My Memoir - Final Draft: The Neverending Story

The Never Ending Story: The Memoir of Tim Dills

When I was first born I didn’t cry, which evidently is something adults like babies to do when they are first born, so as a result they panic, and then they spank you. Of course, my mom had to tell me this because I didn’t remember any of it; maybe I just blocked it out, too painful to remember. I don’t know if it is a case of cause and effect but my mom also told me that I was a colicky baby. This means I cried a lot, especially in the evening, go figure. So, by the end of the day my mom would hand me over to my dad who seemed to be the only one who could calm me down. He did this miraculously by singing the theme song of Sanford and Son, go figure.

The first memory I have of living in our house in Burlington was when I was about two years old. I was playing in my bedroom eating apples, go figure. I had a baseboard heater under my window. I liked to climb up on it and look out the window. My mom would always say, “Tim, get off the heater!” I think she was afraid that I’d rip it out of the wall. Well, anyway, instead of ripping it out of the wall I slipped and sliced the back of my head open, not seriously, but I am talking about a half-inch gash. There was lots of blood and of course my mom freaked out and drove me straight to the emergency room. I ended up getting stitches and I can still actually feel the scar on my head. I still like to stand on baseboard heaters, go figure.

At the tender age of four my family took a trip to Disneyland. My mom was eight months pregnant with my soon to be annoying little brother, Nathan, also known as Squatch, go figure. I had so much fun but it was really hot. The heat didn’t stop me from enjoying the Peter Pan and E.T. rides. It was an amazing vacation that is topped off with the memory of sitting on the rooftop of our hotel watching the fireworks and eating ice cream with my dad. The cool taste of cookie dough ice cream feeling smooth on my tongue as bursts of color flew overhead. My mom was being a party pooper and said she was tired from walking around all day, go figure.

Shortly after this trip I got another big surprise. I became a big brother. On October 15, 1997 Nathan Alexander Dills entered the world. The first night he was home he would lay in his beautifully decorated puffy crib and cry. I said, “Mommy, Nathan’s crying again.” She came in and took him to her room. He slept there most of the time but eventually he began sleeping in his bed although he insists on sleeping with the light on even to this day, go figure.

Now with two children my parents liked to go out without us. So, we stay with either my dad’s parents. I called them Granny and Grandpa. Then there was my mom’s mom. We called her Nini. I think this is because when my older cousin Melissa was a baby she would try to call her by her first name, Anita, but it came out as Nini so all of the grandkids call her that to this day, go figure. Some of my best memories are of going to Nini’s house. She would always feed us French toast or pizza and then she would take us to the 76 station and we would get candy! When we’d spend the night at Nini’s we would pick cherries and raspberries. We would make pies. She is such a good cook! One time I told my mom that Nini made the very best French toast. I think my mom works really hard at making good French toast now because it’s delicious, I just don’t tell her so she’ll keep working on it.

The funny thing is my Nini would always (make) let us watch the movie, The Never Ending Story. The thing is I liked the first five times but after that it got really boring. But Nini was always so excited and insistent that we watch, over, and over, and over again. She would say, “Hey guys, who wants to watch the Never Ending Story!” We would inwardly grown, put on a brave face and smile, and nod our heads to say yes. It’s funny but we just didn’t want to hurt her feelings because I love my Nini.

I remember turning six and feeling really big. I had just started Kindergarten and I got the coolest cake ever. It had all of these little plastic motorcycles all over it and all of my family came to the party and visited with one another. Big Papa who always seems to say, “Hey, Jack!” There was Little Papa and Big Grandma who always gave me a card with a lovely check. My mom would have to remind me to look at the card too. Learning to say thank you even if it was a weird gift was something I had to learn how to do also. My mom called it grace and tact. I called it putting on a fake front but it’s a gift and the thought should be appreciated. I always had a great time with all of my cousins, family, and balloons. Even though one time our old dog Sasha popped a lot of them, go figure.

Sports have always been an important part of my life. I’ve played baseball, basketball, and football. Of all of the sports basketball is my favorite even though I’m not the tallest kid on the court, go figure.

Recently my grandmother died. She was really funny. She was always concerned how we were. She gave us so many tips on how we should be careful during everyday life. Some of them made us laugh and were soon what we called grannyisms. For example she said never lock ourselves in the bathroom while we take a bath because we might drown. Another one was never stick a knife in a toaster.

