Turning a Week's Worth of Sap into Sweet Maple Syrup

Before: TREE SAP

I have family in Montreal, Canada. We took a trip there a couple of Christmases ago. It was a great trip; we had lots of fun with family and snow--one of the best Christmases I've had so far. Anyway, they have a lot of maple trees there, and we brought home some dried maple leaves (I know!) with us. But I was a bit disappointed when we didn't get to see how maple syrup was made. Years before we went on the trip, I had seen a home video of my cousins, aunts and uncles at some maple-syrup-making place, looking at the spigots that brought forth the sticky sap from the maple trees' trunks. And that's about as close as I ever got to witnessing the transformation of icky tree sap into the glorious maple syrup you pour over your hot pancakes for Sunday brunch.


Why am I talking about this? Well, let me rewind: This past week was a pretty bad week. Actually, that's an understatement. I'm sure I'm not the only who one thinks this: this whole week, despite the fact that it was Extended Schedule week, SUCKED. It was TERRIBLE. We had lots of happiness-sucking dementors floating around with no way to Expecto Patronum ourselves out, my classes aren't looking up, and there seems to be more drama every day (Oh the drama...). As a result, I became a huge sapper.


Kendall and I learned something very important back in our Leadership Class days and we've tried to implement this in our lives ever since. That something is called Zapping. Zapping is the action of always having a positive attitude and bringing high energy to those around you. If you are a Zapper, people always want to be around you because of your super awesome vibes. But what's the opposite of Zapping? The answer is Sapping. A Sapper has a terrible attitude and a negative perspective about most things. If you are a Sapper, you always bring others down and are, basically, a suckish person.

After: MAPLE SYRUP

So this past week not only sucked, but it also sapped pretty hard. And the negative energy just infected everyone, maybe mostly me. And misery loves company, so I'm sure (and so sorry!) that I also sapped the energy out of the others around me. 


So, this weekend, I resolve to make maple syrup. NO MORE SAPPING. NO MORE NEGATIVE ENERGY. NO MORE BAD JUJU. I was set on making Senior Year my best year at 'Iolani yet, and it's still early, we've got lots of time and opportunities to make it so. So it's time to transform the icky sticky tree sap into smooth and sweet maple syrup. Next week, I'm sure, will be sweet.


Today......
I really loved...Doctor Who!!!
I smiled...because of my Mom's math-nerdiness. She couldn't sleep last night because of some math problems. So she stayed up until she solved them all....ohhh, Mom, I love you.
Lyrics playing at this very moment as I type this portion of the blog:
"...forever will be. Run, baby, run. Don't ever look back. They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance..."
(Check Yes Juliet by We the Kings)
Hours of sleep last night: I fell asleep watching a movie that I now think wasn't worth it at all...anyway, I slept for a total of 9 hours. Those were glorious 9 hours.
Hugs: 5 (Daddy came home today!)
Risks taken: 5 (A total of 2 just this week! The first ended with a huge blah, and Kendall expressed his appreciation for the second one, so that was better than the first...)


P.S. Why did this week suck so much? Check out my short post over at Dance...