Savannah the Author

Savannah had to write some poetry for school, and I really love her style. She has always written the cutest, funniest, and most creative stories. She wants to be an author. Her 6th grade teacher says he even looks forward to reading her IRL (Independent Reading Logs) every week.....anyway....

Here are her 3 examples of "clerihews":

There once was a girl named Winifred.
Her favorite color was red.
Once she slipped on a spill of glue.
Now she can't remember....was her favorite color blue?

Come meet George.
Once he fell in a gorge.
He will tell you why he fell,
But it's a lie, a real Tall Tale.

There once was a guy named Victor.
He had a naughty sister.
Once he had to babysit.
Every once in awhile he spanked her a bit.

and here is her first narrative she wrote for 6th grade:

I am petrified of water. As I walked to the cart, I regretted even agreeing to go. Of course, I can't say no to a nice offer from someone, so naturally, I had to go. Some of the people walked by us dry. I was going to miss being dry.

The people who run Disney Land rides take pictures of people screaming their lungs out, I did not know that, seeing as this was my first time at Disney Land. My dad and my aunt knew about it. Anytime we heard clicking noises, my Aunt Corianne would make a “rock on” sign with her fingers and my dad would pretend he was scared. I was sitting right next to my dad, wondering why he was doing that.

The ride was quite slow, so it was more suspenseful. The cheesy animals were nodding and singing. I felt like barfing. Then I saw the vultures grinning like evil villains. Only being seven, I thought they were there to feast on innocent girls. My dad kept pointing them out for me. I laughed very convincingly, tricking my dad to think I wasn't nervous. (I'm quite good at tricking people.) As the vultures cackled wickedly and the cutesie chipmunks sang, I wished there were slingshots for sale.

Then, my eyes saw it, my ears heard it, and I started to shake uncontrollably. We were about to go down the fall.

I closed my eyes, waiting to be taken away by a dark, icy, cold portal... But wait, we had ended our ride! I wasn't even wet! I was so glad, I even laughed at how dumb it was to be so scared. I think Splash Mountain was a great step to overcome my fear of water.

Letting you in on the joke

A few weeks ago, I was traveling back home from a JoAnn fabric store when I realized that it was 4pm and I hadn't eaten anything that day.

I decided to treat myself with a Country Chicken combo from Arctic Circle. I ordered, pulled around, paid the gal at the window and received my drink. Then the gal at the window walked away. I thought she might ask me to pull up and wait (which I have started a movement against!!), but she never did come back to the window.

Instead, a few minutes later, a rather enthusiastic man handed my bag out of the window with a huge grin and said, "Country Combo!!!" with the tone one might use when wishing someone "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Birthday!!". Then he says, "Got your drink???" in the same tone. I assured him that I had my drink and drove away.

As soon as I could get my window rolled up, the kids and I started giggling!! Seriously, there is no way to describe in words the happiness of this fast food worker, or the silliness that it inspired.

All the way home, the kids and I tried to recreate the moment. "Country Combo!!! Got your drink?" And every so often it just comes out in our every day conversations. "How was school. Did you turn in your papers? Country Combo!!!! Got your drink???" I even dared Savannah to say it instead of "Trick or Treat". She was going with a bunch of friends so I didn't think anyone would notice if one kid was saying "Country Combo!!" while the others were saying "Trick or Treat!!" As happens with most inside jokes, this has now evolved to include a kind of growly voice.....it was not said that way, but it is funny that way.

So anytime you're feeling down, remember this gentleman who was so happy to fulfill the duties of his job and proudly proclaim to yourself, "Country Combo!!" and don't forget to ask: "Got your drink???"