thanksgiving!

i love thanksgiving. what better way to spend the day then cooking all day, cleaning, and eating? i think that thanksgiving is God's gift to housewives.
in other news, life's crazy. i keep forgetting i have a blog, hence the complete lack of sheila's presence on this thing.
highlight of the week? (other thank thanksgiving, of course, for which i have sat down for a total of about 65 minutes, and that was for dinner... cooking from 1030 until 430 with a few moments spent changing car headlights with deirdre.) that highlight would have to be seeing wicked live in hollywood on tuesday. that was AWESOME. if anyone ever gets the chance to see that musical live anywhere, do so. it is so worth whatever you pay. i went with a bunch of people from school. lots of fun. we went into this awesome vintage clothes store on hollywood blvd., in which we had a contest to see who could put together the best outfit. i don't think anyone officially won, but it was still a blast. i also walked along looking at all the stars in the sidewalk. there were ones for debbie reynolds, queen, alfred hitchcock, etc. very cool. anyway, that was definitely fun. i have been off school all week, also, which is really really nice. and iain has been home since last saturday, and bingy has been hanging at the homestead since yesterday, so we're all together. i love my family.
anyway, enjoy y'all y'all's thanksgiving, and stay warm and toasty in these freezing chills, and bite yourselves for me.

okay, okay...

i could say something about the my life being busy busy busy, but awesome. about school being nice, and that i like public school. i could say something cheesy about loving everyone and life being a pizza pie. but instead, i'm going to say one thing.
in rainbows is amazing.
go hug trees.
love,
sheila

first day of school!

So her in CA, we start school nice 'n' early. Especially me. I start school early in that I started August 21st, and in that school itself starts at 6:35 for me. 0 period PE. what's not to love?
On happier notes, the first day wasn't too bad, considering. I only felt stupid when I was waiting for PE to start. After that I was fiiine.
And when I have a picture of my newest most awesome possession, after my viola, I'll post it. Until then, I have some sleep to do.
Because I didn't sleep last night. And I got up at 5:45. Ooh, yeah. This'll be a looong year.
Lots of love to you all. I'm not going to be a freak just because I go to public school. Or any more of a freak than I already was... So stop worrying, because I'll be fine, the same Sheila you know and love. Or at least some of you love.
Have fun. Stay cool. Hug a tree.

Gold Coast Music Festival = Da Bomb, yo.

What an awesome week. It'd take me forever to tell you all about it, (as I learned today with Michelle) so I think I'll give you a few highlights. But some of them aren't g rated, so I'll leave those ones out. Let's see.

øGetting up at 6:30 daily
øPlaying quartettes. Who doesn't love chamber music?
øListening to Radiohead on my iPod on the way home. Classical music gets a little bit exhausting after a while.
øPutting entire pieces of watermelon in my mouth at one time for about half the camp.
øProving that it is, in fact, possible to eat a graham cracker upside down.
øLaughing. By gosh, we did a lot of that.
øDrinking water sans hands. And getting it out of the igloo with our noses. Except I think only Abby could do that one.
øThe concerts
øGustav
øDaniel's little sister jumping on him and yelling in Russian/Enlgish.
øWashing my hair in the sink with foamy soap on Friday.
øWinning Super Smash Bro's or whatever that was.
øAbsolutely stinking at pool.
øPlaying the viola. Oh, and getting viola jokes thrown at me by Niv. And making fun of cellos to Peter. And making fun of violins in general, and 'being cool' because I'm a violist. And telling everyone the violin joke.

Speaking of which, I think it's great, and everyone should know it. I learned it at viola sectional.
Why are all viola jokes so short? So violinists can remember them.

And now I'm really sad, because it's over and I'm starting school next week. I'll have pictures eventually that I might consider putting up here.

Oh, and the Pernambuco tree was too cool. I want one of those so desperately... Hey, I don't think any of you guys got me a birthday present. It's not too late, y'know.
In the words of someone truly awesome, *hint hint*

Me 'n' my Big Sis

Me and Lorenna (sans wisdom teeth with chipmunk face)







I'm going to have some fun pictures one of these days, (probably Sunday) so I'll post those then. Until then, however, y'all is gonna have to be satisfied with some major Bernhoft good looks.
Hahahaha. Thatwasajoke.


