After a rough stretch the past couple of weeks, that saw the Chicago Cubs lose nine of thirteen games, it appears all the club needed was a visit back to the Friendly Confines.

The Cubs won their second straight, and sixth of seven games on this season long ten game homestand, blanking the San Diego Padres 4-0 this afternoon behind a gem of a performance from Ryan Dempster and one big inning.  One night after chasing Jake Peavy after four frames, his shortest outing since last September, in a game he started on short rest against Arizona, the Cubs tagged Greg Maddux for 11 hits and four runs in 4.1 innings in his return to Wrigley.

Dempster allowed six hits in 8.1 shutout innings, walking one and fanning 12, before leaving after 116 pitches with runners on the corners in the ninth.  Closer Kerry Wood came on to fan Khalil Greene and pinch hitter Josh Bard, the latter with a knee buckling curve looking, to end the game and pick up his eighth save.  Dempster even did it at the plate, singling home the first run of the ballgame.

Ronny Cedeno led off the fifth with a base hit, and went to third on a base hit by catcher Henry Blanco.  Dempster then slashed a hit to left, scoring Cedeno with the only run the Cubs would need on the day.  Alfonso Soriano singled loading the bases, and Blanco trotted home on a Ryan Theriot sacrifice fly.  Derrek Lee would break an 0 for 12 slump by slashing a 3-1 pitch into the gap in left center, scoring Dempster and Soriano, to complete the scoring. 

The Cubs have outscored the opposition (Arizona and San Diego) by a combined 43-19 in the homestand, which wraps up this weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team who has been better of late, but who the Cubs are 6-0 against on the season.  Sean Gallagher will make his second start for the Cubs, against Tom Gorzelanny, who the Cubs have smacked around the park this season.  In two starts against the Cubs, Gorzelanny is 0-1 , allowing 14 runs on 12 hits, with eight walks and five strikeouts, in just five innings of work.

The Cubs have now opened a one and a half game lead on Houston, who rallied from down 6-0 to beat the Giants 8-7 and a two game lead in the division over the Cardinals, who the Pirates dusted 11-5 Thursday afternoon on getaway day at Busch Stadium. 

Gametime is 2:20 ET, 1:20 CT and can be see on Chicago's superstation, WGN. 

        

For the third time in a year, the world of women's tennis bid farewell to a bona fide star.

Last year, it was Kim Clijsters, hanging up her racket at the age of 24.  Six months ago, Martina Hingis, the "Swiss Miss" of tennis, retired amidst a cloud of speculation revolving around her positive test for cocaine at Wimbledon in 2007, and then was served with a two year ban in January.  Today, Justine Henin, the top ranked player in the world, announced her retirement from the sport, just shy of her 26th birthday.

Henin made the announcement today at a press conference in Belgium, stating she had no sadness about leaving the sport that she had been dominant in over recent years.  She plans to focus more on charity work and on her tennis school now as she steps off the court for the last time. 

The retirement comes as a surprise to most, if not all, of the tennis world, as Henin was #1 in the world, and was a prohibitive favorite for the upcoming French Open at Roland Garros, where she is the three time defending champion, and winner of four of the last five Grand Slam events played on the red clay surface.  All told, Henin won seven Grand Slam titles among her 41 WTA Tour victories:  four French Opens, two US Opens, and an Australian Open title.  She also won the WTA Tour Championship twice and also took the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
She was unable to complete the career Grand Slam, never winning at Wimbledon despite two appearances in the final, falling in 2001 to Venus Williams, and again in 2006 to Amelie Mauresmo.

Henin was the top ranked player in tennis for 116 weeks in her career, and on March 10th of this year, became just the seventh female player to be ranked number one for twelve consecutive months.  After losing to Dinara Safina in the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, she pulled out of the Italian Open stating fatigue.  In five previous matches with Safara, Henin was unbeaten, and had not dropped a set against her.

There are only three active players who Henin leaves the game with losing records against:  Venus Williams, who she won just 2 of 9 matches against, Serena Williams (6-7) and Lucie Safarova, who won the only match between the two head to head.  She was dominant against the majority of the top ten players in the world, as evidenced by these marks:  4-0 vs. Ana Ivanovic, 9-0 vs. Jelena Jankovic, 16-2 vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 3-0 vs. Anna Chekvetadze, 6-3 vs. Maria Sharapova, 3-2 vs. Daniela Hantuchova, and 3-1 vs. Marion Bartoli.

