Sunday, May 27, 2007

Wedding Bells...

No, not mine. Sheesh...you think I wouldn't have said something sooner if they were mine?
This afternoon I attended my friend N.'s wedding. As I've been known to do, I spent the last few months agonizing about what shirt I would wear with my flippy skirt, as I was concerned the one sweater I owned to go with it would be too warm.
I can hear you all thinking, "Silly, Erin." And you'd be right. This morning dawned rainy...and cold. Being too warm was definitely not an issue. The wedding itself was beautiful, very intimate. I would go so far as to say I don't think there were more than 50 people in the room, and that included the three kids running around. I found another of N's friends early on, and sat with her and her fiance, along with two other couples, at dinner. We spent the whole meal laughing, talking about various bits of trivia as well as where the visitors should go tomorrow. Probably the hardest part of the whole thing was being surrounded by so many happy couples. Everywhere I turned, I bumped into another one. Then there was me. Yeah, me. The girl everyone congratulated for her "moving" toast. I swore I wouldn't cry. I had a whole "funny" toast in my head, I was ready to wow the crowd.
I opened my mouth, and proceeded to blubber my way through the congratulations. I had the entire room in tears. For the rest of the night, people kept coming up to me to tell me how "beautiful" the speech was.
That so wasn't the plan. The plan was funny. It was witty. It was downright hysterical! Instead, I played the part of the weeping willow.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Birthday fun...

Sunday was my tea party, full of good food, lots of laughter and good friends. I baked something like 5 dozen cookies and a pan of brownies, but that wasn't the end of it. My friends all brought something to contribute, the hot water flowed freely, and the tea was enjoyed by all.
The birthday fun continued with dinner out that night, along with one of Eddie Izzard's dvds.
Yesterday was the Tiaras, complete with more birthday celebrations. Presents abounded, and let me tell you, my friends know how to shop for me. Makes me wonder if my gift giving abilities will ever be half as good. I've included a couple of photos, just to prove how well they do know me. You won't find the comfy throw Kelli got me, or the fabulous inspirational hanging from Shannon, but you will see my awesome knew lamp from Christina and the awesome dishes Serena found to match my knew plates.
Aren't my friends the best?
I could go on. I could tell you about the division flashcards, or the boxes of tea...but that would just be bragging :)

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Life is looking up...

I'm not going to complain. Nope, not me. Especially when...
  • I received my contract for next year. Yes, I'm once again employed.
  • Ms. K. took me to dinner for my birthday. Mmmm, yummy Greek food, and an extra yummy dessert. Even if I can't pronounce what it was.
  • Tomorrow I'm off to the Pacific Science Center with the rest of the 5th grade team, as well as a few students who won an afternoon with us at the school auction.
  • Sunday is my birthday tea party. A handful of friends, cookies (the batter is in the fridge as we speak), brownies, mandel bread, and an assortment of teas.
  • Monday is Tiaras.
  • Tuesday is dinner with my family.
  • Wednesday, well don't have any plans for the actual day of my birth, other than praying my father doesn't call at 2:45 a.m., just to sing. I'd rather he wait until a more normal hour.

So there are my happy thoughts. What are yours?

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Save the fishies!

I'm about to commit a crime. A perfectly legal crime...against bugs. Monday, when I go back to school, I'll be asking some of my students to pack up the bugs and beetles to "transfer" to another school. Where will they go, you ask? Into the freezer in the staff lounge.
Yup, I'm putting them in the deep freeze.
Then no more bugs and beetles for me! Which leaves me with the fish, who are dying off at a rapid rate. I lost four today. I just pray they make it through the weekend. I need at least 4 or 5 for next week's lessons. It didn't help that I lost an entire aquarium on Tuesday. Not good at all.

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

With friends like these...


Yesterday was...well, it was a Monday. That's really the best way to describe it. It was a Monday all day long. It began with my students being off the wall, and a tankful of dead fish and ended with a rejection and the news that the band I planned to go hear on Saturday, to celebrate my birthday, was not actually playing on Saturday.
*sigh*
It was a Monday. So I did what any good writer does...I emailed some of my closest friends and whined. Two wrote back fairly quickly, agreeing that rejections a week before one's birthday should be illegal. One sent an email this morning reminding me of all the hidden blessings behind the rejection. And yes, I briefly wanted to smack her. But how can you smack someone who points out that your new book is even better than the one being rejected? Another friend reminded me of the good parts of the rejection, which really could be taken as a birthday gift, right?
Lest you think I forgot, there were other good parts to Monday. Dinner with a friend, no critters loose in the room (unlike Friday and today), and a beautiful, sunny day outside.
And today was definitely a better day, especially when I ignore that my students managed to lose at least 2 isopods (potato bugs) somewhere in my classroom during science today. I found out that Megan sent me a cd (thankfully I didn't throw out that envelope), and took a walk outside. How about you? How's your week starting off?

