A Missed Opportunity – Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Alex has spent the past week reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books nonstop – some of them more than once; he is now nearly finished with the latest book, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days". I just found out that the author, Jeff Kinney, is on the release tour for this book, and was at a Powell's in Beaverton on Monday evening! He has a full-time job and does not tour much; this was a whirlwind trip down the West Coast with only about 5 stops, then he goes home. I can't believe we missed this opportunity! I'm sure it would have been a madhouse, with a LONG line, but I wish I would have known about this.

Alex is treating these books with extra care, and has given them a shelf of their own – taking care that they are always placed neatly and in the correct order. He would have LOVED to have them signed!

Also, I really like the idea of him meeting an author to show him that REAL people write books. I think it's important to show him that authors, actors, athletes, politicians, firemen . . . whatever . . . are REAL people. That way, he is aware of the opportunities, and that HE can do any of those things.

Chess Club

Tuesday night was our first PTO meeting at Fisher's Landing – it was quite long (2 ½ hours) and interesting.

I met with Julie Williams after the meeting to discuss the Chess Club. She showed me the equipment that has been purchased – 10 vinyl boards with large weighted pieces and storage bags, a bunch of chess pencils and wrist bands, and notebooks for recording games. It's all stored in a large plastic tote. Although we are limiting the first 6-week session to 20 students, we already had more than 40 forms turned in as of Tuesday; this despite them just going home on Friday!

I will be looking for some good "How to teach chess" books. Also, we will have a meeting with all of the volunteers next Thursday to come up with our game plan. In addition to me, there is one grandfather who seems excellent for this undertaking – he has run tournaments for years, and writes for a chess magazine – but he does not want to commit to organizing the club on a full-time bases; I believe there were at least two other parents who are willing to help – but again, not full-time, and we are looking for more adult help, even if they do not know how to play chess.

I also found out why Julie looks familiar to me (and I to her, evidently) . . . her daughter was in CYT's 'Sound of Music' and Julie worked backstage for the show. I happened to be wearing my CYT t-shirt to the PTO meeting!

Family Game Night – Star Wars Monopoly

After Karate today I offered to play a game with Alex tonight. I suggested Yahtzee – Alex countered with Star Wars Monopoly. Tiffany, Alex and I played Star Wars Monopoly from about 6:00 until 8:00. The agreement was that at 8:00 whoever was playing would finish their turn, and then we would count the money to see who won.

About 7:30, all but one piece of property had been bought, but nobody had a set to put houses on. Tiffany was trying to trade with Alex to give them both complete sets, but he would not do it. Finally, against Tiffany's protests, Alex gave me a property that completed a low-rent set for me and I gave him Boardwalk to match his Park Place (they have different names in Star Wars Monopoly, of course), but I had to agree that I would not charge him rent on the set he gave me. Deal! Of course, this was a pretty bad deal for me and a very good deal for Alex, but it was even worse for Tiffany. I just wanted Alex to win. I immediately bought hotels (spaceports) for my properties and Alex started putting houses (cities) on his two. Not long after, Tiffany landed on the last piece of vacant property and finished herself a set.

At 8:00, we sent Alex off to take a shower while Tiffany and I cleaned up the game. We sold all the houses and mortgaged all the properties to liquidate everybody, and then put everybody's money in piles for Alex to count. The final net worths were: Jeff - $2402; Alex - $3815; Tiffany - $3860, putting Tiffany ahead of Alex by $35. While he was in the shower, Tiffany took a $100 bill out of her money and gave it to Alex. When he did the final count, the score was, as far as he knows:

Jeff - $2402

Tiffany - $3760

Alex - $3915

We then asked him how much he was ahead of Tiffany, and he very easily set up and solved the subtraction problem. Then he was off to bed.

Bowling (on a Bum Wrist) at Big Al’s and the Lost Mouse

Last night my right wrist suddenly started hurting fiercely. If I hold it still, it is okay, but I cannot bend it forward or backward. I have had heat on it all last night and this morning – it seems to be better when the heat is on it.

This morning I had a three hour seminar at Big Al's bowling alley – the seminar was followed by a free lunch and free bowling. I was bummed that I was not going to be able to bowl, but accepted it.

Upon arrival at the seminar I learned that the door prize was going to be a top-of-the-line 3D Space mouse with a $300 value. I wanted that mouse bad. With about 20 engineers in attendance, my odds of winning the mouse were not too bad. At the end of the seminar, however, I was heartbroken when we were informed that the mouse would go to the person bowling the highest score! Not willing to give my mouse up so easily, I found a 13 pound ball that I could get my fingers into . . . I could lift it with not much of an issue. I ended up bowling 2 games on my damaged wrist. I scored an 82 and a 96. But I bowled. Being a group of 20 engineers, the winner of the mouse only bowled in the 150s, I believe.

My wrist still hurts. I think the activity actually helped; it's better than it was this morning, but it still hurts.

