I’m Gonna Miss My Lil Bro

Giggles, squeals
And smol smiles galore,
Adam and I
Rough house-ing on the floor

He pushes me over
And I roll on my back
He jumps into my arms
And I hug him right back

With his face right near mine
His volume down to a 2,
He rubs our noses together, and says
“Ugga mugga“;
I love you too.

I barely have time
To appreciate his love
Before he gets right back up
And gives me a shove!

I throw up my hands
And chase him around.
It’s a lovely way to spend
One of my last nights in town.

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I’m leaving for the FPEA homeschool convention on tomorrow, and then I’m going straight to Camp Gilead for the summer, only coming back on Saturdays (basically). 

So, I’m trying to soak up all the Adam-ness I can before I leave.  Monday night, I played with him after dinner for a bit.  He gets a bit riled up, but his sweet, quick love inbetween all of his little boyish yelling and tumbling almost made me cry because I know how much I’ll miss him.  D: 

He just turned four on Saturday, and I can’t believe I’m gonna be gone all summer and miss his amazing adorableness!  I’m storing up all his affection in my heart so that I won’t feel like I should have spent more time with him, should have let him play racetrack on my bed one more time, etc. 

Shoutout to my lil bro! ❤

-Squid

 

P.S. I guess I did manage to fit in one more blog post before I left! 🙂

Tri-Mystery Area!

Disclaimer: This will be my last post for a while, as I’ll be working at Camp Gilead again from the end of May until mid-July. 

Hey guys!

I was nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award by three lovely blogger-friends in less than a month, so I suppose that I should actually do it, haha.
But first, the rules:

• • Use the logo (I made my own in Snapseed)
  • List the rules (in process!)
  • Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog (I’m gonna do that below)
  • Tell your readers 3 things about yourself (see below)
  • Answer the questions you were asked (see belower)
  • Nominate other blogs and notify them (see belowerer)
  • Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice, with one weird or funny question (SEE EVEN BELOWERER)

Acknowledgements:

First to nominate me was my new friend Hannah over at Cactus Honey, and then peckapalooza, and then Mr. Mitch Teemley gave me both a nomination and the “(belower)” idea for the rules, haha.  Interestingly, both peckapalooza and Hannah were nominated by Paul.  So, thank you to all of you! (including Paul? XD)

So, three things about me. Hmmmm

1. If something doesn’t work well, I want to analyze it to death and make sure I know exactly why it isn’t working so that I can fix it.  This is why I want to go into economics, haha.
2. I think it’s rather smart to never fully agree with someone. However, you should try to learn as much as you can from their viewpoint.
3. I get annoyed by inconsistency.  I tried to make this post’s font all black (#000000), but then I realized that the default was gray, so I gave up and edited all the HTML code to put it back (TOO MANY <SPAN> CODES).

Now, the questions…

From Hannah:

1. What book/poetry/blog are you currently reading and/or absolutely obsessed with?
   • Ender’s Game!!!!  I watched the movie soon after it came out, and I loved it.  I mean seriously loved it.  Then, I was assigned the book for school, and I loved it even more than I loved the movie, but for the same reasons.  Like, Orson Scott Card is amazing.  I only found a few good memes about it though, and that made me sad, haha.
   • 
2. What is your secret obsession? (ex. Kardashians)
   • Ummmmm movie soundtracks? Yup super embarrassing and secret. 🙂 I remember listening to How to Train Your Dragon’s, and then HTTYD2’s, and then I got into Owl City’s Adam Young’s soundtracks and I never looked back.
3. What movie do you make all your friends watch? You know the one where you stare at their face to see how they react to your favorite parts, yeah that one.
   • It would be TV shows for me, I think, and it would be either Leverage or The Librarians.
4. What is your favorite writing utensil? (Mine is Pilot Precise V5 RT pen)
   • AHHH I’M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!  It’s a Pentel Side FX 0.7mm mechanical pencil.  It’s super ergonomic and it side clicks you you don’t have to stop writing to hit the top of the pencil.  It loads super easy and holds multiple pieces of lead, and has a really great eraser that twists up.  I love everything about it. 🙂
5. What’s one word everyone makes fun of you for saying funny?
   • I say towards (which is British) instead of the American toward… the same with backwards.  My mom has given up trying to change my mind…

Now peckapalooza‘s:

1. What is the greatest movie ever made? (You’ll be forgiven if you do not say Back to the Future.)
   • The Princess Bride, of course!  I haven’t actually seen Back to the Future, haha.
2. Of all the different types of pie in the world, what would you say is the tastiest?
   • Ahhhhhh my sister makes this amazing banana cream pie that I #cantstopwontstop raving about.
3. Describe in words the first image you posted to your personal Instagram feed.
   • I don’t have an Instagram account, so I’m gonna substitute my first public Flickr pic I ever posted.
   • It’s a close-up vertical picture of green and pink decorative grasses.  I focused on a clump of stalks close to me, and the rest blur very featherly and pleasingly in the immediate background.
4. What is your go-to song for karaoke night?
   • Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”.
5. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? What did you end up doing?
   • I never made any plans when I was really little, but I can say I’m a kid for a few more months, so I don’t think I’m quite qualified to answer this in the past tense, haha.  My plans right now are to go to a small Christian college on a mountain and double major in Community Development and Economics with a minor in maybe Music or Psychology.  That way, I have a great path to serving God and others in the inner city. That’s what I want to do, but we’ll see what God actually has happen.

