I Can See the Madness Now

I love a full moon during the start of March Madness because the bizarre happens and that means this happens...

I know Day One is not quite in the books, but I am riding my high that at 8:54 p.m. on Thursday, my bracket hasn't imploded .... yet. And that's never happened. Look!

In my totally legal because no money involved pool at work, I have 11 our of 11 games correct and share that lead with only one other person. Another girl. Yep. We are rockin' it!

For now. I must gloat during this few-hour window before it's busted.

Now, I admittedly know nothing about college basketball and always have a different strategy for filling out the bracket. This year, I was a little more conservative in the crazy upset picks but did play with my heart for the first round anyway. We'll see how the Gophers and Badgers perform as we go along.

If you hear radio silence from me in the next few days, it's not because I'm eating my words. I just have a completely booked Friday day and night and Saturday day and night. Fun stuff happening and none of it involves basketball!

Just March madness with family and friends.

It's Spring O'clock Somewhere

Trying to be funny, I sent Mr. World Traveler yesterday's snowed-in picture of his car in the front yard and said, "Happy Spring!"

He, in turn, sent us this one...

I guess the joke's on me. 

My first reaction was "Is that green grass real?" He had visited the botanical gardens today so I was skeptical. But it's real. And those blossoms are beautiful... and likely will be gone when I get there in two weeks. But, I'm not going there to see flowers!!

These are pictures from the gardens, though. Your Robyn-pedia info first...

The Botanical Garden of the University of Heidelberg, one of the oldest in Germany, was originally established in 1593 as a "hortus medicus" for the cultivation of medical herbs. I think when you see these, they'll do your heart and health good. Anything that LOOKS like spring will do that.

Hopefully it helped our boy continue on his healing path, too. I know I certainly feel better already.

Welcome, spring! Stick around.

Getting Bent Out of Shape

Guess what day it is? The last day of winter!! Can I get an "Amen!" or at least a "Bleah"?

I'm sure we all got bent out of shape over this long – seemingly twice as long – winter. But not as much as the trees. Wow. A walk through the 'hood and we definitely have damage. In fact, this is a pretty common sight around here thanks to that late-February ice storm and blizzard.

Now I can see which tree broke off and landed on our mailbox.

Every ditch area is pretty much piled with branches, just as they fell.

The ice and snow weighted down the branches and a lot are stuck in the snow still. So not sure if they'll bounce back, stay as an arch, or eventually break.

See the Deer Road sign? Trying to be artsy during the first stage of the melt!

Down the street right where the power line had gone down, we can see why. So many, many branches down.

Plus, those ice bergs! Keep waiting for the Titanic to chug by.

Carter's car is still parked securely in the front yard. Definitely not going anywhere anytime soon.

The snow is slowly exiting. But no way are we putting away the snowblower. After this marathon winter, I don't trust Mother Nature further than I can throw her... or our snowblower can throw snow!

See ya, Winter. Don't let the snowbank hit you in the butt on the way out!

On the Bright Side

Not sure if spring will arrive on time for the calendar designation in two days, but on the bright side – literally – the sun will still be shining after 7 p.m. until mid-September! Yes!

Well, obviously, not when it's raining or snowing or both come April, May and June. But still, don't rain on this parade!

It did feel nice today to gas up after work and I didn't even need gloves on – or a jacket for that matter. After stuffing my face with pizza for a school German Club fundraiser, I really should have taken advantage of the late sunset and above-freezing temps to get some steps. I was too full to move, though. My willpower does not do well with pizza buffets! Yum.

Plus, I had some homework to do for both work and church. And a little organization work.

Yep, I have another bag going into the garbage this week. It's a baby-step process to get the crap out of my office, house and life. But now that it's going to be light out later in the day, I will not want to be trapped indoors, picking through clutter or folding my shirts in a special way to save space.

Nope. Make hay while the sun isn't shining so I can play when it is. Bring on spring!

