Life of Wry

It was a good day for the boy today, as days go for seventeen year seniors in high school. For starters, he actually joined us for breakfast this morning which was a thrill, since it’s been a few years since he’s acquiesced to our decades-old weekly brunch ritual (it’s still a Sunday morning ritual, but hasn’t included Peter for a very long time). But today, he came along.

We had an agenda: to help him brainstorm what he might say on his 200-word essay about why he wants to go to UC San Diego–part of the requirement for kids who landed on the waiting list, but who really (really) want to attend that particular school. So we did that. The discussion was a bit challenging, but by the end, we got there with everybody’s good mood intact, and some reasonable talking points that Peter can work from. Productive!

Final college application task. Check!

He watched a little of the Masters Golf Tournament; played some online chess; dug up the backyard with some chips and approach shots; went out to the driving range and did some of this:

(A picture from the way back, but I figure it’s fair game… its statute of limitations long expired.)

Then, around 4:00 he decides he’s going to go 1) get a hair cut, and 2) buy a new bike. And, as he’s getting ready to walk out the door, he says, “where do you get used bikes in town?”  

I had little faith in either effort, but he came back about an hour later, mission accomplished.

New old bike. Check!  Haircut. Check!

Again, to mark the occasion, a photo from the way back of a particularly cute haircut, again, statute of limitations long expired.

(He’s feeding a parrot, I believe, at a wildlife center somewhere outside of Palm Springs on a long ago trip… I believe the weekend celebration of my Uncle Bud’s 80th birthday, which would have been eleven+ years ago, and Peter would have been about six and a half.)

He declined Jim’s dinner offering (a whole buffet of leftovers), so is making his own mac and cheese as we speak (I’m actually (quietly) proud of him for this; his kitchen skills are at a low, but steadily improving, level). We are then all gonna watch a couple episodes of Seinfeld (we’re working our way through the entire show and are on season II at the moment.. though Peter’s already powered through all nine (is it?) seasons and is enjoying his second pass with us… a first pass for us).

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On a related note: Following Peter’s and Ray’s first effort at writing an entire Seinfeld episode for an English assignment–which was something they had to pitch because it was not the project originally assigned, but which ultimately earned them each 100%–they are writing a second episode. After the first, their teacher told them they could do whatever they wanted with this current assignment, having so enjoyed their work the first time around. Peter shared the outline with us a couple nights ago. It’s hilarious.