We spent Sunday morning dyeing eggs and trying (unsuccessfully) to keep the kids away from their candy.
The afternoon brought an egg hunt, yard work, and unsuccessful attempts to keep myself away from the Cadbury Mini Eggs. The day was a bit chilly, so our egg hunt was brief. You can rest assured, though, that all eggs were recovered.
A fun day.
***I must now interrupt this post for an update on the NCAA Tournament.***
Okay, so it's actually Friday now. I had no time to blog at work ("blork"?) this week. I am currently watching CBS covering of the tournament, day two of the Sweet Sixteen. Right now, Davidson is beating Wisconsin. It's a great, exciting, thrilling game, and Stephen Curry is scoring all over the place, and it's awesome! We have been watching that game all night, as we should. But they just switched us over to Texas beating Stanford. WHY? The Davidson game is not over yet!! Yes, Davidson is kicking ass, but that's what I want to watch! We can watch Texas/Stanford when Davidson finishes their game. I have had no previous non-Billy Packer-related complaints about CBS in all their years of covering the tournament. In fact, I usually have nothing but raves. But seriously, what the fuck? They switched us from the underdog putting the stomp on (with the great Gus Johnson calling) to Texas/Stanford? And to add insult to injury, who is calling this game? None other than Billy Packer. Argh!
Okay, they switched it back. Thank you, CBS. Rant over.
83-62? What the hell? That game was no good. I spent most of the game consulting the Bill James Lead Calculator (a lot more fun than it may sound), trying to figure out when the game was out of reach. It got there eventually, and that made me sad. Not as sad as seeing poor Shan Foster on the bench with a towel over his head, but sad nonetheless. It's too bad the games weren't played at Memorial.
I vowed after the game was over to spend the next few weeks determinedly cheering for the Heels, plus for whomever was playing Duke. I am sure that West Virginia is grateful (so sweet); Arkansas, not so much.
I finally got around to seeing No Country for Old Men. It's tough to watch, but it didn't really start to haunt me until the next day. I couldn't get it out of my head for a while there. Between that and The Wire, I think I need to start watching more comedies.
I hope all is well with you and the boys.
love, molly
previous post title source: "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted," Jimmy Ruffin
Well, the first day of the tournament has come and gone with not terribly much to report but can you believe that Belmont-Duke game?!? What a heartbreaker! Ugh, it's like a gutshot just to think about it. We turned it on pretty early in the game, and Belmont was keeping it close. Kevin (a Belmont alumnus, mind you) just hearkened back to past years when Belmont played close against UCLA and Georgetown for a while, but eventually got stomped.
But the funny things kept happening, right? Belmont kept keeping it close. Sure, they went down by 10 at one point, and I thought, well, it was fun while it lasted. But then they kept hitting crazy threes and back-door passes and sprints to the hole
AP Photo/Susan Walsh, via espn.com
and then they were up and then they were down by one and then they turned over the inbounds pass and then the Duke guy missed his free-throw and then they had the ball with 2.1 seconds left and then the guy got the shot off from mid-court and then . . . it was just SO CLOSE! Ach.
photo via deadspin.com
I know it's being said across the country this morning, as it was said last night, and as it has been said from October through March every year for years and years and years, but man, do I hate Duke.
There was a nice little poetic post about the loss on Deadspin. I particularly love the title. Click on the sad picture above for a link, or click here.
We're at t-minus 8 hours, 17 minutes until the 'Dores tip-off. And one hour, 12 minutes until I start watching games on my computer at work. Thank you, March Madness on Demand!
Go 'Dores!
Hey, if I don't post anything else till then, Happy Easter! We're headed to the zoo tomorrow for "Eggstravaganzoo" '08. Should be a blast.
