Blog 14: The Last Blog

This is my last blog post for English 102. I have learned a lot this semester about writing and other things. I learned that I need to write my papers all in the same tense. I learned that my father keeps his grandfather’s old bamboo fishing rod in a special case in the basement. I learned that one of the houses my family used to live in had a dirt tunnel in the basement. Did I tell you guys about this? I don’t think I did. Well, when I was about five, we lived in a house that was built in like the thirties but had been renovated a few years before we bought it. Parts of the house and some of the buildings on the property were really old and my parents wouldn’t let my little brother and I play there. I wrote my second paper about how I learned to share while living in this house and interviewed my mother and sister to use as sources. I remembered that there was a door in the basement that was always locked and that sometimes my father would go in there but I wasn’t ever allowed to go with him. I asked my mother and sister about this mysterious door and they said that it was the door to like a utility room that wasn’t finished. I asked them what they meant when they said that it wasn’t finished and they said that one wall was just dirt with a doorframe in it. The door frame was the beginning of a narrow passage carved into the earth that led to the crawlspace under the older part of the house. I got really excited and said “We had a dirt tunnel?! That’s so cool! I wish you would have let me go in there once so I could have seen it!” to which my mother responded that I would have come back covered in filth. So yeah, I missed out on a dirt tunnel, but I know about it now that we don’t live in that house anymore.

Blog 13: Ramble

Hello, everybody. I have no idea what I want to write about today so I am going to ramble for the next 250 words. It will be like free writing but without a purpose other to get to 250 words.

I need to clean my room. It wouldn’t be so bad if the ceiling didn’t have those little white things that fall off of it all the time. I find them especially annoying when one falls in my eye at night when I can’t sleep. Speaking of cleaning, I should probably wash my car sometime. It is covered in yellow pollen and muddy cat prints. My jelly window clings are melting. They have been up since Halloween so that is not really a big surprise. I really need to get some allergy medicine. I have been sneezing and my eyes are so dry my contacts are irritating my eyes. I just remembered that I have Easter candy! Oh boy, chocolate here I come. I will probably feel bad for eating the candy later but its ok I can just go to the gym with Mindy and it will balance out. It’s ok to eat candy every now and then. Candy isn’t evil or anything; it’s just candy. I still haven’t changed the calendar, but I don’t really use it that much. I mostly just write everything down in my planner, and that method has been working pretty well so far. Do I really even need the calendar?

Well, that is what ten minutes inside my head is like. I hope you have better ideas than I did when you write your blog posts for this week.

Blog 12: Raby

           When I was six years old, I received my favorite Easter present of all time. It was a rabbit doll that my mother had made. She had made a rabbit for my sister, Diana, when she was younger and decided to do the same for me. She bought the pattern at a store and brought it home about a month before Easter. She cut out all the pieces and sewed them together before using a chopstick to stuff cotton into a small hole that she had left unsewn. She sewed all the pieces together in a way that I could still move the doll’s arms and legs. The rabbit’s ears had wire to hold them up and a small round ball of cloth stuffed with cotton served as the doll’s nose. My mother also bought print to make a dress and matching bonnet for the doll. My mother used much of her free time making the rabbit doll and even stayed up all night before Easter so that I would have a finished doll the next morning.

            I had seen my mother working on the doll most nights before I was sent to bed and knew that it was my Easter present, but I was excited to get my doll all the same. I named her Raby. It is short for Rabbit and is pronounced rabb-ee. I was six and did not know that there should have been two b’s in Raby to get the desired phonetics. She was white with black eyes, a cute little round nose, and no mouth. Her bonnet and dress are blue with pink tulips. The dress had Velcro in the back and the bonnet had two holes for her ears and a small blue ribbon rose to hold the rim of her hat out of her eyes.

 Raby was my favorite doll and I took her everywhere with me. I even took her on car trips; she had her own seat and always wore a seatbelt but had to stay in the car when we went into stores. My mother soon took the wire out of her ears so that I wouldn’t get poked with it if the wires moved out of place. My sister would sometimes take Raby from me to pick on me like siblings do and I would respond with a swift kick in the shin. Occasionally, Raby’s ears or other appendages would fall off and I would run crying to my mother for her to fix Raby. I even waited outside the dryer whenever Raby had to be washed.

When I was about eight or nine I realized that I was getting too old to carry Raby around and found her a nice box to keep her in for safe keeping. She is still in my closet in her box and every now and then when I am cleaning I will find the box and take her out of it to look at her and think about my younger years. She now has a hole about where her mouth would be from the friction wearing the cloth down caused by the many plastic tea cups and toy baby bottles.

