Spelling Bee update: We got there thinking there would be one more Bee before Nationals. Wrong. There was only to be one winner, and that kiddo went to Nationals. So, there was an additional amount of pressure. Eleanor made through two rounds, and went out on the third round with ROTUNDA, which she spelled Rhotunda. She got too fancy from all that studying, I think. Anyhoo, she looked great! When she was spelling, she was all calm and confident. And she went out with grace and dignity. And I’m really impressed with how hard she worked! Here she is trying to get a grip on her nerves, pre-Bee. Officially she placed 20 out of 40, I think.
Okay. On to my alphabet games. I’ve got the weird letters today. Erin’s alphabet turned out so great; I feel pressure to be amazing. Also, she said we could double to Prom. YES!!!
U is for Undo. Still looking for the ctrl + z button for life. I’d definitely undo the Spelling Bee, undo a few recent deaths, undo a few things I’ve said over the years. I’d be picky. Failure is not an auto-undo, but some failures? Gah.
V is for Vonnegut. Kurt. “Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.”
W is for writing. Another Vonnegut quote: “If you really want to hurt your parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way to make life more bearable.”
X is for Xi and Xu. Scrabble words. Use them.
Y is for Young Adult, and all the barrel-fulls of problems they offer up to writers. There is no excuse for a lazy plot in young adult fiction. It’s practically impossible. Don’t be gentle either. See letter S. And L.
Jody Sparks Mugele 
Awesome Vonnegut quotes. “V” is definitely going on my wall!
Ditto on the Vonnegut quote! Congrats to Eleanor, too.