The story of November

This journal belongs to ratchet

This journal belong to Ratchet

HOMESCHOOL
LANGUAGE ARTS
JOURNAL

Name- Ratchet
Age- 11

Assignment
Choose writing exercises from write your life
( Homeschool Language Arts, Edition 5)
Record your writing in a spiral notebook
Include a variety of writing formats

Section 1
WRITING EXERCISE: Poetry
Writing Format- FREE VERSE POETRY: Poetry that does not require regular rhythm or a rhyme scheme.

If only getting a new life
Were as easy as getting
A new notebook
But it's not

Couldn't face another year
Writing on those
Long
Yellow
Legal
Pads
Dad found them at a garage sale
They smelled like wet dog.

I bought this notebook
With clean white pages
Because this year I need
White pages
This year I need
A cardboard cover
In cool colors
This year I need
Something new to write on
And to happen

WRITING EXERCISE: write about your life. Writing Format- FREEWRITING; Writing openly and freely on any topic

Everything in my life is old and recycled

* the kitchen table and chairs- Salvation Army
* Living Room furniture- AMVETS
* TV- Motel 8's going out of business giveaway

No new book bag
No new clothes
No new shoes
No friends- new or old

Between bites of
Macaroni and cheese
Dad talks
About
Torque wrenches and trees
About
Oil rings and the ozone layer
About
Gaskets and global warming
I scrape the bottom
Of my bowl
Wishing for something
Hoping for something
Waiting for something
Something I worry will never come
I look at dad's
Crazy, tired eyes
And wish
I didn't wish
For so much
Because I know dad
Tried real hard

Ratchets proverb-
Finding out about mom, means finding out about me

Moms are the one
Who make sure of a lot of things
Like that their kids
Wear nice clothes
Comb their hair
Brush their teeth
And mom teach their kids
How to fold laundry
So their clothes aren't wrinkled
How to make scrambled eggs
Without turning them brown
How to make a girl feel like a girl
Without a mom to make her
Feel that way?

Things I'll learn in the get charmed class
Latest fashion trends
Helpful skin care
Plus cool and funky hair tips
And
Important social manners
But
I'm hoping for what's not listed
In the rec center brochure
A chance
To make
A friend

Thoughfulness is
Dad buying sugar twist doughnuts
Every Saturday
Because I like them
Even though he doesn't
Kindness is
Dad pumping up
My bike tires for me
Even though I could do it my self
Goodness is
Dad getting Disney movies
From the library
Even though he only watches documentaries
Patience is
Dad letting me change my first flat tire
When I was only eight
All by my self
Even though it took me an hour and a half
Gentleness is
Dad staying up all night
And giving me ice chips
When I had strep throat
Even though he was sick too

Ratchet's proverb
Laughter is poison when you are the punch line

A trip to goodwill is
= to
Five racks of shirts
( only two tops even cool enough to try on)
+
Six shelves of shorts
( only three pairs in my size)
+
Three bins of shoes
( only one pair even comes close)

One dark blue tank top
(. With only a small snag in it)
+
One pair of tan shorts
( which are only a little too baggy )
+
One light blue scarf
( only frayed a little bit one end)
+
One pair of shiny, silver flip-flops
( only slightly ripped on one side)
Almost =
One cool look
From
Stylin' it

Pablo Picasso
When I was a child, my mother said to me if you become a soldier you'll be a general if you become s monk you end up as pope instead I became a painter and I wound up Picasso

Watching global warming a chilling encounter which we've seen at least three times already I imagine pressing mute to ask dad something anything about mom but dad scribbles notes on his bent and crumpled legal pad all the while missing the climate in our living room it's not hot it's not cold it just is the same as it is ever day so I never press mute I don't have to I am

Another day
I search again
For something of moms
In cupboards
In closets
In dressers
And
Even bathroom Drawers
But
Find
Nothing
Then I see
An old
Cardboard box
Full of
Cotton ball
And
Q- tips
Way in the back
Under the sink
In the second bathroom
The one dad's still fixing
And when I see it
I remember
The box

The mystery box
There's a box
It's cardboard
It's taped shut
And it hasn't been opened
For a long time
You can tell
Because the tape
And the cardboard
Are melted together
The box goes with us
To each handyman special we move into
Sometimes dad put the box in his closet
Sometimes he puts it in the laundry room
On a shelf
Sometimes he puts it in a kitchen cupboard
I wonder where
Dad's put it
This time
In this house
Because I haven't seen it lately
And I haven't found it
Yet
Maybe I can't find
Anything of moms
Because it's all
Inside
The box

The other box

There is another box
Not taped shut
Not up in the shelf
Not hiding in the closet
But here
With me
Every day
Usually