Sorry I haven't written in a while.  I've been on the computer so much recently, talking to the King of YangI've been fighting with my Dad recently.  I have a lot to say about that.  He thinks I'm too young to have a boyfriend.  He won't let me "date" at all.  Meanwhile Mom is pretty cool about it.  So far Eddie and I spend a lot of time chatting on the computer.  We also have met at the Farmers Market a few times where he'd buy me coffee and pastries.  I met him at the Baltimore City fair last week!  Boy do I have a lot to talk about! 

       Ok!  The Fair!  It's a big festival at the Inner Harbor.  Aunt Victoria took me and April to the fair.  April was finally home for the rest of the summer.  She spends so much time on vacation!  She spent two weeks in Disney, and Nassau, etc. 

       So we're at the fair, walking around and shopping (my favorite part!) When I heard THAT screechy voice, "No Way!  Toby get back here!"  It was Samantha and Toby.  And they were walking around hand-in-hand.  It was so painful.  April tried to hide them from me- but who could miss Samantha's whiny voice? 
       Toby was the first to see us.  Samantha had stepped aside to look at some sunglasses at one of those souvenir stands.  When Toby spotted us- he left her, and walked over to us.  "Jamie, April!  Hey!  How's your summer going?"  I practically fell back onto April.  But April was stronger.
       "No.  Don't show your weakness.  Remember, he's dating Samantha." April whispered.  She was totally right.  I had to start seeing Toby as a friend.  As a buddy- the way I see Max.  Toby is just a friend....

       And then it happened...
 

    Samantha walked over wearing a pair of sunglasses from the stand.  The guy working at the stand thought she was stealing them, and chased after her, "NO!!  You must buy them!!" 
       Samantha pushed him aside, "Relax Mr., I'm just trying them on!  Toby, how do I look in them?  And why did you leave me?"  She then saw us.  "oh, hi Jamie.  It's so funny that Toby would see you here, of all people..."  Toby looked confused.  We all did.  What did she mean by that? 
       "You look great Samantha.  Do you want me to buy them for you?"  Toby asked.  He pulls out his wallet and starts counting his money.   "She loves to shop.  Do you girls like to shop too?" 
    Toby was acting very strange.  By this point the guy who worked at the stand was waiting for Toby to pay for the glasses, and so was Samantha.  Toby looked nervous.
       'Well?"  screeched Samantha, "We're waiting."
        Toby looked up at Samantha, a bit embarrassed, "Sam, I only have three dollars left."  He sighed.  I then reached into my purse to grab some money.  This was my chance to shine for Toby, even though I totally despised Samantha.  But before I could pull out a twenty, I felt a rush of air pass by me.
 

    "I got it."  Insisted Eddie Morgan. 

  It was all like in slow motion! I looked over, and EDDIE MORGAN, my Eddie Morgan- was paying for Samantha Jenkins useless sunglasses.
"Hi Jamie!" he smiled.  I was floored.  I felt like I was in a dream.
      "Who is this bozo?" laughed Samantha.  Oh I was ready for this one.  Totally ready!!  Are you ready?  Are you ready to hear how I responded to this?....
       "This is my boyfriend"  I sighed.  And I looked directly over at Toby.  April's jaw dropped to the ground.  Samantha's dropped to her chest, and Toby's dropped to China. 
       "YOU?..You have a boyfriend?" asked Toby.  What?  Like little sweet Jamie can't date?  Like I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life crushing on Toby?  No Way!  I don't think so!
       "So how long has this been going on?" smirks Samantha.
      My buddy April stepped into this nicely.  "Oh, they've been going out all summer!  Didn't you know?  It's been in the City Paper and everything!"  joked April.  "Don't they make a cute couple?"
       Eddie grabbed my hand.  My heart started beating so fast, I felt like I was going to faint.  Toby and Samantha starred at us.  "So sweetie, should we move along?  I think that Ferris Wheel is calling our name."  Eddie winked at me.  Wow.  This day just keeps getting better! 
       So Toby and Samantha gracefully walked away.  Still stunned that lil' Jamie could actually have a boyfriend.  I mean what is the big deal?  Did they actually think that I would call them and ask their permission first?  Does Toby actually know about my crush?  Because they're acting like they know I've had this massive crush on him.  I don't know- maybe it's my imagination.  Unless someone let it slip out.  But who?  Mark?  April?  Maybe even my Dad.  After all, he does drive Toby in our carpool. 
       Speaking about carpools.   Our carpool is a thing of the past.  Toby got a new car this spring, and will be driving himself to school next year. :(  though he did mention that if I'm at my Dad's, I could call him the night before, and he'll give us rides to school.  So that will be great!!  Toby driving, and I in the passenger seat next to him.  OH!!  It's going to be GREAT!!!  Ok...Back to Eddie...

