Hey, everyone, it's me, April! Another month has gone by, and again it feels like nothing really happened. After Dad made his decision to semi-retire, he had a bunch of memories about his dental practice back in the old days. And we ended the month with Mom kind of doing the exact same thing, except her memories were about when she helped out Dad as a substitute assistant like a zillion years ago. In between, Warren showed up at Liz's place, she let him know about her engagement, and he let her know about his new job overseas. And Mike's second book was suddenly released, even though most of us didn't even know he was done, let alone had the manuscript approved for publication, and the whole process you have to go through to turn your manny into a published book in the stores.
Oh, and I went to the mall with Eva. Mom and Connie dropped us there 'cause they were going anyway, since Dad was away at a convention and Mom wanted someone to hang with. Eva and I texted to each other in the back seat during the way up, which Mom doesn't approve of, but it's the only way we can have a private conversation without Mom butting in with her opinion or "advice." Sometimes you just want to talk to a friend without having someone who judges everything you say and how you say it. And wants to fix whatever you do or say. I'm sure you know what I mean.
This coming week, you'll see a story about what Eva and I did at the mall, so I'm not allowed to tell you about that now, other than shopping was involved (of course!). But I can tell you about this thing that happened later on, after I was back home. Mom went into a kind of rant about how texting is "eroding the English language" and how "no one cares." I said that just because I use txt-spk in my text messages doesn't mean I do that in the stuff I write for school. I know there's a difference, just like there's a difference between how I speak with a bunch of friends and when I'm giving a formal speech or talking to my friends' parents. Mom wasn't really listening. It was like she had her words all planned out in her head, and she said, "I know this kind of thing doesn't mean much to you and your friends, but it really bothers your father and I." I said, "Your father and me." Mom said, "Huh?" I said, "That should have been 'your father and me.' Not 'your father and I.' Because you need the objective case. 'Your father and me' being the object of 'bothers.' You can test it by taking out 'your father.' You wouldn't say 'it really bothers I.' At least I hope you wouldn't." Mom started to say, "Now, young lady, you're missing my point," but I totally wasn't, and I told her, "Yeah, my English teacher says people make this mistake because when they were kids they said something like 'Me and Billy want to go swimming,' and the parent says, 'Billy and I want to go swimming.' And the kid grows up thinking anytime you talk about yourself and someone else, no matter where it is in the sentence, it's 'Othername and I.' But it's not. It depends on where in happens in your sentence." Mom looked at me with her mouth open for a second, and then told me, "April, there's some laundry that needs folding," while pointing in the general direction of the laundry room. Hmph! Who's eroding the language, exactly?
Dee got kinda miffed that Mike totally forgot about the community-supported agriculture she bought two shares in, one for her and one for me. He went ahead and did this whole wine-box planter thing to grow veggies and teach Merrie and Robin about lifecycles and stuff like that. Dee says she couldn't get too upset because his heart seemed to be in the right place and all. I got Mike a subscription to an organic-gardening magazine to help him along. He should get his first issue this week!
I am NOT looking forward to exams, since they're always so stressful, and the teachers have been making us crazy with how important our grade-11 exams are. Sometimes I just wish I had a sound-proof room to scream in! I've started taking a yoga class once a week, at the Milborough Mind-Body Centre, to help myself deal a bit better. It seems to be helping.... kind of. I vow never to become the kind of person who takes out my stress on others, by yelling at them when they totally did nothing to deserve it!
Anyway, that's all I can think of to tell you at the moment. I'll check in with you again next month. Have a happy June!
April