A bit stranger than usual - not only due to COVID, but I came up to Indy a few days early for Margo's YAGP (Young American Grand Prix) dance competition. After the girls headed home, I did a little grocery shopping to stock the AirBnB and then picked Mark up at the airport. Ezra comes in on Sunday. The tournament is weird this year - all games are in the Indianapolis area, and the games are Saturday - Tuesday instead of the normal Thursday - Sunday.

The AirBnB is very nice - in a cool part of Indy I didn't know existed right near Rtes 65 & 70. We put in some bets on the UConn women and watched most of the game in the apartment, but it was a gorgeous day, so we went out to find outdoor seating to watch games. We landed at an okay spot with a nearly unwatchable screen - the picture was faded, which was kind of okay, because Loyola Chicago got crushed by Oregon St. We wandered a bit while Butler beat Villanova, found St. Joseph's Brewery in a converted church, but headed back to the apartment to watch Oral Roberts lose a heartbreaker to Arkansas and Houston annihilate Syracuse. Bets didn't come in so good Saturday.

Sunday am we woke up and expected to go for a bike ride, but it was freezing out, so I bought a knit cap from St. Joseph's Brewery and we walked around downtown Indy to Victory Field and the NCAA hotels, then biked home in time to go to the airport to get Ezra.

Got Ezra and went straight to The Garage, which is in/near an old Coke bottling plant and has been transformed into a cool food court. Mark and I got lunch and we went back to the apartment. I had a great Brazilian steak sandwich and a Venezuelan arepa.

We watched Gonzaga beat Creighton and then went to St. Joesph's Brewery to watch Michigan handle Florida St (unfortunately). We were there a while, because we stayed for the UCLA/Alabama game - best game of the tourney so far. We (mostly Ezra) needed Alabama and the over, so we were praying for OT for points and the spread. 'Bama hit a despiration 3 to give us OT and the over, but then folded and UCLA won easily. The late game didn't start until 10pm ET, so it was a struggle to stay awake. Ezra passed out and Mark and I hung tight to watch USC take care of Oregon.

When I was at Keystone Mall earlier with my girls I found two tiny Nerf hoop games, so we've been playing some of that, too. Ezra named the game "Slapfish" after an oddly named restaurant he passed earlier in the day.

Monday started weird with a text from Amy that said the Indy police were trying to get a hold of me, so they contacted the Newburgh police who went to our house. Apparently, I left the car running after we returned to the apartment with Ezra (!). The police noticed it was running for awhile, checked to see if it was reported stolen, then turned it off and locked the keys in the middle console. It was very confusing (and embarrassing), but eventually I got AAA to come and get me in.

We then went to a nearby park and played basketball for a bit. Found a guy who we picked up for a game of 2-on-2. He and Ezra - mostly Ezra - beat me and Mark; then we played a few games of "21" - without significant injury.

We rallied and drove downtown for a great deli lunch at Shapiro's Deli and walked around Lucas Oil stadium. Mark and I rented scooters to get back to the car (my hip was bugging me after bball, so I guess you can disregard my comment about injuries above...).

We got back to the apartment and Ezra napped, Mark worked and I scootered again to a grocery store for some stuff - mainly epsom salts, so I could soak in the tub!

First up basketball-wise was the UConn/Baylor women's game. We had a lot riding on UConn giving 5 points and the over, and, a theme so far, we split. It was a great game and UConn eked it out by 2 when Baylor couldn't convert on a last second attempt (might have been a foul). Thankfully, UConn hit a meaningless free throw and we hit the over.

On the men's side we had some split bets on the Houston/Oregon St game and managed to hit them. Second game was Baylor/Arkansas which was tighter than we had hoped, but Baylor prevailed (despite their "stupid reliance on isolation plays" - just ask Mark :)) and we won all of our bets.

We also flipped back and forth to watch IU women try and get to their first Final Four on the women's side, but they lost to Arizona.

Woke up Tuesday and did my five minute plank and half yoga outside on the deck. A little chilly, but nice.

Had breakfast then went back to the park for more basketball, a little tennis and frisbee, then to BruBurger for lunch. Sat outside and my career issues dominated conversation. Lots of good advice from the boys.

From there we drove up to Broad Ripple and walked through famous Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler, then back to the apartment for a little nap/refresh for the final evening push.

We scootered around a bit and landed back at Ralston's for the Gonzaga/USC game which wasn't much of a contest, then came back to the place for UCLA/Michigan, which was an awful game with UCLA winning by one and killing all of our bets.

Mark leaves very early and I'll take Ezra to the airport at 6:15am.