Speeding up the Octaves

22 May 2006 - 7:32 PM

So I missed my Sunday blogging this week. Oh well.

Monday
I took my mom to work and headed to practice, but apparently, someone forgot to tell my coach that we weren't going to be using the pool at Baker anymore. So, practice got cancelled, but I didn't want to go home yet, because my friend's band concert was on that side of town, and it would be pointless to drive home and back just because I had nothing to do. It took me awhile to find the building I was supposed to be going to. Once there, I really had nothing to do for a good two hours. At one point, the idea came into my head to go to Melissa's house and see her, but unfortunately, I didn't have the directions on me. Then, I decided to try and get a map using my PSP. I drove around the surrounding neighborhoods for a good 45 minutes trying to find an unprotected wireless internet connection. It wasn't too hard to find wireless connections, because I was near a number of legal offices. Sadly, my PSP wasn't able to navigate the interactive maps, so I couldn't figure out where I was going. I ended up just waiting until they started selling tickets to the concert.

After I sat down, a few people came and sat next to me. I recognized one of them from a very long time ago. I don't even think I had any class with her, but I remembered her from elementary school. It was very interesting for me to have come across such an old acquaintance. I'm glad that I went to the concert, because I hadn't been to a school band performance since 8th grade, when I was part of the band. It was also nice for my friend, because her parents couldn't make it to the show, which was the last performance of the year.

Tuesday
So today was the first day of dive practice for the week, considering it got cancelled yesterday. The good thing was that we were practicing at the same pool that we'd be competing at on Saturday, so we had time to get used to the boards. It was also an indoor pool, which is always nice. The one thing that did suck was that practice started at 2:00, which didn't give me much time to get down there. I had to tell Sarah and Courtney to find different rides home for the rest of the week.

Wednesday
My dad had to take the car for deliveries, so he was supposed to take me to practice right after school. Well, he ended up being later than he should've been, so I changed and stretched at the school while I waited for him. We showed up about ten minutes late, but it wasn't too bad, because they weren't even in the water yet when I arrived. Practice was really good. I was getting great tops and better kickouts than usual. Too bad they didn't stay...

Thursday
Had a Chemistry test today. It was alright. I got a B on it, which is fair enough for me, I suppose. Practice was nothing special. It was longer than the other practices of the week though. I ended up leaving 6th period about half an hour early in an attempt to get down there by 1:00 because we had the boards from 1:00 to 3:00 as opposed to 2:00 to 3:00

Friday
We started debates in History today after we finished watching All the President's Men. We were supposed to do three debates in one day, but only had enough time for the one on abortion. That was lucky, because I wasn't completely prepared to take part in my debate on same-sex marriage. Practice seemed to be getting worse. I had to leave directly at 3:00 so I could get home, help my dad load the car, and let my parents go to work on time. After I showered, I looked around on Myspace for a bit. I ended up finding one of my sister's friends. If you look at my main Myspace page and notice the scan of the card from CJ's memorial service... she was his wife. I ended up reading a large portion of her online blog. It really gave me some insight to how she's been holding up over the past five months. If you'd like, you can read her blogs as well. There's an address in one of her Myspace blogs. In my friends, she's Tamsen on the 6th page.

I would have liked to see Melissa today, but by the time my dad got home at 8:30-9:00, I didn't think it would be wise to go out until midnight and then get less-than-sufficient sleep before the meet the following day. I was waiting for her to call after she got back from a play that she went to, but fell asleep about five minutes before she texted me, so that made me feel like a pretty big douchebag.

Saturday
I woke up at 7:00 today to drive down to the pool and get ready for the state dive meet. My dad went with me and left to his friend's house during warmups before he came back when the meet started. My mom caught a ride later on with my grandpa. It made me feel good that they actually wanted to watch one of the meets for once. My sister and her boyfriend also showed up near the end of the meet. Other than that, there weren't really any others who came to support me, with the exception of some divers who were cheering on divers from their school, as well.

I got about the same score at state as I got at regionals - about 300. Sadly, this left me in last place, just as I got last year, haha. The first-place winners really surprised me, though. Even though the kids from Reno were really good, a sophomore from Green Valley took first for the men by about 2 points. What was even more incredible was that the women's first place winner, a senior from Sierra Vista, had even failed a dive. I was very happy to see her win, because she should have gone to state last year, but failed two dives at regionals, which disqualified her.

After the meet, I ran some errands with my dad, came home, showered, and took a nap. After I took my mom to work, I picked up Niki and Chris and we went to SkyMania because I really wanted to go, given that I hadn't gone in three weeks in an attempt to strengthen my feet-first entries for diving. I dropped Niki and Chris off afterward, changed into presentable clothing, and drove over to Melissa's house. I took a different route than the directions I printed, so I almost got lost. The only change was that I didn't take the freeway. I actually probably ended up traveling less miles by skipping the freeway. When I showed up in her neighborhood, I discovered that my printed directions led me to... the emergency exit for her neighborhood. Haha! I ended up turning back and following another two cars in through the gate. Melissa and I talked in her room for a bit, but when her little brother and parents got home, we went for a walk... I'd never done that with anyone before - just gone for an evening walk. We went a short distance to a nearby park, where we talked some more and made official our relationship. It being spring, there were many bugs out, so eventually, we walked back to her house. We sat outside in my car, listening to music, and ended up playing a game of chess on her cell phone. We ended in a stalemate.

Soon, it was time for me to head home. We said our goodbyes, and I got about two miles away when I received a phone call from her. She had left her cell phone in my car, and I had left my PSP in her room. So, I turned around, and fortunately caught another person driving in through the gate to the neighborhood... at 12:30 in the morning... weird. We exchanged electronics, said goodbyes again, and I drove home.

On a sidenote, I like the one area on Jones that is about 50-100 yards of absolutely dark road, only lit by headlights. Jones is also a fun street to drive on at night. I made it from her house to my house - roughly a 14-mile stretch - in about 20 minutes. That was even with the mixup where I had know prior knowledge that Jones and Alexander switch names at Rancho because someone decided to get smart and cut the two perpendicular streets with a fucking diagonal street. Lawl.

Sunday
Today, I picked up my first suit. It fits well, and I have a few good shirt and tie combinations to go along with it. My mom thought it impractical to buy only one suit for an entire week in D.C., so she told me to buy two more, since the deal was three for $500 and I already bought one. My dad and I picked out two more suits, but didn't have the money, so we had the manager hold them until Wednesday. I also bought my quarter-project book at Borders because I had to return the one I checked out from the library on account of their policy on turning in all books at a certain point before the end of the school year. I've come to the conclusion that my Sundays at home are probably the most relaxing thing I can do. I don't have to worry about going to see anyone, and I am able to clean and organize things on my own time without rush.

Well, it's Monday, but I don't feel like writing more. Maybe later on tonight... Maybe tomorrow... Maybe next Sunday.

Take it easy, but strike hard.
Vaniah Schwenoha