It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, March!

Dear Family and Friends, Well the luck of the Irish was not with me when I made my March Madness picks this year! There have been so many upsets and bracket busters. I guess what shocked me the most was when Kansas lost! What a surprise! March isn't only mad because of basketball though! I found out Friday that I'm being sent to the State Department to help with a special National Security Council - Export Control Reform Task Force! I went over on Friday afternoon to get badged, Monday I met the team, and today I took charge of some assignements including organizing our Legislative Outreach information. It is very exciting to get to be a part of this work, but work has also been picking up at DHS so things are busy! Chris and I are also continuing our home improvements. On Friday after work, Chris and I hurried to stain our deck before the sun set! We got done just in time, and the deck looks great! Chris and I also worked all weekend in the backyard and put down some fresh mulch. We gathered all the leaves, weeds, and left over construction garbage and bagged everything up for a dump trip! Chris is really looking forward to that. We also went out to look at some houses on Saturday with our realtor. Unfortunately we didn't find anything special, but we did learn more about what we wanted in a new home. On Saturday, after all the house hunting and house work, Chris and I decided we earned a nice dinner out with friends. We met up with our friends Mike and Jen Schiller at a place called Deep Creek Restaurant in Arnold, Maryland. That is about 20 minutes from our house. The restaurant is right on the water so we were worried about how long a wait might be for a beautiful Saturday night. I called at 5:30pm to see if they would be able to seat us and they actually let me make reservations! I was so excited. We got to the restaurant and they gave us a table right at the window overlooking the water. The food they served was delicious. I got crispy flounder and Chris got Rock fish Oscar! We both decided that we have found a hidden gem! Looking forward, UK plays tomorrow night at 10pm! Ugh! That's my bed time so I'm going to have to try really hard to stay awake! I hope they beat Cornell, but I know there are lots of people hoping for another upset. (My husband may secretly be one of them. He loves to point out how slimy Calipari is!) On Friday I'm going to have the best surprise when I get home from work! Katie, Matt and my God son Noah will be at our house! They are coming for a weekend with Matt's family but are staying with us! I'm so excited! This Sunday is Palm Sunday - can you believe Easter is almost here?! I can't believe how fast Lent has gone by. I finished my last Lenten Faith Sharing group meeting on Monday night. Our group had such a nice time together that we are now going to try to meet once a month! What a blessing that has been. I've really enjoyed spending time exploring the Sunday readings and my faith with these amazing women, most of whom I never would have met otherwise. I thank God for my new friendships and for all of you sweethearts! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week! Love, Bethie