The Invasion

Set up a perimeter! March onwards, men! Show no mercy to the enemy!

Yep, we Cunninghams are now waging a battle within our own household. The enemy, the evil cockroaches. We were watching a couple of movies together last night, and we were ambushed three times in about the course of an hour by the enemy. The first was in the dining room, across from where I was sitting with my laptop. The thing was giant and crawling up the wall. Mandy spotted the enemy first, and we sent in the troops (aka Dad) to neutralize the threat. He dealt with it quickly and flushed the enemy down the toilet after squishing him. That threat over, we returned to our normal lives. Less than thirty minutes later, Mandy walked into our bedroom and once more spotted the enemy. We summoned the legendary hero Jeff Cunningham, cockroach hunter for help with that threat (it was hilarious, since Dad did a Steve Irwin accent and everything. It cracked everyone up.). The threat was once more dealt with, and we could breathe again. Bedtime soon came, and I was waiting to use the bathroom when I spotted a third enemy on the doorpost of the girls' bedroom. The witness was terrified and leaped onto the nearby cedar chest for protection, especially when the enemy moved to the carpet. Captain Seth Cunningham showed no fear and did a most foolish thing, picking up the enemy with his bare hands and throwing it into the toilet. The threat seemed over with, but the nightly battle was not over. The witness went to use the bathroom, and when I lifted the toilet lid, I saw two enemy antenna moving around. The witness panicked again and ran to the bed for safety after the enemy exited the toilet and began walking around on the bathroom floor. Captain Seth had clearly not done his duty, which is shameful in this military war. We summoned the troops once more, and the threat was done with. However, it left the witness scarred and unwilling to use the bathroom afterwards. I believe the troops must search for new weapons in this war: those things where roaches come to take supposed food and then die afterwards (I can't think of the name). Those lazy bums aka the cats clearly aren't doing their duty of protecting us from this villains. The cool house (which now has air-conditioning thanks to Mr. Presley) must be attracting the enemy in. Oh, well. Back to war troops! The battle continues......

Things on Our Minds

One major thing on everyone's mind down here is rain or the lack thereof. Our lawn is beginning to look peaked, and Mom's been watering her plants. There has been plenty of rain in the Midwest but none over here. When it doesn't rain that much or if a summer is dry, the humidity is horrendous. Like today, for example. Mandy and I went to the pool with Megan Presley and her kids, and she told us that her husband had told her that the heat index would be about a hundred degrees today. We've yet to discover if this is true, but I'm not particularly looking forward to discovering it. It's bad to have temperatures in the 90's in June, but what will it be like in July and August, the hottest months of the year? I can imagine something pretty horrible. And, with a broken air conditioning, that's not something we're looking forward to. We're scheming to figure out ways how not to be home between three and six PM, when the sun hits the windows of the front room and when the house becomes an oven.

Seth has gone back to work at Radiant and has been doing well there. Mandy has not gotten a job at the hair salon, as Mr. Hudson has other people who are coming to work for him. I applied for a job on Friday but am unlikely to get it because I lack the experience they are looking for. I'll continue to keep looking, or I'll content myself with babysitting, especially ever Bethany Abraham had her third baby last week. Mom starts her summer college classes tonight. She's taking calculus and another computer class. She's happy because she's taking ecology and mycology in the fall and she loves ecology.

Nothing else exciting has happened around here. My ankle is slowly recovering, but it is still swollen and still purple and bruised in some areas. I can walk without the brace on my ankle, but it's sometimes hard to stand up and climb down stairs. On Friday it started hurting after I climbed up on a chair, and it refused to let me put any weight on it, so I was hopping around the house on one leg, feeling like an idiot. It's somewhat recovered, but it still hurts.

That reminds me. Last Friday after my failed job interview, Mom and Dad drove up to Helen, Georgia for a little 20th anniversary trip. They spent the night up there and came back Saturday afternoon. It was my first time spending the night alone at home, but I survived. It didn't get a bit creepy until I went to bed, and I had a hard time falling asleep. On Saturday morning, I went to a literature conference where Elizabeth McCallum, a woman from our church and author of "The Book Tree," a book of good literature for children from preschool age to high school age, gave an excellent speech on what books to avoid and the like. It was helpful, because if I'm going to be an English teacher one day, it'd be helpful to know what to give my students to read, not to mention any books I might buy for my kids in the distant future.

