Aquarium Time!

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't written in a while.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Mine was pretty decent. Money around here is still kind of tight, so my mom made Denise and I a deal: A couple of gifts, or a couple of trips to cool places that we normally couldn't afford to go to. She didn't specify the cool places, but I trusted her judgement, and took the trips option! Denise really wanted a couple of games for her xBox, so it was just me and my mom. It was nice having a little alone time with her; she's been spending a lot of time trying to help Denise adjust to living with us. It's been pretty hard on all of us.

But anyway, I bet you're wondering where we ended up:

The aquarium! Mom said she was sorry we didn't get to take our yearly adventure to the beach, and promised to make it up to me next year. We always go to the aquarium down there, so Mom found us one to come to here!


I love fish and marine life, and it was neat to explore a new place. I really liked this turtle, he kept swimming over and trying to bump me through the glass.


This is a tidal pool. It had lots of really pretty little blue fish in it, and on top of the rocks on the other side, it had an iguana (I think... I forgot what the sign said)!

Whatever he is, isn't he massive? My mom asked if I'd like one for a pet, and I said no way! I'll stick with the fish!

More fish! I really like these little guys; I'd like to get some for our aquarium at home!

After we got done in the main building, we headed for stingray bay!


The stingrays are so cool! They swim right up to the top of the tank, and the aquarium lets you pet them. I love exhibits like that, I got to pet two!

Mom and I had a great day, and I can't wait to see what else she has in store for me!

A note from Syd

I just want to interrupt Edie's babbling for a quick note: Edie's human's friend and her daughter are only characters that I've created for Edie's world. I've been wanting to give Edie a 'sister' for a while, and I didn't want her to just appear out of thin air with no explanation, hence the creation of Denise and her mother.

While I am admittedly the human in Edie's life right now, I'm trying really hard to get away from that, because I've recently realized that only using my experiences has really limited Edie's character development. I'm working on getting away from her even having a human and writing her as an actual kid, but it's taking me some time to wrap my brain around that concept, for whatever reason.

I'm very sorry for any and all confusion!!

Big Changes!

I'm really scared and nervous right now... I think there are some big changes headed my way, and I don't know what to think about it all.

My human has a really good friend that she met when she was in art school, Kendall. She doesn't see her very often, because Kendall moved to Tulsa right after graduation, but they talk on the phone and email a lot. Kendall has a daughter named Denise who is my age, but I've never met her.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago, the human got a phone call from the Tulsa police station, and they told her that there had been a fire at her Kendall's house.
The fire was too bad for the firefighters to get into the house, and Kendall... didn't make it.
The human has been so upset about it all, and I can't blame her. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Ivy or Avalanche.

But here's where the changes come in: Denise has a dog named Jip, and he was sleeping in the room with her. Apparently, he smelled the smoke and started barking, so she woke up. She threw her desk chair through a window and she and Jip climbed out that way because the smoke was too thick to leave any other way.
Denise doesn't have any family but an elderly aunt in North Carolina, and the human said that Kendall had gotten a will drawn up only a few months ago and wanted Denise to come live with us if something ever happened to her. The human left yesterday to go get her and help Kendall's friends in Tulsa arrange a memorial service.

Denise lost everything in the fire except Jip, and I don't really know what to say to her. I want to help her and be her friend when she gets here, but I don't totally know how.
The human mentioned a long time ago that Denise likes American Girl dolls like I do, so I decided to give her my new Marie-Grace.
Only now I feel really silly because she lost her mom and her whole life, and all I can think to do is give her a doll? But I don't know what else I can do.

Has anyone else been in this situation? I want to ask the human for advice, but she isn't here.

To the Park we go!

I really haven't had a chance to do anything fun lately. The human has been busy with her job, and hasn't had time for us to go anywhere exciting.
But, she did take me, Ivy and Avalanche to the park a few evenings ago!

I brought my rollerblades to play with, and offered to loan Ivy and Avalanche my skateboard and bike so they could have wheels, too, but they decided they'd rather walk and take pictures of me falling on my butt so they could post them all over the internet. Some friends, right?

Fortunately, that didn't happen, but it has been a long time since I've gotten to skate and I was really rusty, so I had to hold on to the bridge for a while while I got used to them.

I finally got the hang of it, and started skating circles around everyone. They said I was being obnoxious, so I finally took them off and put on my sneakers.

Even though I really love skating, I decided it would be better if the human and I came back by ourselves so I wouldn't annoy anyone.

