March madness

Good gracious, people get in a tizzy over basketball. I care nothing for basketball (or football if you must know) but I do have some March Madness. On my bracket:

~ When it's too cold to go out and too early to dig in the flower beds, I nearly go mad after the long winter. Of course, as I write, we have crocus AND daffodils in bloom now which is insanely early for Ohio. Yesterday it topped 70 degrees!
~ So, in late February I usually spend considerable time looking at flights to Florida. Then I talk myself out of it, saying, "spring's just around the corner." Even if it isn't.
~ The windows of our house are coated in winter's grit. I haven't done much serious cleaning since Christmas, either. So just, just, just as the days are warming up, it's time to clean house. That puts me over the edge.
~ Once our kids started college and some were still at home, their spring breaks NEVER coincided. That's maddening.
~ There's a winter's worth of dog poop in the back yard and guess who's nominated to scoop it?
~ New phone conundrum! I'm inching ever closer to a smart phone. I'm not sure I completely want to, but it's seeming inevitable. I think I read that eventually, the ONLY choice will be smart phones. Sigh. Madness.

I believe we midwesterners really, truly appreciate spring. Particularly after a long, snowy winter, there's nothing like throwing open windows and doors and letting the winter musties blow out. I wear shorts and flip-flops on the first day it hits 60, and if possible I drag my lawn chair to the end of our driveway and eat my lunch in the sun. We grill burgers for the first time in months: what a treat! It's intoxicating. Life is renewed and the clean slate of spring and summer stretches before us.

Enjoy your March!