Gator Nation Uber Alles

Gainesville

Ho hum-- another national championship. No, seriously, it's very exciting, amazing actually. For a school whose avowed goal is to become for something other than atheletics (say, scholarship, perhaps?), we have a strange way of going about it. For the record, I DID watch the entire second half, positive they were going to blow it, even though they were always ahead by at least 7 points. Round ball is just too nerve-wracking and boring at the same time.

Mom, I hadn't heard that a cop got hit by a car. Of course, no papers were to be found today, and we don't look at TV news. For the most part, Gator fans are not really destructive-- they don't burn stuff down or anything. The Library was planning to close early last night, as we do get over-run with drunken revelers from the bars across the street who overwhelm the bathrooms and generally make a mess. But before we could close, the fire alarm went off. It was the real thing-- a steam pipe had burst. Bill was on the phone much of the evening dealing with the crisis. Eventually they let everyone back in to get their stuff, then closed even earlier than planned.

Sounds like a nice field trip out to see the construction progress today. I wanna see too! Glad Marty could come to the rescue with your TV problems. With Ben's able assistance, of course!

I didn't get out today for a supplemental shop, and we're almost out of gin (the horror!). Tomorrow I go into the Library, so it won't happen then either. Dunno what I'm going to fix for dinner-- the plan A was axed by my non-shopping too. I'll come up with something. Last night I made a very interesting thing-- a lamb and spinach skillet. Strips of lamb, onions, red peppers, a pound of spinach, some Basalmic vinegar. Good stuff. A big batch of Mexican Cole Slaw to go with.

As promised: Look at this pretty girl! (As always, click to see larger image.)

Hasn't she changed just a bit since the wedding?! These, of course of studio glamor shots, but there's no disguising how the camera loves her, and vice versa. And that smile... guess all those years of wearing braces paid off big time.

More to say, but I feel the call of the book and the second See-Thru.

Just a little reminder to myself: Today I saw a memorable Colbert Report (a rerun) where Willie Nelson was the guest. He sang "On the Road Again," and to everyone's astonishment, Stephen joined in the second verse, singing dazzlingly perfect harmony! Who knew he could sing so well, besides being hilarious and terminally cute?

Scooba's Big Adventure

Gainesville

When the sound waking me up this morning was the cat yarking on one of the white rugs in the bedroom, I figured I knew what kind of day it would be, and just went back to sleep. I was wrong, though. It was actually a pretty good day.

By the time I got up, Bill already had the rug in the washer. Obviously, the time was right to launder all three of the rugs, and while they were up, really swiffer the floor right then set Scooba loose in there. Scooba had quite an adventure. He got into all kinds of trouble, and I had to be with him the whole time. He kept getting caught in various corners, and once he wandered under the bed and couldn't find his way out! I hadn't swiffered under there, so he sucked up a lot of dust bunnies before I rescued him. Several times I had to herd him into places he hadn't visited yet. At any rate, we now have a really nice looking bedroom. I'd planned to do this at some point during Zone 4, but now it's done. And the rest of the house looks great too, thanks to preparations for Doug's visit last night.

It was fun having Doug here, as always. He was on his way to a meeting in Orlando. He got here early enough that we gave Bonefish another try, but when we drove up, people were waiting outside and many of them were kids in formals-- uh oh... Prom Night! Outback was packed too, but at least we could sit at the bar while waiting for a table. Doug likes Outback too, and in fact, gave Bill a couple of gift cards to the place as a belated birthday present.

The really neat gift, though, was an 8 x 10 composite of professional studio pictures of Megan. My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw them. The last picture I saw of her she was in braces, glasses, and her hair pulled into a tight little bun. That duckling has blossomed into the most amazing swan! When she was a little girl, she always had a winning way with the camera, and could have been a child model. That same camera charm is back. It looks like a model's portfolio. I have asked Bill to scan it for me and will post it when he does.

Megan has finally decided to go to the University of Georgia next fall. It was a hard decision for her between there and FSU, but all things considered, UGA is better choice.

I didn't get out to shop today, but had an ace-in-the-hole: half a bag of slaw mix and a pound of ground round in the freezer. Perfect for making Unstuffed Cabbage, one of our favorites. Had left over broccoli, and made a quick Waldorf salad. Great meal!

Bill has a major raid tonight starting at 9:30, so he's occupied for the duration. I'll probably curl up with Jane and the Wandering Eye, which I've just started. The Gator round-ballers are playing in the Final Four tonight, but we are ignoring it, not wanting to jinx them.

Too bad about your wound not healing properly, Mom. Bummer. I hope that nice doctor knows what he's doing prescribing that med with the scary side effect warning. Still, if it let's you have your gin, it's probably worth the risk.

Thanks for the letters from Chris. I especially loved hearing about his gardening efforts. Man, weren't we ambitious back in those days! I can't make myself do even the slightest thing toward a garden this year, and apparently Chris doesn't garden anymore either. I guess the entire supply of the gardening genes has flowed into Sandy.