..

If this blog post was in the form of a facebook status it would look somthing like this:

"Amanda Thornton is having a hard time"

and that pretty much sums it up.

But I don't have the guts to actually put that as my facebook status.. I don't want to face the answers to people's questions.

Um, hi there. School is almost over!!

So, It is memorial day weekend. And I feel that this weekend is a bit of a waste. Don't get me wrong, I love any excuse to get off from school. But really? Getting off the first day of the last week of school? I'd rather just get out of school early! You know what I mean? I just want to get it all over with. 

SOOO. I went to the dentist on Thursday to get a cavity filled. In which obviously they had to pull out that huge needle to stick me with which numbs half of your mouth. It was the weirdest feeling I have ever felt. 

The overall process of the cavity filling didn't hurt, obviously since I couldn't feel anything, but the needle part. See, the dentist guy I had must be kind of new and doesn't know how to properly give one a shot. When you are giving someone a shot, you would think that the person would try their best to distract the patient from what they are doing. Like for instance, telling a joke or just engaging in conversation. But no, my dentist had to draw my attention to what he was doing, not only did he do that but he was painfully slow in sticking me. All the while he was saying "please don't hate me" over and over again. I wanted to tell him that I didn't hate him and to just get over with it. But obviously I couldn't due to the fact that he was sticking me with a rather large needle. 

Eating while half of your mouth is also quite a strange ordeal. Due to the fact that on half of your tongue you can taste and feel the food or beverage, but on the other half you can't. But you know it's there!!

And then after that I had the "get aquainted rehersal" for band. Which was really fun, I just couldn't really play. 

In other news.

The weather here lately has been REALLY strange.

For one it has been pretty chilly especially seeing as it is the end of may. On Monday it was in the 60's. 

And then it'll just sporadically rain and storm and hail and the wind has been really strong.

It's just been really weird.

I'm at my grandparents house right now, and all is going quite swell. 

Monday I have no plans other than studying (*no enthusiasm* woo-hoo). And then Tuesday I have my chemistry exam and the rest of my classes. Wednesday I have no exams, therefore I have no school :). Thursday I have my spanish exam (easy-peasy) starting at 10:30 and that's over at 12:30.. or maybe it's 12? And then Friday I have my math and english exam. AND THEN SUMMER!!! oh yeah, and on Thursday I also have my appointment to sign up for my classes at TCC for next year :).

that's it for now.

-Amanda

Well Hi There

Well hi there. So we had our concert last night and it was really good. But extremely hot. *huge sigh*. I knew this would be an exhausting night, I was prepared. I knew it was going to be hot, but I suppose I wasn't prepared enough.. because.... I collapsed. JUST KIDDING. but no really, it was really hot. And before the concert you couldn't escape the heat. You would go outside but it was HOTTER outside.. hot and humid... Inside my bell was so wet and slippery, that's how much just my hand was sweating.

But enough of me being a whiney person and complaining about heat. I know, suck it up. :p.

The concert was really good, everyone played fantastically.. And the audience really liked Stars and Stripes.. (hehe) 8 piccolos, who would've thought?

I don't like keeping secrets or surprises. Don't get me wrong, I CAN keep a secret or a surprise. It's just very hard and excruciating for me. I like to talk alot to my parents and best friends. And I was nearly bursting with talking about the drama of finding 8 piccolos, or randomly bursting out with "GE bonus points!!!!!!".. Or talking about helping Chris fold the flag...

needless to say, it was hard.

And I had somewhat blown the secret even before I knew it was a secret.. Well, technically Michael blew the secret because he was all "Mr. Kelly told me the concert program" and he told me all of them. And I told my parents... But that was before we even got the music for it. And when we didn't get the music for it for a long time, I just assumed we weren't playing it. And then we got the music and were told "shhh it's a surprise" basically. So I just hoped that my parents made the same original assumption I did.

yadda yadda yadda.

So yesterday I got to catch up with old friends, and I'm sad that I ever lost touch with all of them.

(I'm going to make up a lousy excuse for this, are you ready for it?)

Each time I would see they were on Facebook, I'd always feel awkward about possibly starting up a conversation because I felt "well they moved on from this High school." or "They moved away they must have forgotten about me" or "Well we haven't talked in ages, what would they think"

But I'm swallowing that excuse (what? I need better analogies) and never using it again ok?

I'M READY FOR SUMMER.

