All I want for Christmas is to RELAX! I have been working so hard since September with all of the homewrok and projects I’ve been getting. I have not even been able to relax on weekend or even 3 or 4 day weekends. This weekend alone I have to do the entire A Seperate Peace study sheet, an AP History speech, go christmas shopping, buy and decorate my tree, and on Sunday I have church from 8:45am to about 6pm! When am I going to have time for all of that!? All i want for Christmas is for all of my teachers to give me absolutley NO WORK and not make me a nervous wreck and make me work on my only REAL vacation so far.

Millie tryouts are here and i am excited! Tryouts make me kinda frustrated and anxious but thats ok because they are still fun! The songs in the show are great and the characters are awesome! This show will be so much fun! Even if i don’t get in i cant wait to see it! I know a lot of people who are excited about it too. My favortie song right now is the Speed Test. Ive been trying tosing the last verse but its so hard! Its so fast! I feel bad for whoever has to song that one, but its still an amazing song. This play is going to be fantastic and i cant wait until March!

7. He/she was probably cheating anyway

6.Guess what! (their boyfriend/girlfriend name) just asked me out!

5. How did you’re first date go again?

4. Guess who was flirting with me!

3.You are terrible at keeping a relationship anyway.

2. So?

1. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Before the French and Indian war, the political ideology and practice included benign neglect in which the Parliament of England did not interfere with the actions and government of the colonies. With the beginning of the French and Indian war, began an economic change for the colonies. Their lands would become more vast and Britain would start to tax the colonies to pay for the cost of the war. The colonists, before the French and Indian War, were more willing and proud to call Britain the mother country and their home. This is shown in a letter written by George Washington to Robert Orme when he states, “…the laudable desire I may have to serve( with my best abilities) my King and country,” When the French and Indian war started, the colonists realized how much power Britain had over them. Britain had dragged them into a war in which the colonies did not have much of a motive in. As the years of the war wore on, colonists began to resent the British Parliament. They no longer volunteered to fight in the war and thus began the downfall of the British nationalism they once had. A soldier’s pain during the war is expressed when he states, “…and though we be Englishmen born, we are debarred [denied] Englishmen’s liberty.” This shows how the colonists are starting to recognize the political injustice done to them by being forced into a war. In 1763, Parliament issued the Proclamation of 1763 which denied the colonies access to the lands they had newly acquired. It stated that the colonies must not surpass the natural border known as the Appalachian Mountains. They later allowed Roman Catholics to occupy the area west of the Appalachians which angered the colonists even more. Parliament soon started to tax the colonies starting with the Stamp Act. This immediately began an uprise of propaganda and controversy. “No taxation without representation” became one of the main ideologies of the time period. The colonies were not represented in Parliament yet Britain began to tax them to gain money for the cost of the war. As Britain began to add on more taxes and grievances to the colonies, the political, economic, and ideologies of the colonies began to clash and become more diverse from those of Britain. Benign neglect was no longer practiced as it was before the French and Indian war. The British Parliament began answering to the cry of “No taxation without representation”with the idea of virtual representation in government which was the belief that the colonists, who did not have actual representation, were represented by men in Parliament who were elected by “similar” conditions and were in “similar” positions. The colonists however, wanted Britain to allow them to have actual representation in the government. The colonists boycotted the taxes and used propaganda to get the rights they had lost after the French and Indian War. The French and Indian War caused great grievances in the colonies and in Britain. The freedom the colonists had before the French and Indian had vanished by about 1755 when the colonies no longer wanted to participate in the war and began to resent the British power held over them without any real inclusion in the decision making in government. Economically the colonies suffered from the resulting taxes of the French and Indian war. The colonies began to unite in their suffering against parliament and began to develop their own political ideas. The French and Indian war changed the Political, economic and ideologies on the colonies and the United States forever and changed the course of American history.

This is a song that means a lot to me. I think it is a very pretty song and it has some points in it that i think are very true. Particularly, the line “If young love is just a game then I must have missed the kick off”. This song should be heard at least once by everyone.

Going Away To College- blink 182

Please take me by the hand
It’s so cold out tonight, I’ll
Put blankets on the bed
I won’t turn out the light, just
Don’t forget to
Think about me, and I
Won’t forget you
“I’ll write you once a week,” she said

Why does it feel the same
To fall in love or break it off?
And if young love is just a game, then
I must have missed the kick-off
Don’t depend on me to
Ever follow through on
Anything but
I’d go through Hell for you and

I haven’t been this scared
In a long time
And I’m so unprepared
So here’s your valentine
Bouquet of clumsy words
A simple melody
This world’s an ugly place
But you’re so beautiful to me

I’ll think about the times
She kissed me after class and
She put up with my friends
I acted like an ass, I
Ditched my lecture
To watch the girls play soccer
Is my picture
Still hanging in her locker?

