Spaghettios

Since my orthodontist appointment the day before yesterday the most solid foods I've been able to stomach are a bowl of cereal and a cup of noodles! My teeth haven't been particularly nice to me in response to the brace tightening. And so it was that yesterday when my mom went to the store I requested several cans of soup and yes, spaghettios! I'm not sure what started the spaghettio craze, I just happened to get home late that night the day after my braces had been tightened. I was very hungry so I began searching the cupboards for a good looking can of soup that wouldn't require much chewing on my teeth and would fill my eager stomach. What I found first, however, was a single can of spaghettios. In that moment nothing else looked as good or could even possibly compare with how much I wanted those spaghettios, so I opened the can and ate them cold the way they were. I'd heard they were good cold, (yes, yes Brenten, I STOLE your idea, can you hear my eyes rolling?) Just kidding, but I really did eat cold spaghettios and the next morning my mom laughed at me. "You ate spaghettios out of the can? Did you warm them up first? We have bowls, you know!" "Yeah, but I was tired! And they were good cold!" Somehow no one believed my story on them being good! Since then, though, I've eaten my fair share of both spaghettios and soup, which is ironic considering I usually sort of avoid soup and don't much like it. Soup's standing has definitely improved in my eyes!

One thing I wonder a lot about the kids in my generation is about their general unwillingness to read, and especially about their history and the classic books. What is so terrible about it? History is definitely important, as my older relatives often point out! My grandpa Butch, for one was a marine in the war. He's proud of his service and I certainly am proud of him too! He has the most amazing stories to tell of not only war, but of old times, life experiences. I've often heard the story of when four men (I believe he was one of them) came across a can of military ration sardines after going without food for several days. "You better believe we were careful with it! Have you ever SEEN a military ration can of sardines? They're TINY. But we split it evenly between the four of us, and they were all licking their fingers, and the can. They thought it was the best thing they'd ever tasted!" I heard him tell Sam once, after he'd exclaimed over how gross it was that grandpa was eating sardines. "If you hadn't eaten in several days they'd look pretty good to you too!" Then he went to his safe, found a can of ration sardines and handed it to Sam. It didn't even look big in HIS little hands! Grandpa Butch is a fiery, strong type of man. He's still got his buzz cut and takes a several mile walk most mornings. He raises hunting dogs, and hunts bears, or whatever season it is he'll be in on, for the busy fun or the training of his dogs. But he can tell a story a way I've never seen anyone else do. If kids were taught by someone like him I'm sure they'd sit up and listen with a bit more interest! But he's not the teaching type, and why couldn't kids build their own interest anyway? Can't they see how many people died to give them the opportunity to sit in a classroom and learn about all the things sacrificed for the country, and learn to be good, educated people? Some people just don't think about it that way, but others just don't care, the latter of which I have little patience for. In a place where their lives and careers can be anything they're willing to work hard enough for, where everyone's got a chance, why is everyone slacking off and not taking it? It's confusing to me that people wouldn't want to or understand classic literature. One can learn to understand it, and just because it was written in a much older time doesn't make it less valuable. The way that those authors could word things amazes me, and the way everyone thought still more! Things that people have trouble grasping these days was commonsense to them. Even the worst of them, most times, were morally and ethically inclined unlike today, where people can be drawn in on their convictions on a whim. What has happened? Maybe I'm looking at things with a slant (of course I am, being human I must look at things from my own view which gives it a slant. But still). I just wish youth would put forth more effort into things, thamselves, their friends, their community, country or world sometimes.

On Hair Braiding and Sore Teeth!

Life's been interesting lately, busy and crazy. My mom borrowed a Zumba Wii Fit from a friend and I got to try it. It's really hilarious, lots of hip movement definitely! Yesterday I had my first orthodontist appointment in a very long time. I sat in the lobby across from a girl dressed as a pirate and went in, taking a seat across from a jersey clad football player and sitting back nervously in the chair. I was soon attended by a lady who informed me that if I'd only been more consistent with my brace bands and appointments I could've had my braces off by that point. She then cut the wires, making them supertight and gave me brace bands for both sides to wear. I went from there to the Fillmores', where we spent the next bit of time unloading gymnastics mats, beams and other things from a trailer to a semi. We began a tour of the farm but I had to leave with Nicole early to go babysit for the Dahms. Bryan, Rabecka and I painted rocks, watched some of the new seventh season of Mythbusters and ate bowls of cereal for dinner. Mythbusters has a new girl, Jessie, because Carrie apparently had a baby and is off the show. We colored, and painted, and when I tried to eat a bowl of cereal my newly tightened braces hurt my teeth with every bite. Bryan went to bed and Simon, Becka and I sat out watching tv and me reading Pride and Prejiduce until Randy and Esther got home. It wasn't until a half hour later that Mr. and Mrs. Anderson got there to pick me up and take me back to the farm. We talked on the ride over about people who used the right side of their brain or the left more to think. We talked about Savannah, and the scavenger hunt. When I got in the car Mr. Anderson turned back to me, grinned and said "So what are we looking for?" I looked out the dark window, "Maybe we just shouldn't pull up to anyone in the dark and ask them if they're old!" He laughed, rolling down the window and shouting out "HEY!" as we drove down the street. I got there in time to see Christian, Savannah, Andrew V and Claire learning how to play some game from Mr. Fillmore. He asked as I walked up "Where've you been?" "Babysitting," I replied, shaking my head. At another table Brenten was attempting to explain to Madison and Lexie how to play some game. I hugged, Savannah, Claire, Maddi, and then went back to watch Claire, Christian, Savannah and Andrew learning to play Ticket to Ride. Brenten then tried to teach Lexie and I to play Bohnanza, which I failed at. Madison preferred to stand behind Brenten, braiding his red hair into a tiny braid and proudly displaying her work, pulling his head to the side to show me. "Ouch," he protested lightly, as she laughed and took a picture for facebook. I went to find my sister upstairs and bring her back. We waited around awhile, I talked to Christian, who seemed to be ready to go, and sort of bored by this point. They told me about their games, and what it'd been like. We went home soon after that and heard about how Derek and Brenten have begun to hug back, how hilarious the braiding was, and more. I sat on my bed eating a can of cold spaghettios, something that didn't require a lot of chewing on my sore teeth. Today Lexie went home with Madison, they said soemthing about wanting to learn how to do their hair in a way that would look good in a hair net! Guess we'll see how they do:).