One more week, and then exam week. But who's counting? *looks around sheepishly* Ok, EVERYONE is counting. (haha)

And my exam week will be slackerish. Because I have no pressure on any of my exams. And I'm only taking four. Which one of those exams is in Spanish. And I've maintained a 100 percent average all year, I think that's grounds for exemption don't you? But no, it isn't. HEY I HAVE AN IDEA! you know how some teachers have the whole incentive of doing well on the test by the whole "I'll replace your lowest test grade with your exam grade if your exam grade is higher." Well what if we switched it, and made it fair. Something like "I'll replace your exam grade with your lowest test grade" ? That would work for me. I can live with a 98 on the exam. hahaha..
I never talk in that class though, so I haven't built the personality in that class to suggest this.. But hey.. I wouldn't have to go to school at all on wednesday and thursday that way!!!

I guess I should leave it at that, and write more later. Even though I'm bored to tears in photography and am helping people with their math.

Have a fantastic day!

-Amanda

A couple of movies I'm looking forward to seeing this summer: UP (I think it comes out May 29), My Sisters Keeper (June 26), Harry Potter (July 15... a day after my 16th b-day :D)

HI

I don't really have anything useful to say, I just feel like blogging and updating the world about my life. 

I have managed to get over 22 bites on my body. 12 of those bites are on my left leg alone. 

IT ITCHES SOOO BAD..

I think it's because I was stupid enough to lay on the palettes of sod that I helped my parents lay friday afternoon/night. 

Along with being bitten so many times, I was incredibly sore on saturday.. My thighs are a little sore still, but not to bad.

We had band banquet Saturday, and that was spectacular :). 

And we have our spring concert Thursday.. It's going to be a long night, but hopefully a good one.. So I'll update again later at the end of this week, and maybe I'll have more substance.

-amanda

HANNAH's story

One day you were walking down the sidewalk when you slipped on a banana peel and fell into the huge piece of glass that two people were conveiniately carrying right when you fell. And the glass caused you to bleed so much that you died of blood loss.
the end.

JUST KIDDING. I'll think of one, just give me some time.

Part 5... I think...

The next day Katie got out of the hospital, she was excited at first but then the reality of being all alone presented itself again. The french horn section had left that morning, they all had things they needed to do, and her parents had come back for the day but had to leave the next morning.

She was right where she started, only this time she had a huge gash on her forehead a broken arm and leg, couldn't play the french horn, and standing for any period of time was so much pain it wasn't even worth it.

Her parents were concerned that she would just be stranded on her bed, for she had no roomate, and that it would be best if she went back to Tallahassee for a while.

But Katie refused to go home, Juliard had become her life.

So to console her parents a little Katie requested an electric wheel chair. So she could zoom to places for a while and not have to worry about staying bed ridden.

So Katie took her electric wheel chair for a spin and discovered that she should have been run over sooner because the wheel chair was just to much fun to pass up.

The next day her parents left and Katie was left on her own. Katie e-mailed her director and asked if she could sit in rehersal the next day. And he was more than willing to grant her the permission. (Mr. Kelly played favorites. And since you had him in highschool you were one of his favorites).

So the next day you hobbled on over to your chair and set out to the music building. But on the way there Adam drove out beside you.

He was going to just leave you because he was that upset, but he couldn't bear to let a tragedy like had just taken place to happen again.

So he asked her if she needed a ride, she would've declined but it looked like it was about to rain outside.

So Adam parked beside the street and put Katie's wheel chair in the bed of his truck, and then helped Katie into the front seat.

The drive was quiet and awkward until they were stopped at a red light and Adam just couldn't hold it in anymore.

He asked Katie about her boyfriend, the one who came to visit.

To which she responded laughing hysterically. Because he honestly thought Julian was her boyfriend.

Adam was confused with her reaction and asked her to explain. So she told him that Julian was certainly not her boyfriend and that he was in her french horn section and that he came to visit when the rest of the people from her section came to visit.

Adam was pleasantly relieved and silently beat himself up for jumping to conclusions.

The rest of the ride was filled with small talk and then they went to rehersal and Adam made funny faces at Katie every spare moment he could (Adam wasn't good at concentrating and being serious when you were around :p).

After rehersal Adam asked if you wanted to go eat somewhere and you accepted, it's not like you had anything else to do.

And then this story has to end sometime. So two years later you and Adam got married and then 3 years after that you had Tony. You moved to Sandiego because you had a job offer to be a middle school band director there and Adam also had an offer to become a paramedic. It was the perfect opportunity. 1 year after moving to Sandiego you had quintuplets.

And you all lived pretty happily ever after.

Tuesday

So I'm getting to the point in my Tuesday afternoon where I'm just sitting all alone in my dad's office behind his desk. The tally of people who have come looking for him has gone up to three. I'm always greeted the same way "You're not Jerry" along with any other witty comment they find to accompany it. A few chuckles, some more small talk and I'm left exactly the way I was before. 