Against former top players, Henin was successful as well, going 12-10 versus Clijsters, 7-5 against Lindsay Davenport, 8-6 head to head with Mauresmo and 5-2 when taking on Jennifer Capriati.  Her overall record was 493-107 in 600 career matches, 130-24 on the biggest stages of them all, that being Grand Slam competition.

One has to wish Henin well with her future endeavors.  She stated, and was adamant, that this was a retirement, not a hiatus, and that she is done with competitive tennis.  The burning question now is, who will step up and fill the chasm left at the top with her departure?  Can Sharapova become the dominant player she was two years ago?  Will Ivanovic, Kuznetsova and Jankovic pick up their games?  Can Hantuchova play tennis as well as she captures the attention of males with her long legs? 

Or will tennis become the Williams' sisters show, and become nothing more than a soap opera and a second tier sport?  One has to hope for the sake of the game, that the former is more true than the latter, but as with all things, we'll have to wait and see.

        

A new indictment came out Tuesday, with all time home run king Barry Bonds indicted on 15 counts regarding his alleged lying to a federal grand jury regarding the use of performance enhancing substances, and that he hampered the government's investigation into the matter.

Bonds had been charged in November with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, but had that tossed in February, when a US District Judge agreed with a defense motion regarding that the indictment was "potentially vague and ambiguous", mainly due to the fact that the indictment covered several lies in one count of the charge.  This was seen as potentially troubling and confusing to the jury, leading to this updated indictment. 

Therefore, Tuesday, a grand jury handed in a superseding indictment, entailing of 14 counts of making false declarations to a jury in 2003 and one count of obstruction of justice.  There was no new information in the indictment and there would be no additional jail time served should Bonds be convicted.

Of course, the premise of the case is whether Bonds lied regarding receiving performance enhancing substances from his trainer Greg Anderson, or not.  He claims that he never received steroids or other substances from Anderson, who in 2005, reached a plea bargain with federal prosecutors where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering. 

Anderson then spent nearly fifteen months in prison after refusing to testify before the grand jury in the Bonds case, before being released in November 2007 just hours after the initial indictment of Bonds. 

Bonds was let go by the Giants as a free agent at the end of the 2007 season after fifteen years in a Giants uniform, after coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent following three straight 100 RBI seasons, but losses in the NLCS all three years with his subpar postseason performances led to his bolting.  Of course, the Giants flopped miserably as well in the postseason with Bonds, making four playoff appearances, though three ended in the first round. 

Bonds' best postseason performance surprisingly was in the 2002 World Series, when he went 8 for 17 (.471) with four homers, six RBI and thirteen walks. Unfortunately for Bonds, the Giants did not win the World Series as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim prevailed in seven games. 

No team has gone out of their way to sign Bonds so far this season, prompting the union to contemplate whether they should file a collusion grievance against teams for not pursuing him as a free agent. 

One has to wonder if Bonds really has any value to a team anymore.  He is 43, and turns 44 in July.  He has limited upside, and his fan draw is crippled by the fact that he already has broken the home run record.  He is a defensive liability, has no speed left, and is little more than a glorified DH.  That automatically cuts his options in half.  Furthermore, he would demand a big contract, and there are limited teams that would be willing to put out that kind of money for a left handed platoon player. 

Bonds is due in court June 6th, though it is unclear if he will enter a plea at that time, or even if one will be required.  Perhaps an end to this sordid tale is in view, as the sport of baseball has been dragged through the mud far too long regarding this story.  Couple it with the recent developments in the Roger Clemens situation, and suddenly the most dominant pitcher and the most prolific hitter of recent memory are tainting the common individual's perspective of the game that once was treasured and revered.

        

The Buffalo Bills did the inevitable Tuesday, placing injured tight end Kevin Everett on the waived/failed physical list, a formality that officially ends Everett's NFL career, and allows him to pursue long term disability benefits from the National Football League.

