Does anyone besides me find it a tiny bit ironic that the weather girl can say all in one breath "The Atlanta area is under a flood watch until tomorrow afternoon, but that is actually good because we are a little behind in our rainfall for the year?" The weather department's idea of normal rainfall for Atlanta is tropical rain forest, so if there is only water standing in the yard, that's a drought condition.

When I was little I had a 45 rpm record player with little yellow and red records. On Easter morning I'm reminded of the one that sang out "Happy Easter to you! Happy Easter to you!" On the other side it played "Easter Parade." My little sister and I played those songs and sang along until we eventually wore the grooves off the record. I actually still have the record stashed in a box somewhere. How could I throw that away?

Yesterday was the draft day for fantasy baseball. I never do as well as I would like, but I did less well than average this time. Anyway, here are my guys.

Pos	Batters	Edit	Opp	Status	H/AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	OBP
C	J. Estrada (Atl - C)	CUtilBench			145/462	56	9	76	0	.378
C	P. Lo Duca (Fla - C,OF)	COFUtilBench			153/535	68	13	80	4	.338
1B	T. Helton (Col - 1B)	1BCIUtilBench			190/547	115	32	96	3	.469
2B	L. Castillo (Fla - 2B)	2BMIUtilBench			164/564	91	2	47	21	.373
3B	T. Glaus (Ari - 3B)	3BCIUtilBench			52/207	47	18	42	2	.355
SS	K. Greene (SD - SS)	SSMIUtilBench			132/484	67	15	65	4	.349
CI	L. Overbay (Mil - 1B)	1BCIUtilBench			174/579	83	16	87	2	.385
MI	C. Burke (Hou - MI)	MIUtilBench			1/17	2	0	0	0	.200
OF	B. Jordan (Atl - OF)	OFUtilBench			47/212	27	5	23	2	.275
OF	A. Kearns (Cin - OF)	OFUtilBench			50/217	28	9	32	2	.321
OF	J. Lane (Hou - OF)	OFUtilBench			37/136	21	4	19	1	.348
OF	Lu. González (Ari - OF)	OFUtilBench			98/379	69	17	48	2	.373
OF	L. Walker (StL - OF)	OFUtilBench			77/258	51	17	47	6	.424
Util	H. Choi (LAD - 1B)	1BCIUtilBench			86/343	53	15	46	1	.370
BN	Lu. González (Col - 2B,3B,SS,OF)	2B3BSSCIMIOFUtilBench			94/322	42	12	40	1	.330
BN	P. Polanco (Phi - 2B,3B)	2B3BCIMIUtilBench			150/503	74	17	55	7	.345
BN	C. Counsell (Ari - SS)	SSMIUtilBench			114/473	59	2	23	17	.330

Pos	Pitchers	Edit	Opp	Status	IP	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP
P	T. Glavine (NYM - P)	PBench			212.1	11	0	109	3.60	1.29
P	D. Kolb (Atl - P)	PBench			57.1	0	39	21	2.98	1.13
P	R. King (StL - P)	PBench			62.0	5	0	40	2.61	1.08
P	M. Remlinger (ChC - P)	PBench			36.2	1	2	35	3.44	1.34
P	B. Sheets (Mil - P)	PBench			237.0	12	0	264	2.70	0.98
P	J. Vázquez (Ari - P)	PBench			198.0	14	0	150	4.91	1.29
P	T. Worrell (Phi - P)	PBench			78.1	5	19	64	3.68	1.23
P	C. Reitsma (Atl - P)	PBench			79.2	6	2	60	4.07	1.37
P	M. Prior (ChC - P)	PBench			118.2	6	0	139	4.02	1.35
BN	R. Dempster (ChC - P)	PBench			20.2	1	2	18	3.92	1.40
BN	M. Herges (SF - P)	PBench			65.1	4	23	39	5.23	1.70
BN	M. Morris (StL - P)	PBench			202.0	15	0	131	4.72	1.29
DL	J. ValverdeDL (Ari - P)	PBenchDL			29.2	1	8	38	4.25	1.35

We stayed in Ellis dormitory the summer we were at Colorado State University. We were trying to be campus crusade for Christ leaders, but, alas, they didn't want us. I guess it turned out good for us that they weren't smart enough to recognize who we could be. You find so many weird things when you are moving. I found a letter from Aunt Belle addressed to Ellis dormitory. That's the only reason that I know where we stayed.