Even though it was around 7 in the evening, it was still really hot outside. We didn't want to walk very far. We mostly stayed on the bridge and watched the water underneath it.
It was a lot different that streams in the country, though. Out there, if there's junk at the bottom it's usually a random tractor part or an old fence post. Here, the bottom of the stream had hubcaps and an old shopping cart that Avalanche wanted to take home. She got upset when the human wouldn't let her.

Finally, we got tired of the water, and walked a little ways up the path, where we found the perfect climbing tree!
We spent the rest of our time at the park climbing on it.

We definitely don't have those where I used to live (all of our trees at home were too scrawny, or thorny), and that was totally awesome! I discovered I really like climbing trees!

I just wished I'd brought Rocket. He would have loved the park.

New friends

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.
I have some cool updates! My human knew how lonely I was, so she sent me to a day camp near our apartment for a week!
At first, I didn't want to go, but the human forced me out the door because she'd already paid for me to go. It turned out to be a ton of fun, I got to do a ton of neat crafts, go swimming, and most importantly, meet some new friends! I really clicked with two girls in particular, Ivy and Avalanche.

Avalanche just moved here too, from Africa! She even lives in the same apartment complex that I do. Her dad is an archaeologist, and he's working on a dig there. Avalanche had to move here with her mom because her grandfather is really sick and her mom needed to be closer to him.
Her mom sent her to the camp to meet new people, too. She hates it here and she's kind of strange, but in an awesome sort of way.
She taught me and Ivy how to pitch a tent and start a campfire at camp without any matches or lighter fluid. It rocked, but we got into trouble because campfires weren't actually allowed.

Ivy is way different from Avalanche. She doesn't live that far from me and Avalanche, but her family is a lot wealthier than mine and Avalanche's. She goes to a fancy private school and lives in a big house a few blocks away from us. She says she actually does her homework and turns it in on time, mostly because her moms are pushing her to be either a doctor or a lawyer when she grows up and she needs to have great grades to get into a good school. It makes sense, I guess... one of her moms is a doctor, and the other is a lawyer, but Ivy says she's not really interested in either career and gets tired of having to work so hard at her school work. She doesn't want to disappoint her family, though.

We were all sorry to see camp end, but the three of us get together a lot now. The human let Avalanche pitch a tent in our living room as long as she promised not to start any fires, and we stayed up late, talking, playing games and telling ghost stories. I'm really bad at making up ghost stories, but Avalanche is brilliant at it. I don't think Ivy and I slept a wink!

All right, it's getting late and I need to get off the computer.
Has anyone else been to camp and made some awesome friends?

Rocket

My new puppy finally has a name! After a couple of (good-natured) arguments with the human and going through what seemed like a hundred different choices, we finally decided on Rocket. I still like Arrow for a name, but the Human says maybe we can get another puppy and use that name later down the line.

Rocket seems to suit him. He's really energetic, and likes to run around the apartment. There's a park right across the street, and we've spent a lot of time there while the Human is at work.

All right, I'm off to bed!

A Big Surprise!

I’m so excited today! My human came home from work yesterday and brought a surprise for me, a new dog!

I’ve been so depressed ever since we moved here, because I had to leave my dog behind. The human said we couldn’t bring him with us because he was too old and too used to the country; he’d be miserable in the city, so he stayed with her parents. They love him and take great care of him, but I still miss him a lot.

But now I have a new dog to get to know and love! We haven’t decided what to name the little guy yet. The human rescued him from the shelter, and they called him Barksee on all the paperwork, but I don’t like that for him at all. He doesn’t come to it, either, so we don’t feel too bad about changing it.
I kind of like Arrow for him but the human says I should think it over for a day or two.
What do you think we should name him? I’m open to suggestions!

Having a dog in an apartment is a lot different that having one at home. I have to walk him a lot now, we don’t have a yard to let him run around in. I had to promise the human that I’d be responsible and look after him.
It’s a lot of work, but I’m sure I can do it!

A new Introduction

All right, let’s get one thing settled first off:

My name is Edie, and I am a doll.

Yup, you read that right. I said doll. I’ve got tough vinyl limbs, a canvas-y body, and I’m filled with fluffy stuffing. I’m not alone in my doll-ness, either. There are about 20 of us here, but I’m the only one in the house lucky enough to have my own bedroom and my own computer time.

Don’t let the doll thing fool you though. I act like a normal kid most of the time. Sure, I take the occasional hit off my doll-sized bottle of Jack Daniels (medicinal purposes only, I swear!), but I also have to go to school and keep my room clean.

