Being totally aware that I don't brag nearly enough about my child, I am linking the most recent article she wrote for the Wausau Daily Herald's Merrill Focus section. Earlier this year she went on a Leadership Trip to DC through the 4-H. This was the article she wrote in support of the program.

Teen Enjoys 'Educational' Trip

She also took the pictures that are with the article. Actually, she took over 2,000 pictures on her trip, but only sent three to the newspaper.

This is her second article for the Merrill Focus. A third one of her's will be in next Friday's issue.

Your uniqueness is more than an outward appearance.

My daughter translated it: Mom, you're weird inside and out.

Happy Sweet 16, twilight11!

Thank you for being you. Love you so much.

I couldn't ask for a better daughter.

LOVE!

Myr was down in Madison today to see the University's production of "Hair". The story, as she told it (although it's much better when told directly by her and for full effect, imagine it all said in one, long breath):

---

We were waiting for the play to start, and all the cast was out in the audience, handing out flowers. One gal sat down next to me. "How are you," she asked. "I'm fine. How are you?", I replied -- because this is what I always say when someone asks me how I am. She looks at me and goes, "I'm high." And I reply "Well, that's always fun". I obviously wasn't thinking clearly, because she was one the cast and she was sitting by me, out in the audience. After she left, this guy came and sat next to me, too. He put his arm around me and said, "How you doing, sister?" I don't remember what I said, but he smelled the (fake) flower I had in my hair. Then he went away, another guy came and asked me if the flower was real, when I said no he goes: "Reality is the way, man. Go with the truth." I really wish I would have said "But reality fades," but they were rather scary. For the next 15 minutes, I was terrified they would come out again. During intermission the (actor) cops came out and arrested the person in front of me. I kept thinking they were going to choose me. My chant: Actors belong on the stage. Actors belong on the stage. Actors belong on the stage.

---

She really liked it, despite the fact that it was "seriously awkward" in parts. She was really glad they didn't do the nude scene because "How awkward would that be? They were sitting right next to you before the start and then, there they are, up on stage, nude. Seriously, not cool." Of course all musicals make her "ridiculously happy" and that she'd like to see it again.

It's a ton of fun to listen to her talk about it all and to watch her demonstrate some of the less subtle moves that the males on stage would make. She goes: "I kept thinking: Really, man? I mean, seriously?", which is inevitably followed by her favorite comment about the show "It was awkward."

In between all of that wonderful commentary, she did have some more analytical comments about the play. She says it's a lot like "Across the Universe". Everyone seemed to have "a lot of issues". She wasn't sure, if at the end, if Claude died in reality or just symbolically - as in he was dead to the group once he did something that didn't follow what they believed.

I totally and completely adore my child.

Just to add to that love: She wants to stop at the library to pick up a copy of "Hamlet". She's reading a novel called "Ophelia" all about, well, Ophelia and she wants to read Hamlet to see if the play is as messed up as this book portrays. I think she's going to love Hamlet, as she has a fondness for crazy.

Busy Weekend!

I've already had a busy weekend and it's only 1:00 on Saturday!

Myria is a 4-H Ambassador and helps out with the two after school 4-H clubs that we have here in town. She (and the other ambassadors) had this opportunity to take part in a two day After-school conference, the extension had a grant to pay for the registration and room fees. The kicker was that it was going to be held in the Wisconsin Dells at the Wilderness Resort Park Indoor Waterpark. Teenagers + conference + waterpark = YES.

Unfortunately, two weeks after agreeing to go, Myr found out that the District Forensics finals were going to be held on that same Saturday. That meant two of the kids who agreed to do the two-conference couldn't go. Myr was disappointed so I offered to drive down and pick her up bring her back for her meet. Then, because there was money for another registration and because it meant spending time with Myr, my Mom agreed to go along.

So yesterday I got got up early to get Myr and Gran to the van take off point by 6 am then headed to work. I got off at 1:30 and drove the 2 1/4 hour drive down to the Dells, I got there just as the conference itself was ending, so I joined everyone at the "Meet and Greet" at Monks. Gran and Myr won door prizes, we ate a dinner of nachos and mini-hamburgers, then headed to the water park. We ordered pizza at 9:30, and packed up and hit the hay at 10:30.

