Upcoming Weekend Activities......

The weekend is finally (thankfully, mercifully) upon us, and it's going to be a busy one for activities completely unrelated to Easter.

The Masters started today, and the four golfers I chose in the pool teed off and immediately started to SUCK BADLY. I have a sure-fire, guaranteed way to bring a golfer down. Just pick him on my Masters sheet. Three of the four have to make the cut in order for me to stay in the contest; I'll be lucky if ONE of them makes it. Goodbye, little $20.

Baseball started today, and I was dismayed to see that the Braves' game was in the middle of the day. I followed the little cartoon characters online, and they lost. Then tomorrow they have a day off. What?? You have the entire last six months off, come back and play one day, then have a day OFF? I think I would like to have that kind of schedule. Never mind...

The NCAA Gymnastics Regional Championships will be held this Saturday (which is also my birthday, so can I ask for a WIN for my birthday gift?) at six different locations around the country. The top two teams from each regional move on to the national championships, which are being held this year just about 20 minutes from where I live. Katydid and I will be traveling about two and a half hours to attend the Auburn Regional this Saturday, getting back home sometime between midnight and 1:00 AM. Zzzzzzzzzz..... I'm too old to stay up that late. The UGA Gym Dogs are the #1 seed for our regional, and they SHOULD advance easily, but strange things have been known to happen in the post-season.

BUT FIRST, before we make that journey, we are riding in a bicycle ride that we've done a number of times in a town not far from my home either. Instead of doing the 60-mile route, we are planning to ride the shorter one, 37 miles, dash back to my house to shower and change clothes, then make the trek to Alabama. Whew - I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

Happy (early) weekend!

Baseball Overdose.....

There is really no such thing as baseball overdose, but it's past my bedtime and that's the best I could come up with.

We went to a minor league baseball game tonight, a first for me. I had heard several people say there isn't a bad seat in the house in this new stadium, and I have to agree with them. It was a small, intimate, fun environment.

Thank goodness for the torrential rains we had this afternoon, or I would never have been able to sit outside in the pollen clouds. But everything was fresh and cleansed by the rain, and it was very pleasant.

We didn't get to stay for the whole game -- do we EVER when Hubby is along?

So now I'm home, watching the animated version of the game we just left to see the conclusion (the home team won 8-6).

I'm also watching the end of the real Braves' game on television, where there is one out in the ninth and the end may not be so good for the home team unless something positive happens in a hurry. Our phenom batter just went down on three pitches, so I am a little less confident.

Tomorrow night I'm going to a high school baseball game between the two schools in our county. Lawanda the Warrior Princess's son plays catcher for one of the teams.

Then I'm going to come home and watch highlights of the Masters. Saturday I will ride the tandem with Katydid, watch more Masters coverage, watch highlights of the G-Day football game, and catch the gymnastics regionals online.

I need to go buy some Cracker Jacks.

Masters Overdose.......

For the last two days I have watched the Masters on the computer during the school day (have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?) and on television after I get home.

Amen Corner

I got hooked on the Masters, and golf in general, when I was in college. I dated a guy who lived in Augusta, and his family had tickets to the Masters tournament. I didn't realize at the time how significant that was. Apparently there's a waiting list, and there's a waiting list to get on the waiting list, and the only way to get on THAT list is for someone to die. And apparently people don't die with any regularity in Augusta. If I had known just how huge it was to have Masters tickets, I might have given a little more serious thought to marrying him.

Nah. Just kidding.

12th Green

We went to the Saturday round in............I believe it was 1981. Or 1980. There were two ways to go about watching this tournament. You could find a spot and squeeze in among the other thousands of people there and watch all the golfers as they came by that hole. Or you could pick a golfer and follow him around the course, sprinting from hole to hole hoping to get a decent glimpse.

Azaleas

But even if you never got a glimpse of a golfer or a birdie putt, it was worth it just to be there on that magnificent course. The azaleas for which the course is so famous are always in full bloom, because they plan it that way. Seriously, in the years when we have had an unusually warm spring around here, I have seen photos of ice bags packed around the azaleas to keep them from blooming before just the right time. And I'm sure the watering restrictions in place last year due to our severe drought did NOT extend to Augusta National. There are magnificent dogwoods, magnolias, and all sorts of other beautiful flowers and trees.

Morning Dew

It is simply breathtaking to be there, never mind the history, the fanfare, the legions of famous golfers who have walked those same stretches of pristine, perfectly manicured grass.

The year I went to the Saturday round, we chose to follow Jack Nicklaus around the course. He was playing with a little-known hunk of an Aussie golfer named Greg Norman. I had no idea who he was; I just thought he was easy on the eye.

It doesn't really matter what the "official" date of spring is. For me spring really begins when they play the Masters.