Life

I've been printing church calendars, helping Ann make New Year's Cookies and forgetting the laundry in the washer. It's too cold to hang it out, anyway, so there's no rush. It's a bright, sunny day but the thermometer hasn't even hit 20 degrees.

Yesterday I went to the grade school spelling bee. Although I sometimes read about spelling bees, I don't know when I've ever seen a "real live" one. I enjoyed it immensely.

As I walked in, there was an underlying current of excitement. The air was filled with excited chatter. I found a seat beside Kyle, my best friend. (At least, that's what he called me the last time I saw him. Rest assured, he is only four, but quite charming, I might add.) The children took seats at the front of the room. Will announced the rules of the game. And then...they were off for a trial run. At first it was easy words like "dog" and "hog", but soon the real business of spelling began. Some plunged right in and spelled their word with a rush. Others started and then stopped halfway through to rethink the correct spelling. Some made awful faces hoping that would help conjure up the word in their mind. They would look at the floor in hopes of seeing it spelled out there.

The words got harder and harder and one by one the students dropped out. We sat on the edge of our seats and silently cheered the remaining ones on. At last there were only two boys left, but alas! one misspelled word and Shawn was the winner! Loud clapping ensued while he sat up front trying to hide a smile. He took a bow and we clapped some more.

But the spelling bee wasn't over yet! Will asked for volunteers from the audience to compete against the last three contestants. (No, I didn't volunteer. I'm only a good speller with a dictionary in hand.) Heather (a highschooler), Andrea (a teacher), Elizabeth (a grandmother) and Keith (a young father) took their places up front. Anticipation was mounting as one by one the words were shouted out and spelled back again. One down, two, three and four until at last only Shawn and Keith were left. Shawn missed a word and it was passed to Keith but he missed it as well and so the competition continued. The end was in sight and after a long battle Keith was the winner. Ahhh! that was fun!

I went home and called two friends and then went up to make supper. Chicken noodle soup, peas/carrots and biscuits were on the menu. I enjoy cooking but often get busy with other things and so it's easier to just let mom do it.

After supper we played a couple rounds of Dominoes for this is the one game that Dad likes. When I tired of that, I went downstairs to read and then off for an early bedtime. I won't tell you what time I went to bed but by 7:30 this morning I had 10 hours in so thought it might be time to get up.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson