The Month of April!

The first of April was a Wednesday and in the evening we had our soccer banquet in the Veteran's building in Culver City. It cost $5 and they served Tito's Tacos (which is not quite my favorite, so I brought my own sandwich). We all got diplomas for being on the Varsity team, and another one for making the CIF playoffs. Additionally, I got an award for "Goal of the Year" which was on a header in one of our last games. That goal meant we won the game and also that we made the playoffs. Something I want to point out, too, is that this was about the third game after my accident and I had just had my nose surgery, that's why my coach chose the goal as the most outstanding. They thought I was very courageous when I decided to throw myself on a corner to head the ball and score despite the fact that that act broke my nose a couple of weeks earlier.
My teammates had all signed a big photography of the team, just for me, which I will put up on my wall when I get home to remember one of the absolute best parts of my year abroad!

Saturday, the 4th of April was Kieran's birthday. He got breakfast in bed, two waffles with whip cream, strawberries, syrup and chocolate sauce around the edge of the plate saying "Happy Birthday Kieran". He turned 11 and is now a Big boy.
At about 10 am. his friends started showing up for his party and soon they were all heading of for the bowling alley to start the party. While they were gone I blew up all the inflatable toys for the pool where the boys were going to be playing when they got back, there were at least ten hammers, rings and rafts. I also relaxed on one of the rafts for an hour or two, just enough to burn myself a little.
I decided to experiment with my camera when the boys were back, they had had their In 'n Out burgers and were playing in the pool. I think I got a few really good pictures!
That night I went to the movies with Andy, Adrian and his date. We watched Fast and the Furious. Afterwards he asked me a question which made me loose my breath, a question that made my brain collapse. The question was "Do you want to go to prom with me?" II was really surprised, and since I wanted to go to prom, preferably with a date, to get the ultimate American High School experience I figured this was my chance.
On Sunday we went to Utah, flew into Salt Lake City airport in the afternoon. Our final destination was Deer Valley, or Park City. The skiing conditions throughout the week were good, the first two days were sunny so the snow got warm and slushy in the afternoon and the amount of snow outside of the slopes quickly decreased. On Wednesday it was so cold, windy and snowy that Kieran and I could only stand half a day before we gave up. That day another family came to make us company. This worked out perfectly since the house we stayed in was enormous, with 3 stories and 5 bedrooms. Other luxuries included were a hot tub, a jacuzzi, a pool table, a projector, a flat screen TV, two fireplaces, a piano, a sauna, a great kitchen etc. I was amazed at the size and standards in the house since it's only used as a second or third house by the man Joaquim, a friend of Tracey's (who we stayed with) who's a dear friend of Mary Sue's.
The three first days I was snowboarding and the two last days I skied. On Friday we all went to Snowbird. It had snowed all Thursday, so when we got there Friday morning we skied in 15 inches of untouched snow. It was great and had a more alpine feeling that the other ski resorts. I can surely say that it was the best skiing experience I've ever had!
After a week in Utah we got home in time for egg-hunting on Easter morning. Kieran and I went out in the garden to search for the 18 eggs we had colored the night before and 24 plastic, hollow eggs containing money. Then we had to go inside the house and look for our easter-baskets. I found mine upon the fridge, it contained green tea, dried mango, zig zag, gum and different kinds of chocolate, yummy! I was thinking about my family at home, hoping they had a successful Easter!
During the second week of Spring Break I really worked on my tan and I was on a strict diet, with the easter candy as he only exception. Temporarily I lost about 7 pounds, but it soon came back as I lost my motivation... I was keeping a note book in my pocket writing down everything I ate which helped me be more aware of everything I put in my mouth, but this, too, got a bit boring after a while.
The tan was thanks to days spent by my pool and a bike ride with Salina to Playa Del Rey. On Tuesday night I went with Andy to to Westwood and Andy took me to an ice cream place someone had recommended. From there we took the bus back.
A couple of days went by after that without anything exciting happening, until Friday, when I went with Andy, Austin, Carl (who was driving), Jimmy and his girlfriend to 6 Flags, Magic Mountain. It's a huge, extremely popular amusement park with the scariest rides I've even seen. The drive there was about 45 minutes and I had bought my ticket online the night before for $35 instead of $60 at the entry, in these times I'm trying my best to save some money. We went on all the big roller coasters and such, which I was really proud of myself for, even if they made my stomach turn or my head feel dizzy.
Comming back to school after two weeks of Spring Break, we realized we were almost done with the month of April already, which made me think about how long time I had left before my departure home again - about two months.

"I'm living life as it should be."

Throughout the rest of the month I took a few babysitting jobs every now and then, both at our neighbors family and at a family who's friends are friends of Mary Sue and Josh's. They are British and both parents are actors and they just moved here to try to get a job. Their house is right at Santa Monica beach, a really great location. Their kids, Freddie and Martha, are really sweet and never make any trouble. I was talking to them about my plans, or dreams rather, for next summer. I want to go to either France or England and work as an au pair for a family with young kids that need someone to take care of them during the day and maybe have some free time at night to go and explore the city etc. This would mean I could make money while I do what I like the most, traveling... They thought they might know a few families that would be interested, so I'll have to follow up on that!
Another thing worth mentioning is that I'm usually not the kind of girl that wears dresses, but recently, as I've gotten a tan and because of the hot weather I've bought 4 of them and I've already worn them all. they make me look more feminine. And what's good is that I will be able to wear these when I get home to Sweden again, and hopefully no one will have the same. Yeay!

The "Month of May" will be up soon, unfortunately its already the 15th!