With the release, it allows Everett to apply for a long term disability payment of $224,000 a year for the life span of the injury, which of course, would be the rest of his life.  Everett suffered a cervical spine injury on Opening Day 2007 at Ralph Wilson Stadium against the Denver Broncos, when he tackled returner Domenik Hixon on the second half kickoff.  An injured player on an active roster is ineligible to pursue such financial renumerations. 

Everett did receive his full salary of $435,000 last season, his third full season in the NFL.  By completing three full seasons as an active player it also makes him eligible for a full NFL pension.  Based on his term of service in the league, he is eligible to receive a payment of $1,410 per month, and is also eligible to claim a one time payment of $75,000 as part of the Player Health Reimbursement Plan. 

Everett has since recovered to the point of walking on his own, and was released from a Houston rehabilitation center back in November.  He visited with the team before the home finale against the New York Giants, and also watched the Super Bowl with commissioner Roger Goodell. 

The team released the following statement regarding the move:

"Today we are faced with the difficult decision to place Kevin on the waived/failed physical list, making him eligible to apply for any benefits due him," the team said. "We had numerous discussions with the league in dealing with this process to assist him in the best way possible. Kevin will always remain a Buffalo Bill in the same way that Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and so many others before him are held in the highest regard by our franchise."

The injury, emergency surgery and long term recovery has been a sobering experience, a jarring reality as to how fragile not just life, but the career of an athlete truly is.  Everett played two seasons at the University of Miami, grabbing 23 balls for 310 yards in 2004.  He was drafted in the third round, 86th overall in the 2005 draft, to try and fill the void the Bills had at tight end.  He suffered a torn knee ligament on the first day of minicamp that season, and was placed on injured reserve in November of 2005, after being placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list in August. 

He played in all sixteen games in 2006, mainly on special teams, though he did start four games at tight end and even caught his first NFL pass, a deflected ball for a one yard gain on October 1 of that season.  He managed to grab a three yard reception in the first half of the opener before the fateful injury.  In a twist of irony, when Everett made his first public appearance, walking on the same turf at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Domenik Hixon was there as a member of the Giants, after being cut by Denver earlier in the season.

Everett had surgery last month to alleviate pain in his neck as an after effect of the earlier injury.  He has started a foundation for spinal cord injury research now, and hopefully that helps out other people who may sustain such injuries. 

I wish Kevin the best of luck in his future endeavors, the same as the Bills organization and fans of the game everywhere have in the eight months since the injury.  Everett's story has been the most inspiring story in pro football since the entire Pat Tillman story when he walked away from a big free agent contract to join the Army Rangers.

Best wishes, Kevin.  All your fans, and even non football fans around the world, support you and have nothing but positive thoughts.  Keep fighting and moving ahead with everything you have planned.

        

In previous posts, you have heard me tout the wonderful people at Vista Print when it came to printing business cards, signs, and any other sort of promotional gear necessary to draw buzz and attention to your company, community group, or even your website.  Any way to draw new people and traffic is a good thing, because without it, you stagnate, and that really doesn't benefit anyone in the long run, now does it?  I personally have had cards printed up for the initial version of Juuust a Bit Outside, back when it was still a Blogger blog, and expect to do so in the near future now that this, my own personal domain, has been firmly established and entrenched in the minds, hearts and bookmarks of sports fans everywhere.

Now, what if I told you that you could utilize the ability that Vista Print has to help promote whatever you may have in mind, at a fraction of the cost?  That's right, by putting vistaprint coupons to use, you can save from 50 to 80 percent off the normal prices of Vista Print's services.  That means you can get more bang for your buck when it comes to merchandising, or full blown promoting of whatever you need to get the word out about. 

So what's the catch?  Well, you need to act fast, as deals like this don't last forever.  However, how can you go wrong when it comes to saving money while still making the impact you need when it comes to having a quality, professional product at a price that won't break the bank?  Get over to Vista Print and take advantage of the fantastic, and inexpensive, ways to make your next endeavor more successful than you ever imagined.

        

Despite the horrific start this season by the San Diego Padres, they at least have something to be proud of.

