Not so eagle eyes

Well, I've always prided myself on my excellent long-range vision, but i sincerely missed the mark on this one. Bill and I drove to Dallas for the weekend (it was really just one day, but we both desperately needed to get away from the area and recharge the ol' batteries).

So anyway, as we're driving through the deeps of South Oklahoma, I got all excited because I realized we were going to pass the "Penn & Teller" casino. The last time I was driving through Oklahoma (with Shelli, Justin, and my little sis Sara), I saw this sign from a distance, and thought it was Penn & Teller. They all thought I was crazy, but Bill saw the resemblence from a distance. Of course, he is also in need of LASIK. So let's take a vote. Am I crazy/blind OR do the Chief and Vice Chief of the Choctaw tribe look a smidge like Penn & Teller? (Actually, upon closer inspection, I think that the Vice Chief looks like John Candy.

Imagine it from a distance...maybe squint your eyes a little.

Presumptive Conversation Starter

Which Rod Stewart song do you least loathe?

bad me

I got off the phone with Bill about 20 minutes ago. He has to go to happy hour with his work associates. I said I would stay home and clean the house and pack for a little weekend getaway we're going on.

Then Shelli called to see if I wanted to go out for Mexican food and margaritas.

Yes, please.

clean, shmean. pack, shmack.

letdown

I always have a big letdown the weekend before the Olympics end because I realize that it's half over. I'm excited to have two of my girlfriends over on Saturday for a fun girls' night, so I think that will take some of the sting off. :)

I'm fairly pleased at how these Olympics are shaping up. Underdog Ligety (just fun to say!) getting the gold. That punk Johnny Weir getting the boot from the medal stand (if I had to see his smug little look of disdain one more time, I was going to hurl a shoe at the T.V.). Cutie Emily Hughes getting to compete, and all the Kwan drama (or "Kwama" as I like to call it) finally being over. And yummy "Cucina" vignettes every morning on the Today show. Today, it was about cheese.

The one problem that I've had with these Olympics is a horrible inability to stay awake. I missed Plushenko's "Godfather" free program last night because I couldn't keep my eyes open past 8:30. Very disappointed! The two nights before, I kept dozing off as well. It's like I just completely lose the ability to will my body to stay in an upright position starting at 8:15, and from there, it's over. Plus, Bill keeps bringing me my green snuggly blanket, and how am I supposed to stay awake wrapped in the green snuggly blanket???

Ahh, sweet Olympics

That's right. I'm officially addicted to the Olympics. And so I give you: my favorite Olympic athletes (most are from the Winter games because I don't get into the Summer ones as much, and you'll probably notice something of a skating motif):

1.) Paul Wylie (Albertville, 1992)--I sigh just thinking about him. His JFK routine and Miss Saigon routines still set my heart a twitter. Silver medalist, but always gold in my heart.

2.) Ekaterina Gordeyeva and Sergei Grinkov (Calgary-Lillehammer)--Followed them from her being a flirtatious little teen through their marriage and his death. I have no other words for their final Olympic performance other than "breathtaking."

3.) Dan Jansen (Calgary, 1988; Albertville, 1992; Lillehammer, 1994)--From underdog to triumph, I followed him the whole way. I remember hearing his story: his sister died the day he was to compete in Calgary and he was obviously overcome with grief when he was skating, then he had a slight bobble in Albertville costing him the podium, in Lillehammer, he had a small mistake in his best event and thought that he was out. But he went on to win in his next event where he was a long shot, setting a new world record at the same time! Wow. And apparently, he's a nice guy to boot.