       So there we are...Eddie and I walking hand in hand, with April on my other side, giving me secrets signals of "What is this!!"   And Eddie guiding us to the Ferris Wheel... And he's not letting go of my hand.  Can you believe it? I didn't know what to do... So I did my "Jamie's Way"...
       I stopped short.  I turned to look at him, and I pulled my hand away.  "That was a nice save, Eddie.  But we can stop pretending."
       "Pretending what?" asked Eddie.
       "Pretending that we're going together." I smiled.
       "Well, who's pretending?  What?  You don't want to?"
       I couldn't believe what he was saying. "What?  Are you asking me to go out with you?"
       "Well if I asked you, would you say yes?" Eddie grinned.
       "Would you guys stop it?  You're getting me dizzy!!  Let's go ride the ferris wheel!" begged April.  It was starting to get dark, and people were hurrying for one last ride, etc.
       "Let's continue this later, ok?" Eddie sighed.  "Last one over to the ferris wheel has to pay for all three tickets!"  And with that we all darted over to the ferris wheel.  April was the last one, so she used her last three tickets.  Since we all were small, we got to all ride together.  Eddie sat between us and when we got to the very top he acted like he was King of the sky.  It was a very THRILLING day!!!    Ta ta till next time ;)
 
 

       Today was the 4th of July.  It wasn't very fun this year.  Actually, it was scary.  I know now I will never participate in someone else's lies.  Especially when it involves my friends and their mothers...
       I really miss April.  I know she doesn't lie.  She would never have put me in this situation.  The situation tonight that Lonnie and Kristie put me in.  NEVER!  I haven't seen April since school ended, which has been around a month now.  And I am so bored.  I thought I'd get a lot done this summer.  I thought I'd relax, and have fun.  But it just seems that the more I relax, the more I am bored.  I mean, how much TV can you watch?  How many hours can you surf on the web?  How many games of rummy 500 can you play? 
       I've spent a whole month hanging out with Kristie and Lonnie.  I mean, I really like them and all.  But they never want to do anything.  They love to gossip about some guy at their school named Eddie Morgan.  I slightly remember him.  I mean I remember he used to chase me around the playground.  I can't tell them that.  It's bad enough they both have crushes on him.  They fight constantly over him, "Eddie's mine!".  "Naa-ah, I met him first!"  "Oh yeah?  Like you really remember our first day of kindergarten!!"
 
 
 
 

       I'd like to continue on this thought, but I hear my mother crying.  Her room is right next to mine.  So I can hear a lot.  I think she almost does it unpurpose.  It's like she wants me to hear it.  I'm going to go knock on her door, and tell her I can't sleep.  That always works.  It takes her mind off of her problems cause she's thinking she's helping me with mine... 

REMINDER:  continue talking about Eddie Morgan, and what happened on the 4th of July...
 

     Okay, I'm back.  Mom's better.  She's lonely, as usual.  But she was crying for a different reason tonight.  She was crying because..well..she's about to be 35 years old in 6 months.  Talk about stupid!  I mean the day I start crying about my age, well.  I guess I should shutup.  I'm always complaining about being in Junior High.  I think it's like the same thing almost.  We always feel sorry for ourselves for some reason or another.  I think Mom's upset because she's 35 years old, and divorced.  And she doesn't have that someone special that she plans on growing old with.  I can relate to that.  I've never had a serious boyfriend.  But I'm sure it's such a great feeling to have one.  To know that there's someone to share things with, like watching the World Series or the Oscars together.  Like sharing popcorn at the movies, or holding hands while walking down St. Paul Street at night.  Like always having a dinner date.  That must be the greatest thing!  And then to lose that partner, the one you thought you'd spend your whole life with. To lose him because of some stupid argument, or habit, or something...I just realized that I'm not really sure why my parents got a divorce.  I think it was because my Dad wanted to change his career or something.  My mom reacted really strange about it- like he was trying to change his personality.  But Dad always like to paint, so all because he wants to take some painting classes in the evenings doesn't mean he's going to be a different person.  Oh well.  I'm sure there's a lot more to it, but I just don't know what it is.
 

