One Year

This isn't a very good scan, so the image quality is not great. But the point is: The picture on the left was taken in spring 2005. The one on the right in spring 2006. Look at how much my kid has changed in one year! And if you could see his teeth more clearly in photos, you would understand what a difference the braces have made. His teeth were a mess! And he looks so grown up with his hair longer. And cuter, I think.

Am I the only person who considers it lucky when I get a Reese's Cup that has been double ... cupped? You know, when it has two of those cupcake-like liner thingies? Nevermind. I'm babbling.

My checking account has gotten dangerously low (this is becoming a regular thing for me), so said Reese's Cup is my lunch. I snagged it from my boss's candy bowl, and it's free. It's not the first time his candy bowl has kept me from going hungry. Chocolate and tea will keep me going today.

I didn't get to go to Chicago, but I'm already booked for a few days in Florida with my mom in June. Mom found us a sweet condo on the beach, and I booked the flights this morning. Mom and I are taking Jesse and my niece Alia. She's 11 and has never been to the beach. She and Jesse get along really well, and I'm glad her parents agreed to let her come with us. Mom and I aren't nearly entertaining enough for Jesse, so he's excited about having someone to play with. We're going to New Smyrna Beach this year. Jesse didn't like the Gulf side last year because the water is so calm. We used to go to New Smyrna beach when we were kids with mom and dad, and I remember it being a very nice beach.

There are days when I think, you know, living in a tiny house isn't so bad. I can plug in the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the whole house from that outlet. If either SkooterPie or I were to get fired, we'd still be OK financially. I can hear what Jesse's up to from any room of the house. Being short on space has kept me from buying a lot of unnecessary appliances (like bread makers and ice cream makers), thus saving me money.

Then there are days when I really wish the "office" wasn't also the "dining room" and that the "laundry room" wasn't also the "kitchen." And it would be really nice to have a dishwasher. I'm sure my parents and any other out-of-town guests would appreciate it if we had a guest room (although there are plenty of really nice hotels nearby). And a second bathroom would really come in handy.

It's spring: the time of year I inevitably come down with new-house-fever. That's when I whip out my mortgage statement and come to my senses. We really don't need a bigger house and the bigger mortgage that comes with it. We like our neighborhood, which is not more than 20 minutes from anywhere in Memphis and where there are a ton of kids around to play with Jesse. So, that'll do.

The lovely labmonkie tagged me on a 40 questions meme. And thank goodness, because I have nothing at all original to say today. So here goes:

1) Who is the last person you high-fived?
Probably Jesse

2) If you were drafted into a war, would you survive.
Who are we fighting? Because if it’s the Canadians, hell yeah. Iran? Probably not.

3) Do you sleep with the TV on?
Yep. I can never seem to make it through the guest segment on The Daily Show.

4) Have you ever drunk milk straight out of the carton?
Yuck, I hate milk. Wait, in elementary school we all drank milk from those mini-cartons. Does that count?

5) Have you ever won a spelling bee?
Yes, second grade class spelling bee.

6) Have you ever been stung by a bee?
I was stung by a bee in kindergarten while playing Ring around the Roses, and it made me so nauseous that I had to go home. I suspect that I’m slightly allergic, and bees make me really nervous.

7) How fast can you type?
Words per minute? No idea. I’m pretty fast, I think.

8) Are you afraid of the dark?
Not anymore. I was seriously afraid of the dark when I was a kid. I just knew a vampire would get me. I was terrified of vampires.

9) Eye color:
Blue

10) Have you ever made out at a drive-in?
Ew. No.

11) When was the last time you chose a bath over a shower?
Not since I was a teenager probably. I have never had a bath tub nice enough to justify taking a bath.

12) Do you knock on wood?
Yep. I have lots of silly superstitions.

13) Do you floss daily?
No, but don’t tell my dentist.

15) Can you hula hoop?
I used to be able to, but I think I lost that ability at 12.

16) Are you good at keeping secrets?
Yes. Especially that one about a colleague at JC Penney who was having a torrid affair with a store manager. I never told anyone about that. Oh. Oops.

17) What do you want for Christmas?
A partridge in a pear tree

18) Do you know the Muffin Man?
Yes, and I don’t trust him.

19) Do you talk in your sleep?
Not often.

20) Who wrote the book of love?
I don’t know, but they needed an editor. And a spell check.

21) Have you ever flown a kite?
Yes, and … it’s kind of overrated.

22) Do you wish on your fallen lashes?
Yes. I taught Jesse the routine where you squeeze the lash between your index finger and thumb and then guess which finger the lash will be stuck to when you bring your fingers apart.

23) Do you consider yourself successful?
Depends on who you’re comparing me with.

24) How many people are on your contact list of your cell?
15

25) Have you ever asked for a pony?
Yes. Never got one. And now that I know how much work they are, I’m totally glad I never had one.

