Half Full

The Olympics are half-way over, so we thought we should check-in and show our map. We are finding it difficult to keep-up on the current medal count because of the time change. (And I swear, I am about to burn facebook because of all of the spoilers people put up during the night. I know you're all excited about Bode, but I have at least 3 hours before I can watch that race). ANYWAY, here is where and here is our map, which was accurate last night.

Highlights so far include:

• Plushenko's hissy-fit over his silver medal... but I guess I'd be cranky too if I had a mullet and had to go home to Russia. Oh, and the costumes those men wear... nothing says "athlete" like hot pink sequins, patent leather, and feathers.
• Canada vs. USA in hockey... we had to go to a sport's bar to watch this and happened to sit in the Canada section- made the victory that much more sweet, eh?
• The bob-sled outfits; who knew line backers could fit into spandex? Ewwwwwww....
• Any and all USA gold medals.
• The ski and snowboard cross races!! We keep waiting for all four of the competitors to crash at once so they all have to get up and untangle themselves to finish the race.
• The hype behind this ice dancing garbage- how in the world is that a sport?? It is ballroom dancing on ice. It might be fun and pretty- but it's not a sport. It has a "twizzle" section- it's a hobby.

Tonight is a down night, but we're looking forward to the ski jumping and Canada vs. US in curling. To help move the night along, we will also be making our own gold medals while eating a cherry pie (it is George Washington's birthday, after all). Oh- and we'll be sorting through a small part of our 1 car garage that is loaded to the brim with boxes.

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Fabulously Fantastic Friday

Yesterday day was a hands-down great day. To summarize:

1. We received the cutest Valentine's Day cards from our nephew, Jackson. I love me some Handy Manny!

Thanks, Jackson!

2. We were able to watch Baby Boy move from the outside!! He was kicking pretty strongly in the evening and when I looked down, my belly was moving!!

3. The Opening Ceremonies!! Granted, we had to watch it tape delayed (even though we're in the same time zone as Vancouver... major gripe-fest), but it was still wonderful, accidental tri-pod aside.

Favorite Parts:

- Sarah McLaughlin and K.D. Lang performances (Matt didn't know who K.D. was and thought we were going to see a rap show... When I explained who she was and she started singing he said, "that's a woman?" Classy Matt; super classy.)

- The orca whales traveling across the floor.

- Steve Nash!! I have no idea why, but I go so excited when I saw him. He usually grosses me out with his sweaty, long hair (isn't there a sanitation issue there??) but tonight he was a welcomed surprise.

- The Great One, and the wild people chasing him as he played red-neck riding down the street in the back of the pick-up truck.

Not So Favorite Parts:

- Where was Celine!!?? Come on!! She might be crazy, but she's also awesome and one of the most famous Canadians. MAJOR letdown.

- The whole tap-dancing, punk rock, fiddle playing fiasco...

- The idea of a second caldron; I don't care that there was a malfunction, but you really only need one. Kinda lame to drive to the final location...

To celebrate the Opening Ceremonies, we watched them (of course). I was going to bake snowflake cookies but couldn't find a snowflake cookie cutter to save my life. And, we did a craft project. How can you watch them light the torch, without your own torch?? Mr. Lauer and Mr. Costas mentioned several times all of the different ways the torch was carried: chair lift, logging truck, dog sled, etc. Well, two can play at this game... our flame traveled by:

Speed Skate

Curling

Ski Jump

Down-Hill Ski

Bobsled

Figure Skate

Snowboard

Ice Hockey

Luge

Skeleton

Bialthlon

And once the torch arrived in our stadium, it had to lit, of course:

Contemplating his heavy responsibility. "I can do this. I will light things on fire. I am a Franck Boy."

Beginning the transfer...

Let the games begin!! Even the guy on TV likes it...

Our NBC affiliate begins coverage today at 2pm. Medals will be given in the ski jump (normal hill), mens 5000m speed skating, and the women's biathlon (sprint). Bode Miller also tries to redeem himself tonight in the men's downhill. And for those wondering, yes we will post our map with strings/medal counts probably half-way through and at the end of the games, too.

