Okay, first of all, I am really, really sorry I didn't post last week. The laptop I usually use was having internet problems, and I had to use the computer lab during a class, which includes certain very annoying people who I do not want reading this!

Second,
IT SNOWED!!!!!! SNOW!!! SNOWSNOWSNOWSNOWSNOW! YAYZERS! GO SNOW GO! LET'S GO SNOW LET'S GO! BEAUTIFUL! WHITE! SNOW!!!!!!!!! *contented sigh*

Anyway, what is up with me.... Riding went well, my violin teacher and accompanist are happy with my pieces, I have a duet with Tera, I have a competition on the 14th (well, you get graded 1-5, and once you have 15 you get a trophy), and I have to recite a poem for drama class. I already picked mine - no prob. It's called Enchanted Light. You can Google it for the text. When I was little, my dad used to read me poetry, sometimes instead of bedtime stories - I was a sucker for fairy tales. It was one of my favorite poems. We get paired with teacher-assigned partners next week; I'm just praying to the mighty drama gods that I don't get put with TYLER!!!!! OR JAKE!!!!!!!! Not that Ms. Ashley is naive, or something like that, but she can't understand the middle school politics. Not even Veronica gets them, and she wasn't in middle school THAT long ago. Besides, she was a jock, and didn't really interact with cliques.

Actually, I'm a little worried about that. Veronica was very sports-oriented when she was my age. She was totally devoted to her track and swim teams. She sorta freaked out when I asked for tinted lip gloss last week. It's "not appropriate" at my age to have a "lip gloss that's meant to make your lips look a certain color." I mean, lip gloss isn't going to make me a Valley Girl! And if she's freaking about lip gloss, what about if a boy asks me out, for crying out loud? Not that I am in ANY hurry. I wouldn't go out with anyone in this school if you paid me. Rhetorical question only. But I am seriously nervous. Mira and Tera wear mascara and eyeshadow, even! And they're like eight months younger than me! Veronica is awesome, very chic, great taste in clothes, and she's gorgeous, too, with black curly hair and deep green eyes, but she can be just a little bit behind the times.

Oh, and we were at the mall yesterday, because V is going to be MCing at my next orchestra concert, and she needed something to wear, and I saw this drop dead gorgeous sea-green chiffon dress that looked perfect with my hair! V would have let me get it, except it didn't look good because, according to V, I "don't have the cleavage to pull it off." OMG!!!!!!! I almost DIED!!!!!
At least she's okay with tankinis, though - I have a friend whose mom has forbidden two-pieces until she's fourteen!

Kathi, Jaz, r u reading this? I have not heard from you, hint hint hint!

'K, GTG
Natasha

Hello Hello Hello! Sorry I didn't post last week- I had algebra homework instead :-(
My riding lesson with Gabby went well yesterday - we worked mostly on transitions and getting the spot before jumping. FYI, you non-horse-obsessed people, the spot is the perfect spot for take-off. Gabby was so happy to see me, it was adorable! I saw Olivia, too, learning how to trot on Willow! It was very sweet.

So, on to the swim meet. I did soooo much better than I expected! There were five events you could sign up for:
50 yard freestyle
50 yard breaststroke
50 yard backstroke
50 yard butterfly
100 yard IM (25's of all strokes. It stands for Individual Medley.)

I signed up for everything except IM - number one, I hate trying to beat people while you're trying to go a distance, and there's another boy, Christopher, who is really good at it. I won everything but breaststroke! I am soooooo psyched! I love swim meets! And I actually did a flip-turn correctly during freestyle! I never got it before! I beat two girls who are way taller and six months older than me! Bah, Jamie and Maria! On breaststroke, which I suck at (seriously :-()
I got put with them and Christopher, and we were arguing who was going to win, while we were waiting for our turn. I said Christopher would win, Christopher said Maria would win, Maria said that she wouldn't win she totally was not in shape, and Jamie refused to get involved. Mr. Fast won. Not that I blame him - my time was over a minute. Not good.

Drama was okay; two new people have joined, to replace the evil boys who dropped! *does victory dance* Their names are Jake and Feya. Jake has been here for forever; I used to think he was an absolute jerk, but I guess he's okay. He's chummy with Derek. Feya is new - she just enrolled last Thursday. She has some drama experience, but is clearly not used to the methods of Ms. Ashley, the drama teacher, who is like, "Go for it! Crazy is good!" She is very unique. Feya is relatively pretty, I guess, with a cute nose, large teeth, and shoulder-length darkish hair. I can't decide what color it is; it's not black, but it's too dark to be brown. It's sort of like Tera's.

My violin lesson went well! Amy, my teacher, said she was very happy with how the Massenet was coming, and the Shostakovitch was going nicely. I have to learn some new shifting for that, because Amy changed her mind about using the top fingering. It's to make the B in fourth position more in tune. I have a lot of vibrato exercises too. Vibrato is when you wiggle your hand back and forth very fast to make a rippling sound. You could probably youtube it.

Anyway,
GTG!
Natasha
p.s. Thank you my loyal followers!