Standardized Tests and Field Day

May 17, 2018

    Spent some time with you last night, another Wacky Wednesday. We chatted in the living room after I was able to pull away from an online bridge tournament I was finishing. I asked you what was the worst thing going on in your lives right now, and you both said the testing at school...three solid days of testing. Yesterday's tests were writing paragraphs on assigned topics. Dylan had to write about group projects, if and why they should do them in school. Noah's topic was trees. (He found plenty to write about even if he forgot his favorite aunt is on the Newburyport Tree Commission and writes a column for the Daily News called Tree Talk AND a blog called "Branching Out in Newburyport!" (yes, this is one of five blogs I've started, but clearly this one is the best, lol!)
     We decided to go to Lexis for dinner. We all love the hamburgers although Uncle Joe usually gets a chicken burger. The fries are really good there, too. Both of you were in chatty moods, especially Noah. Usually Dylan is more of a chatter box but Noah was quite engaging talking to both me and Uncle Joe at dinner. It is pretty cool to see you both starting to mature into young men, although that doesn't mean we can't be immature at times, and that we were when we got back to the house. We played Knock-out Whist after a discussion in the yard with Shifeng about how I was hoping your dad would buy his house. The for sale sign was just put up that day. When we got back in, with my usual political incorrectness, just to get a laugh from you guys, and not exactly being a super role model, I said to you all, "Oh, shoot, I know what I forgot to talk to Shifeng about..." When one of you finally asked what that was, I pretended to talk Chinese, sending Dylan into a convulsive fit. His face went bright red which made me laugh till my sides hurt. I needed that. The windows were closed so Shifeng didn't hear that and I would never EVER do anything like that if I thought it would hurt his feelings. Uncle Joe gets pissed at me, but I think its funny, so I don't care. The sound of the Chinese language is simply funny!
     Anyway, I think Noah and I were the only winners in Knockout Whist, but nobody cried when they lost...Dylan looked like he was close to tears until I grabbed the Bugs Bunny dog toy and started talking to Carlos with it. That snapped him right out of it. I should have had Bugs talk in Chinese!  Oh, and when i asked you what you were most excited about lately, Dylan said summer vacation and Noah said Field Day,

Love you both,
your silly aunt