The Loveliest Time of the Year

Hello, everyone. How's your day going? My day is going quite well. I have a wonderful idea for a story, and I plan on working on that today. I suppose you're wondering why I've written another blog post in one week. Crazy, I know. I've decided that today would be a good day to explain why I never blog.

 I like to think I spend my days frolicking with my pets, writing stories about wild, mysterious lands, and dressing my dolls in their wonderful handmade clothes. But the truth is, I'm just a boring, lazy teen who likes to procrastinate more than anything else in the world. At the moment my pets are sitting patiently as they watch me play around on my computer, lots of unfinished stories are waiting for their endings, and my dolls are lying around naked wondering what happened to that new shirt I've been working on for a month. It's tragic, I know, but that's why I'm here today. Perhaps if I keep up on my blog, I can slowly get better at not putting things off. I know you enjoy reading the things I write, and I enjoy writing them for people to read. I love people's responses to my posts, and I love putting a smile on someone's face. If I start blogging more, it will help me improve my writing skills, which I need, seeing as I'm in the middle of about ten different stories. I can show you all my doll clothes that I make, even if they're not the greatest, because you probably won't even see all the flaws. I can provide you with short stories to read (I have a few good ones that I've almost finished). I can even give you lots of pictures of my animals, including all my new chickens. I'm certainly not lacking ideas for new posts, I simply have to take the time to write them down and share them here. Once I get started on something, chances are I'll keep it going for a long time. Now that I've started blogging again, I think it's safe to promise many more posts in the future.

On a lighter note, it's currently my favorite season, and it feels like it. I love walking on the crunchy orange leaves and feeling the delightful crisp air on my face the moment I step outside. It's wonderful to be able to wear sweaters outside without being too hot or too cold. When I look outside it's obvious that it's fall, and that makes me smile. Fall makes me want to go outside and take pictures of my dolls, go for a bike ride with Rosey (fat old thing that she is), or just walk around and enjoy the beauty.

Well, I've been working on this post for about an hour, so I should probably end it now and work on something else. I'll be back soon!

A Little Medley in Time for Spring

As I was sitting here browsing Facebook and sipping tea, there was only one thing on my mind: I should probably blog. For the past few days I've been thinking about how many interesting topics I have to write about, some happy, some sad. I suppose I ought to start with the sad part, since no one wants to end anything on a sad note, and the happier part is much longer than the sad part.

Well, you know how I live in a house surrounded by tall, beautiful trees? Heh. Not anymore. Our new neighbors clear-cut their property and now all that's left are stumps and slash piles. It makes me very sad to see the woods I used to walk past almost every day gone. To make matters worse, though, another neighbor is logging now too. Now, these woods were the ones I used to play in all the time. I went over there yesterday evening and looked at all the trees that had been cut down. I have many memories of those trees, and it pains me to think that I'll never be able to make more.

Now that the terribly sad, frustrating part of my life is out of the way, we can get on to the happier parts.

First, we have some wonderful newish chicks. We actually got them a few months ago, but they're still just as cute as they were when they fit into my hand. I have two very special ones in the group. At first I had planned on picking out one special chick to be my pet and naming her Barrow after one of my favorite "Downton Abbey" characters (yes, I still love that show), but then the smallest chick of the group, an Ameraucauna, was acting awfully sick. Daddy noticed her, and Mother and I held her and fed her and gave her water until we went to bed that night. In the morning we expected her to be dead, but she was fine! I was a bit funny, though, because I had named her Sybil after "Downton Abbey," and then she happened to be the chick who almost died. It was all rather appropriate for the poor thing. Anyway, Sybbie became very close to people because we held her so long and took care of her, so now she and Barrow are my two pet chickens and they always stick together like the best of chick friends. I'm afraid I don't have any recent pictures of the two at the moment, so here's a picture of when they were much smaller.