Rachel was here to visit for the weekend. Sissy and I were busy packing and loading. We made 6 trips to the new house. There is getting to be a lot of stuff over there. Small stuff, but lots of it. Then in two weeks, boom, in one day all the big stuff will be there too. We like the house. After we take a load of boxes over, we just sit around and marvel at the cool spaces in the house. It's big.

I had picked an NCAA basketball tourney sheet for a little competition at school. Now that there are 16 teams remaining, I only have 7 left. There is only one bracket where I am totally closed out so I still have a chance at 3 of the final four. If I could get two and also the two in the championship game then I might have a chance to win. More likely I'll have zero playing for the championship.

I've gotten where I just can't believe what the current government of our country is up to from day to day. The intervention into the Florida woman's family to try and sustain her miserable life as a vegetable is unconscionable. I thought the Republicans were the party of small government. Are they going to intervene in the 1000 other situations a day across the country where families are deciding not to resuscitate dying loved ones? Will it become illegal to have a living will? Is this all a dodge to take our minds off the dismal war in Iraq, the ridiculousness of the social security plan, or the bald faced idiocy of our president. Has any one this dumb ever held this office before?

I have a new grand neice. Her name is Kate.

Basketball is ending. Baseball is beginning. The NCAA national championship tournament is entertaining and unpredictable. Every year I enter one of those pools and come in 14th with my picks for the winners. I wonder if actually following basketball would be an advantage when I fill out the sheet? The people who make up the seeding charts don't do that well.

Our fantasy league draft for baseball is next Saturday. I have never been less prepared. That is not a good omen. I hope I'll enjoy being in 7th place all year.

We had the carpets cleaned at the new house to get rid of the cat dander from the last owners. I've moved over most of the stuff from closets and storage areas and I'm trying to get that stuff organized. We are taking over dishes and pots and pans and anything we don't use everyday. The big moving day is April 6. Oddly, the place will be close to set up to live in by the end of that day. Okay I'm sure it will take a day to set up the surround sound system and the computer network again. Maybe we'll even have the cable on and a phone when we move in. We ate dinner (take out) in the new house last night around a card table in the kitchen. We think we are really going to like the new place. It's hard to wait for April 6.

Unfortunately the fescue is starting to grow here at the old place and I see a tinge of green in the Bermuda as well. This will be my last year to cut grass for awhile, maybe forever. Assuming that this place will sell sometime this summer. The new house has a grass cutting service built in the association fee.

One of my girls, Lauren, has been offered a full scholarship to LSU in voice. She is the 6th one to get the scholarship, and the 7th one to go there in the last 5 years. We must be doing something right because I think LSU is about the best undergraduate music school in the southeast. I also have had music majors at Georgia Southern (4), Georgia State (2), West Georgia (1), Georgia College (1), UGA (1), East Carolina (1), Berry College (1), Middle Tennessee State (1), Mercer (2). Eight of that number have finished their degrees. One or two have gone to other places but I can't remember where and mostly they weren't good candidates to finish a music degree. The people at LSU go, "there are six of you here from the same high school in Georgia?" We are waiting to hear if Johanna gets a scholarship offer too. Cross your fingers.

The popcorn trees are blooming (Bradford pears). Today is a Spring day in Atlanta. 70 degrees. That means the redbuds can't be far behind, and then the dogwoods and azaeleas.

We are busy moving car load after car load of things out of the house and over to the new. We are moving all the things you can't see. Closets and storage areas, and things that are hiding in cabinets. Two car loads of Carter's things went up to north Atlanta last night. I've never moved like this before. It's always been loading day and work like a maniac. When moving day comes in 25 days, almost all our stuff will already be over in Peachtree City.

We are already warmly attached to the new place. It is beautiful and quiet. We've been sitting out in the sunroom with the windows open and listening to the birds. We met the Tates today, our next door neighbors to the left. I met Mildred M a couple of days ago our neighbor to the right.

One cool thing about moving is that you find lots of things that you have forgotten about. Oh I remember that jacket. Wow! Look at this box of photos. We are making the front room a music room and some of my music books that have been out of sight are coming out on to shelves where I may look at them more often. Now we need to start hoping for a buyer for our old house.

We now have the keys to our dream house. The last two days we've been going over to sit at a card table on folding chairs and eat a bite. The house is different without any stuff in it. And, it is still beautiful. I get really calm sitting there inside.
There are thousands of things to do. We are taking over a car load of things each day, beginning the process of storing our stuff away in a new place. And there is cleaning to do. It's a big place and took awhile to vacuum. The tile needs to be mopped too. Shampooing the carpets is going to be expensive, but we've got to get rid of the cat dander so Carter can come to visit. In vacuuming today we filled two bags with cat hair, enough to make a cat, I'd say.