In typical Vanderbilt fashion, the 'Dores did not get the first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. That means that March Madness starts one day earlier for us fans, though. The 'Dores will be playing Auburn at 2:15 pm this afternoon (that's 1:15 mountain time). I don't know that there is anything sports-related that I love more than tournament time. Game(s) on.
photo via vucommodores.com
Hopefully, the 'Dores will win and bring some brightness to my otherwise depressingly natural-light-lacking cubicle. I have spent much of my day recovering from watching the final episode of Season 4 of The Wire. It's SO SAD!! Geez. Have you started watching yet? I'm serious--I think both you and Todd would love it. It's fun for the whole family. Excluding children. And in-laws (figured that one out while watching two lesbians making out with each other at the end of one of the episodes--it was not good times I was having with Kevin's dad).
Anyway, you know March Madness always makes me think of you. I hope you enjoy it.
Go 'Dores!
love, molly
previous post title source: the final words of "Ice, Ice Baby," Vanilla Ice
That phrase from this post's title has been running through my head all day, cracking me up. I think it's due to lack of sleep.
Well, Black Mountain was awesome. I daresay the show was worth staying up until 1 am for. Those kids know how to rock and/or roll. Unfortunately, we got erroneous information on the Exit/In site and so missed all but one of Bon Iver's songs (stayed too long at the Gold Rush). For once, an opening band that I actually cared to see! Oh, well. What we heard was beautiful, as is the name of his album: For Emma, Forever Ago. Isn't that nice? I hope that Emma appreciates the dedication.
But dude, Black Mountain! In the words of the great Tommy Boy, "I swear I've seen a lot of stuff in my life, but that . . . was . . . awesome!!!" It was just straight good music. I highly recommend. During the latter portions of the show, the lead guitarist was playing so fast that his hand was a blur--and no, this was not an illusion brought about by too much whiskey. I may have suffered permanent ear damage (second row!), but it was a good time all around. We even had cute audience neighbors who were adorable and hilarious and not at all annoying (important in a general admission setting).
If you want to experience the awesomeness for yourself, you can do so via the magic of the internet. NPR Music has a recording of the February Black Mountain/Bon Iver show from DC. You can also watch a video set to "Angels," below. I am sorry that I cannot provide documentation of my own experience, but I forgot my camera in the car this time.
More fun musical times to look forward to: Van Halen in eight days, baby! Then, in April, Nick Lowe at the Belcourt. Oh, yes. This means that I will finally be able to find out what IS so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding ('cause you know, he wrote it).
photo by Joel Didreksen for kingpinphoto.com, via npr.org
That's Nick Lowe. He's a handsome fellow, no?
Week four of upholstery class is tonight. I get to cut some fabric!
Hope all is well with you.
love, molly
previous post title source: "Sweet Baby James," James Taylor. When you have kids, I highly recommend learning this song. It is a perfect lullaby.
Happy Birthday (on Saturday)!! I hope you celebrated with lots of margaritas.
We had snow this weekend. 2-3 inches of beautiful snow . . . that stayed on the ground for about 12 hours! It was a brief frosting, that's for sure. Enough to force the cancellation of Ella's soccer game, though, so we'll have no pictures of her utter domination of the field this week (or for the next two weeks, unfortunately--Metro Nashville Public Schools are on spring break next week). Here's the view of the neighbors' yard:
Ella did have fun in the snow during her brief jaunt outside before we had to leave for a birthday party. Luke, on the other hand, freaked. He took off his gloves to touch the snow and did not like that one bit. Poor little guy. I was able to find some smaller gloves later for him to wear, but by that time there was no snow to speak of. Here's Ella, and Luke in happier times:
For a sweet, sweet recap of Saturday's snow festivities, see Mike Rustici's blog post from that day, here.
The birthday party that Ella went to was at Bounce U, one of those bounce houses where they fill a room with inflatable stuff and let the kids go to town. (Why didn't I think of this??) It was good times. I spent a good portion of the time talking schools with the other parents. It's so stressful! I don't know what I'm going to do. Luckily, Ella had a late birthday so I get to keep her where she is for an extra year. I'm getting all tensed up just thinking about it. But Ella had fun:
In sports news, despite Vanderbilt's loss to Alabama earlier in the day (they cannot win on the road!), Saturday saw the triumph of good over evil as UNC beat Duke in front of the crowd at Cameron. So sweet.
