i got shoes/you got shoes/all God's children got shoes, my Lord/when we get to heaven, gonna/put on our shoes/we're gonna walk/we're gonna talk

okie dokie. this post shall prove to be shorter than the last one - I promise. major kudos to Emily for getting through the last one at all. I am seriously impressed.

just an update on some of the new major things in life. if anyone didn't know, my mom is donating a kidney, and the surgery is in 16 days (May 5). so we are all gearing up for that, and I'm trying to figure out how to just take a break from life for two or three days so I can be with her. it will all work out.

school is progressing....I love it every single day when I'm there, but when I come home and have to continue the part of my life that isn't school, I wish it didn't keep me so busy. my history class especially is a lot of work, between tons of reading, tons of studying, and me pretty much being in charge of my group for our final project, which we're researching very in-depth right now. We're actually doing it on human trafficking, focusing especially on sex slavery in SE Asia. it's going to be an amazing project, but it's a lot of work, and the research can make me really emotional too. but other than that, everything is going well.

piano continues as well. I started practicing for half an hour in the morning before I leave for school, and that's helping a lot. that way, I always have some practice in, and I don't have to sit at the piano for as long in the afternoon when I'm exhausted from the day. so far so good, and all of my songs are coming along pretty well. I wish Rhapsody was ready now........

I kind of alternate between freaking out and feeling good about it.

I met a guy and everyone thinks we're dating, but believe me, believe me, believe me, we're not. we're just very good friends and we hang out a lot, because he has a ton of free time and we like to do the same kind of stuff. we go swing dancing together (with my parents of course) once a month, and so we've been trying to learn a bunch of new steps in between each dance. we started the Charleston last time and it's the most insanely FUN dance I've ever done! so he hung out with my family pretty much all weekend, which was cool. my mom has decided she's "adopting" him. they like to play games together, like Mastermind and Sequence and backgammon.

yesterday I taught sunday school at my old church, and it went quite well. I made samosas, and they were amazing, and they all got eaten. :( so I'm going to make some more today, because I have a ton of the filling left and the dough is easy to make. and they are sooooo good!

then we went to my mom's parents, because it was my grandma's birthday. it was so nice out, so we walked to Camp Long and just walked around....I climbed on the big rock thingy there, and my dad taught Mitchell how to pick me up and spin me around in a swing dance step. that was fun. :P

then there was a fundraiser thing for my mom's kidney recipient, out at Dash Point. we hung out there for a few hours, and then visited my dad's parents who live really close to where the fundraiser was. they live just above the beach, so we walked down to the water and *tried* skipping rocks. meaning everyone else did and I failed miserably. ;) but it was still really fun. the tide was coming it and cutting us off so we headed back after twenty minutes or so, but it was such a lovely day; it was just so perfect.

tomorrow there's no school - we have an in-service day. so Mitch and I are going to have breakfast in Black Diamond somewhere, walk around town a little bit, and then explore this old mining town up by Cumberland that burned down in 1905. I'm really psyched for that! and then if the weather is nice, I'll have my senior pictures done in the afternoon. but I think it's supposed to rain.....sadness. we'll see, I guess.

right now I need to get some lunch and then head back to school for Shakespeare Club!!! and then get back here and get to work. lots of history and lots of piano.....*sigh*

oh yes, I should just let you know that the mouse job thing didn't work out. I talked with him on Friday and he said he was talking to God, and just getting the very strong feeling that this wasn't the job for me. I am sensing that God wants me to work with people. I'm going to apply at a bunch of places in Federal Way, but I'm really hoping this music store job works out. the guy there told me to call him back at the end of the month and we could see about an interview. so......again, we'll see. :)