Tweens vs. Thirty-Somethings

Before you read on, be forewarned that this post has nothing to do with the holidays. If you are looking for cheer, check back in a couple days.

The BK and I play soccer in an adult beginner league. The team we have played on for 3 sessions now has altered significantly, mostly for the better if you are talking about our record, although I miss seeing some of the folk from the first couple sessions, but not the perpetual losses that resulted in a lot of *#&@()$ whooping. The teams are composed mostly of 25-40ish people who have nothing better to do on a Friday night but kick each other in the shins, get thrown into walls, and run around panting and out of breath. It is best to assume that this is the only physical activity most people in this league get all week. In a nutshell, it's pretty ugly.

So a couple of weeks ago, we pull up to see a "team" in matching uniforms piling out of a minivan. Certainly these kids are in the wrong place or there are here for some after hours team slumber party. As we nervously make jokes about their age we walk into the building and start warming up. Our own teamates arrive, and it is becoming more and more clear that the preteens who couldn't drive themselves to the game are, in fact, our opponents. Okay, now I am all in favor of a good matchup, but honestly, I am thinking this is definitely NOT what I signed up for or pay for. Remember, Adult Beginner League? Being on somewhat chatty terms with the manager of the place, I mope over and lodge a complaint. He assures me that they have to be at least 16 to play in the league. 16? What about 16 = Adult? Based on the width of the girls hips, weight of the boys, and acne, there isn't a chance that one of these adults (other than the coach) is a day over 15. Plus, if they were 16, they would have driven.

Fine, so it was going to be like this, eh? There are red alarms, blue alarms, and yellow alarms running through my head as I sulk back to my team and deliver the news that yes, we are about to have our hineys handed to us by highs chool freshmen. I knew it would be ugly. Setting aside their physical prowess that accompanies anyone under 25, they look like children compared to us, and I knew that any physical contact would result in the referee thinking that monsters were trying to eat the village young'ns. Sure enough, the BK (who weighs about 220 and is about 6'4) was thrown out of the game in the first 5 minutes for a 2 minute penalty. Granted, the BKs feathers were already up just by looking at them, and wasn't in the mood to have his manhood delivered to him by a tween, but in fairness he did put the kid in a headlock (the kid who weighed no more than 90 lbs and was probably 6 inches shorter). In the BKs defense, he claims that the kid grabbed his manparts.

The game progressed better than it should have. The referee was all over us, but even with that handicap, and with no subs (the tweens had double the number needed on the field standing ready to sub on the sideline), we managed to keep the carnage to a tie. Considering, I am chalking that up to a win. Afterward, I hear the coach telling them that if they could play at this level, they were in really good shape. Huh???????? Did I miss something. The whole ride home all I could think of were responses to this ridiculous statement and to the nonsense of the whole game:

"Are you serious? What level is that, the level where people twice your age, twice your weight (not in a good way), pregnant (yeah 2 of our 4 females are visibly pregnant) and 10 times more out of shape are able to hold you to a tie? Yeah, good luck playing children your own age."

"Come back after you hit puberty and get some hips."

"Go try to humiliate people in an old folks home, they might be so old they think you are just cute."

These are the only ones gentle enough for me to post without my mom telling me that I should be sweeter and that I shouldn't be playing anymore anyway. So there it is, my rant that I should have posted the day after so that I could move on with my life. Feel free to post your own comments, particularly if they are snide and cover something I missed.

Thanksgiving

We had an amazing Thanksgiving here in Portland with my brother and his adorable family. We went to the Oregon Coast, did the tour of Downtown, drove up to Mt. Hood, watched movies, and ate, ate, ate. It was my first time being in charge of the food, and thanks to a lot of help from my sister-in-law, it all turned out beautifully. I highly recommend "brining" your turkey ladies (and ambitious men). I finally figured out the problem with my pictures, and wanted to do justice to my sister-in-law's mad photography skills.


Here we all are downtown. We rode the train, did some Black Friday shopping, and my brother's youngest even joined in a Black Friday protest by doing some Tai Chi.



Although the coast was a bit wet, it wasn't too cold which was nice. The kids had a great time running around, some getting soaked by the tide, and playing in the sand. No swimming this time, maybe in August. Wait, this is Oregon, who am I kidding.