I'm also starting music camp on Sunday. It's a day thing. I get to leave home before 7 every day from Monday to Friday. Booyah! But it should be really fun. I'm playing a Beethoven and a Mozart quartett and three string orchestra pieces. It should be pretty fun, I think. I'm just praying I won't get tendonitis again... That would probably be the end of my world. So y'alls can join me if'n you want to.

Oh, and for Sean's benifit, please check out my newest link. I love being mean to my friends...

A year???????

In 20 seconds Lorna and I will have lived her for a year! Wow. Amazing.
Has it really been that long? Gosh.
Hm. Well, I'm actually really glad I moved here. I mean, I don't know. I love my old house, my friends, and Blessed Sacrament, but I just love it here so much. Bing's all gung-ho to move to Washington as soon as she can. I really hope I can stay here for the rest of my life. If I can't live in Italy, that is.
Anyway, congrats, Lorna, on making it this far. You rock my world, Keis.
So I think the quote of the day is probably "Shoes are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Then again, there's the beer alternative to that, which is always another good option.
But, Lorna, that quote was for you. You and your five inch blue polka dotted shoes..................................
ok, enough dots.
Have a good Sunday. Live life like lice lick limp lips.
No idea where that came from.

Lorna is without wisdom teeth.

Lorna is Seventeen.

Land of Magic

Disneyland.
Yesterday at the crack of dawn (5:30), Deirdre and Bing and I drove off to Anaheim. We met Sean and Andrew D. at 8 ish. It was my first time ever at the Land of Disney.
My favorite rides were the Mountains: Space, Splash, and Thunder. Oh, and It's a Small World, of course. (haha) We took some pretty crazy pictures, walked a LOT, rode a lot of rides, (not Nemo, though. the wait was about 3 hours. No fast passes.) The pictures of Splash Mountain were cool. And waiting in line watching everyone else go down was really funny, too. Food at Disneyland is way too expensive, in case anyone was wondering. But we had a really good time. We left at 9:29, found food and drove home, getting back at about 12:15. It was really only a two hour drive, we just took a really long time looking for food.
Anyway, if anyone ever goes to Disneyland, call me up and make sure I can't go with you.
All you need is love. And trees. And loving trees.
(I did not learn that at Disneyland, by the way, but at home right here in Ojai.)

PS. Happy almost birthday, Deirdre!

PS again: Check out the new link on my sidebar: Yuri Bashmet = my favorite person ever.

Home!

I'm home now. I had a marvelous time chilling in Washington. Highlights?

*ULTIMATE FRISBEE!
*Teaching great CA swing moves to my friends.
*Exchanging funeral stories with Madeline, Hannah, and Claire.
*Insult wars with Snick
*Michelle's poetry
*Singing great Christian songs with people at YFL.
*Deep and meaningful conversations.
*Saying crap around Rose.
*Going to Old Navy

It was a great time, anyway. I'm glad I'm home now, though, because I really missed my viola especially because I've only been free of tendonitis since about a week before I left. I get to clean and cook now, too. That makes me happy. Anyway, I love everyone, and I hope you all enjoy the rain pouring down on Washington. I'm just going to go outside and enjoy the breezy sunshine and maybe swim. Sorry, guys. I couldn't resist it.

Oh, I almost forgot.
"Speaking of liposuction..."

Happy July?

Yeah, I know it's a day late. But I didn't realize how much I love July until today.
I got up at 8:48, showered, ate, did something for mom and then walked up to the pool to get my shoes. I had to walk some letters to the post office. On my way up, I thought, "Gee, it's a little warm today." I looked at the thermometer. 82º at 9:30. "Hmmm. It's already a bit too warm and it's not even 10." (My ideal heat is about 79º) Anyway, I walked in to town, came home, did stuff, went babysitting. We went to the pool over in town, from which we got to walk home. I got home at about 3:45 or something, and went out and looked at the thermometer again. 100º. Ouch. Not even the hottest part of the day. Right now it's 6:24 and 97º. Geezo.
So go ahead, guys. Complain about the cold and rain. I'm going to sit here and wish for a big bottle of ice dumped down my back. And I'm just hoping it won't be 100 degrees when I come to visit. Oh no.