Well that’s my never ending story: for now.

MacHomer

This past weekend I went to a play at the Mcintyre Hall. It was called MacHomer. It consisted of one guy who did all of the Simpson's voices. While telling the famous Shakespearean story of Macbeth. All of the voices he did were spot on, but there was one or two that were slightly off. It didn't make a difference though. At the end of the play he sang Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody with 25 of the most annoying voices in the music industry. Including Axl Rose, Bono, Neil Diamond, and Barry White. Overall, I had a great time and I give it 5 pickles.

My Memoir

Hello, I am Timothy Ray Dills and this is my memoir. I was born on December 9, 1993. At the time I lived in Burlington on Orange Avenue. We lived by a pea processing plant. We had a basketball hoop in our back yard.

I remember one time it snowed at our house. We built a big snowman. I was determined that I was going to sleep outside. Yeah, never happened. I also remember when I was a baby my mom would put me in a stroller and we would take walks. We walked past the cow pastures. We walked past the day care. We would walk everyday.

There was this wierd guy who lived across the street. He had a bunch of guns in a safe in his kitchen. He was also missing a big toe on one foot. He also made honey. I remember watching the sonics games on T.V., back when they were good. We would eat bean dip while we watched them play the Bulls. I loved our old house.

When I was four years old I went to Disney Land. While we were there I got to play on all the rides. The ones I really
remember were the E.T. ride and the Peter Pan ride. Those were the only ones I went on because I was too scared to go on any of the other rides. I had a great time.

We also went to Tube Time a lot. Tube Time was fun because they had a big purple slide. I loved hanging on the monkey bars. My grandma, Nene and I would go to Thousand Trails a lot. When we went we would get ice cream. Then we would go swimming in the pool. I loved hanging out with my cousins. We would play fun games like cops and robbers. We would also go down to the creek and build forts.

When I was six years old I slipped and cut my head open on a heater and I had to go get stitches. It was really scary going into the emergency room. They had big scicssors and needles in all the draweres. I remember going on a lot of hikes with my family. One time me and my mom went to Mount Baker in our old Ford truck with bald tires. We got stuck in the snow, which my mom thought she could drive through, right! We were stuck and only had enough time to say a quick prayer when all of a sudden these four guys walked right out of the woods and helped us push our truck out. We turned around and they were gone just like that. It was weird.

When I was nine years old I started playing baseball. Baseball was so fun. I remember I had been in coach pitch that year and I loved playing. One of my favorite birthday parties ever was when I turned ten because I was finally double digits. When I was ten I had started playing football and one day at practice I fractured my wrist, it really hurt. Once again I had to go to the emergency room and get my wrist x-rayed.

Every New Year's Day we would go to Big Papas. We would talk with everybody and eat Sauerkraut. That was really fun because all my cousins were there and we would play outside. Now I am almost 14 years old and I am homeschooling for my 8th grade year. That is why I am writing this memoir. So far I've had a great life and I hope it continues.

Book Review: Jude by Kate Morgenroth

Jude was a great book because it was a gripping thriller and kept me reading all night. Here's the deal, the main character, Jude, was kidnapped as a baby by his drug dealing father, who, just happens to be a former cop. Jude lives with his father
the following 15 years. One day his father is killed for tampering with his supply to try and get more money. His supplier finds out, comes to his apartment, and kills his father in front of him. Then the murderers threaten Jude but Jude promises not to tell anyone about what happened to his father.

Jude's mother, who's been out of the picture for 15 years, is contacted when he is brought into custody, she just happens to be the prosecuting attorney. She brings him into her home but is not very loving towards him, kind of like she doesn't know how. Her cop boyfriend, Harry seems very supportive and friendly to Jude. He lives with her for a couple of months and attends high school with rich kids when he is approached by the "bad kids" to help them buy drugs.

He reluctantly sets them up with a dealer. In the end he is blamed for a death of one of the students when they overdose. He is busted for selling drugs when he was not the one actually selling the. His mother, who's running for mayor needs to distance herself from Jude's arrest to increase her chances of being voted into office. His mom’s boyfriend helps work a deal but he ends up going to jail anyway.