Sybil is now white with black instead of yellow and black, but Barrow has basically the same coloring (Barrow's a Buff Orpington). When they were little I had lots of fun setting them up with the dollhouse furniture. I do love to play with my little chicks.

You might remember that this time last year, my brother, his wonderful wife, and, of course, my nephew Walter came up here from California and we had a family reunion. Well, they're coming on Wednesday to stay for a few days. This time, though, I have two nephews to play with and take on walks down the (treeless) driveway. The last time they came, Margaret was pregnant with Owen, who's now eight months old. We saw him when we went to California in the fall, but of course he's completely different now. I'm sure you'll be waiting for me to blog all about their stay here and how much fun we all had, which I shall certainly do.

I'll be quite busy in the next few days, as one of my other brothers, Patrick, is coming home on Sunday, and Sunday happens to be Mother's Day. I must also do a great deal of cleaning this week. My room's just a bit of a mess at the moment.

I'll talk to you all in a few weeks!

Hi!

I'm afraid this blog has sat untouched for far too long. I did at least want to get a post in before Christmas. Don't worry about the second part of my birthday story: it will come before the end of the year. I'm so sorry for the long wait.

Anyway, I am enrolled in school. Wait, let me rephrase that. I am taking an online English class with which I am almost finished. If I must be brutally honest, it's quite silly. It's all answering questions, and my teacher seems to enjoy dwelling on stories/poems/speeches about sports and black segregation. I had to read To Kill a Mockingbird, which was fine, but there is a very interesting, long story connected to one of the assignments I had to do. I shall tell it to you some other day, as it commands a post all to itself, and "An Adventure (or Two), Part 2)" must come first.

Well, I've complained enough and it's getting a bit late, so I shall leave you to ponder what I have just said (or not; it doesn't require pondering).

Bye!

A Delightfully December-y Month

Near all of December has been a frozen, cold, snowy and/or rainy time.  I enjoy the snow, I don't mind the cold, and I don't care for the rain; but when we had about a week of low temperatures and a frozen little world, I went outside as often as possible to enjoy the ice and crunchy ground.  I took my dolls out to play with and take pictures of them several times that week.  Of course, I also had to break all the animals' water and pour hot water upon each thick sheet of ice, but I didn't mind at all.

December is not only fun because of the cold; it is also a particularly enjoyable month because of Advent and Christmas.  I must admit, the thing I like most about Advent is opening up a box from the Playmobil Advent Calendar every morning and, on Christmas Eve, admiring my lovely, complete Playmobil Christmas scene.  The best parts about Christmas are having family over to eat and talk and opening presents.  The problem with me is that when there is a crowd of people, I feel as though all eyes are upon me, watching me unwrap each gift.  (I feel the same way about my birthday.)  I usually hand out each gift under the tree to the person to whom it belongs while building up my pile slightly behind the tree, and when the tree is bare underneath, I plop myself down at my stack and open them while everyone is exclaiming over their gifts.  It usually works very well, but perhaps this year I shall sit in a chair and open my presents.  Yes, I suppose it is possible.

I'm Back!

The title says it all; I'm back!  Did you miss me?  My plan was to blog about going to American Girl Place Seattle and my birthday back in July, but obviously that never happened.  The rest of my summer was spent doing summery things and not blogging, which resulted in two months' worth of nothing on my poor little blog.

Anyway, during my absence, I decided to change the name of my blog.  "The Blog of J.M. Newhall" is boring and unoriginal, and I wrinkle my nose when I say it, thus I have given it a Rainbowland influence.  I hope you like it, because I shan't be changing it for a long time - I think.

To end this delightful little post, I shall make a commitment to blog on either Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday, depending on how busy my days are.  And, just to let you know, "Old Rainbowland, New Rainbowland" will be back within a few weeks.

Oh, Hello!

I decided I had to write something again, seeing as it's been almost a month!  I promise I will write at least once a week, even if all I write is a single paragraph.  I'm still alive and perfectly capable of writing, so why not take advantage of these lovely days and put my frenzied mind to work?