4.) Midori Ito (Calgary, 1988; Albertville, 1992)--Who? Ah, my sweet little Midori. I actually don't remember her from Calgary, but what drama in Albertville! Here are the juicy details:
At the Olympics, during final practice at the Olympic rink, Surya Bonaly peformed an illegal back-flip right beside a startled Midori, disrupting her practice and possibly causing her to miss her next jump. This drew the wrath of Katarina Witt who accused Bonaly of "almost cheating." ISU officials forbade Bonaly from doing anymore back-flips during practice. Midori and her coach decided to replace the triple Axel combination with an easier triple Lutz combination. Her coach said she had never seen Midori fall on this jump. However, during the short program, she did fall on the Lutz, placing her in fourth. In the long program she fell on her first triple Axel, landed her second (the first landed by a woman at an Olympics). She ended up winning the Silver Medal. Even though she won the Silver and the team coach, Noriko Shirota, told her she didn't have to be sorry, she publicly apologized to her country for not winning the Gold.

And she's just the sweetest little thing you ever saw. I remember in her exhibitions, she put together this montage of "rain" songs (singin' in the rain, somewhere over the rainbow, etc.) and was just so...SWEET about it. Contrast that with Michelle Kwan's tearful little fit in '98 and skating to Fields of Gold (stealing Sarah Hughes limelight) at the '02 exhibitions. Oh, and Surya Bonaly is mean and her back-flips were ugly anyway.

5.) Torville & Dean (Sarajevo, 1984; Lillehammer, 1994)--I love their Bolero routine, and that is some kind of moxie returning to the Olympics after 10 years. Plus, let's face it, Great Britain isn't exactly swimming in skating glory through anybody else. Hip Hip Huzzah for them.

Biger

Creepiness, thou hast a name, and they name is "Biger".

For those of you who I do not frequently chat with in the "real world", Biger is the newest addition to our family. And apparently, he is not actually Biger, but rather Biger II. Biger I was accidentally dropped out of a moving vehicle in Atlanta traffic circa 1980.

No, Biger II is my husband's much-loved (replacement) stuffed tiger from when he was a child. Biger is much like the Velveteen Rabbit only uglier. He has a crooked nose, and one set of his whiskers goes up and the other goes down. Biger came home with us after Christmas along with Bill's other childhood memoribilia (comic books, drum major hat & trumpet, a few books). Bill's mom was loathe to part with Biger as (a) he reminds her of Bill's childhood (back when Bill was "Billy") and (b) I think she wanted to use him to decorate Bill's nephew's room (she calls it the "grandchildren's room" to seem equitable, but there is only one grandchild).

Biger creeps me out. It is partly my own fault. On the drive home from Atlanta after Christmas, to keep myself entertained I gave him a creepy voice and would perch him on Bill's shoulder and say, "Billy, if you love me you'll kill your family and I'll have you all to myself...Billy!" Bill did not especially appreciate me giving his favorite childhood toy a creepy stalker personality.

Then when we got home, Sunny thought Biger was a new toy and I found him happily chewing on one of Biger's legs. Biger now leaves little pellets wherever he goes. And since I turned Biger into a creepy stalker, Bill now has him follow me around the house--sitting on my pillow when I come to bed, hiding in my underwear drawer when I'm getting ready in the morning.

Creepy.

the big rebuke

it's official...i've gotten the big rebuke from my friend melissa for not writing in my blog.

in my defense, work has reached new heights of crazy busy-ness. i've been working a bunch of 10-12 hour days and i've worked the past 3 saturdays, so, quite frankly, the last thing i want to do when i get home is turn the computer back on.

which is unfortunate as i've had many interesting and fun observations with such hecticity going on around me, but now they're all forgotten.

oh, this is fun...bill and i got a kayak. it's actually more a cross between a canoe and a kayak, so it's kind of a canayak. or a kayoe. bill insisted on taking it out on our lake last weekend in the chilly cold, and he intends to take it out again this weekend in the frigid cold. i am looking forward to the boating...IN THE SUMMER. where it belongs. but i respect and support his boating. when i didn't know how steady the boat was and was worrying about him falling in all weekend, my little sister sara tried to comfort me by saying that studies have shown that people who participate in icy polar-bear swims have no ill effects, and if anything, there is a positive effect on the heart as it gets the blood pumping. unfortunately, it didn't make me feel much better as i envisioned my husband plummeting to the depths of the murky cold water. but it IS a very steady boat, and it's brought him a lot of joy, so que sera sera.