Inv'ation Req'd

Oh my gosh! I just had an amazing insight into the inner workings of the English language! How come people use abbreviations, like "req'd" for "required", but don't pronounce it that way, and instead say it out the long way? For example, for the word req'd, you'd say rek-ED, or just REKT. And we could have more of them, for investigate, you could have inv'ate said in-VATE. It doesn't make sense to me. Why not just give your mouth a rest and shorten it?

Summertime is Here!

School's out! It ended on Friday. I've been having a TON of fun. I'm going to the pool this evening with Dad. I signed up for the summer reading program this summer. I don't need it, of course, but I did anyway. The library can use it. I'm just in it for the prizes. I just put a batch of popsicles in the freezer. Allie's at the door. She wants to know if I can go to the park. I'm going to say yes.

Crazy Afternoon

Now, here is something interesting. Today, Dad is making dinner, for some reason. He says there's a recipe he wanted to try. Well, he asked me for some help on slicing cucumbers. He had brought home 3 big cucumbers. I have to leave- "Where's the mixing bowl?" he says.

That was Dad, and I had to show him where the mixing bowl was. Then he asked me where the dried mint was, and I told him that we didn't have any. He leaned his head against the cupboard door as if wondering what to do. He was saying "Dang, dang, dang," when I alerted him to the fact that we have fresh mint growing outside. Oh no- I just heard a crash!

The crash was Mary, breaking through the fence. It had a slight weak spot and when Mary saw a delicious bunch of plant outside the gate, she smashed through the fence. Muriel, her kid, didn't know what was happening and bleated for her mother to come back. About that time I raced outside. When I saw what happened, I grabbed the stake and chain I use for renting out goat time, and tried to grab Mary, but she was clipping along and I couldn't catch her until I was halfway into the street. I staked her to the ground, and Dad got Muriel. Well, at least it's quiet now. Oh great- someone's at the door.

Well, DAD answered it, because he got to the door faster than I could. It was two Mormons out with pamphlets, and when Dad got to the door, he innocently said "Oh! You guys! Can I have another one of those Watchtowers? The last one was really interesting!" Well, they didn't have any Watchtowers, because they were Mormons, not Jehovah's Witness. When they told him that, he said, "Oh. Oh well." kind of disappointed-like. When we got back to the kitchen, he said to me "Is my mask showing?" He was teasing! My dad is such a goofball. Oh no-- I heard a "AKKK!!" from the kitchen.

That was nothing much. Dad was squeezing a lemon, and he forgot about a cut on his hand. I think Dad wants some help with dinner now.

After dinner: I don't think I'll have as much fun ever again as I've had today. Dinner wasn't that bad. It was cucumbers in vinegar dressing, along with deli ham cooked in a skillet. There was also biscuits with stuff like lemon frosting in the middle. Not bad.

Mom's Ideas for My Summer

School is almost out, and Mom has big ideas for me this summer. Today, she asked me all about what I wanted to do this summer. This morning: "How would you like to go to swim classes this summer?" My answer: "I'd like that."(I was distracted with brushing Grizabela.) Lunch: "Do you think you would like to go to volleyball camp this summer?" My answer: "Sure, Mom." An hour ago: "There's acting camp this summer." My answer: "That'd be fun." Ten minutes ago: "I wonder if we could get a music teacher for you this summer." My answer: "I think I can manage with you helping me with the piano." (Mom is a piano teacher.) Just now: "The summer reading program at the library is starting next week. It looks fun. The theme is 'Travel the World-- Read!'." My reply: "Does it have good prizes?" As you can see, there's a lot of stuff Mom wants me to do this summer.

Running Poem

Yeah, yeah, whatever, whatever. So what if I haven't posted anything in a while? Well, now I'm twelve. And today an interesting thing happened. I will now proclaim in verse. I was contemplating writing it in Latin for a while, but I don't know how to say half the words. Well, here it is.

They called me skinny

They called me tall

They called me a bag of bones but that's not all,

They said that I was stupid

They said that I was ugly

But here it is and I'll be lucid-

They challenged me to a race

They thought they'd win- they laughed!

They thought they could make a fool of me

With their deceitful craft!

But I said "You don't know what you're up to,

I can run real fast too,"

They said "The race starts on my mark,"

With a nasty snark.

"Go!" it was yelled; we both started to run.

But I wouldn't give up; at me they would not poke fun.

Running, running, faster and faster!

My feet pounding

Faster and Faster!

I passed the finish line

I won!

Please leave your comments below.

I have the bad verse

Got the stuff for the clubhouse! It looks great. I've been very busy with school and memorizing a verse of "We Three Kings" for the Christmas pageant. I'm a king. Sadly,

"Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume,

breaths a life of gathering doom."

Each of the three kings sings a verse by themselves. We sing the chorus and the first and last verses together. And I got stuck with the weird verse: "sealed in the stone cold tomb." Very cheerful, isn't it?

In fact, that verse is so cheerful, last Saturday, when our family went caroling to shut-ins with the choir, before we started singing "We Three Kings" the choir director said "Let's not sing verse four." Duh. What kind of person wants to hear about "crying, weeping, dying, bleeding, sealed in the stone cold tomb." Not shut-ins, that's for sure.

Sorry. Posted late.

I know. I've been neglecting my blog. But this November, I wrote a NOVEL. Five thousand words. One month.

I also have had to type up important documents on Mom's old typewriter for my club. We've been making hats and scarfs for sale out of fleece. We sell candy canes along with them. The club needs the money to keep the clubhouse fixed up. A recent winter addition is thick woven mats over the window to keep the cold out. We want to buy a better rug. Right now we have some old towels on the floor. We've woven, knitted, and crocheted enough mats to hang on the walls. There's a board across two wooden crates for a desk. Sophie warms up a few corn bags, and it's a cozy little room. We have a battery-powered lamp. We have a binder and a lock box. The list of things to buy:

- a better rug

- a bulletin board

- coat hooks to hang on the walls

- a wastebasket

Cost: $20 (we think- we can get some items from the dollar store).

We hope we'll have enough by the Saturday after this one. Those things will make the clubhouse look much nicer.