March Madness

Contrary to what you might think, it would have been madness indeed to suggest that all four Number 1 seeds would make it to the Final Four. Apparently, in all the years of the NCAA tournament, that's never happened before. But now it has, with Kansas edging out Davidson. My work bracket, forecasting a UNC/Memphis championship game, still has a possiblity of coming true. UNC just has to beat Kansas, and Memphis needs to beat UCLA. Then I'll be rolling in the dough- all 45 dollars of it.

I apologize for the over-abundance of hyperlinks in the previous paragraph, most of which were probably completely unnecessary.

So, with our realtor on vacation this past week (certain clients kept requiring him to show up at their doorstep at 10 pm, necessitating a breather), not much has happened with the home purchase. Shelly and I did drive by there yesterday and were gratified to see that the HOA had actually repaired the wood damage to the outside of the house. No word yet, though, on when they'll come to their senses and paint over that cringe-inducing pink color (Shelly refuses to allow me to save face by calling it "salmon". "It's pink!" she insists.)

Also, after years of spurned invitations, I've finally secured a guaranteed visit from my cousin Scott! All I had to do was wave a little money at him! Contrary to his MySpace title, he's not going to be putting down any carpet for me, but rather redoing my new kitchen with ceramic tile. That's in between me removing the popcorn ceiling... and taking down the wallpaper... and repainting the cabinets... and removing the mirrored doors to the laundry closet... and installing a pedastal sink in the downstairs bathroom... what a second, who's idea was it to move again?

Actually, the timing's pretty good for us. We just found out this week that our rent would have increased $40 a month, whereas, with the mortgage, escrow, and HOA fees, we'll be paying about what we are right now.

In other news, Jason and Erika ventured over to visit on Friday, capping off a week of extended stays by Miss Hawkins at the DeAdder palace. They've been having a lot of work done on their own home, with hardwoods being put down and a new kitchen being put in. Since lounging on the existing furniture would entail enjoying the delights of their garage, Erika decided to grace us with her and Charlotte's presence this week. Anyway, I think if I don't post this picture, I might go missing, and Erika will stash my body in the kitchen subfloor. Her countertops are on backorder (and they found out about it after the kitchen had been torn out), so I'm really reluctant to antagonize her right now:

Alright, I know it's been kind of short, but Shelly wants me to come finish watching T2 with her. A random reference to Skynet on The Soup this morning got her in the mood to watch it, but we put it on pause for the games.