As the CBS NCAA basketball coverage comes on TV,  I am in a very different place than in the March Madness days of the last 10 years.  I did not fill out a bracket,  and have watched far less coverage (save for the Kentucky game,  although I was on the computer the whole time, looking at resources for planning and estimating for a Web project— mostly regarding pricing for various e-commerce services and tools).  The traditional SEC tournament trip went on as planned,  except that this year I was a “freeloader” in that my parents footed the whole bill.   The game tickets, hotel room,  and plane tickets were all bought last fall,  prior to my job loss.  We didn’t cancel anything,  thinking that perhaps I’d be re-situated by then. 

Up until the last couple of days before we went,  I was holding out hope that the St. Louis job would be offered, and that I would get good news from the second prostate biopsy that I underwent on March 10.  As I related earlier,  I got the letter from their HR department on the day of my biopsy,  when I returned home to “recuperate”.  It was a rather difficult blow,  but ever since then I have managed to keep encouraging myself with the hope that this will help me to see and believe that my destiny and call lies in pursuing more specifically a way to help the Church tell it”s story on the Web.  That doesn’t mean I don’t find myself imagining “what might have been” if I had gotten the St. Louis job.  It could have been too technically demanding for all I know.  My skill set,  while reasonably competent in technical matters,  is most valuable because of my combination of those technical Web skills with my theological background and where that particular combination might lead me. 

The biopsy results did come back and showed no cancer yet again,  and so that fear was put to rest and allowed me to do some recuperation by being able to do SOME amount of “forgetting” where I am and enjoy the annual SEC tournament,  with the added adventure of flying to New Orleans.