Aloutte, Gentille Alouette.

I don't know quite what to say tonight. I feel like typing something, and the back of my mind is nagging me to spill something, but I'm not quite sure what.

I went to my cousin's baby shower today. I love my mom's side of my family. I don't like alcohol that much, but I did like the amount of booze I saw, it made me giggle for some inexplicable reason. I was given a very strong giant banana daiquiri right at the start.
My family, I think, is just generally awesome.

I also found out that my mom loves my friends, and thinks that we are...well, fun. She was surprised at the fact that we can amuse ourselves so thorougly without having to go to great lengths, and that we aren't a showy bunch.
I felt the urge to tell her about my tattoo today, but then realized I was probably on crack for thinking that and kept my mouth shut.
That revelation could be disastrous.

I let my mind mill about with thoughts about a whole bunch of things revolving around one mutual topic, and I don't quite know how to deal with it. Like, it's not something horrible, just, well, enlightening and saddening and hope-inspiring all at the same time.

I think, that I just really want to cry. Crying is such an emotional and psychological release, I know this.
But I just don't have the energy to cry.
Which is kind of depressing.

I used to be one of those kinds of people where you could just tell me anything, and I always just listened, I never spoke. I never let anyone know of my problems. I was the shoulder to lean on, and I didn't expect nor need nor even really want one in return.
That's changed though. I'm still that shoulder, very firmly so. But I really really really want one in return. And I do get it. But I feel guilty about it, which is where the crying used to come in.
I suppose it still does.
The problem with me is, once I get that shoulder, I can have a difficult time knowing when to stop.
I don't know how I feel about this.

well, except from the wanting to cry. I have to get back into that mode where I just keep everything to myself. I can be very good at it. And I've had my fun where I spill the beans. So I think I may just, I don't know, be selective, and tell only certain things to certain people. And I know these certain people would keep it to themselves, even where I can't.

I think this is why I used to keep a diary.
I think I still have one with a few empty pages kicking around somewhere.

Downy Fabric Softener.

People are so confusing. This isn't one of those angsty oh-my-god-life-is-so-confusing-and-people-don't-make-sense-gonna-bawl-my-eyes-out confusing, just, in general. People are confusing.
And let's not confuse Confusing with Complicated. People aren't complicated, just confusing.

There was a family meeting this morning, where, once again the kids' father displayed his uncanny ability to resemble a four year-old having a tantrum. I felt kinda bad for the kids--not incredibly so because there was merit to some of what he was saying, but the rest...he just really needs to get over himself.
It really made me just want to go for a good cuddle.
I may employ a friend to help me with that later today, we'll see. I'm not feeling incredibly bad about the whole thing, just, feeling bad vicariously through the children and their mother.

Something made me kind of laugh today, but also feel good at the same time.
Yesterday on Facebook I did a quiz a friend had sent me, asking which of the orginal 151 Pokémon characters I was. Since the kids here are obsessed with that show and the game, I figured I'd take the quiz for fun, and tell them the results so they could have a good giggle.
Well, I took it, and I got Pikachu--one of the only characters I actually know. I have to say I was slightly pleased. The description was rather like me, and I like Pika-Pika. :D
Of course, when the results were posted I had to comment, and I wrote "me so kawaiiiiiiiii!" (Kawaii is Japanese for "cute").
This morning, when I checked my facebook, a friend of mine, who I believe still enjoys the show...
anywhoo, he had typed that he begged of me to never say that word in his presence. First of all, I was thrilled that someone else on facebook would know what kawaii means, and second of all, it made me giggle that this person would be horrified to have it used around him.
I can't really explain why it makes me giggly and happy, but it does.

On a side-note, I got my three pairs of headphones I ordered in the mail today. (although I missed the UPS guy, I just heard him saying there was a package to one of the kids, and he sounded like he was an attractive man. damn it. :[ Oh well.)

Whew. all this before 12:30....

And I think I still want that snuggle time...

Mama Cupcake ~(] pt. 2

After Chapters I was happy my friend Becx agreed with me to visit our mutual friend from high-school who we had not seen in ages, her especially since I took an extra year while she went off to university. We caught him just in the "Nick" of time (if my friend reads this, she will apreciate the pun). Or well, we got there just after he himself had just got home from work. I feel a bit of a hypocrite, working myself like a dog and then going around and telling others not to. Ha.

