Worried

I am so worried about school. Kaya keeps saying she'll come back soon, at least by November, but if we start school in September, she'll fall behind.....
But anyways. Today, we took out greeting cards (my whole family came to visit) and cut them to make puzzles for each other to solve. It was actually a fun, summer, family activity-especially when the weather is 87 degrees-hot for Oregon weather-and Minnesota weather for that matter.
Felicity, Neela, I, (Sonali), and Julie want to start a band. Felicity would play guitar, Neela would sing, I would play flute, and Julie would do drums. We still need to find some music. Our school band teacher is supportive, of course. She says she'll look for some songs. Any ideas?

Srajana wrote the Odyssey Poem , which she wrote out of boredom and disdain of the Odyssey on her blog, won third place in a local festival's poetry slam, and first place at the fair poetry contest. Giving her 8+20 dollars!~She might buy something for us, but she is not sure, because she needs to save up for other things, like new camera batteries and stuff like that, but she thinks maybe she can buy Julie's School Lunchbox.
Sonali
PS: AG Music Academy is going back to it's old name, Daisy Diamond Academy and Ranch. That was the name back when Neela was there. They changed to AG Daisy Music Academy, then AG Performing Arts Academy, but fewer people signed for the school when it was a mainly performing arts school.

Math Testing and Career Day

We had math testing today. At least some of us. A few of us, like Rebecca, took it earlier. Urgh. I hate problems like b over 17+4=-4. Those bug me. But oh well, I think I did pass.
We are having a career day on the third day of school where parents talk about their careers. Neela's dad is a rice farmer, Julie's dad will talk about being a pilot, Rebecca's dad will talk about owning a shoe shop, Sonali's mother will talk about selling real estate, Felicity's dad will talk about owning a store, and my mom will be talking about being a secretary.
Our family used to farm the corn belt, at least on my dad's side. Then he married my mom and we moved into an apartment until he left. I still remember him saying, though, "Every Thompson must love corn. It's in our genes." I kind of miss him and I wonder why he left.
Well, I'll talk later,
Always,
Gwen Thompson

A Little Story I, Felicity, Wrote

There is a wide belt of parkland surrounding the city. A girl walks out of the town briskly, not especially caring where she goes and what she does. She has black, short hair, and she wears a blue long-sleeved jacket and blue pants. She closes her eyes tightly as she stands in the middle of the parkland, thinking about who she was supposed to meet. Then, ropes come down in front of her, and the girl is frightened. They turn out not to be ropes, but bamboo ropes, and behind those bamboo ropes is a valley. A beautiful valley full of green with a shimmering mirror-clear lake. She walks into the valley like it's a dream. Her hair shimmers in the bright sun/cloud sky.
This girl then sits by the lake and stares at her own reflection for over an hour.
She walks back home to her little apartment in the city, eating rotis with avocado pachadi, but she always remembers the hidden valley.
By FELICITY Merriman

After School Clubs and Dorms

We had to sign up for our after-school activities today. I went up to the desk, flipped through the catalog, and after a while decided on Yearbook and Art Through the Ages. Sonali picked Health Occupations Interns and Field Biology. The electives offered were; Yearbook, Art Through the Ages, Coro Vivo (which Neela is joining), Health Occupations Interns, Field Biology, and Genes: What's in your blood?. I don't think anyone signed up for Genes: What's in your blood?, though. Srajana actually said; "It might be interesting." Ha! What a joke!
School runs 8:30-4:00. Then we have after school activities until dinner, and homework after. Study hours are on weekends too.
We also had lockers assigned today. My locker is number 4. It's nearby to the 7th grade teacher's math classroom and the sixth grade science teacher's classroom.
I'm glad to be getting my blog back. Sonali is visiting her family, and so I get to blog once again! Yay, blog!
Please comment!
Rebecca

I'm Sorry

Sorry, I have not posted in a while, but we've been busy with a crocheting project and soccer camp and of course our summer journals.
School starts on September 6th. For Srajana, she gets two extra days, lucky girl. I picked up my schedule today.

