Today made me realize something... I HATE PETSMART. At least the one near us.
One of the first things I planned on doing today was getting down to Petsmart to get the two white mice I would use in my film. I looked it up and saw that they're only about $2 normally. That's fine.

So I drive down there and head over to the small animal section... no mice. They had 2 rats, but no mice. The first thing that bugged me was the lack of employees. I stood at the small animal section for a good 20 minutes before finally asking one of the front clerks if she could send someone to help me. A girl finally comes along and I ask her about the mice. Her reply, "Oh yeah, we've got those. Just not out here." I asked her how much they were... her reply, "The mice? $9 each." My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. They were charging $9 for a little white mouse that most people buy to feed their snakes?! No way. It seemed idiotic to spend $18 on two animals I'd have to let go of anyway.

2nd thing that really pissed me off. After considering it, I thought it'd be a better idea just to get one of the rats. I've wanted a rat for many years now, but my mom despises them. But, I thought "Hey, she'll think I'm being economical. And she did let me have my hamster a few years back..." So after taking another 20 minutes trying to find an employee, I was hit with another jaw dropper. "Are you 18?" Come on. I'm not trying to buy cigarrettes or porn. It's a RAT. Yeah. So unless I had a parent with me to do the paper work... no rat. UGH!

I was fuming after that. Afterwards, we went to the little petstore down the road from us. I'd never been there before, but it was quite nice. The owner was SO sweet, a cute little old woman. She was very helpful and when I asked about the mice, she showed me a cage of smaller white rats instead. They seemed to be a lot easier to handle (the mice were just so teeny!) and would be a lot better on camera. The rats were only $5, and I figured that that was a lot better than $15 at Petsmart, and I told the lady I'd like one. I'd told her beforehand how much I loved them, but couldn't really keep one because of my mom. She smiled, grabbed a rat from the cage and put him in a carrier, telling me, "Here. He's my gift to you. Tell your mother that I thought he was too cute to feed to the snake.

And if she won't let you keep him, you can bring him back." HECK YES! Not only did I get my rat, he was FREE and I could bring him back, which I knew I'd have to do.

When I was through there, Heather and I spent the next few hours in the woods by the lake filming. My little rat (that I named Scabbers) actually bonded quite quickly with me. He happily sat on my arm and my shoulder. My mom, on the otherhand, nearly kicked me out of the house. Damn. No rat for me yet.

As of now, I've just gotten all the base editing done. Tomorrow, I have to finish up shooting a few scenes that need to be redone, finalize the editing, and burn it to a DVD. Almost done!

Oh yeah. Because of time limits, I ended up changing bits of my story to shave off some time. Also, the title is now "meecy mice.", after my favorite nursery rhyme as a kid.

Goodness. I need to get to bed. Another long day tomorrow.

So this is what stress truely feels like? Huh. Interesting.

This week wasn't much but anxiously waiting for today. Today was the day we got our 2 requirements for the 3DayFilm Festival. The object we have to at least have shown in the film is... a roll of toilet paper. Not too hard. But the line of dialogue we have to include... "There aren't any mice in outer space." Talk about an easy way to get writers block.

After about 4 hours of hard thinking, I came up with my screenplay that will be filmed tomorrow. I don't want to give much away, but it's gonna be a spoof movie, like "Scary Movie", except with mostly fairytales. It's called "The Mouse, the Warlock, and the Cupboard." So far, it'll include references to "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Harry Potter", "Alice in Wonderland", "Cinderella", and will poke fun at today's culture. It will also feature my little sister kissing a live mouse, but that's all I'll give away. You'll have to wait and see after Sunday.

I'll more than likely be spending all of tonight writing up the script for it, and will be spending all of tomorrow filming.

Oh the joys of filmmaking. :]

Okay, scratch that. I am very much a procrastinator. I've been like this all my life. Always wanted to keep a daily journal, but could never really make myself write in it every day like I wanted. Eventually, I would just stop all together.

But not tonight. I need to do something to make me sleepy.

A lot has gone on since my last blog. I spent 3 wicked weeks in Philadelphia helping my uncles out with their bed and breakfast. I spent those 3 weeks making beds, scrubbing toilets, cooking, washing dishes, helping clear out an apartment... lots of stuff. But I also got a taste of what it's kinda like to be independent. On days that I had the afternoon/night off, I ventured into the big city. And honestly, I was scared my first time trying to catch the trolley in, a rare thing for me when it comes to something as simple as that. I had money, which was another strange thing, but honestly, I'm one of the most frugal people on earth and I tried to limit my money spent while roaming around the city. A few days, I just walked around Center City, trying to learn how to read the map, visiting little stores, and eating at Hard Rock. One day, I went in and went to a section I'd only been to once, earlier that week.. the "gayborhood" of Philly. Spent about 2 hours Giovanni's Room, the biggest bookstore there, just relaxing and chatting with some of the nicest people you'd meet. A few other days, I went into the bit closer University City, where 2 of my favorite places, The Bridge (a very high end movie theater) and University Pinball (a decent sized, nicely run arcade.), were located. Also, every night I could, I'd bring Oscar, their mini poodle, to the beautiful dog park about a block away from the b&b. It was so nice being up there, just getting to see them again, and having something to fill my days with rather than just vegging out down here. I'm very glad that I went.

As for now, I'm prepping for my senior year of high school and my first little break into the film industry. I'm an entrant in the 3dayfilm festival, a decent sized film contest for students in the 7th-12th grades. You're given 3 days to write, shoot, and edit a less than 5 minute movie with a certain line of dialogue and object. I'm very excited for it. I also was interviewed to be in an article about the festival, which will be a thrill in itself and will look great on my resume.

I just finished Breaking Dawn about 15 minutes ago. Yes, I read 754 pages in less than 3 days. I'm very happy with it, and am okay with letting it go, like I was with Harry Potter. But right now, I can feel my reading buzz start to burn off and exhaustion beginning to take over. So as for right now, I believe I'll say goodnight.

"Don't be afraid," I murmured. "We belong together."

"Forever," he agreed.

- Breaking Dawn.