At 4:30 we got up, packed that car and Myr and I headed home. Gran stayed for todays sessions. Myr slept on the way up, and we got back just in time to buy her breakfast at McDonald's and drop her off at the school for the bus to leave at 8.

I got home at 8:30, talked to Wil, cleaned the kitchen up and still have a whole weekend to go!

ETA: I wrote this at 1:00, but forgot to post it, something that happens more often than I care to admit.

ETA 2: Myr did well and she is going to state! Yay!

I've been so careful. I am well aware of my fangirl weakness and I take care not to play into them.

So where did I go wrong? I have been main-lining three new fandoms

NCIS: Okay. This one snuck up on me. I tried to watch it when it first came out because the premise looked good, but I couldn't make it through a whole episode. Gibbs and Ducky were wonderful. Abby was interesting, even if I thought she was overly-cliched. However, Kate annoyed me and Tony pissed me off. I can't watch a show where I want to slap half the characters every time they're onscreen. Then I caught a couple of third season episodes when they played on USA. I fell in love with McGee and Ziva and Jenny. Turned out that Abby was a well-developed character, not just a fangirl fantasy. They even managed to make me like Tony -- no small feat considering how much I hated him. I still can't watch most of the first two seasons, but I adore the everything since then.

Leverage: This was a no brainer. I love the A-Team, To Catch a Thief, Switch -- any of those "outlaws work for justice" type shows. I tried to be smart and not watch it, however, my hubby loves me and he set the DVR to record it. I couldn't very well not watch it, could I? The show is that perfect light-hearted caper show that isn't anywhere else in the world right now. I have the last two episodes to watch yet -- saving them up because I won't get any more until next season.

Burn Notice: How can you not like a show where the main character says: "I'll take a hardware store over a gun any day. Guns make you stupid. Better to fight your wars with duct tape. Duct tape makes you smart." It's like a hybrid between MacGyver and The Equalizer, with a cool talking-to-the-fourth-wall style that makes you part of the show. And it has Bruce Campbell! And Sharon Gless! I have so much mad love for this show. There is nothing about it that I don't adore.

You know what makes all this fangirly fun even better?

I get to share it all with Myr! She's the one who first wanted to watch Burn Notice. She encouraged me to give NCIS a second chance and not be so quick to judge a show based on the first season (which she also doesn't like). She loves the characters on Leverage as much as I do.

Fangirling is so much fun when you can share it -- and it gives me an insight into how my soon-to-be 16-year-old daughter thinks about the world. She loves the shows where justice is served. She likes the happy endings in Leverage but also enjoys the satisfying but not completely everyone is perfectly happy endings of Burn Notice. She notices but forgives the sometimes uninteresting plots of NCIS because the characters are so very compelling. She likes ships but doesn't want to sacrifice character to get one.

However I must admit that my favorite comment from her was much less cerebral. We were watching an episode of Burn Notice where Micheal (Jeffrey Donovan) is going undercover as a slightly grungy good-ol'-boy by the name of Homer. She looks up from the art project she was doing and sees him standing there with a beat up baseball cap, greasy sleeveless t-shirt and goes: "Good Lord! Is there anything he doesn't look good in?"

Oh yeah. She's a girl after my own fangirl heart.

Myria is quickly becoming a fangirl -- a fangirl after my own heart.

My wonderful husband bought me the entire Man from UNCLE dvd set. Myria and I have been working through the seasons, watching them in order.

It thrills me to no end that she loves the show. It thrills me even more to know that she loves many of the same things (and characters) that I love about the show. I also adore that she had different insights and different reasons for that love. Mind, I think that her love of Illya, just shows that good taste runs in the family but she has her own take on everything, a take that I'm happy to discus with her.

Today, while waiting for me to get off work, she spent a bit of time playing around on the computer saying that she was doing something "for me".

When I get home I had an invitation to join this Man from UNCLE facebook group that she just created.

Hee. This fills me with great glee. Granted MFU fandom is very small and I doubt that the group will be hugely popular. Ah, but it is fun, none-the-less.

A family that fangirls together, stays together.

