Who Are You Calling a Lab Rat?!

Hello world!

We have been in our new apartment for three or four days, and... I still have barely taken anything out of my suitcases, much less boxes. *oh well shrug* Otherwise, I've kinda liked it here. It feels like there's plenty of space even though there's really only... 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a little kitchen, and a dining/living room. I'm excited for when my room is organized and decorated, it's gonna be cool! From how things are looking, it might end up being Batman and Spider-Man themed... accidentally. Quite the change from my old rooms, that were usually colorful, random, and girly. Colorful and random just are kinda a given when it comes to me. *derp*

And my sister might come stay with us for a while after all! I figured she wouldn't cuz she's got a job already, but you never know how the future will be~

*The New Adventures of Lileh*

We ate from a waffle sandwich truck. Have you ever had a macaroni-and-cheese waffle? Have you ever had bacon sandwiched between two of those cheesy waffles? I have. My dad also ate a cubana waffle sandwich, which he said was better than the torta cubana he had a few trucks over. I hope this guy gets more customers, cuz he deserves them; our food was interesting and good.

We went to Goodwill. There, I found a couple books I wanted to read and my mom found me a dress that I wore to church (at our new ward!) today. It's cute, but the straps need to be just a leetle bit longer... *whispers, slightly quoting Victorious* My pits gotta breathe.

I have had a few email/text conversations today and yesterday that were pretty much carried out in emoticons...

I started writing a fanfic based off Lab Rats. For why? I saw a person do so in the FFN archives. When I read it, I was disappointed to find that it was one of those where basically they write out the entire episode and just substitute names (and/or maybe add in a few random comments for their OC, depending on what kind of story they're doing). However, it got me thinking... There might actually be a way to make that work- without just substituting names and without bringing in OCs (which aren't bad, persay, but can sometimes feel unnecessary, in a sense). When I got the time, I used my iPod's Notes to brainstorm different characters playing different parts until I decided what would be most interesting and fit the best into the FMA world (even though it's still an AU). Basically:

Ed and Al=Leo, and Trisha=Leo's mom, of course. Hohenheim=Davenport. Who's Adam, Bree, and Chase? (I also noticed while brainstorming- first letters of their names are ABC!) The Homunculi.

*mind explosion*

Of course, this means Davenport's brother, Douglas, is played by Father/Homunculus in the Flask.

*more mind explosion*

A few things that make this AU more AUish (whether it has to do with FMA or Lab Rats) are that 1. Trisha is still alive, and 2. Hohenheim is still their biological father, even though Davenport is Leo's stepfather. I think those are the most important to keep in mind, though there's plenty of other stuff, right?

I guess I'm probably just gonna get as far as maybe the Homunculi doing one mission, because I actually haven't seen much Lab Rats and most of my stories die at a certain point, one of the reasons why I rarely post my longer fics online.

Of yeah! It's almost time to start putting up Visiting Homeland! I just gotta make a picture... as soon as I find my sketchbook...

Now... I shall put up other random doodles and stuff I'd done throughout the school year that I didn't show before because I feel like it! Beware, there's a lot of them.

From science class:

(This last one is from copying a page in the manga. *pleased with self*)

From history:

(What's with this pic? It could've looked better... *tear*)

From English:

From math class:

(This is from reminiscing about old times with Darkrai. It's small and stupid, but I'm leaving it here so my future self can reminisce too.)

Finally, this is actually these two little thingies I had in one of my binder separators (or whatever they're called) in 9th grade, the year before. The first is from health class, the second is from sculpture.

You know the quote from Horton Hears a Who!, right? And the second one- yes, I really did cut that out. It took some work, but I did it. My project ended up being one of my teacher's favorites. *happy hum*

Thanks a Lot, Cuncle Cop

Hellos to all the world!

My, seems we've been encountering the police lately, haven't we?

Yeah, my mom got pulled over, but in the end was left with a warning. I doubt she'd want me to say that publicly, but oh well.

We started driving on Wednesday, driving an average of 5-6 hours every day until we got to the next hotel. We went through Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, the corner of Iowa (I think), Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally stopped today at our old church in Utah. We will take a break here for a few days before making the rest of the trip to our new home!

The states we went through... in general, my mom and I weren't really fans of them. Sometimes areas looked a little too rough, sometimes there was nothing to do, and the weather wasn't fantastic most of the time.

My Utah pride had not been fully realized until now. I didn't realize how different other places could be until now. You don't know how much I rejoiced when things in Wyoming started to look like the desert I used to thrive in. Poor Allakai had to deal with all my bragging about Utah by text for at least a few hours.