It just gets worse from there for Jude. I don't want to spoil the ending so you'll just have to read the story to find out what happens next. I recommend this book highly and give it 4 out of 5 pickles.

I've also just finished up a book called Bottled Up by Jaye Murray - I'll fill you in soon.

Just FYI - I did start a book called Whirligig by Paul Fleischman but ended up not finishing it. Why, you ask? Well, it started out good. A boy who kills a girl when driving drunk finds himself on a strange journey building whirligigs. My problem was when the author began introducing lots of new characters in the middle of the story I found myself losing interest...but you might just like it.

"Parliament"

Spelling is a very important subject that everybody needs to know. If you can`t spell then you can`t write. Spelling is something that you use everyday. This is my story about an interesting spelling adventure that I will always remember.

This past school year I won our class spelling bee. So that makes me the best speller, right? Wrong! This year I got a terrible grade in spelling. It was horrible. Let's just say mom and dad didn't take me out for dinner to celebrate my grades.

The reason I didn't do that well was because I wasn't very consistent in turning in my work on time. Which seemed to be my downfall. I would finish my work and not turn it in. Why?? I honestly don`t know.

When I went to the private school spelling bee I got third place which is pretty good out of 15-20 kids. It was really fun but it was sort of boring, if you know what I mean. We had to wait for all the other grades to go first and we were one of the last ones to go. I will never forget the word, "parliament" It is the one I missed. I know it's an easy word if you sound it out but I was under a lot of pressure.

So, it goes to show you, you can be really good in a contest and really bad everyday. It's like baseball. You can be a clutch performer in the postseason and at the same time a mediocre player in the regular season.

Lesson learned? Spelling is an important factor in everyone's life whether they realize it or not. It demonstrates to others what you are capable of academically to some degree...whether you turn your homework in on time or not. :)

Viva Las Vegas

July has been a crazy month and a very busy month I might add. We have played a lot of baseball and we have got to see our relatives. This is just a little bit of our July and what we've been doing.
This past week my parents went to Las Vegas because my dad had a seminar he had to go to. My brother and I stayed with relatives. Our first two days we stayed with my uncle. We had a lot of fun at his place we got to watch a bunch of movies.
The rest of the week we stayed at my grandmas A.K.A Nini. Her house is really small but it was still really fun. While we were there we played with Ray and Luke, our little cousins. At the end of the week our other cousins came and we got to hang out with them.
The next day our parents finally came home and we all partied. Just kidding, we were really glad to see them, but we stayed another night because everbody was supposed to camp in the tent but everybody ended up going inside. The next morning our mom came and picked us up.
That concludes our week on vacation. We have finally got to sleep in our own beds. Unfortunately, I missed the All-Star game. But at least I recorded part of it.




THE END

TO HELL AND BACK - Life in the Berry Fields

Most people think sending their children to go pick in the berry fields is a good idea. Well, I am telling you now that it’s not. Sure, you make a little money (14 cents a pound) but it’s not worth it. First you have to go out there rain or shine, sit in a field, and pick as fast or slow as you can. Some people don’t even work. They just sit and talk to their friends.

There are many things that happen in the berry fields; swearing, stealing, gossip, assault (with rotten berries), and grumpy field bosses.. For instance, today I got my berries stolen, I felt so violated!. Those rotten little punks, of course I didn’t see who did it but I know they’re rotten, rotten to the core. I’m a rookie at this but have learned that you need to always guard your flat. Some people even get fired occasionally. So remember, guard your berries because your berries are your money.

Your parents can come help you out in the fields. The first time my mom suggested this I just said, "Oh, no, that’s okay, you don’t need to come out and help me." I was sadly mistaken and thought that this would ruin my social life but quickly learned that in the berries you really don’t have a social life. So, my mom came out twice for two hours and my dad helped me for 5 hours one day and we got two hundred pounds. Many kids have their parents come out and work so they can make sure they earn some money. It makes it a lot easier and it’s fun to see your parents out there getting dirty like everybody else.

The most annoying thing is after a day in the fields your hands are as red as a ripe tomato. I am going to be brutally honest. BERRIES STINK! So, if you send your kids to berries, think about what they are going through. Think about all the pain and suffering . I for one, am never going to send any of my children to pick berries. Maybe I am being a little dramatic but it’s my opinion.