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He held the cellphone with one hand while steering with the other.

And with each passing minute the 20-something seemed to grow increasingly annoyed with mom on the other end.

"Yes, mom, I know. You told me this morning. Remember?"
"I'm going to finish it when I get home, mom. I have to go now."
"I will. Mom, PLEASE. I have to go."

This went on for a few minutes before he finally got rid of her.

"Mom, you know how you tell me not to drive and talk on the phone? Well, I need to switch lanes so I'll call you later."

He closed his phone and did as promised, steering his cart toward the shorter check-out lane at the Harris Teeter.

"Has March has come in like a lion or a lamb?"
This query has brought me lots of consternation over the past few days. I am not sure why. I think I am ready for Spring, is all. I think I have seen enough snow and ice for one season. Or three.

I have been checking weather reports, peeling back the living room curtain to look outside and tapping on the barometer/thermometer combo suctioned to the window. Today I got the bright idea to go outside and enjoy the abundant sunshine advertised on the weather page.

Spring and its little lambs must be here because I found these crocuses in my front yard. Oh what wonders one can find right outside the front door when you actually open it!

The dude wearing the Maryland hat was walking out of the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday when an elderly couple wearing matching Duke sweatshirts passed him heading in.

"Better get in there," the Terp fan said. "Duke's already down 12."

The couple looked at each other horrified and hurried their pace.

The Terp fan looked at me and my kids and smiled. It was only 8:15. Duke's game with Florida State wouldn't start for another 15 minutes.

"I love messing with a Duke fan's head," he said.

Greensboro is celebrating its 200th birthday this year. We want you to help celebrate by writing the city's history in just six words.

The idea comes from Smith Magazine's new book, "Not Quite What I Was Planning." The paperback is a collection of six-word autobiographies from both famous and obscure writers. I love the cleverness of the concept.

The idea, according to the book's editors, is that everyone has a story. We think that everyone has a story about Greensboro — and that you can tell it in six words

Here are a few that I've come up with:

* Lots of trains pass through here.

* Four college freshman couldn't eat lunch.

* Jefferson Davis stopped, but kept going. (I was thinking of Don Patterson's recent story about Greensboro during the civil war.)

* George Washington might have slept here. (I was thinking about yet another Don Patterson piece.)

* Roll out brown cans next week.

Those are all top-of-the-head tries. I know you can do better, so do better in the comments.

The limo came to a stop at Green Valley Grill in Saturday's rain and out stepped a beautiful woman. She was maybe 30 and dressed to kill: Black-sequined dress and shoes to match.

You could tell she had put a lot of time and effort into the evening that awaited. If only she had put as much thought in bringing an umbrella. The plastic CVS bag over her head didn't exactly pull everything together.

I was driving on W. Smith Street in downtown Greensboro this morning when I noticed this car to the left approaching the intersection with no signs of stopping.

The problem was I had the green light. I couldn't stop in time to let it go by, so I hit the gas, wishing I had something with a little more oomph under the hood than an econobox 4-cylinder.

I dodged a bullet. A co-worker last year was not so lucky. Just a few blocks away from my near-miss, Mike got T-boned at Church and Friendly by a driver who ran a red light.

Here's hoping my luck won't run out, but I'm not counting on it.

At the Brassfield Cinema on Saturday, I tried to order a small popcorn with no butter for my daugthers to share. The clerk came back with a bag of popcorn that clearly said "medium" on the side. When I pointed out that I had ordered a small, she explained that the medium is now the small.

When I said I didn't want that much popcorn, she was mystfied, but finally suggested that I order the "junior" size, which is the new small. She threw away the first order, filled up the "junior" container and then squirted butter all over it. I reminded her I didn't want butter, so she threw it out and started all over again.

And we wonder why childhood obesity is such a problem ...

After walking my dog at the park earlier this week, I was somewhat dumbfounded that on my 10-mile drive home, we passed at least five Hummers. It's not like I've never seen any around town, but five within just a few minutes? Are there really this many most monster SUVs on the road in Greensboro? Was everyone out that day because the weather was nice? Whatever the reason, I just kept seeing them.

I have to admit that I don't understand the appeal of driving the same vehicle -- albeit a shiny black one with leather seats and a 30 CD changer -- that the military uses to cross rivers and carry troops through battle zones.

Maybe it's fun to ride up that high? Maybe you feel safer? Could it just be the cool factor of owning something called a Hummer instead of a Camry or a Neon.

Whatever made y'all buy one, I have to imagine that, these days, that cool factor fades a little bit every time you fill up the tank.

Conversation between two middle-aged women. Overheard in Harris Teeter during the first day of the triple coupon sale. The topic: The economy.

Woman 1, flipping through an envelope of coupons: "I come in here to get $30 worth of groceries and leave out here with over $100."
Woman 2: "I know. A friend said she came in and only got $25 worth of things. I said, 'What did you buy? Toilet paper and bread?'"