summer '04: the first week

the powder factory in Mason, Ohio

Memorial Day. 185 tornadoes already this weekend. The weather seems to get worse each year. I read somewhere that storms are supposed to get worse and worse leading up to Jesus' return. But who knows? Dylan spent the night last night, so I took him home this morning. Lunch was healthy chicken & dumplings, and I ran some errands with Mom. I worked 3-8:00 with Ricky, who worked 11-4:00. I got Ron to sign my Community Service forms at the Wright Brother's Airport. 

Tuesday. I slept in and had a boiled egg and a soft pretzel for breakfast. Amanda and I headed out to school and I took my Art Exam. After that I nailed my Chemistry final. I took Lee home since we both were done with exams for the morning, and Ash, Ams and I went out to eat at Taco Bell for lunch. Ash and I went back to school, and I took my Accounting exam. I know I failed that class. I drove home and Hank picked up Ashlie from school. Mom went crazy on me for probably failing Accounting; she'll be okay, though. After supper and some pie I went to our Small Group at the Southard's. Chris has been driving me insane, being cinematically mean. People keep telling Kristen that I like her, made me want to murder them. She seemed uncomfortable by it, I don't blame her. I hung with her and Kristen for a while after Small Group, but feeling our welcome was over-stayed we headed home. Heavy rain and loud thunder followed us all the way back. 

Wednesday. My Accounting professor is letting me do a project to pass the test, so despite being done with exams yesterday, I returned to the high school today. I was there from 11:30 to 3:30, am almost done with his project. I'll finish it tomorrow morning. Mom fixed us a healthy dinner and I drove to Centerville, snatched Pat D. from Coffee Affairs. We went back to his place, and Chris called wanting to go to the Fairfield Mall, but not with me, only with Pat D. So Pat D. bailed on me. So I went home and Corey came over. He kept lighting fires in my room, making it smoky. It got annoying pretty fast. He left, and I sat out on the back deck under the stars just collecting my thoughts.

Junior Year: The Last Day. At 6:00 A.M. Ams and I left our house and picked up Ashlie and went to school. I finished my Accounting project by 8:00, and everything balanced out correctly. I drove home, then went back to the high school to pick up Ashlie. I saw Kristen there, and I asked if she wanted to hang out, but she was going to breakfast with a bunch of "preps" (popular kids, football players and cheerleaders being the most stereotypical snippets of the crowd). Ashlie and I went back to my house, and we sat out on the deck and built a fire out back. She stayed at my house and I went to the high school to pick up Lee & Ams, and I turned in my Community Service forms to Mr. Hagan. We drove out of the high school, down Main Street through Old Springboro, up 741 and then jetted down Pennyroyal all the way home. And thus I AM COMPLETELY DONE WITH JUNIOR YEAR! SUMMER HAS NOW BEGUN! I went to the Junior High to pick up Chris, but he'd decided to just "leave early" so he wasn't there. I was confused so I drove to his house, and he was just walking in the door. Debbie was furious he left school without permission, as the Principal had called to inform her of his absence. Now Chris has to go in tomorrow when no one else does just to serve a 2-hour detention sentence. We all ate at Fuddrucker's with Dylan, played with cicadas by the Mall, and then had Small Group, where we ceremonally burned all our school books and binders and tests. Corey seemed depressed the whole evening, was acting really weird. When I took him home, he told me why: he has the hots for Ashlie but can't be with her because she's with Hank. I returned home and kept the news to myself. Lee, Chris and Ams were all still by the fire out back, and I joined them till late in the night.

The Official Start of Summer 2004. I picked up Chris from his 2-hour janitorial-duty detention. The fire was still smoking when we got back to my place. A cop pulled up in our driveway and watched us put it out. Then he left and we went back up to my room. Chris looked out the window and exclaimed, "The cop's coming back!" We heard the sound of sirens and I leapt up from my bed and looked out past the big tree in the front yard, saw the same cop car screaming down the street with his lights flashing. "I thought this was Super Troopers!" Chris exclaimed. Pat D.'s grandma is in the hospital with cancer, and he went to visit her and mindlessly wore one of his favorite band t-shirts. The band's name? As I Lay Dying. He got in a lot of trouble for it. Chris and I went by the bank and then picked up Lee, and we had China Garden for lunch. Chris mowed our entire lawn, so I gave him eight bucks from my change bucket. We picked up Ashlie and rented Phone Booth and chilled at the Williams'. Chris and Pat D. went for a walk. I dropped Ashlie and Amanda off at Ashlie's house. Chris says their voices are like nails on chalkboard. We went to Ron's place for the night. Ron got us pizza and soda, and we watched Animal House. Around 2 A.M., Chris and Pat D. decided they wanted to sleep at home, so they tricked Ron and left. I was furious about it. Pat D. said, "Man, he's so pissed!"

Saturday. I drove home around 7 A.M. I worked 9-4:00. I picked up Pat D., Chris & Ricky. We were supposed to go to Borders, but that didn't come through. Instead we ended up walking through an abandoned WWI and WW2 gunpowder factory near King's Island. The place was abandoned, dark and dank and decrepit. We got a bite to eat at McDonald's, and Ricky called his dad to tell him where he was. His dad wasn't too happy. We got lost on the highway and had to navigate country roads on our way back. The Jeep took a grisly beating. At one point I had to do a u-turn in some old lady's gravel driveway, and she was on the front porch in her rocking chair shaking her fists at us. I dropped Ricky off at his house and took Chris to worship practice at the YMCA (he was 45 mins late). Pat D. and I went back to his place and we uploaded digital pictures we took of the factory, and he gave me a huge Jamaican flag to hang in my room. He feels bad for being such a dick to me lately. His sister Kelly came home with someone who looked familiar. I asked Pat D. about her, and he said, "Oh, that's Katie. She's from Ridgeville." Katie B. I remembered her then, and she remembered me, and she burst into laughter remembering my Ridgeville Christian antics. After I left, Lee and Ashlie came over, and all of us hung out downstairs watching 45 mins total of a 3-hour movie: we kept dozing off. 

Father's Day. I drove Lee home, he had to get ready to teach at JAM. Mom taught on how we should focus on our God-follower relationships. Hardly anyone was there. Kristen and Shelby went to Grace Baptist. Ashlie came over and we celebrated Father's Day with a spaghetti lunch. Ash, Ams and I went to 1/2 Price Books and Borders. I got the movie Scarface and we watched it in the basement. We passed out Kidz Blitz flyers around the neighborhood with Mom, and then we ate out at Applebee's and went back to Border's. I tried to get her to buy me a book on dinosaurs but she wouldn't. I took Ashlie home and then went to bed.