Holy Week . . . The service of Tenebrae took place Wednesday evening prior to the beginning of the Triduum, consisting of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. Tenebrae, taken from the Latin word for "darkness", is a prayer and chant service combining the Office of Matins and Lauds, prayed at night in anticipation of the Easter Triduum. The St. Paul, Westerville choir sang psalms and the Lamentations of Jeremiah interspersed with scripture readings as the candles were extinguished until one candle remained, symbolic of the Light of Jesus Christ overcoming the darkness of our sins. It was a moving service preparing us for the next three days taking us from the Last Supper; to the Garden of Gethsemane; to the Cross; to the Tomb; to our Resurrected Savior!

The hoopla continues . . . good press for Butler, Coach Stevens & the Men's Basketball Team! Campus appears to be buzzing and the sportscasters are talking about the DAWGS . . even Bob Kravitz is praising their efforts: "Great stories don't win basketball games like this one. Great teams do!" . . . . . "If you don't believe it", Coach Brad Stevens, Butler University said, "you can't achieve it" . . . . . We're very proud of you, Dawgs, and . . . WE BELIEVE!

"Let's color some Easter cookies . . . and are these really Easter lobsters Nana?"

To Nana's house for Easter . . . well, at least Passion (Palm) Sunday! Riley brought Mom (Cara), Jim & Alexis to Nan & Popo's for the weekend . . . Bob & Rosie participated in their first wine tasting @ Kroger Friday evening before the visitors arrive. This was the 11th weekly wine tasting event at Kroger Marketplace and drew over 70 wine & cheese tasters. Saturday morning Riley took Nana & family back to Kroger's for cookie coloring, lobster watching, and an Easter egg hunt. Riley opted out of the picture w/ the Easter Bunny. After lunch at Wholly Joe's and a little shopping it was time to watch the DAWGS knock off K-State. Riley took his family back home Sunday at noon. A great pre-Easter weekend . . . and as you can see by the pictures, Maddie says . . . . "Whew, I'm tired! What do I care about Bulldogs? Well, I guess they could be my friends!"

BUTLER IS IN THE FINAL FOUR! Can you believe it? Believe it or not, I had the Dawgs in the Final Four in my bracket! How sweet it is!!!! Knocked off #1 Syracuse & #2 K-State to win the West Regional . . . . "We'll sing the Butler War Song, we'll give a fighting cry; We'll fight the Butler battle, Bulldogs ever do or die. . . . and in the glow of the victory firelight, Hist'ry cannot deny to add a page or two for Butler's fighting crew . . Beneath the Hoosier sky!" That's Coach Stevens celebrating the sweet victory! I wonder if he still gets carded in the local pubs!"GO Dawgs"!

BUTLER BULLDOGS WIN! Knock off # 1 seed in the West, Syracuse 63-59!

18th Annual "Bulldog Jog" . . . before & after!

Road Trip . . . 5K . . . visit with friends & family . . . Spring is in the air . . . Bulldog victory!Following a busy week with Rosie on the road, we took our Maddie to Friendly Pets of Lewis Center, buster lamp shade & all; packed up our running shoes and struck out Friday evening for Indy. Saturday morning's Bulldog Jog was clear, sunny and 49 degrees. Rose Anne is getting quicker with each race finishing with a PR 11:07 pace. I had a good race w/ a 9:02 pace. 321 runners & walkers participated. Following the race we made a bagel run to our favorite bagel shop, Bagel Fair, visited with Jack Hinkle's grandson, went back to the Hilton Garden Inn Carmel, cleaned up, checked out and met Joe & Judy Eisenhut, Riley, Jim and Cara at Barnes and Noble. It was GREAT to visit with some of my friends at B/N. I do miss them! After lunch, shopping, and a wonderful visit we journeyed back to Lewis Center. The Butler airwaves, 1430 AM radio signal was strong enough to bring us the BU game and make us aware that the DAWGS are in the Sweet 16, headed to Salt Lake City for the west bracket of the regional semis. A quick trip and visit, however a very good one! Sunday evening Maddie returned home sassy as ever; stitches out Tuesday. Our old Maddie is back! . . . and yes, spring is here as of Saturday.

