I guess it’s time to glean stuff from Sammy in an interview, now that I’m feeling better.
By the way, What to Expect When You’re Expecting says you may have the beginning of a little hairdo. You are the size of a clenched fist.
Love,
Penny
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015
Dear You,
I had a BIG scare today! I completely forgot about OPEN HOUSE night at school, but Mama and Sammy didn’t. They note every single thing down in their iPhones. I was sure Mama and Sammy would find out about the project from Mr. Chen!
Uncle Ziggy stayed home with me to watch the game. He kept asking me why I was so quiet and pale. I said I was still recuperating from the flu.
But Mr. Chen revealed nothing about the project to Mama and Sammy. He did say he was happy to have me in the class and that I am an enthusiastic learner.
Whew!
So no Monday blues tonight. Warriors beat Philadelphia, 89–84!
And I got to taste Mint-Pistachio for Sundae Monday, since I was too sick last Monday. Pretty good, but not as good as Rum Raisin.
Love,
Pen
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015
Dear You,
I got another scare tonight when Sammy asked: “What’s all this about your interest in the Ohlone?”
LURCH!
But it was Grandma Lorraine who had told them about my curiosity.
Mama: “Is this something you had to do for school?” Me, thinking quickly: “No, no, I just like California history. We are learning about American Indian societies, but I want to make sure I glean all about YOUR heritage, Sammy. And I love doing research, just like both of you do when you are working on websites and history lectures.”
Sammy: “A history buff like your mama! How great that you are broadening your interests beyond basketball.”
Mama went straight to her little kitchen desk and came back holding a notebook with a French poodle on its cover.
Mama: “For your research.”
I guess she had bought a discount pack of dog notebooks and had not given me the golden retriever one because they were planning to get me a golden retriever, as I’d hoped.
Me, casual as can be: “So, anyway, I’m curious. What does your Ohlone heritage mean to you?”
Sammy: “My heritage?”
She furrowed her brow, really thinking hard about my question.
Sammy: “Well, I have two heritages, as you know. My German heritage and my Ohlone heritage. My German ancestors came here a hundred years ago. And the California Ohlone have lived here just about forever!”
Sammy was looking all starry-eyed and proud, thinking about her heritage and her many tangled-up roots. But then she said, “It is my Ohlone heritage that has a bigger part of my heart. I guess you cherish something more when it’s in danger of being erased.”
So I told Mama and Sammy what I had learned from Grandma Lorraine and Great-Grandma Grace. About the shell mound being destroyed and the mall built on top of the sacred burial spot and all those forgotten bodies discovered by the construction workers.
Mama and Sammy glanced at each other.
Mama: “They told you about that? We’ve been trying to protect you from that sad story. But I guess you’re old enough to know.”
You will learn pretty quickly, You. Parents can be OVERprotective. Of course I’m old enough!
Sammy: “Here’s the important thing to remember, Penny. The Ohlone didn’t disappear. We’re not just descriptions in old books. We’re not just names on streets and parks. A long time ago, people took our land. They made us live in the California missions. They tried to force us to forget our language and our customs and our stories. They disrespected our dead. But guess what? We’re still here!”
Me: “We sure are!”
Sammy didn’t hear that, I don’t think.
Meanwhile, Mama was looking down at her fingernails, probably feeling sad about being an orphan. Sometimes, I want to see Mama all starry-eyed about her family tree, too.
Anyway, I have lots to write about in the interview section of my project now.
Love,
Penny
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015
Happy Klay Thompson Day to all.
We beat the Timberwolves, 94–91. Everybody thinks the score was too close for comfort.
Hazel-Drop-the-Pepper gave me a friendly thumbs-up today, and said “Hey, go Dubs!” She is trying very hard to be my friend.
By the way, Hazel Drop-the-Pepper’s thumbs are double-jointed. So her thumbs-up is really a “thumbs-upside-down." She demonstrated to some kids the other day and they were all impressed. I guess I was, too. Hazel can bend the top half of each thumb backward.
Love,
Penny
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
Dear You,
It is Valentine’s Day.
On this day, people send cards and give gifts to show those in their lives how much they love them, in case they haven’t told them on other days of the year.
Mama and Sammy think Valentine’s Day is unnecessary. That’s because we all know how we feel about one another already.
They also think Valentine’s Day is too commercial, just a day for businesses to try to get people to spend their money. They don’t believe in purchasing cards for Valentine’s Day. So we mostly exchange homemade ones. But last year, Uncle Ziggy brought over a big box of store-bought candy for us. This year, he brought daffodils from his garden.
True confession to you, You: I was hoping for store-bought candy, especially the chocolate-covered cherries and the lemon drops with caramel centers. I didn’t want to hurt Uncle Ziggy’s feelings, so I didn’t say anything.
Anyway, love must be extremely complicated, because we humans sing about it a lot. If you took a count of all the songs sung on 99.7 or even 106.1, my favorite radio stations, they are mostly love songs.
Hazel Drop-the-Pepper disagrees: “No, most songs are about money. And that’s what my mom and her boyfriend mostly argue about, even though they are madly, truly, deeply in love.”