Here are two recent photos of my turtle and me after two different turtle baths:

A Few Abstract Thoughts

What if dogs didn't exist?  Where would we be without them?  Would we feel like a part of our lives was missing, even if we didn't know about dogs?  I can't remember what life outside was like before I got Rosey, though I fancy it was quite drab and lonely.  Of course, even back then I had Rainbowland, so it couldn't have been too drab and lonely.

Rainbowland!  The very mention of that word makes me excited to tell you all about what's happening there.  My mind has a vast as large as the Sahara Desert, metaphorically speaking, and I must use at least some of my memory and space up, thus I have Rainbbowland.  Oh, I was going to tell you all the exciting things happening there, wasn't I?  Very well.  There was a big battle with the foolish Americans, and obviously the Rainbowlandians won.  Americans aren't allowed to bring guns into Rainbowland.  You know, just because they're Americans doesn't mean they don't abide by the Rainbowlandian King's laws.  Now, if I speak any more of Rainbowland, I might have to change the title from "A Few Abstract Thoughts" to "Rainbowland and a Few Abstract Thoughts," so I think I should just quit thinking about Rainbowland and start thinking about other things (I don't know what yet).

Am I boring?  I hope not.  If my writing is ever boring, annoying or stupid, please tell me and I will try to make it better.  Don't worry about hurting my feelings; you won't.  I just want to make my blog a pleasurable thing to read.

California!

I'm back from my exhilarating trip to see my nephew.  I was going to write a huge post about it, but the notes I took really speak for themselves.



Through the entire journey there were many pretty clouds.
There were some gorgeous views.
Snow!

CALIFORNIA!!

Yreka

Maybe next time, San Francisco.
Somewhere in there were Willow, Walnut Creek and I-680.  (Side note:  I was half asleep at that time.  It was pretty late.)

Cayucos Beach was magnificent.  We saw gulls and herons and Dolphins.

We went to an antique shop in downtown Cayucos.

After we got home, Pat and I went for a walk and stopped at a couple places.

By Sunday I was finally able to comprehend that I was definitely in California.

We went to San Luis Obispo Mission and looked in the museum.  Then we browsed the gift shop and I got a little Guatemalan doll.

We went to Big Sky Cafe and had a lovely brunch.

Later we (not Matt, Margaret and little Mr. Newhall) went to Goodwill.  I found a sad hippo.  A statuette, of course.

Baby Walter was so perfect and sweet and amazing.   got to hold him first and last.

Farewell, California.  Hopefully you, with your palms and your cursive license plates and your wine, and I will meet again.

Welcome to Stockton.

What is it with Williams?

We saw wolves (wolf rescue stuff, not loose).  We also saw bison.

Raindrops!
Welcome to Redding.
Dana reminds me of an obnoxious girl at my first year of camp and Dana Scully (The X-Files).
It felt almost criminal to drink the vanilla In-N-Out milkshake I got.  The burger and fries were pretty good, too.  (Side note:  I was exaggerating on the milkshake, but it was good.)
We saw some lovely crags and Mt. Shasta.
We saw whooping cranes and the remnants of a forest fire.

Welcome to Yreka "The Golden State"

Adios to California... sorry it had to end... (Side note:  I stole song lyrics.)

Hello Oregon!  It's good to see you.

I never thought I'd be happy to see Morton like that.

HOME!!

It was so good to see Rosey and the rest of the gang!




...And that concludes my list of notes.  In handwriting I had 3 1/2 pages of notes.
I'll write more about my lovely journey and get my videos and Mother's pictures up on here and Facebook soon.
By the way, I didn't correct the typos because they're part of the character of my notes.