"March Madness" . . . Butler wins first round game NCAA Tourney game at San Jose CA 77-59 over UTEP; will play Murray State in 2nd round on Saturday. Rosie and I are headed to Indy to run the Bulldog Jog Saturday. Atmosphere on campus should be electric. "Go Dawgs"

Runnin' with the Leprechauns . . . Rosie and I participated in the St. Patrick's Day 5K at Flannagan's Pub in Dublin this morning! 489 timed participants; 665 in total for the event, most of whom were young enough to be our kids. According to the posted results we were the oldest participants in the 5K. Good races for both of us! . . Rosie had a PR 35:09 finish with an 11:21.5/mile pace . . finishing 384 . . . I finished 28:48, 9:17/mile pace and 111 overall. Yesterday's sunshine and 70 degree weather gave way to 48 degree temp and rain . . . oh, well . . still a great way to start the weekend! "Top o' the mornin' to ya!" Maddie getting stronger each day following her surgery . . . Rose Anne completed a busy week on the road. She travels to Dover DE, Syracuse NY, and Harrisburg, PA. the first part of this week, then returns for meetings in Southern Ohio Thursday and northern Ohio Friday! . . . "On the road again!"

What are we doing? The record snowfall of February 2010 is almost gone. We had ice dam damage in the family room ceiling and Dan Musgrave Construction has repaired the damage along with a few other "touch-ups". We have contracted Dan to paint the exterior stucco and trim . . . just have to decide on colors! Choices, choices!

We joined the Urban Active Fitness Center on Polaris Parkway in Westerville and are finding the pool, track, and fitness facilities to be outstanding.

Slowly but surely we are establishing Doctors, Dentists, Optometrist and becoming more comfortable with our surroundings. Almost everything is within 5-15 minutes of the house. Our trips to see Dr. Bishop, our veterinarian with Healthy Pets of Lewis Center, have been frequent. Our Maddie is currently recovering from bladder stone surgery. She gets lots of "TLC" as usual!

My time at Barnes and Noble is still enjoyable and Rose Anne's new position with Pioneer has been a wonderful fit. She is travelling most of March with meetings in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and New York. We are maintaining our training for the "500" Mini-Marathon and looking forward to numerous local races this spring!

Rose Anne seems comfortable with her new church family at All Shepherds Lutheran and I'm attending weekday Mass at St. Paul's, Westerville and Sunday Mass at St. Mary's, Delaware.

The birds are singing . . . and it's time to find a golf course!

"THE GREAT SNOW OF 2010" . . . yes, remnants of the Columbus area record setting 27+ inches of snow are still with us. Our neighbors insist we brought the snow with us! If you recall in a previous post, we moved to Columbus in a driving rain storm and the precipitation hasn't stopped yet! February celebrations and blessings include: Mariah Treesh celebrated her 23rd Birthday Feb 6th; Daughter, Cara turned 32 on Feb 11th; Bob & Rosie celebrated 22 years of marriage on Feb. 12th; Wes and Jennifer celebrated their 5th Wedding Anniversary on February 19th. February 16th marked Rose Anne's 26th year with Pioneer Hi-Bred. Recently we were Blessed to be informed that Cecilia is now cancer free and has completed her surgeries!

As we dig out of the "ICE AGE" we can reminisce on many pleasant celebrations in February even if Punxsutowney Phil did see his shadow. BTW, Ohio has it's own version in Buckeye Chuck, which predicted an early spring! I think my money unfortunately is on "P.P." however, the Dear Lord will have the final say over the rodents!

Catching up . . . it's time to come out of hibernation and celebrate the nearing arrival of spring. January and February were filled with Birthdays and Anniversaries: Wes and Anne celebrated their Birthdays on Jan. 13; Louie & Shelly celebrated their 8th Wedding Anniversary Jan. 19; niece and Goddaughter Ellen Anne Treesh (16) and grandson, Brandon Boyer (9) celebrated Birthdays on January 23rd; and son, Louie had his 35th Birthday Jan. 30th. Grandson Aiden Graper was baptized January 16th at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Rose Anne and I drove to Saginaw January 16 to join Jim and Ann Dane as Jennifer prepared a surprise party for Wes. We were able to see their new home and visit the Saginaw Valley State University Campus and Jennifer's office! Rose Anne ended the month driving to Lancaster Pennsylvania January 25th for a week of meetings. . . . . a pretty busy month for hibernation!!!!