March madness

This is my oldest son, Will. Will is a junior at Duke University. He spent the winter sleeping in a tent so that he could attend the Duke-Carolina basketball game. (To get in line for a student ticket, Duke students must "tent" on the lawn outside Cameron Indoor Stadium, affectionately called Krzyzewksiville.)

This is my middle son, Preston. Preston is a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Here he's pictured with two of his fraternity brothers at UNC. His favorite line is "Tarheel born, Tarheel bred, and when I die I'll be Tarheel dead."

Tonight is the game. Someone has to win, which means someone has to lose. And I'm one of those moms who likes all her children to be happy. Oh, boy.

Are there any big sports rivalries in your family?

Showing off spring flowers

Even though the winter has been relatively mild, it's still a joy to see signs of spring. Spring flowers are some of the most welcome sights of all!

Check your local Target for these tall metal vessels--reminiscent of French flower vases, aren't they? These are available in the One Spot. They cost $2.50 each.

If your flowers aren't long-stemmed enough for the vase, never fear. A couple of common household items to the rescue!

Place your short plastic cup upside-down in the bottom of the vase. See it way down there in the bottom?

Fill your tall plastic cup with water and a couple of drops of bleach to make the flowers last longer.

Snip your flower stems to be just long enough so that the blooms show above the top of the container.

Voila! Now it's springy inside as well as outside!

~~What's your favorite spring flower? Do you like the best outside or do you cut them and bring them in?

I'm joining these parties:

Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Leap Day Fun

Today is February 29. Leap Day! My youngest son's birthday is March 29, and he reminded me that he only gets to say "It's one month 'til my birthday" every four years!

I get that that this is the day when we re-align our Gregorian, 365-days-per-year calendar with the actual time it takes Earth to travel around the sun, which is close to 365 1/4 days. And although I understand a little of the science behind having an extra day in our calendar every four years, my Southern-fried brain can't help but think about this exchange between Andy and Opie from the first season of The Andy Griffith Show. Andy is upset with Opie for giving only three cents to a collection for underprivileged children, but when he tries to talk to Opie about it, things get a little muddled:

Andy: Opie, you can't give a little bitty piddlin' amount like three cents to a worthy cause like the Underprivileged Children's Drive. Why, I was reading here the other day where there's somewhere like 400 needy boys in this county alone, or one and a half boys per square mile.

Opie: There is?

Andy: Sure is.

Opie: I never seen one, Pa.

Andy: Never seen one what?

Opie: A half a boy.

Andy: Well, it's not really half a boy. It's a ratio.

Opie: Horatio who?

Oh, my lands. It gets even better from there. Since you have a whole extra day in your calendar, surely you have time to watch a couple of minutes of this clip from "Opie's Charity." I promise it'll make you smile!

(If you're reading this in an email, click over to my blog's home page to view the video.)
Do you have any special plans for Leap Day?