by Amy Braat
In the meantime, I kept looking out the window at the kids playing in the school playground across the street. They looked like they were having so much fun. Then, the school bell would ring and the kids would go inside, and I would begin to work on my app again. I looked over at Granny who was still knitting. I decided to take a break from programming and play with Snow and told him all about how to make ice cream and cookies until my parents got home.
Granny asked me to stay in my room so she could talk to my parents for a few minutes. It seemed to go well since the three of them were smiling, and I was called to come out of my room. I was not sure what they had talked about and the rest of the night went like normal, except Dad did not have time to help me with my program. He had to address some work problems after dinner since the plant was not going as well as they were hoping. So I started on tomorrow’s schooling. I figured that if I got done sooner, maybe Granny and I could make cookies and ice cream tomorrow.
The next morning, Granny did not bring any bags. I was disappointed, but Granny promised me a really big surprise later that day if I finished my schoolwork. I completed my schoolwork quickly since I had started it the night before. Knowing that Granny would have a surprise for me made choking down the healthy lunch Lyla ordered easier. Granny announced the surprise to me. “We are going out on the town. I set up a kid's museum visit for this afternoon. There was a special science demonstration for homeschooled children. So, you will spend the day hanging out with other kids like yourself, who are homeschooled.”
Most likely, I figured, none of them moved around the world like I did, but it sounded like fun. I was so excited that it was difficult for me to wait for the taxi. When we finally arrived, there were rooms of cool things to play with. I did not know where to start until another girl my age, named Mia, invited me to play with her. After introducing ourselves, we decided to hang out together.
“Hi, did you want to make a wind tower with me?” Mia asked me.
“Sure what do we do?” I questioned.
“There are plastic bags, water bottles and Styrofoam cups we can use from these fans to make a device hover in mid-air or blow out the top of the large tubes over here,” Mia suggested.
“Let’s make it hover,” I said.
“Okay,” Mia replied, and we busily worked together to make a hovercraft.
After we had made several, I saw the Bytes and Bots workshop area nearby.
“Mia, we have to go make a robot next. We just have too,” I insisted.
“Okay, let’s go!”
Mia and I had a wonderful time learning the basics of robotics, playing with the different sensors, changing the output wires and making the devices move depending on the input wires. We were there until the museum closed, and we were made to leave.
“It was great building robots with you, Mia,” I said as we were leaving.
“I had fun also. Take care,” Mia waved.
Then, Granny and I took a cab back to the hotel. I was both happy and sad. I was happy to have another girl to relate to who liked to play with something other than dolls, but I was so sad I would never see Mia again. It was the story of my life, moving around so much with my parents.
By the time we returned to the hotel, my parents were already down in the workout room. Granny waited while I changed and then took me down to the workout room and left. I could not stop talking about building robots with Mia. I talked, although a bit out of breath the entire workout and all through dinner. My parents had never seen me this excited in a long time. Right after dinner, I started the next day’s schoolwork, so I would have more time to have fun with Granny.
Chapter Four…More Fun times with Granny
The next morning Granny did not bring any big bags with her, and I was excited about what the surprise would be today. I finished my schooling just in time to go swimming. After swimming, Granny told me to get dressed because we were going out to lunch.
“No rabbit food?” I questioned.
“No, good old-fashioned food,” Granny promised
“Awesome!” I squealed in delight.
This time the taxi took us to a cooking school. I was a bit confused that Granny had signed me up to take a cooking class. For lunch today, we were going to make pizza and brownies with ice cream.
Upon entering, I screamed, “Mia, you’re here!”
“Roe!” Mia exclaimed. “You came!”
“Girls, use your quiet voices inside,” the teacher reminded us.
Mia and I were at the same station so we could make our lunch together. We started with vanilla ice cream. The school had an electric ice cream maker, so we just added the ingredients and turned the machine on while we made their pizzas. We added the yeast to the warm sugar water and waited while talking the whole time about robots and the museum yesterday. We then added the ingredients and kneaded the dough. Granny and Mia's mom sat in the back of the class just laughing at us having a grand old time. While the dough was rising, we made brownies, measuring out all the ingredients and mixing the batter and then pouring it into a pan. We then flattened out the dough and made our pizzas. I made sure to add lots of pepperoni and cheese on mine and no veggies. Mia had chicken and bacon with tomatoes on hers. While the pizzas were baking, we made lemonade from scratch. With the teacher’s help we boiled the water, added the sugar, poured it over ice and then squeezed the lemon into the picture and mixed it up. Lastly, we made a salad, ugh healthy food!
Mia and I spent the whole time talking, even shaping our pizzas like robots. We both agreed that this was the best lunch we had ever had. Even though the brownies came out really dry because we were too busy talking and were not paying attention, so we accidently added an extra cup of flour. It was still the best lunch ever!
That night at dinner, I could not stop talking about my cooking experience. Now that I considered myself an expert and knew how everything was made, I couldn’t wait to try it again. My parents were delighted for me, realizing that they had never seen me so happy and engaged. I ran off after dinner to work on my schoolwork for the next day since I did not want to miss tomorrow's surprise!
