AAAAHHHHHH!

Okay, I admit it. I’m feeling pretty stressed out. I thought I had everything under control, but now, not so much. And I’m not sure how to straighten myself out.

            It all started at a student council meeting two weeks ago. (I’m the sixth grade president, did you know that?) Somehow I wound up volunteering to plan the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, which is this big dance they have on the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year at my school. Actually I know exactly how I wound up on the dance committee: Addie Wilson volunteered, and started talking about how she and her friends would be glad to work on the dance, and how no one knew how to throw a great event like they did. For some reason that really made me mad. It was like she was saying the rest of us could only create a mediocre dance or something, and there was no way I was letting her get away with that.

            So now, not only am I on the student council, I’m on the dance committee. And I could have managed both of those things just fine if Chloe hadn’t asked me to help serve lunch at a shelter on Thanksgiving. I said yes right away. Unfortunately, what Chloe didn’t tell me is that before Thanksgiving there are all these meetings you have to go to where you learn about the shelter, and the food program, and what we’re supposed to do when we serve the people there. I know that helping out at the shelter with Chloe is a good thing, but it’s taking a lot more time than I thought it would.

            And then, just to top things off, this morning my English teacher, Ms. Jaffe, assigned us a big paper on this book we’re reading in class. It’s due the day before Thanksgiving break, which is like two weeks away. I’ve barely started the reading.

            If you look at all that, and then add in that I’ve got homework in all my other classes, plus my chores around the house, I’ll bet you can understand why I started this blog with a loud AAAAHHHHHH! Wouldn’t you?

            So, have any of you guys ever found yourselves overloaded? What did you do to fix the problem? If you had to drop any of these activities, which ones would you choose?

            Anyway. . .g2g. I can’t spend any more time on my computer tonight. I’ve got to get going on reading that book for my English paper.

            TTYL

            Jenny

           

 

TV or not TV?

Okay, so get this. Sam just got her own TV! It’s in her room and she can watch it whenever she wants. How cool is that? I’m psyched, because I’m sleeping over at her house on Friday night, and we’re going to stay up really late watching movies in her room. I’ve never done that at any of my friends’ houses. No one else I know has a TV in their room, not even Addie Wilson, although I bet she would say she did if you asked her. I know better.

I’ve wanted a TV in my room forever. We only have two TVs in our house. One is in the living room, and one is in my mom and dad’s room. I watch the TV in the living room, unless my mom and I are having one of our lie-around-in-bed days, when we sit on her bed and watch old movies. That’s usually a rainy day thing.

            The problem with only two TVs is that I usually have to watch TV with someone else in the room. My parents are really into do-it-yourself kinds of shows. That means we watch a lot of shows about fixing up your house, or sprucing up your garden. That’s not exactly my idea of a great way to spend an evening.

            I tried asking my mom and dad for my own TV, but they weren’t having it. They said they don’t believe in that. And they didn’t seem to understand why I would even want one. So here’s my question: Do you guys have TVs in your rooms? If you do, what’s the best part about having one? And if you don’t, do you mind not having one?

            Can’t wait to hear from you!

 

            TTYL

 

            Jenny

Decision, Decisions

Okay, I think I might just be the worst decision maker in the entire world. You should see me in a restaurant. It takes me forever to choose what I want to eat. And even after I choose something, I usually change my mind as soon as I hear someone else at the table order something that sounds better.

            Which leads me to my latest problem. Well, it’s not a problem, really. It’s actually a very good thing. My mom is finally going to let me wear lip gloss to school! Up until now, I had to use chapstick, which is definitely not the same thing!  I went to the makeup store yesterday to buy my first lip gloss. But there were so many! I couldn’t decide which to get, so instead I left with nothing. So I need your help. Do you guys have a favorite color? Do you like the lip gloss with sparkles? Or maybe the flavored kind? And if you do like the flavored kind, which flavor is your favorite?

            If you think I have trouble choosing lip gloss, you should have seen me in the library during English class today. Ms. Jaffe told us that for the next two weeks, we get to choose our own books to read. All she asks is that we keep reading journals where we keep track of what’s going on in the book, and how we feel about it, as we read.

