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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 16, 2012 19:33:04 GMT -5
A/N: I know this probably does not make up for lack of updates in NTSYA, but I hope you like this! I'll hopefully be posting some more NTSYA soon! @meg Cahill......I know you've been pretty patient, I'm sorry! ***************************************** "I won!!" I yelled, jumping up and down after I read the email. " I get to fly to Ireland and spend two weeks with the lads of Celtic Thunder!!"
It was two weeks into summer vacation, I was bored crazy, and my sister Bernie and I had entered a contest to meet the lads, driving our family batty until we recieved the results. I was sad for my sister, but I was beyond excited for myself.
"Lilac Coriander Applemint Kelmen! I know you're excited, but can you please keep it down a little!" Mom shouts up to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello, you may have already figured out that my name is Lilac and that I'm telling this story.
What you don't know is that I live in a house, well, an old lighthouse in California, with seventeen other kids. All my siblings. (Well, some were adopted...Like me....But they're still my siblings!) And my parents, of course. Our family is sort of like the family from the movie Yours, Mine & Ours. The newer one anyway. Not the one with Lucille Ball. And my dad's not in the military.
Just like the Beardsly kids, we have a schedule. I'm one of the "older kids" so I have to get up early, otherwise I won't be able to take a shower. I'm talking 'round 4:30 AM early. The "younger kids" love taking long showers.
I'm seventeen, but I'll be turning eighteen next week. June 10th, Keith's birthday too. (Insert happy squeeing here....) I'm around five foot ten inches tall, skinny, and have knee length cobolt blue, emerald green, ruby red and amethyst purple streaked raven's wing black hair and black eyes.
There is absolutly no difference between the colour of the irises and the pupils of my eyes. (Most people think I wear contacts, but I don't. I was born that way. And please don't ask about the coloured hair. It's my brother Robin's fault!!!)
Anyway, back to my story of how I got to stay with Celtic Thunder for not just two weeks, but -wait for it!- the rest of the summer and a whole tour! Oops! Sorry! I spoiled it! Do you forgive me? You do? Thanks! Alright, back to the story! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 17, 2012 10:59:44 GMT -5
Hehe @auntie: @meg: I promise I will! (runs off to cook up more NTSYA...) *************************** My sister Bernie apparently had just walked in the front door, because I hear her say, "What's Li shouting about?" Mom answered with, "She won that contest you two entered to spend two weeks with Celtic Thunder." (I can just hear the eye roll; can't you?) Then she raised her voice so I could hear better. (How could I hear her before, you ask? My room (The room I share with Bernie) is in the attic and I have a hatch in the floor. That, and I have excellent hearing.) "If she cleans her half of the room, I'll let her go to Ireland by herself." (I can almost hear her wink at Bernie. I have never been good about cleaning my half of the room.) Now, my half of the room is an absolute mess, and I thought it would take forever to clean..... I would have been right if I hadn't had the wonderfully brilliant idea of tossing out stuff I probably should have gotten rid of a few years ago, donating some stuff, and putting back some stuff I "borrowed" from siblings because they'd pulled pranks on me. The stuff I'd "borrowed" had been under my bed. "Yes mom!" I yelled down. I sat on the floor and sorted everything into piles while listening to the radio. (That took about an hour and a half!) Trash, give away, keep and stuff back in rooms...
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 17, 2012 15:30:23 GMT -5
I jumped down to the floor below our room (the hallway and where the stairwell is) to get trash bags, blue for donations, black for trash, and climbed up the steps that were like those slide out cutting board things in the kitchen. The steps, however, can be locked in place. Throwing the stuff into the bags, I sang along with the radio. At commercial break I started talking to myself.
"Wow, the Djs must love me today...They're playing some of my favorite songs!"
Once the stuff was in the proper bags, I tied off the donations and threw them down through the door in the floor. Then, I shoved the stuff I was keeping in my closet. (Our room has two closets.) After I did that, I took the stuff I "borrowed" and snuck into my siblings rooms to put it away. "Ugh. Now to get the trash out." I muttered. "I'll have to miss Dierks Bently's Sideways though." I pouted at the thought; it was one of my favorite songs. Oh well. It must be done.
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Post by celticbear on Mar 17, 2012 20:54:34 GMT -5
WOW! SHE REALY WANTS TO GO TO IRELAND ALL BY HERSELF! HOPE BERNIE KEEP HER WORD!