Happy Birthday Baby

Clearly I have been pretty disinterested in blogging lately, and in the meantime, I have missed some pretty key family events. I will be trying to update over the next couple of days but thought I should start with the LGs 2nd birthday which was the week before Thanksgiving. In tribute, the following are some of my favorite memories of him from this year:

Election Year Fun - the LG started recognizing McCain and Obama signs long before the election and loved to shout both their names at strange moments, often to the amusement of passersby. I'm pretty sure that unlike his parents, he was pretty loyal to Obama throughout. Recently, when we were out shopping, a black clerk was restocking the shelves. When Jackson saw him, his eyes got really big and he shouted, "Barak Obama". Probably better than "John McCain" considering the color of his skin and where we live - liberalville. Clearly there aren't many black people in Portland.

Swimming Like a Fish - He finally conquered his fear of the water and learned to swim like a fish which entails him laying on his belly, splashing around and letting his little cheeks poke out of the water. This now regular occurrence makes me wish he could stay 2 forever.

Nursery - Enough said.

Throwing Out His Own Diaper - He learned to this not long after he turned 1. If only I could figure out how to get rid of the diapers all together.

Rainy Portland - I still haven't grown to LOVE the rain, but it does bring out the best in toddler boys fasion. Rain slickers, big bulky rain boots that he can put on by himself, and adorable hats.

Language - It is amazing to me how quickly he seems to learn to speak. And truly, it is a blessing to be able to communicate with him and vice versa. The things he says crack me up, make me wish I had never uttered certain words, and my heart melt when he says things like I love you.

What an amazing little boy he is, and both the BK and I are so glad he is part of our family. Speaking of, we had some family photos taken recently - which some of you may find in your Christmas card or a later post. But in celebration of the LG, here are a few of my most prized possession. LG we love you. (sorry the pics aren't bigger but I am too clueless to figure out what is going on, and too lazy to try).

Happy Halloweeneeee

The LG endearingly ads an "eeee" sound to anything he likes lately: Halloweeneee, boookseee, trick or treateee, scarecrowee, scareeeee, animalseee. I was surprised at how much he enjoyed Halloween. We took our Cowboy and tagged along with our friends and their Dinosaur in their neighborhood which is much more posh than our own hood. The LG picked up the general idea immediately and I'm not sure I've ever seen him have so much fun as he did running door to door, knocking on doors, walking right on in to strangers homes, putting candy in his bag, saying thank you, and repeating. Here are a few pics.

Notice that above he is being escorted OUT of some one's home. I realize I am working backwards here, but Grandma sent a Spooky Cookie Castle for the LG to decorate. Only grandmothers think these things are a great idea, particularly if they aren't around to clean up or supervise sugar intake. That said, it turned out better than I thought and the LG actually put a few decorations on the castle (most ended up in his mouth).

Finally, our friend hosted a lovely Halloween party for the little ones. It was a lot of fun, and the LG was thrilled to be surrounded by such adorable little creatures including a skunk, mermaid, zebra, and fairies.

Tags

I promise I read your blog, and have not been ignoring you - you know who you are.

4 Things I Love about my Husband:
- He's a great dad.
- He likes to travel.
- He says he's sorry.
- He loves me.

4 Movies I could watch more than once:
- Pride & Prejudice (A&E)
- Love Actually
- Lord of the Rings
- National Treasure

4 T.V. Shows I watch:
Since I refuse to pay for cable (no, we don't have TIVO either) we don't have a lot of channels, so we mostly watch TV shows on DVD. The series we are up to date on include:
- Bones
- John Adams HBO Miniseries (FANTASTIC!)
- 30 Rock
- 24

4 Places I've been:
- China
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- Bermuda

4 Places I'd like to go:
- Africa (I know this covers a large area, but this way I don't have to exclude anything)
- Japan
- Italy
- France

4 Things I look forward to in the next year:
- Planting grass and cleaning up our yard.
- My parents getting home from their mission.
- Traveling - just not sure where yet.
- The unknown - at this stage in life it is much more exciting than most of the things I know about.

