3 Things

1. I decided it was time to spruce things up around here. Since I can't sweep out the corners and plants some pansies, a new template seemed like the next best thing. I have been trying to teach myself some html in the past few months. What little I know actually helped me out this evening. I found these tutorials to be so very helpful.

2. New favorite side dish/snack: Roasted Edamame (scroll down on link to find recipe) I made them Thursday and again Friday night, and I would have made them again tonight had Pat not made a delicious dinner before I got home from class. (I'm sure there will be more about that meal here sometime next week.)

3. To all the teams I cheered for all these years -- I'M SORRY! I'm obviously a giant jinx. I like sports and love to cheer for a team. Yet, time and time again, the teams for which I cheer NEVER win the championship. Of course there was 1987 when IU won the Final Four. I was in 3rd Grade when Keith Smart hit that hallowed shot. My dad shook the floor and woke the neighbors with his whoops of glee. I still treasure that moment, huddled by the TV with my dad when they won, but I would have valued it so much more had I known it would be the FIRST and LAST time a team of my choosing would win the championship. It could be argued that I was also rooting for the Reds when they won in '90 and also for the Buckeyes when they made it a few years back, but beyond that, EVERY team I love LOSES! IU in 1992 and again a few years ago (2002)...the Trailblazers back in the early 90's....the Pacers in the later 90's and even into this century...and don't get me started on the Colts!!! I feel like a fresh apology is owed to poor George Mason who did not even see me coming. I just kind of fell in love with this team early in the tournament and enjoyed their progress every step of the way. When they almost lost to Conneticut last weekend, I thought then that I should find a reason to hate this team, just so that they'd actually have a chance at winning. But I could not do it, and their performance tonight was likely a direct result of what I now identify as the "Julia Jinx"! My humble apologies.