Easy livin…

To paraphrase from “Office Space,” I have done almost nothing the past two days (my weekend), and it was everything I hoped it would be.

I’m kind of shocked my little plan has actually worked out so well. The past three weekends were spent going all over town, stocking up on baby things and running errands, and when I’d get home I’d clean or organize until I was exhausted.

I did all that in preparation for these next few weeks so I could just relax, knowing we had all the diapers and other various supplies all stockpiled. Most importantly, I could just chill on the couch or in bed and not have to worry about hurting my already strained joints or overdoing it and going into early labor. Best to be productive while I could.

With this weekend nearly over, I’d say my plan worked like a charm. It helps to have a husband who is nesting, too. It’s so refreshing to come home or wake up and have things all organized and clean.

We have an ultrasound and appointment tomorrow. My doctor wanted to get an estimate of the baby’s size. I like ultrasounds, so it should be fun. Hopefully everything checks out OK.

Not a whole lot else going on lately. I watched most of OSU-Texas but fell asleep in the second half. (Pretty sure I didn’t miss much, as the Longhorns pounded the Cowboys.) All the Remember the 10 stuff made me sad. For some reason, what always gets me is when they show the early TV reports where everyone is still in shock about the crash.

Also, this news today made me very happy: Will Ferrell to help replace Steve Carell on The Office.

Well, I’ve got to go scrounge up some food. Baby’s hungry!!

Minor revelation

It’s March, and only just now have I finally figured out why OU freshman Tiny Gallon’s name bothers me.

A gallon is a unit of measurement. It is standard. There is no large or small gallon. There are only pints, quarts, cups, etc. If it were any size other than 128 ounces, it would be something else!

Whew. Glad I got that sorted out. I hate to go all “does not compute” on you, but something just kind of tickled the back of my brain whenever I heard or read his name. I swear I’m not a robot. Just logical.

A gallon is a gallon is a gallon.

Anyway, while looking up Gallon’s info on OU’s Web site (6-foot-9, 296, if you are interested), I noticed the headline for tonight’s Big Monday OU-Texas matchup that said “Sooners Go For Sweep of Texas Monday Night”. Wow. I’d forgotten about that, an 80-71 win over the then-No. 9 Longhorns in Norman three Saturdays ago.

I’m pretty sure a 13-15 OU team that has lost six straight and a spiraling Texas team that might not be ranked later today was not what ESPN had in mind when it planned its Big Monday schedule many months ago.

OSU-Kansas

Pretty impressive win for OSU over Kansas over the weekend. Not a whole lot to say, really. A decent team caught a really good team on an off day. Plus, the rowdiness of Gallagher-Iba was totally throwback. Hopefully the students there now will see how much better the atmosphere is when they care about the team. (It helps when your team is beating a top-ranked conference opponent into the ground, but hey. Whatever works.)

"The rowdiest arena in the country."

Despite the score, I had a hard time getting into the game. I kept thinking OSU would play them hard for a half, then come out after halftime shooting poorly or Kansas would wake up and realize they’re the No. 1 team in the country.

Also, I kept flipping back to CNN to make sure Hawaii hadn’t been destroyed by a tsunami. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to visit Hawaii, and I was legitimately concerned that a tidal wave was about to annihilate it. Thankfully, the whole tsunami thing seemed to have been a scare. I know I sound like a dork, but I was pretty relieved when nothing happened.

It’s awful to see and read about the devastation caused by the 8.8 earthquake in Chile though. (On an unrelated note, I think Texans should feel a special kinship with Chile because their flags are so similar.)

USA-Canada

I still am sort of in shock that the U.S. took silver today. Partly because I didn’t think they had much of a chance going into the Olympics, and partly because once they tied the game with seconds left, I thought they might steal the win.

I’m pretty proud of the Americans for fighting to the end. Canada looked strong all game. I didn’t get to watch all of it, but the parts I did see did not look promising. The Americans’ power play was pitiful. It’s really frustrating to watch a team with a man advantage stumble like that. They kept dumping the puck into the corner, then Canada would easily recover and clear. Finally they got one going when someone carried it in. Geez, about time.

I thought the U.S. looked tired for most of the game, except at the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime, when they were going on pure adrenaline. After about five minutes of OT, the Americans just looked a step behind and sluggish.

I’m a little happy for Canada. I guess I lack that killer instinct of a winner that says “step on their throats!” I would have absolutely loved to have seen my country win another gold, but clearly this game meant more to our northern neighbors. And how fitting that legend-in-the-making Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner.

I think a U.S. gold would have been good for the NHL, but the game got so much hype and press that I don’t think it makes a big difference that the Americans won silver. All I know is that it got people who don’t normally watch hockey watching it, which is a good thing.

Losing the Longhorns to the Big Ten? I don’t think so

What’s it going to take to get me to update my blog? Apparently, it has to be as ridiculous as the notion that the Big Ten wants Texas.

Valentine’s Day is the next holiday coming up, not April Fool’s, folks. I haven’t heard anything as silly since some people from Tulsa made a push to get the Olympics here.

The idea is absurd on so many levels, I’m not sure where to start. Let’s begin with the obvious.

Geography

Texas teams make up a third of the Big 12 Conference. Travel-wise, it’s a lot more economical to visit Waco (102 miles) or College Station (106 miles) than say, play at State College, Pa. (1,548 miles) or even your closest conference opponent in Champaign, Ill. (1,032 miles). It’s not fan-friendly, to say the very least.

