, my project was ok, and didn't really need major changes.
I would have died if I had to start over now,
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T2 B48: Socials Essay Test!

Oh no, today was the day we all dreaded. We had to take our second essay test, on the French Revolution. It's great that Mr. Martin's doing this, preparing us for Pre-IB (that is, if I even get in), but essay tests are so stressful! Even with printed notes! I hope I do well on this, but I'm not so confident. This was a pretty tough and unexpected topic, especially since we only could write about a topic. We couldn't pick the topic choice, it was just given.
Now I dread the day I get my essay back,
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T2 B47: Science Fair Work Block

Thankfully, Ms. Jay gave us time to work on our Science Fair. This was much needed, because I still had to chop some vitamin for my science project. I took the whole of today's class and I'll probably need to take next class to work on it, too. Thankfully she gave us TWO blocks to work on it!
I despise razor blades. I accidentally cut my finger while cutting vitamin. Don't worry, my finger's still attached to my hand, it just...stings.
I'll just stick to smashing them into bits,
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T2 B46: So much homework again...

Socials timeline quiz today. But I've studied so hard yesterday, I'm really confident that I got near perfect. This is one of those times where you've studied so much, you don't think anything you wrote could have been wrong. Sigh, I wish I was this confident during all my tests. But I guess that means I'll have to improve my studying habits. This time was only different because I actually took time to sit down and study, and then have a review session with friends. Normally I would be sitting in bed late at night, trying to memorize all the facts while half drooping off to sleep. I guess I have to take more time to actually study, so at least it'll stay in my brain!
No more tests please,
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T2 B45: Sleep in!

I got to sleep in again, but it's the last time, since I have skating the next week again. Don't get me wrong. Skating's really fun, and it helps with flexibility and feeling confident. But it takes so much dedication, both figure skating and hockey practices take place early morning, requiring waking up super early. Of course it pays off though, you really do feel more graceful and confident in the end. As much as I wish I didn't have to get up early in the morning, I feel glad afterwards that I did!
Figure skating is the ultimate sport for us petites!
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T2 B44: Hamster Training

I've decided to train my hamster, since it's been terrified of people ever since we've got it. It's a Robo hamster, one of the smallest and fastest kinds. But it's also one of the hamsters that are the most nervous, and very skittish. My brother named it Tarzan, while my sister named hers Hickory. Since they love food so much, I place it onto my hands, so they would run over and eat the food on my hand. It's working, but I want to keep working on it, so eventually they'll hop on, even if there's no food.
It's too bad they only live for 2 or 3 years, so much heartbreak to live through!
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T2 B43: End of First Week

Hurray! We all survived our first week back at school. I've got to admit, it wasn't so bad! I'm been glad to be able to talk to my friends again, and it's so great to see them! I guess I've missed their cheerfulness during the break, but at least we have our chats online! I can't wait to enjoy the weekend, even if it'll seem incredibly short compared to Winter Break!
Nothing can get in my way!
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T2 B42: Looking Back

Today I felt like reading some of my old blogs from last year. Whoa, they were so different. Like my first post ever, it was so formal, and so awkward sounding...It seemed so limited, so less freeing...It was like I knew that people were going to read it, and I didn't want to talk much. I seemed so different to the person I am today. But I wonder if that was good or bad? Have I changed for the better? I hope so. I've definitely tried to go back and tackle some of my weak points that were shown last year. Now I feel so much more comfortable at school, not being at the bottom, those scared/uncertain grade 8s!

Maybe one day I'll look back at this post....

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T2 B41: Comics!

Whoa, so our next chapter in English is going to be on comics. No kidding. This is pretty interesting, because most of the English classes throughout my life have almost never brought up comics. It's been poetry, newspapers, novels, nonfiction, but never comics. What does English have against comics? Or is it that they want it to waiting for later grades? Is it too modern that the teacher doesn't know have to teach it? Anyways, our comic that we're reading is Maus. I've read both books in grade 6, and I still remember it. That's how good it was. Also horrifying in a way. But I've always loved the book, and I get to learn it again!
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T2 B40: Homework already!

Sigh, I've got homework already. But hey! It's not a lot! The good thing about coming back from break, is that the teachers feel the same way, about having to work again. They usually don't give us that much homework. Maybe they don't like to admit it, but having little homework is not only easier for the students, it's also better for the teachers, not having much to mark. I'll be enjoying little homework as best as I can before a big project storm hits!
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T2 B39: New Year's Cleaning

Yay, now that I've gotten a lot of new things, from Christmas, as well as those winter shopping trips, I can't wait to be able to make my room all clean and tidy! I'm going to feel more relaxed and comfortable after, even though cleaning my room is hard work. At least it's small! It's a good thing I've pushed myself to do all my homework in the beginning of the break, or else I'll be rushing all of it right now, which would have been horrible!
I'll spend the rest of my day relaxing, so I'll be all clean and fresh tomorrow!
I'm ready to face school again!
Dapple Grey

T2 B38: New Year's Resolutions

I guess everyone's writing about their resolutions, so I might as well.
1. Get into IB. I actually really really want to. It's not just my parents. I know some people who only wanted to get into Churchill so they have a better shot at IB. But sometimes I pity them, because it's only what their parents want, not want they want, which should matter a lot more. I hope I get in, as well as the rest of my friends! Sometimes I get really confident about getting in, and other days I think I've ruined my chances. I don't know, let fate decide!
2. Get more sleep. Ha, this one I've been trying to work on forever. It's just the sleeping earlier that I need to work on. Maybe now that it's one of my resolutions, it'll seem more real to me, and I'll work harder on trying to stay healthy.
3. Go volunteer! I really want to find an volunteering opportunity. I remember volunteering at the stables, that was such a big win-win, because I was a great help around the barn during summer camp, and for me, I could spend as much time around horses, every day, too! But that's really not a choice anymore, since my parents don't really want to drive all the way over to the other side of the city, just so I could ride and volunteer. I guess it's been pretty expensive, and they've been pretty fair about acknowledging my wishes.
Sigh, but a girl can dream. Maybe one day....
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Dapple Grey