Aunt Professor Cool

To most people, I'm Professor Cool, but to one special child out there I'm Aunt Professor Cool.  Walter Gerard was born last night, and he is the cutest baby I have ever laid eyes on (well, next to me, of course).  We're going to visit him in four weeks, meaning California trip and all.  You know, I haven't been to California in a long time.  When I get down there, I'm going to promise Walter a lot of things to do when he's older: go to Disneyland with his favorite Aunt, go horseback riding on the beach, visit my reptilian menagerie, have a campfire complete with camp songs (I'll have my guitar and harmonicas) and Rainbowland stories... all the most fun, exciting things to do in life.  And, when I go to college, I'm going to TAC!  That's another story in itself, though, so I'm just going to end this post.

Lists

Today I'll be making lists of stuff that I like, can do or need.  I have a feeling you'll learn at least something about me today.

Animals I Need:
1. Armadillo
2. Caracal
3. Capybara
4. Dolphin
5. Horse
6. Peregrine Falcon

Songs That Make Me Happy:
1. Have a Little Fun With Me
2. Hold Her Down
4. Stupid
5. Wagon Wheel
6. Waltzing Matilda

Things I Can Actually Do:
1. Climb the Rope Swing
2. Dance
3. Play Guitar
4. Play Harmonica
5. Sing
6. Write

Shows I Like:
1. I Love Lucy
2. M*A*S*H
3. Monk
4. The X-FIles
5. White Collar

What I'm Most Proud of:
1. Rainbowland
2. Rosey

Pshaw.  They say Rosey and Rainbowland are spelled incorrectly.  Anyway, until tomorrow, enjoy these lists.

American Girl!

I'll say this first - it was exciting!  It really was a lot of fun.  In my post before, I showed what I wanted. I had actually decided to ask for the Sweet Sugar Outfit for Christmas.  It's more of a wintry outfit with the sweater and all.  But I did get the Cozy Plaid Outfit and the True Style Outfit.  I love both of those, and they're even better in person.  It's nice to go to an AG store so you can see the outfits and accessories and dolls up close.  You know, see the scale, the quality, the true look.  That was really nice.  I also got the Sporty Sandals.  I wanted those, but I forgot to put them with the other outfits in my blog post.  They're very realistic and go nice with the Hiking Accessories witch are adorable, by the way.  As a bonus from my sweet parents, they got me the Star Hoodie Outfit.  It used to come with the Just Like You Dolls (My American Girl Dolls), but they change outfits every year or something.  At first I wasn't sure about it, but it's really cute.  It was only sixteen dollars, too.  That's because we got over fifty dollars.  One of those bargain things.  Oh, and I got the sleepover accessories which are cute and quite fun.  Apples to Apples with my dolls now!  *Gasp* And I got the DOLPHIN BOOK!  Well, I got the school backpack which I'm rather pleased with.  Naturally, it came with the science book with the dolphins on the cover.  It's an animal science book with dolphins and probably turtles.
Well, I've rambled on enough in that single long paragraph, so I'll quit the boring doll clothes and accessories and go on to the store itself.  Awesome store.  There was a guard at the inside of the door.  He was kind of boring though.  Just a plump, unattractive oriental guard.  He never smiled, either.  I think if I had a uniform like his, I'd be smiling.  Our cashier was nice.  I liked her.  Oh, and the pictures of the doll hair stylists online weren't exaggerated at all.  Seriously, they smiled and talked to the doll's "mother" while they did the doll's hair.  It was interesting.  And then there was another cashier who totally awesome.  She had jet black hair and red lipstick and this accent.  I still can't place the accent.  She took our picture by Josefina with all her outfits and complimented us.  She was really friendly and cool.  Actually, the whole store was cool!
Finished!  Yes, I'm finally finished.  Thank you for being so patient.  I corrected this, but I'm still in "OoOh, Alderwood" mode.  What's that mean?  It means I'm still in a bit of a daze.  All that fast food probably didn't help.  Well, bye.

Star Hoodie Outfit.

Sporty Sandals.

American Girl Store

As you know, I'm thirteen.  Which means I had a birthday, so I got and am getting presents.  My birthday present from Mommy and Daddy is a trip to the American Girl Place.  They're also buying me (AG) clothes.  I'm now going to show you what products of theirs I like and can afford.  Actually, I could afford anything they have, but you know what I mean.

