Maybe if I really were 12 and had the chance to happily move from place to place, I'd have less things to worry about. But I wouldn't give any of the things I went through in life up to go back to my earlier years anyway. The last few weeks of school are beginning to feel like the start of the year again where events are moving like items getting placed on fast conveyor belt lines like there's no tomorrow. Though the beginning of this blog post sounds somewhat dreadful, I'm just being dramatic. No tumbleweeds are rolling by. Things are still on the go.

As exhausted as I sound, this week has been pretty swell. On Tuesday, the special ed classes and I had the privilege to take the charter bus all the way to Sacramento to see the State Capitol Building. It was just really fun hanging out with them on the bus because we got to watch Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run (my old favorite childhood movies), tell stories, and look at their old middle school yearbooks. Kenny, the feminine child, wrote me tons of letters and said I reminded him of this one character in Power Rangers; so I ended up going along with his made up stories the whole time about who's who in the show and what kind of special powers each of us had. Though we didn't spend that much time inside the building, the four hours bus ride combined to and there really gave me some time to just rest and think about how different things will be once I graduate high school. I think the one thing that I will miss the most is just being around the kids. They have shaped me in so many different ways that it makes it impossible for me to quit any more of the bigger things in life. It's unbelievable to see how much I have grown with them throughout this year, knowing that I used to be impatience once, and now more settled as a whole. The kids are just so full of life and character. Through them, I manage to stumble upon love over and over again.

On Wednesday, I took Carmen's bus pass and took the bus to get to the library. I spent some time choosing a new book I wanted to read and grabbed a bitter cup of cappuccino at The Grind and walked back to school to see the musical All Shook Up. It surely turned out to be quite an entertaining musical about people finding true love in a rural environment, lively music, hopeful compassion, and each other. I believe that there's just something magical about musicals that everyone just has to love. They are just all so fun and enthusiastic all the time. I really wish that Jennifer, my brother and I could have gone to see Avenue Q together when the incredible cast were still around in the bay area. But no worries, I'm sure new musical groups will spark and we'll all get the chance to see something spectacular together someday.

Yesterday and today, I went to Loaves and Fishes in Alum Rock for volunteer service. Oh my goodness, it is so great there. It's this place where homeless people and people who have low income can come, sit, and enjoy hot trays of delicious food and dessert everyday, five times a week. Loaves and Fishes is absolutely inspirational through the friendly staff members and passionate volunteers. Everyone jokes around with each other with no ends. In this neighborly warm environment, it almost seems as though everyone just about carries the extra heart of the size of an elephant in their pockets. As embarrassing as it sounds, I've honestly never really done anything in the kitchen, and so yesterday was my first time cutting hundreds of apples in half, serving jugs of milk for hours, drying, stacking, and putting away hundreds of trays, bowls, forks, spoons, cups, juice pitchers, and coffee/milk jugs. From what I know, this place has tons of new volunteers everyday and it's just so fun to meet new people everyday. Loaves and Fishes is the kind of community service that I look forward to going to late in the afternoon at the end of a very long day of school. I find the light of hope when I am able to lend a hand to the elderly, disabled, children, and homeless.

The past five days have just been so busy-bee for me, but I must admit, I really like the timely schedules because I get to make myself full-on agendas on word document and cross things out as each hour ticks by. Through it all, I somehow found the time to balance out when I want to do do my running, hit at the tennis courts, and play the piano.

When the boat sinks, start swimming.