A catch-up is needed, so here's a quick rewind to Friday. The tiff between Megs and I faded away as the days passed and by Friday night, we were fine again, which was very, very good. The game went well. Arcadia's show was...well, no words. And I say that in a very non-flattering way. At any rate, the game was a shutout (we won), but our preperation for Saturday lacked. Afterwards, mom and I went out for breakfast (dinner) to talk and such. She's been so busy with her new job that I haven't had much time to see or talk to her. Anyways, next morning was the SAT. And eh, no biggie, impatiently took it, knowing that it didn't really matter, certain that I didn't care, and extremely antsy for ASU (the marching festival). So finally we get to ASU. And it seemed like we rushed; off the bus, quick unload, quick warm-up, march up the hill, into the stadium and then POW. An explosion of nerves as we enter the arena and hear the applause, see the timer, glance at the jumbotron, know that the judges are watching. The show, in the band's opinion, was nothing spectacular. We had a scary moment in the drumbreak with the pit and some confused marchers because of the two sets of hash marks. At any rate, we recieved a good (excruciatingly close to an excellent, which is exactly what I had predicted). So that was that. Today I finally got to Walgreens to print out pictures I've had stored on my camera etc. forever. It took me, honestly, about two hours to edit the pictures and print them out and all and the guy behind the counter was super cool to me and gave me a killer deal, so I got about 50+ pics for a whopping $11. It rocked. And besides, I'm extremely pleased with the pictures; content and quality combined. After that, Kris picked me up and we went to his sister's house for a big ol' house warming party. That was pretty fun. I met an old lady named Kathy who, I kid you not, must have taken a bite of the sun because she was just a ray of constant joy. For the rest of this entry, I have to become abstract because I have thoughts that need to be said but don't need to be heard. (this is the problem with public diaries). Of course it rained. With laughter so loud, how can you hold back tears? And we saw them speckled on the windshield, faded and outlined in something of the past, shined on by spotlights as we sped through a year; how was it? Miserable, but looking up. Looking up, there's lightning, directed in our North, flickering and forking on our road; make a right here. The importance of fifteen minutes is immeasurable; sound off, clear as rythm the truth is told, rushing on at 75. Tempted to pop the E-Brake, holding back a sneeze all the while, a silence breaks and we find a distraction to dwell on. While all the world has mastered the art of being warm and friendly at arm's length apart, I'm so glad we discovered how to entagle ourselves in a dream. Our visual changes and we try again at past failures, reviewing the beginning, half-listening, paying full attention, fighting to let go and speak out. After all, don't you deserve the truth? I promise I'm pure; pure as the soft silence that ends a heavy breath as we turn our backs to the wall of a past we've dug up and laid to rest. Amen. On a second breath, we stretch longer than the first before eyes get heavy, and then an intermission of forgettable dreams takes place, followed by refreshments; your smile is so refreshing. You flinch, not because you're scared or hurt, but perhaps because you were hurt, perhaps because you're nervous, perhaps because relaxing is so unatural to you, regardless of your easy-going nature. We proceed and our silent conversation commences and we speak so much and say so little, that by the end, we're breathless, and the world skips a beat for silence for three mighty words. And oh, the relief in a sneeze! Orion was watching from his vacant window, but I can ignore him now. Because the past doesn't matter, except for the good times, and now we're fresh and we're new and we're innocent. Sanctuary is in a hug. Carrie