Although Aaron doesn't remember when or why he was asked to write the story "Snow Hiking," tonight he received an award for writing it. Each elementary school in the S-K District selected one student from each grade to receive this award; Aaron represented the kindergarten from Lee. He and I attended the awards ceremony tonight, where the guest of honor was writer Eric Kimmel (a writer of childrens books and a resident of Portland). Mr. Kimmel gave a delightful reading of his story, "The Three Cabritos." And he didn't just read his story straight-through; he paused every few pages to relate the history of how he chose the characters, the setting, the plot, and to share various techniques for writing and living a good life. I found the reading fun and educational, but I was surprised that Aaron came away with specific ideas to improve his own writing (e.g., to think about how your own experiences could translate into an interesting piece of writing). After Mr. Kimmel's reading, each student was called onto the stage to receive his or her reward and hear his or her name mangled by the poor hosts of the event.
Like 40 years ago, when I was in the fourth grade at Gubser, I received a similar honor for my first published work, "The Creatures from Saturn," which still sits on my bookshelf in the Literature section. I read this short story to the family during dinner one day this week, and boy did I have them enthralled. By the way, you can purchase a copy of my second published work, which I know is still popular and relevant as I continue to receive royalty checks in the mail every quarter.
Aging is a gradual process, so why should I worry when the clock officially tacks on another number to my age? Perhaps I should have realized that, as my peers began turning 40, and I would post half-serious questions about their experience, that I had my own issues brewing steadily in the background. I don't think I've had a birthday party since I was six, but Meg insisted on having one for me--something about 40 being a milestone or something, despite my arguments that I had done nothing significant to warrant anything--I had simply aged another year. But I conceded the point. I offered up the idea of a roller skating party--which is probably what my last party was; see, I haven't changed a bit--but I think she laughed that one out of the rink pretty quickly. I get daily emails from Groupon and LivingSocial, and they had something for a karaoke box rental. My half-Japanese side recognized something that could be fun and probably aligned with my personality. I told Meg...
Aaron ran in the Awesome 3000 this morning. While the defending champion didn't repeat his stellar placing of last year , he had fun and ran hard through the finish line. Last year they had at least three different heats; this year they made everyone run in one huge heat, which caused a pile-up that never really dissipated . So the kids who were at the front of the line basically finished first. The race ended comically (at least for me), when Aaron plowed over a kid who was unwisely loitering right on top of the finish line. The best part was that Aaron didn't have an asthma attack like the last time he raced. Edward is gearing up for his debut next year. Last Wednesday night I needed to do some work in the clerk's office at church, so Edward I decided to go together (he woke up at about 6:00 p.m. from a nap, so he wasn't quite ready for bed). I had pulled out the jogger and was about to put him in it when he blasted out of the garage in direction of the chu...
I'm not a big fan of cub/boys scouts, but as long as my children want to participate, I will support their desire and strive to make it as fun as possible for them. I drew the Thursday assignment of chaperoning the boys at the yearly day camp. Aaron had never been before, and I think his enjoyment far exceeded his expectations. My Thursday assignment proved ideal: the boys already knew the lay of the land, had forged relationships with the other boys that had been assigned to our group, and they knew the answers to all of my questions. It also helped that the my co-leader from the other group had been there all week and was great at directing everything. This left me to do what I do best: fade into the background so I can observe and lead from a distance. Our day included BB gun shooting, skit practice, obstacle course (of which I set the record for the day, but which the leaders denied announcing to the entire camp--I was robbed!), frisbee golf, and learning about Oregon an...
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