Granny only brought one big bag the next day. I was excited on what the surprise might be. I was hoping to see Mia again, but figured that probably was not going to happen and the thought made me sad.
I finished my schooling just in time to go swimming when Granny commented, complimenting me, “You are starting to finish your schoolwork early, making it into a habit. You have been doing a good job at it.”
I beamed as I walked down to the pool with Granny. After swimming, Granny told me that we were going to stay in today. I talked with Mia's mother, and I was invited over to play with her in a few days. That afternoon, Granny was going to teach me how to knit.
“I thought you might like to learn to knit. I have some very nice blue tie-dyed yarn which I thought you would like to make into a scarf for yourself,” Granny suggested.
I really did not want to learn to knit, but I did not have any better ideas, so I sat next to Granny and learned to cast on, knit, and purl. Every hour we took breaks, and Granny had smuggled in some of her sugar cookies to snack on. I love cookies. Sometimes, we would take a short walk around the hotel and just talk. I realized that Granny was one of those easy to talk to people who gave me undivided attention. If I had a grandmother still alive, I imagined her to be just like Granny. By the time my parents arrived home I had the scarf about half done, even with having to go back and fix some dropped stitches and other beginner mistakes.
“Look Mom, I'm making a scarf,” I showed off excitedly.
“Wow, that is looking really nice. Did you do that all by yourself?” my mom wanted to know.
“Granny helped me fix some mistakes, but other than that, I am doing this all by myself,” I beamed.
I gave Granny a hug goodbye and picked up my knitting and took it into my room so Granny could talk with my parents. This had become a habit since Granny had taken over my care. Granny want
ed to make sure that my parents knew where I was in school and socially. They would discuss Granny's plans for my surprises and upcoming school assignments. Granny could tell they obviously loved her very much, but Granny wanted them to see what kind of life they were really giving their daughter with all of their traveling. She wondered if this was the type of life they really wanted for me. Granny would leave that question with them, before leaving for the night.
My parents could tell that I was changing. Now, I had a friend to relate to and a caregiver who took interest in me. I was developing skills outside of school and programming pretty well for an eleven-year-old. They were seeing their daughter really happy for the first time in a long time. Their daughter was growing and become more confident with the new adventures and developmental activities Granny had me doing. Everything they observed, they were very pleased with, although they were uncertain what would happen when their job was finished in a few weeks. I was getting really attached to my new friend and Granny and did not want to leave.
Granny had set up a routine whereby schooling was in the morning before swimming. Then, after lunch, we would share a fun activity until my parents came home. I was now seeing Mia three times a week, and they were the best times ever! We also would get together with the other local homeschooled families once a week. Mia would come over to swim and I think I now understood what playing in the water was. We would have handstand competitions and races and splash contests, as long as we did not get Granny or the other pool users wet, they were okay. I would go over to Mia's house to play one afternoon a week, sometimes Snow would come and we would have so much fun. The days in between we would write emails, text or Skype to one another. The days I did not see Mia, Granny had craft projects planned. I had made a scarf for myself to wear this winter, a matching scarf for Snow and matching hats, all coordinated by Granny. I was not so sure Snow would like a scarf and hat, but he looked good in blue as much as I did. Now, he looked more like a snowman and less like a robot.
Granny brought over cloth and a sewing machine, and we made new clothing for Snow. Granny even sewed him a new body. He was threadbare and most of his stuffing was gone, which would be expected since he has gone almost everywhere with me since I got him years ago. When Snow was out of commission for a few days, I had my dad check his internal wiring. When Snow was new, you would push a button, and his head would light up like a nightlight when he would talk and move. He stopped working a while ago, and since Snow was in pieces, it was time to bring him up to like new condition.
Snow's original outfit was looking a little old and worn, so we made matching pajamas for Snow and me. I told Granny I was too old to have matching pajamas with my doll, but since I had gone to all the trouble to get a pattern and cloth, I would help her make them anyway.
Granny signed me up for an introduction to “Wood Shop, Girl Style”. I was unsure of this but as long as Mia was there it had to be fun. Mia wanted to make a wood bed for her doll, and I guess Snow could use a bed also so I joined the class. Snow did not really need a bed, and I wondered if my mom would let me take it with us next time we moved. But, any class with Mia would be fun so I signed up.
It was a hard class. We learned how to 3D cad design a doll bed which means we had to imagine what we wanted the doll bed to look like. We started by drawing ideas on paper. Some of the ideas were super crazy looking. One girl in the class did a heart-shaped bed she painted pink. Snow would look so silly in a pink bed, so I thought about it. What if I made a bed that looked like a snowflake? That would be so fitting for Snow to sleep in a snowflake bed. So, I started drawing until my hand hurt, and my fingers were turning blue from the marker. Finally, I liked the design and an assistant in the class helped me draw on the computer and make it into a 3D model. It was fun spinning it around and observing what it will look like before it was made.
Once the design was done, the bed parts were cut out on a CNC machine. It reminded me of an upside down personal blender, but the blades were different shaped and called bits. It would travel around and cut the wood out in the shape I had drawn on the computer.