She also wants a shirt that says "Careful. Your fangirl is showing!" I'll have to devise something for her. Something with Illya on it, I think.

At the end of last week, Wil unexpectedly learned that he would have the entire weekend off. Which considering it's the weekend before Thanksgiving and Wil works at Sears... well, you get the picture. We decided, on the spur of the moment, to head down to Madison and spend a great weekend relaxing.

However the trip was both much shorted and much more exciting than planned. Also to add: not very much relaxing happened.

Wil worked until 9:30 on Friday, so Myr and I drove down to pick him up and head out. Myr, who just got her driver's learning permit two weeks ago, drove all the way down and through Wausau to pick him up. Then she was going to drive for the next couple of hours until we made it to Portage.

So, you ask, when did it get exciting??

Shortly outside of Stevens Point we were passed. That car edged slightly into our lane just as Myr edged slightly into theirs. Myr corrected, then corrected again, but the car was sluggish and then went into a spin. we ended up backwards in the ditch. We didn't flip and the car was still running fine when we stopped. It turns out, however that a lengthy skid on pavement and into the frozen ditch is very hard on tires. The rear tire was off the rim and the front one was chewed up pretty badly. Yeah. There were a whole lot of things that could make spinning off the road at 60 mph a whole lot less happy.

By the time we got out and decided that we were all fine and took inventory of the car and tired, the gal who was passing us when we spun out circled back to see how we were (very nice of her). She had already called 911 (even nicer of her) and she said she would wait until help came (can't get much nicer than that). A sheriff's deputy should up about a minute later. She called a tow and she checked everything out and made sure we were fine.

All told we were towed out of the ditch and in the tow garage in under an hour. We had been hoping to be able to change the rear tire and drive home, but the front tire had also decided to go flat, so we opted to have it towed to a near by garage. They could fix the tires and put it on the lift to make sure there wasn't anything else wrong with it.

Turns out that the ball joints were bad. They could have sustained some damage in the spin out, but most likely they were going bad before. Since the ball joints, I'm told, deal with the steering, they could have contributed to the wipe out. I have noticed that the steering seemed a little spongy lately, but was putting off getting it looked at. Yeah, I know, dumb move.

Anyhow, the only damage from the wipe out was two tires. Since that was way under the $1000 needed to report an accident. So YAY. Of course, that means no serious looking into what caused the accident. We will never know exactly what happened. But since no one was hurt and we still have a car, it really doesn't matter.

Myr is much better today than she was yesterday. She did drive us to the movie theatre on Thursday, so that horse has been rode. She is also dealing with what might have happened very well, although she did say to me "You are being awfully nice to me considering I almost killed you and Dad." I told her that that type of thing is true, but that it didn't bear thinking too much about.

In any case, life isn't bad, despite the cost of repairs. (OK, I really want to whine about the cost of the repairs and the fact that I really can't afford them. But I will just leave it at that.) The biggest drawback to all of this was that we didn't get to visit finabair. *pout*

Lovely quote that Myr is putting on the back of her art sketch book --

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there.

Henry Miller

It's the end of the school year and Myr is finishing up classes. She has gotten back most of her work and her research paper (on the Triangle Shirtwaist fire) from English was graded and handed back.

She recieved 280 points out of a possible 280. WOOT! Even more impressive was the comment put on the top: This was signularly the best research paper from a high school student that I've ever read. You have a graceful and intriguing writing style.

Oh, yeah. She is good.

Myria has been working on fantasy costume for quite a while. We've been picking up bits and pieces of it at different cons we go to -- a cloak here, accessories there. She has a good idea of the type of blouse she wants (something loose with puffy sleeves, maybe pirate-y) and she'd like a nice bodice or (comfortable) corset type thing.

She wasn't thrilled about wearing a skirt, but she didn't think that pants would exactly work. Then we went to see Prince Caspian and she decided that the skirt/pants outfit that Lucy wore would be perfect for what she wanted. She actually totally loved Susan's outfit, too.

Are there any good places to look for good pictures of the outfits? Or know where I could get patterns like (or similar to) the Narnia outfits?

Thanks!

1. Wait for daughter to be off of all allergy/asthma meds.
2. Let 10 days pass.
3. Arrange to move lots of boxes and shelving in very dusty basement.
4. Sit back and watch itching and sneezing!