I found out that my friend has plans to go out of province next week to visit a friend. I felt sort of dejected. I know this friend also, and that she's a pretty great person. I just felt sad that he would go to such lengths to visit her (can't blame though; they've been friends since childhood, makes only sense) when I myself used to wish for such attention from him. Not saying that he likes her, no, that's not what I mean. Just the caring and missing. If that makes any sense. Oh well.

It was a good visit regardless. And left me sad when I went back home. I miss him all the time (I am very good at missing people, lol) and it's so difficult to get a hold of the man. Gah.

I took my difficulties on my visit to my friend during her nightshift, at 1'30 am. I didn't mention the madly in love part though. Hee.

The only thing this week that has truly made me feel good inside, I think, is when I visited my friend yesterday evening (not the one from earlier this week. it was the birthday boy). I texted him as I was rounding the corner, telling him I'd arrived, and he went and opened the door as I neared his driveway. He was saying out loud "Where's Mama?".

He spotted me and says "There's Mama."

I have yet to understand how terms of endearment completely melt me into nothingness and lighten my day for literally a week or so.

(because then I just fall back into my sadness.)

Mama Cupcake ~(|] pt. 1

I've been working around the house intensely these past few days; my work ethic matches to my first few weeks here when I worked so hard out of terror of being fired, and also because I had no idea what I was doing.

But, it has something to do with the fact that I've been feeling really weird all week. Not sick sort of weird, I just feel strange, I guess. I didn't even buy a book when I was in Chapter's, but more on that later. I can't really describe this feeling, but it's almost like, loneliness meets apathy meets ego meets depression meets minor happy events meets always having something to do. Ha.

I haven't had a nap in a week, and I have been getting five hours, tops, sleep every day. I am getting random bouts of insomnia again, and I don't think it has anything to do with the summer heat. I just don't know. I don't even feel tired, and even if I did (well, I kinda do now; I've been on my feet all day and made 48 cupcakes over the past two hours as well as supper simultaneously), I know I'd never be able to trick myself into a nap.

It's not caffiene either. That usually puts me to sleep.

Mood, obviously, is affected by events in your life. Well, it's not as if my life has had any ''events'' in it this week, but I have been doing things. I mean, Monday I was taken home by my friends, and they all had to leave sooner than I would have liked...because of work. *sigh*

Tuesday...umm. Rather boring. Me and some friends did, eventually, try to watch Coraline. I was kind of upset though, because I took them to the kitchen to let us enjoy some coffee, and then five minutes later we were bombarded by children who had been gone all evening. Suddenly my night with my friends, and my coffee time with them, was interrupted irrevocably by brattish children who know nothing but to follow their id; as they have been taught by their semi-neglective parents. I felt utterly embarrassed, angry, and pinned at the same time. I felt horrible for accidentally dragging my friends into a pit of annoyance. I begged forgiveness in my mind. I felt unfulfilled when they eventually had to all go home, and upset that the whole kitchen situation had dulled our time in half.

It only got worse when two of the boys and their friend (who isn't the greatest influence on them), whose room is right above me, decided to take till 1 30 am to quiet down--after I had found the comfy spot on the pillow I had had to go upstairs to tell them to shut up, since their parents don't seem to know how to climb that set of stairs. (And then, to add insult to injury, the girls decided to start watching tv REALLY loudly in their room after I was done with the boys. I didn't even bother this time.)

The next day was my friend's birthday. I decided to wake up extremely early (thus getting about 3 hours of real sleep after my first day off vacay, rofl) to get ingredients for his present.

It's so beautiful in the early morning, and people are lovely.

I thought about taking walks every morning, then realized I would want to do it with someone, and I have no one to walk with. I determined that if I ever get married, they are going to go on one morning walk with me a week, at least.

But. It extremely annoyed me that of the 24 cupcakes I made, more than half of them were devoured by people who knew their purpose, and that the first one was eaten by the children's mother. It almost disgusts me, actually.

