Tales of Tenth Grade

My house is as old as me. Kinda. It's actually a few months older. My parents were really young when they got married, mom was 21, dad was 25. I think that their age was partially the reason why they moved around a bunch after they got married. Maybe trying to deflect the fact that they were so young and already "settling down." In fact, my dad, being the tech guy he is, set up all our personal emails with "@movinalot" in honor of our status as frequent movers (very cute but always awkward when I'm buying something and have to spell out my email address to make sure they don't accidentally add a g to "movin"). It's weird, though, because I never knew that life. My mom, dad, brother, and sister shacked up in a hotel for a couple of months while our home in Sparta, NJ was being assembled, right next to the Sterling Hill Mining Museum. A few tapes from my pa's old camcorder documented my house in the building process. A short few months af...

As I sit here on our eighth straight day without school, I figured that I would classify my experiences on each surprise day off. 1. The First Snow Day (snow days left for the year: 4) The First Snow Day is by far the best one. Nothing makes me happier than finding out that my weekend is going to be a day longer than expected. It's always fun and relaxing to sit at home and watch the grey, post-autumn-foliage world get coated in a blanket of fluffy snow. As long as the power doesn't go out (side note: somehow I never lost power), I am free to do whatever I want to help relax myself in anticipation of our return to school. 2. The Second Snow Day (snow days left for the year: 3) The Second Snow Day is mostly expected, especially after hearing about all of the power outages in town. This extra day off is nice, but not quite as nice as the first one, since at this point, I haven't seen my friends in six days. To ease this thought, I think to myself that seeing them...