Madness

For quite a few years, our family has done a NCAA Tournament Pick-Em contest. At first, it involved copying a bracket from the paper and filling it out. Nowdays, we do it all online. I don't really enjoy it and here's why:

1. It's stupid and counterintuitive that a team from Utah has to play in the East bracket (or any bracket besides the West.) I know, I know...it's all about seeding and about not playing teams you've met before, blah, blah, blah... I still think it's stupid.

2. To win, you have to pick a team you really hate. For me that includes any team from North Carolina or Kentucky. (Sorry, NC fans...you know who you are.)

3. Why can't officials call fouls? These guys have been playing basketball all their lives. They know how to not travel. But they do it all the time because no one calls it. The same goes for reaching in.

4. To allow me to make really informed choices, brackets should include pictures of the teams so that I can make wise selections based on how their uniforms and hair look.

I will readily admit that I have never won the family pick-em. I won't this year either. I believe I'm on the bottom. Or maybe Preston's lower than I am. But I feel better now that I've

complained.

I'm not really a sports fan, although I've watched considerable basketball, soccer and tennis over the years. But I do have a favorite basketball player, of whom I fully approve. Here are some pics:

how Janet defends

How to defend Janet

The past three weeks have flown by. Here's a summary of what's happened.

My mom came over to stay for a week while Rene was out of town. She's amazing! As a teen, I felt closer to my Dad, but after I went away to school, I definitely began to appreciate Mom more. I remember following her around while she worked so that we could talk. She drove the 8 hours from her house to ours all by herself, including navigating the Twin Cities. While she was here, she cooked fabulous meals, cleaned, did a few loads of laundry, played with her great-grandkids, and waited on me hand and foot. It's always fun to talk with her--we reminisced about days long gone by, she caught me up on everybody's exciting lives, and I enjoyed hearing stories of her youth and beyond. She hasn't had an easy life, but she is always an inspiration to me. She and Dad are my heroes! Thanks, Mom! I love you.

Emily, Preston and Lauren were here for some of the same time period. Unless you're a parent, you can't fully appreciate how nice it is to have the kids and grandkids come visit. We had our biggest snowstorm of the year while they were here and Preston did a great job moving snow. It was so fun to see Macey and Lauren having fun together. One of the highlights of their visit for me was sitting on the piano bench with Emily and Lauren while Emily played and Lauren and I sang "Beauty and the Beast." It makes me so happy that our grandkids love music.

Janet came home for a long weekend. You may wonder why Janet came home in the middle of the semester. Her longtime roommate, Candace, got married in the St. Paul Temple and Janet came home to be there. We drove over with her, spent the day with Emily and Lauren, met Joanna and Ben at the reception and then brought Janet and her friend Cammie home. Janet has become quite the jetsetter. It was great to have her here.