It made me...depressed when I only saw said friend on birthday for about ten minutes because he was hanging out with a special friend later in the evening. I don't care if my friends have relationships, I have no authority to tell them who to go out with. But suddenly, I was left alone on an evening because my friends had other commitments. With this one, because of certain circumstances, I didn't know how to deal. I just kinda went through the day in a daze. When I was asked to hang out with my other friend, I snapped up the chance and suggested Chapters. I didn't even buy books, that's how out of whack I am.

Day Ten. Home Again, Home Again.

Well, we got the cheese, but not the birch beer; the store for that was closed. We left late last night and drove in the dark. We finally got to the Canadian border around noon. It was really good to see familiar coffee shops again, and to turn my cell on. But yesterday. It was fun before we left; we had a hayride, we milked cows, I found little kittens I could adore. But that was about it during the day, we just packed and did well, not too much for the rest of it.

Unfortunately we didn’t go the Chicago route; I think my parents didn’t want to deal with the traffic or something. Oh well, that’s life.

So here I sit, in the evening, typing this. I’ve had a shower, I’ve repacked my things before I go back to my house (we are just at my parent’s now). My friend might pick me up tonight, which would be much more preferable to anyone here driving me. I’ve had quite enough of them this week, and I say that in the most affectionate way possible. I just have to figure out what to do in the mean time. I am too tired to do much of anything physical, yet, I think the only reason I’m tired is because I haven’t been doing anything for the past 20 hours or so, and I don’t really feel the urge to sleep. I think a nap would make me feel ill. I don’t feel like starting another novel, typing is starting to become a bore as my only option, and finally I feel like an obese couch potato if I sit down in front of the TV, I mean, I’ve been sitting down all day.

A little silver lining to my cloud of boredom, though. I went into the bank today, and the cheque I had deposited a while ago had the hold on it lifted, so I officially have money again, hooray :P

As I finish this up, my brain is starting to melt with the effort of doing something that takes thought, and I smell my mother making supper. Unfortunately, the smell of food is repulsive to me right now, I don’t know why. It was probably from the 14 hour car ride though, I imagine.

I’m just excited to have my friends kidnap me tonight to take me home. That hasn’t happened in a while, and it always makes me feel special and wanted. And, after all, isn’t that what everyone wants, to some degree, deep down?

Day Nine. So Close Yet So Far Away.

It’s Sunday again. The pig was delicious. There is still a mountain of it left. The party actually went well; the weather was ok and there were a bunch of people. I got bored eventually, but it wasn’t for me anyways, so no one really noticed if I slipped through the cracks every once in a while to do some typing or play solitaire downstairs for a bit. We already went to church this morning, Latin High Mass again, in the beautiful church. It almost didn’t matter that the mass was 1 ½ hours as opposed to the 45 minute ones I’m used to.

Although, I noticed that almost all of the women there were wearing veils or a hat of some type, my own mother included. I used to wear a veil when I was like…seven. Never again. First of all, I don’t see the point (I’ll have to Google it), secondly, it looks ridiculous, thirdly, why the guys don’t have to wear it I don’t see why, and lastly, I just don’t feel like conforming. (I’m not really a great conformist; I follow the crowd at my own will, I daresay.)

Anyway. I hear we may go to some square-dancing thing this afternoon. Pfft. I haven’t done square dancing since…well, about four or five years ago. Sounds like…fun? I guess it could be, it all just depends on the company I suppose.

Another thing I overheard is that we might actually leave tonight. That would be good, and the dark would help me sleep better in the car. It would also get me home a lot sooner than I had hoped, and I would still have all day Monday, in Canada, to enjoy vacation. I feel bad for my sister’s fiancé though; I imagine he isn’t too excited for all of us to leave, especially his fiancée. I know how he would feel (minus the fiancée, but I mean, people you really enjoy leaving, etc.), and can’t help empathizing for him privately. I still feel bad for having wanted to leave so terribly. It really has been a pretty good time, on the whole. But everyone has to leave sometime, and I know him and my sister won’t go that long without seeing each other again, and I know they talk on the phone all the time, so it won’t be too heart wrenching.

My sister and I still need to get more cheese and birch beer.

Day Eight. Partay!

