Chaotic Halloween Weekend

Oh, I am so tired. I am out of control, and need to restore balance to life ASAP.

Last night Anthony, Jefferson, Keith, JJ, and the rest of the Hidden Valley football team beat their rival North Valley. It was the first time they had beaten them in seven years! They were feeling pretty good about that, and I was very happy for them too. Unfortunately, I had eaten 1/4th of a stuffed pizza before going to the game, and felt pretty rotten by the end of the game. Lack of sleep+malnourishment +sickness+mental illness+working out+huge slice of greasy, stuffed, meaty pizza= vomiting. I threw up on the ride home, and stayed up all night, tormented by my uneasy stomach.

I awoke the next morning at around 8. I had to get to the church quickly to help Sis. Dastrup set up the big Halloween party. It is such a hassle, really. This was the third time that she was in charge of it, and third time was apparently the charm, so to speak. This was her final party; someone else will have to do it next year!

Anyways, I got there and started helping with webs and other decorations. My good buddy Jared Pearson was going to be designing one of the rooms, and had told me to get some dry ice for a mist effect. I told Sis. Dastrup about the need for dry ice and she said that there were a lot of others who would need some too. And so, after she gave me $20, I went on an epic quest to go find dry ice. And it turned out to be a much larger quest than intended.

Before I tell you of the adventure, let me tell you what I brought with me to the Stake Center. I, being a pack rat, brought way too much stuff. I brought two guitars (I was planning on teaching Carmen a bit of guitar before the party), a phantom mask (my original idea for a costume), an elf costume (for Jared's room. He wanted me to be some kind of mythical creature), a laptop (to present some music to some of my musician friends who I hoped would show up for a little organization meeting before the party), a board game (in case there was time for one), and finally, a notebook, my scriptures, and Rich Dad/Poor Dad. I know, way too much stuff.

Anyways, concerning the quest: Wearing my elf costume, I first ran to a nearby Safeway to find some dry ice. They didn't have any. However, they pointed me towards Albertsons, which sells the icy, misty stuff. So I ran over to Albertsons on the other side of town, only to find that they do not sell dry ice to minors! It's dangerous stuff, so, they made against the law for kids to buy it and make ice bombs and stuff out of it. I felt stupid and foolish. Why didn't I tell Sis. Dastrup to go and get the dry ice herself? She would've done it, and a lot faster too, being in a car and all. I think I've identified a lacking in my character: a lack of wisdom. I need to stop being so mentally lazy and think things out before doing them. I feel so weak.

I walked all the way back to the stake center and told Sis. Dastrup about the whole predicament. She left to go get the ice and some other things while I continued to decorate. At one point I stopped and spent some time reading Rich Dad/Poor Dad. That book is so amazing. I haven't read much of it yet, but it is so good. Fear controls most people's lives. Learning how to face fear, desire, and greed are the first steps to being truly wealthy. It went in to so much more detail than that, but it'd take awhile to make it understandable. I am excited to learn, to be refined. To gain more wisdom: my goal!

Some of the single adults were there helping set up that day. One of them, oh, I can't remember her name! She was playing some beautiful new age music on the piano in the chapel. It really soothed my tormented mind, and made my day. I am so grateful for the sacred gift of music.

I hadn't eaten anything that day, except for a few chips and some candy by noon. I was having a hard time keeping things down the night before, and didn't want to eat anything really. When Jared got to the church eventually, he shared with me a Subway sandwich that he happened to have. I love that guy! Well, no one showed up except for him for the musician meeting that I had planned. Ah well; it was too short notice. It wasn't well planned out. I'll try it again some other time, and give everyone an earlier heads up. Oh that reminds me, last night I talked to Clark from choir. He sung the National Anthem at the football game. He's actually trying to set up a quartet, and I gave him my name and number. I WANT TO SING IN A GROUP SO BAD. I am sick of my constant solos. There is an undefinable energy found in a group when it comes to singing.

Anyways, we set up his room after a lot of frustration and tape. We had vines and skeletons and webs and a bunch of other things like that cluttering the room. I never used the elf thing for the room, but instead was a scarecrow in the corner. Jared would say to the kids, "Hey, if you want more candy, go touch that scarecrow in the corner." When the braver kids did so , I would say, "Boo!", or "That's a cute outfit you're wearing, Ivy!", or "I AM IRON MAN, dunnanunnanunana iron man!" or something else like that. It depended on who would come. There were these two teenage girls who were saying to each other, "You touch it." "No, you touch it!" and it went on for the longest time. They were both jittery and scared, and I thought, "ya know what? These two deserve it." I arose from my seat and ran at them, howling "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" They screamed. It was awesome. That happened a couple of times.

Fa and Carmen are two exchange students who are living with the Wrights: a family in our ward. Fa has a long and complicated name that I can't even spell, so she prefers everyone just call her Fa. She is from Thailand and loves music. Jared has a huge crush on her. Carmen is from Spain, and wants me to teach her guitar. They are both such sweethearts, and look so pretty! We had fun playing with guitars, cleaning, and just hanging out in general tonight, even though I was feeling under the weather. I hid my under-the-weatherness well, I think. Tonight was a great social thing for me. Most all of my friends from the stake showed up! And I learned a bit of awesome information too: Hayley is moving into the Murphy Creek ward! That's my ward! Yay! It'll be nice to have another friend in the ward. It's really kind of sad, my situation. There aren't really any guys my age who are interested in anything that I am interested in in my ward. Same problem with the girls, with the exception of Truli and the foreign exchange students. The more friends the merrier! I try to be friendly to everyone, but I still feel distant to so many people.

Anthony dressed up as Pac-Man for his costume tonight; how clever! It was a huge, round, 2-D thing made out of cardboard and yellow paint. What a great idea; that guy sure knows how to use his mind.

When it was all over, I was bushed, and ready to go home. After helping clean up a bit, we left at 9:30. Right now I feel so physically, mentally, and spiritually weak. I haven't studied my scriptures today, I have not been taking care of myself physically, and my mind is just, like, *fizzled noise*. Fried. I hope to use the day of rest to rejuvenate myself to get back on my feet! Good night.