The Penultimate Week of Summer

Hello and welcome to a penultimate Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is August 24th.

On this side of Wannaskaland, an Englishman known throughout these parts for a) wearing suits and b) walking everywhere, likes to use the word "penultimate" (along with a few other words with impressive syllabic largess.) Penultimate is a great Word of the Day for this Toastmaster. It's one I've kept stashed in my own vocabulary satchel for the ideal moment, and what could be a better opportunity than to remind my Wannaskan countrypeople that there is only one week of summer vacation before school starts?

The blog's first Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence, aka WAKWIR, has graduated and is off to college. (If you haven't seen it, here's the WAKWIR's final post: A WAKWIR Sighting.) Fortunately, his younger brother has been a willing writer-in-training and has officially taken the reins as WAKWIR 2.0. Here's his account of our Penultimate Week of Summer.

Today, I'm going to be talking about what I did just this last week. I did a few things, AND I did quite a few things. 

Monday: On Monday, I spent the day with my oldest sister's boyfriend. I watched TV. I also had football practice. It was my first time doing football. Having it be my first time, it was - let's just say different from what I thought it would be. The thing that was different about it was that I had never really played a sport. I learned so many different things like how to catch the ball, how to throw the ball. I was sweating SO MUCH, like, I could slide off my helmet no problem. When we were getting ready and prepping up, my head hurt because it wasn't used to so much pressure and weight on it. But the good part about it was that my friends were there. We were divided into grades and my friends are in the same grade as me. Football was not what I expected but I also had fun. I also learned that I needed to bring a water bottle with me.

The other fun thing is that on Monday my oldest sister was coming home from all the way down in San Diego. She was working her summer there and my dad took a plane there and then they drove back by car - "across the desert, through the canyons, through the mountains!" interjected the soon-to-be 7th-grade sister.

I felt a surge of happiness that she was finally home. I hadn't seen her in a long time. Since the end of May! She picked me up and hugged me.

Tuesday: On Tuesday, I went to my friend Eli's house. I liked being at his house because we played so long together. It was like THE entire day. He had climbing trees and I climbed up them. We played a video game together called Super Smash Bros. It was really fun because whenever Eli and I played together we always won, no matter how strong the enemy was. Even if it was Level 3 and Level 4, we still beat them.

We had a Nerf battle outside that didn't end very well. We didn't really end it because the best gun was inside and we were outside looking for it. We had lunch which was a chicken patty in a burger. We played the boardgame King of Tokyo, but I didn't really know how to play it. We went to our friend Jack's house to go swimming. It was so fun because we were all 4th graders and we were all playing together. Tuesday was probably my favorite day of the week. When I came home at night, I played a soccer game with my oldest sister's boyfriend. We took the swings off the swingset. He kicked the ball and if he got it through, he got a point, and if I blocked it, I got a point.

Wednesday: We had Moroccan salmon and chocolate cake because we didn't have it ON my birthday. The special thing about that dinner was that the entire family was there. The chocolate cake was special because it was my mom's chocolate cake and it was for my birthday. My family also sang "Happy Birthday" in Czech for me.

Thursday: In the morning on Thursday, my oldest sister and her boyfriend left for Worcester. I didn't like it because we only had the entire family together for a short time and then they left. Thursday night I also played with my friends who live in the neighborhood. We played Gaga Ball on the trampoline. This is a game where you can only hit the ball with your hands. You can only hold it, you can't throw; you can only slap it. If it hits your knees or below, you're out.

Friday: On Friday, I went to Grand Forks with my brothers because one of them had a tooth surgery. That adventure was fun. We went to Target and I bought an RC car for $20 with the birthday money I got from my friends. (I'm saving my Target gift cards from my uncle and aunt for when I visit my grandma.) I finished the first Harry Potter book, The Sorcerer's Stone. It was interesting and good. I liked how it had a turning point from Harry thinking that Professor Snape didn't like him, to Professor Snape actually trying to protect him. That was a huge turning point because I thought Professor Snape was the main villain!

When we got back in the afternoon, I went to the pharmacy with my oldest brother to get the other brother's pills, went to the grocery store to get sushi, and to Subway to get a footlong. Then we went to my mom's office to have lunch. Then after that, we went home to get ready for football practice.

Football practice on Friday was SO much better. I was prepared for how hard it would be. I brought a water bottle and my mouthguard. I learned how to tackle. I started to learn how to take a long catch and how to pass the ball. After Friday's practice, I felt much, MUCH better about it, like, "I can do this."

My thoughts on having this be the second to last week of summer is bittersweet. The bitter part is that summer is almost over and I won't be able to see my friends in the neighborhood that much (because we'll be at school.) The sweet part is that when school starts I get to see everybody who's in my class and that I have something to do during the day.

My advice is enjoy the free time you have because a week may look like you have a lot, but it goes by fast.

Belated Chocolate Cake for WAKWIR 2.0 + Bonus WAKWIR 1.0 sighting