Fall 2008

School Begins, September

Eleventh grade began on September 3rd (the 2nd was reserved for sophomores only). I was not excited to return because I knew what was coming: a heavy load of AP English, AP European History, Physics, AP Calculus, French, Symphonic Band (11th and 12th grades), and Jazz Band. I like most of my teachers, but... major homework.

So why do I look so happy here? This was at the wedding of my cousin Lyndsay in Leavenworth in mid-September. We stayed at the Enzian Inn for two nights, and for a wedding, it was actually a lot of fun.

Tennis, September

This fall I joined the Juanita High School tennis team. I made the varsity doubles team, playing with various partners [left] throughout the September-October season.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t practiced much since I last played, so I felt like I was playing catch-up most of the season. Our team did all right—certainly not the top of our division, but not the bottom, either. And a couple of the seniors did very well in singles. My teammates were cool, and overall it was fun. And, playing tennis every afternoon for two months sure got me back into good shape!

Homecoming Dance, October

The Homecoming dance was October 11th this year. It’s the kind of thing you actually have to plan for far in advance; good thing Mom and Emily were there to help me.

Most of the guys wore rented tuxes, but I didn’t want to go that route. Instead, Mom and I went to the Mercer Island Thrift store, where I found a Christian Dior wool jacket and vest—for $7! We bought a shirt and pants on sale at Penney’s, I already had a tie to match Emily’s dress, and… dang, we looked good!

Twelve of us went to dinner and the dance together. The guys gathered at Cameron B’s house about 2:00; mostly we played video games and spent about 15 minutes getting dressed. In the meantime, the girls were at Anita’s spending all day doing hair, nails, legs, and whatever else that finicky gender does. We met up at 4:00 at Juanita Bay Park for photos. You would have thought we were celebrities, given all the parents and their cameras. We posed singly, as couples, as groups, by the water, by the trees…. it was pretty comical. Although I have to say that Mom did get some very nice pictures [right].

After the photos we all went to Emilys’ house, where we played poker until it was time to leave for dinner. We ate at Callabria in Kirkland, really good Italian food. Then we went to the dance, where the DJ was decent and we had tons of fun. Later we wound up at Kevin's house for some rest and a movie.

Halloween, October

Mom, Jan, Sofia, and I went the South 47 Farm a weekend before Halloween. This year we had dry weather (unlike last year when we trudged up to our ankles in the mud). We didn't do the corn maze, but we did ride the tractor around the farm, which was a bit like a farm roller coaster as we flew over the ruts and bumps. Sofia was fun to watch; she was really into all aspects of Halloween this year. And, indeed, I really am almost 6 feet tall [left]!

School was closed Friday, October 31st, which was cool, but the Rebels football team played that night anyway, and the band had to play at the game. That was kind of a bummer, but after the game was over, we all went to Anita's house and scared each other while watching Night of the Living Dead.

Thanksgiving, November

The night before Thanksgiving Emily came over to Mom's house and we made pumpkin bread and, my Thanksgiving favorite, cranberry salad (crushed cranberries, pineapple, marshmallows, walnuts, sugar, and whipped cream).

On Thanksgiving day I ate, and ate, and ate.... first at Dad's in the mid-afternoon and then at Mom's in the evening. I'm usually a bottomless pit, but I think I actually found the bottom. All is right with the world when you have a stomach full of good food.

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