26) Plans for tomorrow?
Wake up, get Jesse ready for school, take him to school, go to work, work, pick Jesse up from after school care, help him with homework, cook dinner, watch a little TV with the family, pick up around the house, get Jesse ready for bed, read with Jesse, write down books read in Jesse’s reading log, snuggle with Jesse, put Jesse to bed, and then collapse.

27) Can you juggle?
Figuratively speaking, I juggle every single day.

28) Missing someone now?
Yes.

29) When was the last time you told someone "I love you"?
This morning.

30) And truly meant it?
Oh, definitely.

31) How often do you drink?
Last week more than average. I usually have a two or three of glasses of wine or a couple of beers a week.

32) How are you feeling today?
Sad. A colleague called me on my cell phone at 6 a.m. with the terrible news that his baby niece had died this morning. She’d had heart surgery last year and seemed to be doing well. He’s been on my mind all morning.

33) What do you say too much?
Jesse, stop arguing with me.

34) Have you ever been suspended or expelled from school?
No! I would have been mortified. When I was a senior, my classmates were pissed because we weren’t allowed to have a senior day pep rally like every other class before us, and so they staged a walkout in the middle of the day in protest. But I was too scared of getting into trouble and kept my butt in chemistry class.

35) What are you looking forward to?
Getting all of our credit card debt paid off in the next few years. I’ve been working my plan since January of last year and have made a ton of progress. But we still have a long way to go. And then I want our house paid off by the time I’m 40.

36) Have you ever crawled through a window?
I can’t remember. I think I must have once when I locked myself out of my parents’ house.

37) Have you ever eaten dog food?
Allegedly, yes. My grandmother tells a story about me eating food from their dog’s dish when I was a baby.

38) Can you handle the truth?
Usually. It depends on how it's told.

39) Do you like green eggs and ham?
That’s one of my favorite Dr. Suess books.

40) Any cool scars?
Are scars cool? I have a scar on the back of my right leg where I fell on a screw in my grandparents’ back yard and tore up my leg. And I have a scar on my right eyebrow where I fell against the corner of my parents’ TV set when I was a toddler. Then there are the hidden emotional scars that come with having freakishly small feet.

On Tigers and Doves

A conversation with Nana:

"How's that team doing that Jesse like so much? Is it the Redbirds?"
"Basketball team?"
"Yes."
"The Tigers. They lost last night."
"Well ain't that a pity. Oh, the prettiest little morning dove just landed on my porch. You know they mate for life."

Yes, there are more important things than a national championship. But it hurt to see my guys go down so badly. It still hurts. Nana's quick assessment and dismissal of the situation made me smile. No, I didn't know morning doves mated for life. It's always a good idea to talk to people who care about the really important things and can teach you something about them.

3 Games to Go!

We are a smokin' team right now. My gut told me we'd get to the Elite Eight. And now that we're there, I want more. I don't want us to lose yet. Go Tigers!

Rodney looked great last night. Darius finally came alive. Joey has got to learn to control his emotions. Last night when he drew that technical, CBS posted a stat that I wasn't aware of: Joey has received 7 Ts this season, the most of any NCAA player. So chill out Joey. That was a stupid, stupid move. On to Saturday and UCLA.

Bracket points: I picked UCLA over Gonzaga, and I picked LSU over Duke. However, I split those two picks between my brackets. I'm currently in 16th place with my Memphis wins brackets. I don't even want to talk about my Villanova wins bracket.

I woke Jesse up this morning by singing the U of M fight song to him. He didn't really appreciate it as much as I thought he would. If you want to hear it, go here and scroll down to Memphis.

I have just enough time for a quick post.

T-I-G-E-R-S
Tigers!
Gooooooooo Tigers!

Go Tigers Go, Go On To Victory,
Be A Winner Thru And Thru;
Fight Tigers, Fight Cause We’re
Going All The Way –
Fight, Fight
For The Blue And Gray And Say –

Let’s Go Tigers Go,
Go On To Victory.
See Our Colors Bright And True;
It’s Fight Now Without A Fear,
Fight Now Let’s Shout A Cheer,
Shout For Dear Memphis U.

(Yell)

Go Tigers Go
Go Tigers Go
Yea — Tiger Go!

Jesse and I took a break from Tiger basketball last night and attended a Memphis Grizzlies game. A colleague offered me two tickets yesterday afternoon, and I hesitated at first because I knew it meant Jesse wouldn't be getting into bed at a decent hour. Then the parental guilt kicked in (re: character parade), and I accepted his offer. They were comp tickets from the Grizzlies, so I knew the seats would be fairly good. And I haven't been to a Grizzlies game in two years. I've never seen them play at the Forum. While I enjoy watching them play, it's just not the same as watching the Tigers. And being at the games is definitely not the same. I miss the band and the cheers. Grizzlies games are just slicker. I also don't know as much about the players. My favorite player is Pau Gasol, No. 16. The Spaniard is a very controversial player. It's hard out here for a Pau fan. Even when he's the high scorer, someone's bitching that he's too soft or that he falls apart in the second half of the game. The Grizzlies were playing the Pacers last night and won by 30. But this really hasn't been a great season for the Grizz.

In order to get us to the game, I had to leave work, drive to Lindenwood to pick up Jesse, drive back downtown, grab a quick bite to eat at Huey's, walk and walk and walk and walk to FedExForum, and then meet up with my colleage to pick up the tickets from will call. We got to our seats with time to spare. Jesse is truly becoming a great little basketball fan. I was so impressed with his ability to follow the game last night. He hung on every basket, cheering when we scored and getting mad when they scored. He'll yell for defense and shout encouragement to the players. It's really cute. But he also kept yelling "Go Tigers!" which cracked up the people around us. "Mom! I've been to too many Tigers games!"

So after walking and walking and walking and walking back to our car at the end of the game, and driving home, and getting Jesse into the shower, and reading a couple of chapters from a book together and brushing his teeth, I finally got Jesse to bed at 10:30. And man was he cranky this morning. I'm sure his teacher is loving me today.

Thing that's bothering me today: I'm feeling like a bad mom.

I have stayed on top of a lot of school-related things this week. I turned in the payment for Jesse's spring photos. I turned in the money for his P.E. t-shirt. I took the time last night to update his reading list, and we read several more books together. I checked over Jesse's homework last night. And I gave Jesse extra work on his spelling words last night. I made sure Jesse's library books were in his bag so he could return them today. I offered to volunteer at the Book Fair on Thursday night. I followed through on his teacher's request for supplies by buying pencils, wipes, Kleenex and hand sanitizer. I checked over his weekly work folder that was sent home Monday and signed and returned it.

But I totally forgot that today was the Book Fair Character Parade at his school this morning. He was supposed to dress up like his favorite book character for a parade through the hallway. He's going to be so pissed at me for forgetting. And all that other stuff I've taken care of this week will mean very little to him. The truth is that we never even talked about the parade and what he wanted to dress up like. But I'm sure I'll hear all about it when I pick him up this afternoon. And I am not looking forward to that.

My alarm clock had gone off and I had already hit snooze once this morning when I heard Jesse stirring in his bed. I could hear him sniffing. Hmmm, I thought. Jesse hasn't had a nose bleed in a long time. No sooner had I thought it than Jesse was shuffling into my bedroom with his hand over his face. "Hey, baby. Got a nosebleed?" He nodded his head. I told him to go into the bathroom. For some reason I was only wearing one sock, and I had to find the other before following him. I know what caused it. Jesse has been playing around the vent in the living room the last few days. I told him yesterday that he didn't need to be hanging around all that dry, warm air because it would make him sick. Sure enough: nose bleed.

Being married to an artist rubs off on you in the same way that living with a journalist will prompt you to suggest story ideas now and again. Out of the blue I will come up with an idea for a piece for SkooterPie. I once suggested that he do a piece called "Remnants of a childhood." The piece would consist of leftovers from events in a child's life. They would be displayed on pedastals under glass cases. The leftovers could be anything: the tissues used to stop a nosebleed, the bits and pieces of paper leftover from making paper snowflakes, a pile of hair clippings from every haircut, a bandaid, bits of cereal crumbs. Stuff that I would normally sweep up or throw away. I'm sure it's already been done.

$6 down the drain

Oh, well. After hovering around the top three spots this weekend, my leading bracket took a steep plunge yesterday. Those second round games killed me. My Memphis wins bracket is currently in 13th place (I've guessed 32 games correctly in that bracket). I may move up a bit before the tourney is over but probably not. Two of my final four teams in that bracket, Michigan State and Ohio State are both out. And My Villanova wins bracket is in 27th place with 28 games picked correctly. Three of my final four teams (LSU, UConn and Villanova) are alive in that bracket.

But I can kiss that $6 goodbye!

Interesting office pool fact #1: Three women are currently leading our office pool.
Interesting office pool fact #2: Only four brackets have Memphis winning it all out of 34 brackets. Man, I work with a bunch of pessimists.
Interesting office pool fact #3: 25 brackets picked one of the No. 1 seeds to win.

4 Games to Go!

Sweet 16, baby!

The guys looked really great Sunday. No panic attacks, so yay! I was just so nervous on Friday about the Tigers losing to a 16 seed that I couldn't see straight. Andre continues to be a tourney hero. I would have never guessed in a million years that that would happen. Joey Dorsey really needs to stay out of foul trouble. We need him. And Antonio Anderson (he's the guy I've deemed the cutie pie of the team) has hit some great shots too. Everybody is performing and contributing. Right now I just don't want us to be the first No. 1 seed to fall.

Weekend recap: Friday we had dinner with Ron and Bethany at Pete and Sam's, and it was sooooo yummy. My favorite dish there is the Fettucini Siciliano. Saturday Jesse and I went bowling with Ron, Bethany, Mamie and Hannah. I was the low scorer both games, and I honestly don't think the lane bumpers that the kids had would have made a difference. I suck at bowling. After the games we went to Huey's. Sunday I did some shopping, but mostly I hung around the house. SkooterPie worked on the garage all day Saturday, but Sunday the weather finally caught up with him. He has tar paper down and one side is shingled, but he just ran out of time. And today, we have heavy rain. Sigh. It's probably a good thing that he didn't work on it Sunday because he is so battered, bruised and swollen that he could barely move yesterday.

