Prom and Steeple Chase

Last Friday night was Prom. Honestly, having never been part of the "teenage community", being around so many people my age, was sort of disconcerting. But I found a fellow debater to talk to, which was nice. JC and I talked for a while about Sherlock Holmes, some random ideas for inventions, and dancing. I love how home schoolers can have the most unconnected conversations, and still manage to make it interesting!

We will need to find a new way to affix the butterflies, since a few of them came off while I was walking around... but we have plenty of extra ones to replace them! :) I am just concerned that they came off while i was just walking... so i wonder what they will do when I'm really dancing at the formal celi... :S

Here are some pictures:

My charming brothers. So thankful to know they were watching out for me all evening.

One of the lovely girls I went with. They made it a wonderful evening!

The other young lady.

Group shot

Another group shot

Here are some shots of the dress, my sister has more detailed ones here (and the story behind it is here):

So.... that's the dress. It was so gorgeous and almost all Arielle's handywork. Thank you Arielle!

We (my brothers and I) met some super nice people from a rival swim team there. Glad I wasn't the only one with a swimsuit tan! ;)

All in all a fabulous time and I'm definitely glad I went.

The Steeple Chase went well the next day. I got up at 6 to polish my shoes and iron my band shirt and my kilt, which were in pretty bad shape from the last highland games. We got there at 9:30, and played at 11:00. Because it was extremely sunny, I got a pretty bad sunburn. It was really very painful but then I put on some of this and it got all better! Last summer, when we were working at a camp with some friends of ours that was our saving grace. I forgot to bring it for the first week of camp, so all the skin on my nose peeled off... not a pleasant sensation by the way! But the second week of camp, it was indispensable! (Yes, I know that sounded like a cheesy TV commercial, but I'm just being honest!)

SOOOOOO excited about the formal celi coming up. Since there wasn't any "real" dancing at prom, it made me look forward to the celi all the more! Most of our celi's are informal (but all the same it's fun to come in a long swishy skirt), but this one is supposed to be completely formal. I have a hard time explaining to my friends that this is a "formal celi, like prom formal, but it's not like prom, well it is, but just in the 'formal' part... the dancing's not the same though. And it's prom aged people who are supposed to come, like a teen celi, but more formal..." most of the time they look at me like I just grew an extra head and go ask the next person to clarify... oh well, I tried :)

This Saturday we get to go to the beach for the first non-band related vacation we have been on in... I don't remember how long. We will be fairly close to Charleston (one of my favorite places EVER) so we may drive in and visit at some point. Not sure. I'm not planning it, I'm just going :)

Since I haven't been on just a vacation for a while... I'm not sure what to pack... so I'll probably wait to see what Arielle packs and then go from there. Yeah... story of my life ;)

Well, love you all... I've got to go write my paper on the Great Depression which I'm sort of making harder than it should be....

Emma

Steeple Chase and Prom

This Saturday, we (My Mom and older brother #2) are headed out to the Queens Cup Steeple Chase. Our band got hired to play for the opening ceremonies, so as members of the band, we get free tickets. It really is an interesting thing to experience. Very different atmosphere than that which we've grown up in, but a great event anyway. The tailgating competitions are really neat to watch. They certainly take tailgating to a new level! That was my first introduction to tailgating so when I saw the "real" way tailgating is done in the south, I was somewhat surprised :)

In about a month, we have the Greenville Highland Games at Furman University. It used to be held in late June, but temperatures would get up to 102 on the field, and competitors who are obligated to wear a wool kilt, wool socks, a black wool hat, and a black vest (which includes most of the people there) weren't very happy with that and several people suffered heat stroke on the field. So the competition was moved to early June. But it still got too hot for those of us who's outfits weren't exactly suited to the weather, so it was moved the late May and that is where it's at right now. It's actually a rather nice games, and one of my favorites (besides the one in Charleston.... that one is definitely my favorite, hands down).

Also, I am thrilled to announce that I will be attending my first ever prom!!!

I didn't think I was going to be going, but a good friend of mine managed to secure me a ticket, so I'm headed of to prom with her. I'm slightly nervous since my only exposure to prom has been riding with my mom to drop my sister and brother off at theirs. This one is a "homeschool" prom, so should be more low key than a public school prom. The butterfly wonderland dress (as a friend of mine called it) may be done on time, but I'm not sure. My sister performed a miracle last night by finishing all the butterflies in one night. I was shocked when I came home to find all my work done for me. I'm so lucky to have a sister who is capable of taking a plain dress and turning it into something wonderful. In the words of the little green space aliens from Toy Story, "I am eternally grateful!" (not sure what brought that to mind but it seems to fit the situation!)

I have been struggling with a nasty cold recently and it's made swimming a bit harder as a result. The cough makes it hard to sleep and the congestion makes it really hard to breath at night, so I haven't gotten much rest. If you guys could just be praying that it would be gone by Friday night (prom), and that I would be able to get some sleep and be well rested up for the Steeple Chase on Saturday and.... life. ;)

Enjoy this lovely day!