            At first that sounded like the best project I’d ever had. But then came the hard part. What book should I read? I know that whatever I pick should be something I’m really going to like, especially since I’m going to be writing about it every day for two weeks. I also want to pick a book that kind of makes me sound smart. You know what I mean. It’s the same reason I always used to buy the fattest book I could find at the school book fair. It just seems impressive, you know?

            My friends don’t seem to be having any problem choosing books. Felicia went right for the romance section in our school library. Chloe chose a biography of a famous actress (of course!). And Marc is reading some science-fiction novel about evil robots that look like people and try to take over the earth.

             I, however, left the library empty-handed. So I was hoping you guys could give me some suggestions on what to read. Do you have a favorite book? A favorite author? A favorite series? Let me know. I can use all the help I can get when it comes to making decisions!

xoxo

Jenny

             

 

D.C. You Soon!

            Sorry it took me so long to blog, but I’m on vacation, and I couldn’t get on the computer until now. My parents are pretty strict about how much computer time I have when we’re taking a trip. At least this year they let me bring my laptop to use when we’re in the hotel, which is almost never.

            We’re in Washington, D.C., right now. Today we visited the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. I’m kind of memorialed out, I think. I also got to see the White House from the outside. It’s huge! I bet it would be really fun to live in a place like that!

            I like going on vacations, but now that I’m in middle school, I feel like I have to keep in touch with my friends at home as much as I can. I know they won’t forget about me or anything, but I can’t help feeling left out of all the fun they’re having back home. When I was in elementary school, I didn’t worry so much about being left out when I was on vacation. But back then everyone hadn’t split up into different groups the way they do in middle school. And of course, there’s the fact that Addie dumped me while I was at sleepaway camp. I know my new middle school friends would never do that to me. At least I think they wouldn’t. But then again, I didn’t think Addie would either. So just in case, I’ve been texting my friends whenever I can.

             My parents HATE when I text on vacation, so I have to hide it. So far I’ve only been caught once. My mom spotted me texting Liza from the National Gallery instead of looking at the paintings, and she was not happy about it. The funny thing is, I was texting Liza about the paintings. I knew she would have loved that museum—or at least appreciated it a whole lot more than I did. I get kind of tired in art museums after a while. But Liza is an artist, and she loves museums. So I bought her a few postcards of some of my favorite paintings.

             Do you feel left out of what’s going on at home when you’re on vacation? Where are you going on vacation this year? Are your parents as strict about computer time and texting while you’re on vacation as mine are? Do you sneak your texting as much as I do?

            Uh-oh. G2G. My mom and dad are bugging me to hurry up so we can visit another museum. See, I told you I get very limited computer time when we’re on vacation. But I’m definitely going to be logging on as much as I can. So please zap me a message.

            TTYL

            XOXO

            Jenny

           

           

           

 

Crush Alert!

 Okay, so I just found out the HUGEST secret! One of my friends has a major crush on an eighth grader. I only found out because I saw her scribbling his name on one of the pages of her notebook. I swore to her I wouldn’t tell anyone. And I’m definitely keeping that promise. I’m not telling anyone which of my friends has the crush, or who she’s crushing on.

            I think my friend’s crush is going to stay secret forever, mostly because she’s not willing to let this guy know she likes him. She says she doesn’t want to let him know because it would be way too embarrassing if he doesn’t like her back. I totally understand how she feels. I can’t think of anything worse than letting a boy know you like him and having him reject you. (Wait, there is one thing worse than that—having the Pops find out that you like a guy who doesn’t like you back. Now that would be embarrassing! The Pops would make sure the whole school found out—immediately.)

            I wish I could help my friend get this guy as her boyfriend. But since I’m sworn to secrecy, I don’t think there’s much I can do. It’s not like I can just go up to this guy (who is actually really cute, by the way) and tell him. I really would like to help her though. Has this ever happened to you or one of your friends? What did you do?

 

Thanks!

 

XXOO

Jenny