So, this weekend was good. And fun. And crazy. All rolled into one.

Friday night, Non and I went out with some new friends who recently moved here from New York. We all got along great, and the female of the couple came to my Girls Golden Globes Party (see Sunday).

On Saturday, we went to a bat mitzvah for one of Non�s students in the morning, and in the evening, we went to a birthday party for our good friend, Eric, at a GREAT Mexican Restaurant � complete with Mariachi Band, tequila shots, and pitchers of margaritas. Afterwards, we went back to his house where he and his fianc�e, Judith, hosted a great afterparty party. Eric opened his gifts, including ours, which was a gift certificate and a haiku we wrote together solely for this occasion (we were very happy with ourselves -- it�s always fun to have an excuse to write a haiku):

Getting old ain�t fun.

Viagra and Geritol.

Find my teeth, Judith.

Sunday was saved almost entirely for the Golden Globes. Non and I went shopping for groceries, then I went to the party store to get decorations and party favors, while Non spent a few hours watching football at a friend�s house. He came back in time to help me arrange the food and make the drinks.

All in all, it was a great party. I was wondering how it would turn out � I invited friends of mine from different parts of my life, and I was concerned they may not mix well. But my concerns were quickly put to rest � all the girls seemed to get along smashingly (that�s a word I don�t use often enough -- �smashingly�. That, and the word, �saloon�). All the girls got along with at least one other person, including the Rabbi, who, when she�s got a little alcohol in her, sounds a lot like Fran Drescher.

While the girls were hooting it up in the living room, Non was in the spare bedroom, painting. I went in during a commercial or two to watch him, because I�ve never seen him paint before (I�ve just seen the finished product). It was neat for me to see � really intimate on some level. I�m just in awe of that man sometimes.

On Monday, as promised, we spent the day in Half Moon Bay. It wasn�t the nicest day weather-wise, but we still had a great time. We watched the ocean crash onto the rocks. We went though an art gallery filled with stunning hand-blown glass and thick, wave-like paintings. We walked hand in hand down the main street and popped into whichever stores turned our heads. And we spent 30 minutes crouching in a huge pile of colorful pieces of broken glass, as we picked out our very favorites to use in a yet-to-be-determined art project.

Then, Monday evening, just as we were about to sit down to dinner and a great old movie, the phone rang. It was a radio station informing Non he was a semi-finalist in one of their contests.

The Contest? �Win a $25,000 Wedding.�

Apparently, Non was listening to the radio last week and heard a blurb for the contest. On a whim, he entered by writing a 150-word essay stating why he/we should win the prize. He told me about it that night � he even read me the essay he�d written � but neither of us had thought about it since.

So, today Non went down to the radio station and they recorded him reading his essay and answering a few questions posed by the DJ. It�s going to play in about an hour, and I�m going to rush home to record it. Apparently, there are five semi-finalists this week � one per day. At the end of the week, people can vote online to determine who gets to be one of three finalists. They�ll announce the winning couple on Valentines Day.

So, um� we�re sort of freaking out (in a good way, of course). We�ve been talking and thinking about a wedding so much lately � how fantastic would it be to win an all-expense-paid one?! Later in the week, I�ll put the link in here for those of you (i.e., EVERYONE please) who�d like to help us out and vote online this weekend.

And it wouldn�t hurt to tell your friends.