Once the parts were cut out, then I had to sand the wood smooth. The first piece of sandpaper said 80 grit on it, and looked like it had small rocks glued to the paper. We had to be careful with this sandpaper because it would take a lot of wood away quickly. Another girl in class started crying because she had not been paying attention and sanded off one of her peace signs on her doll bed. Mia and I were so glad to get to the final piece of sandpaper. It said 220 grit on it and looked like it had very fine small sand glued to the paper. The wood felt so smooth after sanding it with this sandpaper.
Then, we had to finish the doll bed. One of the girls started freaking out. She had painted her hair on accident and Mia and I could not stop laughing at the big blotch of purple in her hair. One of the helpers was gone for most of the class helping her wash her hair in the sink. I choose to paint mine two colors of blue so the bed looked like a real snowflake. Snow was going to be so happy to have this bed. I could not wait to have him try it out. Mia loved hers. It was all pink and flowery with a few robots mixed in the headboard and was super cute.
I was really disappointed that I only got to draw the shape of the mattress because I really wanted to cut my own mattress for the bed.
The teacher said, “It is too dangerous for you to use so I will have to use the turkey carver to cut the foam.”
It was cool to watch her follow my outline and cut the mattress out of the roll of foam; it cut the foam like butter. I was getting sad since the class was almost finished and my parents had been talking about how their job was finally starting to come together and they should be finishing up soon. This sad thought made me not pay attention while sewing the sheets for the bed, and I had to rip out a whole line of sewing. Mia just giggled and giggled at me as I gave her dirty looks. It was hard to try to get the seam ripper under the stitch but not get the cloth at the same time. Mia, giggling next to me, was not helping. She miss sewed because she was giggling so much and ended up having to remove a bunch of stitches. Now, I was the one laughing. Though, I tried to control it when I was sewing so I did not have to remove any more stitches.
Mia and I were so proud of the finished doll beds. The next time at Mia’s house we set them next to each other and had our dolls take a nap in them. They looked great, and I was so proud of finishing my doll bed. My parents were impressed. Lyla pointed out the few spots I missed painting as I tried not to sneer at her. Mom and Dad would be so upset to see me make faces at Lyla, even if she did deserve it.
Chapter Five: Bad News
I had never been happier. Snow had never looked better. He looked great in his new outfits Granny and I had been making, and I loved to show him off in them. Granny was awesome. I began a mini-quilt for Snow's bed since Snow would need a warmer blanket soon. So Granny and I were piecing together a snowman themed mini-quilt from scraps Granny had. It was turning into a very cute snowman quilt.
After working out after dinner that night, my parents said we needed to talk. My mood went from super happy to depressed in two seconds flat. I knew this meant my parents’ job was almost done, and we would be moving again. I did not want to move, now that we had Granny and Mia. Why couldn't we stay here, but I knew the answer. We moved to where the jobs were. Though, I pretended to not know what they wanted to talk about.
“Roe, we have to talk with you,” my mother said.
“What about?” I asked, pretending I did not know that they were going to tell me that we are moving again.
“The job here will be done shortly. We are in the final testing of the system, which means next week we are going to be moving across the country to the next job. You will have to say good-bye to your friend, Mia and Granny,” My mother announced.
“I do not want to go. Can't we stay here?” I pleaded with everything I had in me.
“Sweetheart, you know we only stay long enough to get the job done, and then we move on to
the next job. It is what we do,” my dad explained.
I stormed off and slammed my door. I grabbed my tablet and emailed Mia that I was leaving next week while crying. I knew this day was going to come, but I had hoped it would not come so soon. I hugged Snow, my only friend, and cried myself to sleep that night.
The next morning Granny showed up with Mia. I was still in bed hugging Snow for dear life. I perked up when Mia entered my bedroom and said, “Are you just going to lie there when I have come all this way to hang out with you?” This surprise made me jump out of bed with a start and smile.
“Mia, you’re here!” I expressed with shock.
“Yes!” Mia screamed back so excited. “My mom said I can come every day with Granny until you are gone, but I have to promise to get my schoolwork done first.”
“Okay, give me five minutes to get dressed, and we will get to work,” I replied, excited again.
“Your parents are waiting to go to breakfast and I am famished, so hurry up. I hope we have French toast,” Mia remarked as I closed the door and went out to the main area.
Mia and I talked all through breakfast. Afterwards, we worked on our schoolwork together. I was so glad to have Mia there to help keep me focused on the schoolwork; otherwise, I would have been staring at it for hours.
It was time for swimming, but Mia and I did not have our schoolwork done yet. We would have to finish it after lunch. Swimming was fun. Mia and I played Marco Polo and had handstand contests. We raced on swimming noodles and hung out at the edge of the pool kicking our feet and talking about how we were going to keep in contact. Maybe Mia could borrow her mom's phone so we could text or call each other more. Maybe, I could come visit sometime. After all, I flew more in a year than most kids had in their lifetimes. What would be one more trip to see my best friend?