Weekly Update

This last week has been so darn busy...
First off, you need to know that I got my drivers permit yesterday! =D I took a three day driving class Monday through Wednesday, which basically taught me that motorcycles are evil and that I'm going to end up killing someone (probably a motorcyclist). 
Okay, so that's me being pessimistic. But that's honestly how I felt on day two of driver's ED. After seeing blood all over the highway, learning that 16 year old's die 10X more often than a middle-aged person behind the wheel...I would freak.'Cause this is me we're talking about, not someone who believes the glass is half-full.
Anyway, Tuesday night my brother managed to calm me down about the whole matter, and I went into my last day of driver's ED no longer scared to death. I passed the tests with flying colors, and I could've gotten my permit that very afternoon, but the place closed half an hour early -_-. So I had to wait to get my permit until yesterday.
Meanwhile, two days ago was my second day of marching band. As a band, we're doing so well already! If I remember correctly, last year, we didn't start backwards marching as early as the second week. We are this year, however, and the new rookies are doing amazing. In the low brass section, there's been a few changes, in that Trevor plays the tuba now and Johnathan (a once-upon-a-time tuba player) plays the baritone with Jared and I. Hector and Ryan are keeping their roles as trombone players, and the second tuba player, Patrick (I think that's his name, heh), is still playing tuba with Trevor. Also, we got our music for the show yesterday as well! It looks harder than last year's show, so we'll have to work a lot harder this year as a section. I know I'll be.

And now, for today! Today has been full all in itself, like a lot of Saturdays around here. I woke up around 9 this morning (earlier than I would've thought, but, okay) and after throwing the cat out and getting dressed, I played around on the computer a bit. It was when Dad woke up that I started in on my Saturday chores, which have been reduced as of late since my guinea pig passed away about a month ago. Since she's gone, her cage no longer has to be cleaned every week, leaving me with an extra thirty minutes, and so I was done with my work fairly quickly. Expecting Dad to take me out on my first drive then, I asked him about his schedule, and I learned he wouldn't be able to take me until this afternoon because he and Mom needed to discuss our Yellowstone trip that we're taking in two days (!!) while going on a short date at the same time.
And so, my plans tempered with, I decided to head outside and mow my neighbor's lawn. It's a job of mine, you could say, and I do it once a week. I'd waited two days longer this week due to the fact that I'd be gone all of next week until next Sunday, and so I didn't want her lawn overgrown by the time I came back. The sun wasn't bearing down yet, so I didn't think the heat would be a problem for me. Getting out the lawn mower and my iPod, I started in.
I was 2/3 of the way through with her lawn, when I spotted a squirrel in the tree. Now, if you were to ask a squirrel if I'm a good person, they'd tell you in a heartbeat that I'm not. When my family and I first toured the campus of the School of Mines for Oliver, I remember how fun it was to chase the poor squirrels back up their trees, laughing at them as they'd chatter back at me angrily. I found it so exciting when I would see squirrels, because they didn't live in Westcliffe, and I loved their fluffy tails.
Today, however, our relationship has turned even more sour. There's this specific squirrel that lives around our yard (or, I like to believe it's the same one) that is always scolding me and my cat for being too close to its tree, or something. I've taunted it, yelled at it, but it never seems to go away. If anything, it just gets defensive until I leave him alone.
And so, seeing the squirrel up there in that tree this morning, I had a good feeling it was him; that nutty ol' scolder that hates me and my cat with a passion. I greeted him sarcastically, complaining about how much I hated him, and he only got angrier and climbed down his tree a few inches. Now, being the photographer I'm turning into, I suddenly saw a picture opportunity. Running back into my house, I grabbed my new camera and ran back out and started taking pictures of the now more than irritable squirrel. Scolding me, the squirrel climbed further down the tree, about five feet from me, the closest a squirrels ever dared come to me. Alarmed at its boldness and beady-eyed stare, I backed up a step, still taunting the thing. Rootbeer, my cat, decided to take an interest then, and he climbed up the fence and swiped a paw at the squirrel. Looking back, I'm surprised the squirrel didn't attack right back, but instead he climbed a few feet up his tree, probably relieved to see Rootbeer loose interest and jump back down the solid ground. Meanwhile, I scolded Rootbeer for having not killed that darn squirrel while he had the chance.
Finally, when the nutty animal didn't appear to be backing down in the slightest, I backed off and continued my mowing, muttering under my breath about dumb squirrels that don't have a life. Looking back into the tree, I suddenly saw something that totally sent my mind on spin-mode. It was a nest. A squirrel's nest, to be precise.
"So that's why he-or her- was being so protective!" I exclaimed, understanding, and I tried to keep my distance from the angry mother from then on. I had been a threat to her babies, I now realized, and now I understood that by me throwing a rock in her general direction earlier (heh...cough), she would react violently. She was only being a protective mother.
And so I now know to stay away from that tree for a while...(here's some pictures of the nut). xD

The Squirrel's Nest

I had just finished mowing the lawn and dealing with the squirrel, when my parents finally came home from their date.
"Ready to go driving?" Dad asked, and we left thirty minutes later after I recuperated from the mowing. 
We started off in my school's driving parking-lot, which was completely empty. First, he had me just drive around slowly and get used to the car. He gave me some pointers on the curves, and told me to always try and have a constant speed, for the benefit of the car's I'd be driving around later.
Eventually, he had me move out to the real streets. Instantly, I became stressed as I tried juggling looking through my mirrors, keeping a constant speed, stopping gently...but at the same time, it was kind of fun. =) Dad says that by the time I master my driving, I'll probably really enjoy it, like himself (considering that we're alike in many, many ways). I think he's right, too. =)
Anyway, that should sum up this week. This next week, I'll be going to Yellowstone to visit family (!!), and I'll be gone all week. Prepare yourself for one huge blog afterwards! :D
~Kathy
P.S. In my spare time, the flowers around my house have been getting a lot of attention...! :D