(Editors Note: At 10 or 11 it was still 70 out. All these temperatures were taken in the shade, also.)

I miss Iain

I had to write a poem for poetry class. It was pretty awesome in some sense. If I knew where Deirdre's was, I'd post hers.
Iain left today for Spain. I'm really sad now.
I broke my phone a week ago, so don't expect me to return your phone calls if you did call me. Hot tub+Margie drowning+forgotten phone in back pocket+my awesome natural saving instincts=death to phone. But I hated it anyway, so I'm kinda happy I get a new one.
I opened a bank account today. Finally, and again. The first time they decided to just close it.
I learned my social security number today. It's... hahaha! That was a joke.
Endless Summer by Siria is totally da bomb. Techno music is, by definition, the best thing ever.
Orange, friends, is the best color ever.
I like Modest Mouse.
I'm done writing random things.
Sing, ladies. It's good for you.

Death

My Grandma, Irene Viola Bernhoft, died at 9:25 last night.
Please pray for her soul. Also pray for Grandpa Otto, because he's 92 and he's been out of his mind for a year or so now. And pray for my Dad, Uncle Frank, and Auntie Ruthie. This is going to be really hard on them all. Grandma was an amazing person, and we all loved her so much. So please pray for her.
Thank you.
Love,
Sheila

Her funeral is on Monday, so we're all flying out tomorrow for it. I've never been to the funeral of someone I really loved. I just wanted you all to know that we are sincerely grateful for all your prayers. Thank you so much, guys. I'm praying for all of you too.

Froggie went a-courting

Sheila went a-Washingtoning... or will have, by the end of July. Not sure what the exact dates are yet, but it'll probably be the 10th to the 17th of July. So that'll mean I'll be up for YFL, Emma's birthday, and probably a few other things. Rabs'll be coming with me, so get ready for some minor Bernhoft invasion.
That's about all of my life that's worth yakking about. Why is it that yak means so many things? ("Yaks Milk! If you pick the hairs out, it's really quite nutritious.") I didn't do anything fun this weekend, because all my friends and Deirdre were gone. So I just made money, chilled with Iain and Tristan, cooked, cleaned, did nothing, and messed around in the pool. Mom's friend, Christine, is coming in from England today. I think they already left to pick her up from the airport. And Deirdre and Frannie get home today, so I'll have some friends back, at least. Yay!
Well, stay cool, and no one die until (at least) the end of July. I'm such a poet.
Besame Mucho!

King snakes and death

"Sheila, is that a real snake?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!"

What would you do if you were just sitting on your patio and a king snake basically ate you? I hate snakes. There are few things I really hate about California, but snakes, freaky insects, (especially crickets-ugh!), coyotes, and ticks are actually at the top of the list. Lots of hate in my life for those things.
My hate for them equals my love for all you.

PS. Happy 50th post!
PS2. Go onto everyone's random questions. They're pretty awesome a lot of times.

My baby brother...

IS:
•way too cute
•almost as tall as I am
•totally awesome
•a teenager!


Happy Birthday, Baby. I can't believe you're 13!!!! How absolutely 110% the freakiest thing ever. I think I'm going to die, or at least faint, or have a seizure, or a heart attack, or something bad. Oh well, I hope you have a fun time being a teenager, and that you don't do anything I wouldn't do. And probably don't do a whole lot of things I would do, too. I wish you way hot, Rabs. "Are those space pants you're wearing?"...

Because You Guys Don't Want to Hear about Stomach Flu...

Here are some fun pictures from around my Confirmation

I can't get stupid blogger to do what I want it to, so just figure the pictures out.
First: Me and my friend George tangoing.
Second: Me and Patrick
Third: Deirdre and Sean, both looking absolutely horrible.
Fourth: Me and Emma making up for Sean and Deirdre's bad looks
And last: Rabs and Ems doubly making up for them... Wull, maybe Rabic isn't, but it's still cute, right?












