5/30/09

Dad decided to let me off the hook today, but made it clear that, as of Monday, I will be working for him at least 20 hours a week this summer (then every Saturday until the weather gets really bad this fall). He says it will keep me out of trouble and build character….ick. Who wants character anyway? He reminded me that Matt worked for him part-time until he was 16, and that it didn’t hurt him any. Well, that’s debatable. I notice the minute he turned 16, he got a REAL job someplace else, not working for Dad! Oh well, it’s school clothes (and SHOES!!!) money….clothes money….clothes money. I’ll make that my mantra this summer. And Dad is very serious about paying real minimum wage too, and he says he’ll be taking out for taxes and stuff and treat me just like a real employee. That’s kind of cool, actually. Of course, Mom and Dad said I have to save 1/2 of everything I earn for something big like college or a car, and I have to put at least $50 a month in a “do-not-touch” fund for the future. They sat me down this morning and gave a BORING lecture about money and saving and EVIL credit…blah-blah-blahdy-blah. Okay, who cares if I can be a millionaire when I retire??? I’m not even 14 yet! I want to spend! :) Whatevs…I figured it out and even with having to save so much, I’ll probably have at least $50 a week left over to spend however I want! Well, I only get paid every two weeks, so I won’t get my first check until the middle of June, but that’s okay. I’m still stoked about having cash soon!

Since I didn’t have to work, Sophie got her mom to take us to the lake today. Of course, her three little sisters went too, but we just ignored them and went to the other end of the beach and scoped out the lifeguards! We swam and hung out with a couple of other girls, Jennifer and Meagan, from school. We all teased Sophie about being such a brainiac…she won both the science and history awards for eighth grade last night. She doesn’t even care! She likes being a brain…weird girl. She laughed and told me she overheard one of the math teachers say the names of the top math students, and I came in third for the math award. Eeeeeeeeeek! I’ll have to totally tone it down next year! :) Anyway, it was a fun afternoon, sitting in the shade (I’ll get pleeeeeenty of sun this summer), drinking Slurpee’s and eating Corn-nuts from the snack bar, talking about boys (being the only one with a boyfriend…I guess he sort-of is…I got teased about that), and starting high school and what everyone was going to do this summer (mine was the most pathetic and pitied, no question). We went and played in the lake a couple of times and dove off the big raft in the middle of the swim area and splashed and did flips and had breath-holding contests…I’m not too great at that…only 35 seconds. Sophie and I decided we’ll have to do more of this when we’re not working this summer!