Courtesy of my friends Summer and Kelly, I have taken the What Kind of Princess are You? quiz. Here are the results. I would like to state, for the record, that Dan calls me a princess when I demand my coffee in bed and refuse to kill bugs. But on the other hand, he is currently on a trip to Walmart, at 9 p.m. because I forgot to get contact solution, and I don't want to throw away a perfectly new set of contacts. So it's possible that I'm a little more high-maintenance than I'd like to admit. Here's to knights in shining armor.

The Traditional Princess

You are generous, graceful, and practical with both

feet planted firmly on the ground. You tend

to be a little on the old-fashioned side. You

value home, hearth, and family life and love

to be of service to others.

Role Models: Snow White, Maid Marian

You are most likely to: Discover a hidden talent

for spinning straw into gold.


What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Since I have nothing of real significance to say today, I thought I'd ask y'all a question. What is your favorite word?

My favorite word is epiphany. It's such a great-sounding word, with such a great meaning.

Share in the comments section if you want.

I think something might be wrong with Dan. He's watching a documentary on the History Channel about the history of synthetic leather. Really watching it. I checked. I said "Dan, are you actually watching this?" and he said "Yep."

Of course, a few minutes ago, he was utterly absorbed in some Web site called "Ask a Ninja."

Envy me, ladies, because I am married to a man of many interests. You know you're jealous.

This is a special time of year in our home, the time of year when Dan and I fill out competing brackets predicting who we think will emerge victorious in the NCAA National Basketball Tournament. Dan and I have decidedly different methods of choosing our winners.
Dan puts great effort and time into analyzing the records of the teams, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they will most likely play against each other. In effect, he does the math.
I, on the other hand, ask the following series of questions about each team: Who is from a town I have been to, that is in the South, or that I would like to visit some day? If neither team falls into that category, or if it's absolutely clear that the one I like is going to lose, I pick the top-seeded team. But by and large, I go with my gut. I watch zero college basketball prior to March Madness, and I have no idea who has an even remotely decent team.
Here's the kicker: For the last three years, my teams have THUMPED Dan's. The first year we did this, he laughed at me when I explained how I was picking, but his picks were out in the first round, and one of mine went to the finals!
So today, we've chosen our teams. I had a slight conundrum in that I could, conceivably, have pitted Memphis against Tennessee in the final round, but in the end, I chose Duke and Tennesee to go all the way, and Duke to win it all. Dan has Duke and Florida going up against each other at the end, with Florida winning.
From now on, Dan will watch most of the games, and if history repeats itself, I will watch a few and, for the most part, sit back and laugh. The fun part about this is that I have actually come to enjoy watching the tournament, because what everyone says about the virtues of college basketball versus professional leagues is true: In college, it's really anyone's game, and it's so much more emotionally-driven. So it's fun to watch, and a little lighthearted competition with the husband is a nice diversion, too.
Perhaps this will be the year that my reign will end and Dan's more logical system will prevail.
But I doubt it.

This is Sunshine Week, which, if you didn't know, is the week in the newspaper world devoted to the promotion of open government laws. Open government laws vary from state to state, but all states are subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act, and all open government laws are all born out of the principles in the First Amendment and the belief that open government is better than secretive government. (Short sermon on open government and free speech to follow from the rabid newspaper lady.)
The First Amendement is first for a reason, people. As an American citizen, you are entitled to know 99.9 percent of what the leaders in your country, county, city or tiny little town are up to, and if anyone tells you differently, you can almost always be certain that they are lying to you. The First Amendment protects your right to free speech from interference by your government, whether your speech is offensive, religious or just plain absurd. Make no mistake, oh multitudes who aren't so fond of the media: Your right to a free press is directly tied to your right to free speech, free assembly and your freedom of religion. It's all part of the same constitutional amendment. And while you may not like what you read in the newspaper and see on the news on a daily basis, the majority of complaints and lawsuits that take to court the continued upholding of your First Amendment and open government rights are filed by media entities who have been denied access to some government record that should have been handed over with a smile. That is one of the primary functions of a free press, and I'm proud to say, I've been part of newspapers that have gone to the mattresses over things like that. It's the least we can do. Because people have fought and died, and are fighting and dying every day all over the world, for things like this.
So check out this and this and this, and this , and go forth prepared to embrace your rights. It's the least you can do.
End of sermon.

Thursdays make me tired, because there's one whole day until the weekend and I just don't feel like I have the gas to get there.
So, to cheer me along through one more long, long day, tell me what y'all are doing this weekend. Me, I plan to sleep in, clean the apartment, maybe pick up a good book and try to read it over the sounds of Dan screaming at the basketball games on TV. Big fun!
What kind of serious partying will go on in your world? Admit it! You're going to clean the bathroom, too! Or maybe I'm just old.

Hey, people.
A couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that it was about to be March 18, the day last year when Aaron got hurt. And I wondered if that was the kind of thing that it would be OK to mention here on the site. I thought I'd run it past Aaron first, to make sure he wouldn't think that was insenstive or something.
But then, yesterday, when I asked everyone to tell me what they were doing this weekend, Aaron left the following comment that led me to believe he might feel just fine about it. Here is what Aaron says he's up to:

"I'm actually planning on partying to the best of my abilites this weekend. Saturday is my stump's first birthday! I was planning on going sky-diving, but it looks like those plans fell through, so I'll just see what other sort of trouble I can get into."

So there you have it. It's been a year, and that's worth celebrating. Personally I'll probably call Aaron and talk for a little while to find out what he's up to, and then I'll hang up and go back to cleaning the house or whatever I'm doing and revel in the fabulous normalness of this day as compared to last year. But I'll also take a minute to be thankful. Join me if you want.

A sore throat is such a minor complaint, but it makes you feel so, so miserable.
Any great home remedies I should know about?

My favorite series of commercials currently on television are the Volkswagen hip-hop style commercials, where the guy says "V-Dub, representing Deutschland!"
I laugh every time. Enjoy these three.

A while back, I promised y'all a link to the web site of Daniel Meigs, who is the boyfriend of my sister Hannah, and therefore clearly a man of good taste with an eye for beauty. On top of that, Daniel is also a very accomplished photographer. Some of his work is now up on his new web site. Check it out, and go back from time to time, since I understand he is planning to build this site up gradually.

Well, people, hang on. For the second time in three months, we have made an offer on a house that has been accepted. In theory, this means we will move into this home on April 29.

We love this house even more than the first one, which must be our reward for the previous debacle. It's got this huge living area in which our one little couch is going to be swallowed, and a back yard with a real, fully grown tree, a rare commodity in Albuquerque, the high desert. So congratulate us, and pray that this deal goes through like it is intended to do.

And if you have boxes, we're taking those again.

So glad that this story ends well.