Well, it’s the day of the engagement party. We’ve been cleaning for a lot of the morning already, and they started roasting the pig at 3 am. I’m hoping to get a picture of it before it’s devoured. I’m so close to leaving, it’s kind of exciting. I’m rather down about the fact that I’m missing blink-182 today, but I guess this is what they mean about “family first”. I just hope that I’ll have another opportunity for floor tickets some day :s

I watched The Count of Monte Cristo last night, a movie I haven’t watched in a while (although my vote was for the Matrix). It really is a good movie. I just wish there was more speaking actual French in it, considering they are in, well…France.

Oh, I just heard them say the pig is ready. Exciting. There have been many family functions amongst my relatives where there was a pig roast, but somehow I always seemed to miss them. Funny that the only time I do get to go to one, I would rather be somewhere else. Irony seems to attract to me like a magnet. European comedians would have a field day with my life. I feel sort of bad though. I mean I don’t mean to be disrespectful or selfish or spoiled when I say I want to be somewhere else; it’s just that it’s so difficult you see. I mean, we aren’t just in a random place somewhere; we are in a random place in another country. You’d be amazed at the difference. I went with my sister today to get supplies and while I was loading the car with pop, wine, beer and butter, she went to get streamers at the dollar store. They only had red, white, and blue streamers; my earlier joking suggestion to her to get red and white ones to decorate (obviously for Canada, she had rolled her eyes) was actually followed because of the lack of choice. I wondered if they do it on purpose, do they force you to be patriotic, even at something as personal as an engagement party. I don’t like it. Whatever though, red and white are nice together, no matter what nationality you are, I think. It’s not just the Canadian flag.

Oh, funny thing. In Canada we call sweet corn, well, sweet corn. We passed a large wagon on the road that had ‘Candy Corn’ painted on the side. I always thought that was something you ate at Halloween that was so sickeningly delicious and sweet that you felt ill after eating too much. I didn’t realize it was an actual food, lol. I prefer the term Sweet Corn, but that’s my upbringing, I guess.

And now to see that pig!

Day Seven. Realization.

This may be the last day at the cabins, I don’t know. When we take our laundry into Merrill today, to the fiancé’s house, we may just stay there. I don’t know if I’ll feel too sad to leave the cabins or not, but I don’t think I will. The engagement party is tomorrow anyways, so we’d have to leave them eventually; my little brother went with the fiancé and his friend this morning to get the pig. Yum.

Speaking of this morning…I totally missed it. I had a dream that made me sleep until nearly 1 o’clock (over twelve hour’s sleep then). Wow. I have never been allowed to have a dream run its full course. I tried to type it out today, but an eleven hour dream is too long to mention in this blog, and the circumstances and people and places in it would just be too long and confusing for me to say. But, it was weird; I will just leave it at that.

I sit here with a coffee.

I tried to make coffee today, but it was some weird brand I’ve never seen before in my life, and it was only to be used to make one cup at a time in an individual coffee brewer, so the first pot was entirely too strong. I threw it out. The second pot was too, but my mother salvaged it by adding a lot of boiling water to it while my sisters and I were roasting the last sausages over the fire so they wouldn’t go bad.

But, still, I now sit here with my still a little-too-strong coffee, typing as I can see the late getting patterned with drops of rain all over it. My mellow music suits the mood. I see it fitting that what may be our last day here is filled with rain. Our first day was, and I don’t think you should go swimming on the last day anyway; you should get things together and journal what has happened, and double check, and just relax. In my opinion, anyways.

I still have manga to last me on the way home. And until then, I can occupy my time by watching my Flight of the Conchords and Dexter seasons I brought along. However, I talk about leaving as if we are going soon, but we don’t even leave for three days. It’s not that I can’t wait to go. I can, but I do want to go really soon. I want to be able to use my phone again, I want to be back in my own country, and I want to be with my friends again, and I want away from my family; I want to have fun! Not that there weren’t fun times here, they were simply spread far and few between, and I feel guilty for making my parents spend so much money on us all. Plus I want a shower where I fear no spiders are going to creep up behind me on the wall. There are way too many spiders in the wilderness for my liking.