I haven’t been this scared
In a long time
And I’m so unprepared
So here’s your valentine
Bouquet of clumsy words
A simple melody
This world’s an ugly place
But you’re so beautiful…

I haven’t been this scared
In a long time
And I’m so unprepared
So here’s your valentine
Bouquet of clumsy words
A simple melody
This world’s an ugly place
But you’re so beautiful…

There once was an old man., decrepit and soggy in sight. His back and body curled into question mark. He groaned and grumbled all day in his creaky rocking chair by the fire with his dry, stiff, weary mouth. He looked angry all the time, and he seemed to hate everything about everything. But through all his anger and crippled body, there was a softer, much gentler side to this old man. He had a passion bigger than any of the vast fields and farms in the country. He loved to make and collect clocks. They were the only things loud enough for the old man to hear. Not even his hearing aid could pick up any sound, except for that of the clock. It was a strange thing to only hear the sound of, but he enjoyed it so. Every day at midnight, every clock in the house went off at the same time. At this hour, was the only hour, that the old man ever smiled. Laying in his bed just before sleeping at midnight, he heard the thousands of clocks singing to him through the dead night air. He would just smile and go to sleep when the house went silent once again, never even opening an eye. One night, when the air was unusually cold, and the old man unusually tired, he had gone to bed early. All of the lights were out, and the house was silent. The man slept peacefully in his bed. In the midst of the night, there came a noise. A slight creek rang out through the still house. A burgler had opened the door and stepped into the old mans house. He snuck silently up the stairs to the old mans bedroom where he lay sound asleep. “This house will be easy to get, i know this old guy is deaf.” he thought to himself. The masked man tip-toed to the bed, reached his shaking hand slowly in to his pocket, and drew a knife. He watched the old man sleep for a minute or two and whispered, “Now you are mine.” He raised the knife high above his head. At this the burgler dropped his dagger on the old man’s bed, for there came a terrifying noise from the level below. Midnight had struck and he was trapped by the sounds of one thousand clocks, “Cuckoo, cuckoo! Ding, ding! Bong! Tweet, tweet!” no sooner had he turned his head from the noise had he turned it back to see the old man staring into his horrified eyes whispering, “Cuckoo, cuckoo,” which was the last thing the masked man would ever hear.

Carl Degler discusses many of the importances of religion, education and the stereotypes that came along with them. The Puritans viewed the bible very differently from many Christians today. They felt that, “God sent you not into this world as a Play-House, but a Work-House.” In the years before the revolution, the Puritans had a theocracy and religion and education coincided. These were very important in Puritan society.

Puritans had a gloomy and sad outlook on life. They thought that God did not intend for them to enjoy things but rather that they must work for God in order for him to accept them. The stereotype of Puritans is that they are strict in their work and school and life and not enjoying themselves because it is viewed as sin. Degler rebuts this because of the numerous accounts of confessions in church of premarital sexual relations, inebriation and swearing. He shows that the Puritans were human and they did indulge in the luxuries of life and enjoy themselves even if their actions were considered sins.

Education and religion, in the seventeenth century, were one in the same. The schools and colleges were built around religion and learning the bible. Since the Puritans had a theocracy, people needed to become very educated in the Bible to obtain a high position in government and church. People primarily went to universities to become ministers or high church officials. As stated by a Puritan divine, “Ignorance is the mother (not of Devotion but) of Heresy.”

The Puritans were also in some ways, hypocrites. They had separated from the Anglican church but they did not allow anyone in their own society to disagree or break off from them. They shunned Anne Hutchinson for her ideals of being “filled with god” and not needing to go to church or have a church official to talk to God. She spoke out against the Christian church and was persecuted for her beliefs. The Puritans had very hypocritical views in their church because even though they broke off from a church and had different beliefs, they did not accept anyone who believed differently than them.

The Bible and religion were studied in the early schools of the Puritans. The first college in the United States was Harvard, and it was made for the highest learning available in the seventeenth century. The school was made to primarily teach ministers. Preparatory schools were made to prepare people who were to attend the college. Many colleges and universities were built after Harvard, also. Education was of the utmost importance to the Puritans because their society was based on religion and in order to understand their religion, they had to attend school. This is shown when Degler states, of the importance of Puritan education, “To the Puritans the education of ministers could be nothing less than the best learning of the day.”

Puritans took education and religion very seriously. Their lives were devoted to the understanding of the Bible and to work for God and not to indulge in happy lives. H.L. Mecken stated of Puritan lifestyle, “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” They regarded education highly and needed it to survive and taught religion in school in order to have educated ministers. Their views on religion were very hypocritical and strict, but not all people abode by the rules of the church which contradicts the Puritan stereotype of the not happy and fun forbidding life.

The “Sit-N-Spin”, though a simple contraption, was one of the most beloved toys that I had in my childhood. The concept was simple, just sit on the edge of the round disk, wrap you legs around the little wheel in the middle and spin yourself around. I loved trying my hardest to go as fast as I could to feel the rush of air gust through my hair. I loved watching my grandmother’s living room turn into swirls of colors and luster. I would spin so apace, that the “Sit-N-Spin” would tip over and I would fall on the ground. I would close my eyes and fell the room move about in very direction. The room would jolt and quake as I lied there on the cushy carpet. The room would slowly repress and the colors and lights in the room would be back to normal.

