A Little About Me

1. A Little About Me Index: Slide 2: An Introduction to Me Slide 3: Family Information Slide 4: Family Information Continued Slide 5: Enjoyable Interests Slide 6: Best Friend Slide 7: My Dog Slide 8: Goals for Life

2. An Introduction to Me Hi!!!!! My name’s Madeleine Washington. That picture on the right is my best friend, Heather, and I (I’m the one on the right). I’m fifteen years old and in my first year of high school – grade ten. I’m very short (just over 5 feet), have a ton of cousins, don’t snore when I’m sleeping, dislike seafood, and live with my very big family in the south east end of Calgary, Alberta. This slide presentation will give you information on my life, my family, my hobbies and interests, and the goals I have for life. Enjoy!

3. Family Information My very large family consists of 10 people. My dad, mom, grandma, and 6 younger brothers. Although I do have an older sister, Jessie, she doesn’t live with us. She lives in Victoria with her mom (she’s my dad’s daughter). She’s 19, graduated about a year and a half ago (the picture in the middle was taken at her grad), and I love her to bits. My little brothers, Levi, Caleb, Joel, Jacob, Benjamin, and Malachi, (ages 13, 12, 10, 8, 6, and 3 respectively) are quite a handful; although that term really only applies to Malachi, the youngest. Many people ask me how I can cope with being the only girl in my family. The truth is, I don’t know any different. I’ve lived with them all my life and although my brothers are a handful and can be annoying at times, I love them. My whole family is wonderful and I’m blessed to be with them.

4. Family Information Continued (Because of my big family I decided to cover the information on two slides) At home, our (my family’s) house and our lives are very busy due to my brother’s hockey games and practices, school, piano, basketball, and little kids fighting over each other’s toys. Lucky for us, my grandma lives with us; she’s the glue that holds our family together. Since Mom homeschools all of the boys (except for Levi), Grandma is a HUGE help. She does laundry, cooks dinner, washes dishes and looks after my youngest brother, Malachi, who is always getting into mischief. My family and I are very, very blessed to have her living with us. Anyway, some wonderful news just came… my mom is pregnant again!! The new baby will arrive sometime in August 2004 – very exciting news!!!

5. Enjoyable Interests Music is a very important part of who I am. I have played piano since I was about seven or eight years old. I can’t say it is my most favourite thing to do but, my parents say it is great for my education and that I’m not allowed to quit till I take my grade eight exam. Listening to music is one of my favourite pastimes (although I do not like listening to the piano… especially if I’m the one playing). The genres of music that I really enjoy are rap, hip hop, and r&b. I’m not allowed to own CD’s of any secular bands, but I don’t mind. I really like the Christian bands Mary Mary, Out of Eden, Holy Culture, Trinity 5:7, P.O.D., and Souljahz. Reading, for me, is a very consuming activity. When I read it’s like I’m in a whole different world; I don’t hear or see anything and I won’t stop reading, which, of course, drives my mother crazy. Reading is very important to me; it always has been and I can guarantee you, it always will be. I am a very active person. I love physical activity and pretty much every sport except for baseball and hockey. My personal favourite sport is gymnastics; I love to watch it and I used to compete – I quit, just recently. I was very involved with gymnastics and competed for three years (this would have been my fourth). I loved almost every minute of it. I have been asked many times by many different people why I quit. The answer to that is that I simply lost my joy for training. I felt that this sport wasn’t taking me anywhere and I was starting to feel exhausted and run down from the length and intensity of the of the training (I was training somewhere between 16 to 20 hours a week). I’m feeling much better now that I have quit and I feel that I made the right decision. I would like very much to get right into another sport (preferably track) as I love sports and physical activity. I must admit that electronic devices are a big part of my life. I love playing Playstation, Gamecube, Gameboy, etc. Plus, I love to watch movies, talk on MSN… in short, I like to be on any electronic device in general. It may not be a great habit, but I try to play within a reasonable time limit (except during holidays).

6. Best Friend The pictures on the left are all pictures of my best friend, Heather Bebbington, and I. Our friendship started when we were about seven years old. She was the pastor’s daughter of our church. We met in Sunday school and our personalities simply clicked. We spent a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time together and our friendship blossomed into something very, very special to both of us. We would do everything together; we were inseparable. Unfortunately, because of my dad’s job, my family and I were transferred to different parts of the country. Right now my family lives in Calgary, Alberta while she lives in Bolton, Ontario. It’s been hard not seeing each other but we keep in touch through our letters, e-mails, MSN, and the phone. Also, every summer we spend a few weeks together. We have a blast and I’m very, very, very, very, very, very, very thankful to be able to call her my best friend. She has truly taught me the meaning of friendship.

7. My Dog Dogs are literally a man’s (or a woman’s) best friend. My dog, Otis, is sooooo funny!!! When my family and I play with him we throw the ball and he runs after it like a mad-dog, slipping and sliding on the hardwood floor. Most often he catches the ball but then goes sliding into a wall head-on. Other times I take one of my hair elastics and tie his ears up in a pony tail (sort of); then he flops around the room shaking his head trying desperately to take it off. But the funniest times are when my dad plays with him. Sometimes he’ll get Otis really dizzy by spinning a toy round and round and then Otis walks crooked (right into a wall). Or Otis will be playing tug-of-war and then Dad will lift him off the floor by his teeth and swing him around (Yes, it’s true; my family and I like to abuse the dog :P). But really Otis is a wonderful blessing to me. When I’m sad or upset and need a hug, Otis is right there, trying to lick my tears as I snuggle him. I can hold on to him and tell him secrets without ever worrying if he’ll tell; he’s a wonderful companion. Of course there are times I get annoyed with him – like when I have to clean up his messes, give him his food, brush his teeth, or when he barks incessantly and all that, but although he can be a lot of work, I don’t know what it would be like to live without him. I am truly thankful to have a dog like Otis, my best friend. 

8. Goals for Life I have a couple of short term goals right now: finish my first year of high school (with good grades, hopefully), start coaching gymnastics as a part time job, take my learners exam so I can drive (finally), and work hard at my piano and theory so I can take my grade eight exam and be able to teach. As for long term goals, after I finish high school, I’d like to go to university to study either architecture or interior designing. After I finish university and establish my career I want to get married and have children – not too many though… my family showed me that kids cause chaos.  One of the goals that I am working on right now is changing my negative outlook on life; I’d like to change my negativity and start seeing the good – not just the bad. Another characteristic that I’m working on is my judgmental outlook on people. I find that I’m a judgmental person and often judge people before I get to know them. So as a goal I’d like to reserve judgment until I know a person fairly well; in doing so, this goal might even give me more opportunities to make good friends.