Dolphins!  What more is there to say?

Sleepover Accessories.

Cozy Plaid Outfit.

Sweet Sugar Outfit.  I have the Sugar dog.

True Style Outfit.

Well, that was... exciting.  I do hope you check out one of the links, especially the dolphin one.  The picture and caption aren't as accurate as they could be.  

If you'll excuse me, I've got jpegs to delete off my desktop.  Then of course there's the virtual trash that needs emptying.  I'll be sure to write about my trip tomorrow!

Birthdays! Part Two

Before we talk about me (ME.  I'm just kidding, it's going to be as humble as I think fit), we'll talk about someone very special.  It's not Sara, her birthday post is on her blog (that's your cue to visit the site), it's not Bobby, his birthday isn't July eighteenth.  Rocky's birthday isn't even in July, so it's not him.  We know it's not Scarlet or Pinkie's birthday, as I just got those two in spring.  It's probably not Henna... so... you guessed it - Rosey!  So here's a paragraph dedicated to her:
Oh darling, you know how much I love you.  I have every reason to, because for two whole years you've been at my side (almost) wherever I go.  I wish I could say the same for me, but I cannot.  Thank you for being so wonderful Rosey, and here's your song:
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Rosey!  ♥
Happy birthday to you!
Now for me, Janet!  By age I'm a teenager.  By mind I'm still and always will be that fantasizing, Toby-struck* Rainbowlander.  By heart I'm still the little girl who played old Rainbowland in Daddy's bed, who watched Patrick pretend to be a clown on the ropeswing, who played horses with the best brother ever one morning before breakfast (that was in the old mobile home), who learned to swing with the boy who was so little back then, who fell asleep scratching Mother's arm and nursing.  Now that's a real timeline.  I was older when I played ropeswing and Rainbowland, younger when I played horses that morning with Patrick and youngest when I learned how to swing and scratched Mother's arm at night.
Thank you for reading this!  I got a bit out of control for a bit there, but need to store those memories somewhere anyway, not that I'll ever forget them.  They're too embedded in my mind.
Well, thanks for all the birthday wishes on Facebook and thanks in advance for those to come.  Until tomorrow!
*I'm in love with Toby Williams (along with Ian, Seth, Benedict, all the others).  Who wouldn't be?  He's incredibly handsome, he has an adventure-FILLED background, he's kind, he smart, he's funny, he's skilled in almost any subject, he's young and he's not real.  If he was, he'd be the most eligible bachelor in the world.
Valete!

Birthdays! Part One

Guess what today is?  The seventeenth.  Guess what tomorrow is?  The eighteenth.  The eighteenth of July... July eighteenth, 1999!  Yay!  Wait, no, no... 2012 minus 1999 equals thirteen!  Oh well.  I've always been old at mind and I'll always be young at heart.  It all balances out.
My birthday party is tomorrow.  Makes sense, considering the party is on my actual birthday.  We're preparing for it today.  We kind of started yesterday by making up the bags of stuff.
Before I go, I would like to drop a little hint about my dream birthday gift.  it's alive, it's really big, it lives in water, it's smart, it's cute, it's friendly and it loves to do tricks.  The first part of its name starts with bottlenose.  Well, like I said, it's my dream birthday present.  I'm allowed to have my dreams...

For some reason I found myself typing that into google search.