Finally, I will be staying out late on a weeknight tonight, going to a show at the Exit/In. The band in question is Black Mountain. Here's a description, courtesy of the Exit/In website:
When Black Mountain evoke glue-sniffing shredders of yesteryear such as Blue Cheer and Led Zeppelin, their technique falls nearer to Galaxie 500 and the Velvet Underground, who forsook showmanship and dug deep in search of music's fundamental soul.
I must admit that I never really placed Led Zeppelin in the category of "glue-sniffing shredders." My listening ear must not be as savvy as I have been assuming lo these many years. At any rate, the show should be interesting. The question of whether it will be worth staying up until 1 am remains to be answered.
UPDATE: That description was actually from the review on Pitchfork. I dislike Pitchfork, so I don't feel so bad about my lack of understanding of the "glue-sniffing" sound.
Soundtrack to this post: Live Wilco, courtesy NPR. You, too, can hear it. Just click here. They're playing "California Stars" right now. It's very pretty.
I hope all is well with you and that thirty-one (can it really be true?) is treating you well so far.
love, molly
previous post title source: "Basketball Jones," Cheech and Chong
The 'Dores played their final home game last night and got an overtime win over Mississippi State. Those in attendance got to watch an apparently otherworldly performance by senior Shan Foster (career-high 42 points, including nine 3-pointers in a row). I wish that I could have seen it, but folks in Nashville were forced to watch UT at Florida, instead. Damn you, the CW! :-(
(Confession: I wouldn't have watched it anyway. I am obsessed with The Wire and have to stay on my Tuesday-Wednesday-twice-on-Friday schedule. After I finished Season 4, Episode 9, I had to catch the season finale of Project Runway.)
You will be happy to know that the Memorial Magic was in full effect this season, as the 'Dores finished the season 19-0. You can find details on the game here, here, and here. If you don't want to read (not that I can blame you), here are a couple of pictures:
The game-winner:
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, via espn.com
Celebrating with his family (this one I couldn't resist--it's too cute):
photo via tennessean.com
This is the first year that I can recall that the SEC tournament won't start the last weekend of Vandy's spring break. (Just think--there could be another New Jersey-ite missing out on her chance to feast on fried food and celebrate her birthday with heartburn!) We have to wait another week for those festivities to start. Word on the street is that Vandy could be in for a first-round bye this year. Exciting times.
Little else to report from this end. It's been a morning where whatever could go wrong, did. Traffic sucked, I missed a step in Ella's classroom and ran into the door, and I was late to work (not that that's all bad!). Oh, then I choked on my cereal. That was fun. I was back here in my cubicle hacking, coughing, and barely able to take a breath. Did anyone come to my rescue? No. Woe was me! I was afraid I'd be like Liz Lemon on 30 Rock and have to give myself the Heimlich Maneuver using the back of my chair.
Hey, while I was writing this, "Fat-Bottom Girls" came on my iPod. "It made me think of you."
I took a break from using song lyrics as title sources to use a quote from none other than you, and one of my all time favorites. You uttered it one night when you wanted to do something other than sit around in our Chaffin apartment and watch me read a book (for class, mind you) on our lovely brown couch:
photos via vanderbilt.edu/ResEd and norwoodmall.com/ugly, respectively
Note: That is not our lovely brown couch. Sadly, I do not have any photos of that monstrosity at the ready.
Also note: Did you know that there is a contest to determine the world's ugliest couch? Check it out here.