Recruiting

I have to think it would hurt in this area a bit, because if I were a college athlete, I’d want to compete in front of my family and friends in person, not just on TV. It goes back to geography, in that the road games would be SO far away, there would be few to no fans in overwhelmingly hostile arenas and stadiums.

Novelty

The novelty factor of visiting new venues would wear off as soon as someone crunches the numbers on how much it’s going to cost to fly teams to hotels across the upper Midwest, or the first time Texas plays terribly due to jet lag or subfreezing temperatures. Save the novelty for nonconference, bowl games and the NCAA Tournament.

Rivalries

Fans want to play the teams they know and love — to hate, that is. The novelty factor is fun (play Ohio State in football or Michigan State in men’s basketball), but it doesn’t compare to the Longhorns’ decades of history between the Sooners, Aggies and others.

Money

Ah, the most important factor of them all. The Big Ten does have its own TV network, but is that enticing enough? And there are reports the league wants to expand possibly up to 14 teams. That’s a lot of revenue sharing.

Bottom line

Who wouldn’t want the ultimate cash cow school? The Longhorns won the Big 12 championship in football last season and went on to the national championship game. They’ve been hit and miss recently in men’s basketball but are still an elite program.

Besides, I’d hate for the Big Ten to have to come up with a new logo. The one they have is pretty clever, sneaking an “11″ into the words.

Anyway, the Longhorn brand brings in more money than anyone, and I think they know they are best off right where they are.

So, Big Ten, refocus your efforts to taking Missouri. I’m sure the Big 12 will throw in Iowa State for free.

Baby, it’s below zero outside

Well, the wind chill is anyway. It’s all anyone, including myself, can talk about. My Facebook feed is totally clogged with statuses by cold-lovers and heat-seekers alike.

Through a quick Google search, I have learned that in most parts of the world, it can never be too cold to snow. However, looking out my window, that seems doubtful. The radar says it’s snowing, but I see nothing. All I see is icy ruts in the street, a pristine white blanket on my back yard, and I hear my wind chimes going crazy.

Speaking of my back yard, no, the drift that formed against our back door has not yet melted enough for us to get out there. (Well, I probably could squeeze through there, but not Jonathan.) The drift’s top has melted and frozen and refrozen since it blessed us with its visit two weeks ago.

So the forecast for my area is this:

Today Chance Flurries Hi 15 °F

Tonight Mostly Cloudy Lo 3 °F

Friday ColdHi 12 °F

Friday Night Mostly Clear Lo 0 °F

Saturday SunnyHi 17 °F

Saturday Night ClearLo 5 °F

Sunday SunnyHi 36 °F

Sunday Night Mostly Clear Lo 22 °F

Monday SunnyHi 39 °F

Here’s a link to the NOAA site.

While I’m dishing out links, here is a great story appearing in today’s World. A good read for people who scoff at cold but deep down, it scares them (like me).

To me, cold is cold. Not sure if it’s because I grew up in Texas or what, but there’s a difference between 97° and 103° to me. But 12° and 17°? Same thing.

Thankfully, I have all the hair-crushing hats, durable gloves, thick socks, cozy scarves, robust boots and sturdy coats I need to keep me warm. But apparently there’s a lot of kids in my city who don’t have such necessities, which is one reason why school is closed for the next two days. Many of them must wait at the bus stop or walk to school.

I’m glad school officials are taking the cold weather seriously. It makes me want to donate some of my lesser-used stuff to people who really need it. No one, especially a child, should be out in subfreezing wind chills or temperatures without proper bundling.

Anyway, enough about the cold. Here are some odds and ends that have been floating around in my head because they never formed into full blogs:

*TCU broke my heart. The Horned Frogs looked out of place at the Fiesta Bowl, and I feel really bad for the guy who dropped that sure touchdown. I was glad for Boise when they beat OU in their instant classic, but now I’m tired of them.

*Where do I start on the Cotton Bowl? I’ll save that for another blog.

*I want Texas to win the BCS national championship tonight. By many accounts, Heisman winner Mark Ingram seems like a standup guy, but I’m not rooting for Nick Saban. Plus, conference pride, right? Go Big 12… do something, anything, good this year.

*Gundy suspends Perrish Cox for the Cotton Bowl for breaking curfew. Ford suspends Marshall Moses for Coppin State for marijuana arrest. These situations have generated a lot of chatter, and outsiders (including myself) who spout off opinions about punishments don’t usually know anything about what’s going on behind closed doors. Cox’s too harsh, Moses’ a slap on the wrist? Perhaps. Gundy says even the stars must play by the rules, and Ford says trust me, this kid has run many miles of laps.

*Darren Oliver. WHY. The third time will not be the charm for this guy. His career ERA as a Ranger is 5.28. On paper, he appears to have found success in the bullpen (3.10 ERA as an Angel), but that seems like an anomaly to me. The real question is, can he pitch in his own stadium? Surprisingly, the best baseball Web site ever, baseball-reference.com, didn’t have the answer, but I think we all know it’s no.

*”The Hangover” is the first movie I have seen that truly lived up to the hype. EVERYONE was raving about how it was the funniest movie ever, and it really was quite good in all its gross-out hilarity. I think I read somewhere they are making a sequel about what happened that night. (The characters spend most of the first movie putting together the booze-soaked puzzles pieces of the previous night to help find their missing friend.)

Well, I’m just getting started here, but hunger has set in. I’ve got some of Giada’s lentil soup with beef in the fridge. We’ll be eating it for a week, as it made enough for an army. (Less stock, more lentils next time.)

Stay warm, y’all!