My dad had mapped out a route for us to take that was further up north, even though it would take longer. Apparently, he'd been worried about the weather further south. We found out by the news and weather channels playing at the hotels we stayed at while we ate their free breakfast that he was right. Crazy flooding happened in Texas, along with some in Oklahoma and some other state. Allakai and author12306 were fine, thank goodness, though the latter had to deal with a very very wet backyard.

Do not underestimate my father. He knows lots of things.

Sunday... the day we would take a break and crash in Utah for a few days before making the rest of the journey. And the day I'd see my sister after what felt like forever. I seriously cried a little when I got to hug her. Few things make me that emotional...

We've been hanging together a lot since that (except right now, since I'm writing this). We hugged more, clasped hands, sat on each other's lap. When we sat together, our shoulders touched, but I didn't mind. I relished in the feeling of literally being so close to her. Last night, we slept in the same bed, and I didn't realize for hours (I guess I was dead asleep) that we were so close together our arms pressed against each other. I don't think she knows, but at that moment, I turned onto my right side... and made sure my back was against her arm still. I liked knowing we were together even while asleep.

I even (hesitantly) agreed to go mudding in a big Jeep with our cousin... uncle... my sis said he's our cuncle. She and him had been hanging out a lot lately. He got her to do stuff like go shooting, something I never thought would happen.

We may or may not have ended up stuck like a stick in the mud for almost 2 hours. At least, with the help of strangers in a truck, we were finally pulled out.

What a great cuncle, huh?

Yes, slightly sarcastic, but it wasn't really that bad. We listened to some good songs (though I was worried about how they weren't really Sunday-appropriate...) and I got to talk more with my sis. Plus, I was able to sleep like a rock that night, unlike the nights previous.

Today (Wednesday) we continued our journey yet again, and we went through Idaho, just barely crossing the line into Oregon before arriving at our hotel!

Right outside, I saw a shirtless guy with twin braids talking on the phone like it was normal... I'm gonna guess that's a pretty good idea of what people are like around here. While it's a little weird, it's also cool. People are more chill, as far as I know. I think I'm gonna embrace that and wear more of my weird/hipster stuff. I had told myself I wouldn't let anything from Alabama stick to me, but I think this Utahn is willing to go a little Oregonian.

Last thing- yesterday, my sister painted my nails real fast (with the same nail polish as she already had on, so we totally match now) and put these little cat stickers from Five Below (which we visited in AL right before the trip), plus I wore this awesome T-shirt from the same store. I approve Five Below.

The speech bubbles say "MEOW", the thought bubbles "PURRRR", and the cats on my ring fingers (I gave into trend) have a top hat or monocle. 

I already miss my sister, and feel bad about leaving her. She cried more when we were about to leave than when I first saw her. She's going to be fine, though. She's awesome.

Chad's Liek WTF

Hallo world!

There was a really really tiny centipede in our Sunday School class. I felt bad that I was just staring at it while someone was giving a lesson, but I felt it important to track it. I was following its every move for perhaps 10 minutes when I finally alerted a girl of its presence when it was near her foot. And so it was promptly stomped on. *tear* I mean, by that point, I'd been kinda attached to the little bug and felt quite sad that someone just killed it. I thought they'd perhaps take it outside or something, but nope. Someone said it needed to die. RIP

Winnie and I watched about 20 episodes of some show on YouTube called Mermaid Miracles. (The acting and stuff is pretty amateur, but it still has its moments.) Some guy named Chad (I cracked up at that- Chad is a funny name to me) reminded me of this kid Matt I knew in 6th grade. I'm honestly not sure whether I like-like this kid or not, but whatever. He's on my cool list. He can be funny.

One of my favorite moments was when he had this "WTF just happened?" face on.

He just... he's so hilarious to me. CHAD.

Yesterday, Winnie and I also went to her neighborhood pool and did random stuff there. I kept trying to show her how to swim (like, not even swim-swim, just doggy paddle and the rainbow thing, ya know?) but she was just too scared. Is it really that hard to learn how to swim? I mean, that stuff just seems like instinct to me.

We were there perhaps 45 minutes when some lady came and said the pool is closed and we weren't supposed to be there. We were just like "Okay then..." and climbed out quickly. I know the pool wasn't super clean (had tiny leaves and petals from the trees floating around), but that's basically impossible for outdoor pools! And we'd already seen someone come in a week or two ago... If the pool is supposed to be closed, then why was the gate open? Just saying.