       Okay, I want to talk about EDDIE MORGAN!  No- I don't have a crush on him or anything.  But Kristie and Lonnie both do.  And they constantly talk about him.  The last time I saw him was in fifth grade.  But he didn't spend that much time in school that year because he kept getting in trouble, and was finally suspended.  He's a total jerk, and can never sit still.  I bet he'll drop out of school when he gets to tenth grade- if he ever gets to tenth grade.  He's lucky he hasn't flunked yet. 
       Anyway, so it's the 4th of July.  And it's around 5pm.  I go to Bradlee Street to see Lonnie and Kristie, who are out on their porches blasting
Britney Spears. 
       Mrs. Boston, a lady five houses down is screaming at Mrs. Porter because the radio is too loud.  She's threatening to call the police.  But Mrs. Porter keeps playing the music, over and over again.  She's mad at Mrs. Boston, because a few night before that they had some big family party, and kept the whole neighborhood up until 3am. 
       Finally Lonnie is screaming at her mom, "MOm! I don't want to listen to this CD anymore.  We're about to go to "the Beach".  Jamie's cousin invited us to a cookout at "the Beach". 
       I stared at Lonnie.  So now she's involving me in her fantasy life?  What cousin has a cookout at "the Beach"?  Zack's only 8, and my father's sister has three teenagers in Vermont.  So I guess my cousin Gena could be visiting a friend at Guilford University.  Problem is, I haven't seen her since I was five.  But I went along with it.  And moments later the three of us were hiking over to Guilford University.
       "So why are we going here?" I asked them. 
       "Eddie's having a family picnic!  And afterwards we're all going to see the fireworks at Memorial Stadium."
       Oh.  SO they didn't even ask.  They just assumed that I'd go along with it.  "My dad's supposed to be taking us to the Harbor tonight" 
      "Well call him up and cancel.  Or have him pick you up here later on."

       So there we were.  At the "Beach" looking for some stranger's family picnic.  Why didn't Lonnie just tell her mom it was Eddie's family picnic?  Why bring me into it?

       When we finally found Eddie.  He was sitting on a blanket with a few of his friends.  Lonnie and Kristie setup our blanket a few feet from them, and we sat down.  Then they just whispered about him for the next fifteen minutes!  Eddie kept looking over, but he didn't seem to notice them.  He was looking at me. 
       I finally asked Lonnie, "aren't you going to go say hello to him?"  She stared at me like I was crazy.
       "I don't know him that well.  He's in my homeroom."
       "So!  He's in your homeroom, right?  You can at least smile at him."  They were clue less.  Totally clue less!!

       Then it happened.  Eddie smiled and walked over.  "JAMIE!!  Jamie Watts!  I had the biggest crush on you in fifth grade!"
       "You were hardly even in fifth grade, Eddie.  You were always suspended."  I laughed.
       Lonnie and Kristie were speechless!  They just stared at us, like some great miracle was happening.
       "Well you know Lonnie, and Kristie, right?  They're evidently in your homeroom."
       Eddie sat down on our blanket.  "Hey girls!  Nice to finally meet ya!  These two girls have been staring at my friends and I since first grade.  It's like they don't got no voices or nothing.  You were always different , Jamie.  I loved chasing you around school, cause I knew you had a voice.  You were mean, and loud, and I loved every bit of it.  Your sexy attitude."
       I was speechless.  And a little embarrassed.  "Um.  They have voices!  You should hear the way Lonnie yells at her Mom, she's so mean!"
      "Yeah!  I can be mean.  But I usually like being nice.  Especially when it comes to cute boys."  Lonnie smiled.  I couldn't believe it!  She was actually talking to her idol!  I tried to not say much.  And look as ugly as I could.  I didn't want Eddie to reform a crush on me again.
       "Well I think it's more appealing when a girl is fiery, and outgoing. It shows she's full of life!"  Eddie boasts.