Gabby: “I’d say probably even between love and money.”
We’ll have to test our song theories one day.
In the schoolyard yesterday, Gabby and I started singing that song everyone knows, about the world needing more love-sweet-love, because there’s just too little of it, sometimes.
And, of course, Hazel Drop-the-Pepper had to join in and wreck our almost-perfect harmony. And then Kenny heard us, and he sang:
What the world needs now is BOOGERS, sweet boogers.
It’s the only thing there’s just too little of.
He is so, so immature. I hope I don’t think of his verse every time I sing that song.
Anyway, Love-Sweet-Love to you, too.
Penny
PS. I was also hoping there would be a proposal of marriage in our house today. The proposer wouldn’t have to get all that commercial about it with roses or champagne or a diamond ring, etcetera. Just a simple Valentine’s Day marriage proposal would have been very romantic. But that didn’t happen.
LATER, SAME NIGHT
I have decided that in honor of Valentine’s Day, I will now tell you the name of my secret impossible love:
Gabby’s older brother.
My heart flutters when I think about Mike and his musical voice.
BE STILL, MY HEART. I read that somewhere, but I forget where.
I know he is six years older than I am, but even if he was a fifth grader, I am positive he would not be immature. And six years won’t make as much of a difference when we are older. I am too shy to tell Gabby that I like her brother, even though I have always told her everything. So I am telling you, You.
By the way, I am very glad to read in What to Expect that (1) your ears have moved from your neck to the sides of your head and (2) your eyes have moved from the sides of your head to the front of your face. Don’t get me wrong. Looks aren’t everything.
Still.
Love,
Penny
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
Dear You,
On Monday, school was closed for Presidents’ Day.
So Gabby invited Hazel Drop-the-Pepper and me to a sleepover Sunday night.
Gabby’s parents had a dose of bad luck after they chose names for their three kids. Two-thirds of their offspring, a whole 67 percent, were given names that don’t fit. Gabby is not gabby. She has Quiet Confidence like her brother, Mike. Their little five-year-old sister’s name is Angel. Unfortunately, Angel turned out to be a pest.
And Mike is just Mike. I looked up Michael in Mama and Sammy’s book One Thousand and One Names for Baby, and Michael is one of the archangels in the Bible. So Mike is an angel, not Angel. At least their parents got one name right.
Anyway, when Gabby’s friends are over, Angel sleeps in their parents’ bedroom on an air bed. But this time, Angel wanted to have a sleepover with “the big girls,” and her parents said she could. So there were four of us in the room. Angel had the bottom bunk all to herself and Gabby was in the top bunk. Hazel Drop-the-Pepper and I were in sleeping bags on the floor.
Part of me thinks that Angel has a right to sleep in her own bed, but a big part of me thinks she is a pest. She kept blowing raspberries and making farting noises so we’d pay attention to her.
At sleepovers, we usually end up talking about all sorts of things in the dark (the Dubs, of course, and boys, etcetera, etcetera).
Then, all of a sudden, Gabby changed the subject and started blabbing about you, You! I had told Gabby that you weren’t a secret anymore, but I didn’t think she’d bring you up so soon, especially in front of Hazel Drop-the-Pepper!
Gabby: “Penny’s mama is having a baby.”
Hazel: “Really? Oh, that’s great!”
Gabby: “Hey, I have a question, Penny. Where did this baby happen to come from?”
I have been waiting for Gabby to ask this question. I knew it must be inside of her, like a caramel center you know is there, hiding inside a lemon drop.
Hazel: “What do you mean? Don’t you know where babies come from? Don’t you know the Facts of Life?”
Gabby: “Of course I know the Facts of Life!”
Hazel: “Then if you know the Facts of Life, you know where Penny’s mom’s baby came from!”
Gabby: “I just told you. I DO know the Facts of Life! But I was wondering because, you know, Penny has two moms.”
Hazel: “Penny has two moms?”
All of a sudden, Angel piped up. She had stopped making her noises, and we’d figured she was asleep. But no, she had been listening, and she wanted to know what the Facts of Life were. Nobody said anything at first. We didn’t know how to explain those Facts to a five-year-old.
Then Gabby said, “They’re nothing. Go to sleep.”
Hazel: “The Facts of Life are things we learn and things we know.” And I guess that was the right answer for Angel.
Angel: “I know a fact. Red paint and yellow paint mixed together make orange paint.”
We tried not to laugh. We didn’t want to hurt Angel’s feelings, even though she is a pest. Of course, a few giggle snorts did bubble out. But it was OK, because Angel laughed, too, even though she didn’t really know what we were all laughing at.
I was glad that Gabby and Hazel Drop-the-Pepper fell asleep before they could ask me any more questions about the Facts of Life. It felt too personal to talk about private things in front of a stranger. Hazel Drop-the-Pepper isn’t a stranger, exactly. But still.
You, I just want to say right now that you are a Fact of Life.
A fifteen-and-a-half-week, miraculous, wonderful one. And I love you a lot already.
Love,
Penny
Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, 2/20/15, 110–99.
A loss to the Pacers on Sunday, 2/22/15, 98–104.
