But I am not shaken: I am eight years old.

My hands are ridiculously cold. They always are, and I always feel bad for people who are next to me when a prayer is about to be said, because I know that my problem is about to become their problem. It's all very sad.

I'm also ridiculously tired. I went to bed at a good time last night (about 11:30 or 12, I think), but then I woke up at 3 AM and slept on and off until 6, at which time I trudged to the shower. I had to give my persuasive speech in class today, and even though I was well-prepared I still felt anxious about it before-hand. I don't know what it is about giving speeches, but it's terrifying. Anyway. So I was nervous about that, and I'd also had about a billion cups of coffee to get me through math homework last night... so when I woke up at 3 AM with my heart beating really fast, and when I saw my cheery Christmas lights around my window, I decided that it must be Christmas Eve. I then got very excited and that charitable holiday spirit settled into me as I lay there. I briefly wondered if the stockings were filled yet. Then suddenly I realized that no; it's not Christmas. It's finals week. It was the saddest realization I could have possibly had.

Anyway. Despite being sleep-deprived, today's been pretty good. As I said, I gave my speech and it went really well. I got an A, anyway. I did it on anti-texting; well, technically, I said that we should value personal communication more highly than texting. But that was just so they wouldn't throw things at me. I am, in fact, highly anti-text.

I then came home, lounged around for a bit, then smeared my face with grease paint and headed to the government center. They do services on memorial days, and as today was the Pearl Harbor Remembrance day, the mime team went and did our two patriotic songs. That went well, too, and it was doubly happy since my Mom got to come and so did Amelia and her family. I like it when people come to support, it's nice. I do get nervous doing those songs in front of veterans, however, especially when I'm holding the flag. I'm always afraid that I'll drop the flag and then someone will shoot me. They probably have snipers on the roof specifically for people who drop flags: even if they're poor defenseless mimes like me. Well, anyway, it hasn't happened yet. So that's good.

I'm so bored. It's 8:30 and I honestly feel like I could go to bed right now, but that would be lame. The only other option, then, is to stay awake. But, stay awake doing what? C'est le question. I'm not feeling mightily creative... in fact I'm feeling mightily zombie-esque. AGH, speaking of zombies, our last speech class is scheduled for 8 AM. This makes me angry. The trees on the way to school are beautiful these days, though, which is a nice thing to see early in the morning. I don't remember really being able to see autumn colors in this part of the state, in the years past... but I've been noticing a lot of red lately. It's lovely.

This week is going to be insane. We have like 7 mime performances, and I've got my two hardest finals coming up (Monday and Wednesday). By the time I'm done with school on the 15th, I'll have 10 days to do Christmas shopping. Oh my gosh. 10 days. That actually just occurred to me for the first time. SHOOT. I need money.

But when I say that this week will be "insane", you who know me and my psychotic tendencies shouldn't be worried about my well-being. Finals aren't getting me down. I'm too close now to let anything get me down. A little sleep, a lot of coffee, a clear head, and lots of grace. That's all I need these days.