And, I feel that I should clear something up. Perhaps I sound like a pussy-willow for all my talk. No. I have gone camping many times, I have been in the middle of nowhere many times, and I have spent extended periods of time “unplugged” many times. Many times. It’s not that I’m weak or anything, I simply have become one of those people who like living in the vicinity of many people, who enjoys what chlorine can do to water I am going to swim in and also I do like swimming in a place where I haven’t seen a nasty, ugly pike fish creeping about the day before (that was when I was about 12). I have gotten strep throat from vacationing near a lake before. I have endured meeting people I never wanted to meet, or to ever see again.

My sister has had to be taken to the hospital for a wasp sting, after which we learned she was extremely allergic and then got an Epi-pen. I have been drenched in water or suffered near heat stroke. I have gotten colds, and sore limbs, and endured some of the nastiest places to go to the bathroom, and some of the worst weather and some of the most horrible “time-of-months” there are, all in the sake of vacation, or being out in the wilderness, or for some reason or another.

I am not saying this to complain or garner pity, merely to state my case and explain that, I’m still alive after all this, and with the common sense to be very wary of the outside world. I like to vacation in it with my own terms.

I think we get along best that way.

Day Six. Carnivale!

So I am writing this a lot later than I usually do, although you would never know since I am just going to post all of them at once anyways. (I usually type them in the morning after I have breakfast.) Today was somewhat eventful. After deciding that the sun and God both hate me, I stopped tanning today and started getting ready to go to the house of the fiancé, which we were going to before we went to the fair!!! Yayay!

I finally got to put on makeup and wear my cobra starship sweater, a red one with a million zippers, and wear some awesome earrings. But before that. I realized that a lot of my time, and my family’s time, spent here is in making and eating food. Speaking of which, I made a delicious omelette today; I think it was the second best I’ve ever made. (Nothing can beat my first place omelette.) It was relatively cloudy today, and I finished two manga volumes (Millennium Snow vols. 1 and 2) before I started to straighten my hair and do makeup. I don’t really need to straighten my hair all that much…but I love to do it J

Soo. We went to the Fair around nine pm, because then the admission was only five dollars per person, as opposed to the nine dollars it would have been otherwise. We missed Alice Cooper though, darn. (I did hear them singing “School’s Out for the Summer” though.)

But, the fair was rather large, I kind of laughed at my dad’s incredulousness at the amount of cars there, although I wasn’t surprised, it just made me excited and want to jump out of the car like a five year old who can’t wait to get out and go into the…well, Fair. I didn’t go on too many rides though, but I enjoyed all the ones that I did, even if the one kept me entirely upside down for 10 seconds or more and I really thought I was going to fall out and die.

I did, however, manage to win a small toy (it was horrible, really, how terrible my aim is) at a booth. I won a little stuffed turtle I call Kamikitchi (which translates in English to “lucky turtle”), and he is adorable. I almost feel sad that I won it so that I could take it back for a friend (I was hoping to win a Stewie from Family Guy) and thus complete my list of people to bring back souvenirs for, but I realize that it would just get stolen, molested and horribly killed (ripped apart) by the kids back when I start work again. So it’s better in the hands of my friend.

Another funny thing, as we were walking out of the fair and towards the cars to go home, we passed this guy, mid-teens probably, leaned against a car talking on a phone. As we passed him, this little boy ran up to him

boy: "Hey...do you have a girlfriend?"

indistinct muttering from teenage boy

boy: (running) "Hey, Jessica, come here!!!"

I hope it went well for everyone.

I still have to buy cheese though, although that will be later to my day of departure. Wow, it’s almost tomorrow, and I’m beat.

Day Five. The Halfway Point.

Well, I just had an invigorating paddle-boat ride with the older sister. That after a breakfast of stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth pancakes, which came after a semi-restless night in the cabin. It took me forever to fall asleep, and I was once again terrified that the bunk bed would fall on top of me.

Yesterday I actually got to use the internet for a bit, although not long enough to post anything, and I didn’t have my laptop anyways, it was just the computer belonging to the fiancé. But it made me miss all my friends back home. I had a dream last night/this morning that I turned my cell phone on and I was just blasted with text messages I had missed because it’s been off for so long. Oh well.

