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I admit I've faked being sick before to get out of going to school, but usually Mom calls my bluff. THE DOCTOR AND GET BLOOD WORK But today Mom took my temperature, and I guess it must've been pretty high, because she said I needed to stay in bed. She said she had to spend the day at the library to study for her final test tonight and she wouldn't be able to stay home to take care of me. Well, that kind of stunk, because the only good thing about being

sick is having someone fuss over you. Mom said Isabella was working today and that if there was an emergency, I could go to her. But after Mom left, I locked my bedroom door because I was afraid Isabella might try to come into my room to take her nap. I must've dozed off around noon, and when I woke up, there was a lot of commotion downstairs. The TV was turned up really loud, and I could hear what sounded like a bunch of women talking. I looked out the window, and there were a ton of cars in the driveway and on the street.

I didn't know what was going on, so I just stayed in my room. About a half hour later, Mom pulled up in her car and went inside the house. Five minutes after that, all these women streamed out the door, including Isabella. Mom walked upstairs to my room, and she was really steamed. She said she decided to come home early from the library to take care of me, and when she did, she walked in on a soap opera viewing party with all the maids from the neighborhood.

KISS ME, REX. KISS ME TO HELP ME SNAP OUT OF MY AMNESIA. Tonight Mom had another house meeting and said that Isabella's services would "no longer be required" and that we were all going to have to pitch in around the house. I was happy to hear that, because now I can stop checking my bed for panty hose socks. Tuesday When I got to school today, Rowley was waiting by my locker, and he had a huge smile on his face. Then I noticed he had a big pimple right in the middle of his forehead.

Most people would have stayed home from school if they had a zit like that, but here's what Rowley said MY MOM SAYS I'M BECOMING A MAN! —Well, that really irked me for some reason. But that wasn't the end of it. Later on in the day I saw Rowley hanging out near the older kids' lockers. So I guess he thinks just because he got a pimple, he's part of their club now or something.

I think it's really pathetic that Rowley's trying to impress people with his stupid zit. And believe me, I'm not jealous or anything. But this is a kid who still sleeps with a pile of stuffed animals every night, so it doesn't make any sense that he would get his first pimple before I got MINE. I will say the whole episode has got me thinking. I've been waiting to hit my growth spurt or at least start growing some facial hair, but things have been kind of slow going. And now that Rowley's got a pimple, I'm kind of anxious to get things moving along. When I got home from school today, I checked myself in the mirror to see if anything seemed different. But everything looked exactly the same as