I almost forgot to mention two other concerns of ours. The first is about our cats. Ever since we came back from camping, our loner cat Oatmeal hasn't come home. Mandy and I tried to go find him, but when we found him, he ran away from us and hasn't been seen since. Fuzz hasn't been seen in over a week, and we haven't found him in his usual haunt down the street. Trouble, Pooky, and Claws have shown up maybe once a day, but they don't hang around like they usually do. We think it's because the attic fan scares the cats and also maybe because there's construction work going on at the house behind ours that burned down two years ago (the property has been bought, and a house is currently being built there); whatever the reason, Mom is getting worried, and I think she thinks Oatmeal isn't going to come back. If Fuzz doesn't come home, she's going to start thinking the same about him. The second concern really isn't a concern, but it's worth noting. Due to the heat, the roaches love entering our house and climbing on walls and the like. They terrify Mandy, and I must admit they creep me out too. The other night, we came home and there were five in various places on the porch. *Shudders*

Camping

Last Wednesday we Cunninghams drove up to Lake Blue Ridge to go camping with the family until Saturday. Uncle Jason and his family arrived shortly after we did, and we got two camping spots. Uncle Josh and his family and Grandpa Mike arrived in Thursday, and everyone had fun on Friday going to Vogul State Park to swim. It was too cold to go tubing, so we're going to go later in the summer like July or August when it really gets hot down here (like it isn't already).

I don't want to give a long detailed account of the camping trip, but I will mention some of the more memorable moments. On the first night, there was a bullfrog that kept croaking its head off and annoyed Mom. We joked about finding the frog and frying up its legs. On Thursday, our first full day there, we woke up to what we thought was a bear growling across the bay from our peninsula. However, we learned it was a dog when we heard it bark. The dog would not be quiet, as he kept howling all day almost non-stop. Usually when we go camping, we have to deal with some flying pest like mosquitos or yellow jackets. This time it was flies. They were all over us (except at night), but they never bit us. Nonetheless, they were extremely annoying. We joked that there was a corpse buried somewhere nearby, which is why the flies were around, but hey, flies are better than dealing with biting mosquitos or stinging yellow jackets. Look at the link below for some pictures from the trip.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21054&l=d6193&id=603748360

Another thing happened on the trip that was memorable though not in a good way. We were at the Passes' cabin for dinner on Friday night when I took Abigail down to the hot tub to show her a spider that someone had found there. I was about to take her back up the steep hill when I tripped and fell. Thankfully, Abigail wasn't hurt. However, I couldn't move either of my feet for some minutes, and my left ankle was killing me. Dad came down and helped me up to the porch, where I reclined on a chair and put my ankle on a pillow. I was in pain all that night and couldn't sleep, and I was not in the best of moods on Saturday morning when it turned swollen. I felt like a slacker because I didn't help take down the tent or pack up the car, or unpack the car when we got home. When we got home, I put a splint on my ankle, and it helped greatly. I've worn the splint ever since, and it's been helping me walk somewhat normally. At church last night, Mr. Presley pointed out that my heel was turning purple. Today, my foot is indeed purple on the sides, but Dad says it's a good sign that it's healing. But, at least I'm walking, so I'm not too worried about it.

Our summer vacation has officially started, but Dad is reining us in. He's restricting our computer time and our movie-watching time for good reasons, so I won't be posting frequently. That reminds me, I've got to call someone about a possible job opportunity this afternoon. I'm looking for a job this summer so that I can curb boredom (which I didn't do very well last year) until school starts up back in August. Mandy's got a job working for a hair cutter at our church, and I believe she starts tomorrow. Seth may not be working at Radiant this year, but that still remains to be seen. Well, gotta go. I'm still on a computer time, and the banana bread is going to be done soon.

Memorial Day

Well, Seth and Mandy are done with school for the year! Last Friday, we went to the church/school for the awards ceremony. I didn't have my camera with me, so there are no pictures. However, I can give an account of what happened. This year was different since there were no seniors. Instead, some of the classes either did little presentations or had little boards with writing, sample papers, and the like set up in the back of the room. I did a slideshow of the school's recent trip to the aquarium and had it run constantly on my computer for about an hour after the awards. During the awards, there were several things to replace the usual senior speeches. The Spanish class did a little skit about going to the doctor, Mrs. Boyd's class did a discussion of a poem, and Pastor Chris's Bible class read their final papers on various topics. After that, the awards were given out. Mandy received the award for Most Improved Student because she did such good work the spring semester, and she received an English award along with three of her classmates. She was also a nominee for the Latin award, but she was beat out by her younger classmate Micah who did well the entire year. We were very proud of her. After the awards, we got together to enjoy the food and some fellowship. Mandy spent the night with her classmate Megan, and the rest of us went home. We decided to celebrate the end of the school year and stay up late to watch "Underworld", though Mom fell asleep ten minutes into it.

Saturday was busy. Mom and I cleaned the church for almost two hours. Then we went to Target to find a black dress for Mandy, who needed it for a costume party that evening. It took as a while to find it. While we were looking, a storm came in, and I mean a big one. It was coming down in sheets, and I couldn't see the parking lot because it was so thick. After we went to Target, we went to a few other places and then home. Ben and Bethany Greer, Cliff Price, and Christopher Strevel came to our house for dinner since they were going to the party as well. We enjoyed fried rice and part of a movie before they left. The costume party went great, but I have no pictures of it. I do know that it was like a 20's mystery/murder party where all the guests had a part to play in the story.