Blog 11: April Fool's Day

            Today is April Fool’s Day so to avoid being tricked I have been hiding in my dorm room all day. I have never been good at pulling off April Fools jokes and pranks and do not have any shenanigans planned for today. In high school we had teachers who would do pop quizzes and what not that would turn out to be April Fools jokes. One year, one of the clarinet players in the high school band told our band director, that she was pregnant and that the father is her boyfriend who happened to be one of the band’s percussionists. She told our band director that neither she nor her boyfriend would be participating in band the next year because they would be getting ready for the baby. This all happened before school started that morning. The band director called the girl’s mother. The girl’s mother was in on the joke and pulled up fake tears and everything over the phone. When band class finally rolled around, the percussionist who was said to be the baby’s father walked into the band director’s office and said “April Fools!” and told the band director everything. I do not know how the clarinet player and her boyfriend pulled the wool over our band director’s eyes because he is usually pretty good about staying on his toes. The entire band laughed about it and rehearsal that day was pretty good. I don’t think I could ever pull something like this off without blushing or laughing or doing something that gave it away. Any good April Fool’s Day jokes for you guys?

Blog 10: Home?

My spring break was pretty good. I went home and got to spend time with my family. I helped clean since I was the only one in the house that didn’t have any real obligations to take care of like school or work. My little brother had his spring break the week before ours and was ready to hang out and watch movies on Netflix when I got home. I went shopping for shorts since my mother had thrown my old shorts out because they were nearly worn out. My brother needed to go shopping for dress pants because he needed them for concert festival and he had outgrown his old dress pants. We found a sale at kohl’s that had dress pants buy one get one free so that was nice. Concert festival is like a competition for concert bands where they are rated on a scale of one to three with one being the best rating you can get and three being the worst. The bands are rated on pieces they have prepared and a piece that they have never played before and have to sight read. The band my brother is in received all ones on everything they did that day.  I wanted to brag about them for a minute in my post this week since they have been practicing hard in preparation for the festival. I returned to my dorm yesterday and sat in my green chair that the university furnishes the dorms with. I felt like I was finally able to relax and I realized that at some point in time my dorm had become home and my house had become more like a place I would visit like my grandparent’s house or something.

Blog 9: Shopping

I went shopping yesterday because I needed new blue jeans. I have worn holes in three pairs of jeans this semester and had to put them in the rag pile. This is what I get for buying almost all my jeans at the same time; they wore out at the same time. I stopped at Plato’s Closet because I heard that they have lots of jeans for good prices. I found some that fit at the waist and I liked them but they were really too long for me so I put them back on the rack and decided to go to the mall in search of jeans. The West Town Mall here in Knoxville has many stores that the mall back home does not. I had no clue where to shop for jeans. At home, I would buy all my jeans from the same store, but I could not find another branch of that store in Knoxville, and I had too much homework to go home this weekend, but I definitely needed pants. I get x-short to short length jeans from the store I buy my jeans from at home, and this made me start thinking. I am about five feet four inches tall, and I get the short to extra-short length jeans. How tall are the people who get the extra-long length jeans? Where do women who are shorter than me find jeans? I had a math teacher in high school who told us she was four eleven in her bare feet. Where would she find jeans that fit? Would she just have to buy jeans that were too long and hem them every time she went shopping?

Blog 8: Engineering Expo and News from Home

I don’t really have anything too exciting to talk about this week. I had an engineering expo that I went to Thursday. I did not find anyone who was looking for a freshman biomedical engineer but I handed out resumes anyway. I have had the same classes as the freshman mechanical and aerospace engineers so why not hand them out, right? I talked with about twenty companies before I had to leave for my class and take a test. I’m glad that I went because now I know what to expect next year and I got some feedback from companies about what they look for when hiring engineers. Who knows, maybe they will find a need for an intern and give me a call since they have my resume anyway. I can hope, right?

I spent my weekend cleaning my dorm room, studying, and watching tv shows on Netflix. I found some cartoons from when I was younger that I have not seen in a while, so that was nice. I enjoyed sleeping in and treated myself to Totino’s Pizza Rolls yesterday. I called home to talk to my family. My mother and brother went out to get new phones yesterday. They both got smart phones and my mother made my brother promise to teach her how to use her smartphone. She tried to make her first phone call with it yesterday and it took fifteen minutes. My brother has his work cut out for him because my parents are not exactly the most tech savy people around but kudos to mom for trying it anyway. I’m sure this is much safer than the time she tried to learn how to roller skate and broke her arm.

Blog 7: Munchos

            If you have never tried Munchos, they are like potato chips only fluffier. Fluffy may not be the best way to describe them, but it’s the best word I could come up with for now so that’s what we will go with. I am sitting at my desk and eating the small bag of Munchos that came with my salad. I figured that since I was getting the salad instead of going to Cookout, I could get a small bag of chips without feeling too guilty about the diet I told myself I would stick to.

