Wednesday, September 29, 2010

We Am Smart

Ever since 4th grade when I won the White Bear Lake school district spelling bee with a winning word of "vaccination," I've had this Freudian sense of moral superiority when it comes to spelling.  

I scoff at incorrectly used contractions.

I laugh maniacally at paper stores who misspell the word "stationery".

I still look back with a sort of sick glee the day I completely flummoxed my 7th grade social studies teacher when I told him in front of the whole class that he'd misspelled the word "genealogy" on the chalkboard.  He was so sure that he was right that he looked it up in front of the whole class and had to totally eat his words.  The thought still gives me happy goosebumps.
 

So now that you know what a spelling geek I really am (yes, that is a personalized dictionary), I should probably disclose to you that my spelling prowess does not carry over into comma usage, mopping floors, or late-night typing (which pretty much includes 99.63% of all my blog posts). 

It does, however, carry over into snorting giggling fits over a high school chemistry worksheet that confidently declares that 60 seconds=1 hour. 
Well that explains a lot!     Here I was thinking I was getting 6 or so hours of sleep a night, when really it was only about 360 seconds. 

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7 comments:

Charlene said...

hahahaha....I'll have to tell that to my hubby the next time he wakes me up too early!!! Yes, let's do lunch next week!! Let me know what works for you so I can find someone to watch my little one!!

K said...

I'm definitely getting more than 360 seconds of sleep at the moment even according to that math. You always were a superior speller. I still remember missing the word "why" at a spelling bee in 1st or 2nd grade. Many kids in a row couldn't spell it.

Matthew K said...

I think that texting and spell check have made spelling a skill lost to the youth of the rising generation.

Dad said...

You were the first in a 'short' line of Crain family spelling bee champs.

Although several of your sibs went to the finals of various spelling bees, only Heather and Tim joined you as spelling bee champions-complete with pix and stories in the local newspapers!!

Congrats for always setting the bar so high!

Honey Mommy said...

I knew there was some explanation as to why I still wake up tired every morning!

That is quite the typo!

Mom said...

Thanks for my laugh for the day. No wonder I have been dragging lately with my hundreds of seconds of sleep nightly.

The Giles said...

Did you know that you are a famous blogger?
I received an email from my ward today with a link to your blog. Someone found your conference activity packet and thought it was so wonderful they had to pass it along. Good job!

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