March Madness!

Yes, it's here and I'm SO EXCITED. But even more exciting is this:

My visit to Willowbrook, IL included learning how my products are
actually made (so much more complicated than you could ever imagine)
and eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet of what can only be described
as Eastern European/Germanic Food. Included: Fruit Pierogis,
Blintzes, Chicken Kiev, Potato Pancakes, Schnitzel, Sausage, and
Sauerkraut. I out-ate two large midwestern men, one of whom lists his
two hobbies as hunting and training his golden retriever to past
hunting field tests.

My experiment of leaving Satchel with friends vs. his dog walker ended
so successfully that he actually had a mini-meltdown when I tried to
take him home. He was clawing his way back up the hill towards their
house. I know he'll be reprogrammed as soon as we play our first
round of the sock game tonight.

I'm going skiing! Finally I made some ski plans, and am continuing my
Tahoe-avoiding streak as well. The Four Seasons in Aspen is more my
speed anyhow, with the grand price of free accommodations. And what
could be more natural than Julie and three gay MBA's going on a ski
trip?

The Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo is so amazing I can't put it
down. I love everything he's done, and am glad to see he's still on
the upward trajectory in terms of his storytelling.

Isn't that exciting? But the most exciting thing is instead of
watching today's games at a sports bar, I'm stuck at work streaming
video illicitly over the internet. Pacific Time plus full time work
makes this year such a downgrade in experience vs. last year, it
almost outweighs the excitement expressed above. But not completely.