It's Over

Too bad. Duke got blown out by Villanova last night and their season is over. It was a really fun season for us, getting to see almost all of their games now that we have a tv. And of course, every team but one ends their season with a loss once you make the NCAA Tournament. It's still rough, though, to see your team lose. It would have been better if both teams had played a good game and Duke still lost. I give Villanova's defense credit, but at the same time, we just played terribly. We only shot 27% from the field. Ouch.

But like I said, it was a fun year and this team did a lot of great things. We won 30 games and an ACC Championship. Duke has won more games this decade than any other college team ever has in a decade. Kyle Singler announced he'll be coming back next year. Hopefully Gerald Henderson will do the same. Perhaps the silver lining in last night's debacle is that G's horrible game (1 for 14 shooting) might encourage him to not want to end his college career on that note. If he comes back, we'll be really good next year.

So now, as is the case with every Duke fan, we now root for "whoever is playing UNC." That team now is Gonzaga. Go Zags!

March Madness!

Today is the day. The NCAA Tournament begins. It's a great time of year for college basketball fans. You know, of course, who we're rooting for. This is probably Duke's best team since their last Final Four run in 2004. Courtney, Luke, and I all filled out our brackets (well, Luke might have had a little help). I tried to be a little more conservative this year, and I have Duke losing to Pitt in the Elite Eight, unfortunately. That would be playing up to the expectation of their 2 seed, and I'd be happy with that. Courtney has Duke all the way to the Final Four, and Luke... has Duke going all the way! We entitled Luke's bracket, "Luke Loves Duke." We're hoping Luke is right!

Grandma & Grandpa Come to Town

My parents came from Houston for a long weekend to see me and Courtney... oh, and Luke of course. :) We had a great time, even if the weather didn't cooperate at all. After a weekend of 75 degrees and sunny, this last weekend featured rain, snow, and cold temperatures. Oh well. We still managed a visit to Ash Lawn, which was James Monroe's home, in addition to doing some shopping and watching a lot of basketball on tv. Go Duke! ACC Champions! Luke loved being the center of attention and putting on a show. He's a big fan of visits from grandparents.

Going for a Hike

So remember how it was cold and snowing at the beginning of the week? Fast forward to Friday and it's now sunny and 70 degrees. It's supposed to be even warmer this weekend. Anyway, we took advantage of the great weather to go do a bit of walking/hiking at the Ragged Mountain Natural Area about 10 minutes from where we live.

Luke just loves being outdoors. He had a great time today.

Snow!

We don't get snow around here very often, but last night we got about 3 inches. Interesting timing with it being "spring" break and all. But anyway, we took advantage of it by giving Luke his first opportunity to play in the snow! As with most new things, he wasn't too sure about it at first, but he was crawling around and enjoying himself before too long.

Luke Loves Doing Dishes

Luke loves "helping" with the dishes. Whenever we open the dishwasher, he can hear it. Wherever he is in the apartment, he stops what he's doing and heads straight for the kitchen. The last time this happened, he handed me one piece of silverware at a time out of the dishwasher. This would've been great if the dishes were clean and I was putting things away. Unfortunately, they were dirty and I was trying to put dishes in the dishwasher. Oh well. Gotta give him credit for the effort.

Welcome to America!

My mom and dad arrived today in the United States from Jakarta, Indonesia. They will once again be calling Houston home. This is a pretty big deal because they haven't lived in the United States since November 1995, almost 13 1/2 years ago! During that time, they were in Scotland, Nova Scotia, Scotland again, and Indonesia. I still lived at home during the first stint in Scotland. Now that they're back in Texas, where I was born, perhaps it will become a bit more simple to answer the question, "where am I from," but only slightly. In any event, it'll be nice living in the same country again, something that hasn't happened for 7 1/2 years. Welcome home!