Enjoi!

the life of an annoyed musician

i should write a poem, but for now, i'll just let you all know what's going on with my wrist, because i've hinted at it to many of you, and probaly half of you have no clue what she did this time.
she is me.
anyway, basically, i've been practicing two to four hours a day for a month+, and all i have to show for it is this stupid wrist bandage. i got tendonitis or carpal tunnel or something along those lines from over use. yeah, it's totally lame. and it means i can't practice, which is the annoyed part. i could use more, umm, colorful words to describe the way i feel about this, but i'll spare you and the obsenity portion of your brain.
you're all probably thinking, 'hey wait, doesn't she have a concert coming up in which she's playing the bruch romanze with the orchestra? and isn't this something she's been dreaming about since before she started playing that piece? and won't this totally screw her up?' the answer to all this is yes. my concert's in 13 days. if i'm not better by then, it'll probably end in tears, blood and juvi. i'll still play, duh, but it would be oh so nice if i'm better by then. so please send some serious prayers up to mr. confirmation saint, st. anthony, and ask him to find some sort of nice way for sheila to be better way before her concert. she's not happy about the whole not playing thing. so there.
enjoy doing things you love guys. you never know when you won't be able to anymore...
peace, love and ojai.
p.s. history of lovers by iron & wine is a great song. cool horn part.

untitled

Wow, heat is a marvellous thing. It's like 76º, (oh wait, never mind. It's 85...) right now, and 7 o'clock. Booyah! Summah, baby! Okay, seriously, though, I really do love it. Except when I accidentally wear dark blue jeans and a black shirt... Wayy too hot.
It's The Ojai Tennis Tournament this weekend. Pretty cool stuff, because it's one of the biggest tournaments in the states, and one of the longest. 107 years. Billy Jean King won it one year, on the courts I play on every couple of days. So weird. Anyway, it's cool. Frannie and I saw the end of a UDub vs. UCLA match, and I was rooting for UDub. She rooted for UCLA, which TOTALLY LOST!!!!!!!! *achem* I'm pretty whoopsiedoo right now. Anyway, I got a little warm running around Ojai, so we went for a swim. I love having my own pool. It's the best thing in the whole world when you get back from a run, covered in sweat, face palpatating from the heat, and jump fully clothed into a coldish swimming pool that you have all to yourself. Wow. Doesn't get much better than that.
I just got into this summer music thing up in Santa Barbara. It's a music camp that goes for two weeks at the beginning of July. I have no idea what I'm going to do about accomodation, but I'm pretty excited about it. I think it'll be fun. I have a sore wrist from practicing too much recently though. Three plus hours a day is totally lame to have a bad wrist about. Ugh. It's annoying me no end. I don't know if it still hurts, because I haven't played yet today. But I'm ashamed to have practiced that little and have a bad wrist. Ugh. My concert's coming up on May 21st. Pretty exciting, if the orchestra ever gets its act together. (just kidding) No, it's really cool to have that piece you know so well coming together with another thirty plus people... Another groovy thing.
I like dancing way too much. I can't wait for freakin' school to get out. That's going to totally ROCK. YEAH! LET'S PARTY!!!!!! WHOOT! Woah, Shills, you're getting ahead of yourself.
To quote Deirdre, "Lots of love to you and the kids!"

More birthdays and MY CONFIRMATION!!!

WHOO!!!!! Happy day after Confirmation, me and co. Anyway, I'm pretty dang proud of us. :) Confirmation rocks! I took St. Anthony, because I desperately need a saint who can help me find stuff, among many, many other reasons. So now I'm Sheila Grace Anthony Bernhoft the first.
And today's Madre's birthday and the Pope's 80th. It's pretty crazy how Pope JPII died on my birthday and how Mom and Pope Benedict XVI have the same birthday... We're just a pretty holy family, I guess. :)
Anyway, I'm really loving being a confirmed Catholic, but just because I am doesn't mean you can stop praying for me... Heh heh. I got this awesome tigereye rosary for confirmation, so I'll make sure to put it to good use for you all.
Go Saint Anthony!