gone for the week

My youngest brother Jack has gone camping with his best friend/neighbor Aaron for the week, it'll be strange here without him. He practically lives across the street, always having sleepovers and playdates at Aaron's. When he got the invitation to go his face lit up like it was Christmas. He left today, taking half his belongings with him.

'Course, this means my brother and I will be able to watch movies we usually aren't allowed to see, like Austin Powers and Airplane. Still, I'll miss him.

I'm Back again, here's a recap

Hello yall, I'm back. Just needed a break from writing.

Let us see...
A lot's happened since I wrote anything, last week had a lot going on. There was a bike ride with our swim coach Kai around lake Natoma, there was an allergic reaction to a walnut-tainted M&M cookie during said bike ride, there was a swim meet against Del Norte (our swim team's rival team), there was a Parents' Day at my grandparents' house (I'll post some video later), and there was an incident while trying to export some old videos.

More to come, stay tuned.

Change of schedule

I'm going to take this week off the Manifesto. I've got a lot on my plate and need a break. See you next week, sorry.

Late COTW

Sorry this took so long, I couldn't decide which one to post. Anyway, here it is.

Friday

The first week of June is closing, and I have to say that it's not very summer-y. There is a 60% chance of showers today and a 50% chance of another thunderstorm tonight.

Today is a graduation party for a swim friend of ours. She's going to have the party at her house, and her older sister and I (highschoolers) have to supervise her and her friends (8th graders). The original plan was to make it a summer pool party, but I'm not sure how the situation will change on account of the weather.

Another swim meet tomorrow, this time it is a tri-meet (three teams, one pool).

Pretty lights

We were watching The Hulk from Netflix last night when our next door neighbor called us outside. They were looking up at the sky, I couldn't see anything at first until I got out the door. It wasn't raining, so I thought it might be a far off view of a night-time airshow. Then the sky lit up.

There was a thunderstorm just south-east of us. Really spectacular, all the neighbors came out to see it. Strangely, there were no thunderclaps. The lightning was there, but there weren't any loud BANGs- just a constant, low rumbling. I tried to get a picture of the lighting, so I just clicked away at the sky and hoped for the best... nothing. I did get a shot of some of the clouds, but it's a little blurred.

We were watching the storm for about ten minutes when a very large wet raindrop hit my head. I looked at the ground where another had fallen, it was a big raindrop, about the size of a half-dollar. Then, without warning, it poured.

Within a few seconds, the entire street was drenched, and the sidewalk gutters were bursting their banks. The lightning continued, and the younger children were running and splashing and getting completely soaked. Ross even got a chance to use an umbrella hat a friend gave him.

After about fifteen minutes, the storm passed over our house and out of convenient sight. The rain slowly lessened and was reduced to a light sprinkle. We went inside to see the radar image of the storm and watched the big red blotch slide over Sacramento. So much for the first week of June summer sun.

Monday-Tuesday

Didn't post anything Monday, I had a bit of a wrench thrown into my schedule. I have to start next year's math early, so I'm starting Algebra 2 now. Luckily, the first lessons are very simple, I just needed to acclimate.

Hmm... what to talk about...

Ran this morning, felt very rusty. I haven't ran in a long time, and I was still sore from yesterday (swimming, dodgeball, etc.). I'm glad I did it though. Now my legs are aching.

This week has been "mystery weather" week: Two days ago it was hot, yesterday it was cold, and now there are forecasts for thunderstorms for the rest of the week. I thought this was supposed to be summer.

I'm working on getting audio posted onto the Manifesto. For some reason, I can insert pictures and videos into my posts, but no audio. Once I get it figured out, I want to start a monthly podcast.

I think that's just about it.

Ghillie suit update: Dyed and painted

I finished spray painting the front of my flightsuit. The front won't have any burlap, so it needs a light camoflage pattern.

I've also dyed most of my burlap. I used the same dye bath for all of them, but after each batch, I added either a packet of yellow dye (to make the next batch lighter), or more water (to make the next batch more faded). This resulted in four different shades of green.They ranged from a forest green (closest) to a faded grass green (farthest). The lightest colors are best suited for the environment I will be testing my suit in, i.e. lots of grass, most of it dried. I did not dye all my burlap, since its natural un-dyed color is perfect for blending into the tall tan grass I'll be hiding in.

All I need now is lots of 3/4" netting.

Weekend

Friday was the graduation. It was at a church, and a "graduation service" was held for the pre-highschoolers, communion was even offered. After the service, everyone piled into the gym for cake and conversation.
It was strange seeing our friend after about a year. No one was sure what to say. Then someone made a funny remark, and the barrier broke. We couldn't stop talking, about Tae Kwon Do, about what we used to talk about when we were still doing Tae Kwon Do, and everything else. Unfortunately, we couldn't go back to her house for the rest of the party because we had a swim meet the next morning. We went home and went to bed at around 10:30.

Saturday was the swim meet. Very good meet, many of our swimmers got best times. Luckily we won the meet, and all the smack talk from the other team was blown off into the ether.

Sunday was church as usual. I'm going to be one of the leaders for the new summer Sunday school class. I think it'll be a lot of fun, since I'll be learning along with the kids.
After church, we went to my grandparent's house and went to an oriental buffet place for lunch. Then we went home.