And the magic number is....32

32 - The number of points I scored in my March Madness bracket.  Yeah, pretty pathetic. I know.  I didn't get even one Elite Eight team right.  But then again, I've never bragged about my March Madness bracket challenge skills.  I've never really had them.  I don't really have a system.  Although I do believe if I pick teams out of a hat next year, I will do better than I did this year.

32 - The number of points that Jimmer Fredette scored in Thursday night's game against Florida (and, coincidentally, the loss that made my final bracket score 32).

32 - Jimmer Fredette's number.  I'll admit it.  I've never seen the guy play in real time.  I hadn't actually known anything about this Jimmer guy until a few weeks ago.  But, I found some videos on YouTube and he really is an amazing basketball player, despite the loss Thursday night.  At first, I was a little put off hearing how many points he scored.  I figured he probably wasn't a team player.  Like I said, I haven't seen any of the games, but from what I've read, I do believe he is a team player.  I don't think he deserves all of the flak he's getting for the Florida loss.  I don't think he deserves all of the articles about how he won't do well in the NBA.  I don't really know what makes a good NBA player, but in my opinion, I do think he has what it takes.  He has my respect. 

Do I want to marry Jimmer?  No.  His brother?  The jury's still out on that one (is he single?)

So, this one goes out to Jimmer...March Madness...and the number 32.  Good Luck, Jimmer, and thank you for giving BYU it's best season ever.

PS - 32 was also Karl Malone's number for the Utah Jazz

My future life Down Under

I have a new plan for 6 months to a year of my life.

I'm going to move to Australia ...



and work on a cattle station...


in the Outback...



that will also have sheep that I can shear (in addition to the cattle. Don't worry - I won't shear the cattle.)


During my time in Australia, I may also visit some cities (such as Sydney)...



And the beach.

I'll see a few kangaroos.

and maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll find myself a man with a nice Australian accent.



Don't you think it sounds fun?

Of course, I don't plan on doing this right away, but maybe before I get too old. Details about working on an Outback ranch be found here. I'm sure my dad and brother probably think I could work on their ranch, instead; but where is the fun and adventure in that?

Now, a few fun facts about my future, temporary home (For all, but especially included for Uncle Don):

1. There are more cell phones than people in Australia
2. There are more sheep than people in Australia (For each person in Australia there are two sheep and over 16 rabbits).
3. Australia was the 2nd country to give women the vote
4. Australia Day (January 26) is the anniversary of ships of convicts arriving in Sydney.
5. Over 90% of Australia is dry, flat and arid. Almost three-quarters of the land cannot support agriculture in any form
6. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.

7. Four out of 10 Australians are migrants or the first-generation children of migrants
8. The 'dingo fence' in Australia is the longest fence in the world, and is about twice as long as the Great Wall of China.
9. The name for the Australian marsupial Kangaroo came about when some of the first white settlers saw this strange animal hopping along and they asked the Aborigines what it was called. They replied with 'Kanguru', which in the native language meant 'I don't know' .
10. The population density of Australia is 6 people per square mile.

*Source for facts 2-10: http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/facts.htm.
**Images were found via Google Images (Sorry, Earl, I didn't use Bing this time...using Google is just habit, I guess).