I'm judging a festival tomorrow so I'm not doing my regular school day. I'll be listening to solos and trios all morning, giving sage advice on how to improve and grading them unforgivingly. How sad. And this one has winners and losers so I have to chose 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place. I went to this same festival once when in high school (It's called literary meet, but it includes fine arts). Our quartet came in first in our region and were invited to state competition. We didn't go. Chuck Antonie, Clifford Cathcart, Jim Foster, and myself. Oh my word, why can I remember all those names? Chuck teaches college somewhere. Clifford committed suicide in college. No idea what Jimbo is doing, but I remember seeing him a few years back and he was bald. Time marches on.

I have a student from Shorter College coming to watch me teach next week. I wonder what he can learn in three days. Hopefully something.

If you want to see the new house and haven't, leave me your email in a comment and I'll send you some photos of the place with the previous owners decor. They had a lot of cool furniture which made it look even grander. We have cool stuff too. I can't wait to live there with my stuff. We are planning to buy a new couch and chair for the sunroom. There are so many places to sit and relax in this place--den, family room, sun room, master sitting room and the giant size loft and a large patio. I can imagine we'll have people sitting all over the place next Christmas for the family party. I live in Peachtree City. How odd.

Freedom is sweeping the middle east . . . says the President. History will vidicate the Iraq war. The Iraq purple finger revolution is the falling Berlin Wall of the Middle East.

Did Mr. Bush arrange the death of Yassir Arafat? Did Mr. Bush arrange for the Lebanese prime minister to be murdered? These events have triggered a change in Israeli/Palestinian relations and demonstrations in the streets. But the pro-Syrian demonstrations today were 7 times larger than the anti-Syrian demonstrations. And the Afghan and Iraq elections have been done under the sway of American guns.

You say "Freedom is sweeping the middle east." I say "Mission accomplished." Uh - oh. But of course try to draw attention away from the fact that the right to sue when doctors or hospitals kill you, the right to negotiate for lower drug prices, the right to declare bankruptcy when catastrophic medical expenses have destroyed your life, all those things have been eliminated by this president and his cronies.

He's got his eye on Roosevelt too. Hoping to remove him from history.

There are 9 solutions to solve the Social Security faux "crisis" in today's Issues section of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. None of them are George W.'s and they all work. I like the first one the best, but the last one is appealing too. It's clear there is no "crisis" whatsoever. W. simply wants to be known as the man who destroyed the new deal.

I especially liked the opinion I read on B2 that said:

The real crisis is that the rest of the government stole the trust fund, spent it, and because of Bush's tax cuts won't be able to pay it back. Or pretty soon, do much of anything else. On paper, saving Social Security is easy. A mere 7% increase in payroll tax revenues would allow the trust fund to pay promised benefits all the way through 2075. Simply boosting the 6.2% Social Security tax rate on workers and employers to 6.65 % would do the trick. So would raising the earnings cap on Social Security taxes from $90,000 to $175,000. [Robert S. McIntyre, Knight Rider].

How can a government reduce taxes enormously on it's richest citizens, depleating the treasury's coffers and then exclaim in surprise, "Oh my, there just isn't enough money for all these government programs so we'll just have to cut program staff and benefits." How can 51% of the nation not see what a shady deal this is. Oh right. They actually see that the emperor has no clothes, but they get fringe benefits from the emperor that they really like: support for capital punishment, support for withdrawal of abortion rights, support for government subsidized religious schools and organizations, support for withdrawal of civil liberties from minorities, (less for them means more for us right? What stupid logic. Duke McCall said in a convocation at Alumni Chapel one day: "The answer is not to divide the pie in different proportions. The answer is to make more pie."), support for unfairly low taxation of the wealthiest Americans (don't fool yourself buddy, they pay less taxes than you do!)

In order to keep their benefits, they nod at the emperor and swear that his clothes are exactly like whatever he says they are like. They use his words, never deviating from his text. (How could they elaborate, describe, embellish, or interpret when they can't actually see the clothes (because of course, there are no clothes)). This explains their ritual chanting of mantras at every level, national media, state government, local politicians, and down to the guy sitting across the table from you. There is nothing but the mantra.