Dreams

Dreams are scary.  A lot of times a can't remember them, but some are still crystal clear, even ones I had years ago.  And sometimes I have episodes.  Yes, episodes.  And I swear that my brain helps.  Like it wakes up for seconds at a time to contribute creepy things.  This is the dream I had last night:
It starts out with me, Emily Wills and a few other friends.  I believe our original concept is to go see Catching Fire at the theater, but we end up going to Mass with our moms.  I think Emily's mom is driving, but it might be my mother.
So we get to St. Joseph's, and Emily and I sit apart from the others.  I see Mother in the choir.  I think.
Anyway, I'm making these high-pitched squealing noises every once in a while, and I bite my left thumb to keep from making those noises.  At one point, I bite my thumb, but I bite a hole right through it.  It's a tiny hole, and it doesn't bleed at all.  I'm so surprised and a bit frightened at first, but then I calm down.  I lean over to Emily and whisper, "I bit a hole in my finger.  But it's really funny, because it tasted like... like... barbecued ribs."
That is where my brain woke up and fed me the barbecued rib line.  That was from a Monk, by the way.
Moving on, Emily says something to me and then some other stuff happens.  I'm not sure what.  Then the dream ends.  Freaky, huh?  Even now I can taste the "barbecued ribs" and I keep biting my thumb and picturing it.

Names - the Ultimate Battle

First, we'll start off with my two favorite names for girls (with middle names), then my two favorite names for boys (with middle names).  Katherine Rose and Philomena Clare are the two names I picked out for girls.  Maximilian Xavier and Benedict Ian are the two names I picked out for boys.  You can judge me by the names I like, by the way.  Oh, and don't forget, please tell me what you think of those names.
Now Let's create lists of names.  I'll make a list of ten names I like for each gender, and then a list of ten names I don't like for each gender.

Girls:                                                                    Boys:                                                                                       
Felicity                                                                 Julian
Bridget                                                                 *Toby*
Lillian                                                                   *Seth*
Elizabeth                                                              *Ian*
Grace                                                                    Gregory
Marie                                                                    Michael
Rebecca                                                                Christopher
Vivian                                                                   Matthew
*Daisy*                                                                 Patrick  
Madeleine                                                             Sean
Note:  These are not in order                                Well... I knew I just had to put
from favorite to least favorite.                                6, 7, 8 and 9.  They're good names.

Girls:
Faith
Hope
Lara
Nevaeh (Heaven backwards...
               that's just creepy!)
Nancy
Hmm... I can't think of any
more right now.  Sorry!

Now, if you really, really, really care, you can comment on my blog or send me a message on Facebook with a name.  That way, you can just ask me if I like it or not, and I'll give you my honest opinion.  Honest opinion.  Also, I would like my baby names book back, Margaret and Matthew.  You'd better have it when you come back!  If it is torn, stained or damaged in any other way, you're never going to hear the end of it!  Oh, and all the asterisks are for the Rainbowland names.  I only pick ones I really like, you know.
Farewell, my friends.  As usual, excuse any mistakes whatsoever.

Music - the Finest Art

Today, we'll discuss music.  Right now I'm listening to Blindsight, by Glen Phillips.  It's on his album Mr. Lemons.  Hey, would you believe it?  My new favorite song is not by Glen Phillips!  It's actually by The Decemberists.  It's from their crazy album The Hazards of Love.  For anyone who is not familiar with that album, it's a whole story that actually makes sense.  It's very hard to describe, so I recommend listening to it.  The total length is 58:36, so you need an hour of free time.  Back to my new favorite song now.  It's called The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise).  It truly is a lovely song.  Sadly though, it's only 1:31, but it has its reasons.  At Confused People, you really have to listen to it to understand it.  Or you can just read the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hazards_of_Love).  Also, I've been listening to a lot of Aimee Mann lately.  I really like her album The Forgotten Arm.  I don't have it on my iPod touch, but I can just go on Spotify whenever I feel like listening to it.
Well, back to editing my book.  Ah, the pains of being an author.  But let's not talk about Book Friend (I have a lot of names for that book).  How about we talk about names (tomorrow)?  He he... this ought to be fun!  For those of you who don't know, I'll tell you my four favorite names.
Oh, and this has no paragraphs because, well, I'm sick of paragraphs.  Try writing a book with paragraphs, then writing in a blog with paragraphs.  There are two paragraphs in this.  But those were natural, so there - I get off inserting paragraphs!