Spring's the Thing!!

Winter's do-one... winter's do-one!! La-la-la-la-a-a-a!!

That's right people, today is the first official day of Spring!! Woo-hoo. It officially started at 13:32 EDT today!! Today the thermometer hit 70 F and it was a simply gorgeous day. Of course, this is New England in March, so naturally the television weather folks are predicting snow on Tuesday. How much or where will get the most I don't know as I haven't actually listened to the forecast.

Spring!!!

Gotta love it!

Vernal Equinox

Spring begins right now in the Eastern United States.

Not a moment too soon, I'd say.

I'll happily be done with winter for a while.

Won't miss it a bit.

Spring is Here!!

Spring officially begins here in the Eastern United States at 01:48 EDT and I have to say that it's about time!!

Bye bye, winter!!

I love Spring.

Summer is better, but Spring is definitely a step in the right direction.

(Of course you realize that this post was post-dated ahead of the actual time of 1:48 AM, right? I'll happily be in z-z-z-z land by then. Check back once in a while today because I'll be adding more stuff as the day wears on with each entry in a different color and font.)

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Two book stories for you:

1) If you've read here long enough you'll know that I love going to bookstores but that I hate paying too much for the books I want to buy. Yesterday was no exception. I went in to Barnes & Noble to use up a gift card I had left over from Christmas, which had like $4.51 on it. I ended up spending over $50, but here's the kicker: One of the books I bought had a list price of $30. Subtract the discount from my Membership card and my price for the book dropped to $24. Not bad, I thought, until I got home and saw the exact same book here for $19.80!! So I ordered it and will be returning the copy I bought yesterday.

2) Most Saturday mornings, V, M and I go to Borders for the kids' story time. When I'm there I usually find a book to glance through while I'm waiting. About a month ago I was reading one of these books that I thought would be nice to own eventually, so I put it on my wish list at another store's web site (not Borders though because they are consistently on the high end with their prices). Two weeks ago I was looking over online what I wanted to get at the Warehouse Sale and happened to notice that the price for the exact same book at Amazon was around $9 lower. I emailed CBD to let them know of the wicked price discrepancy and included Amazon's link for reference. They sent me an email back thanking me for letting them know about the pricing issue. A few days later they sent me another email again thanking me for letting them know about the price problem and that they were going to send me a free copy of the book! Last Saturday my free book arrived in the mail(woo-hoo)! I love it when I get free stuff! It's not a big book, but hey... if you want to send me a free copy of a book I'm going to buy anyway and save me some money, who am I to argue? Seriously.

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In case you missed anything on BB9 this week, here are the recaps of episode 15, episode 16 and episode 17.

I've decided that I'm not going to read the spoiler blogs and such before the actual CBS shows, which I had been doing over the last week and a half or so. I like BB9 but am not addicted to it. I don't need to watch BBAD or subscribe to the 24/7 feeds to enjoy the show. I am surprised at the events that happened this week, with Sheila being taken off the block and being replaced by Matt and then with his eviction last night following James casting the deciding tie-breaker vote. Natalie is right to be angry at James the hypocrite for nominating and then evicting Matt after he promised Natalie he would not (as a condition of him winning the HoH instead of Natalie) and saying that your word is all you have in this game, then going back on it. I hope he gets voted out this week.

It will be interesting to see who new HoH Adam decides to nominate this week. I'm pretty confident it will not be Sheila, Ryan or Natalie. My guess is it will be either James or Chelsia and Josh or Sharon. I personally would like to see him nominate James and Chelsia. Neither one is my favorite but I'd love to see James get his comeuppance. Right now my favorite players are Sharon and Ryan. Sheila, Josh and James are my least favorite houseguests.

I wonder what Evel Dick from BB8 will do on the show next Tuesday?

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This speech is a great example of why I'll cast my vote in November for Barack Obama, assuming he'll win the Democratic nomination for President.

Five things I love about Spring

I wasn't tagged, but saw this on Dabich's blog and wanted to participate myself. My answers are going to be similar to hers in some cases, me thinks. What a smashing idea, looking forward to Spring...

Here are da rules to play da game:

1. The post most be titled, "5 Things I Love About Spring". And you'll have to list the 5 things you most love about spring.

2. You must announce that only those who wish to take the challenge need apply, those who don't- that's fine.

MY LIST:

1) EASTER: The most important Christian holiday celebrates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Easter also happens to fall on my parents 40^th wedding anniversary this year. Convenient.

2) SPRING TRAINING: For the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, pitchers and catchers report to Florida on Thursday the 14^th (in two days! Some players are already there). The beginning of Spring Training means that another baseball season is fast approaching, which means that my ultimate favorite season - summer - isn't far off. Though the games don't matter until April, being able to read a boxscore and all the happenings of my favorite team is a good thing. Trust me.

3) NATURE COMES OUT OF HIBERNATION: That means buds on the trees, lawns that turn from dead brown to vibrant green, flowers in all their various colors. Birds, bees, squirrels and other small rodents are seen wandering around the yard, which goes hand in hand with #4.

4) WARMER TEMPERATURES: This makes for more outdoor activities, like walking in the woods, going to the park with my kids, helping my dad open the pool at his house, playing catch with M (and V when she feels like it), and cooking out on the grill to name a few. I also find that I have more energy as the weather gets warmer. Bring on the heat!

5) NFL DRAFT, FREE AGENCY and RELEASING OF THE SCHEDULE for THE UPCOMING SEASON: The only thing better than football season itself is the anticipation and preparation for the next football season. I love participating in the draft contest, seeing which college players my team selects and who they sign/trade for. I also love it when the schedule comes out - seeing who plays who and when and setting up my pick sheets. How many prime time games dos my team have? Guessing what their record will be. All of that good stuff to fill the football-less void.

BONUS: The 3^rd Anniversary of this here blog you're reading, coming up sometime in early June (yes, that's still spring for all you Northern Hemisphere types...) Can you believe it?

So there you have it, folks. Play along if the mood strikes you - or not. If you do play, let me know so I can come and read your answers!