It is Halloween 2020. This is the first full day that I have taken off in a long time. The boys and I started our day with breakfast at Lupe Tortilla, and then Brainy Bird drove Little Chirp to their dad’s house. Brainy Bird is now getting a hair cut, and I just finished blowing all of the dirt and leaves from our driveway and back porch.
The fur kids and I are now sitting on the back porch. Everyone is taking it easy. Pumpkine and Trooper are bathing in the sun by the pool. Storme is sitting in the chair next to me as if he wants to chat. Potatoe is investigating the fence line. The neighbors are working in their backyard; I guess Potatoe is a nosey neighbor.
I not only have the day off from work; Brainy Bird has the day off from college applications. As of last night, his college applications are complete. I told him to take the day off. On Sunday, he will begin working on scholarship applications. Brainy Bird has applied to 13 schools all with strong computer science programs. He hopes to get into an honors program and be awarded a significant scholarship to one of the schools.
He already received his acceptance letter to the University of Texas, Indiana University and the University of Houston. He will hear about the honors programs and scholarships for these schools in a couple of months. Checking email and the mailbox has gone from being a daily chore to being a greatly anticipated event.
I think that my anticipation is greater than his as he does not realize how exceptional he is. Most kids do not graduate high school with 14 AP courses, averaging a score above 4. Most kids do not start their own business at 16. The word is aptitude. Brainy Bird’s programing, learning and problem solving skills are far beyond that of an ordinary teenager. His next major step in life is finding a college program that puts that aptitude to good use by teaching him leadership and life skills while growing his technology skills.
Brainy Bird’s future is as beautiful as the weather is today.
Little Chirp continues to focus his energy on making the seventh grade basketball team. He is out practicing as soon as he finishes his homework. He is typically outside past dark; we have to tell him to come inside for family time.
Little Chirp got flack from a fellow algebra student this week for liking his brother. I found this to be an interesting conversation. According to the kids in Little Chirp’s algebra class, most kids do not like their brothers. I suspect that this is the moment that his algebra teacher learned that Little Chirp is Brainy Bird’s little brother. This is only the second time that Little Chirp has had a teacher that his older brother had. This teacher is one of Brainy Bird’s all time favorite teachers.
Little Chirp likes the teacher too, but he says that algebra is not as challenging as he thought it would be. This makes me wonder if Little Chirp will follow in his big brother’s footsteps down the path of all advanced classes. Little Chirp’s grades are actually better than his brother’s were in seventh grade. Little Chirp’s grades are AWESOME this first grading period. Brainy Bird’s grades are meh. As Little Chirp would say.
We all have our own Halloween plans this evening. Little Chirp is going to a little Halloween party at his Dad’s. Brainy Bird is hanging out at his best friend’s house, passing out candy to trick or treaters. I am going to my old neighborhood to hang out with some close friends. They are not trick or treating this year. I am looking forward to spending some time with friends. I rarely leave the house; this is not healthy.
The election is in 3 days, oddly it is the furthest thing from my mind. I am focused on what I can control in my life, and not worrying over what I cannot control. This is the only way to stay sane in today’s world. This also means staying off Facebook. I think that many are simply ready for the election to be over regardless of the outcome. I doubt we will know the outcome on election night. I think that it is going to be a long week next week.
In the meantime, today is an incredibly beautiful day.