And, lastly, Mr. Mitch’s questions:

1. 1. What moment or choice in your past do you wish you could undo?
      • That’s a hard question. There are things I did that caused me and those around me a lot of pain, but God worked in my heart through them, and good came from them, so can’t honestly say that I would not do them.  However, there are things that I wish I had done, like complimenting people and overcoming my shyness.
   2. Funniest movie/s you ever saw?
      • The Stupids starring Tom Arnold.  Starring really cheesy aliens, stereotypical evil guys, and a naive suburban family, this movie makes me and my family watch it over and over and over again, each time enjoying it just as much.  It was also on Comcast Demand or whatever, so that helped the watch-ability. XD
      • 
   3. Greatest song/s you’ve ever heard?
      • It Is Well by David Dunn (worship/Christian living)
      • Holding On To You by Twenty Øne Pilots (prayer/introspection/surrender)
      • What Makes You Beautiful – The Piano Guys (instrumentation/musicality)
   4. Greatest truth you’ve ever learned?
      • Wow, this is a harder question than I thought it would be.
      • Everybody will let me down, believe something I disagree with, etc., so the only person I should put my faith and love in is God, because He will never let me down or disappoint me.  It was a painful lesson to learn, but I’m learning the wisdom in it.
   5. What are the last words you want to hear before dying, and/or the first words you want to hear after dying?
      • Last words before dying: “You showed me how to live out God’s love”
      • First words after dying: “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

-Squid

P.S. If anyone got the Phineas and Ferb reference…

https://giphy.com/embed/PCAvB5GYY5oTSvia GIPHY 

 

Quatro Años

Guys…

I started blogging in 2013, so I was 13 (which just seems crazy to say).  In these four years, I’ve gained 324 followers. (Hoooowww???) But, more than that statistic, I’ve gained an uncountable number of friends; on WordPress and in real life.  Some have been good for a short time but faded away, and some are still here since 2013.  

I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship because God also has recently given my family a bunch of new friends through our band/orchestra/choir program, GCHFA, through our synagogue, and through random (I mean God-designed!) encounters at the beach.  Like, how cool are people who are incredibly cool but yet also think that you’re cool??  It’s so great!

Thank you to all of these amazing friends (online and in person) who have made an investment into my life.  I wouldn’t be here without you, and I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without you. 

Praise God for friends!

-Syd the Squid

P.S. I’m going to see The Last Jedi with a bunch of my church friends (FAMILY) tonight!  

Christmas Tiiiiimmee Is Here!

I’ve been really busy practicing Christmas music for my upcoming band and choir concert.  Even my little brother has started singing “Jubilate Deeeeeoooo” around the house. 🙂  

My internal 10 year old Jewish girl still doesn’t know how I learned all these songs so quickly, but here we are, haha.  

But, she’s placated by the fact that my family is going to be leading worship at our synagogue’s Hanukkah celebration… Which is the day after our Christmas concert (but we’re just going to ignore that). 😄

Since my life’s been so wrapped up in music, I thought I’d go back and find some of my favorite music-related posts to share again. 

Strumming in Vibrato – A poem, the style of which is based loosely on The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe, which is my favorite poem ever. 🙂 

Ivory Keys (also a poem)

Little Drummer Girl – A short, slightly cringy contemplation of the gender gap in percussion… However, in my percussion class now, guys:gals is 4:3, so it actually feels pretty balanced.
I want to thank the people at GCHFA for their incredible mentoring and friendship.  GCHFA is Gulf Coast Homeschool Fine Arts.  It’s pretty much the coolest thing ever invented, cause now I’m playing the xylophone, snare, and bells in a band, while also singing in a choir, all with other Christian homeschoolers!  I appreciate this program and the people who run it immensely.  Thank you!

-Sydney

Holy Sonnet XIV

This struck a chord in my soul this morning as I read it for school.  Takes a little bit of time to get past the antiquated phrasing, but it’s worth it. 🙂

Squid

Where Am I Going From Here?

A year ago today, I posted this picture on my blog. ^^  under the title “Where Do I Go From Here?”

The subjects are the directional keys on my previous laptop, the one that I had built with my dad years and years ago.  I was rather proud of how my quick pic turned out, and the post got a good deal of attention from my lovely followers. 🙂  Little did I know, but this antique trusty old Dell would be replaced at the turn of the school year, which was only about a month later.

Here I am, a year later, and I’m still using its replacement, a cheap but generally reliable ASUS.  It’s served me well, but the memories I have with its predecessor can never be replaced. 🙂

However, by the time this actually posts (I’m writing this ahead of time on Thursday night), I’ll be leaving Floridia and heading to Gah-jah as a halfway point between home and Ohaih.  So, the title actually fits rather well. except for the fact that you know where I’m going.

---

I also started Algebra II this Tuesday and I’m super pumped!!  I got a used TI-84 calculator and it is my new favorite thing!

Shoutout to new adventures with an old(ish) laptop and new-to-me calculator!

-Sydney

Sisters On Our Knees Feature!

This week I had the honor and pleasure of being featured on a prayer blog, Sisters On Our Knees!  One of the ladies, Joy, is my long-term blogging friend who has been an encouragement to me since my early days of blogging.  One of her blogs, the one I’ve followed since the beginning, is Cherry Tree Poet, so please go check it out!  

Anyway, the post is actually part one of two (because I write a lot… Sorry!), so next Wednesday the next part will be published too.  

Without further ado, Meet Sydney: A Teenage Prayer Warrior

-Sydney