An Interview With Me!

When I began this series, I really didn't intend to include an interview with me. But due to the demands of my siblings and the polite requests of a reader or two, I decided I might as well interview myself. Beka was the loudest demander. She told me that I didn't put enough pictures of myself in the Weekly and that I didn't talk about myself enough. Timmy, Matthew, Mom, and Caleb agreed that I ought to interview myself. I gave in and sat down to fill in the answers to the questions I had written earlier for my sibling interviews. So, here you are.

My Interview

1: How old are you?

I am 13.

2: What grade are you in?

I'm in 8th grade in everything but Math. In Math I am in 7th grade.

3: What is your favorite food?

I'm not sure if candy is a food, but I sure do love chewy caramel candies. (Caramel sauce on vanilla ice cream is great too.)

4: What is your favorite color?

Sky blue.

Here I am by the mulberry tree by our back door. That tree has yet to produce an edible berry. Photo by Beka.

5: What is your favorite subject in school?

I have really enjoyed History this year. I spent several weeks learning about the Civil War. I found that very interesting.

6: What do you like best about our family?

I love doing crazy things with my family, like sitting on the roof to watch fireworks!

7: Describe your normal day.

I get up around 7:00. As soon as I get out of my bed, I make it. I put breakfast in the oven, and then get dressed. Usually Beka is in Matthew's room, loafing around with Buddy and Matthew. I join them until breakfast is ready. Once everyone has eaten I do the breakfast dishes, and then make breakfast for the next day. After that I practice my clarinet for half an hour, accompanying Beka on the piano and doing fun stuff like that along with scales and the songs I work on for my teacher. Then I do odd jobs for Mom, work on my Weekly, and help Beka with lunch. After lunch, I do the clean up with Beka, Timmy, and Caleb, and then have about 45 minutes of break-time in my room or reading to Beka. I spend the rest of my afternoon doing school, writing, playing with my cat, and visiting with Beka in her room. After supper, I write e-mails, work on my Weekly some more, read to Beka, spend some time in Matthew's room, and generally play around until I go to bed at around 9:00 to read until 9:45.

8: What jobs do you have around the house?

I do a lot of dishes, make breakfast, hang out, fold, and put away laundry, and pretty much do anything that needs doing.

9: Do you have a pet?

Yes, I own one fat, spoiled, lazy, adorable cat, which still remains nameless after over a year as my pet. Though I own her, she fluctuates from being a family cat to being my cat. She is a family cat when somebody besides me wants to feed her, play with her, pet her, or take the credit for some cute thing she does. However, she is strictly my cat when her box needs cleaning, when she has broken something, or when she has kept someone up all night.

My cat is about a year and three months old. She lives in my room, gets hair all over my clothes and bed, and is such a nuisance at times that I wonder why I keep her! She isn't much of a favorite with my family either, but I love her enough to make up for that.

Me mopping a floor. Photo by Beka.

10: What do you like least about our family?

I dislike it when certain brothers of mine (who will remain un-named) sing, hum, laugh, and tap very loudly when I am trying to play a hard song on my clarinet.

11: Which season is your favorite and why?

I love spring. I love to run in the new grass in bare feet and watch all the baby animals around the farm. I love the first few days of garden work and having extra time to play outside after school is done. (However, garden work soon becomes an unbearable chore and school a wonderful, delightful thing.)

12: What is your favorite animal and why?

Cats are definitely my favorite animals. I'm not sure why I like them. I guess because they are usually quiet, soft, sweet, and cuddly. I especially love cats when mine is curled up on my cold feet in the middle of the night!

13: What is your favorite thing to do and why?

I love to sing with Beka. We have two books full of songs from two of our favorite musicals and we sing them often. I like it because I love to sing and those songs are simply beautiful! Beka and I have worked it out so we know who gets which part in most of the songs. The only problem is that we are both girls, and many of the songs have parts for men. I somehow end up singing those parts more often than not!

14: What is your favorite book and movie?

I have too many favorite books to name. One of my absolute favorites is 'A Garland For Girls', by Louisa May Alcott. My favorite movie is a very old version of 'A Christmas Carol', based on Charles Dickens' classic story.

15: Do you have a hobby, and if so, what is it?

Writing and reading are my hobbies.

This Christmas I made a giant Ferris wheel out of K-nex. It took me nearly all afternoon, but it sure was fun. And it actually worked when I was done, complete with motor and music! Photo by Mom.

16: If you could own any animal, what would it be and why?

I would own a male lion. (I believe there is a name for those but it has currently escaped my memory.) Why? Because I love cats, big and small. Besides, having grown up on Narnia stories, I think having an Aslan of my own would be neat! (Note: After writing this answer, I asked my family what a male lion was called. After much discussion, debate, and heated argument, we got out our encyclopedia and discovered that, while a female lion is called a lioness, male lions are merely referred to as, well, lions.)

17: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do?

I would definitely go to Germany and learn German. I'd see some of the sights around Europe while I was over there, too.

18: What do you want to be when you grow up and why?

I want to be about a million things, not the least of which are: an actress, a missionary, and a midwife. I haven't decided yet which of the million I will choose. It could take me a while, but I've got a couple years yet so I'm not worried.

19: What is your favorite holiday and why?

I really love the 4th of July. Beka's intense patriotism has rubbed off on me, I'm afraid.

20: Anything you would like to say to my readers in closing?

Just this: if you have anything you would like me to write about in a future Weekly, please, please write and tell me! Beka and I often have a hard time scraping up good article ideas and some help from my readers would be appreciated!

The Weekly Bible Verse

Genesis 2:19: Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Bits and Pieces

This has been a very quiet week. We've all done our work, and done our school, and spent the rest of the time trying to keep warm! My cat has suddenly started showing up on my bed about bedtime every night, a sign that it really is cold. We had a little snow, but nothing much.

A beautiful sunset we enjoyed recently. Photo by Beka.

A Word About The Weather

What a cold, cold week! The temperatures remain low, keeping most of us inside and quiet. Winter has really settled in. But I am enjoying it, because I know that way too soon the temperature will be 90 and rising, and I'll be out in the garden picking strawberries and dreaming of winter!

A Word of Wisdom

Never drink out of cups that you find just lying around, especially when you aren't sure what is in them. (Caleb knows this. He took a drink out of a cup on the kitchen counter once, only to discover that what he thought was water was actually egg white. (He still shudders as he describes the horrible feeling of the egg white slipping down his throat.)