I've tried many things to keep me occupied. 

I've tried teaching myself how to play chess, but somehow the computer ALWAYS beats me (I don't know how to play chess, so that may be why). But it's weird how the computer beats me, it'll have one piece left and it'll still win. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!

I've turned into a creeper and have read random friends facebook profiles and have scoured my page two times reading new status updates. I have even chatted with a couple friends. 

I logged on to blogger and wrote some more of the story I've been writing about Katie.

I even logged onto youtube and watched a video.

My mom just reached the point of texting me and asking if she needed to come pick me up. But I don't know what to tell her. 

WHERE ARE YOU DAD!? 

(that was my only real purpose for this blog. I just wanted to fluff it up, make it seem longer and make it seem like it had no substance. It was all a lie! This blog entry had no substance. But that's ok, because you read it anyway.)

Katie part 4

Katie was so surprised. She never thought the whole french horn section would ever be in the same room together, Mr. Kelly had even showed up for the event because he even thought that this french horn section was the coolest french horn section he's ever had and far more superior to any other section.

Amanda, Kat, and Chris even brought their stop mutes and mouth pieces for the occasion. Mr. Kelly put up with it only because he knew it would make Katie happy. (Haha, he put up with the stop mutes not you. silly. That statement did NOT deserve a slap.)

They buzzed the song "if all the raindrops were lemon drops and something oh what a rain that would be..".

Then later the group left for a little while because the nurse said that she needed to rest and ordinarily there was a rule against large groups of people in a hospital room. Katie seemed a little upset that she would once again be left alone so they left Julian with her. Who could stay in a room with Julian and manage to stay sad? 

Julian had aged over the few years. He was much taller than when she first met him, and when he says the "I'm going to try out for the football team" it isn't as unbelievable; therefore it isn't as funny.

Adam decided that there was no possible way he could stay away from Katie today, he wanted the chance to explain why he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. 

But before reaching the room he heard laughter. He hadn't ever heard Katie laugh before, the sound was foreign to him. But mixed with her laughter was a deeper-pitched laughter. He tried to remember what Katie's dad had told him before he left. He said he was going to be back on Friday, and today was still Wednesday. Maybe he decided to surprise her, he thought. 

But when he walked into Katie's room boy did he get a surprise. 

She had a boyfriend and she never told him! Not that it would've ever slipped in naturally to the conversation. It wasn't like he ever asked her if she did or not. He just kind of assumed she didn't. Stupid assumption. 

But here it was now, plainly laid out in front of him. 

Adam was devastated. His feelings for Katie were stronger than he ever thought they became. 

Adam stammered through his pitiful excuse for coming and was just about to leave when Julian asked what in the world he was carrying. 

That was when Adam realized he was still carrying the ugly giraffe. He told them that he forgot he had it and it was supposed to be a giraffe and that it was the best the gift shop offered and then abruptly told Katie by and to feel better and then left. 

Adam was hardly paying attention to the road and his hands were clenched to the steering wheel. 

To make his dissapointments worse he was so upset that he completely messed up his solo. He played it all right, he just played it ten measures early. And then he completely missed the last beat of the last song. He doesn't even know if he was playing in tune, all of his thoughts were focused on Katie. 

Julian asked Katie who that was and Katie explained that he was in her band and that he was a witness to the accident. 

Julian then proceeded to make fun of the way Adam talked up until the time that he was also kicked out of the hospital room by the doctor. 

The doctor had great news for Katie, she would be released the next day with her very own pair of crutches and a bottle of pain medication. He gave her a long speech on taking it easy for a while and he also gave her the list of things she could and couldn't do and when she would have to come back for a check up on her leg, arm, and head. 

Katie was hardly paying attention though because she was so excited. 

Part 3

Adam hadn't made it that day because of clowns. Yes, clowns. He was on the way to the flower shop to get Katie flowers to brighten up her hospital room. But after getting the flowers (he has horrible taste in flowers by the way) on the way back to the hospital at the stoplight in front of him was a yellow v-w bug. And the ludicrous people in the car were doing the chinese fire drill.



He was already impatient because half of his rehersal that day was dedicated to him sitting back and listening to the wood winds play the same stupid measure 20,000 times over and over and over again. And the other half of rehersal was dedicated to him counting 100 straight measures of rest. All making for an annoying day.

Upon another glance he noticed that not only were these people still doing the chinese fire drill and he had a green light, but that they were also all dressed in clown costumes.

The trail of clowns never seemed to end.

How many clowns could be crammed into one small car? Adam figured out the answer, a bunch.

