The summer of sweet sixteen

Seven sweet sixteen parties in two weeks. That's what the end of our summer has been like. That is a totally ridiculous number of parties.

K. has a much better social life than I do. But that's okay. Seven parties in two weeks would do me in. I can't be out that much. I'm old, for Pete's sake. Well, not really, but it feels that way by ten o'clock at night.

She's had a great time. But the party's over now. School starts tomorrow. Whew. Time to get off the merry-go-round and back to work. Or as my dad used to say, "You better buckle down this year."

I don't even know what that meant. So I don't think I ever did it.
K. had one book to read all summer. That's it.

Just.one.book.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A pretty decent classic, out of all the junk good things, they make you read in high school.

All summer, I tell you. And she starts it on Sunday. School starts on Thursday. Needless to say, there were some raised voices in my house when I found she hadn't even started the book yet. And no, K., the preface doesn't really count.
So I leave for work on Tuesday morning and K. informs me she's on page 36. In two days, she's read 36 pages. Oooh, boy, this is going to get ugly.

36 pages?!, I might have shouted.

Mooooooom, I'll get it done, was the response.

Yeah.

Off to work I go, throwing the book onto her bed at 8:30 am and telling her to start reading right now, missy, if you want to go to that pool party tonight.
At 4:00 pm, I call her.

What page are you on? I ask.

Um, I'm almost done with it, she mumbles.

Really? So what page are you on? I ask again.

Moooom, I have to go. I have to get ready for my meeting tonight and then the party. She tries to rush me off the phone.

But I've been around the block a time or two and there is NO way I'm letting her off the phone until I have an answer to my question.

WHAT PAGE ARE YOU ON? Said in my very firm, no-nonsense you-better-answer-this-question-right-now-young-lady-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you voice.

Gulp. Page 42, she squeaks out.

Dead silence. Then I ask very softly, Six pages? You've read six pages in seven and a half hours?

You know I'm a slow reader, Mom. Don't worry, I'll have it finished.

Slow reader? Slow reader? This is the girl who read Breaking Dawn in two days, gosh Pete. She's not a slow reader.

So K. didn't get to go to the pool party. It was rough but it had to be done. And you know what? She's got that book finished tonight.

That's my girl.
These photos are possibilities for a senior high school photo shoot. Well, not the laundromat. I just liked that picture. What do you think?