An open letter to Andre Allen

Dear, Andre.
I just wanted to take a minute to apologize for all the criticisms I've had about your shooting abilities this season. Don't get me wrong. You're great on defense, and you have forced a lot of crucial turnovers during the season. Offensively, you're a decent sub for Darius Washington. You've got a lot of heart. You have to have a lot of spirit as a walk-on player. You've had some great assists this year. But whenever I see you start to take a shot, especially from three-point range, I close my eyes. During a game, I've often been heard to yell: Don't shoot, Andre. Don't shoot. And I wouldn't hesitate to tell anyone my biggest criticism of you: Andre can't shoot. I only got to watch bits and pieces of the game on Friday (because, like your mom, I had to work), but at one point in the first half I saw that we were down by four and I was freaking. A few minutes later I checked back in at our TV in the breakroom, and suddenly we were dominating again. "Who went on a run?" I asked a colleague. He didn't know. So I didn't know until this morning that it was you. Andre! I shook my head in disbelief. By scoring three three-point shots in less than two minutes, you turned the game around for us. I wish I could have seen that. The daily touted your performance with this headline on the front of the sports section: "Andre the Giant." Congratulations, man! And, dude, I was wrong about you. Best of luck Sunday!
Jesse's Mom

Whoop!

Tigers 94, Oral Roberts 78. I guess the 900 foot Jesus that Stephen Colbert warned us about had other matters to attend to this afternoon. Whew. I feel like I can relax now. At least until Sunday, when the Tigers play Bucknell. That's really too bad about Arkansas. Especially what with all their fans talking smack about Memphis. Haters.

The guys looked good. Rodney, my guy, led in scoring with 19. Joey Dorsey fouled out with seven minutes left, which I always hate to see happen. I don't like Kareem Cooper as a sub. He has lead feet and a pissy attitude.

Knocks to my bracket this afternoon: Northwestern State stole the game away from Iowa at the very last second. I was standing in the breakroom when that happen watching it on TV, and my jaw dropped open when the Northwestern State kid knocked down a three from deep in the corner. I had Iowa going a lot longer.

I also picked Wisconsin over Arizona on both brackets, and that one wasn't even close, with Arizona winning by 19. And I had Southern Illinois over West Virginia on both brackets as well.

Split ticket on the Bucknell Arkansas game. I should have gone with my gut and picked Bucknell in both.

So, as it stands, I've guessed 19 games correctly, for a score of 92 with my Memphis wins bracket. I'm in third place in our office pool with that bracket out of 34 brackets. I've guessed 17 games correctly for 79 points with my Villanova wins bracket. I'm in 12th place with that bracket.

But there are still eight more games to be played before the day is over.

Little known fact about Jesse's Mom. I ocassionally have panic attacks. Nothing big, mind you. They started in college. Test anxiety. They're rather mild, and I know what they are, so I don't make them worse by getting freaked out from the feeling that I can't breathe all that well.

I get them in anticipation of something stressful. I have them most frequently during the holidays. I can usually calm myself down and breathe through them. But today, I'm having a really hard time shaking this one off. It feels like someone has been sitting on my chest all day long. I feel like I can't get a full breath into my lungs. This is why they call it March Madness, people.

Why? Why am I even at work today? When I'm going to be completely useless as the Tigers play their first NCAA tourney game. There is so much riding on this game. There are a lot of haters out there rooting for the Tigers to lose today. It's been a historical year for Tiger basketball, and I don't want to see them cap it off by making the bad kind of history. No No. 1 seed has ever lost to a No. 16. And so those people who love a good upset will be watching this game closely. Because it's become conventional wisdom that if a No. 1 seed goes down in the first round, it'll be Memphis. Fer Sure. So here I am this morning, with my stomach in knots and my mind distracted. I'll greet this afternoon's game not with a roaring, chest thumping yell of "Goooooo Tigers!" but with a whimpering prayer of "Please, please, please win this game."

So far one of my brackets is in fourth place in the office pool and the other is in sixth. The Pacific and Nevada games killed me. Both of those teams are known as giant killers. I gave Nevada the first round in both brackets. I gave Pacific the first round in one. The Alabama win also threw me off. I had them losing in the first round in both brackets. I had initially picked Xavier to knock out Gonzaga and then changed my mind at the last minute. I was kicking myself last night, but then Adam Morrison came through for the 'zags. He is such a great player. It was also really close for Tennessee (props to Chris Lofton) and George Washington, so I was barely safe there too.

Please, please, Tigers. Don't lose today.

Don't mind me. I'm just sitting here eating cupcakes and trying not to think about the ever-increasing expense of SkooterPie's roof replacement project.

They're red velvet, by the way. Which sort of matches the color of my face when SkooterPie told me that the cost of hauling away the old roofing material was twice the estimate and more than the cost of the new roofing material.

