This following blog is dedicated to my oh so coordinated buddy, Popp.
First of all, I wish to explain my absence for the past week or so. Poor little Roo was at a far away land competing against the lovely webmasters of Texas for the annual FBLA web design competition. I’m glad to inform you all that I did not bring shame to my team with the shiny naked-dude-mounted first place trophy.

On Thursday, the FBLA club and I left for Houston on a rickety old bus along with students from some of the other high schools in Plano. (We left behind us thousands of people without electricity. The night before, I wouldn’t know due to the fact that I am able to sleep through anything and everything, a freak storm passed through our city.) I guess I can’t complain too much, since we could at least watch movies during the four-five hour ride. The movie selection included When a Stranger Calls, which gave some very stupid ideas for pranks- I will tell of this story later on, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, I am Legend, and Rattatouie. I didn’t pay too much attention to the movies however, since I was busy preparing my speech and presentation. During the whole trip my annoyingly obsessive, dare I say it, friend Kmei acted like the fussy mother I’ve never known. Basically every ten minutes he would pop up, asking me if I were too hot, too cold, if the volume was too loud, if my pencil needed sharpening, or even if the sun was too bright for me eyes. No offense Chub, but I am perfectly fine on my own. :sick:

We got to the Hotel around 6:00pm and were made to wait on the bus, since the area around us had a high crime rate. Gee, how lovely. The Wyndham was nice enough however, at least there were no cockroaches or pests of any sort. They even had a Starbucks in the lobby, where I indulged myself frequently during the stay. One complaint I do have concerns the lack of elevators. With only four small, one way elevators, the only option we had to be on time for meetings were to take the stairs. Even after three days of bed rest, I feel that my legs are still straining under the unexpected exercise of climbing up and down eleven flights of stairs five times a day.

After the competitive events were over on Friday, it was decided that the Plano schools would meet up at the Galleria mall to relax and shop for a bit. I must say that this was the biggest, most confusing mall I have ever been to. It had four stories and seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. At that time I was thankful that I had Popp with me, my friend with the “navigational skills of a hawk”. In the beginning I was firm in my demand that we would start heading back to the bus thirty minutes before it was time to meet. But due to some misunderstandings and the need to stop by for some apology candy, we were rushing around the mall at 8:45, with only fifteen minutes left. At first Popp just laughed at my desperation to find an exit, “we’ll start running when there’s five minutes left” he would tell me every now and then, when I stood clutching my side and gasping like a fish out of water. But oh how he regretted it later, when we were still lost, LOST, in the mall and only had two minutes to return. Needless to say that we did finally make it back, but I will never, for as long as I live, let Popp forget what happened that day.

An hour or so later after the trip to the deathtrap of a mall, I ran back upstairs - yes eleven flights, even after my marathon of desperation- to take a quick shower before my roommates came back. Sharing a hotel room with three other girls is not a easy thing, nope, not at all. I must have been drying my hair when I heard the rest of the group come back with a few of the guys that were rooming a few doors down. After a few screams and bits of conversation that I did not catch, I was alone again. Or so I thought. When I walked out of the bathroom, on my way to call a few friends to complain before bed, I noticed that something was out of place. That “something” suddenly came screaming and jumping out of the closet causing me to shriek and start kicking and with all my might. After getting Kenny, ohhh… so you’re finally being mentioned on my blog, out of the room, I slammed the door shut and locked it nice and secure. This is when my second surprise visitor decided to pop out from behind the curtains. Sadly, Vincent, after seeing what I did to Kenny, was too fast for me to physically harm and dashed like a jackrabbit out the door.

With all things accounted for, I am glad to be back where I belong with my internet access. :sick:

Sitewise
There won’t be much going on here yet, since I have to prepare a flash introduction for my nationals competition. Wish me luck! Later next week I do, however, hope to have up a few new WP 2.5 templates and a new site layout.