the 11th week

Hank & Ashlie!

My 17th Birthday! Amanda woke me up, hugged me in a great big bear hug, exclaimed, "Happy birthday!" She likes Lee. Mom & Dad got me a Passion timeline book, the full Message Bible, and a John Belushi poster from the movie Animal House. "Since you'll be going to college next year!" I took Lee home after school. Chris was sick all day. I helped Dad move our downstairs couch to the curb. We're painting the pool room, and the couch just takes up too much space. It used to be my bed, ha! Good times. The past is always pretty. ["Remember this."] I'm seeing the Passion of the Christ movie Sunday with Ricky & Josh from school, it should be fun. Mom and Dad took em and Amanda out for my birthday. We ate at Grindstone: steak, fries, bread, rice, a baked potato & sauteed shrimp. Yum! Then we all went to the Mall, and Amanda got some stuff from Hot Topic and Forever21. I thank God for giving me the gift of seventeen years.

Tuesday. I took Lee home after school and Chris came over. We played pool, messed around outside with a huge mallet and an iron crowbar. I almost hit a car head-on and Lee screamed his head off. I'm banned from "extra" driving this week, at least till Thursday. Chris opened the Jeep door and it hit a trash can; the door slammed shut and bruised his elbow something awful. There's even a small dent in the door now. Chris worked on his science project, a wake-up slapper, in our garage, and be broke Dad's drill-bit. Dad's not happy, especially with the dent in the Jeep's side door. Lee and Pat D. came over, Lee sporting his new electric guitar. We had spaghetti for dinner, and then we had Small Group. Jeff handed out books for us to read, we each have a copy of Wild at Heart. We prayed for one another. Back home I plugged in my extension cord, plugged in my crumbled lava light from two Christmases ago, and strung up multi-colored Christmas lights around my room. It's pretty bohemian.

Wednesday. Chris broke into our house late at night, and then called me at 3 A.M. to brag about how he did it. It's not hard when you know the garage door's unlocked. I decided to sleep in a little, tired from the phone call, and woke late: 6:40 A.M.! I rushed to school, made it on time. I took Lee home; he worked 5:30-9:30 at the music shop. My family and I ate at Olive Garden for Amanda's birthday, and then Mom went to her "Last Supper" small group. Our D-Group should do that sometime. Amanda and Ashlie went to their Small Group, their girls' D-Group. 

Thursday. Art turned into Study Hall. In Geometry we split up with partners and did worksheets. I picked up Lee from school, waited for Chris outside the Jr. High, didn't see him, so I drove away. Chris came running after us, saw the Jeep leaving. Disaster strikes! Chris showed me his "new Gibson": it's hilarious. We went back to my place, we played pool and made prank phone calls to numbers in the phone book, and then Mom served us a delicious pork supper. She ran off to Small Group. A big storm rolled through, blowing bottles off the street and into the windows. 75 mph winds! Pat D. came over and a laugh-fest ensued: Neo jokes, gay jokes, attacking one another, mad antics, weird noises, the usual hectic graves we dig.

Friday. "Back in the Day" I agonized over two things: (1) not being with Kristen, and (b) whether I should become a paleontologist. Now none of these bother me. Funny how time changes things. Lee & I went to G.R.I.P. in the music room at the high school before classes: it stands for Get Real In Prayer or something like that. After work I worked 4-8:00. When I got home Darrell & Rochelle were over, playing pool with Mom and Dad. I picked up Lee and we went to Erika S.'s graduation party. We got there pretty early, before people started arriving: it was me, Erika, Don, Angie, Amanda, Lee, Kristen, and Dustin D, and some of Erika's other friends I don't know. We had some cake and went into the decrepit barn where we played pool and ping-pong. Mom's mad about something Chris did, I don't even know what it was, but she says we can't hang out at the house tomorrow. Ricky said he can't go to see the Passion movie, and Josh can't, either. Kinda bummed out. But Chris and Lee spent the night, and Hank came over bearing the gift of Taco Bell. Hank fell asleep at the foot of my bed; Chris passed out crookedly on a half-deflated inflatable; Lee and I fell asleep in the bed, a long pillow dividing our swathes of land. 

Saturday. We fell asleep around 4 A.M. last night and went out for McDonald's breakfast at 8 A.M. Chris and Pat D. went to church practice at the Williams', and Lee & I went to Borders and 1/2 Price. We got to 1/2 Price and they were still closed, an old couple griping, "They're supposed to be open at 10:00, it's already 10:01!" Haha. We milled amidst the books and drank cups of nasty albeit free coffee. I got a hardcover edition of the Star Wars trilogy and the DVD of Schindler's List. We went back to my place, cleaned up from last night's antics, and shot some pool. Chris, Hank, and Dewenter were joined by us at Chris & Lee's. Pat D. had told Chris a secret about something he did, and no one knows why: Chris spreads secrets like sage-fire, evidently. Chris and Dewenter went for a walk to try and smooth things over, and Hank went to Ashlie's. Lee & I watched Super Troopers, which we rented from I.G.A. Chris & Pat returned from their walk, and Pat went with us down the street to a new local coffee shop. It's delicious, called Cafe A-Go-Go. I took everyone to the YMCA for church practice, and I was driving around the parking lot with Lee shrieking like he was an infected zombie, and I was swerving around cars screaming like he was a zombie. Chris and Pat D. were mortified. Lee and I went back to his place yet again, and we watched Schindler's List 'til midnight. It's a long movie. Chris fell asleep while eating pizza and I can't get the song Megalomaniac out of my head!

Sunday. I woke up Chris & Lee's, was too tired to go home last night. I grabbed McDonald's for breakfast and hurried to J.A.M. with Lee. I took Ashlie & Lee out to eat, then got another mocha at Cafe A-Go-Go. I took Lee home, picked up Josh, and we ended up seeing Passion. Josh liked it. I went to Lee's and hung out with him, cooked leftover subs from JAM. I ran media-shout at Student Revolution, there was a great video message called RAIN about those dark periods that drench us throughout life, dark periods that are meant to draw us toward God. Mindy's pregnant and we're all excited for her. Lee joked, "They're going to name it 'Anthony' after you!" and I exclaimed, "What a mistake!" I've been asking God to make me more outgoing, and over the last few weeks I've befriended some cool people: Katie, Bridget, Ashlie, Kristen, Chad, and Courtney and Carly, who know Pat and Chris and sometimes come to our morning and evening services. Great girls. God has blessed me with so many friends, so much love, such joy and peace; an adoring, loving, priceless family; and a charm that, when realized, can captivate. Sadly, I accidentally kicked Amanda at church and she collapsed in the middle of the YMCA corridor and was crying. I felt so bad. Chris completely blew off Megan, I felt so terrible for her. He's dancing around with Ally now. Kristen and I also talked a lot, and back in the day that would've filled me with so many ridiculous hopes and dreams. Now it did nothing, except warm my heart in friendship. I like that.