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In fact, we won a LOT of Mom's games. The only one we stunk at was the Mini Pumpkin Toss, but I guess you can't be good at EVERYTHING. After the games were over, somebody turned the music louder, and the party cranked up a notch. It was a little hard to pull out my best moves while I was attached to Rowley, but I still had some pretty good stuff.

事实上，我们赢了很多妈妈的游戏。 我们唯一不擅长的是迷你南瓜扔，但我猜你不可能样样都擅长。 比赛结束后，有人把音乐声调得更响，聚会的气氛也更热烈了。 我和罗利在一起的时候很难使出我最好的招数，但我还是有一些很好的东西。

I gotta say, it was AWESOME. The only kids who WEREN'T having fun were the handful of guys who were there. But I wasn't gonna let a few sour grapes spoil my good time. Right when the party was about to hit the next level, Rowley told me he needed to use the bathroom. But when we made the costume we didn't PLAN for that sort of thing. There wasn't a zipper or anything like that, so the only way to get out of the costume was to cut it off. Neither one of us was wearing pants underneath, so THAT wasn't happening.

我得说，太棒了。 唯一不开心的是在场的几个男孩。 但我不会让酸葡萄心理破坏我的好时光。 就在派对要进入下一个阶段的时候，罗利告诉我他要上厕所。 但是当我们制作服装时，我们并没有计划到这种事情。 没有拉链之类的东西，所以脱掉戏服的唯一方法就是把它剪掉。 我们俩都没在里面穿裤子，所以没有发生那种事。

I was pretty annoyed, because earlier in the evening I had TOLD Rowley to slow down on the fruit punch, and of course he hadn't listened. I decided he was just gonna have to wait until we got home to deal with it. So I tried to go back to having fun, but Rowley made it kind of impossible for me to enjoy myself. I think Mom figured out what was going on from the look on Rowley's face, and she said it was time for us to "wrap things up" and head home. Now I was REALLY mad. The party was in full swing and we had to leave because Rowley needed a potty break.

我很生气，因为晚上早些时候我告诉罗利少喝点水果潘趣酒，当然他没有听。 我决定让他等到我们回家再处理这件事。 所以我试着回去找乐子，但罗利让我无法享受生活。 我想妈妈从罗利脸上的表情看出了发生了什么事，她说我们是时候“收工”回家了。 现在我真的疯了。聚会正进行得如火如荼，我们不得不离开，因为罗利需要上厕所休息一下。

But Mom said it's better to leave a party when it's going strong than when it's fizzling out. She said it makes you look COOL, because everybody will think you have better things to do. I don't know what's better than hanging out with Mariana Mendoza, but Mom was practically pushing me up the stairs. When we drove away, I was pretty miserable. But Mom was as happy as I've ever seen her.

但是妈妈说最好是在派对进展顺利的时候离开，而不是在派对失败的时候。 她说这会让你看起来很酷，因为每个人都会认为你有更好的事情要做。 我不知道还有什么比和玛丽安娜·门多萨一起玩更好，但妈妈几乎把我推上了楼梯。 当我们开车离开的时候，我非常痛苦。 但妈妈是我见过最开心的。

NOVEMBER Thursday All this week, Mariand and her friends have been saying how great the party was and how much fun my mom was. I don't know how to feel about that, exactly, but I guess I'll take it as a compliment. I've kind of lost interest in being in the band, though, and it's not JUST because the party's in the rearview mirror. Once we got back to school on Monday, the guys in the woodwind section started giving me a haro time. And it's not just the BIG guys, either. Even Jake McGough's gotten in on the act.

这个星期，玛丽安德和她的朋友们一直在说这个派对有多棒，我妈妈有多有趣。 我不知道这是什么感觉，但我想我会把它当作一种赞美。 不过，我对加入乐队有点失去兴趣了，这并不仅仅是因为派对已经过去了。 星期一我们一回到学校，木管乐器部的人就开始给我捣乱。 而且不只是那些大公司。 就连杰克·麦高夫也加入进来了。

When I told Mom and Dad I was thinking of quitting the band, Dad said that wasn't an option. He said my instrument cost a lot of money, and that I had to honor my "commitment." He said I can't just quit something because it's HARD, and if there's anything he's gonna teach me, it's PERSEVERANCE. I could tell Dad wasn't gonna let it go, so I promised him I'd keep trying. He seemed pretty happy with that, and I thought I was off the hook.

当我告诉爸爸妈妈我想退出乐队时，爸爸说不可能。 他说我的乐器花了很多钱，我必须履行我的“承诺”。 他说我不能因为事情很难就放弃，如果说他要教我什么的话，那就是坚持不懈。 我看得出爸爸不会放手的，所以我向他保证我会继续努力。 他似乎对此很满意，我以为我可以脱身了。