March, 2010

Today’s a halfway point of sorts.

The last two weeks have been a roller coaster where what I thought were the low points were actually the highs. The first week was meeting-intensive (40 hours in meetings) and I contributed a week’s worth of stories including a few A1 stories. Because I was out of the office so much, I didn’t plan well for the next week. Things kept popping up — arts story, conference at the college, video interview — so I guess it was good I didn’t have big plans.

We joked I became the PAWS reporter — PAWS = Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students, the state’s annual standardized test to meet No Child Left Behind requirements. There have been oodles of problems statewide with the tests, which run online. Servers crashed, screens froze, certain keystrokes caused the program to shut down. Last week, I heard that one of the high schools had been sent bad protractors but didn’t realize it after 90 percent of the students had taken the test. Whoops. Sure, students can use their own instruments, but wouldn’t you want to use what the testing company sent you?? Nuts.

Two weeks from today I’ll be in Illinois for the wedding of my high school friends Tori and Tim. Finding a dress for an A.M., spring wedding in Wyoming has proven difficult. Time to turn to the Internet…

The trip will be the first time I’ve been home since August and probably will be the only time in the next 12 months. All my vacation days are booked up and it’s too expensive/risky to travel around the holidays.

I’m looking forward to a long weekend with not a lot of plans. My grandparents will be in and out of the hospital that weekend (grandma’s having her hip replaced) so I hope to see them in between meals at Mary’s Market and naps on the couch with my mom’s dog.

Well, this guy might cut into my Macy time (as in, he’ll be cuddling with her.)

getting ready to blow out the candles

It’s been almost a week since my birthday. It’s finally set in that I’m a year older, so I guess I can blog about it.

Middle-of-the-week birthdays are a challenge. You have to work or go to school that day. Everyone else has to work or go to school. Celebrations can’t get too crazy because everyone has to go to work or school the next day.

That said, it was a pretty good day:

• I stopped to get coffee but realized I forgot my wallet. When I got into work, there was a gift card to the local convenience store on my desk, a gift from the publisher. I don’t think he knew how much I appreciated that.
• It was 55 degrees and sunny. I had time after work for a nice walk around the neighborhood.
• I baked the rainbow cookies my mom always baked for my birthdays. Everyone at work enjoyed them and when I got home there was another box of them in the mail from my mom. So there were rainbow cookies all week!
• Friends from work met me at the wine bar for a few copas. Carol bought a cheesecake and princess candles and they sang to me.
• We moved to the Wonder Bar, where local musician Chad Lore also sang happy birthday to me. He thought I was 21. I didn’t correct him.
• After dancing and chatting with the Caribbean guys we met the weekend before, the bar closed and we went back to a friend’s house to watch the Presidential reunion video.
• We watched videos until 2 a.m.

Low-key, but not. Late night, but worth it.

I certainly felt older when I woke up for work at 7 a.m. 25: The age you become too old to pretend you’re in college for the night and wake up feeling 100 percent.