Am I Mad? All the Best People Are.

I wouldn’t call myself the biggest basketball fan in the world. Not even close. While I do prefer college football to any other sport to watch, there’s this thing about March that puts me in a better mood. The NCAA Tournament is so different from any other championship-ish effort put on by other sports. You simply have the best 64 teams in college basketball, single elimination, playing for 2 weeks to win the national championship. If you play well during the season, you get seeded higher in the tournament, which doesn’t always mean a whole lot, but it helps. I remember calling my Mom in the airport during our layover coming home from Ireland. The bracket selection show had just started and she didn’t even say “Hey” or “Are you back safe?” The first thing she said was “Duke got a #1 seed in the tournament!” That’s how much my family loves Duke basketball, and since they are always in the running for the national title, March Madness will always get me pumped. This year I decided to do an office bracket competition. They all got a little upset because they thought I was only doing it so I could win the prize. But the coolest thing about the tournament is that any and every team has the chance to win it. Teams who have made it to the past several Final Fours aren’t even in it this year. Teams like Butler can play teams like Duke and UCONN for the national championship. So really all bets are off when March gets here, and that’s really exciting to watch. Luckily Winthrop has a new coach coming in next year, so hopefully we’ll get some more shots at the tournament and I can get back to camping out in front of my TV on Thursday in my Winthrop gear. As for this year, I’ve got Kentucky winning it all, as much as that pains me to say out loud. Here’s to the rest of the month!

Ready to Run

For those of you that didn't get the privaledge of knowing me in high school, there's no other way to put it. I was a smart ass. I remember literally introducing myself to our new soccer coach in 11th grade as "your best player on the team." I pretty much did my own thing at practices and told my teammates what to do instead of letting the coach do it. My spring soccer team had their first practice last night and I think I've met my match in a 9 year-old girl. The whole team is actually going to be a handful, but I like that.

Me: "Ok everybody on the line. If you don't listen, you have to run."
Reagan: "Oh I see how it's gonna be."

Me: "Your homework is to think of a cool team name and we'll talk about it next week. Our colors are blue and white."
Reagan: "The Yankees!"

quote of the day(s)

This weekend was Special Olympics Mid-Winter Games, so we took yet another awesome group of athletes down to Charleston for competition in Disc Golf, Bowling, and Powerlifting. It was hilarious, look...

Laura: "Where's room 111?"
Terry: "You found your way around New York City. You can find your way around a Sleep Inn in Charleston."

Me: "What did you get on hole 3?"
Chuck: "I got a 2 on hole 3! You better believe I did!"

Chuck: "My cologne is cheap, but it smells like Old Spice."

Stephanie: "You ever heard that song Lean with it, Rock with it? It reminds me of me because you know how I lean and rock?"

quote of the day

Sarah: "Death by chocolate....what are the side effects of that?"
Everyone: "Umm. Death."

Ice Ice Baby

You’ve probably heard me say that hate is a pretty strong word and I try to refrain from using it except for those times when I really mean it. So when I say I hate being cold, I mean, I HATE it. I hate sweaters and snow and ice storms and static electricity when you touch someone and dry skin and being inside and high gas bills and having to wear actual shoes. The winter months are just awful for me. I will say that we in South Carolina have completely lucked out this winter though, and I have complained very little. A snow big enough to ice the road from home to work would’ve been nice for a couple days, but I really am ok with not seeing a single snowflake. I’ve been unreasonably cold twice in my life. One was when I went surfing in Ireland in 2010. The temperature outside the water was in the 40’s, but I put on an already wet wetsuit and jumped into the stretch of Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank only to get out about 30 minutes later with mild hypothermia. I didn’t realize what it was until one of the surfing guys told me afterwards and I thought “oh. that’s why I couldn’t feel any part of my body.” Another time was when I went backpacking last March. We whitewater rafted 10 miles in the rain to start off our trip, and I never warmed up over the next 2 days. Even at night when Brittany Brock and I were literally in the same sleeping bag. During both of these experiences, I legitimately thought my organs were going to freeze. So after learning these lessons, I STILL thought it would be cool to run into Lake Wylie this weekend for the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. The high temperature was a warm (for February) 53 degrees, which really was a miracle, because it could’ve been a lot worse. There were TONS of people there plunging, and we raised $12, 524. Thanks to my scuba diver costume, I fell in, which gave me a bloody knee and water up to my chest. Neither of those things felt good. But it was awesome. It was so encouraging to see the amount of people that were there to risk the cold and quite possibly their health, for a great cause. And a BIG thank you to everyone who donated so that I could plunge! If you were disappointed that I didn’t go all the way in, you should see my knee. It was definitely sacrificial.

quote of the day

Me: "Man, people think too much. I'm glad I don't over-think everything and I'm just like yea, God is awesome."
Erica: "You blog. Therefore, you think."

Love Week

Who knows what their love language is? Theres all these books in the world that talk about what yours might be, and I've never read one. I'm not even sure of what all the love languages are. But I do know that mine is gifts, and I get it genetically. My Mom was always REALLY good at giving gifts just for fun and I really loved that. Giving gifts makes me happy too, even though I'm not always the best at picking them out. I like to let people know they are special or that I'm thinking of them by physically giving them something that makes them happy. Because really, how good is just a facebook wall post or text message? All that to say, I have felt super duper loved this week. It's Valentine's week obviously and that has everything to do with it, but a lot of people and things have made me happy. I got a card and some money from my Grandma and a valentines/late graduation present from one of my best friends Mom's in the mail. I got some beautiful flowers, Lady and the Tramp DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack (whaddup), and a Justin Bieber valentine from my awesome boyfriend on Valentine's day, proving that guys are not hopeless at giving gifts. A bunch of my co-workers gave me lots of candy. I have way too much candy. And this morning, a co-worker brought me starbucks just because she said I was doing a "fabulous job." That's the kind of thing that makes my day. But outside of material things (gotta stay humble) I've had some good phone time with friends I haven't talked to in a while this week and been reminded of how undeservingly loved I am. I've always liked Valentine's day, because it's mostly stupid and it's important to tell people how awesome they are. Sure you should do that every day, but who actually does? And we all could use an obnoxious reminder during the month of the cold and depressing death that is the month of February.

Quote of the day:
Erica: "Sorry, I'm rubbing in my treatments."
Me: "Ew."