Nothing Since January 30? Really?

Nice unintended vacation. That's what New Year's Resolutions (I won't go longer than a week in 2008 without entertaining myself in this way!) get you. Or me.
On to various catch up topics:
1) Did I actually manage to sit at the table with the baby and have a rational conversation about wedding invitations (who would get them, what would they look like, etc.) without losing it and weeping uncontrollably? Yes, I did! Darned proud of the old daddy! Then again, it's probably three years out. Still, marvelous self-control.
2) I am thrilled with our Memphis Tigers. Yes, John Calipari is one of the greatest self-promoters in the history of self-promoters. But he's also one heck of a basketball coach, and this is one excellent team he has assembled, and shepherded to a 33-1 record and a number 1 seed in the NCAA South Regional (and number 2 overall!). This Memphis team has the best shot ever at a national title, and yes, that includes the 1973 team that got to the championship game.
3) Nobody is going to enjoy playing the Atlanta Braves this year. Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira in the middle of the order is unprecedented in MLB history. Never before have two switchhitters of this ability anchored a lineup. Yunel Escobar has done nothing this spring except further his argument to be seen as another Jose Reyes-type ballplayer, and that's pretty darned good. Jeff Francoeur has learned the strike zone, and seems to have had the epiphany that walks aren't a bad thing. If his OBP goes up to .380, Jeff goes to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. You heard it here first. Last year's New York Mets' ace is this year's Braves' number three. Tom Glavine will follow Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, and that is really, really close to the quality of the 90's Braves' rotation. Kelly Johnson and Brian McCann are another year more mature, and Matt Diaz looks to be ready to take over full-time in left. Some order, some rotation, and Rafael Soriano at the end makes the Braves look very formidable to my eye.
4) The Red Sox should beat the living hell out of the MFYs this year, and I can't wait to watch it unfold, because, as always, the YANKEES SUCK! That's solely for my friend in Knoxville. And me.
5) I probably should update the job situation for the two or three of you outside the family that actually waste the time to read this little piece of my mind. A United Methodist congregation stood up for a preacher under persecution. Yeah, I couldn't believe it either! I do regret that two households have apparently taken their leave over this thing, but if they weren't going to let it go, pitch in and become productive parts of the church, then they needed to go. Their choice, not mine. I'll be here another year, and we'll see after that. Commitments about salary and staff growth have been renewed, acted on, and improved. So we'll see how it goes from here.
6) When it's needed, there is nothing on earth better than a good backscratcher.
7) There's really something wrong with St. Patrick's Day (as celebrated in our fair country) falling on Monday of Holy Week. Actually, it's thoroughly appropriate, as anyone who drives out snakes is obviously doing the Lord's Work, but we've allowed the patron's day to become an amateur hour for dopes in search copious amounts of green beer. Hey, morons: BEER ISN'T GREEN! Just freaking grow up, will you?
8) I have become an absolute devotee of the prehistoric game show What's My Line, airing on the Game Show Network every night/morning at 2 am. In the age of "reality" crap (we've all spent a month on a remote island with no modern conveniences, in a house with a bunch of hideous people placed there to provoke us, or trying to get a job with a jackass tycoon haven't we?) WML as we devotees refer to it, is a half-hour of elegance, intelligence, wit and class from before I was paying any attention to television. Set your DVR/VCR and thank me later!
9) Since the last scribble, I have marked my sixth year with my significant other, for which I am deeply grateful. She's an excellent playmate for this big, dopey kid, and even if I don't tell her often enough, I am delighted that she graces my world on a daily basis. That she is such a fine mother to my daughters (and along with my mother, the finest mother my children have ever known) is just gravy. That wasn't meant to be a shot at anyone, but the truth is the truth.
10) We had the birthday dinner for the son-in-law-to-be tonight. He's a good kid who has every excuse in the world to be a jackass, but has chosen to turn the challenges of his life into becoming something better than what he has known. I am proud to know any young person who has chosen such a path in life. He treats my baby well, and that's all anyone can ask for. My goodness, 19 is young!
11) As much as the Good Friday Tenebrae service means to me, I'm really glad that it runs about 40 minutes. 7 pm worship start, 7:45 departure from the church, 8:30 arrival at home and gathering of the snacks for the Tiger's tipoff at 9 pm. Sounds like a schedule to me! University of Texas-Arlington, beware! Hungry Tigers are looking for you!