Journal Entry in Three Voices 7-22-04

Humor, Travel, Writing,

Backstory: For some reason Clare, Andrew and I drove to Illinois from Bethesda in July of 2004. Actually, this may have been when we went for Clare’s 13th birthday where she got her ears pierced. Dean must have gone to South Africa.

We drove halfway to Illinois the first day, stopping in Fremont/Port Clinton Ohio. I don’t recall if I’d planned on having us all keep a journal of our travels or if the events of the day made me want to keep a record of them.

The entries are written on Holiday Inn stationery. I wrote my entry first:

7-22-04

Left home at 11:10 this morning. Had hoped to get an earlier start but no luck. Kids were fine — great first few hours then they began watching LOTR-FOTR. Stopped in good old Breezewood for lunch and gas. Bought too much icky food.

Arrived at Motel in Fremont, Ohio around 7:30. Checked in. Kids wanted to stay in the car.

When I got back Clare was doing something to Andrew’s back. I jokingly asked Clare what she did to Andrew. Then I saw that he had the seat belt all tangled up and around his belly. I helped him escape but was on the verge of calling 911 to get him cut out of the seat belt. He finally did a backwards somersault and slipped free. Dinner was good. Kids watching TV now.

Dona

Andrew went next:

72204

We left a lot later than I wanted but we had TV. We ate lunch at a fine place. Then I had to go to the bathroom really really bad. Then we went to a place we went to last time. Then stuff happened and then… I got stuck in my seat belt and I got to do 2 somersaults. It was weird.

Clare was last:

Today was funny… Halloween woke me up. Awwww. Mom was mad. Dad left blah blah. Ok later, Andrew got stuck in the seat belt umm, I have no clue how. He had to do a backwards somersault errr…

Dinner was odd… umm Mom probably told you, a cute kid (adorable) waved. He was 2, then a thunder storm came. I went to our room and am watching TV now.

The seat belt disappeared in his tummy. GTG.

~*Clare*~

Old Writing: Part 29::How Doth the Little Termite?

Series, Writing

I don’t remember this — but I noticed that I didn’t finish. I only wrote one stanza and that stanza was pretty lame.

How doth the little termite
improve his appetite
by eating wood and nothing else
O that fussy termite.

(the assignment is below in mimeograph color)

Against Idleness and Mischief — An Excerpt

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.

How skilfully she builds her cell.
How neat she spreads the wax
And labors hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

Assignment: Using Mr. Watts’ poem as a model, make substitutions of the underlined (bolded) words with your own. Try to be as clever, original and as interesting as you can be. YES, you may change any of the other words to suit your idea. Keep the same rhythm if you do decide to change the original plan. YES, you may leave some of the underlined (bolded) words. Be imaginative!

Old Writing: Part 28::Sibling Rivalry??

Series, Writing, , ,

I have very little memory of writing this, but I remember reading it. I was a weird teenager.

May 1, 1973

“Sibling Rivalry”

“But mother, I want one too! You can’t give a doll to Heather without giving one to me, you know that!” cried ten-year-old Megan.

“Oh Megan, stop being difficult. You are making a scene. Grandma gave you a new nightgown last week, and this is Heather’s eighth birthday,” whispered Mrs. McLaughlin impatiently.

“If you give Heather a present without giving me one I will tell her what it is!” warned the near hysterical child.

“Oh Megan, whatever shall I do with you?” said Mrs. McLaughlin, turning back towards the toy department. “All right, pick out something under five dollars.”

With an almost satisfied gleam in her eye, and a sinister smirk on her face, Megan eyed the toys with exasperation. “But Mama dear, whatever can I find for under five dollars? Besides, Heather’s doll cost fifteen dollars!”

“Oh well, how about a party dress? You can wear it at Heather’s party.” angry that she couldn’t keep her own child under control, and defeated, afraid of what Megan could do if she didn’t give in, Mrs. McLaughlin gave in.

“All right, if it will make you happy I will get an old dress — but only if it costs more than Heather’s china doll!”

“We’ll see, honey, but now let’s pick out a dress for you.” She then led a satisfied little girl to find a dress.

“Oh Mama! What a beautiful doll, I shall call her Amy,” cried the joyous Heather at her eighth birthday party while Megan looked on in her new dress with envy.

“The doll is okay, but look at my dress everyone, it cost twenty-two dollars. Heather’s doll only cost fifteen! Heather never had a dress as pretty as this one, Mama even said so!” said Megan, distracting attention from Heather’s many gifts.

“Shh, Megan, this is Heather’s party.” whispered Heather and Megan’s mother.

“Shut-up! I hate you! I never get any presents. I hate you all!”

“Megan! I am sorry, kids. Megan is just tired from shopping today. You just on on with your party,” said Mrs. McLaughlin, running after her hysterical child.

Later…

“Megan, do you want this top that Kim gave me? Or this Barbie doll from Sandy? Please don’t be angry with me,” pleaded Heather.

“I’m not mad,” said Megan, picking up Heather’s new china doll and looking at it with an odd smile, “but I would like this!”

“Oh, no, Megan, please, not that. Mama gave it to me and I want to keep it. You can have anything else though,” said Heather in tears.

“No! I want this, it is mine anyway. A nice rich man gave it to me and Mother gave it to you because she hates to spend money on you, only me!” lied Megan.

“You are lying, Megan. Go out of my room, you can’t have anything!” screamed Heather.

“Oh yeah” Well how about this?” screamed Megan, throwing the fragile china doll to the floor. “So there, I wouldn’t want that old doll anyway, now!” Megan ran out the door slamming it behind her.

“Oh Amy, Amy, don’t die, don’t be broken please.” sobbed the heartbroken Heather, picking up the shattered doll and rocking back and forth as if trying to comfort the doll — only getting the comfort from the “dead” doll instead. ” Oh, Amy, Amy…”