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"With Glowing Hearts"

Sounds like a line from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". But lame mottos aside... tomorrow is the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics!!

I love, love, love the Olympics- both summer and winter. It's like a second Christmas to me. I love the sports. I love how some underdog totally prevails. I love how Bob Costa makes every athlete's story a sob-fest. I love how Matt Lauer looks pained to actually cover a global event for more than a day. It's all fantastic to me.

My first memory of the olympics was watching the luge with my dad and my brother. My dad got out the map and showed us where all the countries were and how the medals were tallied. But, the Olympics are more than a good memory for me... it's a full on fascination. I'm not sure where it started.

Was it having an Olympic-themed field day in elementary school? I was the fastest, female distance runner in the 6th grade (ooooh, how times have changed) and got to run the (tiki) torch for my final Olympics... I have searched high and low for the photo of me prancing through the gym in my green field day shirt (I was also the captain of "Italy"). If I remember correctly, I'm also wearing a pink headband; I have always been the height of style and sophistication.

Was it hearing the Olympic committee announce, "Atlanta" when I was in the 2nd grade? For what it's worth, I had no idea what was going on. We were all sitting down at our desks and my teacher, Mrs. Hahn, briefly explained that we were waiting to hear if we got the Olympics. Say what? How do you get the Olympics? The principal put the TV up to the intercom and when it was announced, everyone started cheering and clapping, so I did too.

Was it actually attending the olympics in the summer of '96? We had already moved to Seattle, but were able to get tickets in the Georgia resident lottery because we still owned our house there. For three weeks we lived on our house boat, The Miss Molly, on Lake Lanier. Everyone had those in Atlanta... I haven't quite seen anything like it since then. Think of my family of four living in a trailer on pontoons for 21 days... you can start laughing now. Oh how I wish I had a photo of that boat (which we named after our dog). Anyway, we saw the semi-finals for women's gymnastics (think Dominque Dawes and Kerri Strug aka the girl who landed that vault on one foot to win the gold ), the 1996 Dream Team (Barkley, Malone, and Pippen), and the gold medal match for men's soccer. That was the real event... originally I was bummed that we chose soccer (I was a 14 year old girl, after all), but my parents were actually really smart about this since soccer is huge internationally and has THE CRAZIEST fans. I have never seen anything like it. I remember at one point, they were tossing a bag of urine around like a beach ball. Nobody's a winner in that situation...

Anyway, I don't know where the fascination started. If I wasn't pregnant, I would be forcing Matt to go to the Vancouver Olympics. It's such an amazing experience. We'll do it sometime...

Needless to say, in this household we celebrate the Olympics like a national holiday. No detail's left unthought of; no stone is left unturned. Menus are planned accordingly. We wear "go America" gear. Our walls have turned into a study of geography in relation to athletic achievement. And, our coffee table books have been replaced by daily competition schedules and Olympic-themed craft projects. And social life? What social life? It's 24-7 NBC for the next three weeks.

So to get ready for tomorrow's Opening Ceremonies, I spent Wednesday shopping for supplies and today putting a few things together. Like the new wall art?

Yes, you need a map when you watch the Olympics. How else are you going to be able to place all the countries (there are 80+ of them this year) as they ski down the hill?? As they earn a medal, a string going their medal count will be placed. This is fantastic for the kindergarten teacher in me!

There's more to come... just wait, and prepare to be horrified.

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Oh, the Excitement of It All

Gender Ultrasound -- Tomorrow -- 3pm -- Pray that our dumpling turns into quite an exhibitionist and we get to see the goodies!! We will be shouting it from the rooftops, so stay tuned :)

While it's not nearly as exciting as finding out the gender of our long-awaited baby, there is something else coming up that's going to be huge in our house: The Vancouver Olympics start in 31 days!! It's a hands-down, full-fledged event for us (mostly for me and Matt plays along). Planning has already begun... get ready for a full-blown Olympics extravaganza!!

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