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 25, 2012 16:21:18 GMT -5
Auntie, it's the mom that promised. And wouldn't you want to be alone if Keith was going to be there? You wouldn't want your mom preventing you from flirting! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grabbing a trash bag in each hand and slinging one over my shoulder, I opened my door, turned left, and clomped down the stairs into the living-room.
"Mom! I've got three trash bags with me and another three upstairs! The donations are still upstairs!" I yelled as I walked outside to the side yard, where the trash cans were supposed to be, then noticed that they'd already been put out at the curb. Silently grumbling in my head, I dropped the bags at the curb just as my dad pulled up.
"You been behaving today Lila?" Dad asked. "What's all this?" He gestured to the bags.
"Sure have Dad!" I smiled. He always asked us all if we'd been behaving every time he came home. "Trash from my side of the room. You can now see that a floor really exists, and my desk is cleared off too!"
"Wow, cool!" He said, surprise lighting up his face. "Wait...What happened? Who died? When did pigs start flying?"
"I just figured I should clean it up." I answered, trying to keep my expression as neutral as possible, which was very hard because I was trying not to laugh.
"Uh huh. And what else happened today?" He asked, not buying my (admittedly bad) poker face.
"I won the contest to fly to Ireland and meet the lads, and Mom said I could fly alone." I admitted. Everyone in the family knew who the lads were; Bernie and I talked about them nonstop.
Well, that and the walls in our room, as well as the ceiling, were covered in posters and pictures of them. I'm sure that to anyone outside the house, it would look like a stalker wall.
"Have you done your jumping and squealing thing yet?" He laughed.
"You know me too well Dad!" I laughed with him. "Ugh. I suppose I should go put the bags of donations in the garage."
"Probably. Or your mother will have a fit." He answered.
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Post by celticbear on Mar 25, 2012 21:29:19 GMT -5
Great update Dandy! And Yes I would not want my Mother and the rest of my family around to interfer with me flirting with Keith!
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 27, 2012 11:47:54 GMT -5
I walked back to the house, puffing by the time I got there. (Hey! I'm in shape! I'm the fastest runner on the track team! We have a very long driveway though, and I'm already tired! Besides that, the driveway's uphill! Okay, I think I've used my allotment of exclamation points..... )
Mentally groaning, I walked back upstairs and grabbed the other trash bags. Looking out the window facing the driveway, I pulled out the screen. Our room was right above the driveway...Hmmm... I glanced at the trash bags. They'd land right next to the others if I used the right amount of force...
I decided to try it. Throwing one bag out the window, I watched as the bag landed half-way down the driveway and rolled to the curb, right where it was supposed to be. I quickly did the same to the other two.
Replacing the screen back in the window frame, I sighed. Now to hoof the donations to the garage.
Here, I'll spare you the details of clomping down the stairs and such. (Hums the Jeopardy! Theme song and time goes forward.)
~Next Day~ I actually woke up late this morning. Late for me, that is. 5:30ish.
I got up and dressed for a run, making sure I was quiet so I didn't wake Bernie. Grabbing my iPod, I turned it on, walking down to the kitchen to get some food before I ran. I had just downloaded an album by a British boy band last night. Four British boys and an Irish lad! ( 0:) )
Now, usually I'm not that fond of boy bands, but, for some reason I loved this one. (Insert scream of horror. The Author loves this band too, and is shocked.)
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Post by celticbear on Mar 27, 2012 21:12:32 GMT -5
Hey Dandy! that group by any chance would not be named New Direction? Love how Lilac got rid of the rest of the trash!
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 28, 2012 0:09:37 GMT -5
One Direction Auntie lol Hee hee, thanks, that part was fun to write! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They're called One Direction, and their album is called Up All Night. I walked downstairs and outside to the driveway. Stretching, I turned on my favorite 1D song (What Makes You Beautiful) , and put it on repeat. ~10 Minutes Later~ I start at a slow pace. (Around 3 miles an hour, which is just a long stride for me.) I get faster and faster until I feel as if I'm racing the wind itself. Suddenly, my iPod's on shuffle, and I'm Free Fallin' with Tom Petty. I lipsynch, not wanting to waste my breath, not even on one of my favorite songs. I run and run. All around town, I run. First 5 miles, then 7. By the time I reach the beginning of the driveway, I've clocked 10. Panting and drenched in sweat, my white t-shirt clinging to my upper torso, I lean over and place my hands on my knees. I walk up the drive, sit on the porch, and sip from my water bottle. I get up and walk into the house. I decide to take a cold shower and change before grabbing a more substancial breakfast.
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Post by celticbear on Mar 28, 2012 21:28:40 GMT -5
WOW! That's some run Lilac has! I wonder if Even Ryan could keep up with her! Thanks for the correction of the groups name!
