March Madness

The name of March comes from ancient Rome, when March was the first month of the year and named Martius after Mars, the Roman god of war. In Rome, where the climate is Mediterranean, March is the first month of spring, a logical point for the beginning of the year as well as the start of the military campaign season.

The equinox, named the vernal or spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and the autumnal equinox in the southern hemisphere, occurs on dates varying from 19 March to 21 March.

March is famous for the Ides of March when Julius Caeser was assassinated, the beginning of spring (except in Vernal, UT), Ash Wednesday and Mardi Gras. It is also Women's History Month. (I see a pattern for my reading next year.)

March has also been an extremely quiet month for me. This may be a short post.

March 2 - The Bachelor is over. Jason chose Melissa then broke up with her on national TV. The cad. It seems he loved Molly after all.

March 7 - Attended the Women's Conference with Mom. A local woman, Cherry Colton, spoke and shared some great missionary experiences, especially about shortsheeting the bed intended for her mission president's wife's friend, Tommy. Turns out that Tommy was President Thomas S Monson. Funny story. The other speaker was Richard Paul Evans. He was a fantastic speaker. His talk covered five main topics. 1. We all have a divine nature. 2. Forgiveness. He told a great story about a man who borrowed money from him and then did not repay it and how angry he was. How he came to forgive the man was beautiful. 3. Take a chance. 4. Adversity. Evans has Tourette's Syndrome and he discussed how this adversity shaped him into the man who is able to write such beautiful stories. 5. Love is the basis for all we do. It was a very inspiring and moving talk.

March 12 - Went to the temple for our Ward Temple Night. I work at the temple every Wednesday evening so it had bee quite a long time since I attended a session all on my own. There were only three others from the ward but a total of 65 people were in the session.

March 22 - I gave the Relief Society lesson on President Monson's talk, "To Learn, to Do, to Be." It was given to priesthood holders but also applied to all church members in how they fulfill their callings.

Work - We had a great Saturday on the 29th, but overall it has been pretty slow. There are three pregnant women who are all due in July and three more going through divorces. So things are kind of crazy.

Books - I read ten books this month. My favorites were Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver and The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. In fact, I've mooched another copy of The Kissing Hand to share since it was such a cute children's book. I read 3063 pages. I'm surprised I didn't read more since it was such a slow month. Oh, that's right, I watched TV.

TV - It is amazing how much time you can spend watching reality TV. I think the only non-reality shows I watch are Gray's Anatomy and The Practice. Well, I did just start watching Castel which comes on right after Dancing with the Stars and enjoying it very much. I'm glad to see Steve Wasniak (sp) finally voted off DWTS. Nice guy but bad dancer. I'm predicting Gilles will win because he is sooooo good but then I also like Melissa from The Bachelor. So glad I don't have to listen to Holly giggling any more. I also watch America's Top Model which surprises me, it is so campy and the women so mean. I must enjoy watching beautiful women tear each other apart. Celebrity Apprentice is another show that cracks me up. I'm also surprised at how good some of these celebritys are. Glad to see Dennis Rodman go. The censors are probably glad as well. And I am addicted to American Idol. Man, you really get into these singers' lives, don't you? My favorites are Alyson and Chris, but I wouldn't be surprised if Adam won. Fantastic voices for all three. I don't like Adam's singing style all that much but I love to watch him. He is so entertaining.

Movies - None, nada, zilch. Who had time to watch movies when I need to see what's going on with the dancers, singers, models, doctors, detectives and Trump's minions.

Overall Impression - I have no life. I can live with that.