Well, we got back from our trip to Michigan really late on Thursday.  It was really good.  We stayed at our cabin, which is really rustic, with my grandparents and my uncle, Russ.  We got a plumber to install this new pump that my dad bought so we had hot water (after four days, of course).  But then, I took a shower and I was clean.  [Insert orgasmic noise].  The water smelled sorta iffy, though.  I slept in my own tent for the first night.  These complete idiots a couple of places down the road think it is cool to set off fireworks in the middle of the night, so I didn't sleep very well.  The second night I was in my own tent as well, and this thunderstorm started up.  I am completely afraid of lightning, so when I saw the first flash I was ready to get my ass out of there, and go into my parents' tent, but I didn't wanna risk getting killed in the process of running twenty feet, so I stayed put.  I was crying and trembling and everything, but I eventually fell asleep.  Needless to say, I slept with my parents for the rest of the trip.  I went fishing every day almost, but I didn't catch one single fish, although I did get several bites.  Also, my dad and I went out in this really old rowboat.  We were gonna go in the canoe, but as I cannot swim, we did not think it a very intelligent idea. 

On the 24^th, we went to our family reunion in Hastings.  It took around five hours to get there, and I only knew four people there.  It was at my dad's cousins' house.  I have no clue what her relation to me would be.  She's really nice, though.  Her name's Pam and her husband is Dan.  They live in this super nice wood house, and they have a couple of horses.  I fed one of them a carrot, but I didn't know that you were supposed to break it into pieces, so it, like, sort of choked.  It was okay though.  Pam's parents are Helen and Bob, who I've both met.  Those were the only four people there that I knew.  Helen is super nice and she paints really good.  Bob has prostate cancer, but it's in intermission right now.  I think that's what it's called.  He's 82, but you would never guess it.  He's in super shape and he looks really good.  Bruce is another of Helen and Bob's kids.  He can't hear very well, but I didn't know it at the time, so I thought he was just ignoring me.  He's married to Monet, who is Filipino.  She is really nice.  She teaches 16 special-ed preschoolers.  I think that's pretty great.  Bill is also Helen's son.  He's married to Von.  Their daughter is Ann Marie, who has a almost five-month-old baby girl named Alexis, and a four-year-old, Jakob.  They're both super cute.  Ann Marie and her husband Jason are both really nice and she's really pretty.  Bill and Von also adopted a Korean kid, who's twenty-something now, Ed.  He's engaged to Jamie, who has a daughter, Madison, from another guy.  Pam and Dan have a daughter named Heather, who is married to Rich.  He has a son, Justin, from a previous marriage.  They have a daughter, LilyAnne, who's one.  She's adorable.  Chris and Robin, who are both women, were there.  They are my grandma's deceased sister's kids.  Robin is married to Jim, who is pretty cool, and Chris is single.  I had a good time there, but I didn't really talk much.  The next day, we went to Helen and Bob's house for brunch.  Only Bruce and Monet, and Chris, Robin, and Jim were there, so I got to know them better.

That's pretty much all that happened up there.  We just spent a lot of time on the water and with our relatives. 

When we got back here, the next day we went to the mall.  I had to get some school clothes.  I got a pair of jeans and a gray shirt and a white shirt from Sears.  Then we went to Lane Bryant.  Yes, I know, I'm fat.  I'd never been in there before, but I got a pair of jeans and a nice pair of tan pants there.  Then we went to Target, El Cheapo.  I got three polo shirts.  I'm going for a more preppy look this year.  Later that night, I got my hair cut, like, five inches shorter.  My dad thinks it looks better, and I'm growing on it.  On Saturday, we went to Walmart and I got school supplies (notebooks, folders, etc.).  Yesterday, my dad and I went to Borders and I got three books.  They are Catalyst  by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and My Favorite Horror Story by various people.