.
Except that when we got there, it turned out the supply tent was already occupied... by Mr.Wheeton
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and Mademoiselle Klein, no less!!!!
They made us swear not to tell anyone. We said we wouldn't.
But that is not even the worst part. The worst part is, after they went away, Michael ACTUALLY
STARTED INVENTORYING THE TOOLS!!!!!!!
There is really only one explanation for this, and that is that I smell so bad, my own boyfriend does not
even want to make out with me.
As if this were not bad enough, I felt something crawling up my leg and looked down and saw the
world's biggest bug on my calf. I screamed so loud that Lars came bursting in with his gun drawn.
Michael said it was only a centipede.
ONLY A CENTIPEDE?IT TOUCHED MY SKIN!!!!!!!!
It is much easier to be an environmentalist when you live in the city where there aren't that many bugs,
than when you are in the country and are being eaten alive by them. I am not sure I love nature as much s
I used to think I did.
Tuesday, March 15, Noon, the dining tent
Worked all morning, still so much left to do, and this is LAST WORK DAY. But still must paint all
walls, and trim, too, plus install flooring, etc. Boris dropped a window shutter on his big toe, but Dr.
Gonzales said it isn't broken, just dislocated. He manipulated it back into place I would so never touch
Boris's feet. Dr. Gonzales is truly a saint and buddy taped it to the toe next to it so it would stay where
it is supposed to.
Mrs.Harmeyer has been complaining of heartburn since breakfast, but no one else is feeling sick.
Legionnaires's disease ruled out as we have been dining al fresco. Possibly result of two Diet Cokes she
downed with her eggs and bacon? Unborn child could bephenylketonuric .Warned Mrs.Harmeyer about
dangers of too much aspartame. It is a good thing I have watched so many episodes of A Baby Story on
the Learning Channel in preparation for the arrival of my new baby brother or sister. I am truly a front of
prenatal information.
Tuesday, March 15, 9 p.m., last day of home building
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So tired, but truly amazingday, must get it all down before I forget:
Finished building Mr. and Mrs.Harmeyer's house.When we were done, we all stood around and
marveled: we had built a three-bedroom, one-bath house in three days, complete with kitchen, dining
room, and family room. I mean, it is not aBIG house (only1,200 square feet , smaller than our loft) and it
isn't like theHarmeyers can afford cable or Ikea furniture or anything. But it is a house, not a double wide
like Mitchell and Stefano have been living in their whole short lives.
And you know,it didn't look so bad. I mean, we had spackled over the holes I'd made in the gypsum
board, so you couldn't even see them. And with the vinyl siding, it looked, I don't know. Like a REAL
house.
While we were standing there admiring our handiwork, Mrs.Harmeyer complained that she had a
wicked case of heartburn and had anyone else had the potato salad at lunch? I informed Mrs.Harmeyer
that, being a vegetarian, I had eaten nothing but potato salad for lunch, as it had been the only non-meat
dish available, and I felt fine. Then I opened my diary to the entry I wrote earlier today and showed Mrs.
Harmeyer that she had complained of indigestion after breakfast, as well. Was it possible, I asked, that
she wasn't having heartburn at all, but contractions? The two have occasionally been confused, even by
experienced mothers, at least according to A Baby Story.
Then Mrs.Harmeyer got all excited and yelled, "Oh, my God! Todd, get the pickup!"
So Mr. and Mrs.Harmeyer sped off for the hospital, leaving us in charge of Mitchell and Stefano. Dr.
Gonzales was way impresses by what he called my powers of observation. Not everybody, he said,
would have kept such a detailed record of another person's complaints about their gastritis.
I told Dr. Gonzales that it was no bigdeal, that I write down everything, really. Then he said the funniest
thing. He said: "That's quite a skill."
Wow! It almost made me think maybe being able to write isn't such a bad talent, after all! I mean, it isn't
as cool as being able to use a nail gun, and all. But hey, it might not be totally useless.
Then Dr. Gonzales turned to Michael and said, "We're out of hot-dog buns for the celebration barbecue
tonight. If I stay here with Mitchell and Stefano, do you think you could go into town and pick some up?"
and he handed Michael the keys to his Dodge Chevy!
And it turns out Michael can drive! He has a driver's license and everything! He learned two summers
ago at his parents' country house inAlbany .
There are very few boys who live inManhattan who know how to drive, on account of hardly anyone
owning a car inNew York City .
So Michael said, "Sure, Dr. Gonzales."
For a minute I thought a Spring Break miracle had occurred...you know, that Michael and I would be
alone, in a motor vehicle, miles from anybody else, and would finally get a chance to feel our two hearts
beat as one...
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That is, if I could get cleaned up fast enough.
But I needn't have worried. Because no sooner did Michael get those keys in his hands than we were
descended upon by the rest of our group, who all demanded to join us. I tried not to look too depressed
as Lars, Lilly, Boris, Tina, and PeterTsu piled into the truck with us. Their enthusiasm was a little bit
infectious, I have to admit.
Town was big disappointment, though. I'd forgotten that Mrs.Harmeyer had said there was nothing to
do in it. There is not even a single Chinese restaurant where you can go for cold sesame noodles. We
went to the grocery store and got the hot-dog buns, and Lilly was all, "Finally, I can get a bagel!" but
they didn't even have any, not even the Lender's kind in a bag.
So then we were all kind of depresses on account of the no-bagel-and-no-cold-sesame-noodle thing.
But when we got back in the truck, Michael went, "Well, there's one thingWest Virginia has
thatManhattan doesn't," and he started driving.
I thought Michael was talking about theMothman , you know, from that movie, and I couldn't think what
was so great about that because all theMothman does is call people on the phone and say in a scary
voice, "Stay away from the chemical plant!", which isn't really useful information to anyone.
But it turns out Michael wasn't talking about theMothman . He was talking about Dairy Queen! Yes! It
turns out there was a Dairy Queen right outside Hominy Knob! There are no Dairy Queens inManhattan
, except for a gross one nobody but tourists ever goes to in Penn Station.
We were soexcited, we piled out of the truck and rushed up to the girl in the window. Everybody got
something different. Lars got a cherry slush. Lilly got a peanut buster parfait. Boris got a Heath Bar bite
blizzard. PeterTsu gota Coke slush. Tina got a low-cal yogurt on account of the fact that PeterTsu was