He told me when I called him on my way to meet the lovely friend who made the cupcakes. After we hung up, a panhandler asked me for money. I wasn't very nice to him either.

My brackets

OK, so the time of reckoning is here. I did two brackets, and here's what I ended up with:

Bracket A (the Gooooooo Tigers! bracket)
My final four are Duke, Memphis, Michigan State and Ohio State. I chose Ohio State and Memphis in the final with Memphis winning. Lisa, is this what you did too? I think you might have influenced me a bit there. I had Michigan State in the final game with Memphis originally and then changed my mind at the last minute. I usually regret not going with my gut. We'll see.

Bracket B (the cooler heads have prevailed prevailed bracket)
My final four are LSU (knocking out Duke, no less, so that's a longshot), Kansas, UConn and Villanova. I chose LSU and Villanova in the final with Villanova winning. I also have Memphis facing Bucknell instead of Arkansas in the second round in the bracket. And Tennessee losing to Wichita State in the second round.

The games start today. Here we go. Wheeeee!

Recently added item to my Amazon wish list: Flanimals, a children's book by The Office creator, Ricky Gervais. I also added More Flanimals, his not-yet-released follow up. Is there anything this man doesn't do? He makes me feel like I'm wasting my life. I also recently added the new DVD of All the President's Men and a DVD collection of Samurai Jack.

Must. Stop. Reading. Bracket. Analysis.

SkooterPie is on spring break this week. Wouldn't it be convenient of the school teacher hubby and the second-grader kid were on spring break the same week? Yes, it would be. Instead I get to be jealous about the fact that SkooterPie is on vacation. Except he's taken it up on himself to replace the roof on the garage (that also serves as his studio) by himself. So I'm not jealous. Because yuck. What I am is worried that he'll fall off the roof and kill himself. Which would suck. Because then the work he started would never get finished. I kid. It would suck because I love my husband and would like very much for us to grow old together.

Jesse has been learning a valuable financial lesson this year. I told him that I'd put $10 on his snack card at Lindenwood at the first of every month. That's all he's getting until next month, so he'd better make it last. Yesterday he told me that he has $1 left. I told him too bad. We had a deal. I suggested he spend his money more wisely next month, and I'll pack him some snacks to take along in his backpack until then. He's really interested in money. He likes collecting coins. And he asks me detailed questions about how much money stuff costs and how much money people make in certain jobs. This weekend while mom was visiting Jesse pointed out our neighbor to mom. "That's Jay," he said. "He's a firefighter. He doesn't make a lot of money." Mom fell out laughing. I had told Jesse some weeks ago that in my opinion firefighters and police officers don't make enough money for what they do. I thought they deserve to be paid more because their jobs are so demanding and dangerous. I didn't really expect him to announce loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear that our neighbor's paycheck is lacking. But that's the thing with kids. They have big mouths.

My sister called last night and after chatting with her a while, she asked if I'd done by brackets yet and then she started to whine about her final four, when I started hollering "Don't tell me! Don't tell me!" I don't want to be influenced by anyone. I promised her I'd work on them last night and call her back. I finally did at 10. Right now I think I am definitely going to have to do two brackets. I read her my final four on my A bracket and B bracket. And then she read me her final four. And we just laughed and laughed. It's hilarious. Neither of us could figure out how we ended up with those results. And when your team is a No. 1 seed there's no way to be objective. I thought I'd be rational and take Memphis to the Elite Eight. Nope. In one bracket I have Memphis winning it all. Thank goodness I filled the damn thing out in pencil. I'm going to spend one more day thinking it over. You can't think about it too much or you'll make yourself crazy. But those upsets are worth some major points, so the key is to pick the right Cinderella teams early on. But the bottom line is that I don't feel very confident about my picks right now. My brackets look like the tournament is being played in Bizarro World.

We really have a crappy digital camera, so I apologize for the quality of these photos. The first is Jesse and Greely (lying on the ottoman cat bed I recently purchased at World Market). It was Jesse's idea to pretend he was boxing with Greely. Check out the physique on my kid. If you look at him and think of Iggy Pop, you are not alone. I swear we feed him. Last night, we went to El Porton, and he ate chips with salsa and queso and a bean burrito and most the flan he ordered for dessert. The second is a picture of Jesse and and his friend Jordan playing Dance Dance Revolution this weekend.

That's all I have time to post for now.

Gooooooo TIGERS!

(Warning: March Madness is officially here. If you don't want to read about basketball, I'll see you in April.)

We're a No. 1 seed!

Duke. Villanova. UConn. And MEMPHIS!

They deserve it too. I hope they have a good run through the tourney. I want to see them keep playing. I want to watch Rodney Carney for another three weeks. Jesse was asking mom and me what our favorite seasons were yesterday. I should have picked basketball season.