       A man sitting at a picnic table nearby called for Eddie, "Eddie!  Come here and help your grandmother.  She needs you to walk her over to the library to use the bathroom."

       Eddie rolled his eyes.  "Well that's my dad.  I gotta go do my nice deed for the day, and help Grandma."
       "Well we'll be going soon anyway."  I blurted out.  Both Kristie and Lonnie glared at me.
       "We will?"  Lonnie whispered.
       "Yes!  I want to go to the harbor with my dad tonight!  I never see him!"  I also wanted to leave so I didn't have more contact with Eddie.  My friendships with Kristie and Lonnie mean more to me than some boy, cute or not.
       "Well it was great seeing you again, Jamie! Uh.."
Eddie walked over to me, and nealed down by my side.  "Do you think I could see you again sometime?  Maybe go for a bite, or go for COFFEE somewhere?"  Coffee?  Did he say COFFEE?!!! 
       I sat there frozen.  My friends just glared at me, even harder than before.  I know they wanted me to disappear.  I wanted to disappear.  I wanted a new guy in my life- but not this one.  Not the one that two of my best friends like. 
       FIGURES!!  I find a guy that might take my mind off of TOBY.  He even asks ME for coffee!  Now that's a switch!   So I did the best thing I could do- at least in that moment...
       "Well, probably not.  I'm going away to camp next week for the rest of the summer."  I stupidly lied.
       "Oh really?  What kind of camp?"
       "Computer camp."  Yeah, me and my quick mind!
       "Really? Oh that's so cool!  I'd love to go to computer camp.  I'm always on the web!  Do you have an e-mail address?"
       I looked at Lonnie for guidance.  She smiled.  By me giving out my e-mail address, they get to have HIS e-mail address.  And ofcourse, so do I!  Not that I really wanted it.  ;)

       Eddie ran over to get paper and a pen.  And also to comfort his grandmother who was starting to panic.  He then ran back to us.

       "Hey girls, I gotta go now.  My grandmother is about to pee in her pants!  Write down your e-mails addresses here."  Eddie torn the paper in half, and wrote his down.  While we wrote our on the other half.  Then we exchanged the papers.  Eddie looked at our e-mail addresses.  "So yours is Queenofyin@aol.com  huh?" Eddie grinned.  "Can I be your King?" 

       Lonnie grinned, "SHE already has one!"
       Eddie looked confused.  "Really?  Who?" 
       "He's a friend.  Eddie, go help your grandmother!  We'll e-mail you, ok?"  I couldn't believe I said that.  I just wanted him to leave.  I felt sorry for his grandmother.  She looked like she was about 90! 
       Eddie waved and ran away.  We all stared at each other like we hit the jackpot!  Then we looked at the paper.
       "hoteddie_webidol@excite.com Now that's real cute!" sighed Lonnie.
       "So he thinks he's a "web idol"?  Do you think he has a web page or something?"  Kristie giggled.
       "Well if he had some web page, wouldn't he had written it down?" I asked.  I mean, I'm sure he would have written it down.
       "Well it might not be done yet, or he might be embarrassed about it or something." said Kristie.
       "Or maybe he has some dirty pics on it!"  Lonnie always comes up with the dirty stuff.
       "Geez! Lonnie, he's only 14. Why would he do that anyway?" 
       "He's 15 years old.  He started school late.  I mean Kindergarten." said Kristie.  She knows so much about him.  Every little detail about his life.
       "Why did he start late?" I asked.
       "Something to do with his home life.  He has a weird home life.  Infact I hear he doesn't have a mom."
       "ofcourse he has a Mom!" Lonnie yelled out.
       A few people from the picnic table looked over at us.  "Be quiet, Lonnie- his family is right over there!  They might hear us.  His mother might have died when he was little or something."  I replied.
       "No- they say he never met his mother.  He was adopted."
 