That day, we also did a bit of drawing and watercolors. Pardon the pics- my phone's camera now just won't take the actual pictures, period. I have to screenshot. And I didn't realize until later that there's a little green box on a few of the screenshots... Dang nabbit.

Random person I sketched then colored in crayon. (The whole paper is a mix of marker and crayon.) Probably looked better before the crayoning. His eyes are in marker so the blue would be deeper.

YAS

I HAVE PAINTED THE BLOODSEAL!

I'd always wanted to try doing that. Too bad it's ruined by my STUPID PHONE AND PHONE CAMERA RAAAAAWR

I was given a bunch of words for a one-word-prompt by someone called ice-shredder. They're a big fan of angst and stuff, so I couldn't really work with most of the words... but I did manage to make an angsty one-shot with "chains"! (I also suddenly had inspiration for a few lines for a song on Friday, so maybe if I finish that I'll post it.) I also did a little crackish one-shot (like usual) from "rush". I'd planned to post those during the weekend, but Winnie always wants to do stuff with me and my mom's still watching La Fea Mas Bella. I don't mind spending time with the kids, but I am too used to having a lot of time to myself and I'm not really getting many moments alone anymore. Kinda sucks. I'd actually accomplish more reading and writing.

OHMYGOSH so I actually heard Allakai's voice a few days ago! Winnie kept wanting to find out what we were texting about and actually had a short text conversation with him at one point. Then, she asked something neither of us expected.

"Can I call him?"

That seemed, like, taboo before since all we'd ever done is PM on FFN and text. We'd sent each other pics of ourselves very once in a while, but that was it.

So, we finally heard each other's voice.

I always expect my guy friends to have voices that aren't as deep as they really are. *sweat drop* But yeah, it was weird and cool to talk over the phone.

Maybe we'll Skype in a few days!

My, I still haven't mentioned what happened last Monday! We had the Julius Caesar skit, remember? We actually performed it. Apparently, it wasn't that bad.

We didn't really have time to actually practice saying our lines together and blocking out where we'd stand and stuff, because most of the time was spent on getting our costumes ready. Togas are so difficult. *angry tear*

But we went up, did the best we could. I ended up laughing too many times (in my opinion), we had to run to get one or two of the props we'd forgotten to have close by while acting, a long pause had to be filled in with "Caesar is such a salad"... but not too shabby since we didn't have much practice.

We got extra points or all our extra effort (oh! And I got >100% on my research paper because of extra credit too! Without it, I would've gotten 96%) and my final grade in English ended up about 105%!!! Just... wow. *proud to be me*

Last thing. I've started figuring out how I want my cover photo for Visiting Homeland to be. I've decided once I've finished the cover (I haven't drawn the final draft because I want it to be on the same paper as the first, but I probably won't have access to that sketchbook until we're settled in our new apartment), I'll start posting the chapters. I'm gonna just ignore my fear of failure and put them up. If I eventually find an ending, awesome! If I don't, oh well! If I enjoy what I'm writing, others enjoy what I'm writing, and I am supported by the others, then why the heck not?

School in the South is coming to an end... and so is our time here. Next Wednesday we're driving up (instead of going by plane). ROAD TRIP! I hope it'll be a fun experience with my mom and not an awkward one. I'll tell you how that's going next post. Bai!

*DIES*

Hello world!

I accidentally forgot to mention this last week! It would've made it end more positively (even though it's actually not something positive...)!

We were reading Shakespeare's Tragedy of Julius Caesar in English, and this is one of the best things about it.

When a character dies... The stage directions actually say [this person dies]. That is just hilarious.

It was even better because we read this part right before the bell for lunch rang.

Since we're already on the topic: for the same class, we all separate into groups and chose a scene from the play we wanted to act out. We have to write our own lines that basically simplify and modernize what the scene's about. We also have to put our own twist in it to make it funny, like gangsters or valley girls. At first, my group was gonna do mobsters, but it quickly got changed to just doing a ton of movie references.

We originally thought our script was amazing, but as we've been preparing... We've been worried as to whether people will actually laugh or not. Are our references good enough?

We've also been worried about getting our props done on time. One girl decided to get/make all of them, including making togas for us. *TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!* Since I'm Cassius, for example, my toga is dark red with a small black belt, as far as I know. They're awesome and stuff, but what if we can't get them on in time or they start falling apart halfway through the skit?

So... if all goes well, we'll have the awesomest skit our teacher has ever seen, and it'll be recorded on someone's phone as proof of how cool we were. I hope it really is good and that they put it on Facebook or something so I can show my other friends!