I wish I had paid more attention to the Selection Sunday show on CBS yesterday because I'm kind of clueless about some of the teams in Villanova's and UConn's regional. I don't fill out my brackets all willy nilly. I actually do try to read up on what the SI and ESPN analysts say about their picks. I'm already stumped about whether I should go with Arkansas or Bucknell in the first round. I would love to see a Memphis/Arkansas matchup in the second round. But I'm hearing that Bucknell could be a sleeper team. What to do. What to do. We are in a really tough region: UCLA, Kansas, Arkansas, Gonzaga. Yikes.

In other sports news, SkooterPie made a donut run Saturday and came back with this report: "Tommy West was at the donut shop." Coach West is the football coach for the Tigers. I love him. SkooterPie said he was just hanging out there behind the counter. I would have died if I'd seen him. At the very least I would have said hello to him. SkooterPie just ordered his donuts and left. My colleague here at work just reminded me that Coach West recently had open heart surgery. It's good to know he's up and about, but maybe a donut shop is not the best place for a Coach West sighting. I once saw Coach Cal at Chik Fil A with his little boy.

Short weekend recap: Mom brought my kid back to me Friday night. He was very snuggly with me. Saturday (after watching the Tigers beat UAB!) mom and I took Jesse shoe shopping and bought him one new pair at Target. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the trampoline. Jesse was griping about his new shoes that night, and when I took them off of him for his shower, the tops of his feet had red marks on them. So Sunday we went back out, returned the shoes and then went to five shoe stores before finally finding a pair. I'm so glad mom was there to help me. And to pay for them. Thanks Mom! After mom left to go back to McMinnville, Jesse's friend Jordan came over and played with him for a couple of hours. I took some photos of Jesse this weekend, but then my Internet connection at home wasn't cooperating so I didn't get to post them. But they're coming. Also, we pulled the plug on the trip to Chicago yesterday. It was getting more and more expensive and complicated and stress inducing. Nothing had been booked yet, and honestly we're better off leaving that money in the savings account. You know, for when the kitchen stove finally breaks down.

I finished reading Cell last night. I enjoyed it. The book is definitely a return to old-school Stephen King and is probably the best thing he's written in years. It was tightly written, gripping and, of course, scary as hell. He didn't attempt to answer the obvious questions about the Pulse sent through the cell phones. It was the people in the story that mattered. I also liked that he didn't wrap it up in a little box with a pretty bow at the end. So good going, Stephen. Clap. Clap. Clap.

The book tapped into one of my worst fears, a disaster scenario that I have dwelled on since moving to Memphis. The earthquake. It's not a matter of if an earthquake hits Memphis, but when. When I came to school here back in 1990, I didn't know Memphis sat on one of the most dangerous fault lines in the U.S. I distinctly remember opening my student catalogue and seeing a page about earthquake preparedness. Earthquakes? What's this about earthquakes? When I had Jesse, I remember sitting on my bed feeling the weight of this new responsibility crashing down on me, and I suddenly thought: What am I going to do if there's an earthquake? How am I going to take care of him? It was a terrifying feeling. The worst scenario would be if it hits during the day, when Jesse, SkooterPie and I are all in totally different parts of the city. I have spent more minutes than I care to admit trying to figure out how I would get to Jesse from Downtown. Chances are it won't hit in my lifetime. And there are so many things I could worry about happening. And now thanks to King, I have one more: Cell-phone created zombies.


The weather outside? It is frightful. Really, really frightful.

The new season of America's Next Top Model started last night. Hooray!

Currently reading: Cell, by Stephen King. Thanks sis!

Thing that's bothering me today: My boss has a bowl full of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in his office. I've eaten two already.

Being a mom must keep me organized. I totally flaked on an appointment with my hair stylist last night. I thought it was tonight for some reason. But there it is in my planner. Tuesday, 5:30, Deliece. She forgave me, thank goodness.

So what was I doing instead of exploring ways to fix my hair for April's wedding? Sitting at The Flying Saucer, drinking beer, eating cheese fries and planning a trip to Chicago with SkooterPie and our friends Ron and Bethany. "This is fun," Ron said. "We should do this again next week!" To which I replied: "Dude, I'm a mom again next week. No can do." In addition to planning our vacation, we inadvertantly hit on a million dollar idea for a business. Now all we need to do is to get our hands on some human cremains to see if it can be done. Suggestions?

Planning a trip in tandem has its challenges. We've settled on the dates, and we've come to an agreement on the hotel, and all that's seemingly left to do is to book everything. The paranoid part of me thinks it's the last step that will trip us up. I guess we'll see tomorrow. By we, I mean Bethany and me, by the way, because the boys are content to let us handle all the logistics. Of course.

I tried to call Jesse when I got home last night, and he was already crashed out. It was only 8. Stop working him so hard, Dad!

Weekend recap:
Saturday got my bridesmaid's dress fitted. And I mustn't gain a pound between now and May 6. Eek.

While in Southaven, I dropped into World Market again and bought two cranberry ottomans. They're sort of shaggy looking. The cats quickly claimed them as their beds. Waste of money? Possibly.