Alex’s new schedule

Sometimes I feel bad for Alex – he's such a trooper.

Because of his transfer to Fisher's Landing, we are responsible for providing transportation both to and from school; there is no bussing available to us. It's a 10 mile, 30 minute trip each way. Tiffany has been taking him to school in the morning. We have split the pickup – she has been picking him up 2-3 days a week, and I have been leaving work a little early 2-3 days a week to pick him up.

We consider this a very small price to pay for getting him into such a great school. After all, we decided years ago to be a single-income family specifically so Tiffany could stay home with him and give him every opportunity available. It's a decision that we have never second-guessed.

What it means for Alex is that he has to be ready for school a few minutes earlier . . . he's leaving about 10-15 minutes before the local school bus comes. Also, he gets home later. It would be just a few minutes later, but I often have errands that I run on the way home with him. I try to minimize the errands and shopping, because it obviously bothers him, but it's convenient – I'm off work early, I'm driving by the grocery store, and . . . we get home late.

I've felt a little bad for Alex because of this, but c'est la vie.

Now that Tiffany has hurt her right foot again, all has changed. She can't drive. Hopefully we'll know how long when she visits our doctor later this week – last time she broke it, she didn't drive for 6 or 8 weeks, I believe.

I will be going in to work early enough that I can pick Alex up every day after school; I will be dropping him off at Grandma Kennedy's house on my way to work, and she will take him to school (she lives about halfway to Fisher's Landing, and very close to Micropump). This means that Alex will now have to get up about 6:00. This morning wasn't too bad – he begrudgingly got out of bed, but was not grumpy. He wasn't happy to learn that this is our new morning schedule, though. In fact, he was horrified when he saw that we were out of the house before dawn. His comment was "You're not supposed to go to work when the street lights are still on!" Oh, if that were only true!

Like I said, he's a trooper. The first time Tiffany broke her ankle, he was on the cusp of needing potty trained . . . when he saw that she couldn't walk, he immediately potty trained himself. He just up and started doing it. And since then, he's always been extremely helpful every time she's been down.

He'll get through this 'early morning' period just fine. I just wish he didn't have to.

Last Races of the Year

Last weekend was the last Soap Box Derby race of the year.

Saturday was a long day of racing. We had to arrive at the track in Salem at 7 AM because there were two races that day – there was a normal double-elimination race, then there was a single-elimination race to make up for the race about a month ago when the timer was broken.

Grandpa and Grandma Wiser came to the race on Saturday – this was the first race they have watched.

In the double-elimination race, we did not place. In the single-elimination race that followed, we placed 7^th. Also, in the single-elimination, there were a lot of runoffs for places, so we ended up doing more racing there than in the double-elimination. We had two heats in the double-elimination race (and lost them both). In the single-elimination, we had four heats. This was the most racing we have done in a single day, and it was exhausting. Also, because of all this racing, everything was a little more fast-paced than normal . . . people were moving just a little faster and doing things with just a little more purpose and urgency, in order to finish the racing before dusk.

Saturday evening we went to Old Country Buffet for dinner, and then Dacota Boucher, a competing driver who is also from Vancouver, came to our hotel and swam with Alex for a couple hours.

We stayed at the Rodeway Inn in North Salem. In the past, we have stayed at Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, and Shilo Inn; we were a little nervous about staying in a $44 hotel room, especially since Alex has started getting used to the more expensive places. However, we could not find anything to complain about. The rooms were nice and clean; the pool was nice and clean; the lobby and breakfast area were nice and . . . well, you get the idea. The breakfast selection was not as big as the other hotels, but for the price difference, I can live with that.

Sunday was another regular double-elimination race. Again, Alex did not place. Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy were at this race, as well as my cousin John, and his family. After Alex was eliminated from the race, we gave Maddie and Ryan driving lessons and a trip down the track in Alex's car. Maddie was pretty scared, but she did great. Ryan could have used a bigger car! Hopefully next year John will be able to bring them out and enter a race.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Yesterday Alex took the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Brown's Camp. He read it all the way there; on the way back I realized that he had started over. When questioned, he admitted that he has read the book three times! He didn't know the book was the first in a whole series, and he was very excited to hear about it.

Last night we went to the bookstore and investigated the series – there are a total of four books, not including the blank journal ('Do it Yourself' book). We bought Alex the second book in the series. He stayed up reading in bed. Before going to sleep he had read 112 pages of the 217 page book; he is now on page 144, and is sitting in his bedroom at his desk with the book and a cup of hot chocolate.

Tonight we took him to Barnes & Noble to get the last two books in the series. He had a couple Barnes & Noble gift cards that he had acquired, including one that Avery gave him for his birthday. He used his gift cards to buy the last two books.

Alex loves to read, and reads books like this nonstop when he finds one he particularly enjoys. I told him that this series had better last him until at least Wednesday!