Yesterday I did take a spin on the ATV with the fiancé and my little brother; we found some wild raspberries that were delicious. I am still gunning for that fair. Oh, and I finished reading the second book I brought along, “Hogfather” which means that I only have my manga left and a bunch of typing I can do.

I drew a horrible picture this morning of a lass I dubbed “Cross-eye’d Zelda” I drew it for my little sister as punishment for leaving the sketch book on the floor, but I may keep it instead for sentimental value, and to have a good laugh at with the friends at home.

I should get back to the family; I plan to tan today so I’m not so abominable snowman white, and I stand here typing whilst in my bathing suit. I wore my pyjamas in the boat, and I don’t know how my mother is going to take my swim top. Although, in all fairness, it’s not my fault that Jesus gave me boobs, or that those genetics run on my paternal side. She doesn’t even know how hard I try to find tops that I think she would have no qualms over. Sigh. But, it’s not like I planned to swim in it anyways, and it’s quite nice for tanning J I suppose I’ll go join them now.

As a sidenote: Upon later reflection, tanning didn't do anything. I'm still Grim Reaper white. we also went into this ghetto discount store that housed more cereal names and brands that I had thought had gone extinct, but I guess just aren't available in Canada (or they were really, really old). they also had this type of pop, Birch Beer, which was kind of like super sugared root beer mixed with cream soda, and a delicious red colour so you just know there has to be a mountain of dye and super refined sugar in it, lol.

Day Four. Hot Topic.

so we didn’t get to go to the house to use the internet.

However, we did get to go shopping at the mall, which had the redeeming qualities of a good Walden’s, a Hot Topic (absolutely my kind of store, my FOB sweater was noticed right away, there were Charlie the Unicorn shirts, and the staff were arguing about one having actually met one of the Decemberist’s at a concert, as well as just being a place I would spend my life in) and a Chinese food place in the food court. I got some sweet shirts and a good book or two, which may become gifts for a certain couple of people back at home. I still have to get cheese for my friends at home.

As I sit here listening to Joe Dassin, I try to ignore the multitude of bites I got last night as we listened to the fiancé sing some folk songs in Russian (pretty cool, actually. I now want to learn the language). And we now have a second cabin, so I don’t have to deal with the drips of the trailer; just the perpetual terror I have of the top bunk falling down on top of me and crushing me. Oh well. The fair in Wausau starts today, so we’ll just see if I can’t get my sister to take us to it some time, hee hee hee.

I haven’t gotten any tanning in yet, and the luminosity of my legs is still really something (I make no joke or exaggeration here, my legs do really have an almost translucency to them, and they glow in the sunlight), so we’ll see if I can find a good tanning spot today. On the plus side, I am making good headway with my book, believe I am halfway, if not more, through it, which will give me time to also read all of the manga I brought along. And possibly the book I bought yesterday before I give it away, tee hee.

I have kind of lost track of time here; for instance, I had to buy a watch yesterday (by some cashier who asked if my sister and I, as Canadian’s, said “eh?”) and as I was changing this morning, I had to wonder at what day of the week it was before I settled on Tuesday. I also learned this morning that we will probably take the Chicago way back home, which makes me just so much happier. Not only because I really want to go that way, but also because it means that I will have more to look at than the not-so-pretty Michigan lack of landscape.

(Oh! On the way through Michigan, I actually saw a sign on the side of the highway that was as so: “Prison Area: Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers”.)

Day Three. Chompers.

I had a shower this morning, it was quite okay, and I used the most absorbent towel I have ever used in my life. Trying to sleep last night/this morning was a total disaster. At first, I was quite pleased with the pounding of the rain on the top of the camper that “the kids” got to sleep in; I loved the thunder and lightening. But then I woke up at some point in the morning and discovered that the roof had decided that my sleeping place would be the perfect place to have a crack to let in some of this torrential downpour. My blanket got literally soaked, and my pyjama pants were the most uncomfortable I have ever worn. I was quite pissed and have made a vow to not sleep in that thing again. We might possibly get to go back to the fiancé’s house today, which would mean internet. (If this blog gets posted August 3^rd, 2009, then you’ll know I did.)

