Katy Kelly_Lucy Rose 01 by Lucy Rose: Here's the Thing About Me Page B

trophy for it. And I am probably the best at morning greetings which is a credit to my grandmother because she is very big on greetings and has been rather firm that I should be too. A lot of kids don't know that you should look a grown-up right in the eyes when you meet them and you should say something pleasant and call them by their name. Also you should be thankful if they give you something, even if it is gross. I learned this when my great-aunt Ginnie sent me a green sweater that itched and had too long sleevesfor my birthday and I did not feel thankful at all but my grandmother said, “Lucy Rose, a person's taste can change overnight and the next time you might get lucky.”
    That has not happened to me so far but I take her recommendations because she is from New Orleans and that is one polite city.

September 16
    Here is one good thing: Today I got a postcard from my dad and on the front is a picture of a kid fishing and it says, “I thought I'd drop you a line!” On the back it says Miss Lucy Rose Reilly, which sounds older than 8, I think. Also there is a note that says: “Dear Lucy Rose, I hope your new school is swell. Is it? I love you, Dad.”
    My dad is a teacher of history at Ann Arbor Junior High School so he is one who wants to know every last thing about my school.
    I made a postcard back. My grandmother gave it to me. It is not so interesting on the front because it just has a picture of the Lincoln Memorial which you can see anytime you want if you look at a penny.
    On the other side of the card, I wrote my old address and my dad's name and I called him Mr. Bob Reilly. Next to that I wrote: “Dear Dad, It's okay, I guess.”
    That was not the whole, exact truth.

September 22
    One hard part about being an original thinker is that sometimes it makes teachers glare at you and Mrs. Washburn is a big one for glaring. Also she likes people to “STAY SEATED” just about all the time. When I explained about her at dinner last night, my grandfather said, “Mrs. Washburn doesn't have an original bone in her whole body.”
    Then my mom said, “It's only September and she might get better in a month or two.” Which I doubt.
    Luckily Mrs. Washburn is only a two-morning-a-week teacher who comes to help with reading.
    My everyday teacher is Mr. Welsh and he does not glare. Today he came up to me at lunch and he said, “How are you settling in, Lucy Rose?”
    And I said, “Okie-dokie.”
    And he said, “That's great.”
    And I said, “Well, a little okie-dokie.”
    “Only a little?” he asked me.
    I told him, “Actually, it is not the easiest to be the new kid in the neighborhood and the new kid at school at the exact same time especially when you don't know any friends yet.”
    He had sympathy for that because he told me, “I had a hard time when I was a new teacher and I didn't know any of the other teachers or any of the kids and, to tell you the truth, the principal made me a little nervous, but after a while it got better.”
    “Are you still nervous of the principal?”
    “Nope,” he said. “But it took a little time for me to get the hang of everything. I think that will be true for you, too.”
    “Doubt it,” I said.
    “Lucy Rose,” Mr. Welsh said, “I'll eat my hat if things don't get better for you next month.”
    I have never seen him wear a hat so he might be kidding but I hope he is not because it is almost October and that is the next month and I would really like it to be better.
    Here are some things about Mr. Welsh: He has a nice look of not too much hair and little roundeyeglasses and he is skinnier than my dad and my grandfather, probably because he is one for good eating habits. Plus he has two daughters who are in junior high and a son who is still a kid and a wife who works at the organic store. Mr. Welsh is a big one for jokes. Also palindromes, which are words that are spelled the same forwards and backwards. I know about them from my father and so far I have six. One