A little adventure we had during the week in the apartment... 

I had to take a shower. I came out as soon as I could once Adolf came in to hurry me up, which annoyed me cuz it later turned out he didn't actually plan to take a shower after me after all.

Anyway, as I was in the bathroom throwing on my clothes and stuff, I heard Winnie crying. (Which happens too often around here, in my opinion.) I didn't say anything, though, because I was kinda sorta changing and I probably wouldn't be able to help anyway. By the time I was done and exited the bathroom, she'd pretty much calmed down, but then I heard her say something else:

"Adolf called 911!"

As usual, he denied. He denies just about everything he does, so we really have absolutely no idea whether any of the times he was lying he actually wasn't lying.

My mom was informed the same thing by Winnie. Their mom, Mary, wasn't around. My mom was just like 'Are you freaking kidding me?' and said she really hoped he was telling the truth and the police wouldn't come. She said she knew by experience that they'd come even if they were accidentally called, and would probably want to look around the house. If that happened, Adolf might end up saying stuff like "my mom hits me" and get Mary into serious trouble. True, she should treat her kids better, but she doesn't abuse them or anything even close. He just lies to death.

A cop indeed came to the door several minutes later.

I was brushing my teeth, so I didn't go to see him, but my mom and both kids did. My mom told me later that she told Adolf to explain to the cop what happened. He stutters a lot and stuff, and wasn't even sure what to say. My mom then explained to the cop that he had a few issues. (She'd made him talk so the policeman would dar cuenta.) Therefore, there really wasn't anything happening. The policeman left without fining Mary for the fake call, as far as we know.

I hope this gives you a glimpse as to what my life's currently like. That's about the worst thing he's done, but still. Though he pushed a girl into one of those bushes that have those spiky thingies like pine trees.

This girl, actually. A few days ago, she decided to try on my glasses. I think she looks adorable with them on. I figured she's gonna grow up and look different, so there's not really any harm in putting her pic here. And, since I'm only here for a week or two more, I can't really lead someone to her, ya know?

She just loves me, for some reason. A lot of kids do. I know I can be nice, but other times I honestly have no idea why they like me so much. *big exaggerated shrug*

Ooh, and look what I found at a place like 7-11! Apparently, Alphonse Elric took a liking to baking when he grew up. (It says "Uncle Al's Cookies".)

He's Not Truth

Hello world!

I'm not sure what to call this... The project supposedly is to give stories of events that strengthened my faith, but this might be a little too all over the place. I'm still gonna count it, though.

So, guess what happened earlier at church? Before the sacrament meeting started, the branch counselor came up to me. I thought he was just going to shake my hand, like he usually does... But nope. He asked me if I could do a prayer in the meeting instead.

I froze. I mean, the biggest public prayer I've done was for a small baptism, and I'd been nervous like nobody's business. Now for the whole branch?

I think I'm not very good at prayers. When it's just me by my bed or something, I can take the time to think about everything I want to say. But when I have to do them out loud... They're short and not as pretty as most people's. I've been told all the eloquence isn't exactly necessary, but... little kids have given nicer prayers than me!

Worse, it's difficult for me to remember what I want to say when I speak publicly. I'd have to write everything out beforehand like for a talk, but a prayer is too simple and wouldn't be heartfelt if I did that.

I knew I shouldn't say no... But it was too difficult to say yes. So I didn't say yes.

He just shook it off and went to ask a different lady. I still felt anxious after that, though. I wasn't sure whether to tell my mom what happened; I thought she might've gotten mad at me for saying no, but I didn't want to feel like I was keeping a secret from her either. 

I told her a few minutes later, and she was shocked. She only had time to say "You said no?!" before the meeting started.

At that point, I felt myself tear up, feeling plenty of guilt for my actions. Again, I knew I should say yes, even though they really just ask around for someone to do it every time, but I couldn't say it! It was hard to say both yes and no! What was I supposed to do?

So... I'm worried about what I'll do if that happens again. I'm almost an adult, and I'll have to do stuff like that all the time. I've already given two short talks in sacrament meeting, and I'd have to do the longer talks and the prayers and have a calling or two! Would I be able to handle that? I'm not brave at all, and it seems like it would take a sudden boost of bravery (and submission) to do so. Will I get a boost when I'm older? I really hope so, because current me is having a really hard time.