Took Jesse to a friends' house that afternoon so he could partake in a small part in a short film. His scenes were innocent, but the scant information I got about the rest of the film indicates that Jerry Falwell wouldn't approve. Oh, well. He had fun.

Went to the basketball game that night, where we got to watch the Tigers play from a suite. Drank way too much beer. Well, too much for me, anyway: three glasses. Tigers won, thank goodness. But they were super sloppy in the first half. Is it possible they peaked too early? The loss to UAB led to a drop in the polls from No. 3 to No. 5.

Drove about 9 hours Sunday and Monday so Jesse could spend Spring Break with his GG and Poppy. Managed to squeeze in a visit with the grandparents before leaving Monday. While there I read through some of my old columns that Nana had clipped. They were pretty funny, and, OK, yeah, they were pretty good. She's going to make copies of them for me.

She also dug up an old note that my dad had written to Lisa and me when we were kids. He must have written it because we were spending the night with nana and pa. Paraphrased it said something like this: "Dear, Lisa. I have put your shoes in the basket for a reason. And that reason is for you to wear them, so please be a sweetheart and wear them for daddy. Dear, Tara. Please read this note to your sister and explain to her what it means. If she doesn't wear them, just make sure they get put back in the basket." My sister never wore shoes when she was a kid. I couldn't stand walking around barefoot. Dad called Lisa to tell her about the note, and she confessed that she wasn't wearing shoes then either. She'd kicked them off under her desk.

I was so happy to see Three 6 Mafia win the Oscar. It was clearly the best song. As soon as the other two nominees performed, I immediately forgot the songs. But you can't get "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" out of your head once you hear it. And I was happy for Reese Witherspoon as well, although I didn't pick her as the winner. I did terrible with my Oscar predictions this year. Of the 10 biggest categories, I predicted only four correctly.

Does the house seem empty without Jesse? Yes. Yes it does. Empty and quiet. Wheeeee!

A Meme

The lovely labmonkie tagged me on a meme. So I must oblige with answers:

4 jobs I've had in my life

1. J.C. Penney sales associate. This was during high school and a few summers when I was home from college. I spent a lot of time at that job writing in my journal for my high school creative writing class.

2. Clerk at a video store. It was a short-lived part-time job during my early college years. The boss and another cashier were robbed at gunpoint one night when I wasn't there. I didn't work there too much longer after that.

3. News editor, Southern Standard. Long hours. Lousy pay. I learned everything I know about the newspaper business from that job. I made a ton of mistakes and worked with some crazy-ass people. I didn't love every second of it, but I certainly look back on the experience fondly. I still remember the excitement of seeing the newspapers coming off the press.

4. Coordinator, The Teen Appeal. I launched the J-school's citywide high school newspaper, and then worked as an editor, coach, mentor, pseudo high school guidance counselor for dozens of Memphis teenagers. It was an exhausting, draining, demanding job. But I was so proud of the work I was doing.

4 movies I can watch over and over again

1. "Say Anything" — "I gave her my heart. She gave me a pen."

2. "All the President's Men" — "Follow the money."

3. "Oliver!" — "Please, sir. May I have some more?"

4. "Raising Arizona" — "You get back up there and get me a toddler, Hi. I need a baby."

4 places I have lived

1. Memphis. 1990-1996 and 1997-present. I don't think I appreciated Memphis until I moved away and then came back.

2. Jackson, Miss. Summer, 1994. I moved there two weeks after I got married (without the new hubby) for an internship at The Clarion-Ledger. I haaaaaated Jackson for more reasons than I can possibly list here.

3. St. Petersburg, Fla. September-October 1996. I was at a journalism school, The Poynter Institute, for eight weeks. I rented a little house two blocks from the beach in Pass-a-Grille. It was lovely.

4. Morrison, Tenn. 1996-1997. Very big adjustment living in Morrison after Memphis. In Memphis, we had a train that rattled our windows every hour. In Morrison, we were on a huge lot and had cows in the back yard. I loved living close to my parents and grandparents, but I missed good restaurants, movie theaters and shopping.

4 TV shows I love to watch

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy kicks ass.

2. Lost. I don't what is going on on that island, but I love watching to find out.

3. The Office (BBC version). The boss, David Brent, is so painfully funny.

4. The Daily Show. Yeah it's funny, but it's also insightful.

4 places I have been on vacation

1. Washington D.C. I won an essay contest in high school sponsored by our local power co-op and spent two weeks in D.C. one summer with about 50 other teenagers. I had so much fun.

