"If you treat your neighbors better, you will have better neighbors."

I saw this on a bumper sticker this morning, a few car lengths away from our little garden which was denuded of bulbs less than a week ago. Truthfully, not all the bulbs were swiped, just the ones in the far bed at the northwest corner of the front lawn. Whoever dug them up and took them left a big hole in the garden, which we have since filled with top soil and replacement, pre-sprouted bulbs. You can buy spring bulbs in springtime at Home Depot, ready to bloom--who knew??

My head is spinning with all the public death and public fundraising of the past week--pledge drive week at WBEZ is actually big for me, as it forces me to adjust my morning and daily driving routines to keep myself from going crazy with the suspense of, "Will they make their goal?" On the other hand, I *adored* the WXRT April Fool's Drive last week, particularly apropos because so many people turned to that station to get away from the public radio drive. It was spooky and strange as I was waking up to hear about "listener-funded XRT". Then I loved it. Last night LP and I went out to the Babes With Blades benefit and saw some stage combat and some good karaoke (who knew there was such a thing??). There was also a silent auction, in which I drove up prices on a few items "for the good cause" and ended up going home with some theatre tickets to the Lakeshore which I didn't really intend to purchase. Oops.

This weekend was unexpectedly somber, and I found myself listening to a lot of Dead Pope coverage. I'm not Catholic, so I can't figure out quite why I'm paying so much attention. There seems to be a conspiracy keeping me from KIP--though I get a second chance this week, we are scheduled to go out to a play and so it will be TWO FULL MONTHS without KIPpage at Letizia's! All these appointments are for a good cause, but I miss my friends there. Plus, I owe Fabio a picture of my wedding cake.

Such a lovely list of minor problems. We are blessed this spring.