Greg Maddux won his 350th career game last night, as the Padres knocked off the Colorado Rockies by a score of 3-2.  Maddux is the only current active pitcher to reach the mark, the ninth all time, but the second in two seasons.  Roger Clemens picked up his 350th win last July 22nd against the Minnesota Twins.

It wasn't easy for Maddux to get there, however.  After picking up his second win of the year, and 349th of his career in Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers on April 13th, he had four chances to pick up the historic victory.  He went 0-3 with a no decision, that coming against the Giants, where Trevor Hoffman blew a 1-0 lead to wipe that chance out.  The Padres are the worst team in major league baseball at 13-24, and yesterday's victory was just the team's fifth in the last twenty three contests. 

That's a far cry from last year, when the Padres were a last weekend meltdown against the Brewers from being a wild card team, a season culminating in a thirteenth inning, three run rally by the eventual NL Champion Rockies to steal a 9-8 win at Coors Field, propelling them into the playoffs and sending San Diego home for the winter.

The club retooled a bit, adding Jim Edmonds, Mark Prior, and Randy Wolf.  They hoped that the extra arms would be a boon for a rotation with Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Maddux.  However, Wolf has not won in double digits, or been healthy for that matter, the past four years.  Prior is still recovering from injuries that cost him half of 2006 and all of 2007.  The Padres say he threw off a mound this week in Peoria, Arizona, and may throw to live hitters next week.

As for Edmonds, he was released this week by San Diego, after posting a .178 average with one homer and six RBI in 26 games.  His on base percentage was .265, and he was slugging a paltry .233 on the year.  To put that in perspective, Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano, is slugging .435 for the season.

Back to Saturday night, where Maddux was facing Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies.  Maddux was sharp early, retiring the first seven hitters he faced.  After Clint Barmes singled to center with one out in the third, Maddux retired Jimenez on a fielders choice, then fanned Wily Taveras looking.  In the fourth, he got all the offense he would need.

Jimenez walked Tadahito Iguchi leading off the bottom of the fourth.  With Brian Giles at the plate, Iguchi would swipe second base.  Giles would eventually draw a walk as well, while a passed ball by catcher Yorvit Torrealba would move Iguchi to third.  First baseman Adrian Gonzalez then ripped a three run homer to left, his ninth of the year, to give San Diego a 3-0 lead.

Maddux's lone lapse was in the sixth, where he made a poor throw on a Taveras dribbler.  The throw got past Gonzalez and rolled into the Colorado bullpen, sending Taveras all the way to third.  He would score on a ground ball by Omar Quintanilla to make it 3-1.  Maddux would finish the sixth, and his evening was done.  His line:  six innings, three hits, one run, unearned, no walks, one strikeout, and a total of just 68 pitches thrown, 45 for strikes.

Cla Meredith retired the Rockies in order in the seventh.  Heath Bell gave up a leadoff single to Barmes, who would take second on a passed ball.   Ryan Spilborghs grounded back to the mound, advancing Barmes to third.  Taveras then doubled Barmes home, cutting the lead to 3-2, before Bell rallied to fan both Quintanilla and Holliday.  In the ninth, Trevor Hoffman walked Todd Helton to lead off the inning, but struck out Garrett Atkins and induced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Brad Hawpe to end it.

Milestones like this don't come around all that often in this era of specialization, pitch counts, situational relievers, and the rest.  We may not see another 350 game winner for quite a while.  There are only 11 pitchers with at least 150 wins that are active right now, and all of them are at least 35, ranging to Jamie Moyer and his 45 year old arm. 

For Maddux, it is another tribute to a fantastic career:  17 Gold Gloves, four National League Cy Young Awards, 3299 strikeouts, a World Series title, 17 consecutive 15+ win seasons, eight All Star Game selections, 20 straight double digit win seasons, and now, a member of the 350 win club at 350-217.  Now, I may not be as big a fan of Maddux as some, as his greatest years were in Atlanta after he left the Cubs as a free agent, but watching him pitch was like watching a master craftsman build.  He could hit the corners, paint the black, change speeds, move in and out and generally befuddle hitters.  This was never clearer than in the 1994 and 1995 seasons, when Maddux went 16-6 with a 1.56 ERA and then 19-2 with a 1.63 ERA with an unheard of WHIP of 0.896 and then 0.811 for those years.  To put that dominance in perspective, the average ERA in the league those years was 4.22 and 4.27, so Maddux was over two and a half runs per game better than the league average.