Period 1: Literature with Ms. Yarn (???)
Period 2: Algebra with Miss Buckskin (???) PS from Srajana: It's not my fault I named my rag doll after Kaya's doll, who I actually thought was named Buckskin.
Break
Period 3: Biology with Mr. William
Period 4: U.S. History with Mr. Paddington
Lunch
Period 5: Cheerleading with Miss Harmony
Period 6: French with Miss Secret (???)
Period 7: Musical Drama with THE Miss Madeline.

I'm excited for school to start, alright!
Rebecca R.

I MISS KAYA! (And Chrissa)

Kaya is in Namibia. I miss her sooooo much. Gwen is here, of course, but we can't film anymore for a while because Srajana's camera doesn't have batteries and her mom needs to buy new ones and she has a class that she needs to get ready for. Which is another reason of the lack of pictures recently.
I miss Chrissa too. Everyday, this image comes to mind. Chrissa, with her gentle brown hair in her polka-dotted sundress standing next to me, with my dark brown hair and flashing brown eyes and big smile and t-shirt and pinafore and jeans, and Gwen in front of a glowing pink sky under cherry trees.
Seriously, I'm getting very bored this summer.
Sonali M.

Fiddlin' Round

Filming of the first few scenes is almost over. I play Mrs. Haack, and I get to fiddle around on my violin that I am learning to play! Srajana will be possibly using some of her own fiddle pieces for background music. She was thinking of the Lough Gill, an Irish jig. She won fifth in the fiddle contest in town the other day and she also won a beautiful, gorgeous violin. I'm not great at the violin. Right now I'm learning a minuet by Bach. Srajana fiddles and she is working on a Kuchler Concertino and a Vivaldi G Minor Concerto. Her friend is playing Mozart!
But anyways, I was sewing and the machine kept getting stuck. Srajana fixed it, but then said she would not help again. So I sewed a bit more and the machine was stuck once more, so I was annoyed and came upstairs to blog. Oh-well. I'll try again later.
So.......this is what I've been doing the whole summer.
1. Taking boat rides.
2. Sketching pictures of my home from the outside when I went to visit my family.
3. Going to camp.
4. Visiting farms.
5. Filming.
This evening, Sonali and I will take a walk and record all the sounds outside. It'll be so cool!
Neela

Back From Camp

Back from camp everyone! I came home surprised that a sign inside the school hallway said "Auditions for Movie" Rebecca was at home visiting her family in NYC, but that did not stop us from auditioning-Neela landed the part of Mr. Haack, the apple seller who lost his job as a musician in the Cincinnati Orchestra, his viola being his only possession. I was given the part of Mary Aaker, the daughter of a farmer who left her to try to land an acting role at Hollywood. Gwen plays Kit Kittredge, and Ruthie plays Ruthie. Duh. Rebecca was upset when she came back, but the drama coordinator said she could sub. Here is the plot-line for the movie.

Kit is walking to Ruthie's house so they can go over homework when she sees the sad looking Mr. Haack selling apples and buys a few with the quarter that her dad had given her to buy some beans for soup. Mr. Haack is very happy, but then, Mary. She became a hobo after her dad had left and was abandoned by the others in her group. Shivering and starving, she had watched the fruit seller's stand many times hoping for an apple or two, but the seller laughed and shooed her away. She goes up to try to snatch an apple while Mr. Haack is chatting with Kit, but Mr. Haack sees her and becomes angry and threatens to send for the police. Kit quiets Mr. Haack and invites Mary to come stay with them for a day.
Kit comes home with Mary, and then Ruthie comes over, angry that Kit did not come over. Kit's dad is also angry because she spent the quarter for beans on apples, which they had a plentiful amount of. Kit helps Mary wash up inside the house, and they eat. They do not have a room, so Mary sleeps in the tree house.
Mary feels like she is imposing too much, as Ruthie stops coming over, and Kit's dad leaves for Chicago, and Mary runs away to try to go to California.
Knowing Mary had never gone to school, and does not realize Hollywood is so far away, Kit sets off to make amends with Ruthie and then to try and find the lost Mary.
Sound interesting? Filming of the first scene has already finished.
Sonali (Mary)