I am wearing Crest Whitestrips this morning, and they are quite irritating. I despise having something on my teeth, but there is really no other effective and inexpensive way for me to whiten my teeth; those toothpastes never seem to do anything. Oh well. I am really hoping we can go into town today; I want to spend my American money, and I need a washcloth. Oh, and one good thing about this trip: I will be able to get a LOT of typing done, something I probably wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. Right now I have about a week in which to do my typing. Nice.

Day Two. The Wilderness.

Went to mass today in the town of Wausau, close to Merrill, where my sister’s fiancé lives. It was a beautiful church, actually; it was modeled after a chapel in Munich that was built for a Duke some long time ago. The people there were incredibly friendly too; my little sister and I saddled a little girl Charlotte on our laps for half an hour, and she was the cutest thing. She loved my nail polish (yay for vibrant electric blue!), my rings and my earrings.

She, in her own turn, had her own little purple plastic ring, in addition to her general all-around adorableness and her tiny little hugs on greeting. Apparently there is a fair coming up, I hope we get to go to it, as it is in the days that we are here.

Peter, (Johanna’s fiancé) is a really nice guy, and very smart as I hear. I like him, but will have to get used to him. My little brother is being the rudest I have ever seen him in my life. It’s driving me up the wall, and I am going to disembowel him soon.

We ate some cheese, and I drank some milk. Delicious. If there are two things I like, they are milk and cheese, and I do not regret this State for that reason. MMMMMMM.

We have come to the cabins….and there is no internet connection. I wonder if the mosquitoes here have ever tasted Canadian blood before. I wonder which nationality’s blood they prefer. Well, it’s a nice cabin and all, and the lake is pretty. It’s just a shame I don’t really like swimming in lakes, or the fact that I would rather not be in my swimsuit around my mother, who is certain to comment on the amount of breast-age it shows….oh well.

I hope we get to go back to the fiancé’s house soon…I’m sure it will have internet, as opposed to just posting these all at once when I get back, which might be my only option. I also would like to go back to Wausau; I like towns a bit more than the wilderness. My dad, always curious, decided to open an outhouse to see if it was still all in order. Well, it is, and, he got stung by one of an angry mass of wasps. *sigh*

At least I have tons of books and I have movies on my laptop, so I can read and watch movies. As it is, I am simply typing all of my blogs on my word processor, waiting to post them later. I despise the fact that I can’t use my cell phone in a different country either, I am going to die soon from withdrawal of communication with someone other than my family. Gah. At least I can get a lot of napping here. Woot.

Well, I am going to go eat some cheese and drink some milk.

Day One.

Well, our car ride took excessively long for my butt to handle. It was somewhere between 14-14 ½ hours. Gah. And I really couldn’t stand the way that my siblings decided to just sprawl all over the place, and me.

Where am I? Wisconsin. And I am really disappointed that we decided to take the very boring northern Michigan route, as opposed to going below the Lake and going through places like Chicago. I really wanted to go through Chicago; I’ve always wanted to go there. Oh well, maybe I can convince them to go that way on the way back.

Why am I? Well, my dear older sister is engaged to an American man from Wisconsin (OMG, the accents in Michigan and Wisconsin are a riot to me), so we are down here for ten days at some cabins about 15 minutes from his house, enjoying the wilderness of this state. (Ps-I didn’t really like the woodsiness of Michigan, it was all simply spruces and pines and kind of ugly and boring. Wisconsin has more of a variety of trees).

My body is so sore after this intensely long ride, and all I want to do is sleep. I have a giant head ache not helped by my annoying little brother’s constant prattling and the fact that the radio is super annoying as well, and listening to my iPod will not help the situation. (My body would choose my vacation to give me a headache, runny nose, and itchy throat; especially when I opted to leave my Tylenol and Advil at home.)

I actually usually despise road trips with my family. Any incompetence for direction giving or taking, any thing that I find ridiculous about how they talk to people we meet along the way, and just every little thing about them starts to bug me. Especially when they make fun of all of the luggage I bring. My apologies. As an 18 year old girl, don’t expect me to bring any less. Besides, a ¼ of my luggage is books…I am not really expecting there to be anything too exciting up here.

Speaking of which, I am really praying for an internet connection at the cabin…