bad expierence

     It was the month of July. I always go to my moms mom and dad's house in Pine Bluff for a few weeks to celebrate the Fourth of July because it’s a tradition. This time though, it was different. My family and I went to the river just to have fun and catch some sun of course and there was this beautiful, tanned, bleached blonde guy at the sandbar we always go to. Of course, I was like “wow” and I wanted to know who this boy was so I asked my cousin Blaine and he said the attractive guy’s name was Scout. The next day, I got a text from a number I had never seen before. It was Scout and he asked if I would want to go see a movie with him that night. I said yes because I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to go see a movie with him. After that night, he would come over every night while I was in Pine Bluff and just stay and hangout with me. My “vacation” was coming to an end and it was time for me to go back home to Batesville. When I got back to Batesville, Scout and I were still really close being two and a half hours apart. We would text, call, and FaceTime each other every day. This is where things started taking a turn for the worst.
     The fair was in town and this just happened to be a great opportunity to go see Scout. I asked my guardian which is my papa, if I could go to the fair and then when it was over if I could just spend the night with my best friend. He said he didn’t see why not, but for me to call when I got to her house from the fair. Like any normal parent would. I let my best friend on the scheme I was about to do and she said she would go along with it. So, instead of going to the fair, I actually snuck off two hours away to Russellville where he was at a fishing tournament, just to see him. My journey there was so scary. I had no idea where Russellville was so I used my maps app on my phone and it had me driving down back roads at night in the pouring rain. Of course, I was only thinking of the worst case scenario. Getting lost and running out of gas, only to have some creepy man find me. I never thought of anything positive. I finally got to a town and went to the McDonald's because I honestly didn’t know if I was still in Arkansas. I found these two men who looked like they were in their early twenties, and asked them where I was at and then they ended up talking to Scout on my phone telling him where I was so he could come get me. When Scout arrived I was so happy to see him, but I had this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I called home around eleven at night because that was when my friend said she was going to leave the fair. I called papa and told him I was at her house and he bought it. There's a town called Dardanell where all the fishing teams were camping and it's ten minutes away from Russellville.
     When we got to the camp site, Scouts fishing partner, Ashley, had her whole family come to support her that day so there was no where for Scout and I to sleep because the camper was completely full. Scouts fishing coach, which is his partners’ dad, told us we could sleep in his Tahoe. Had I known it was going to be like this, I would not have driven all the way there, but I just pretended like it didn’t bother me. As the night went on, we just stayed up talking and just enjoyed each others company. We ended up sleeping in my car, which was way smaller than the Tahoe. I actually didn’t sleep any that night. I was feeling so guilty for lying to my family and asking my best friend to lie for me just in case there was something to happen and go wrong. After what had seemed to be an eternity, the morning came and I needed to leave early so I could get home at a reasonable time so papa wouldn’t be suspicious of anything. On my way home, I was using my maps app again, relying on it to get me back home. Too bad it wasn’t doing its job. My phone was going crazy and it kept telling me to make u turns at every turn there was. I was running out of gas and the last thing I wanted to do was call home and tell my family where I was and why I was there. At this point, I’m bawling like a baby.
     I came up on a stop light and there was a truck beside me. I rolled my windows down and waved over at the man in the truck, but he didn’t see me. I started honking at him, hoping that would get his attention, but he never looked over at me. I just started driving and crying even more. I was praying that I would find my way home safely. Low and behold, I saw the Baldknob to Batesville sign and I was praising Jesus that I had found my way home. When I finally got home, I just walked in and acted like everything was normal and no one questioned me. Several days had passed and I was meeting my sister at Wal-Mart to finish up her shopping because she claimed she had a stomach ache and needed to go home. I said yes. About thirty minutes had passed after my sister had left Wal-Mart when I get a call from my friend who covered for me the night I snuck off. She says that my sister is on the other line asking her when the last time I spent the night with her was. I’m just standing in Wal-Mart crying, and all these people are just staring at me. When I got home from Wal-Mart, my sister was outside waiting for me and when I got out of my car, that’s when I found out. Apparently, her and my papa were at Walgreen's when they saw me, in my car driving away from Batesville. They hadn’t said anything to me about it for several days. I felt so humiliated for getting caught and for lying. I had never done anything like that before and I really don’t know why I did it, because I knew the relationship wouldn’t last since it was long distance. I felt like I had lost the trust of my papa and sister and that feeling just ate me up inside. I hated feeling the way I was. I talked to papa about it and he never yelled at me, he didn’t take my car away, he just told me how he wished what I did wasn’t true and how he hopes I will learn from this.
     This event has changed me in so many ways. I knew how wrong it was to lie, but what I did was so bad, and so stupid, that I felt like my family would never want to talk to me again. I am extremely blessed to have such understanding and loving grandparents and sister that they were willing to put this whole thing behind us and not to ever mention it again. Since this has happened, I've been a more truthful person because I never want to feel like no one can trust me ever again.