It was a dark and stormy Halloween night. Ten year old Timmy was home alone. All of the trick-or-treaters had come and gone, and Timmy decided to settle down for a quiet hour with his video games before turning in for the night. Suddenly, he heard a sound at the window.

“Scccccrrrrraaaaaatch!!!”

“What was that?” he cried. No sooner had he spoken than there came a thump at the door. Timmy ran to the door and, flinging it open, discovered that there on his front step lay a severed head. At first, he looked away in horror, but there was something dreadfully familiar about that head. He gazed back at the horrified eyes of the victim and realized it was Mike, his best friend. His stomach was sick, but being the tough boy that he was, he gathered the courage to look closer at the greusome head. He moved the head with his foot and found a tape recorder attatched to the back with a tape inside that said “Play Me”. He warily took the tape recorder and pressed play.

The tape recorder crackled and bellowed, “Hello Timmy, I want to play a game. It is Halloween night and you decided to stay home instead of enjoying your friends. You never went with the crown did you? You always had to be the loner in the group and bring others down. See what happens when you aren’t there for your friends? Now it’s your turn. Can you save the lives of the ones who you never bothered with? Can you save yourself? Live or die Timmy…make your choice.”

He dropped the recorder in great terror. He backed away from the head, but bummped into something. He screamed on the top of his lungs!

“Hey buddy! It’s me! I got you so good!” Mike exclaimed.

It took a minute to regain his breath, “Then what is the head? And how did you get in here?”

“I was scratching at the door but i finally got in. You should hide your key in a better place. Isn’t the head a great art project?”

“Oh…yea…” Timmy sighed, “Then who recorded the tape?”

Mike stared at Timmy for a few seconds and said, “What tape?”

     “Flight one twenty eight is canceled.” the loud speaker boomed over the airport. Jessica looked at me with widened eyes, and I looked back at her unsure of her reaction. She quickly opened her boarding pass to see that it was our flight that had been canceled.

     “Oh my God…” her voice quivered. I saw her world come shattering down as the one trip she longed to go on her whole life was ripped away with a few simple words.

      “I’m so sorry Jess…” I whispered. I knew how crushed she was. She had gone on so many trips and vacations in her life and never got to go to the Carribean. It took us months to plan this trip since this is our first time being out of our parents house since we are 18. We planned it to be in the summer before college and now we weren’t sure when we could take the time to plan it again with college coming up. All of the spots on the flights were taken for the last few months of summer anyway. I could not imagine how disappointed she was.

      “What are we going to do now?” she asked.

       “I…I don’t know…” I replied.

       “I’ll never get to there now.” she sighed.

      “I’m sorry…Let’s just go home now.” I said as we got up to leave. I drove home. The whole car ride home she stared out the window without saying anything. I knew that we would not be able to go on this trip again in a very long time. I tried to comfort her.

      “It will be O.K. There will be another time.”

      “No! No there won’t! I’ve waited such a long time for this, and now it’s gone! We planned this for so long! I won’t be able do this again for like ever!” she yelled in frustration.

      “I was just trying to help!” I snapped back.

      “Well, you aren’t!” she pouted. I dropped her off home without saying anything to her. She was in a bad mood and so was I. I tried not to be mad at her for snapping at me, but I couldn’t. A few days went by and we didn’t talk very much until one day I got an amazing surprise in the mail.

       One morning, I woke up and found the mail on the dining room table. As usual, i sifted through with tired eyes until I saw a certain letter that was bright blue. It was addressed to me and it had “American Cruise Lines” printed on the front. I suddenly remembered a contest I had entered at the end of my senior year at school last month.

       “No way.” I whispered to myself in disbelief. I tore open the letter as fast as I could.

        The letter read, “ Congratulations Heather! You have won a Carribean cruise with American Cruise Lines! This cruise is booked for August 20^th though August 28^th. To RSVP and for more information call 1-800-333-3416.” I read the note in awe. I could not believe what I had just read. Jessica’s dream had just been crushed a few days earlier and now here it was again in my hands. Before I could comprehend it I was running to the phone, but then I thought that maybe I should show her in person. I grabbed my keys and ran to the car to drive to her house. So many thoughts ran through my head as I was nearing her house. I could not believe our luck. I jumped out of the car and galloped to her door. I didn’t even knock i just ran inside her house. I saw her watching T.V. In her living room so I ran up to her and shoved the paper in her face.

       “Is this a joke?” she asked.

      “No Jess! I just got it in the mail! It’s something i signed up for at the end of the year and I won! Me and a guest get to go to the Carribean!” I said in glee. She stared at the paper for a long while. She looked up at me with a blank expression, and stared at me for a while too. All of the sudden, she grabbed me and hugged me so tight I could barley breathe.

       “Thank You.” was all she could squeeze out. Her eyes teared for her dream had been restored. She finally would get her chance to go to the only place she had ever longed to go. I called the cruise line and responded to the letter. Jessica did nothing but smile for the rest of the night as she thought about her trip to the Carribean.