Prodigious

I think I used to have much more interesting posts, particularly when I first started out. Maybe it's just burnout, but now I rarely make time to write anything interesting and tend to only post things about the LG or that I feel obligated to write for the sake of my progeny in hopes that someday I get it together enough to somehow publish my blog in lieu of scrapbooking. Anyway, I guess I am just lucky that for now the LG seems to be at an amusing age - at least according to his mother. This clip is just a taste of his musical repertoire, which includes singing about anything from hippop0tami to strange phrases from books we read like, "shut the door and bolt it" (courtesy of the Grasshopper and the Ants).

Mayhem

Last Friday a bulldozer arrived, along with 4 strong Tongan men, 2 scrawny but very hardworking missionaries, and the rain. The missionaries took one look at the rv parking pad that was partially broken up and tossed into a "mound" (that we initially overlooked as a bush due the ivy growing all over it) and decided to take on our backyard as their service project for the week. Bless their hearts... forever, and ever and ever. I can't tell you how giddy I was that day. It was quite something to watch the bulldozer make small work of what would have taken the BK and me months to do (not to mention the state of our backs afterward). Giddy I tell you. You may think it still looks like a trailer park, but I think it looks like a beautiful blank canvas that will remain muddy and wet for the next 6 months or so until I figure out what to do with it all in the spring.

I dug up this picture which is a pretty good overview of the mess we were originally dealing with. The BK deserves a lot of credit for ridding much of the overgrowth which prevented the sky from being seen.

Here I am sweeping off the "driveway". The " " are to designate that it isn't really a driveway since it leads directly to a fence now and has no access to the road. We figured it might be a good idea before the bulldozer arrived to figure out exactly where the cement was. Notice the beautiful landscaping job behind me where someone so artfully built a beautiful cement retaining wall with parts of the driveway. Nice.
And after the bulldozer did its thing........ Ahhh, so clean. They even cleared out all the stumps of the trees the BK chopped down. Do I mind that the bulldozer also dug up the few flowers I had planted and the only salvagable rose bush in the yard? Not one bit! Seriously, not one bit. If I could just get Mary Poppins to snap her fingers and remove the lingering junk pile.

So below we are looking at the infamous "bush" against the far fence. You can see more cement handiwork peeking out beneath the ivy if you look close enough. There is also a lovely landscaped walkway - also made out of parts of the previous RV parking pad- that leads to the garage door.

And after..... Sorry that this doesn't give you a better idea, but consider that the BK is standing next to the fence, where the "bush" used to reside. Ahhh, so clean.

As I am typing this, it occurs to me that many of you may think we were insane to buy this house, and all the baggage that came with it. All I can say is you may be right.

Late Night Memos

The LG is back to thinking that he is supposed to report for duty between 6:00 and 6:30am. This morning when I finally succumbed to his pleas at 6:40 I asked him if he had received the memo I sent out last night indicating that I didn't want to see or hear from him until at least 7am. After a bit of further pressing it was clear that he in fact had not received the memo and he became very adamant that we find said memo. "A mama, a find memo is. A mama, a find memo is." Usually he is eager to locate food and is asking, "A mama, a have cereal. A mama, a have blueberries. A mama, a have milk." I was impressed that I spent the first 15 minutes of the morning being dragged from room to room looking for the lost memo. After 15 minutes, however, it wasn't hard to divert him with breakfast. I'll send another memo tonight.

Speaking of memos, I finally responded to the ones I received from more than one grandmother that the LG's hair was in need of a bit of a trim. I was inspired last week as he was contentedly sucking on a popsicle that it was now or never. I have such mixed feelings about cutting it because I find his curls adorable, but it started to get in his eyes, and it was getting a little beyond shaggy. He was so good, and his eyes would get very wide every time a chunk of his locks would fall onto the tray of his high chair.

We also went to OMSI last week - one of the refuges in Portland for people with children when it is raining. The LG had a great time painting with his friend ClaireBear. I also found it wildly appropriate that he was wearing his new T-Shirt from Grandma (inspired by the toilet episode) that reads, "If I'm quiet you'd better find me." As we were leaving, the LG took off at a sprint toward the playground area - which I thought was fairly safe since there is only one exit and entrance at the end of a dead end hallway. As I chase after him with umbrella stroller veering every which way and bags swinging from both arms, I apparently miss him running into the open elevator. After frantically searching the indoor playground I come out terrified only to see my friend that we were there with opening the elevator in response to hearing his terrified cries from within the closed doors. Hallelujah no one downstairs needed to come up so it never really moved, but it was enough to scare us both to death. Say what you may, but this child needs a leash.

