Another Busy Week

It's been another busy week. I spent all day Sunday doing a year of the Birders scrapbook so we could display it at the Banquet on Tuesday. I subbed in fifth grade on Monday and Tuesday. Monday night I made a scrapbook page to frame with a poem in it. The four of us on the committee for the Birders Club Banquet decided one of the guys, Steve, deserved a special award because he has planned all the programs and field trips for ten years and done a great job. So we had my sister, Kay Reall, write a poem about him (she writes poems to order), and I printed it out and embellished it with bird stickers and pictures of him. We decorated after school on Tuesday, and the Banquet went very well. We had a catered meal and the food was delicious. This was the tenth anniversary of the Club.

Wednesday I was supposed to take Carson to a preschool program at the Nature Center, but Mandy called early that morning and said she had to cancel it because she was sick. So I had some free time. Went to lunch buffet at Pizza Hut with Jan. My editor for the Pioneer book called and went over the contract with me. He assured me I'll get the first half of the advance in 2006. That way half will be this year and half next. Better for income tax purposes, although it's not a huge amount. He said the book will be in all the big bookstores, and there is an escalating royalty clause, so I'll get more royalties after it sells 15,000 copies. I'm hoping to get more booksignings with it in bookstores. Also want to do more school visits. Paid ones!

Thursday I subbed in fourth grade. I started feeling like I was really getting a cold. By yesterday morning, I felt pretty bad, but I had agreed to do an author program on writing books for a friend's third grade class and two other classes. Just one presentation. I was losing my voice when I got to the end, but they were a great audience. They listened quietly and asked good questions. I didn't even get the usual three: How old are you? How much money do you make? Is it more fun to be an author than a teacher? I went and bought cold medicine and came home and went to bed. Steve called at 5:00 with a Bird Alert. He'd seen a Northern Shrike in his fence row. Regina and I went out on our way to dinner, but it flew as we were walking back to look through his scope and he couldn't locate it again. So we went on to dinner with Jan and Mary.

Don't you hate it when your nose is so plugged up you have to breathe through your mouth and your throat gets so dry it's sore? I finally found out if I slept on two foam wedges and two pillows (essentially sitting up) my nose would drain and I could breathe. I'm just staying home today and tomorrow, trying to get over this.

I'm busy baking cookies for Photo Club. We've been averaging about 75 people a meeting, so I need to make enough for 80. I'm making about eight kinds of cookies, including my famous sour cream cookies and my white chocolate-covered pretzels.

I also need to work on my students' ICL lessons.

Off to work!