Getting Better

The day I have been waiting for has finally come. I am finished with my AP tests (the advantages of having both my tests in the first two days of testing), my mom is done with nursing school (not officially graduated yet, and she still has this state test to take before she can get a job, but all her studying and stressing is at least temporarily on hold), and I can sit back and relax. A bit. Calculus and bio are still around, of course, and there's that little fly on the windshield called Spanish, but for the most part I'm not doing too badly. And although I'm not exactly pleased about my ISS tomorrow, it couldn't have come at a better time: it means I have absolutely nothing to do tonight, because I'll have plenty of time to get my homework done tomorrow.

As for the tests, I feel pretty good about them, though I probably shouldn't say much on the Internet (technically you're not supposed to say anything about the essays for a few days, and you can NEVER say anything about the multiple choice, though of course everyone walks out the door of the testing room and starts talking about it). I accidentally wrote one of the English essays in the wrong space, and had to copy it over, so then I was panicking and hurrying on my last one, which made it come out a little weird. I referred to Ramen noodles and Robin Hood, and used the phrase "peachy keen." Some of the sample essays we read in class were a little crazy, though, and it's good to have some kind of personal voice in there, I think. Hey, Mrs. Longhenry gave me a 9 on an essay in which I talked about Tootsie Roll Pops and bluegrass music, so maybe I'm okay. World history was easier than I expected. There were several on the multiple choice that I wasn't quite sure about, but very few, if any, that I just had no idea on. I thought I'd die on the essays, but the DBQ was pretty easy as far as DBQs go, and the two free-response ones were about things I actually knew about. One was almost exactly like an essay I'd written for a Longhenry test, so I was feeling pretty good. I at least didn't completely bomb.

The best part about the tests (besides getting out of school, of course) was the break time. There was a lot of cameraderie between people both days, and everyone was joking around and stuff. The first day, I made some comment to Joslin and Patrick that "evil AP spies were going to come charging out of the underbrush" if we talked about the multiple choice questions, and they said that at that moment, someone behind me stuck their head around a corner and looked around. I kept hearing them telling other people that story. Today, at the world history test, Andrew and Matt gave each other piggy back rides up and down the hall, and Tyler and Will attempted to steal swiveling chairs from an adjoining classroom to use on the second half of the test until Matt sat down in one and turned; the chair gave a loud, horrible screech, and the guys quickly scrapped that plan. I enjoyed hanging out with Sapna, Jenny, and Lindsey Claeyssen before and during the test. In freshman year I thought Lindsey was mean, but she's really funny, and not in a mean way, either. I'm not really sure where I got that impression.

I need to start compiling a master list of funny quotes from teachers and things I've overheard. Once, at summer camp when I was eleven or twelve, I overheard a kid yell, "Ketchup is the condiment of the devil!" A girl on my bus, Melissa, has said some crazy things over the last several months; sometimes she's just annoying, like when she rambles on endlessly and at top volume about EVERY PET SHE'S EVER HAD, but she has said, "I would not let you go out with my sister. She uses whips and chains... She's a dom-in-ay-trix," and "I just don't think people should kill a little lamb just so they can have their pork chops." No, pork does not come from lambs. Sorry, Melissa.

For the past few days, I've been studying like crazy for these AP tests, so tonight I definitely plan to be as lazy as possible. I do have my piano lesson (sigh), but maybe I'll watch some of The Triplets of Belleville, which my dad rented from the library, if there's time, or else just read or something. It is quite nice not to have the burden of these tests hanging over me, and pretty soon junior year--which has been kind of crazy, but generally in a good way--will be behind me as well.