       Soon after that we started to walk home.  Lonnie and Kristie so happy to see Eddie.  I even felt like we accomplished something!  I got them to finally hold a conversation with him!  And I also now realize why they're so obsessed over him.  He has this bit of mystique about him.  Something so weird- like some big mystery waiting to be solved.  I started thinking about how I could solve it.  I knew for a fact that the moment I got home I was going to sit down and e-mail him. Ask him if he has some "IM" name so we could be "instant message" pals.  He acted like he has some interest in me- so maybe we could actually get to know each other by chatting on the computer!  That way Kristie and Lonnie wouldn't have to know about us. 
       And then we turned the corner of Charles Street, and I noticed a silver AMigo pulling up beside us.
       "Lonnie Porter!  You get in this car immediately, young lady!"
       And my mom's familiar voice saying, "Jamie!  You are sooooo grounded!  You can not use that damn computer for the next two weeks!!"  NO!  Not the computer punishment!  Anything but that!
       And things got worse from there.  My mom told my dad about the incident- how I lied to Lonnie's mother, and he barely spoke to me all evening. Besides- the Harbor was so crowded that night.  We spent 30 minutes trying to find a parking place, two hours waiting for dinner, and couldn't get anywhere near the water to see the fireworks.  It was a very hard night indeed.  Lesson?  Don't lie to anyone else's mother except your own!  I'm joking.  DON't LIE at all!!
 
 

       The following is a list of things I would like to do this summer:

1.  go sun tanning at the Guilford Beach.  Guilford University is a college a few blocks from my house.  We like to go hang out on campus sometimes, walk the dogs, play frisbee, stuff like that. 

2.  Clean and re-arrange my room.  Yuck, it's a total mess.  Plus I have to add new posters to my walls and take those Spice Girls down.  Well, maybe take a few pics of them down but not all, just incase they make a comeback.  Boy, people come and go in show biz so fast now!  Was it always like that?

3.   I would like to do something different with my mother this summer.  Go to the beach or something cool like that.  Somewhere where we can have some real quality time together.  Now I know it's funny to even think about this, but I feel so bad for my mother right now.  She's been so lonely since my father moved out.  And I know she won't ever admit it, but she's suffering.  I hear her crying every night.  If I could, I'd try and find her a boyfriend, or do something to get my Dad to come back to her.  But I think that's up top them to do- not me.  So I want to at least help her to understand that I'm there for her.  We've been getting into so many fights recently over stupid things...

4.  Okay- stupid things...I've got to get my hair color three shades light this summer without my mother knowing!  Hee hee hee!  I must stock up on LEMONS!!

5.  Well this one I have no real control over- but I hope my brother grows at least three inches this summer.  I feel so bad for him, he still looks like he's 12, and he's almost 16 years old!  He can start learning to drive soon, but Mom doesn't want him to take lessons until he gets a little taller.  I think she's just using it as an excuse- she doesn't want Mark to learn to drive at all.  I think Mom's worried that another male member of our family is going to be leaving our household soon.  Geez.  Two more years before Mark goes to college, now that's SCARY!!

6. I must do my summer reading for school, three books.  No prob.  It will be done while I sun tan or something.

7.  I would like to re-arrange my Dad's apartment.  He has no sense of style.  I'll do it room by room so he doesn't really notice so much.  We'll make that apartment a 2nd home as much as we can.  It's so cold, and disorganized.  I don't think my Dad really wants to live there.  It's just a place he sleeps- for now.

Hmmm.  I know I have other stuff to do.  I just can't think of anything else right now.  I mean, I'll go to the mall a lot this summer.  I'll go to the beach.  I'd like to have a few yard sales, and make some money.  We have this really cool Farmer's Market outside our house every Saturday, so it's like so easy to sell things.  Sometimes I sell lemonade, and my Mom's made coffee.  She's sold more dresses outside our house during the Farmer's Market, then she usually sells at her shop on Saturdays.  Funny, huh?! 

I'm not going to camp this year- thank god.  Camp to me was so boring.  It was like having gym class all day long!  I mean, I love sports and all.  I love basketball, and hiking.  But really.  DO I have to participate in every sport all day long?  When are they going to have computer camps?  Now that would be fun!  I'm such a geek!  A fashion plate computer geek!  I bet Mom didn't expect to hear that term when she was in school!
 