In your attempt to dissuade me from reading, you reasoned, "Molly, books are a nice place to visit, but we wouldn't want to live there." Still gets me every time, and it is advice that I have passed on countless times. But I digress. The purpose of this post is to mention the arrival of a new book by my friend, Melissa Walker:
photo via amazon.com
Violet by Design is the second book in Melissa's Violet series (first book: Violet on the Runway) about a girl from NC who enters into the crazy world of modeling in NYC. (And probably not a minute too soon, given the rampant cheating that occurs in NC high schools!) It's good times, and you should check it out (that is, visit it) when you get the hankering for some quality YA reading. Note to Funbar--get it for the liberry.
And, if you want to reminisce about the brown couch, there's always:
So, we got an announcement in our weekly campus news email that they have created two t-shirts to commemorate Vanderbilt's upset of Tennessee last week. If you'd like to purchase one, visit the Official Online Store of VU Athletics! If you'd rather not click, here is a sampling of what you're missing (I have chosen the best of the two designs, if that tells you anything):
Okay, now I am here to tell you that that is pretty bad. Believe me, I know from bad t-shirts, coming from a family that likes to commemorate our annual reunions with them. In case you can't read the script, here is what it says:
Number 1 Is Done Down You Go 72 69 Vandy Who-T Courtesy of the DORES You're Welcome!
It's bad, yes, but even I have to admit that the addition of "You're Welcome!" is a genius move. It is the perfect, hilarious touch. Well played, Official VU Commemorative T-Shirt Designer. Well played.
As I wrote in yesterday's post, it's Spring Break here (the kids will probably have to wait until next week to spend $20 on that shirt), so the going has been pretty slow. I spent a good part of the morning checking out the Sports Guy's weekly links, one of which was this story, courtesy of reader Tom R. in Charlotte, NC. As Tom R. wrote, "Remember the 'legacy key' that Steve Sanders had at West Beverly? Well, it looks like it has turned up at Chapel Hill High School." My alma mater! Gets a mention on the Sports Guy's site with a reference to Beverly Hills, 90210? I could not be more proud. I am dying to know who had this when I was there.
Enjoy, and have a great day!
love, molly
ps--A little 90210 love is posted after the article.
Chapel Hill High breaks cheating ring
Cheryl Johnston Sadgrove and Mark Schultz
(Raleigh) News & Observer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --
Chapel Hill High School officials busted a cheating ring this month in which students used a master key to enter teachers' offices at night and, in at least one case, used a camera phone to copy exam answers.
Officials learned of the stolen key Feb. 15 while investigating students for having the answers to a mid-term, Principal Jackie Ellis said in an e-mail message Monday. The key opened most of the school's doors, she said.
The cheating apparently went on for several years, with the key being passed from one year's graduates to the next and with an ever larger circle of students keeping the secret, Ellis told parents in another e-mail last week. "Evidently a large number of students were aware that this was happening and remained silent," she wrote.
Bill Melega, a history teacher, said he heard as many as 30 students were involved. He said the mid-term exam was for an advanced placement government and politics class. He said those implicated are good students and that some of his seniors are now suspended.
"It was pretty shocking, to tell you the truth," Melega said. "I feel pretty close to these seniors. I've taught some of them in three classes."
Student body president Ellie Jesse, 18, said the cheating has upset students and teachers at the school.
"There's a lot of anger right now, especially the senior class," she said. "The faculty feel so betrayed."
Cheaters may have gained an edge in class rankings that help decide college admissions, students said.
"Not only is it not morally or ethically right, it affects everyone else," said Kira Borman, 16, student body vice president. "How you stand with the other kids affects getting into schools. It stops you from maybe getting into the college of your choice."
Chapel Hill High can be a pressure cooker, students said.
"It's ridiculously competitive," said Borman, a junior. "I think [this] shows the people at the top might not just be the smartest people or the best people."
Jesse said 100 or more students could be affected by changes in class ranking.
"It definitely rumored around," she said. "Once they got in trouble there was a lot of finger pointing. I think that's when the whole chain got started, how everyone got caught."
In her e-mail last week, Ellis said she had encouraged teachers to talk with students. "Perhaps if we [teachers/administration] had heard about this sooner, fewer students would have been involved in it and fewer students, teachers, and parents would have been hurt in this whole unfortunate ordeal," Ellis wrote.