Finally Adam realized that he wouldn't have enough time to go in and see Katie and make it back in time for his tuba sectional.

Since he was the principal tuba player it is was pretty important that he set a good example and got there early, no matter the situation.

**

Meanwhile Katie was watching TV wondering why Adam hadn't come that day. She had heard buzz that a record was trying to be made outside her window.

Something about the record number of people you could involve in a chinese fire drill and how many people you could fit in a car.

The news was covering it hour by hour, the people just had to keep it going for 3 hours. They just dressed up as clowns for extra laughs, make the record even more unbearable to break.

They were talking about the public's opinion of this record being made, most of the people interviewed were just wanting to be on camera, and had nothing good to say. Overall, the message was that the public approved and that no one had any problems finding extra routes.

But Adam knew this was untrue, even after he was driving away he heard the most honks he's heard in a five minute time span. The public was NOT ok with this.

**

After Adams sectionals were over he drived as quickly as he could to the hospital, but when he got in the room Katie was already asleep.

Adam was so frustrated with himself he felt like punching through the wall. No, that's not true, he felt like hunting down those clowns and giving them a piece of his mind.

Today was going to be the day he was going to tell her how he really felt, he had even bought her flowers. But none of that mattered anymore because she had fallen asleep and he knew how important sleep was to her recovery. Besides, visitation hours would be over in ten minutes. He had lost his opurtune moment, and tomorrow he had an exam in the morning and a concert that night.

After realizing that he had even lost the chance to tell her he wouldn't be able to come tomorrow he was even more upset with himself.

Coming up with a spur of the moment idea he sprinted out of the hospital room towards the gift shop, if he were lucky he would get there and it would still be open. Turns out he had some luck left. He purchased a small ugly girraffe looking thing, it was the only stuffed animal that didn't say "It's a boy!" or something of that text. After purchasing it he ran back to her room.

But just before entering her room the nurse pushed him back while telling him that visitation time was over and that unless he was direct family he wasn't alowed inside.

He asked the nurse if she would give her the stuffed animal and note to her, but the nurse must have had some chip on her shoulder because she refused and said that he could give it to the front desk to be delivered every afternoon like everyone else.

Well that was a fantastic end to his day, Adam thought. Adam was so mad that he forgot about taking the giraffe to the front desk and just drove back to his appartment.

***

Meanwhile Katie's parents had just called the french horn players who used to be in her section in high school. They heard and saw how devastated and upset Katie was and they knew the only people who could ever cheer her up was her old "horn family".

They were always the one who when she was so mad would bluntly tell her to take a chill pill, or when she was sad they would comfort her and threaten to make the person pay who did this to her. Or when she was happy they would all just go mentally insane for a little while. And when she was hurt just make her laugh the pain away.

Even though they had parted their ways to different colleges, they still tried to keep up.

Amanda had gone to UCF and was majoring in film, Chris went to FSU to major in music education, Kat the same, Julian and Sam both went to some Ivy league school and are probably making some genious discovery while at the same time making everyone who they meet laugh, Laura joined the FSU circus and is the best one there, Tommy quit band and dropped off of the face of the earth, and Leah is at TCC getting her nursing degree.

But what Katie didn't know was that tomorrow she would get a surprise from each and every one in person.

They airfare and travel arrangements had already been planned. Amanda would drive up to Tallahassee and would catch a flight to New York with Kat, Chris, and Leah. Julian and Sam were getting there somehow, they didn't want us to know how. Laura was already in New York because she was trying out for Cirque du Solei that week. Tommy would get there somehow.

Airborne

Is the probable prevention of illness really worth the one hour in which I feel like I'm about to literally throw up? I don't think so. I thought airborne was supposed to keep you from getting sick, not make you sick.

Picking a new song to play

So I had my piano recital yesterday, which is all good and well. Until you come to the point of: well what's next?

So here I am, flipping through my piano books finding a new challenging and excited thing to play. I've done this many times before so I thought "why not share the things I take into consideration when picking out a song to play". 

I take many factors into consideration when picking a new song:

FIRST: I flip through all of the music I have and type it into youtube to hear it.

SECOND: After hearing the song I ask myself many questions:

-Do I even like the song?

-Would this song make me want to practice and I would look forward to practicing it?

-Would other people like this song when I play it?

(yes I'll admit it, I like to please other people. I don't like to play long boring songs just to say. "well, I've played this song that's how good I am" if everyone I play it for just falls asleep during the middle of it.)

THIRD: (this is when the song is being taken into very strong consideration) I make my 

family listen to the song. After all, they're going to have to put up with it for a 

very long time as I practice it.

So there you have it.