Ours hearts and prayers go out to all those suffering the wrath of Hurricane Irene.  I don't how bad it is, but I know that it's striking the whole East Coast and that thousands have been evacuated.  At least 20 have already been killed.
  Please don't be another Katrina!

  On Friday we had a pep rally.  In junior high they were so-so, but in high school they are seriously awesome!   Highland High has like 4000 students, so the assembly had to be split into two parts during 3rd hour.  Those participating in it got to skip 3rd hour altogether.  Basically it was an introduction of a bunch of the clubs, but it also involved dances from both cheer and the actual dance team {and us cheerleaders doing stunts, which allowed me to show off my skills as a flyer- haha... - though I haven't done the full-extensions the girls in my stunt group were having me do since I was like nine!}, the band playing, the choir singing, and basically just getting us psyched for both the Varsity football game that night and the school year itself.  Although I used to be terrified of crowds, it was so fun.
  Though I swear I had Party Rock Anthem stuck in my head all day, which didn't help the fact that after the assembly I could not settle down and pay attention to save my life!

  Then on Saturday we had a stake dance.  They only have them like once every three months, which means I would not miss it for anything.  The only thing bad about the stake dances is that, when you're stuck at home literally all day while everyone else is off doing who-knows-what?, 8 pm doesn't come for forever.  Anyway, my friends and I had a blast.  But guys, um, don't be intimidated by us, if that's what's going on, because us girls would really like to spend more time more dancing than prowling half-flirtaciously around the dance floor searching desperately for anyone who will ask us!

  Ahhh... good times.

• A week and a half of school that includes so much homework I can hardly think straight anymore.
• A bunch of birthdays all in a row.
• Being at the high school in general.  I like it better than the junior high {I feel cooler} but it's just... wild.
• A couple little parties.
• Cheer tryouts.  Ah!  We got two days of clinics to learn three cheers and a dance, and then the tryouts were today.  I was up till 1 last night working forever on the dance {My family has just had to accept that our bodies were not made to dance, at least in that kind of way.  I'm only a dancer in a gymnast way.}  I tried to be really smiley during the try-outs, but I kept messing up on the cheers and dance.  Oh well.  Luckily I did well on the jumps and tumbling {For the standing pass I did multiple backhand springs  into the splits with a spot on the first, and on the running pass I did a roundoff-backhand spring-back tuck, also with a spot.  It's so stupid, because I don't need the spot, I'm just... you know.}  Anyway, I did get onto the Freshman squad!...    
• Anything Goes try-outs and call-backs.  It's funny because I have been planning on auditioning with the song Anything Goes for like the past year, and when it turned out that it's the theme song of this play... anyway...  I did well on the audition, but I got into the ensemble as always, so I decided to not do it because of the stress it would add with cheer and Honors classes and everything.

Oh...... goodness.

  Today was Back to School Night for the elementary school.  Rachel and I decided to just tag along just for the heck of seeing Sophie meet her kindergarten teacher and just to visit some of our old teachers.  I saw my 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Randsom, and she was just amazed at how grown up I looked.  Of course then I must have jinxed myself the other day when said how excited I was that everyone keeps thinking I'm a junior; she thought I was in 6th grade.  {Hopefully it's just a case of her not being able to believe that it's been nine years....}    And all my siblings seem to have great teachers {Olivia is now the fourth in the family to have Mrs. Fairchild for fourth grade} so that'll be good.
   Then we had fun.   The eight of us drove on over to BJ's for a pizookie, which was delicious.   It's basically a giant cookie made like a pizza, and we ordered it to be half cookies-and-cream, quarter chocolate chip, and quarter red velvet, topped with vanilla ice-cream.  Can't beat that {though I was feeling quite sick by the time we left}!



  Oh goodness...  What a great FHE... I adore my family!

  Three days left.  Am I ready?  Nope.
  With school getting closer and closer, we've all been scrambling to make sure we have everything done that needs to be done.  I finished my summer reading first off, and I went to the freshmen orientation night at Highland {which freaked me out just a tad bit because I hadn't realized just how big the high school really is}.  
  Then we had some fun.  Up until now I have always hated shopping, but now I have had so much fun finding stylish new clothes {still quite aware of prices} with Mom and Rachel.  I seriously think my entire wardrobe has totally changed.  Then I got my eyebrows done {not a very enjoyable experience} .  And then I finally got my hair done.  Seven inches chopped right off!
  Speaking of my new haircut, I think it must have made me look older than before.  Less than a year ago everybody was driving me insane because when I told them I was in eighth grade, they flipped out and exclaimed how they had thought the whole time that I was a sevy or something.  But lately that has not been the case.  For the first time in forever people think that I'm actually older than tall Rachel {like I am} and twice people {both in my ward, one even a good friend of my mom} thought I was a sophomore or junior.  And I think the hair made this kind of thing even more so.  When I went babysitting last night, the grandma {also in my ward} thought I was a junior, and when I came home at ten to Adam and Rachel's Robin Hood cast party, a bunch of the moms thought I was older too, and in the dark a man even thought I was his wife!  Well, thanks guys!  This is definitely a nice huge change to that of which I've grown used too!      
  But, oh man, school is so close!

  It seemed that summer would go on forever.  But now we have eight days left.  What?
  But that's OK.  To think of it in positive terms, that's the amount of time we would have if it were fall or spring break.  And you know what?  I am actually getting tired of summer {though I'm sure my opinion will be quite changed by the time the teachers start loading me up on projects}!  Maybe that's just cause Rachel and Adam have spent half the summer performing while I've been at home babysitting, and also Mom was gone for my uncle Charlie's wedding last week.  I guess there is a pretty big difference in the intelligence levels of a conversation with, say, Olivia, and Rachel or Mom.  Yeah.  Lets just say I'm pretty tired of hearing the overly-dramatic script and music of Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure as it floats through the entire house. So now that the play is over and Mom's home, summer will be more exciting {though I don't understand why Rachel refuses to swim; I really want to be tanner and blonder for when high school starts}.
  Though in some ways I want the summer to go on forever, I am pretty excited for school.  A schedule... thinking... seeing friends I haven't seen in what feels like years...  And the fact that I get to cross off a certain part of the name of my school- Highland Junior High School.
  But I really really really need Animal Farm to get here before the last week of summer is up!  I'm not kidding!