It's Been A Long, Long Week

Today marks the close of the first week of my junior year. Lessons learned?

-High school administration are never to be trusted. They are all lying bastards who only care about their own check, and don't give a shit that they're screwing over any chances you have at getting into the best colleges.
-Public transportation isn't as bad as people make it out to be.
-Large high schools are fun.
-Life goes on without my sister in it.
-Despite everything I say, the prospect of having a boyfriend is still appealing.
-Much enjoyment can be had while working out at the gym.
-Neighbors can be friendly.
-My classmates tend to have problems with their dads rather than their moms.

It's a very fun schedule where I don't really see anyone I don't want to outside of class.  However, I had to refrain from reading any manga or webcomics (and of course, there was no time for anime either).  Which means that in this last half-hour I've been reading update after update that I've missed this week.  I think I like this set-up though, since I don't feel disappointed at their being no updates for me to read every time I log onto my e-mail account.

So, manga otakus who have been trying to lessen their addiction in order to get through work or school, know that it can be done. In fact, you'll feel much happier if you try it.

I have pictures, but no time to upload them. I need to wake up early for tomorrow's schedule (gym, community service engagement, friend's sister's birthday party, homework)..

I'm such a busy body.

I Went Shopping.

But I didn't get everything I needed (aka, I still need to buy a lock for my locker).
But that's okay. Instead, I got:

-A pair of white sneakers (because I have no shoes for the gym)
-A pack of black socks
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt
-A shirt

I love to buy stuff, so I'm in a good mood right now. >:D Such a simple life I live.
Time to work on the homework that I've put off all summer...

おはようございます!!! (Good morning)

I didn't get to finish yesterday's post because my family held a BBQ party and my friend decided to finish the post for me. Yesterday was super fun. While "the Adults" ate and talked in the dining room, my 16-year-old friends and I sang along to Disney movies and watched The Swan Princess (from 1982).  We drank a little too much Dr. Pepper again, and this is the result:

A shrine to my older brother and sister, who are not dead.
And this filthy picture is nearly 15 years old.

Mom freaked when she walked by the living room and saw this. My friends burst out laughing. My brother was "disturbed" when he saw the picture on Facebook. Hehehehe...

Anyway, so this morning I woke up to take a bike ride to my school and back.  People are VERY congenial in the morning.  Practically every biker I passed by was cheery.  They all greeted me with an enthusiastic, "Good morning!!"  It was pretty cool.  Would never happen in my old neighborhood.

Anyway, I've got no excuse to miss church now, so I've just gotten ready. I can just imagine what they're going to say. "Sarah-honey, it's been so long since I last saw you!" or "When are you going to play the piano for us again?" or "I like your outfit! Fall colors!".

*sigh* Another occasion to fake happiness at, I suppose. Like I said, no haven for me anymore.  School, home, and church are all battlefields.

Getting ready to go to el gimnasio

As I mentioned last time, yesterday was orientation day at school which majorly sucked for me.  However, yesterday was also a very monumental day for me: it marks the first day my mom allowed me to bike outside of my house by myself.

This is a big deal for me since I'm never allowed to go ANYWHERE by myself (except school and the library).

From Sandra to Sarah: ur soo awesome kawaii ko-chan! ^^ im excited for class with u! I send u lots of friendly love ;)

#nowplaying "We're Going to Be Friends" by The White Stripes

It seems that my family is destined to never welcome the new school year well. Last year involved cops, and lets say that this year it was probably worse. I'm not the one who has it the worst though, so I don't know how to talk to my family about it.

So anyway, I realized that I no longer have a safe haven anymore, since both home and school is pretty much a battlefield.  There's a lot of tension at home, and very few people can be trusted at school. My principal broke yet more promises, the b*tch who stole my test and cheated off of it was not expelled, I have to face traitorous classmates who pretend like there's nothing wrong with the world.

It's so different from last year, when I was so excited to go to school.  My sister transferred to another school; we've pretty much always been on the same campus since I started Kindergarten in the Philippines, and we've pretty much had all the same classes together since fourth grade. Now that I'm a junior in high school, it's a bit scary to be by myself. At least I have surrogate sisters Emily and Sandra to help me make it through these last two years of high school (:

In the end, I tell myself that Becca and I need to start separating ourselves from each other, since we don't plan on going to the same university. But I will still miss my wonderful unni, who basically made all my friends for me and always helps me with my homework before she even starts hers.

I love you so much, Becca-unni! ♥♥♥

#nowplaying "New Slang" by The Shins

Well, today is Orientation Day. Don't have to be at school til 9 but I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep so I've spent the last few hours getting ready.

Good enough for my school ID.

Lunch. It's not exactly aesthetically pleasing because of that strip of paper but I had to separate the sashimi balls from the potato salad and I didn't exactly know what else to do. I guess I'll just ask Mom to buy me a real bento box for the future.

Anyway, the potato salad is basically just mayo, dijon mustard, salt&pepper, mashed potatoes, a bit of boiled egg, some vegetable (I dunno what it's called but they're reminds me of leeks... but they're not leeks), onion powder (I don't like cutting real onions), some lemon juice, and just a little virgin olive oil.
It's quite tasty. :D

As for the "sashimi" balls, I got the idea from some another blog (I can't recall which one). It's basically rice, the yellow piece of a boiled egg, and pieces of roast beef. They look really cool, and they were fun to make (even though I had to keep cutting pieces of plastic wrap).

I'm going to eat the rest of the potato salad for breakfast, so baii.