Another Sunday finds me in front of the computer, trying to remember what in the heck we did last week. Does that mean I'm getting old? (Justin, don't answer that. I already know what you think).
Oh, right. I survived another week in the Project Writeway contest (not too much surprise there, since I had immunity after winning last week). But--sound trumpet fanfare here--I won this week too! You can read my entry here. I think that officially takes my share of good luck for the contest, so don't expect to hear any more winning announcements.
On Wednesday, I got to take Evelyn with me to help out with the 3rd grade spelling bee at a local elementary school as a favor to a friend. Evelyn was surprisingly good the whole time: she stayed in her seat and watched Aladdin on the portable DVD player. The whole thing was actually kind of fun, since I didn't have the agony of trying to spell the words myself. As a plus, I got two free kids meals for Chilis, which solved the problem of dinner that night, since Dan was eating out with a candidate at school. (I refuse to pay $4.50 for a bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese--but I don't mind it free.)
Andrew survived another week of wrestling practices and persists in thinking he's "good at this" (we'll see when we actually take him to a tournament. That might happen next Saturday, so stay tuned.)
Yesterday, the weather forecast predicted a high of 51 or so, and I started planning all these fun outdoor activities. I forgot, though, where we lived. We live in possibly one of the windiest cities in the state. So, even though the sun was shining and it was theoretically warm, it didn't exactly feel warm when we took the kids to the park. So much for my outdoor activities. Instead, we took the kids swimming at the Aquatic center, which seemed to be an acceptable substitution for all concerned, even if it meant I had to put on a swim suit. (Seriously, why can't they make a swim dress that comes down to my ankles? I might not mind wearing that).
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Real Lives in Virtual Space
(I should not be allowed to come up with titles when I'm tired. Just sayin').
This week, perhaps to make up for other, run-of-the mill weeks, was fairly eventful.
For starters, I found out on Monday that I'd won this week's Project Writeaway challenge. Who knew I could actually write decent paranormal haiku?
Dan also had a candidate on campus, so he got to go out to dinner Monday night while I took the kids to Andrew's first wrestling practice. Yes, wrestling. Dan thought it was a good idea--and Andrew does seem to be enjoying it, even if he made a kid cry that first night. (In fairness, this kid was crying before the practice even started, so I don't think it was all Andrew's fault). We have, however, told him quite strictly that he's not to wrestle his sister.
Tuesday night was Young Women's--and they hosted a full-scale mystery dinner in honor of Valentine's Day. (Needless to say, Dan and I didn't get much celebration time that night). The mystery dinner worked like this: the youth were given a list of 9 items, all identified by some sort of "sweet heart" phrase (Too cool, text me, luv, etc.). Each phrase corresponded to a dinner item (spaghetti sauce, noodles, utensils, napkins, bread, salad dressing, salad, brownie, punch). The youth had to choose 3 items for each course, and we brought the stuff out one course at a time. This meant that as leaders we were pretty busy, because we had to make sure each person got what they ordered. But it did have some funny consequences, like kids who got spaghetti sauce, salad dressing, and a napkin for their first course and had to wait to get any real food.
Wednesday morning we had a parent-teacher meeting with Evelyn's preschool teacher (who also happens to be our Stake Primary president). As expected, Evelyn's doing well in most things, but like her brother she has trouble with fine motor skills. And, as I discovered when we made Valentines on Friday, Evelyn holds her scissors strangely (almost upside down) but still manages to cut along a line. Funny kid.
I spent much of Wednesday scouring our house for my turn to host book-club. As it turned out, I needn't have worried--it snowed that night, and not that many people braved the roads to come. We had fun in any case, and I have it on good authority that the scones Dan made (with lemon glaze) were much appreciated.
And then Thursday I had writer's group--after dinner at the Pastry Pub with several other southern Utah writers. It was fun to get out for a little and enjoy some grown up conversation, even if, at this stage, we're all writers more in practice than publications. :)
And now, of course, we're enjoying a longer-than-usual weekend and trying to recover from the week's hedonism.
This week, perhaps to make up for other, run-of-the mill weeks, was fairly eventful.
For starters, I found out on Monday that I'd won this week's Project Writeaway challenge. Who knew I could actually write decent paranormal haiku?
Dan also had a candidate on campus, so he got to go out to dinner Monday night while I took the kids to Andrew's first wrestling practice. Yes, wrestling. Dan thought it was a good idea--and Andrew does seem to be enjoying it, even if he made a kid cry that first night. (In fairness, this kid was crying before the practice even started, so I don't think it was all Andrew's fault). We have, however, told him quite strictly that he's not to wrestle his sister.
Tuesday night was Young Women's--and they hosted a full-scale mystery dinner in honor of Valentine's Day. (Needless to say, Dan and I didn't get much celebration time that night). The mystery dinner worked like this: the youth were given a list of 9 items, all identified by some sort of "sweet heart" phrase (Too cool, text me, luv, etc.). Each phrase corresponded to a dinner item (spaghetti sauce, noodles, utensils, napkins, bread, salad dressing, salad, brownie, punch). The youth had to choose 3 items for each course, and we brought the stuff out one course at a time. This meant that as leaders we were pretty busy, because we had to make sure each person got what they ordered. But it did have some funny consequences, like kids who got spaghetti sauce, salad dressing, and a napkin for their first course and had to wait to get any real food.