Actually, Myr is going in tomorrow to be officially tested for allergies and asthma. She needed to be off all antihistamines 10 days prior to test and all other allergy inhibitors for 3 days prior to test. She could still use an inhaler if she needed, but that was also discouraged. If she developed hives or if she couldn't breathe she could medicate as needed, but she was supposed to stay away from it if possible.

Tonight we had to go over and help my mom clean out her basement. This was a spur-of-the-moment thing. They are having their basement waterproofed and needed to get everything away from the east side wall and half way along the north and south walls. Now my folks basement if finished but not FINISHED -- as in it's got cement floor and my mom's sewing stuff is down the along with the washing machines. My dad has his reloading bench and sundry outdoor stuff. It's not finished to the point of being "rooms". They do have a "root cellar" -- a homemade walled off area that we store all our canned goods and potatoes and onions and the like. They also store lots of stuff. Some theirs, some ours, because we have no storage.

We ended up moving all that stuff to various parts of the basement. There was much dust. There was much physical exertion. There was some dismantling of shelves and hauling of heavy shelves. It was hot and stuffy.

Myr did great. She sneezed and wheezed and coughed. But now we got home and she showered and is good.

She still thinks it was a mean mom trick, though.

Back here I shared that Myr made it to state for Forensics. (I should probably explain that, especially in a North American competitive environment, forensics is the art and science of public speaking and has nothing to do with Crime Scene Investigation. It includes everything from reading prose or poetry to giving a speech to debate to radio acting.)

The event was held Friday and Saturday in Madison and Myr was scheduled at 7 pm on Friday in the lovely Education Hall, halfway up Bascom Hill on the UW campus. Bascom Hill is beautiful no matter what time of year it is, but the cool rain/mist that was happening last Friday reminded me the of Halloweens that my friends and I spent running around campus -- in costume and having fun. There are pictures from that time; I will have to dig them up.

She got the day off of school; traveling down with the team in the morning and spending the day around Madison. I had to work until 4:30, and then planned on driving down to see if I could watch her. It was unlikely I'd make it as I tend to be conservative when I drive and the 150 mile trip usually takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours, counting the time needed to drive through Madison.

However, just to prove that I'm a conservative driver by nature and not necessity, I made it down ( in just over two hours )

I trudge up Bascom Hill and get to her room in the Hall just in time to hear her give the last two minutes of her piece (through the door, as I'm not stupid enough to interrupt a forensics meet). It's not what I wanted, but after spending 30 minutes just trying to park in that nightmare, I would take what I could get.

It was worth it though. She earned 24 out of 25 points. That netted her a Silver Medal. YAY!Myr! It also earned her a letter in Forensic! WooHoo!Myr! (For those of you unfamiliar with letters and letterman jackets, Wiki explains all).( Believe it or not, I continue... )

It’s odd how much pleasure and satisfaction I get out of my daughter’s achievements. It’s amazing to know that, despite all my limitations and foolish mistakes in being a person and a parent, she is becoming her own person, a person that I find very interesting and would be glad to have as a friend. That has to be the very coolest thing about being a parent.

Myria did her first freshman paper, on the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York. She worked really hard on it and it's a terrific paper. I'm not putting it here because I expect you to read it, but it is interesting and a great bit of history. Of course, it may just be a mom thing...

( Triangle: The Fire of Change )

Myr had her district Forensics meet today. I was worried she wouldn't make it because the flu has decided to make itself at home in my house. I kept her home from school on Friday because I knew that she would hate missing the Forensics meet. It was the right decision despite her insistence that she could have made it. She probably could have, but the kid is way too tough for her own good and "making it" isn't a good choice.

Anyhow, she was feeling good today and did well at the meet. She scored well enough to move onto state, which is next month. So, YAY MYR!

Currently we are taking turns watching Firefly (which we have seen before) and Brisco County, Jr. (which we just got). In between, we take long breaks and Myr works on her English paper. She's writing on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911. It's her first true research paper and the teacher is having them do all the bells and whistles -- from using non-internet sources to organizing their points on index cards to do several drafts that will be peer-critiqued. The best part of it is how enthusiastic Myr is about the subject and paper. I love how she stops every so often to read me a good quote or a tragic snippet. I love how she's debating the structure of her paper and whether or not all the subtopics she's chosen are really relevant to her thesis -- or if she should modify her thesis now that she's discovered more about the Fire.

