Monday in Brief

March Madness: The first thing Carter asked me this morning was "When do we get our brackets?" Well how can we not be thinking about basketball around here when we're watching hoops at every level -- from high school to NBA? The answer is that the NCAA brackets will not come this week, but we will hopefully enjoy anywhere from 1 to 3 Assumption playoff games this week between girls and boys teams on the road to state!

Coming of Age: We've had some news in our neck of the woods that really shook us up. A UW-Stevens Point student went missing Saturday after celebrating his 21st birthday at the bars. Today they pulled his body out of the Wisconsin River, just a few hundred feet from the last bar he visited. Since our Casey is turning 21 on Wednesday, this is really scary stuff to hear. We tell him to be careful and he says he always is, but it's scary nonetheless. Why do kids have to prove their adulthood with this particular rite of passage? I don't know. I guess we all did.

Making the Cut: I always cut the guys' hair. Cutting hair is something I learned how to do from my oldest sister long ago. It's just what I do. Frankly, the money I save cutting their hair gives me more money to pay for my expensive hair artist! Ha. Last night I cut Carter's hair but even though I cut it how I always do, he got really upset because I cut it too short on the side. "Where's my sideburns?" Seriously, dude, you did not have sideburns. And really, does an 8th-grader need sideburns? So I said fine, I retire from cutting hair. Tonight he said I better be like Brett Favre and un-retire because he wanted it all buzzed off now. So I relented and gave him his second haircut in 2 days.

Do I have a diva in the making? This could be a long week!