First mate's log:
May 3, 1974
Peter told me that Cindy has been eavesdropping on everyone lately. I know, he used to secretly tape-record his brothers and sisters. (Yeah, kind of like Nixon.) But Cindy isn't even being sneaky about it. She just walks up to her siblings and asks if they were talking about her, which they never are.
I wonder if this is like the time when she felt left behind by the other kids becoming teenagers. I mean, even Bobby has had his first kiss. Yeah, now Oliver is sort of the "baby of the family," but that's not the same thing. I said Peter should try to be patient with her, as long as she's not doing any harm. He said he'll try.
May 4, 1974
Mike has a new client, Penelope Fletcher. Mike described her to me as having "the face of Liz Taylor, the body of Raquel Welch, and the bank account of Queen Elizabeth." But he was just teasing me, trying to make me a little jealous. Actually, Mrs. Fletcher is Mrs. Howell's widowed cousin, and only the bank account part is true. She heard about his talent from her cousin of course.
She's having Mike design the Penelope Fletcher Cultural Center, which will be located in Los Angeles. He enjoys this kind of project as a change from housing and business offices, but he says she's very difficult to work with, in a different way from Beebe Gallini. (Ms. Gallini did have a face and body equivalent to Liz and Raquel, although her bank account was smaller than Mrs. Fletcher's.)
The only bright side is that Mrs. Fletcher isn't staying on the island for very long, and she wants the preliminary plans by Monday. So Mike's headache may be over soon. Well, unless she sends him harsh letters I suppose.
May 5, 1974
Oliver told me some crazy story about Cindy and a talent scout. I don't know if it's that he's only eight (although he is a very bright eight-year-old, while the Hinkley boys are more average), but I couldn't really follow it. Cindy somehow found out that a talent scout is coming to their house tomorrow evening to see if Cindy can be "the new Shirley Temple." But no one's supposed to know that she knows.
It's not just that I don't think how that's how anyone's discovered, especially these days. But why would anyone want a "new Shirley Temple," when movies are so different nowadays? Yeah, there's definitely '30s nostalgia, but not like that. Also, while Cindy is still a little girl, it's not like she's a kindergartner. Why would a talent scout come all the way to our island just to see her? She's not that great a dancer, singer, or actress.
The other thing that happened today is that Joyce invited me and Mary Ann over for a simple dinner to celebrate the Skipper's birthday. It was nice to get together, just the four of us, and Joyce is a good cook. (Not as good as Mary Ann of course.) Yeah, I don't know how often we'll get to do things like this after the baby, but I guess we can get a sitter sometimes. Or bring the baby along to some things.
May 6, 1974
My goodness, my daughters! Marcia saw Cindy reading Marcia's diary, but Cindy didn't know she was observed. So Marcia concocted a scheme, which Jan was in on, to write entries claiming a talent scout was going to come over to the house and see if Cindy could become "the new Shirley Temple." Cindy then thought that Penelope Fletcher was the talent scout, when Alice mentioned that Mike's client would be dropping by later. So Cindy curled her hair, found a Swiss miss costume somewhere, and began practicing a song & dance routine to "On the Good Ship Lollipop."
Mrs. Fletcher showed up a little early, so you can imagine my surprise and Mike's when we walked in on that, especially since Mrs. Fletcher had joined in! The older woman did enjoy the trip down Memory Lane, but she didn't seem that concerned with Mike's plans anymore. She took them with her but I don't know if anything further will happen with that.
As for the girls, after Mrs. Fletcher left, Cindy confessed to reading Marcia's diary, and Marcia and Jan confessed to their scheme to "teach Cindy a lesson." All three are very sorry and promise to never do anything like this again. I certainly hope not, but I think I can be forgiven for being skeptical.
May 18, 1974
Oliver told me that the "talent agent" turned out to be "one of Uncle Mike's clients." That's too bad for Cindy, but she can always do her Shirley Temple routine in the next talent show.
I don't think Peter knew about all that, and I wasn't going to tell him. The latest that he told me is that Mr. Howell is so impressed with Mr. Brady's work lately, he gave him a pool table! Yeah, we used to have a bamboo pool table, back in the old days. Mr. Howell would usually play against the Skipper. This is a nice professionally made pool table though. Peter is looking forward to using it, since it's not like our island has a pool hall. (And the one on Blenford is too seedy for a clean-cut teen like Peter.)