       This morning my mother had to get to her store extra early.  It seems  the alarm went off around 4am causing a huge commotion in Fells Point. Mom first had to make sure she wasn't robbed, and if not, then she had to apologize to her neighbors.  They're accusing her of having an overly sensitive alarm.  But as she says, "It's better to be over protective, and safe, than sorry"  Anyway, I know she had her hands full this morning.
       This left us without a ride to school.  So who do you think took us to school this morning?  Not Dad, turns out he wasn't even home at 6am. At least he didn't answer his phone.  (Wonder where Dad was...)
    Mom called Toby's mother!  So this morning I had no notice- and had to rush my "carpool with Toby" beauty routine.  Had I known I was going to be sharing a car pool with Toby this morning, I would have woken up two hours earlier! Oh well.  I managed to spend at least 45 minutes in the bathroom.  Not to Mark's liking ofcourse.  But I must confess I did have one of my better BEAUTY days today!  I think I even caught him admiring me!  Now I'm not positive- but I did feel like he was watching me while in the car.  And then later on, when we arrived at school, he held the door open for me TWICE!!  The car door, and the school door.  Either he was just practicing his manners, or maybe he's starting to notice me!  Maybe his feelings for Samantha are fading away.  Especially since she treats him like her gopher, "Toby,carry my books!","Toby watch our new routine!", "Toby, come here this very instant!!"   Geez, it's enough to make you want to PUKE!!
       If Toby did notice me, it was just for one tiny second, because the moment we got into the halls of Greenfield, Samantha ran right up to him, and he was back to all eyes on her.  Evidently her cousin, Jenna, was in a car accident the night before, and was now in a comma.  Samantha said she had been up all night crying.  I did notice that she didn't quite look like herself today.  Geez, no wonder!  I hope her cousin gets better...
       I miss my little cousin Zack.  He's like a little brother to me.  I love when he comes to me for advice.  He always has that same look on his face. "Ummmm....Jamie?" 
       And I always tease him!  "Yesssss, Zachary?"
       "You know when your mom and dad fight?  Is it normal?  I mean..."
       "What Zack?  Tell me!"  He always gives me the gossip, even though he doesn't realize that he is.
       "Well...It's just that they throw things at each other.  And the other day my Mom threw my truck across the room, and it broke into pieces."
       "Oh, Zack, I'm so sorry.  But ofcourse Aunt Emmie realized it was yours right?  I'm sure she didn't mean to do that."
      "Well, don't you think it's only fair she buy me a new one?  It's my favorite truck.  It's a one-of-kind Tiger Hummer! And it's remote controlled!"
      My cousin Zack is so special!  He'll be a famous actor one day, I just know it. 
      "Well, I'll have a little talk with Aunt Emmie, ok, Zackie?  And I'm sure she'll buy you a new one." 
      I'm so glad he didn't give me that same old line I used to give my parents when something of mine was lost, stolen, or broken: "But I don't want a new one- I want THAT ONE!!!"  I did that all the time!  I think kids today are a little more mature- or maybe Zachary is special.  After all his "Daddy's a rock-n-rolla!"

       So anyway, to get back to my day...As soon as I got to homeroom April ran over to me, insisting we talk.  And then the bell rang, and we had to take attendance, etc.  So April passed this note to me:  (click on the note to read it better) 
 

      Truthfully I didn't really believe it.  First of all, Toby will be in ninth grade next year. Only the best ninth graders are ever on the Varsity Football team.  And 2nd, Toby is already on the Varsity basketball team, the Varsity Lacrosse team.  What, is he going to play a different sport each season?  He's not even built like a football player.  He's perfect as a lacrosse player, plus he IS the BEST on the lacrosse team.  What if he gets hurt during the football season?   Is he really going to risk his Lacrosse career?  I just can't believe it.  I think he's doing all this to impress Samantha.  ANd I predict it's going to catch up with him. 

       Oh well.  I guess I'd better start looking for a new guy... 
 