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Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Top Ten Ways to Spend a Sunny Day...

The last several days have been sunny, an absolute blessing after a winter of dull, gray, rainy weather. So in honor of the sun, and Dona's post, here are my top 10 ways to spend a sunny day...
  1. Biking...sunny weather is perfect for a nice long ride with Mom.
  2. Sitting on my porch with a good book and a glass of ice tea.
  3. Walking around Greenlake. It's a lake. It's a circle. What more can I say?
  4. Taking my grandparent's boat out on the lake. Since I moved out here, this one happens way less frequently.
  5. Taking a blanket out to Greenlake, along with some writing or a good book.
  6. Walking along the waterfront. Whether it's the Sound or the Lake, it's relaxing and gorgeous.
  7. People watching at any of the above places.
  8. A picnic. Granted I hate bugs, and believe me there will be a post on that later, but packing a picnic lunch or dinner and taking it out to a park to eat? Divine.
  9. Sunsets. Sunsets after a sunny day are just about the most beautiful thing I've seen.
  10. Sitting outside at a cafe with an iced latte or iced tea, a good friend and lots of laughter.

So how about you? What do you love to do on a sunny day?

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Monday, May 07, 2007

Random Thoughts...

Parlez-vous Francais?
There is a section on the blogger main page that allows me to change the language of my blog. Occasionally I contemplate doing this. I think about what would happen if my blog suddently went to French. Then I realized that very few of my readers would actually know what the heck it said, since most don't speak French, let alone read it. And I realize that most of you would realize just how odd I am, and run for the hills.
So we'll stay with English. It's just easier.

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Saturday, May 05, 2007

What I should be doing...

I should be writing right now. I should be typing words and adding to my page count. I have no excuse. I've been home for hours (okay, a couple of hours), and I have yet to accomplish much in terms of my page count for the week. But shhhhh...don't tell the Tiaras.

I will finish my pages. It just make take a lot of effort tonight and tomorrow. But I'll get 'em done.

In the meantime, here's an update on my progress today:


  • I finally purchased my ticket to NYC for my trip to Israel. That and my hat will get me, well, to Israel.

  • I picked up a memory card for my camera...for my trip to Israel.

  • I picked up the package waiting for me in the main office of my apartments. My copy of the very hard to come by Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook has finally arrived.

  • I also drove to two different REIs so that Mom and I can have matching jerseys and pants for our bike rides. Yes, it's almost too cute for words. But the jerseys are great, the pants are comfortable, and everyone will know we're together. Believe it or not, we've been meaning to do this for about two years. And yes, I'll post pictures as soon as I have them. For now it's still cool enough during our rides that we have to wear sweatshirts.

There you have it, my progress. Now, I'm off to write...

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Finally...

The WASL is over with. Eight days of testing. Eight days of not answering student questions, no matter how badly I wanted to. Eight days of reading the same directions over, and over, and over again.
And it's over. Finally. This calls for a celebratory diet coke.
Or possibly something stronger...

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Voices in my head...

I found myself trying to explain the voices in my head the other night. I'm afraid I came off sounding like someone who needed to be admitted to the nearest mental hospital, and not a writer. But here's the thing, when I'm in the groove? When I'm inside my characters? I do hear voices. They aren't the crazy voices telling me to do something nutty like throw myself out into traffic and see if I make a good speed bump. They are the voices of my characters, snippets of dialogue, demands for a good kissing scene, you know, the usual. Sometimes they are very demanding, other times, it's like they've put duct tape over their mouths just to mock me and my writing.
So yes, I hear voices. But they're the good kind.

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Dating4Demons


No, it's not a new dating site. It's Serena's new book, and I'm very excited. It's the third book in her Colby trilogy. In this book we'll learn more about the prophecy, Piper's lovelife, and just what happens when a half-blood vampire falls in love with a full-blood. So go...buy...enjoy :)

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