            I think the first time I tried Munchos was when my sister, Diana, had bought a bag and offered me one two or three years ago, so now Munchos remind me of my sister. She is always there when I need her and always has advice for whatever new dilemma I put myself into. Boy problems, school problems, friend problems, you name it, she can make me feel better and get me going. Whenever I go visit her she always has Kool-Aid in the fridge (my mother is very anti-sugary drinks so this was always a nice treat). Sometimes my little brother and I will go spend the night at her house, and the boys will play the Xbox while Diana and I chat and catch up on everything that has happened since the last visit. Once Diana and I run out of news to talk about, we kick the boys off of the Xbox and put in a movie. Diana is the best sister I could ask her and I wish I could visit her more often.

Blog 6: My Weeekend

I went home this weekend to celebrate my mother’s birthday. Her birthday is actually Monday but we celebrated it on Saturday. I made her a chocolate birthday cake with cream cheese icing. Dad took her to the movies and got her a new pressure cooker. My brother and I got her some decorations that she had wanted for the house and a new baking pan that had a lid. We had pizza and cake then mom picked a movie off of Netflix for us all to watch together. I had a good time and mom said she had a good birthday so it was a good day and I am glad that I got to go home to celebrate with the rest of my family.

My brother and I went shopping on Friday for mom’s birthday gifts and various other things. We went to a shopping center and the mall. Both are in Kingsport. My brother needed to go to game stop and Michaels, and I needed to go to target and Books a Million. I also went to Maurice’s and a couple other clothing stores in search of some new blue jeans that would be the right size and length. Unfortunately my hunt for jeans was not very successful, but I did find out that all my trips to the gym are paying off. I went down a jean size, WOO personal victory! On the way home we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries.

When we got home, mom and dad were still at the movies so after I baked mom’s cake I vacuumed my car, and put a new air freshener in it. My car now smells like fruit loops.

Blog 5: There are worse things than being single.

In honor of Valentine’s Day I have decided to tell you about my past dating experience. I do not have much experience with dating. In fact, I have only been on a date with one person, and that was the summer before my junior year of high school. This story is a little odd, but it is true.

The boy who I went out with is not named Bob, but we will call him Bob anyway. Bob was nice to hang out with, and we had been acquaintances/friends for a couple months when Bob asked me out. I was flattered and thought Bob was a nice guy, so I said yes. Bob and I were a couple for a little while before actually dating. I was not yet old enough to drive, so we just talked on the phone and ate lunch together with some friends at school until my parents agreed to let us go on a date. We decided to meet at the park and go for a walk along the gravel hiking trail. I enjoy hiking, and so it was nice, well most of it anyway. Near the end of our hike, Bob decided to tell me that he is a vampire. Yeah, I had to ask him to repeat what he said because I thought I had heard wrong too. Bob saw the weirded-out look on my face and became annoyed. He insisted that I did not believe him and angrily walked away. I was slightly confused, and my mind automatically jumped to the twilight books and thought maybe he was trying to make a joke and I just didn’t really get it. The next day, we were talking on the phone, and Bob brought up the vampire thing again, and I laughed, thinking it was a joke. Bob got angry and insisted that I would never believe him.  He went on to tell me about some kind of thing that made he and his parents vampires but not his little sister.  I realized that Bob actually thought he was a vampire and awkwardly told him that I would talk to him tomorrow before school and hung up. I had never broken up with anyone before and was not quite sure how it goes, but I knew that I wanted to break up with Bob. All my friends had always talked about how bad it was to break up with someone over the phone or a note instead of to their face, so I decided to do it before school the next day. Bob must have guessed what was coming because he kept calling and sending me messages on my cell phone asking if I was going to dump him and saying that he loves me and that I am his soul mate. We had been a couple for like a month. I got really scared and dumped him over text message, not caring if it was socially taboo to dump someone without being face to face with them.

For the next month or so, Bob kept calling and messaging me and would wait beside my locker between classes. I moved all of my stuff to a friend’s locker and stopped answering my phone. I was scared. With the help of some of my friends, I avoided Bob during the day and just kept my phone off at home. Eventually Bob left me alone and moved on and I no longer had a stalker.

I have not dated since. I have flirted with a few guys here or there. I get kind of down every now and then because I don’t have a boyfriend, but it usually doesn’t last too long. Many single people feel kind of lonely and depressed around this time of year, but after Bob I have learned that there are worse things than being single.