Book Review #2: Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

     "When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating." E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey drew me in, wanting to know more about this Christian Grey character.

     What made even want to start reading this book, were the comments I had heard from other people. Had I known this book was going to be extremely vivid and detailed, I probably would not have not started reading it. Since I started reading the book, I supposed I would finish it, although there had been several times I told myself I didn't think I would be able to finish it.

     The life lesson this book gives off is I would say, just making smart decisions. There were times when one of the main characters, Anastasia's subconscious would tell her what she was doing or were going to do, just weren't right. Anastasia had found herself in a type of relationship if you call it, that she was not familiar with and did not know if she would want to stay in this so called relationship.

     Not so much does the setting conflict with the characters, but the decisions they make. Christian Grey, CEO of his own company, isn't someone you think you would know. He's very different and his differences are what cause some problems between him and his "partner", Anastasia Steele.

     Would I recommend this book to anyone? No. This book is for mainly adults and again, had I known Fifty Shades of Grey was going to be such a vivid book, I wouldn't had picked it up.
    

CC4: What Kind of Meat

     On FoxNews.com there is an article, Horse meat found in Ikea's Swedish meatballs, by Stockholm. In thirteen countries, Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's large food labeling scandal, as authorities had said they have detected horse meat in frozen meatballs.

     The Czech State Veterinary  Administration said, "horse meat was found in one-kilogram packs of frozen meatballs made in Sweden and then were shipped to the Czech Republic for sale in Ikea stores. There was a total of 1,675 pounds of meatballs that were stopped from ever reaching shelves at the store." An Ikea spokeswoman, Ylva Magnusson began to say, "meatballs from the same batch had gone out to Slovakia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Ireland." Manusson also said, "meatballs from that batch were taken off the shelves in Ikea stores in all of those countries. Other shipments of meatballs were not at all affected."

     European Union officials met Monday to discuss tougher food labeling rules after they had discovered horse meat in a range of frozen supermarket meals such as, burgers and lasagna that were supposed to have contained beef or pork. The Czech authorities also announced that on Monday, they found out there was horse meat in beef burgers imported from Poland during a random tests of food products.

     This scandal has now created a split between nations like Britian who see further rules as a protectionisht hindrance of free trade under the bloc's single market, and those calling for tougher regulation. Standardized DNA checks with meat suppliers and more stringent labeling rules will add costs that prouducers will more than likely hand down to consumers, making food more expensive.

     The scandal started in Ireland in the middle of January when the country's announced the results of its first ever DNA tests on beef products. It tested frozen beef burgers taken from store shelves and found that more than a third of brands at five supermarkets contained at least a trace of horse. The sample of one brand sold by British supermarket kingpin Tesco was more than a quarter horse.
Such discoveries have spread like wildfire across Europe as governments, supermarkets, meat traders and processors began their own DNA testing of products labeled beef and have been forced to withdraw tens of millions of products from store shelves. I believe, horses are not meant to be eaten. I think it is just inhumane to eat horse meat.

     With all this being said, I think before you start to just scarf down food, you should check the labels and see what it is you're really eating. I know this has not happened in the United States, but there is always a first time for everything.

CC3: Chivalry

     In a recent article "Life Perspectives From a Hospital" by Nancy Colasurdo on the FoxNews website, a 51 year old man starts to appreciate how meaningful it is to still have his parents around.

     Last week, this mans mother went to have knee surgery and he stayed with his father for four days. He said, "it felt heartbreaking to see him a little lost without her in the house." They spend each day, every day, at the hospital. His father would read The Daily News in a chair over in the corner, he would pocket the sugar packets that would come with his wife's meals, he would act as her coach in physical therapy, while she rolled her eyes. The father, being 81 years old, would drop his son off at the hospital door while he went to park the car in the garage. This man would refuse to let his son switch roles and park the car for him.

      This 81 year old man is showing that chivalry is not dead. Still, at the old age he is, he is parking cars for his family, trying to take care of his wife while she needs the help of others. When I read stories of people like this man, it makes me think there is hope. This man is teaching his son and hopefully other people that watch, valuable lessons on being a polite person.

     Not only does the husband show he has patience, the therapists at the hospital do too. In this story, the man being interviewed says, "I'll be sticking with the images of the most delightful physical therapist joking with my mother about whether she did 19 reps or 20. And the occupational therapist patiently going over everything twice because my mother is deaf in one ear. And the nurse assuring her that she is not bothering the staff at all when she asks for assistance."

     Just being there and helping other people, brings smiles and joy to their lives. The husband and son left the hospital one day and on their way home, they picked up a tray of cookies to take over to a neighbors house whose husband died the day before.

     Doing acts of kindness like this father has done and is teaching his son, shows people that chivalry is not dead and there are still people out in this world today, who believe in helping others. 

Book Review #1: Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean

     After Ally has jumped off the top of the school building, she enters a hallway only to find out she can either stay there for forever or go back to the top of the building and try to get her life back. Carolee Deans's Forget Me Not had me on my toes wanting to know what's going to happen to Ally next.

