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Luckily, the fireworks display at the country club down the road started right about then. It was a little hard to see over the trees, but at that point I don't think anyone really cared. Tuesday This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table

flipping through the comics, and I came across something that almost made me spit out my cereal. It was a two-page back-to-school ad, right where any kid could see it. I can't believe it's actually legal to run a back-to-school ad two months before school starts. Anyone who would do that kind of thing must really not like kids. I'm sure back-to-school ads are gonna start popping up all over the place now, and the next thing you know, Mom is gonna be telling me it's time to go

clothes shopping. And with Mom, that's an all-day affair. So I asked Mom if Dad could take me clothes shopping instead, and she said yes. I think she saw it as some kind of father-son bonding opportunity. But I told Dad he could just go without me and pick out whatever he wanted. Well, that was a dumb move, because Dad did all of his shopping at the pharmacy.

Before I saw that ad, my day was bad enough already. It rained again this morning, so Sweetie tried to get under the covers with me after Dad took him out. I guess I must've been a little off my game, because the dog found a gap between the blanket and the bed and managed to get through. And let me tell you, there's nothing more terrifying than being trapped under your covers wearing nothing but underwear with a wet dog crawling all over you.

I was stewing about the dog and that back-to-school ad when my whole day turned around. Mom had printed out some pictures from the Fourth, and she left them lying on the kitchen table. In one of the pictures you could see a lifeguard in the background. It was a little hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure the lifeguard was Heather Hills. It was so crowded at the pool yesterday that I didn't even notice the lifeguards. And if that really

WAs Heather Hills, I can't believe I missed her. Heather Hills is the sister of Holly Hills, who is one of the cutest girls in my class. But Heather's in HIGH school, which is a whole different league than middle school. This Heather Hills thing is changing my whole perspective on the town pool. In fact, I'm starting to rethink my whole SUMMER. The dog has ruined all the fun of being at home, and I realized that if I don't do something quick, I won't have anything good to say about my vacation.