My Happy Place

Here's the scene as I work from home today: My work laptop is on my . . er . . . lap, I'm lounging on my bed with every single pillow either behind me or around me. Pugs are snuggled in as tightly as pugly possible because god forbid they should venture to any other part of a queen-sized bed. Curlers are in my hair; I'm not sure why. To be honest, I'm experimenting. In front of me, on the TV, North Texas is trying to knock Memphis out of the men's NCAA tournament. I am yelling at the TV, at North Texas (causing the pugs to flinch) for the big upset. This is the exact tournament for which I wait all year. Three weeks of bliss started for me yesterday.

What I'm trying to say is that I'll be distracted during this tournament, but the fact that I am blogging during the second day, historically one of the more exciting days of the tourney, is a testament of my love for you. To add to my distraction, I run a huge March Madness pool. This year is the 8th annual. I twist people's arm to enroll and then I write commentary after each round and force all poolers to read it, quenching my sports-writing fantasy. This year there are record-breaking entries and if the IRS or the feds are reading this, What's up, boys? All 85 of my pool participants are playing for, uh, a handshake and a you're-a-genius pat on the back. I'm happy to report that I also lured this enthusiast into the pool, and we've made a side bet. The consequences are blog related. Look for humiliating results posted by the loser in approximately three weeks. M, You're going DOWN!