SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

Today is the first official day of Spring Break!
Is it wrong I tend to get more excited than the boys do about it?
Really seems like it *should* be the other way around....
Of course, the weather isn't gonna be as nice as it was last week, but that's life in the Midwest for ya.
Dammit.
Sucks when I can't have my cake AND eat it too, ya know?

The Final Four is tomorrow, and it will either MAKE MY MONTH or crush me like a grape.
I need Georgetown and UCLA to win (both #2's, playing #1's).
It will either be my personal April Fool's weekend (as I go down in flames), or the rest of the country's (for picking both #1's to win).
I fear it will be the former....I can almost hear Destiny's "MUUAAHHH!!" ringing in my head as I came *this* close to utter, shameless, bonafide, balls-out victory.
*sigh*

I did a Girls Night Out (work group) last night, which was really nice -- only the 3 of us, which I prefer.
I can really be myself with L & L (or as close to myself as I can be surrounded by conservative people who believe the opposite I do about so many things).
I like it when H is there too....but I can do without T & C.
They both seem have a rod firmly wedged up their asses, and though the time with them is still enjoyable, seeing their sour pusses across the table can be a bit dampening on the spirit of things.
Why can't everyone just be like ME?
Would make life so much easier (for me anyway, which -- let's face it -- IS all that matters.)
It should be a while before I see either Girls group again soon (work or school)....which is probably a good thing.
The restaurant L & L chose last night wasn't good on my wallet or waistline.
But it was deadly good on my tastebuds....ooooh baby!
An Italian Bistro with homemade pastas, breads and sauces....2-for-1 glasses of sangria....and all pasta dishes are bottomless!
That should hold me for a while.

Happy Spring Break!!
(I would wish you a Happy Spring, but I refuse to do that when Spring is still off in the distance for a while yet up here....yeah, I'm jealous and spiteful like that.)

Whose kids ARE these??

One of the things that amazes me the most about kids is how the same two people can have such different kids.
We have the same genes....we raise them in (mostly) the same way....they have (pretty much) the same life experiences....
Yet they're total opposites!
How is that possible?
I just got a crash course in this phenomenon over the past 24 hours.

SJ (10) has always been incredibly smart, mature and eager to please.
He's in his school's choir, and I went to see their spring concert today.
Although he's generally a quiet, reserved kid, something happens to him when he gets onstage.
The kid just shines, and blows me away.
It's so much fun to watch him, especially since most of the other kids are doing the I'm-too-cool-to-do-the-full-movements thing.
I love watching him bloom into whatever in the word he's gonna be....no clue yet.

And then we have JM (7).
Also incredibly smart, sweet, and eager to please....but with a mischievous side as well.
Where SJ would rather DIE than get caught breaking the rules, JM loves to try to get away with as much as he can.
Just yesterday, ANOTHER call from the principal about something JM did in school.
(I'm not overly-impressed with her as principal, and I feel like she singles him out sometimes, but I digress.)
THIS time, he was flicking another boy's ears while he was trying to use the urinal.
Only JM could come up with this one.
He spent another recess in her office, filling out another "think" form about his actions.
At what point is this just normal boy behavior, and at what point do we get worried?
Since SJ is our only experience (and not a typical one by any means), I have no idea.

So seeing the principal at the school today was weird....I felt both pride with SJ's performance today and shame at JM's behavior yesterday.
It came out in a stilted, "Hey!"

Does every parent go through this?

I don't even wanna think about what JA (4) is gonna do.
He's behind the other kids in his preschool class with basic skills (another new thing for us), and is the wildest one of them all.
*sigh*
I get tired just thinking about it.

WILL YOU CHILDREN JUST STAY IN CONVENIENT, IDENTICAL, PREDETERMINED MOLDS FOR ME PLEASE, SO I KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND I CAN KEEP UP??
Thank you.
(And monkeys might fly outta my butt....)

Holy sweet action, Batman!!

Though the teams I like/pull for have not advanced to the Final Four, I am a potentially VERY happy camper.
JN and I are entered in two pools -- one through JN's work, and a national one through my nephew's baseball team fundraiser.
JN's work entry is a bracket I filled out; the other one consists of randomly-assigned teams.
I'm kicking tall ass at both!!

With JN's work bracket, I'm currently in 5th place -- but if my teams win out and Georgetown wins it all (how's that for a ballsy pick?), I'm guaranteed a tie for first place!
Then it would come down to total points scored in the championship game....I have 124, the other guy has 154.
Considering the guy I'd be tied with is a total dick, this would be way sweeter than just the 100+ bucks we'd pocket.

The other pool is crazier -- as of right now, we're winning the grand prize!!
This is a NATIONAL pool, so the fact that WE are winning right now is insane enough.
What really knocks me over is the amount of the grand prize: 1000 big ones!!
Yeah, that would make life just a bit easier right now.
The problem here is we have to hope UCLA (the only team we have left) goes all the way and scores a LOTTA points....PLUS we have to hope the tickets close to us don't have any teams left.
We can't view the other tickets, so we just have to cross our fingers and hope.
We're not nearly ready to count the money yet, but just being this close is SWEET.
And no, there's no bucks for second place -- you gotta win it all.
The odds? Not good.
But oh, mama, it's fun to think about.

I don't think there's any way we could win both (since one needs Georgetown to win and one needs UCLA), but I'll gladly give up the bragging rights at JN's work in exchange for 1000 bucks.
I'm humble like that.

In other good news, I managed to lose 1.4 pounds last week, so YAY!
(Love that digital scale.)
Gotta keep my ass in gear....I just realized I have 434 days until my goal target date of 6/1/08.
(Yes, I'm counting down.)
No more slacking!

Nothing for me to bitch about today?
Strange.
Enjoy it while it lasts! :)
I'm sure that will change pretty quick....

7 days, 2 hours and 40 minutes until my Cubbies Opening Day!!
WOO HOO!!!!

Back from the dead....

At the urging of my loyal readers (make that "reader" -- thanks Kathie!), I've returned from the depths of the winter blahs.
Yes, today is officially the first day of spring, which is completely meaningless up here.
"First day of spring," my ass.
March 21st here simply means we're seeing Warm Weather's tailights, way off in the distance, for the first time since November....which IS nice.
But it sucks knowing the rest of the world (i.e., back home in IL) is actually catching up to Warm Weather and preparing to climb into the back seat for the duration.
Yes, woe is me, blah, blah, de-fucking-blah.
I get it, I'll stop whining now.

I'm getting back onto the healthy horse yet again in a (vain?) attempt to lose 77 pounds by June 1st of next year.
Possible? Yes.
Plausible? Hmmm....
I'm working on that one.
But I've eaten well for exactly 1&1/2 days in a row, and exercised for exactly....well, today.
WHOOPIE!!
It's a start.

My NCAA bracket got busted good in the second round, losing 3 of my Elite Eight teams.
(Damn you, Texas, Louisville and Wisconsin!!)
I'll still have my ass firmly planted in front of the TV this weekend....
The NCAA tournament is probably the best event in all of sports, and yes, I'm counting the Super Bowl.
(And no, I'm not just saying that because my Bears got their asses kicked.)
It holds more excitement, more twists and turns, more drama than anything known to man.
I love every single second of it.
Filling out a bracket only adds to it all.
JN's bracket is still alive, so maybe we can win some bucks after all.
But in order for that to happen, North Carolina's gotta win it all.
Which means I gotta pull for North Carolina?
Not sure if I can pull the trigger on that one yet.
Maybe I can get away with yelling, "GO, MONEY!" at the TV.
Hmmm....might not be quite the same.