       Today I realized something very important.  I realized that I was a fool. That I've been so blind.  Like for instance, today I walked into the cafeteria, like I always do, and I had a choice between sitting with Renee, and a few cheerleaders, with the Glee Club, with April, or with Darla (she's one of those burn-out types).  So ofcourse I sat with April.  But see usually I don't have a choice.  For some reason doors are beginning to open for me.  When I first arrived at this school, I didn't have that kind of choice.  Nobody wanted to sit with me.  They all stared at me like I had a virus or something.  Now they smile and wave at me.  But I don't take advantage.  Instead I sit with my little crowd- April.
       And we talk about our usual things, like why Toby doesn't notice me, or the strange zit that April's had under her tongue for the past week. Had I taken advantage of some of these opportunities, maybe I'd be a bit happier.  Maybe April and I might be involved in some of the bigger cliques at school, or had boyfriends by now.
       For Instance, had I sat with the cheerleaders today, moments later, Toby would have sat right next to them, and I could have had some great eye contact with him.  But then ofcourse Samantha joined them moments after that, so now I'm kind of glad I didn't join them- she could have made lunch very uncomfortable for me.
       I guess, I'm kind of a fool because here I am complaining that we don't have enough friends, and that nothing exciting ever happens. Yet I'm blind to those opportunities that I have to change all that- to do something different, to make new friends.  Next time I have a choice between doing the usual routine, or doing something different, well... I'll try to do something different.  Maybe sit with the cheerleaders, and let Samantha make a fool out of me.  At least I get a few inches closer to Toby:) (During school).  Or sit with the burnout's, and hear a few stories about the latest Phish concert.  I think tomorrow...tomorrow I'm going to change my routine a little.  Who knows.  It might add a little more excitement to my life!
 
 

This is page one of my new journal.  I can't seem to find my old one. 
Oh well.  I hope Mark doesn't have it.  It's all about my old school, 
and the beginning of my new school.  I'm sure I'll come across it someday.

DEAR DIARY:

       What a CRAZY week!  It actually started out the previous Monday.  See My mom went to some convention in Chicago for the week.  So Aunt Vicki was house sitting.   So when I got back from school on Monday, Aunt Vicki had this crazy idea in her head that she was going to get her friends Dennis and Laurie to paint our house.  Infact they were already scrapping at the house.  Freddie and Vicki evidently thought it up together.  An idea to cheer my mom up because of the divorce.   She's been so down in the dumps recently. :(
       I was the one who thought of the colors!  Purple, gold, blue, and peach.  Sound funny?  Well it's a "Painted Lady", a Victorian type of house with lots of different colors in it!  Baltimore has many painted ladies!  It brightens up our neighborhood!  Gives all our neighbors something to look at.  Actually, our house is not the only painted lady in the neighborhood- there are many!  Bradlee Street is filled with them!  Infact my friend Lonnie's house is a "Painted Lady" too!

        So the painters spent the week working on our house, while Freddie and Aunt Victoria supervised.  On Friday, I got home to find the house completely done!  I was so excited!  I couldn't wait for my mom to get home, and see it!
       At about 6pm, Lonnie and Kristie came over.  Lonnie brought this strange kind of shampoo over that her mother swears by.  But her mother, Janine is an African American woman with streaky blondish hair.  And unfortunately we didn't read the directions on the bottle.  So we washed MY hair- Kristie won't touch her hair because her mother's so strict that if she found out- Kristie would be grounded until she was 42 years old.  Lonnie's hair is dark brown, and so beautiful the way it is- I'd punish her myself if she ever disturbed it.  So everyone likes to experiment with my hair!  And boy did we!  Once we got thru washing, and blow drying- you wouldn't believe what color my hair was....

       BRIGHT GREEN!!!

       WE SCREAMED SO LOUD- THEY COULD HEAR US AT THE GUILFORD CAMPUS!  Aunt Victoria came running upstairs so fast.  What is it?  What's wrong?" screamed Aunt Victoria.  Then she saw my hair.  "Oh no- you did an EMMIE on us!" 
       I was not in the mood for jokes.  "What do you mean, Aunt Vicki?  What can we do?"  I cried.  The Spring Fling was Saturday night, and I was not going to go with GREEN hair!!
       "Relax, girls, I'll call my friend Mary up at Cheryl's Salon, and she'll fix it for you.  Emmie did this to us when she was 16 years old.  But we knew nithing about hair.  ANd Mom and Dad were so upset at us- that they lead us to believe for one full day that nothing could be done.  Your Aunt Emmie had to go to school that way.  Imagine that!!"
       I don't know what I would have done.  I know I would have worn a baseball cap all day.  And maybe a scarf under it!  I can just imagine everyone trying to push the baseball cap off my head, "Come on Jamie- show us your GREEN hair!!"
       
       Luckily Aunt Vicki didn't tortue me, and brought me to Cheryl's Salon right away!  Mary was so nice to fix my hair!  And she even lightened it a few shades more!  I know my mother will find out.  But hey... Aunt Vicki thought it was a cute idea too!  So blonder I became!!!