Congratulations Greg, on a tremendous accomplishment and a brilliant career.  I'm sure your spot in Cooperstown is already reserved.

        

Last month, I talked about how I would revamp my kitchen because frankly, a) there is no space, b) the color scheme is horrific, and c) I just don't like it.  While I forgot to submit my information to become a potential member of the semi-finalist gallery like these people did, it was fun to see other people's potential makeover spaces.

Out of those who DID submit their information and made the cut for the final ten semi finalists, I am personally a fan of the one submitted by the Hiatt family.  As a former member of the military, I know about all the sacrifices that a military family has to go through, the shortcomings, the lack of time and sometimes finances to fix things and the bond that is formed by getting through those sorts of things.

If anyone could use a break, it is the Hiatt's.  Having a basement flood is bad enough, but when it hampers a good chunk of certain things you need for a growing family, it hurts even more.  Factor in that the basement also is the foundation of any building, and you have potential for disaster.  When you factor in the danger of black mold and the health problems that can spring up, renovation is the most effective plan of attack.  When money is tight, why not give someone a break?  After all, as is said all the time, and it may sound droll and trite, but "he went to war so others didn't have to..."  That alone, would get my vote.

Even better, YOU determine who wins the $20,000 makeover from Renuzit Tri Scents.  Tanya Memme, from the show "Sell This House", on A&E, will be a major part of the makeover process!  Every day between now and June 7th, you can vote, once a day, for who you feel should win.  All you have to do is go to www.triscents.com/gallery.asp and vote for your own favorite.  It's as simple as that.  No muss, no fuss, and someone is fortunate enough to get a makeover that they so desperately want and/or need. 

So what are you waiting for?  Get in there, and vote for who you think is deserving to win...help make someone's dream a reality.  It's now through June 7th and you can vote for the semifinalists by visiting the gallery. 

        

After two seasons, the Paul Maurice experiment is over.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, mired in a three season drought without making the playoffs, fired head coach Paul Maurice this morning after two years with the club.  Maurice still had one year remaining on the three year deal he signed after replacing Pat Quinn, who was sacked after the Leafs missed the postseason in 2005-06.  Toronto missed the playoffs on the final day of the season in 2006-07, but were never in competition this season, missing the playoffs by 11 points.

The maddening inconsistency of the team was probably a motivating factor.  The Leafs were one of the streakiest teams in the league last season.  From late November until the end of January the Leafs won six of seven, then lost six of seven, won one, lost five straight, won four of five, then lost the next three.  They were eliminated from postseason contention with a 4-2 loss to the Bruins on March 27th, part of a 1-4-1 tailspin to close the season. 

The combination on John Ferguson Jr. as GM and Maurice as coach was supposed to make the Leafs a contending team for the Stanley Cup again, a place they haven't been since the league was still the Original Six back in 1967.  Instead, Ferguson was fired in January, replaced by former GM Cliff Fletcher on an interim basis.  The team is still looking to find a replacement there as well. 

Maurice posted a 76-66-22 mark in his two seasons in Toronto.  Assistant coach Randy Ladouceur was also fired in the purge by Fletcher.  Maurice previous coached eight seasons with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise, where he spent eight years behind the bench, even leading the team to a pair of division crowns and a Stanley Cup Finals appearance, where they were promptly blitzed by Detroit.  His overall career record behind the bench is 344-357-99-38 in the regular season and 17-18 in the postseason. 

One has to wonder who Toronto will pursue to fill the now vacant position behind the bench.  As far as the GM position goes, names such as Brian Burke, Ken Holland, Dave Nonis, Jim Rutherford, Neil Smith and Colin Campbell have been mentioned.  In the interim, it will be Fletcher and Jeff Jackson that will carry the team through the draft and potentially the start of free agency. 

Where will this whirlwind of change take the Leafs?  One can only speculate, though in light of the dark days that have swirled around the franchise, both in bad personnel decisions, poor on ice performance, and several questionable off ice decisions, a fresh start may be the best thing for a club that has fallen on hard times that bring back to mind the sickening days of Harold Ballard when the Leafs played in the black and blue Norris Division in the early to mid 1980s.

