Dae Han Minguo!

Hmmm. Not such a good job of keeping to once a week.

Anyway, Paul and I were down in L.A. last weekend and early this week to watch the World Baseball Classic semi-finals and the final game. We went to the event in '06, too, and loved it, so it was great to go back. We got to see Korea vs. Venezuela, the U.S. vs. Japan, and then in the finals, Korea vs. Japan. We were kind of hoping for this matchup, because while of course we love the boys from the U.S., Korea and Japan care about the event more, and also, they HATE each other. So it makes for a good audience experience. We saw them play each other in the semis last time, and guys were in those little sumo loincloths, and there were giant drums, and signs that we didn't understand because they were in Korean and Japanese, and signs that we DID understand and were highly political. For all that, somehow, no fistfights broke out. So seeing them play each other in the finals this time was a real treat. Paul and I rooted for the Koreans (and the guy a row in front of me, when he saw the little Korean flag I had bought, lent me his Korea do-rag to wear for awhile), but the Japanese won. They're two-for-two right now.

The real baseball season starts in a couple of weeks, and that will be great. We're going to Cleveland over the Fourth of July to see that stadium--we have a goal of seeing them all.

Next up, travel-wise, is a visit to ME by Aunt Toni and Cousin Jason and Mothra. I'm very excited by that.

The first flowers of spring are starting to show here. I'll take pictures for you guys as we go, but I'm afraid the snowdrops might die before I get a chance, so here's a picture of those. Aren't they cute? I think hyacinths, daffodils, some kinds of lilies and irises will be next. And then tulips!

Fiddle-dee-dee!

In one of those twists where my life apparently intersects with that of a main character from some chick-lit novel, I'm going to meet a friend for drinks after work, and then we're going to the opera. Fun, if making me feel much more like a grown-up than I normally do.

It was a good weekend, except for the weather, which was a misery. That's the "joy" of March around here; last Thursday I was so excited because it was nice out, yet later this week we'll have a high of 27, and this weekend it rained so much there are still roads flooded.

Remind me to take pictures when spring really starts.

So, it's supposed to get up to almost 60 degrees here today, which is quite exciting. Any day now we'll see the first shoots of the the crocus and daffodils poking up. When I first moved to Chicago, I was amazed at how black the soil is, and I thought maybe people constantly were using manure or potting soil. But no, America's breadbasket (well, corn and soybean basket) really does have black soil that smells so good after it rains I like it as much as I like the smell of the desert after it rains. Anyway, I guess the point is that the weather's beautiful today, and it will be again tomorrow, and this could be the beginning of the end of winter since we're not supposed to have a high below freezing for at least the next five days. My legs are bare under my skirt today and I feel like dancing, at least a little. It'll probably snow at least one more time before we're really done, but today I can't care. Bare legs!