March Madness

March Madness is upon us. In more ways than one. Rarely has the month of March been as hairy as this one. From basketball stunner upsets to 'historic' congressional action to record-breaking snowfalls and mid-March snow events, it's 'March Madness' on steroids.

First off, I'm still psyched from the University of Northern Iowa's awesome upset of Number One rated Kansas in the NCAA Basketball tournament. Picked by many to win the tourney, Kansas led the Panthers only once as UNI pulled off one of the biggests upsets in the history of basketball in the state of Iowa. I'm doubly thrilled since I attended UNI before joining the State Patrol. WAY TO GO PANTHERS! I'll be wearing purple and gold tomorrow when you take on Michigan State. Whoo hoo!

Then there's the winter that won't end. Just when you thought it was safe to go out of the house and see green rather than white, we get socked with 4-5 inches of new snow--enough to make it necessary to shovel again. As Charlie Brown so aptly puts it, 'Good Grief!'

Every year around this time I'm reminded that the year I was born (and no, I'm not divulging that information for your edification) there was such a bad snowstorm that my dad had to stop and put chains on his vehicle on the way to the hospital in a neighboring county in order for me to be born. You see, yesterday was my birthday. No snow, thank goodness.

It rained. And rained.

And I worked. In fact, I volunteered to work. The triplets have returned to college and birthdays when you are of a 'certain age', aren't as delightfully benign as they used to be. This year's General Assembly is winding down. March Madness is a definite understatement when it comes to the last days of the legislative session at the statehouse. Tons of character and stories ideas are generated via observation of our state government at work, that's for sure. Oh, the tales I'll tell...

Speaking of writing--and maintaining the madness of the month at overload levels--today is the day the nominations for the Romance Writers of America RITA and Golden Heart Awards are announced. As I type, calls are going out to published and unpublished writers fast and furiously and 'The Call' announcements are being posted all around cyberspace. As a former GH finalist, I know first-hand how thrilling today will be for the finalists who get the call. Congratulations to all those writers! Enjoy the moment!

Looks to me like March is coming in like a lion and going out the same way. What about you? Are you waiting for 'the call' or do you know someone who is a RITA or GH finalist?

How is your March shaping up? Any madness or share?

Good luck to those who are still waiting for a call!

And GO UNI PANTHERS!!!!

~Bullet Hole~