     The summary on the inside of the book was what instantly drew me in. I enjoy reading books about other peoples struggles and what they go through. When I started reading this book, I began to be a little doubtful because it was written in verses. I am not the biggest poetry fan, but the way this book was written made me enjoy poetry. Carolee Dean definitely had a creative way of writing this book.

     In Carolee's book, there are two main characters named Ally and Elijah. They both are two very different people with a lot in common. Ally is a very naive girl who doesn't really seem to know who her real friends are until it's too late. Ally is a just a bit arrogant and nasty. Elijah is the complete opposite. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He cares too much about other people and is just a sweet guy. What makes them the same? They both tried to kill themselves and ended up in the "hallway", the place where people go when they have decided to finish their job or try to give life one more chance. Elijah has been to the hallway before, but he didn't give up. Now, it happens to be Ally's turn to decide whether the pain is worth it or if death could be the better option. The time Ally spends in the hallway makes her reconsider her whole life and she starts to realize that maybe she has no one to blame for her situation but herself.

     While this story is a bit gloomy, it never is too heavy. There were parts in the story where I just felt sad because of all the bad things that were happening not only to Ally and Elijah, but the rest of the characters, including the ghosts that were in the hallway. Things were never quite what they seemed on the surface and Carolee Dean really did explore how even some of the people that can seem the happiest can also be hiding something really big.

     Overall, Forget Me Not is a book that should not be missed. After have read this one, I will most likey check out more of Carolee Dean's other books. I would and do reccomend this book. I personally think this book is worth reading.

CC2: Hiccups

On FoxNews.com, a recent article by Ethan Forman, talking about multiple students who are suffering from having unexplained hiccups at Massachusetts high school. These hiccups began between November and December of 2012, when two to three parents contacted Mirandi, the health director for Davens, office about their children.

An investigation is underway at Essex Agricultural and Technical High School in Danvers, Mass., where more than a dozen students have been experiencing bizarre hiccups, the Salem News reported. The Massachusetts Department of Health is working with local health officials in order to better help the community. “The school is willing to do whatever the town and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health want to do,” said Essex Aggie Superintendent-Director Roger Bourgeois. Bourgeois goes on to say "The health and well-being of our kids is our number one priority."


Peter Mirandi, the health director for Danvers, said, "no physicians have officially diagnosed or confirmed any of the students’ cases." This means that health officials cannot determine what the cause of these hiccups are from yet. Mirandi also says, “I have no confirmed cases of something; we don’t know if it’s a contagious disease or an environmentally induced disorder. It’s not responsible for me to say anything further on it."

 The situation is similar to a synopsis that occurred at Le Roy High School in upstate New York, where 12 girls suffered from hiccups comparable to Tourette syndrome.  An investigation into the incident did not reveal any environmental causes for the ‘outbreak,’ leading one doctor to be inclined to think the girls may be suffering from mass hysteria brought on by stress. I've heard about the girl from Florida who had had the hiccups for thirtyeight days straight. Having the hiccups for so long just seems so weird to me.

Personally, if I were to have the hiccups and then caused others to get them I would think I was some sort of magical person. It makes no sense when hiccups become like some sort of "virus".

CC1: Innocent Child

In a recent article "Texas woman guilty in stepsons dehydration death" by FoxNews, a mother would deny her son water as part of his punishment. The Dallas Texas woman was convicted on Friday for restricting her ten year old stepson water during record high temperatures.

Tina Alberson, who is accused of causing serious bodily injury to a child, said "I obviously did this. I didn't mean to do this." Alberson had told the police that her son did have access to water, but she didn't know if he drank them or not because she wasn't there to supervise, she was in her chair. Alberson had also said she saw no signs of of her son being in medical distress. The boy's twelve year old fraternal twin brother testified that Jonathan had asked for water multiple times and even pretended to use the bathroom just so he could sneak drinks from the faucet before his mother had told him to get out.

Prosecutors say that Jonathan James died of severe dehydration. An autopsy of the boy determined that there was no sign of urine in his bladder at the time of his death. Prosecutors say he was forced to stand in a "time out" inside a kitchen of 104 degree heat and was not provided food or water for days.

The boys biological father, Michael James, is also charged in his death. Michael testified that his wife told him on the night of Jonathans death, that his eyes had rolled into the back of his head and he needed to call 911. James is handicapped and legally blind and had told the jury that he had no idea that his son was getting abused.

The boys biological mother, Krista Bishop, tearfully testified about how emergency room doctors tried for two hours to try and save him, but in the end they had to let him go. Tina Alberson is guilty with second degree felony injury to a child and she faces up to life in prison because of a previous felony conviction. I really just can not begin to understand how a parent can not care for their own children. Limiting a child's water intake on hot summer days as part of a punishment is just insane. Water's a neccesity.

I am not a parent myself, but I hope when you become a parent you'll not treat your kids the way Tina Alberson has treated her ten year old son Jonathan. This boy had his whole life ahead and he could have grown up to be an amazing person.