Mostly I love that she really, really wants to do the paper well and that she is truly interested in the subject -- going so far as to completely reading the books she checked out.

She just loves to learn new things.

This past Saturday was the Speaking and Puppetry Contest for 4H. Myr did her reading that she's doing for forensics called Dragons and Dining.

She did very well. As part of the fair, she earned a Blue Ribbon. Even better she was awarded "Best in Show"! Life is good.

Here is a video of her performance. It was taken with Myr's little digital camera so it's not the greatest copy but, as fate would have it, the official tape cut out 3/4 the way through her performance. Oh well, I'm sure I can tape her when she does it again, but I thought I'd share it now, anyhow. (I'll warn you, it's about 7 minutes long).

Myr was sick Monday. Sick enough that even she didn't want to go. She was running a 101 fever so I was glad of this. I took off most of the day to take care of her, mostly because I could.

Today she was better; her fever hovered under 100. She told me the night before "I am going to school. I have to practice for forensics or I won't get in!". Fortunately for me, school was cancelled due to evil weather.

She packed everything up tonight and made her plans to get all her homework --- see, she is supposed to go on an Accelerated Art overnight to the School Forest Thursday and Friday. She told me. "I'm only going to be in school one day this week!".

Well, no, she isn't. They already cancelled school for tomorrow. See it's -5 and falling outside. Which isn't too bad until you factor in 40+ MPH winds. That makes is -50 when it gusts, which is most of the time.

She now fretted that they won't go to the School Forest, that it will be postponed.

Of course, if it is, that means on Friday rather than go to school, she can go up to Tomahawk for a training session for Teen Court....

Last semester she had 14 day of "absent". All but one were school related.

Sitting in the living room watching music videos and chatting about nothing, Myr says to me:

"You know what I've decided, Mom? The summer after I graduate (that's over three years away, mind) I'm going to take a two week trip by myself. I don't know where I'm going to go, but I'll camp. I'll take Papa's bike -- the little one -- and just head out."

She pauses a moment and says, "That sounds good doesn't it?"

Let me think: my 18-year-old daughter, on her own, on a red Honda 250, spending two weeks somewhere in the country, alone. I so don't think so.

I say: "Sounds great, honey. A trip to remember."

Gads. This mom stuff sucks.

finabair: You made Myr cry. I hope you're happy.

...

She vowed she wasn't going to read the second book right away, only she wanted to start it and "There was no good place to stop!" and now... now she is sad. And she's almost finished with the book.

I think it is safe to say that we will need to get the third one very soon. And that she is very in love with the series. I think she said -- "It's Perfect". Heh.

It's just Myr and I today, as Wil has a Redemption tournament and then works late tonight. I have big plans for the day.

• Sleep in late.
  
• Get up slowly and bum around the house for a bit.
  
• Go to coffee shop.
  
• Drink coffee and eat a breakfast sandwich for lunch. Write/work on computer and chat with Myr until 1:00 or 2:00 (Coffee shop closes at 2 so we will have to leave).
  
• Go to the library.
  
• Return books, walk the stacks, write/work on the computer and chat with Myr until 4:00 or 5:00 (Library closes at 5:00 so we will have to leave).
  
• Go to folks place and eat supper with them. I think they are having chili or potato soup.
  
• Head home, do some wash, clean the kitchen and put the chicken in a brine so it can roast tomorrow.
  
• Drink some wine, write/work on the computer.

Since it is now almost 1:00, you may be interested in how well my plan is going....

Quite well, actually.

My coffee shop recently added wireless so I get to do some online stuff (like make this post and chat with finabair). Coffee is $1.75 for unlimited refills of non-specialty coffee so I am well caffeinated. Myr and I have chatted and ate and are having fun. She brought her own laptop and is working on a "sad" Christmas icon that she won't let me see.

The only drawback is that I haven't done any actual writing yet. I still have plans, though. *grin*