Cheating is more widespread than many realize. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching reported last year that two-thirds of high school students cheat on tests, and 90 percent cheat on homework.
A national survey by Rutgers' Management Education Center of 4,500 high school students found that 75 percent of them engage in serious cheating.
Ellis said that Chapel Hill High's security officers and administrators continue to investigate the case.
And all exterior doors are being re-keyed.
(Staff writer Jesse James DeConto contributed to this story.)
You may remember an earlier post (that's right, I'm linking to my own post: how very meta) in which I stated that my excitement for the upcoming (then) Kings of Leon show could only be greater if it were for a Van Halen show? Well, I will get to test that theory soon! My eldest brother has taken it upon himself to get tickets for Kevin and me, as my late birthday present. We're trying to choose between the show in Duluth (Georgia) and the one in St. Louis, but given this breaking news, I think the prudent choice is to choose the earliest of the shows. (Plus, Duluth has already been rescheduled once, and everybody knows not to piss off Duluthians.) Anyway, SO excited. My only hope is that it is awesome, and not terrible like this:
Oh, so bad.
So, the students are on spring break this week. It's good times on campus. A great Monday to top off a spectacular weekend here in Nashville. It was gorgeous! I spent a lot of time out of doors with the kids (poor Kevin was ailing). First up, bright and early at 8:45 am (the horror!), was Ella's first soccer game of the season. She picked up right where she left off, and kicked ass up and down the field. Some pictures:
Pre-game stretches:
Ella and Coach Bill at the coin toss:
She lost the coin toss. It didn't matter.
Ella on her way to scoring her seventh (or so) goal:
If you look at that last one real closely, you may be able to hear me shouting, "Pass! PASS!!" She didn't listen.
See the ref in these pictures? He was a total hard-ass! It was hilarious. It was the first we'd seen of a coin-toss to begin the game. Then, after one of our goals, he refused to start the game again until we had four players on the field (even after repeated pleas from our coach that it was fine for us to play with three for a minute or two). But the pièce de résistance was when one of our players, Jordan, was running full-on toward the ball and accidentally ran into one of the other team's players. Dude seriously awarded the other team a free kick!The other team's coach was like, "Wait, what? No, that was an accident. No need for the free kick." I wouldn't have been surprised to see the kid pull out a yellow card had one of the kids called another one "poopyhead."
After the game, the kids and I went out for a delicious lunch and then to the fabric store to pick up supplies for my upholstery class. Here is the before picture of the couch I am working on:
Note: I had taken off the first piece of the skirt when I remembered to take a picture. Also note: That is my very own tool bag!
I didn't take a picture of the fabric I'm getting, though I must say I didn't really have a chance to. Let it be known that I do not recommend taking two kids to the fabric store. I think it's a pretty good pattern, though, and only hope that many years down the line my own child-in-law does not look at it and say, "I really need to take an upholstery class!"
Saturday night, we drove out to Ashland City to eat catfish at the Riverview Restaurant. (Motto: The only thing we overlook is the river.) It was no Taylor Grocery, but it satisfied my catfish hankering. (In case you are wondering, we couldn't go to your favorite, Uncle Bud's, because it is no longer in business.) I was showing Kevin the pictures of Ella's game when she asked for the camera and took this artistic photo of my huge biceps:
Sunday, the kids and I played outside for a good portion of the afternoon. I kicked their butts at soccer, so you can rest easy about that. I still got skillz. Here are some shots of the festivities:
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not post this picture of Luke in his new "rocker" shirt that Kevin got him. Kevin is so proud of it! (Please note the bandanna on his head, also courtesy of Kevin.)
And, that's about all the news from here. It's been thrilling, I know. This was mostly just an excuse to post lots of pictures of my cute and talented children.
I hope all is well out there in Colorado. I miss you!
love, molly
previous post title source: "Anchorage," Michelle Shocked
In sports news, despite 