Blog 4: Not As Fit As I Thought I Was

            Last Friday, I went to a body sculpting class with my suitemate Mindy. I knew that I was not in the best of shape but I did not think I was in terrible shape. I was wrong. Body sculpting class showed me how very out of shape I actually am. We used all the muscles that I can think of: biceps, triceps, quads, calves, outer and inner thigh, shoulder, stomach, back, and chest. My upper body was stiff the next day but it was not that bad. My hips and thighs got the worst of it. They were sore for three days. I tried to climb down from my bed Saturday and almost fell. It hurt to walk down the stairs. I’m not sure what we did in class that made my hip muscles so sore but whatever it was I definitely felt it the next day. Mindy is in much better shape than I am and was only sore Saturday. If you attend this class regularly and do not get sore kudos to you. You are in much better shape than I am. I do think I will try to go to the gym more often but I don’t think I will be trying the body sculpting class again in the near future. I think I will stick to my usual gym activities consisting of the ellipticals, stationary bikes, and a little bit of free-weights. Maybe I will try yoga, zumba, or yogalates. Those classes sound a little less intense.

Blog 3: Suitemates

            I have been having a hard time coming up with a topic for this week’s blog post and when I asked my suitemates if they knew a good blog topic I could write about. They were willing to let me write about them and some of the fun times we have had.
           
            When I moved to Knoxville at the beginning of last semester I was not sure who I would be sharing a bathroom with. I knew that I would be rooming with Sara, a girl who I went to high school with. Sara requests that tell you she is a pirate and has scurvy. She is not really a pirate though, nor does she have scurvy. She does play clarinet and eat a lot of soup. Sara and I are suitemates with Mindy and Lisa.

Mindy is from Cincinnati and enjoys animal crackers. She usually works out every day and sometimes convinces me to go to the gym with her. I am not the athlete she is but I do enjoy riding the stationary bikes while watching whatever they have on TV that day. She usually brings her nook and reads while using the elliptical machine. She attended a cycling class at the gym today and looks kind of worn out. She says the class was a little more intense than she expected.

 Lisa would like me to tell you that she is a ninja who often does battle with Sara, the pirate. Lisa is not really a ninja she just wishes she were super stealthy. Lisa has hopes of one day being an orthodontist. Lisa tried to teach me how to “wobble” but whenever I try to dance I feel like a flailing chicken and I imagine I probably look like a flailing chicken as well.

            The girls I live with are a ton of fun and I am glad I got to meet them. From the midnight dancing lessons to the hot cocoa parties (complete with marshmallows, whipped cream, and different kinds of hot cocoa), they always have something fun to do when we get bored.

Blog 2: Living Somewhere That Gets Snow

            As I have mentioned in previous blog entries, I moved frequently as a child. I was born in Fort Carson, Colorado and moved to Mount Carmel, Tennessee almost three years later. This was only a few months after my little brother was born. He is named Hobert after my father, but I will probably refer to him as Jr in future posts. We lived in Mount Carmel until the Christmas break during my first grade year. It was at this time that we picked up and moved to Manhattan, Kansas while my father was stationed in Fort Riley.

            The day we arrived in Kansas I remember thinking that Kansas must be in a different world from Tennessee. The mountains and hills were replaced by flatness with the occasional lump, and there was more snow on the ground than I had ever seen before. Snow is not an oddity in Kansas. We got snow often in the winter and there was enough to make snowmen, igloos, and “forts” to hide behind during a snowball fight. I soon learned what kind of snow made good snow balls and what kind of snow just fell apart flakily whenever you tried to turn it into anything. When it snowed, we still had school and recess became giant igloo building 101 where the older kids showed us younger kids how to make an igloo big enough that we could play inside. When one recess period ended and another began the new comers would pick up where the last group of children left off. I can’t remember ever seeing the completed igloo but in theory the process should have resulted in an igloo big enough for a couple of small children to occupy.

Blog 1: Introduction

Hello! My name is Samantha Stapleton. My favorite holiday is Halloween. My favorite color is green. I do not like the color pink. I like to listen to the rain and drink hot cocoa. I do not like sugar cookies. My family currently lives in Surgoinsville, Tennessee but we have also lived in Colorado, Kansas, and West Virginia. My father was a tanker in the United States Army and we moved about every three years. I have an older sister who is twenty six and a younger brother who is fifteen. I participated in band through middle school and high school but decided not to continue into college for fear of not having enough time. I played French horn and mellophone. In high school I also participated in FBLA, Mu Alpha Theta, Beta Club, and the Science Bowl team. I also decided to drop these activities upon starting college. I am eighteen years old and a freshman at UT. I am majoring in Biomedical Engineering, and I am very happy with my choice of major. I enjoy math and science very much. I like to read, but unfortunately have a bad habit of procrastinating when it comes to writing. I often find myself doing homework in advance for my chemistry or physics classes instead of starting my papers, but once I actually start writing my paper it doesn't take long for me to finish it. I am aware that my procrastination is a problem and I am willing to admit that I need help. Hopefully this class will help me face my fear of writing.