March 19, 2007
Okay so I’m not quite up to speed on things. I am painfully reminded of this when Arna comes home from college for spring break, or any break. This break I tried like heck to be involved and part of things. My biggest breakdown was my bracket attempt. For once I thought I can handle this. I put it off and put it off.
“Mom, brackets are due. It’s 10:30 am. Games begin in one hour … you really needed to submit your brackets last night … we’re giving you a break.”
“Okay, okay.” I look at the tiny print on the bracket sheets. Where are my glasses? Why are there so many teams?? I squinted and began choosing my favorite teams.
According to Arna, this is part of my problem. My reasons range from "I saw them once on TV and liked their guards" to "they always win so I want them to lose." I have no clue about teams in the far west. So I quickly filled in the brackets, forgetting to ask Arna a few questions…
Now you may be wondering what happens to the brackets we fill out? No, we don’t bet each other and we don’t have a pool. Brackets are basically used to taunt each other and brag IF you happen to be right.
For example, I picked VCU against Duke. For hours I pranced around the house, saying how great I was and intelligent and wise and smart. Finally one of Arna’s friends asked me why I chose them.
“I saw this great team from Virginia play and thought of them.”
“That was Virginia Tech, not VCU.”
“Oh … well, I just want to say that I also chose Michigan State … and I’m not telling you the reason.” (I think that the coach has a great smile.)
Here’s where I just should have pushed my bracket to the side and gloated upstairs alone.
“Let me see your bracket,” Arna grabbed my paper.
Then I was totally exposed. Arna discovered and told at least 5 people that I had chosen Texas A&M CC (Corpus Christi) against Wisconsin. This was a huge mistake that seemed to loom over everything. I admit that I didn’t read the “CC” part and actually picked Texas A&M, all over the bracket…
In case you’re not following any of this, in case you live on the moon, I suddenly lost all credibility. My attempts to be part of things fizzled. I went back to being a dork …
I hoped my cooking would make up for it. I continued my cooking extravaganza all week — fried potatoes with onions, chicken enchiladas, complicated casseroles, Amish friendship bread, regular bread, brownies, cut-up veggies, and many trips to the grocery and restaurants.
I admitted that I was watching a basketball game and mistakenly added 1/4 cup cinnamon instead of 4 teaspoons of cinnamon, but everybody just raked this gritty stuff off the top of the Amish bread that turned out to be a real hit. Two loaves were gone in two days.
I talked to all of Arna’s friends about school and didn’t ask them about their love lives, which showed real restraint. I played in the ping pong tournament, double elimination, and was eliminated immediately. I did get a few compliments, and nobody beat me by more than 10 … I actually enjoyed the ping pong and was under the illusion that I was getting better with each loss, including warm-up games. Arna’s friends finally stopped talking about the day I accidentally got on Arna’s IM (instant message) and couldn’t get off until one of Arna’s friends who I IM’ed explained it to me after we had a nice conversation about her being sick. It was interesting that everybody tells whether they are home or not.
This spring break has been a break for me from Cassie, Arna’s dog. I don’t have to take the late night walk with her — this is definitely Arna’s problem. I actually enjoyed it when I heard her bark at 2 am. I admitted to Arna that Cassie may be getting a little smarter. She hides under my bed until I tell her that Arna is home and to go downstairs. She actually does it.
So as spring breaks go, I guess this one has been okay. I’ll be pulling my bracket out (I wish I’d done it in pencil) and secretly gloating over a few successes. Arna headed for Iowa on Sunday. I ask every single person who comes in the house if they are any good at ping pong. The pizza guy said he didn’t have time for a game, but the UPS guy said he might arrange this to be his last stop. I have to find two folks I can beat before summer so I can move up in the bracket.
Comments
Anna (anonymous) says...
Brackets? I thought you were going to fix bookshelves! You can see how "out of it" I am!
Having never been associated with winning teams--it makes you humble and forgetful of all that. I usually associate March Madness with drunk St. Patrick's Day guys--the bus was so full of them, I kinda wished they had gotten behind their wheels and killed each other! They don't know any of the words to the songs they brayed and one guy pucked out the bus window and it came back in and got on an old Chinese lady who almost de-capitated the poor dude. They had to hold all 85 pounds of her back. The bus driver yelled that everyone had to sit down and shut up! We did.
March 19, 2007 at 3:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
debster52 (anonymous) says...
victory is sweet...one year i picked gonzaga just because it was close to my last name....they were gone in the second round i think but i won the whole bracket with that one pick...lol
March 23, 2007 at 11:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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