Today was the annual Memorial Day picnic at the Howlands' farm. We arrived there around 11:30 or so and left closer to 5 PM. We had a blast. There were various activities to do like wiffle ball, a hay ride, boat rides, conversation with friends, volleyball, and other stuff. I took over two hundred pictures, but I could only add 60 to a Facebook photo album. To give you a taste of today's festivities, check out the the link.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20709&l=a0220&id=603748360

We're going camping between Wednesday and Saturday, so I'll make sure to post more pictures and more of the happenings of the Cunninghams.

Some pictures

I've got some pictures that I've taken lately.

Trip to the Aquarium:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18592&l=45a69&id=603748360

A recent family gathering:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18888&l=72c31&id=603748360

Random pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19434&l=33737&id=603748360

I've finished my first year of college. I have two A's and a B, and I'm waiting for my English research paper grade. Seth and Mandy have their last full week of school this week and then three days of finals next week. My first week off from college was nothing spectacular, although I did go shopping with Brittny on Thursday. I had a good time, and I got some new PJs, some tank tops, a new skirt, and some body wash. Mother's Day today started out as dark and cloudy because of severe thunderstorms last night. It later turned sunny and was breezy though pleasant. Right now the wind is still blowing hard, and it's getting to get cooler tonight. Happy Mother's Day!

Funny Incident

Here's something funny I'll post before I forget. I was asleep on Thursday morning (since I didn't have classes) when Seth and Mandy got up. Mandy was still in dreamland and decided she wanted to bring pizza for lunch. Instead of putting it in a container, she put it in the microwave and began heating it up. Seth asked her what she was doing, and she answered that she was bringing pizza for lunch. He then asked her why she was heating it up, and then Mandy realized what she was doing. But by the time she stopped the microwave, the pizza was piping hot. Funny, to say the least.

Oh, and keep an eye on the blog. We took a trip to the aquarium with some friends last week, and I'm editing a slideshow on it. I'll be posting it here soon.

Recently

Sorry for not being more diligent with posting. It's been busy around here lately with college winding down for the summer and other events. I hope to post more regularly over the summer.
For me, this is my last week of the 2008 spring semester. I turned in my English research paper a few weeks ago, which meant I am done with English. Digital media's last real class was on Friday, and yesterday was a brief review for the final on Wednesday. Geography is over too, and my final is open-book on Friday. I've already given thought to what I'm going to take in the Fall, and for now I'm taking the following: English 3 (which is actually literature this time), Spanish 2, Music, Physical Science, Physical Science Lab, and American History 1. Last week, I received an email saying that I had made the Presidents' List for Fall 2007; this basically means that I had a 4.0 during the Fall. I attended a boring and un-inspirational breakfast with other fellow schoolmates on the list yesterday morning.

Friday was fun for us girls and our daddy. The Baileys up in Winder hosted the second Father-Daughter campout. We drove up there and had fun camping out with our friends. It was nice weather, and I walked barefoot the entire time (which I now regret because I have bites all over my arms and legs). The next morning, we enjoyed pancakes for breakfast and some of the girls returned to the Baileys' large backyard pool. On our way home, we stopped by Grandma Linda's house to say hello.

The weather has been fickle for us. It seemed to be warming up, even into the 80's during the day and the 60's at night, but Sunday, Monday, and today have been cooler than usual. We've been getting lots of rain with thunderstorms on Fridays and Saturdays (which seems to be happening every single week, no kidding). Our grass is looking gorgeous, tall, and green, and the flowers have bloomed everywhere. Our trees have lost their flowers, sadly, as they never last long. Mom's begun planting her spring backyard deck plants, and Dad has moved his hops plants to the side of the house. Dad's been using controlled fires to burn out the weeds and poison ivy in the backyard, and he's also been slowly working on putting up a tall, wooden fence in the backyard to replace the metal one that was placed upside down by whoever put it there. It is nice to have warmer weather, and I've been sitting outside to get a tan, which hasn't happened yet.

School is winding down for Mom and the siblings too. Mom has her final on Thursday, and she's already finished her biology lab final. Seth and Mandy have a few weeks left of school. Seth might be returning to work at Radiant this summer, and Mandy's going to get a part-time job working at a hair salon run by one of the men at our church. I'm looking for a job as well, something close to home that doesn't involve working at fast food or a gas station.

And now to talk about the cats. Pooky, the big fat gray girly idiot of a cat, has become a big bully around here. He loves instigating fights with Claws and Oatmeal especially. He doesn't suck on necks as much as he used to, but he still kneads and sucks on us. He's no longer the sweet, poor cat; I'm so ready to get rid of him. Oatmeal has undergone a huge change in personality ever since Mom has forcibly kept him in the house since he had a tendency to wander. He used to be so quiet and didn't really have a personality. However, ever since he's been in the house, he's changed a lot. For one thing, he has become so playful. There is a small brown rope from one of Mandy's hoodies that he loves chasing around like he's a kitten. He's also become more loveable and loves rubbing on us. When he purrs loudly, he sometimes grunts, which we take as a sign he is very happy.

Well, I've gotta dash. I got a final tomorrow to study for. I'll try to post again soon!