It was also testimony meeting. I thought of maybe making up for not doing the prayer by giving my testimony, so I started thinking about what I'd say. However, I started thinking maybe what I wanted to say wouldn't be totally appropriate, and I figured I wouldn't be able to say everything I wanted to to make it make sense, so again I passed. Making me feel worse. I'm gonna put what I'd thought of saying here, though.

Look, I'm almost an adult, and I already know that from here on, life's gonna get harder. It's always gonna get harder and harder, and there's nothing I can do about that. (I guess a little pessimistic for a teenager.) But, I think that means that I need to appreciate what I've got now while I still have it. I already have problems- moving, school- but it's nothing compared to what's ahead. I can still be with my mom and get closer to her, and I'll be able to live with my parents in a nice place. 

I'm grateful for my family and for the gospel. I mean, with my friends at school I'm often known as the one that's always happy. Almost everyone there isn't a Mormon and does things they shouldn't, yet I'm the one who seems the happiest. What other reason can there be besides the gospel? It's because of the gospel that I have my parents and was raised on good principles. Because of the gospel, I know the truth on a lot of things that people search for and may not find the answers to (because they look in the wrong place). Because of the gospel, my family is really close even when far away. I'm so thankful for that. More blessings come after gratitude, you know. Miracles also come after gratitude.

And miracles come after- after- faith. It's important that I make sure I have a strong testimony now while I'm young so it'll withstand everything that'll happen in the future... And I think it's good enough. I've seen small miracles happen throughout my life that result because we've made the right decisions, and we only could've made those decisions with the gospel and with the Holy Ghost.

Heavenly Father loves us. Every single one of us. I know it. I know that everything in this gospel is true. The Book of Mormon, the prophets, the revelation, it's all true and there for our benefit.

(Expanding on the part of HF loves us... I wouldn't have actually said this at the meeting, but I will here.) Remember the story I was writing in Spanish? I think I'm pretty much done with it, because I really couldn't develop the idea beyond the cool summary enough to go past the first few actionless chapters. But I think it was still a good thing I wrote it, because of what I realized while writing it.

The basis of the AU world, what was established during those chapters I wrote, was that God was more like Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist... but harsher. Basically, he didn't give anything to anyone, and was only there to punish people every time they did something bad. It didn't even have to be a sin. It could be something as small as feeling like you got slapped on the face to going through a slow, painful, gruesome death. There was no such thing as law enforcement, because punishments were already carried out by God. There was no such thing as separate religions- heck, not even just a religion- because everyone in the entire world knew God for what he was. He wasn't worshipped, because he was the law; no one worships the law.

As I imagined the kinds of things that could happen in this sort of world... I realized something. Our real God is nothing even close to this. Perhaps the complete opposite.

I'd always been told that Heavenly Father loves us and gives us blessings, but I didn't realize how significant that was until I compared. 

He could've been like this AU God who couldn't care less about any of his children unless they made him mad. He could've only lived to punish. He has the power to cause plagues, burn houses, isolate civilizations, commit genocide, create all sorts of chaos just at will...

But he doesn't.

After everything we do- we insolent, puny, weak humans- at the end of the day, he wants what's best for us. He cheers for our achievements and comforts at our downfalls. He offers blessings to people who are willing to work enough to get them. A lot of the requirements aren't even hard. He gave us agency, the ability to choose good or evil. Even if I sometimes wish I didn't have to choose, it's better than being forced by Satan to do his every bidding for eternity.

Look at what Heavenly Father gives us!

Is the AU God the kind of God you want to have? No. The real deal who entrusted us with the Earth even though we are lower beings... He gave it to us despite the fact that were are lower beings to angels... "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10).

Heavenly Father isn't harsh. That guy who was commenting on the Nepal earthquake last week who was saying "If God loved us, why would he let tragedies like this happen?" didn't know what he was saying. Hard stuff happens because they're trials and it's supposed to be a part of life. It'd be pointless to be here if he just prevented anything bad from happening.

So... Even though the story was a little short-lived (it'd be interesting if me or someone else actually found a way to continue it and turn it into a whole book), it benefited me. I realized how important it is to know that we are all children of Heavenly Father and that he really does love all of us. It changes everything.

Strange how a lot (maybe even most) of the basic gospel principles I was taught since I was born didn't seem like something big until I learned how things are otherwise.

I know I may have worded things weirdly and stuff, but I think everything I said has some merit, and I hope anyone that read this was inclined to think about a thing or two. 

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true church; other churches have truths, but not all. We have all the truths and the priesthood/authority. It's a great thing that I wish everyone in the world could be able to have. I know Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet and wants us all to be closer to Him and be happier. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I'm Moving In

Hello world!