May 19, 1974
Penelope Fletcher approved Mike's plans and, although she's a bit cold (except when dancing to Shirley Temple songs), the Howells are grateful. In fact, as a reward, Mr. Howell sent Mike a pool table. I know, Mike has never been a pool player, but it's a very generous gift.
He suggested putting it in the living room, but one, it's so large and we'd have to maneuver around it; and two, no offense to Mr. Howell, but I don't want guests to arrive in an area that looks like a pool hall. I don't want it in the family room either, because there's less space in there than in the living room. For now, it's in the garage, where it's a tight fit, but at least it's more protected from rain than it would be in the back yard.
Mike wants to have the Howells over to dinner in thanks. He says it doesn't have to be a fancy banquet, but it's still a little intimidating to me, and Alice. We'll do our best of course, but it'll be Friday so we have to start planning immediately.
May 20, 1974
Peter says that he and his brothers have been playing pool on the new table, which is out in the garage. The girls and Oliver aren't interested, and neither are the adults, even Mr. Brady. Peter admitted he's not very good yet, but he hopes to improve with practice. He showed me some moves with breadsticks and meatballs, and yeah, it got kind of messy.
May 21, 1974
Mr. Howell accepted the dinner invitation, especially since he wants to try out the pool table himself. However, Mrs. Howell remembered they had a previous engagement that evening. So Mike told them I wouldn't mind another couple (people I don't know, from Blenford) joining us on Friday. I'd already sent Marcia and Jan to Garst's General Store for the ingredients, and now I have to send them back to get more.
May 22, 1974
Peter says that Bobby got a lucky pool shot and thinks he's hot stuff. Oliver later told me that Bobby is really good at pool. I don't know what to believe, but I don't have time to see for myself. I'm too busy at the Pizza Parlor, and helping around the house more, now that Mary Ann is so far along in her pregnancy. (We'll be parents next month!)
May 23, 1974
Oh gosh, it turns out that the couple that the Howells were going to have dinner with have house guests! Mike of course told Mr. Howell to invite them as well. So, yes, I've sent the girls back to the general store. Jan joked that Mr. Garst has fallen in love with me because of all these purchases in one week. (And Billy Garst happily delivered the extra groceries, so I guess Jan has redeemed herself over the popularity contest fiasco.)
May 24, 1974
Oliver told me that Bobby beat Greg and Peter at pool. Peter reluctantly admitted it but claimed that Bobby got a bunch of lucky shots. They both said that Bobby wants to quit school and become a professional pool player! Yeah, this is like when Greg wanted to quit school and become a professional baseball player, and then later not go to college but instead become "Johnny Bravo." Hopefully, Bobby will snap out of it, but it might take a dose of reality, like Greg got both times.
May 25, 1974
Yes, we hosted all three couples last night. Most of the kids went over to Blenford to see the premiere of That's Entertainment! (No, I don't know if it had any Shirley Temple movie clips.) Mike and I didn't exactly ground Bobby, but we said he couldn't go. He's been neglecting his homework this week because of that darn pool table. So we told him that he has to catch up this weekend before he can go anywhere. (And it is Memorial Day on Monday, so he's got some extra time before he goes back to school.)
As soon as the guests arrived, in a group, Mr. Howell immediately wanted to play pool. I thought we'd sit around and chat until Alice served dinner, but I didn't put up much of a fight, not wanting to be a bad hostess. The men all went out to the garage, while I entertained Mrs. Howell and the other two ladies.
After awhile, Bobby came downstairs. He wanted to take a break from homework, so I said all right, since it was almost dinnertime. I introduced him of course, and I'd already mentioned my children to the two ladies I hadn't met before.
He wanted to go outside and meet those ladies' husbands, so I said all right. I should've known that he just wanted an excuse to play pool. In fact, he played against Mr. Howell and they bet on it! I was surprised Mike didn't put a stop to it, but it was just packs of bubble gum. They kept doubling the bet, until it got up to 256 packs, which were delivered today.
Both Mr. Howell and Bobby realized they were getting carried away. Mr. Howell and Mike are both donating their pool tables to the recreation hall on Blenford. I'm relieved that this billiard craziness is over, but I continue to wish Penelope Fletcher had never come into our lives.
Oh, and the dinner itself was fine, thanks to Alice and Mr. Garst.