Anything is possible!!!

With GMU's improbable win over UConn today and Wichita State on Friday night, now they are going to the FINAL FOUR!!! I say ANYTHING is possible now. This team has proved that they belong here and no matter what happens from this point on, they have already made their own history. After the game. I felt so inspired that I drove down to the Patriot Center on the GMU campus with several thousand other fans to welcome the team back home. Here are a couple of pictures from the event. It was an incredible, energetic atmosphere. I saw fans of every age there. And everyone was having a good time dancing, chanting "final four" and "we want Florida". On Friday I went to Damon's and watched the game with other GMU alumni and it was a great time! I tell ya, it is an exciting time to be a GMU fan........In other news, so what's going on with me? Not much since I've been working. I've been taking voice-talent training classes for the past few weeks in an attempt to become a "professional" voice-over talent. And yes, this is all in addition to my regular job. My goal is to have a demo completed in April and perhaps my own website in May. We'll see how that goes......Last night we saw Lee Rocker (formerly of the Stray Cats) perform at the Black Cat club. It was a great show! He played a couple of Stray Cats songs as well as covers of Buddy Holly and Cash. Nice!......Oh and yesterday I bought tickets for me & three girlfriends to go see INXS on May 2nd at DAR Constitution Hall. That ought to be a fun girls' night out!... I bought what I think is the best CD of 2006 so far - it's the new Ray Davies' solo album called "Other People's Lives." And yes, this is the same Ray Davies from The Kinks. The songs are just incredible all-around: the lyrics are witty and thought-provoking and the melodies are memorable. Highly recommend you check it out!

Sweet Sixteen

What an incredible weekend for GMU. They actually defeated UNC on Sunday!!! Now they're playing Wichita, whom they have already beat in February, so it IS possible for them to make it past yet another round. INCREDIBLE!! Even though the win completely messed up my bracket picks (I had Mason going past Round 1 only, and UNC going to the finals - oops) I do not mind at all being wrong about that! There is a great article in today's Washington Post that gives you a feel of how life-changing the wins are on the school and the basketball players. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/20/AR2006032001889.html The professor quoted in the article, Rodger Smith, was my mentor during my WGMU days. It's pretty cool to see his name in Section A of the Post! The hottest ticket in town is for Friday's game. It's next to impossible for me to obtain one. So I will have to make do with watching the game on a big screen somewhere.

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Completely PSYCHED since my George Mason University men's basketball team for the first time in school history made it past Round 1 of the NCAA playoffs - WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I screamed my fool head off last night and celebrated enthusiastically. And I feel a special kinship with the team since I used to engineer their games for the campus radio station back when I was a student. It's so great to hear the local team and my alma mater being discussed on national TV. They proved they have the heart and dedication to be in the NCAA tourney. People questioned whether they belonged there this season, they proved it last night.
Tomorrow they play North Carolina in Round 2. This will be quite a challenge. But if they upset the friggin Tar Heels, that would be big...HUGE....GLOBAL!!!!!! I sincerely hope the team is practicing their free throw technique since last night that was their major weak spot. However, tomorrow Tony Skinn will be back on the court. He was completely glowing at the end of last night's game since he was sitting out due to the one game suspension. Tomorrow he gets to play in a bonafide, official, nationally-broadcasted NCAA game. He's one of our best players and it would be great if he proved it tenfold tomorrow with that huge audience.
Anyway, do not expect me to respond tomorrow during game time to any phone calls or messages until after the game....

Let's go, Mason, Let's go

Tonight it's all about the games, baby! I am currently tied at #1 in our bracket pool in the office. Who could have predicted all the upsets in the tournament so far?? So I am in green for more reasons than St. Patty's Day.

Happy Birthday, DAD!

Just a quick "shout-out" to my dad - it's his birthday today!! I don't know if you'll see this today, Dad, since you're probably out partying and eating a big steak down in Texas, but wanted you to know I thought of ya - even though I spoke with you today on the phone and emailed you yesterday. So I'm sure you certainly know. BTW, for those of you who don't know, March seems to be a special month for us girls in the family. Not only does our dad have his birthday in March, but so do not one, not two, but THREE of our husbands. Hmm, not sure what that means....

The SLC picture post

I'm just going to refer to this as the SLC picture post since I will share some photos from my recent trip to Salt Lake City. I have never been to that area of the U.S. before, and it was also an eye-opening experience. For one thing, since SLC is a dry city, in order to have a beer at a restaurant, you actually had to become a member of their "bar" (an extra $4). Plus, they had less-strong versions of beer there - only about 3% alchohol. What's the point? LOL. Anyway, SLC was interesting, to say the least. It had more of a small-town vibe than a big city. I'm not sure I would like living there long-term, but it's nice for a short-term visit simply because it is so beautiful and picturesque there with all of the surrounding mountains. Plus we stayed at a very plush hotel. One of the perks of staying there was that we ran into the Orlando Magic, who were playing the Utah Jazz that night. I have a photo of one of our sales guys with Grant Hill - who's on the injured list yet again.

Let's Go, PATRIOTS

Hell yeah - the GMU Patriot men's basketball team is going to the dance!!! The NCAA brackets were announced yesterday and the Pats are playing Michigan St on Friday - say, yet ANOTHER reason to wear your green on St. Patty's Day! http://gomason.collegesports.com/ We shall see how it goes. I'm psyched. So I am finally slowing down now after the show. Thank GOD. The show went smoothly and all the logistics worked out - which meant I paid attention and remembered every detail. Too bad in the middle of this, I forgot details for myself. For example, I forgot to pack my deoderant. Hey, as long as everything worked out, I'm fine with that. On the way home on the "lovely" red-eye flight, we stopped in Vegas. I got all excited when I saw all the familiar sights there. I haven't seen that town since I got married there. Which, for those of you keeping score, is seven years ago coming up in August. Ahh, those were good times in Vegas! Speaking of good times, I went to the first club show I've seen in MONTHS. Yeah, I've been that busy at work. Despite it being a Sunday night, we HAD to go see this band because #1 they are from Sweden and only tour in the U.S. once every 4-6 years and #2 they rock. The band is The Hellacopters and it's mostly Miguel that is a fan of theirs. But since he plays their music all the time, I recognized a lot of the songs. They were full of energy, very tight. The lead singer played a left-handed guitar. The keyboard player did double-duty as a percussionist. Overall, the band was just "on." I loved them. I'm glad I went - despite me paying for it this morning. (we didn't get home till 2am). I'm getting old. http://www.hellacopters.com/

Holy Busy Week, Batman

I have no other way of describing this week except as....INSANE. The preparation for the trade show did not go as smoothly as expected. (due to last minute changes, yada, yada) Thus, I worked late hours every day and the people at FedEx/Kinko's now know me by my first name. I just shipped off my very last shipment at 7:30pm. Then Sunday I fly to Salt Lake City for a trade show. There is SO much logistical planning that goes into exhibiting. But now that all of that stuff is over, I am now finally starting to get excited about traveling. There is a possibility that I will be going to Toronto in May for another show. Now THAT is going to be big for me since I have never in my entire life gone outside of the continental U.S. Yes, I have led a sheltered life. I will be quite happy when I return from the show next Wednesday since things will start to slow down to a normal pace. And I will finally have more time to go to more concerts and sports games! I kick it off by going to the Wizards vs. Pistons on the 11th, and then to a Marah show the next night. whoo! anyway I am off to take a nice long bath and then watch Rent, which came in from Netflix tonight. Tomorrow's mission? Pure relaxation...