May the Road (to Recovery) Rise Up to Meet You

There's an Irish blessing that even us Scandi-hoovians have heard. You know, the one where we want the road to rise up to meet them and the wind be at their back, etc. I'm not Irish – hubby is a bit – but I've been thinking about the blessing a lot today. Yes, it's St. Patty's Day but also, I want my baby to be on that road... to recovery.

I now know that one of the harder things about being a mom is trying to mother your sick "baby" seven times zones away! It's been a long week!

In last Sunday's weekly call, Mr. World Traveler said he'd been sick a few days with fever, "migraine" level headaches, and swollen/sore throat. Boy did I want to hop on a plane and deliver some love and chicken soup! All we could do is remain helpless – and pray. A lot.

Long story short, he did get to an English-speaking doctor on both Monday and Thursday since the symptoms persisted. And he finally got antibiotics on Thursday to kick the virus in the butt. He made it to class two days and suffered for it. Today, he told us he's finally feeling close to himself. He can eat and swallow food with no pain and doesn't have too much of a temperature (in Celsius or Fahrenheit) or headache. Praise the Lord!

When I was talking to my mom today she said the worrying doesn't end. It actually grows because you start worrying about grandchildren, too! No wonder we get gray hair!

I'm just pleased that my baby is better and truly on the road to recovery. And that I can deliver chicken soup or whatever he wants in 17 days.

Yep, Momma copes by buying a plane ticket! I'm flying solo and spending a long weekend with Carter from Thursday, April 4, through Sunday, April 7 (flying home on that Monday). Dad will be busy coaching baseball or shoveling fields to prep for baseball. And maybe even having a bratwurst in our honor.

He is part German, after all... and Irish... and English... and Bohemian... and so on.

Coffee, Cows, Cat-astrophe and Cake

After days of flooding, we might as well wake up to more snow since we can't seem to catch a break when it comes to weather "events" these days. Thankfully, the rest of the day was pretty sunshiny from there. Just took coffee, cows, cat-astrophe and cake.

Coffee... had book club at 9 a.m. at From the Ground Up downtown. Six of us there today and we had a good book discussion and great catch-up session. These ladies are my word nerd squad and I love them!

Cows... After book club, Cindy and I made an emergency trip to Kohl's – you know, before her Kohl's Cash expired. Then, since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped at Feltz Dairy, which happens to serve King Cone ice cream. We blamed the cute cows on the miniature merry-go-round for our lack of self-control.

Cat-astophe... Not really, but the cat definitely having one. She went a hiding in Jim's closet when I left for book club in the morning and was there all day.

Meanwhile, Rey was like "I'm too adorable to be a threat! Can't we all get along?" I wish I looked that cute when I begged!

Cake... This evening, the Austin side got together at Anchor Bay to celebrate my mother-in-law's 80th birthday. After a yummy, filling meal, we stopped over at Jim's sister Sherry's house for cake and ice cream.

Jim, his parents, and sister.

Grandma blows out her one candle representing 80!

March birthday kids: Casey, Grandma, and brother-in-law Baird.

Donna Mae with two of her four favorite grandsons! Colin couldn't make it since he and his wife were out of town for a concert. And Carter's still out of the country.

So naturally, I had their share of cake and ice cream.

Maybe my blog title should have been Coffee, Cows, Cat-astrophe, Cake and CALORIES!

Slumber Sweetie

Well of course we're excited to have No. 1 son and his girlfriend staying overnight. But our grand-pup Rey Rae Austin is an extra sweet bonus for the slumber party.

Gotta get my dog fix when I can. Even if kitty is hiding out in Jim's closet!

She'll be OK. She probably just napped in there all evening and thought, "Cats rule and dogs drool." We'll see how the dynamic plays out tomorrow. Either way, the humans will be happy – we'll get cake at the end of the day to celebrate my mother-in-law's 80th birthday.

And we're happy because, after all the crazy weather and flooding we've been having in these parts, a hyper puppy is the perfect distraction. Sweet dreams from Blue Jay Drive!