The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Those podcasts I was talking about? This is a hilarious, kid-safe parody of -- well, I'm not sure what it's a parody of. It's beautiful, though. I've continued to browse the podcasts in the iTunes music store. I'm referencing this one because I don't think you have to listen to it through an ipod. I think you can just download the files off of their website -- there's a link in the title of this posting (aren't those links cool?). Each episode is only about 5 minutes long, but there are 38 episodes so far, and I'm pretty sure they make a new one every week or so. Once you're caught up, it's a pain to have to wait for the next one... . Maybe I should work on patience this week.

I've been floating mindlessly through the last few days, sleeping in on Sunday now that we're not attending a congregation, sleeping in on the holiday, and lazing around.

We decided that when people say they go to this or that church, what they really mean is 'congregation.' The whole body of Christ is the church, not just my church or your church. The word's been a bit corrupted.

So, we're still not attending anywhere. We've had 'services' at home before, and we're doing that again. The Bible talks about fellowship with brothers and sisters; I've got enough to go around! (giggle) We'll probably get together with some other families or do some church hopping. We've still got Christian friends.

I spent Sunday at my grandparents' house. We went for a nice 3-mile walk. I'm not used to long walks anymore, but it was very enjoyable. I haven't been spending a lot of time with them; now that they've moved back down from Lewiston I've been too grown up to go and spend the night. I remedied that this weekend. We watched a movie together (The Four Feathers, the new one with Heath Ledger) and helped my aunt and uncle unpack.

They are also moving back into the Treasure Valley after living in Spokane for about 4 years while my uncle went to Gonzaga to learn to be a lawyer. Now my cousins are all growing up! They have 3 kids. The oldest is a boy who is 13, the girls are about 12 and 9. They were much younger when they moved away... . My uncle is also at the interning stage in his chosen field.

I have three sets of aunts and uncles. One uncle is a shed-builder, the other is an Idaho State Trooper, and the last is the one interning to be a lawyer. The wife of the prospective lawyer is a doctor -- they have just moved into an absolutely huge house, 3400 square feet. I was looking it over on Sunday, and it's very nice.

After we helped them empty the trailers they filled on Friday and Saturday while I was house sitting (Okay, does that have a hyphen or not? House-sitting? This is driving me crazy!), we ended up going to drop my family's trailer off at my house -- it's a funny feeling to visit your own house, drop something off, chat, and leave again. If I'd realized we were going to my house I might have moved home that night, but I didn't. So, I spent that night at my grandparents' house as well. I went home rather early in the morning; I dropped my grandfather off at yet another aunt and uncle's house and picked up my purse that I had accidentally left there overnight. You can tell that I'm very good at keeping track of my things.

Actually, I was a little more nervous about it than I needed to be -- I had a wallet stolen from school last October, and a purse and bag stolen out of my car last February (they bashed the window, too!), so I figure if I get careless I'm just about due for another hit. I'm tired of having to renew my driver's license.

I've been feeling rather broke lately anyway; I had to spend $25 to fill up the gas tank on my car this morning. You may not be impressed by that until I tell you that last summer I only spent an average of $13 to fill the same tank. I think it's a result of the flooded refineries in New Orleans, but I've also heard on the radio that there's not really a shortage, so prices should come back down soon. Not soon enough for me!

I don't have a job right now; my dad thought I might finish more quickly if I spent the time I had spent working in school. Of course, I have no idea if that's been true or not. If it is, then it's a good thing I stopped working when I did -- I've been in school too long! I can earn money by house-sitting and such, but I'm afraid that it's not enough...especially with the current gas prices. I have to fill that tank about 3 times every 2 weeks. I have a 40 minute commute to school every morning; you can imagine that I'm always looking at new music! Can't afford CDs either, though.

I've been trying to get some more interning done lately. Two working reporters, a deposition reporter and a court official came to school today. They're pretty good about coming in every month or so. I was all set to go out and intern about 3 weeks ago, and no-one was available! I think they were all on vacation. I forget about summer vacations sometimes -- my school is year-round and my brothers and sisters are homeschooled. Not that homeschoolers never take breaks, but we can schedule things around to how we like them without regard for public school schedules.

Oh, I promised to talk about that soccer thing, didn't I. Well, here's how it is. My sister who is 14 wanted to be on a high-school soccer team. There are not very many, if any, opportunities for a high-school-aged sports player aside from the school teams. They have a definite monopoly. There was just last year a new law put into effect in Idaho pertaining to 'dual enrollment.' This describes the students whose main schooling occurs elsewhere, but who want to take various supplementary classes in the public school system. Strangely, the sports program is included in this. Basically, what the law says is that 'fully-enrolled' students have preference over 'dually-enrolled' students. So, regardless of ability or age or anything else, if enough fully-enrolled public school students try out for soccer to fill the team, no one else can even be considered.

My poor sister went to the try-outs (and she's a good player), but didn't get to be considered. My mother has been writing letters to everyone she can think of, but the school feels it is safe behind this law. I suppose it is. My mom wants to get the law changed. I don't know how this will play out. I think my mom has a point: We pay taxes for the public school just like everyone else, and we certainly don't get as much back.

My mom used an analogy with the post office: If you are not a frequent post office-user, and you want to deliver a letter, you don't have to get in a special line and wait until everyone who is there regularly is taken care of before they will even notice you. You get the same benefits, the same lines, the same parking as anyone else who is paying for this government service. So, what's the difference? Hmmmm...

Well, I think I've done my duty by the blog -- besides, my fingers are starting to ache. Come on, I already spent several hours today practicing my stenography! I need a break!

Wow, looking back I have certainly written a lot this evening. Shows what you can do when you tell yourself to sit down and think back over the past few days.

I was going to stop, but I have to mention the project I just finished. When I was up at my grandparents' house earlier this year (it was still very cold -- must have been March or so) I wanted to do a metal-working project that could be a way to mount some of my earrings and other jewelry that has been littering the top of my dresser forever. So we made a watchamacallit spring-hoop, kind of similar to one of those wooden embroidery hoops. It'd been sitting on my bedroom floor for months. Yesterday I finally spray-painted it black and stretched a bit of burlap on it and hung it on the wall. The burlap has the perfect sized holes to push earring studs through, and I wove some cording along the bottom rim to dangle necklaces from. I'm so proud of it! It actually looks kinda artsy. As an added plus, it's in neutral colors so I can keep it out when I finally paint my room -- or move out, whichever comes first!

Okay, I really have to be done. My brother will be disappointed in me if I don't write another chapter in my book and email it to him this evening. What, you didn't know I was writing a book? Isn't everybody?