We beat the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, 2/24/15, 114–107.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
Dear You,
You win some, you lose some.
That’s what Gabby said. Her voice went deeper and her eyes got all squinty, and that meant she was quoting Mike, as usual. I almost told her I liked him, but I was much too shy.
I’m DIZZY! We win, then we lose, then we win, then we lose again. We lost to the Cavaliers tonight, 99–110.
Mama says winning and losing are parts of life. I will try to remember that as your older sibling, You.
But it’s hard.
By the way, we all hate the Cavs’ LeBron James with a passion!
Not just because he is a good player on an opposing team, although that’s part of the reason. We hate him because he is a TRAITOR. That means a person who has betrayed someone. A while ago, LeBron James left his home team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to join the Miami Heat. Fans in Cleveland were absolutely HEARTBROKEN! Now he is back with Cleveland, but lots of people can’t forgive him, even if it’s all in the past.
I can’t even imagine Steph Curry doing that to Oakland fans!
I was watching the game with Gabby and Mike at their house. They have a colossal TV. Mike said the colossal screen makes LeBron’s head look more conceited than ever. Mike makes me laugh.
Love,
Me
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Dear You,
What to Expect says you are moving your arms and legs, but Mama says she doesn’t feel anything yet.
And you are practicing your sucking and swallowing, getting set for the real world of eating and drinking, when you are finally free from the umbilical cord attaching you to all of Mama’s chewed-up meals.
By the way, the Splash Brothers are back! Dubs beat the Raptors tonight, 113–89. I feel sorry for Toronto because they lost four games in a row, but still.
Today, Mr. Chen said our written interviews with our families were interesting. His eyes beamed sparkles at me. I felt glad and guilty at the same time. That is a very strange feeling.
Love,
Pen
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015
Dear You,
I forgot to tell you that yesterday Gabby and I were both wishing we had a basketball coach and a team to play for, and then WE READ EACH OTHER’S MINDS!
“Mike!” we said at the very same time.
My heart fluttered.
Gabby is going to ask him to be our coach. But meanwhile, we got permission to post a sign-up sheet for girl players on the bulletin board outside the school office. We want to get enough sign-ups for a team at first, but maybe we’ll get enough for a whole league!
xxx,
Pen
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2015
Dear You,
Hazel Drop-the-Pepper is a “latchkey kid.” That’s what she calls herself. She has a key to her house pinned inside her backpack. Her mom, Liza, and her mom’s live-in boyfriend, Rick, come home after dark. Today they went on a date which lasted all day and evening. So Hazel often has to let herself in.
Tonight, Hazel Drop-the-Pepper stayed for dinner because she told Sammy the pot roast smelled delicious and she could smell it all the way from our front yard. So of course she got an invitation after saying that.
Uncle Ziggy was over, too. He was in a celebratory mood because he will be starting a computer course tomorrow. He is going to help Sammy with her web design business, which is growing. He won’t have to show his resume to Sammy. She already knows what he’s like. And he could still be a troubadour when they take breaks from work.
He was also in a celebratory mood because he had just received a tip about another secret stairway. He couldn’t share the information because he hasn’t checked it out, and it’s still a secret.
Then Hazel Drop-the-Pepper said an amazing thing. She said she has a secret stairway almost right next door to her house, not far from us! Uncle Ziggy was flabbergasted! His secret stairway group didn’t know about that one, but Hazel said, oh, yesiree, it’s there
all right.
I will believe it when I see it.
Here is a confession, You:
I have a terrible niggling suspicion about Hazel Drop-the-Pepper.
I THINK SHE IS A FABRICATOR AS WELL AS A BRAGGART!
I admit that I, too, am a fabricator. Maybe it takes one fabricator to sniff out another fabricator.
HAZEL DROP-THE-PEPPER’S POSSIBLE FABRICATIONS:
Her gigantic bedroom. She says that wherever they live, her mom always lets Hazel have the master bedroom all to herself.
A refrigerator in that room!
The secret stairway.
That goat, of course.
And it also seems to me that every time someone brings up something, Hazel Drop-the-Pepper can match it. Better than match it. I tested that theory a couple of times.
Me: “Our family may take a summer trip to Disneyland.”
Hazel: “Ours, too! I’ve been lots of times, but there is always something new to see.”
Me: “My mother and Sammy may get married one day, I think.”
Hazel: “Rick and my mother are getting married for sure. VERY soon! Probably any day now.”
Me: “Mama and Sammy bought an old butter churner in an antique shop in Sonoma. They use it for an umbrella stand, but they may try to bring it on Antiques Roadshow.”
Hazel: “We have an old samovar that used to belong to a Russian czar’s cousin. We think it’s worth thousands.”
Me: “Sammy has a friend in the California State Assembly.”
Hazel: “Rick, my mother’s boyfriend, has a best friend in the Senate. In Washington! He has so many important friends! Including Steve Kerr, coach of the Warriors!”
Hmmm . . . See what I mean?
Hazel Drop-the-Pepper phoned her mom and got permission to stay for the game, too.
Love, Penelope Page 5