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Mar 31, 2012 17:46:20 GMT -5
~ One Nice, Cold, Shower Later~
"Morning y'all!" I was literally bouncing down to the kitchen.
"Duck, sis!" Robin shouted.
I did, just as a backpack soared over my head to one of his friends. I glared at them, but laughed. "Thanks for the warning Robin."
He just smiled, the dimple in his left cheek making an appearance. His friend, however, apologized.
"Sorry, Lilac."
"It's alright, Charlie. A little more warning before I have something thrown at my head would be nice though....." We all laughed.
Mom and Dad were at work, Bernie was going to her job life-guarding at the local pool and Robin had something he was going to do with his friends.
I was headed to my last baby-sitting job until the end of the summer.
The kids I sit for are going to their grandparent's house for the summer.
Which means the other five teens, since they don't already have something scheduled, have "younger kid" duty.
"Hey, I'll see y'all later!" I called to Robin, Bernie and Charlie.
"See ya later, Alligator!" Robin yelled.
"In a while, Crocodile!" I shouted back.
"Make it soon, Baboon!" Bernie yelled, to complete our morning ritual.
(Walk, walk, walk....humming Jeopardy! Theme song....)
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Post by celticbear on Mar 31, 2012 21:05:27 GMT -5
Cute little Update Dandy! Hope this last baby-sitting job goes smoothly!
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Apr 3, 2012 15:34:27 GMT -5
"Lila!" The kids came running out the door as I walked to the front of their house. "Mama! Lila's here!"
"Good morning, Thing One and Thing Two!" I smiled.
The kids laughed; we'd watched The Cat In The Hat last week. Their mother walked outside.
"Good morning, Mrs. Johnson." I greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning to you, Lilac, and thanks again for watching the kids!" She said gratefully.
"No problem! They're almost always well behaved."
~Day of Babysitting Later~
It was true, the kids were VERY well behaved, almost TOO well behaved..... I've seen them turn into little gremlins before....
All I have to say is, poor parents! It's like that rhyme, you know it, right? 'There once was a little girl with a curl on her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good. But when she was bad, she was horrid!'
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on May 25, 2012 18:10:28 GMT -5
Anyway......
I got home and decided to sit in the living-room and read my kindle, because I was in the middle of reading a great book.
Mom came home and after asking everybody how their days went, asked me if I'd gotten my flight info, and if I'd packed yet.
I replied, "Yep! I'll be leaving tomorrow. Flight #209, leaving from LAX, arriving in NYC, connecting flight #743, arriving in Dublin. Um, no, I haven't packed yet....."
"Well, you better get to it then." She said.
"Any idea of what the weather will be like when you get there?" Isabel, one of the "younger kids" asked.
"Sure do. When I get there it will be 4:30 AM, 2* F, and very dark, as well as windy."
"So, is anybody picking you up?" Dad asked.
"Sharon will be, Dad."
"Li, I'll help you pack, if you want." Bernie said.
"Sure, thanks Bernie!"
We went up to our room and Bernie started going through my clothes. She sighed, then disappeared into her closet. She came out with her arms full of clothes.
"Since you are going to Ireland, little sister, I'm going to make sure you look fantastic -not that you don't already- but next week you'll be eighteen, and you'll be able to go out to the pubs."
"Bernie, I doubt I will be-"
"Knowing the lads, yeah, you will be. Now, look at this one." She held up a dress.
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Post by DaughterofOphelia on Jun 25, 2012 14:10:27 GMT -5
Sorry for not updating sooner!! CTG, I actually love all of their songs, WMYB is the first one I heard when I was writing that bit though. lol Auntie: hee hee I don't think it'll go the way you think it will! ------ I sighed; I am not fond of dresses. I glanced at it, and then did a double take. The one she held up was a knee-length dress, the top a light blue fading into a dark blue at the bottom. The material was smooth and silky. The whole thing was sprinkled with iridescent sequins, including the thin bow that tied in the back. "Whether you like it or not, you are taking this dress, and you will wear it." She said, in that no-nonsense-older-sister tone of voice. (Though she's only three months older than me, she takes the older sister thing seriously. It's a good thing she does; otherwise the youngers would run rampant!) The one that you have to obey. The one that's second only to the 'I'm-your-parent-and-you-will-do-as-I-say' voice. Suddenly, my computer chimed. Walking over to it, I noticed there was one new email. Opening it, I noticed it was from Sharon. As I read it, I frowned.
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