This was an eventful week. The primary event is that we moved out of our house- but we're not actually out of the state yet. My mom and I are crashing at the apartment of a family from church. I guess I'll call the mom Mary, the son Adolf (not Hitler... though reaching for it), and the daughter Winnie. All those names are similar to their real ones, so. Their uncle(?) also lives there, but you rarely see him.

Winnie can be cute. She usually has little pigtails on the top of her head and has a silly laugh. She really likes me, so she often asks me what I'm doing and stuff and wants me to play with her. Just two days ago, actually, I tried to teach her how to braid. She now knows the basics, but as to actually making her braids good, it's a work in progress.

Her brother, Adolf, is a whole nuther story. He is a little autistic; if any of you have talked with Special Ed kids, you know that sometimes it's difficult to understand what they want to say, and they're sometimes rude and violent. He's one of those rude and violent ones.

And to my horror, the problem's worse than I thought. He uses swear words way too often to be a 9-year old and doesn't respect people. He often doesn't listen to his mom, which in turn means he usually doesn't listen to my mom (even though she's pretty much in charge of him or part of the day), and don't even get me started on whether he listens to me.

Part of the reason is because of the other kids in their neighborhood. Winnie is really nice, so I figured if they played with other kids it was all gonna be nice and dandy like when I was little. But nope.

Okay, I was playing with them and their friends when a (black) group of other kids appeared on another part of the playground. I don't even know when it happened, but our group and their family clashed. A 6-year-old girl kept yelling to Winnie and her friend that they can't tell her what to do (they said they didn't tell her what to do, but even if they did she should do whatever they said because they were older) and she doesn't like when anyone tells her what to do. She seriously threw a rock at Winnie- not a pebble, a rock. Then people from both sides of the line yelled that they would beat each other up if they didn't shut their mouths. All throughout, kids were occasionally using a swear word.

Are you kidding me?!

Since when was childhood like this?! Fighting other kids and being mean and rude?!

It was a little shocking and disappointing to witness this.

In an environment like this, it'd be a surprise if Winnie and Adolf weren't like that.

Especially after Winnie and her friend told me to go beat them up and when the girl was contemplating throwing another rock, I wanted to just stand in the middle of the playground and scream "SHUT UP!" then rant really loud something like: "Guys, you shouldn't swear or fight each other! Girl, you are 6! People are going to tell you what to do for a long time, but you just have to deal with it. Do you listen to your mom? What happened to 'respect your elders?' At this moment we're not telling you what to do, but YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. You should already know that swearing, fighting, being mean, everything you're doing right now is NOT OKAY. So shut up and leave us alone! At this rate, where do you think you'll go in life?!"

Another thing that scares me about being around here is that I'm around at least one person (namely Adolf) that brings out my bad side. He wrestles, kicks, hits, makes excuses, lies, and holds up his middle finger. I actually liked him the first or two times I was with him, but since then he's insulted me plenty and doesn't have any respect for me at all. Every time I told him to please stop doing something he would yell "You're not the boss of me!" I would retaliate that at the moment I'm the closest to an adult around and am in charge of him so, uh, yeah, I kinda am the boss. Last time, I think he said after something about how his mom said that's not true, but every excuse he makes is really questionable. He loves taking the blame off himself even though everyone knows he's lying.

Which reminds me of a certain girl I had to watch over yesterday.

The stuff left over from the moving sale a few weeks ago was moved to another lady's house and we up a yard sale there. It wasn't much of a success, so I felt bad my mom had to be out there for the whole day just for $70. She told me she honestly felt worse for me because I had to deal with that girl the whole day.

If you saw my post a few days ago where I mentioned a girl that seriously killed someone's pet a few years ago? Yeah, that's her.

Winnie was there too for most of it, so she felt my pain.

There's just not even a good way to describe everything this girl does, but it's so infuriating I was this close to punching her. Hard. Several times.

The thing is that these kids are often not getting much attention from their parents. They're parents are sweet little Hispanic immigrants, but have more than one job and/or a job that has a lot of hours. Thus, the kids rarely see their parents and so they do a lot of stuff to get attention however they possibly can from whoever is available. Even sadder, Mary doesn't try to take advantage of the time she can get with her kids. She talks with her adult friends or yells at her kids instead of just talking with them. It's sad.

Welp. That was quite the optimistic post. So sarcasm, wow. Later I'm gonna do another post for the Faith project, which I haven't worked on in a while.