Here’s a picture of me in my new room:

I used to have a desk and a chair, too, but I recently moved to this new apartment with my human. I got to bring my bed, clothes, my American Girl doll collection and all my books, but the rest of my toys and furniture are still packed away. I'm using that big box as a temporary nightstand/bench for now.
I really want to put up some posters, and maybe find a way to display my squished pennies (I mostly pick them up at tourist attractions) but I haven’t had a chance to get any yet. My bed only just arrived out of storage, and I’m still getting settled!

The other dolls in the house are really jealous of me and my bedroom, even though it’s our human who did it, not me. They don’t like to talk to me much, so my only friend in the house besides the human is a stuffed bunny named Stanley.

Here's a pic I took of him yesterday:

He’s a boy bunny, but he likes to dress up a lot. He wears boy clothes, too, but his favorite outfit is a ballerina dress, and he says he wants to be a dancer when he grows up.

Stanley really drives me nuts. He doesn’t really have a bedroom of his own, since he hangs out on the human’s bed a lot, but when she’s at work and I’m at school, he likes to hang out in MY room. He’s always taking naps in my bed and uses my computer to play BunnyVille on his Rabbitbook page.

Still, I guess I shouldn’t be so grumpy about him… He is kind of my only friend here.

I’m hoping to meet some new kids at school, but it let out for the summer yesterday. The human said it wasn’t worth it for me to go for just a few weeks, so I have to wait until the fall to go. I’m really nervous about it, I’ve only ever been homeschooled.

Me and Stanley:

Small Update

Just a quick update from Syd, Edie's human.

I decided I really don't like writing for Edie as if she was a real, human kid, so I'm changing things up.
And I apologize for not updating often. I have lots of ideas for her, but not much time and no internet at the apartment still, so getting her posts up takes some doing. :(

Hopefully, it'll get easier.

Movie Theatres!

My parents both had to work all day Saturday, and my grandparents came to stay with us while they were gone.
My brother doesn't care, but my sister and I are always trying to tell them we're old enough to stay by ourselves. My grandma said she knew that, and they were just coming to take us to do something fun, not babysit. I don't really believe her, but we got to go to the movies, which is a pretty rare treat for us these days.

The movie theatre we went to was pretty crazy, I've never seen anything like it. Instead of rows of seats, there were rows of seats and tables, and the theatre had a restaurant inside of it. Grams and Gramps actually got dinner there, but I just wanted candy and popcorn.

Life in our new place is getting a little easier. Most of our things are still in storage, but my mom is hoping to get it out for us soon.
My sister and I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor in our room ever since we moved. It was fun at first, since it was a lot like camping out and that's always been one of our favorite activities, but now we're ready to have our beds back!

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi there!
Welcome to my new blog! My name is Edie Hasting, and I decided to start writing things down thanks to some recent changes in my life. My mom said having a creative outlet to vent might be good for me, and I might meet some new friends this way, so here I am.

So a little about me, and why I'm here. I'm ten, almost eleven, I have a sister and a brother, and I was born in a little bitty town in the middle of nowhere, in Texas.
I had a dog, my own pony, and I was surrounded by wide open spaces and a beautiful blue sky. I really loved it, and didn't think it would ever change. But I was wrong about that... the bad economy really effected my parents, and they couldn't make enough money to support us anymore. My mom got offered a job in the big city of Dallas, and here we are.
They sold our house and we moved into an apartment here in the city. I'm not used to it at all, and I don't think I like it much. Mom says I'll get used to it eventually, and it'll be better when I make new friends, but it's been really hard.

I think the thing that has been the hardest to get used to is all the noise here. At home, all the planes were tiny, they were so high in the sky! But here, we live next to an airport, and they're landing and taking off constantly. It's pretty loud.
The car noises aren't exactly quiet, either.

Almost all of my furniture and a lot of my toys are in storage, and I really miss my dog. His name is Arrow, and he had to go live with my grandparents when we moved. Mom promised that it wouldn't be forever, and that we'd bring him here when we could, but we can't afford the pet deposit at our apartment yet.

Ok, ok, I have to quit whining about it, or else you'll all think I totally hate it here. Which is only partly true. The good thing about it all is we have a pool to swim in!
I'm really excited about that one.
We also found a neat park that has a bunch of rocks that are perfect for climbing. I had a lot of fun doing that!


All right, I have to get off the internet now, my sister needs to use the computer. Before I go, has anyone else had major changes like this? Any tips on making my new home more welcome?