Wednesday morning we had a parent-teacher meeting with Evelyn's preschool teacher (who also happens to be our Stake Primary president). As expected, Evelyn's doing well in most things, but like her brother she has trouble with fine motor skills. And, as I discovered when we made Valentines on Friday, Evelyn holds her scissors strangely (almost upside down) but still manages to cut along a line. Funny kid.
I spent much of Wednesday scouring our house for my turn to host book-club. As it turned out, I needn't have worried--it snowed that night, and not that many people braved the roads to come. We had fun in any case, and I have it on good authority that the scones Dan made (with lemon glaze) were much appreciated.
And then Thursday I had writer's group--after dinner at the Pastry Pub with several other southern Utah writers. It was fun to get out for a little and enjoy some grown up conversation, even if, at this stage, we're all writers more in practice than publications. :)
And now, of course, we're enjoying a longer-than-usual weekend and trying to recover from the week's hedonism.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Another week, another update
And yep, that title is just about how creative I'm feeling. I have a head cold. Again. This is my second of the year. At least (knock on wood) the kids haven't picked it up yet.
Our weekly highlights: Monday I had to go down to SG for a doctor's appointment and got caught in traffic: they routed us off 1-15, through Hurricane and Toquerville. And the same thing on the way back. It wasn't until later that I found out all of this was because the police were having some kind of standoff with a guy on the freeway. Anyway, fun stuff.
The middle of the week was mostly school stuff; on Friday we took the family for a walk (Dan and I)/bike ride (the kids) because the weather was so nice. This morning, we got snow.
Also on Friday, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day early by taking the whole family to dinner at the Market Grill (I'd been promised some coconut cream pie). The pie definitely lived up to its reputation; everything else was good, but rich, and Dan was the only one to finish his food.
Yesterday, I spent most of the day indoors, courtesy of the head cold. But the kids got to go to a fancy birthday party for a girl in Andrew's kindergarten class--apparently, her grandpa had some kind of midlife crisis and bought a miniature train. So, yeah, the kids had fun.
And that's what we've been up to. We hope our two readers are all healthy and happy!
Our weekly highlights: Monday I had to go down to SG for a doctor's appointment and got caught in traffic: they routed us off 1-15, through Hurricane and Toquerville. And the same thing on the way back. It wasn't until later that I found out all of this was because the police were having some kind of standoff with a guy on the freeway. Anyway, fun stuff.
The middle of the week was mostly school stuff; on Friday we took the family for a walk (Dan and I)/bike ride (the kids) because the weather was so nice. This morning, we got snow.
Also on Friday, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day early by taking the whole family to dinner at the Market Grill (I'd been promised some coconut cream pie). The pie definitely lived up to its reputation; everything else was good, but rich, and Dan was the only one to finish his food.
Yesterday, I spent most of the day indoors, courtesy of the head cold. But the kids got to go to a fancy birthday party for a girl in Andrew's kindergarten class--apparently, her grandpa had some kind of midlife crisis and bought a miniature train. So, yeah, the kids had fun.
And that's what we've been up to. We hope our two readers are all healthy and happy!
Sunday, February 05, 2012
On Superbowl Sunday
We are conspicuously NOT watching the Super Bowl, although I'm looking forward to another episode of Downton Abbey as soon as I finish this post. (Yes, we are those kind of people).
This week was another relatively calm week (aside from a small emotional outburst on my part that no one here really wants to hear about!). The kids had school (or pre-school), Dan worked, and I taught a couple of classes. Aside from Young Women earlier in the week and Writer's Group on Thursday, we didn't have a lot of outside commitments.
I did have a couple of small writing triumphs. My friend (and critique partner) Elaine and I made the final cut in an online writing contest at Throwing Up Words, a blog run by Carol Lynch Williams, Ann Dee Ellis (another Provo High grad!) and Chris Crowe. I was also a finalist at Miss Snark's First Victim, a contest judged by a literary agent.
I wouldn't normally spend so much time tooting my own horn, but the contests were both nice validations that I've finally figured out at least my opening scene (maybe my writing isn't that crappy after all!)--and I have nothing else to write about. At least, not that I want to post here!
This week was another relatively calm week (aside from a small emotional outburst on my part that no one here really wants to hear about!). The kids had school (or pre-school), Dan worked, and I taught a couple of classes. Aside from Young Women earlier in the week and Writer's Group on Thursday, we didn't have a lot of outside commitments.
I did have a couple of small writing triumphs. My friend (and critique partner) Elaine and I made the final cut in an online writing contest at Throwing Up Words, a blog run by Carol Lynch Williams, Ann Dee Ellis (another Provo High grad!) and Chris Crowe. I was also a finalist at Miss Snark's First Victim, a contest judged by a literary agent.
I wouldn't normally spend so much time tooting my own horn, but the contests were both nice validations that I've finally figured out at least my opening scene (maybe my writing isn't that crappy after all!)--and I have nothing else to write about. At least, not that I want to post here!
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