Wow, I haven't been here in a long time, have I? Sorry! Blame the last few weeks of school when they pile everything up on the last minute...But I sorta, kinda procrastinate, so I really can't complain . (Anyway for those of you unwilling to read long blogs, this is one of them, so just a heads up; on the other hand, if you've read my blogs before, then you should be expecting this, especially since I have nothing better to do at the moment...feel free to skim through )

My dad was diagnosed with diabetes last Tuesday . We told him to cut back on the sweets, but...So now, since everything in the kitchen for him are artifical sweetners and sugar-free stuff, we're all trying to cut back. Especially me. I don't eat too well and I know it, so I am forcing myself to eat better since the threat of diabetes in my immediate family now popped up. I do not want to get diabetes at my age. My paternal aunt and my maternal grandmother already have diabetes, so I had the threat from getting from both sides, but since my dad now has it, time to be really cautious. But everything's working out okay, he doesn't need to check his blood sugar or take insulin, and Daddy doesn't seem to mind the sugar-free sweets as long as he still can have something that tastes like it.

As for the referrals to the school office, I didn't get them but I caused two guys to get them. Also last Tuesday, I was in my Tech Ed class doing my work, and then I see this little red light from the corner of my eye. So I look up. Two guys I hardly know are grinning at me from across the room, shining one of those pen laser thingies in my eye. I told them to stop, they did, I went back to my work...They did it again; I was starting to get really annoyed and told them to stop again. They did. Then they did it again. I told my teacher and he gave them referrals to the office. Ha! After that, they came up to me and asked me why I told the teacher on them . Hmmm, I wonder why!...So, because of the referrals (or rather, because of me), they weren't able to participate in the 8th Grade Graduation Celebration on Friday. Serves 'em right!

Last Thursday was the 8th Grade Awards Ceremony. I got 11 awards . Every time you got up to get one, you had to shake hands with the principal when you left the stage...And I think he got pretty tired of shaking my hand, but he seemed happy about it, at least. I went up to the stage the most, I think. After the ceremony, three families I didn't even know congratulated me and said I should've just stood up there on the stage throughout the whole ceremony, which was actually a good idea .

The 8th Grade Graduation Celebration on Friday was so much fun! We didn't have classes all day and we got to sign our yearbooks and everything. A big party was set out on the gym track outside, and there was cotton candy and snow cones and soda...and I got sick from eating too much junk food (I decided to forget about the threat of diabetes for that day ). There were those big blow-up slides and Twister games, and we played tug-of-war (my team lost ) and it was a lot of fun. After that, though, my foot got really sore for the next few days because I think I strained some unused muscles in there. Oh well, it was worth it .

On the topic of graduations, my aunt Melissa graduated from Morehouse School of Medicine last Saturday with magna cum laude. She's a doctor, now; she's the first doctor in the entire family! Now she's going to do a residency program on family practice in Anderson, South Carolina. It's just about 100 miles from my dad's hometown, and his brother and a few of his sisters still live there, so when we visit them, we're also going to stop by and visit her. Titi Melissa bought a house there and everything because the residency program is for three years, and everyone's happy for her, especially since she's the youngest of the siblings of my mom's family. After the ceremony, my grandparents held this huge party for her in a Marriott hotel ballroom, and it was really fancy and everything. My grandfather's whole church was there!  The graduation ceremony was really good, too; even Shirley Franklin, the city of Atlanta's mayor, was there, and she has a huge resume. The Morehouse Glee Club sang, also, and they were really good. But there was one depressing part: a student, Ava-Gayle R. Parkes, died in a car accident only three days from the graduation . R.I.P. Ava-Gayle.

Also on this solemn note, I'm sorry I can't remember his name, but a football player from the school my mom work's at, Brookwood High School (which is also the school I'm going to next year), also died from a car accident. At first, mostly everyone thought, or at least hoped, he would make it through when he was taken off the respirator in critical care at the hospital, but he died anyway. And what's worse is that it was because he had been D.U.I. It's sort of a wake up call, I suppose. Sad Also R.I.P.

And with that out of the way, today was the last day of school for me, or, more specifically, the last day of middle school...THANK GOD!!!! I can't say I'm exactly excited about going to high school (I definitely am nervous), but after four years of middle school, 5th-8th grade, you sort of get sick of it . Actually, down here in Georgia, middle school is only 6th-8th grade, but since I lived in Massachusetts before moving down here in the seventh grade, I had middle school for four years while everyone else had three. Yes, confusing. Anyway, I'm actually not off the hook for long. Next Tuesday I start summer Health and PE class for high school so I don't have to take it during the school year. Either way, I'm glad middle school's done and over with. The future's looking bright . (And yes, I know this is extremely long, but hey, I haven't been here for a good few weeks...maybe even a month - I've lost count, it's been so long - so give me a break )

P.S. I know the chances of this are extremely thin, but since I haven't been lurking around the forums, I feel the need to ask. Any news on the airing of Season 3 for Avatar? Don't kill me? It's natural curiosity for any Avatar fan. It's been so long, I just dare to hope for good news.