When Life's a Grind, Make Lemonade

     Today has been a bit of a grind.

My new favorite quote. I've always hated the "when life
gives you lemons, make lemonade" expression because
it goes against the basic principle of how lemonade is made.
Lemon juice, not lemonade, is what happens when you
take some lemons and squeeze them and ain't nobody want
 to drink that cuz it smells like skunk.

     I had to go into school at 7:45 to take a math test and then school was just a bit boring-er than usual and chem has managed to get uber confusing right before the test on Monday. Then I stayed after for international awareness club, came home and drove to Old Forge and walked for a few miles and then came home again and tackled chem homework (with some much-needed assistance, thank you MF and SR), ate some dinner, and did some more chem homework. I've definitely been cheating on my one-hour electronic limit. I make excuses like "Oh, I'm texting so-and-so about school/homework so that doesn't count" or "This is important" and crap. I don't know, it's hard to find that balance between "This is normal technology use" and "I'm abusing my privileges." But like DL said to me today, it's not so much about setting a timer for exactly one hour as it's about feeling like you've made a sacrifice in some way. And when it really comes down to it, it's not about the sacrifice at all but about becoming closer to God and I have been failing pretty hard on that level for quite some time now. 

     Sometimes, when I go on walks I fixate on one thing in my life and just think about it the whole time until I've exhausted myself thinking about it, but today I didn't really think about anything in particular. I just walked and realized how beautiful this place is and got a bit nostalgic. Not every kid gets to go to an elementary school that's surrounded by fields and cows and sheep. I remember one time, this kid who used to ride my bus ran away at recess or something and the principal had to chase him through the corn field. That memory is probably super inaccurate and/or completely fabricated, but I think about that kid running through the corn whenever I'm at my old elementary school because it was such a big deal at the time.

     And now impending chemistry tests feel like the biggest deal in the world, but some time not so far away, they'll seem like the most trivial things in the world. And I'll have much bigger problems that I do not even want to comprehend at this juncture. Eek.

     I forgot what the point of this post was going to be. Moral of the story: even when life's a grind, you can make the most of it by taking a walk and thinking about your elementary school days and then writing about it. Life lessons from SE.

     And now I have to go pack for Philly. I'm simultaneously completely nonchalant about the whole thing, freaking out majorly, super excited, and super stressed out. Welcome to being a teenager.

Day 817 Song Recommendation: "Be As You Are" by Mike Posner. Song rec courtesy of DL.

 -SE Wagner