Safely through the gauntlet

When you're as nerdy as I am, the term "lost weekend" doesn't really have the same meaning. Generally speaking, when I've had a lost weekend, it's been a whirlwind of activity, but not of the hedonistic-excess kind. It's more like this weekend was - up and dressed and on a bus by 7 a.m., speech judging for most of the day, and chaperoning until 10 or 11 at night. Lather, rinse, repeat.

This weekend was a double-header for the MHS speech team. First, the NFL (that's National Forensic League) national qualifying tournament on Friday, followed by more NFL competition and an invitational tournament at Eagan High School. Exhausting as it is to judge both days, I really liked doing the tournaments. There were a lot of talented students performing both days, and I frequently forgot I was running on little but coffee. (There were some jokes in the judges' lounge about "speech endurance trials," since Friday especially was a nine- or 10-hour day.) They don't let you judge students from your own school, but I know the Marshall kids did well against some of the stiffest competition available to them.

And now here I am, a little bleary-eyed and ready to start the week over again.