2. Daytona, Fla. Mom and I took Jesse to the beach for the first time two years ago.

3. St. Louis. Patrick and I took Jesse to Six Flags.

4. Tucson, Ariz. Visiting our friends Ted and Michelle and their kids.

4 Web sites I visit daily

1. Uncle Bob. Just some guy in Alabama with a blog. He's hilarious.

2. Daily Kos. Liberal political blogger.

3. Andrew Sullivan. Gay conservative political blogger.

4. Television Without Pity. I think my dream job is to be a television recapper. But I'm just not snarky enough.

4 favorite foods

1. spaghetti with marinara sauce

2. vanilla ice cream with peanuts and chocolate syrup

3. reese's peanut butter cups

4. Shrimp. In all shapes, forms and sizes.

4 places I'd rather be right now

1. At a basketball game

2. In a bookstore

3. At a spa getting a pedicure

4. Traveling in Europe

My appointment to read to a class of fourth graders was this afternoon. So what does one read to fourth graders? Well if you're a journalist, you have to get all high and mighty about it and read something pertinent to your concerns that newspaper readership is declining. I wanted to show them that the stories they read in newspapers can be just as interesting as the ones they read in books. So I read two stories from Rick Bragg's collection of newspaper articles, a book called "Somebody Told Me." One was about an autistic boy in Florida who survived four days alone lost in a swamp, and the other was about a washer woman in Mississippi who saved all her life and gave $150,000, almost every cent she had, to Southern Miss for scholarships. This, of course, confused the hell out of them. They didn't quite understand that these "stories" were real.

I think I might have sounded a little desperate at the end by practically begging them to read a newspaper every day. I'd like to keep working, you know.

They asked questions after I was finished reading each story. I wasn't prepared for that to happen for some reason. The first question? "Can I have your autograph?" I ended up signing four autographs before I left. Goofy-ass kids. One little girl told me to sign it big. I objected. "I don't think my name should be big. It should be written small," I told her. "And my handwriting is really messy." Then I signed it as big as I could stand. "I think it looks pretty," she told me. Aw, kid. Quit being so impressed by me. I mean, honestly, you're almost as tall as I am, and you probably have better luck finding cute shoes.

Noooooooo!

We are so going to lose against UAB tonight. There was a preview story in today's daily. The headline: "Tigers oozing confidence as UAB awaits." The subhead: "Blazers seen as another victim." Read the story and you hear Shawne Williams mouthing off about beating them by 20. Coach Cal has to throw caution to the wind by adding that "league stuff doesn't matter." And that if you start focusing on the league, you're a regional team, and he's building a national program and blah, blah, blah. Shawne's had a great last couple of games, but I honestly don't remember how he did against UAB when we played them here. Wait, I just checked. He scored 10 points. He went 0 for 3 on three-pointers. And from what I remember, that game was close until the very end. So my final analysis: Shut up, Shawne.

Score!

We got tickets to the game! Woo hoo! I'm so glad I'll be there to bid my favorite player, Rodney Carney, farewell. I hope he puts on a show for us with some of his trademark monster dunks. We'll be in a suite, too, which is, well ... sweet. Jesse is sad that he's not going, but I bet before the conference tourney is over, someone puts tickets to one of those games in my hands. We'll see. And it's March! Which means I'll be spending some quality time filling out my brackets very soon. I love March! For those new to my basketball obsession, I'd like to brag that I won our office pool two years ago. Didn't do as well last year, but still finished respectably in the top 10. The only question is do I wear my heart on my sleeve and take Memphis to the Final Four, or do I go with my gut and see them only making it to the Elite Eight? I had to swallow my pride in order to put Louisville in the Final Four last year, and it paid off. Won't have that problem this year, since they're not even going to make it into the tourney. Heh and snerk. Serves 'em right. Big East Blowouts.

I just want to say that I do not get the fashion trend that is gauchos. I've seen a lot of women wearing them this winter, and I don't think they look good on anyone. And if you've bought more than one pair this season (and one's OK just in the interest of being trendy, I guess), I've got news for ya. You wasted your money. Remember all those afghan looking things you were all wearing around your shoulders last year? Now they're just keeping your coat hangers warm aren't they? Yeah. Here's what I thought of those things: They make you look like you don't have any arms.

Speaking of fashion, I was driving up to my personal parking space on level floor of my parking garage this morning, and as I passed level three, there was a lady waiting for the elevator, and she was wearing capri pants, sandals and a sleeveless shirt. It's only the first day of March. And I know it's warm, but there's no reason to rush on the spring clothes, hon. It's Memphis. Enjoy the winter clothes while you can because in a few weeks, even a sleeveless shirt and short pants won't save you.

I got home from Super Suppers last night, and I was exhausted. I was there for about an hour and a half, and our freezer is now stuffed with food. I'll reserve judgment until we actually eat some of these meals I assembled. Some of it looked really, really good going into the bags. I still think it's a great idea, and it was pretty easy. I'll have to keep checking their calendar for a walk-in day on a weekend next month, which would be much better than going after work. When I got home last night, Jesse still hadn't eaten dinner, but at least SkooterPie started the laundry. Jesse was whining for Burger King, but he settled for a Miracle Whip sandwich, which is all I could bring myself to fix for him after making 12 meals that he'll never, ever in a million years eat. I could feel bad about my son's pathetic dinner, I guess, but Jesse happily informed me that we need 6 servings of bread a day. So, I guess a Miracle Whip sandwich is just what the USDA ordered then, huh?

And I know all the readers of this blog will be happy to hear that I managed to get my oil changed this morning. So glad we can all get on with our lives now.