        

The first round of the 2008 NBA playoffs finally ground to a halt yesterday, as the Boston Celtics dispatched the upstart Atlanta Hawks in a 99-65 thumping at the TD Banknorth Garden Sunday afternoon.  In a rematch of an epic seven game series twenty years ago, this series had all the tenacity, all the luminaries, but was absolutely devoid of the drama that was in the 1988 Game 7 contest, held at the historic Boston Garden on the famed parquet.

In that game, it was a game of one upping the other, as Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins seemed to score at will.  Bird put up 34 points for the Celtics, 20 of those coming in the final quarter to propel the Celtics to a stirring 118-116 win over Wilkins and the Hawks.  Wilkins was spectacular in defeat, pouring in 47 points of his own.  The teams shot a blistering 59 percent from the floor and there were just 15 turnovers in that entire contest.  Kevin McHale had a monster game of his own, with 33 points, 13 boards, and four blocks.  Glenn "Doc" Rivers, now the Celtics bench boss, was the point guard for the Hawks in 1988.  He had 16 points and 18 assists in game seven, not to mention 22 assists in game four of that series. 



That game is best known for Bird and Wilkins and even more so for a series of six possessions in that frenetic fourth quarter, where Bird and Wilkins alternated baskets in a who will blink first sort of environment.  Sunday's game was devoid of any sort of that excitement. 

The Hawks were flat out of the gate, falling behind by 11 after one quarter, and then only scoring 10 points in the second, to go down by 18.  That lead ballooned in the third quarter, to the point where the Hawks were trailing by nearly as many points (36) as they had scored after three quarters (43).  They did manage to outscore Boston in the fourth by a bucket to only lose by 34. 

The Celtics won 66 games in the regular season, posting the top record in the NBA.  The Hawks struggled, as young teams usually do, going 37-45 on the season, though qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since the 1998-99 season.  After Boston won the first two games at home, it seemed the Hawks were going to get blown away.  However, the Hawks rallied, winning games three and four in Atlanta.  Boston won game five convincingly at home, but fell by three points in Atlanta in game six, bolstering the confidence of the young Hawks, and making the Celtic faithful wonder if the luck of the Irish had abandoned them.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and Paul Pierce had 22 points and eight boards for the Celtics.  The Hawks were led by star shooting guard Joe Johnson with 16, though he was harassed into a 5 for 17 clank fest from the field.  Al Horford had 12 rebounds to go with his eight points.  The Hawks were held to the second fewest game seven point total (65) and the third lowest field goal percentage (29.3 percent) in the defeat.

So what now for the Celtics?  A second round matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Will the mystique of the Celtics carry them to an expected Eastern Conference Finals battle with the Detroit Pistons, or will King James and his court derail the hopes and dreams of Boston fans again?  One quick fact:  no team that went seven games in the first round of the playoffs since the playoffs were expanded has gone on to win the NBA title.

        

Everyone knows that tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby, the biggest race in horse racing.  Later this month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the Indianapolis 500, one of the major races in auto racing.  Baseball season is in full swing, and both the NBA and NHL are into the postseason.  All in all, it is an exciting time for any sports fan.

One thing that gets overlooked frequently, of course, is Mother's Day.  Sure, it isn't a federal holiday, you don't get a day off from work with pay or anything like that, but you do get a chance to show your gratitude to the one that brought you into the world and got you through the formative years of existence.  If you're like me, and have left the area you once called home, (I'm about 800 miles away myself), why not take it one step further than the mundane card or boring, forced pleasantries of a phone call, and go with mothers day flowers delivery?

1800flowers.com is a great place to find the perfect floral arrangement, plant, or other gifts for the one you call mom.  Don't hesitate to go and find something guaranteed to ease any tensions and let the gratitude and happiness replace it.  You can find something for any kind of mom, from the high maintenance "red carpet" mom, to the down to earth "green thumb" mom, to something for those moms on the go or who do most of their work in the office.

When it comes to holidays and flowers, go with the experts...go with 1800flowers.