Gratitude Soapbox

Occasionally I think it is a good idea to be openly grateful for things, and thought I would share a few things from my soapbox of gratitude today.

1 - Beautiful Flowers

My mother-in-law bought these when she was in town visiting. I think they are just glorious. I am also grateful that you can't see what the floor looks like under my table.

2 - Grandmas and Bubbles
You know, kids without grandparents really do miss out. My tolerance for blowing bubbles in the rain is much lower than a grandma's and after about 10 minutes I would be worrying about all of the other things I should be doing rather than messing around in the rain. Grandmas (and Grandpas) are welcome to come and entertain the LG whenever they like. The LG is currently experiencing attention deficit disorder now that she is gone.

3 - People with an Opinion
I don't really care what your opinion is, but please have one. You can change your mind later. On a related note, Portland is pretty left-wing and I don't ever see McCain posters on people's lawns, but there are plenty of proud Obama supporters. I am really impressed with a sign I pass (partially because I agree with it) that sits in the window of a house I walk by daily. "Any government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it away." A silly-looking Obama figure is captioned with "Obamanation". I keep waiting to walk by and see a rock through the window - which I am ashamed to admit is one of the reasons I don't have a McCain poster on my own lawn. I am officially rambling now, but I think it is dangerous anytime there is too much of any one particular ideology. I felt the same when I lived in Utah. It might be what is really swaying me in favor of McCain this election year. I really respect people with unpopular opinions, even if I disagree with them. I think it is the highest form of patriotism to risk rocks through your windows or having your lawn spray painted or worse (maybe I'm just paranoid).

Political ramblings will be soon to follow in a separate posts. I know you will all be waiting on pins and needles to hear my opinion. ; )

"Oh, LG, you are getting so good at entertaining yourself!"

Yeah, that's what I was thinking as I was wrapping up a couple of emails from the upstairs office while the LG was quietly playing downstairs. As I walked down the hallway toward his room I could see two little puddles before he made his grand appearance looking like this:

Yes, that is the seat to his peewee potty seat that he likes to wear as a hat. Apparently, he also likes to use it to scoop water out of a very full sink and pour it over his head before wearing the potty as a top hat (I'm not interested in comments from the germ gallery). Creative and comical - that's what we are chalking this little mishap up to.

I don't think I could have captured my own feelings toward the situation as well as he appears to have done in the following pictures:

"You, Mister are in BIG Trouble!"

AND

"You, Mister know how to do a mess right!"

Book Tag

I was encouraged to get caught up on my summer reading by a recent tag (okay, not that recent) where you list 10 good books you have read. It sent me on a reading frenzy, so here they are in order. I tag the two Melanies, Ariana and whoever else reads who hasn't already done this. I need some more recommendations.

1. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - Okay, so this one is a re-read. Whatever. Who doesn't like multiple doses of Mr. Darcy.
2. Atonement, Ian McEwan - I loved this book. Needless to say I wasn't a big fan of the movie in comparison. Regardless, I thought that the author did a superb job of painting believable characters. What intrigued me most was how I sympathized with all of the characters even though they all are at odds with each other at one point or another. Touching and depressing, but worth my time.
3. Light on Snow, Anita Shreve - This book was an easy to read, easy to understand, but not particularly enthralling, exhilarating or entertaining novel about a young girl who, when hiking in the woods with her father, stumbles across a newborn left in the snow. For as heavy as the subject matter should have been, I didn't find any of the characters or story line convincing enough to draw me in.
4. The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory - My mom lent me this one, and I was pleasantly surprised. Although it is a historical novel based on King Henry VII and the Boleyn sisters. It's pretty juicy and I'm sure that the author has taken more than a few liberties to create a very compelling story. Writing is so-so, but I would recommend this book as great airplane reading (which just happens to be where I read it).
5. Waiting for the Light to Change, Annette Haws - This was the weirdest book I have ever read. Not because the book itself is weird but more due to the subject matter. It was written by my debate coach in high school and is a supposedly fictional novel about a debate coach's experience, with the conflict centering around a mischievous policy debate team. It seems loosely factual rather than fictional to me, and I therefore remove myself from critiquing the actual contents of the book. Probably a particularly interesting read for anyone who graduated from my high school or who was ever involved in debate.
6. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, Frederick Douglas - This book blew me away. I had no idea that he was such an absolutely incredible individual. If I had to recommend just one of these 10 books, this would be it. He wrote this narrative himself when just in his late 20s as an escaped and later emancipated slave. It is just a testament to my belief that there are just some people who are truly unstoppable and that putting your mind to something is a very powerful thing. Seriously, check it out.
7. Kim, Rudyard Kipling - This one was not an easy read, but I am now a big fan of Kipling's writing style and will probably check out some others by him. The book is set in colonial India and as I am not an avid history buff, have a terrible memory, and am an imbecile when it comes to the details of Hinduism and Buddhism, I kept having to look things up. It took me a while to get through, but the language is so rich that I really felt like I was there and was also well worth my time.
8. The Stranger, Albert Camus - This was a VERY bleak book with a main character who IS the stranger. It's a short read, and very interesting. I won't get into all the literary analysis about this book, but it is out there. So bizarre is the main character that I couldn't help but like him even though he is pretty detestable. Anyway. Bizarre.
9. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini - I became a huge fan of Hosseini's after reading the Kite Runner. I know so little about the middle east generally, and Afghanistan specifically that both of these books have been fascinating. This book, however, struck a number of powerful chords with me, probably because I am a woman. I thought it was a realistic portrayal of unbelievable conditions that the women in Afghanistan must live through, and made me so grateful that I live in a much different world. Since the beginning of time, ladies, since the beginning of time. And to think that the world I enjoy really only began changing a few decades ago in just some parts of the world is a very eye-opening reminder of how lucky I am.
10. Katharine Graham Autobiography - I actually just recently started this book, but can hardly put it down. Graham is the woman who ran the Washington Post after her husband committed suicide. I feel like I am reading the story that Atlas Shrugged was based on. She was right in the middle of high-society and the political goings on in Washington from such an early age that the people she is connected to, things she saw and was involved in are truly inspiring. It also helped put me on planet earth about how much I, as someone who can't currently afford maids, and nannies, and butlers, can honestly expect to accomplish in a day or even a lifetime. It reminded me that even having the time to read 10 books is a luxury for people who spend their whole day trying to put food on the table. Also a must read recommendation.

Phew.

San Francisco

So I have been pretty lazy lately, and have lots of things in my head to blog about, but I should probably start off with something that will benefit my posterity. We took a trip the first week of September to San Francisco. As the whole fam (okay the LG only in utero) has been there before, we went to relax, no sightseeing involved. It was amazing, except for the drive which took about 12 hours instead of the 9 we had planned on. Not to mention that we didn't account properly for the scorching temps in the high desert in CA when we opted out of fixing our AC prior to the trip. Sweaty, sticky, crabby, cranky, poopy, and sleepy sum up those 12 hours. However, we arrived in time to grab some good Chinese food and get a good night's rest.

We stayed with my hip pushin-80-or-so-ish Aunt who lives in a sweet townhouse in "The Richmond" neighborhood - equipped with a guest suite which amply accommodated our little fam. I am really astounded at how cool my dad's sisters are. I also can't believe that all 11 of my dad's clan are still kickin'. Good genes and healthy lifestyles go a long way. Anyway, my Aunt was thrilled to let the LG drag her around in her own house by the hand and accept orders like sit, play, down, read, and walk. I thought that a lengthy explanation on the differences between dogs and people might be lost at his young age.

Here we are walking around Half Moon Bay with our friends who recently moved to SF from DC. It was a beautiful day and we were all a bit fascinated by a group of horses running along the coast. There was also tree climbing and other random horsing around.

It is also hard to pass up Muir Woods. It reminded us of the last time we were there with my nephew who was throwing tantrums disturbingly similar to those of the LG. My favorite part of the day was that it was a designated "quiet day" in the forest, so my parenting methods for handling these tantrums (i.e. strapping him in his stroller and letting him "work through" it on his own) were met with some nasty looks from passersby. I almost offered to let them take a whack at it. Go ahead, I dare you.

Another highlight was stumbling across a Steve and Barry's store near Fisherman's Wharf. There wasn't a great selection, but I did snag a couple of good finds for $8.95 a piece. The Bitten line by Sarah Jessica Parker is pretty basic but stylish. They even had some cute clothes for kids and the LG got a new pair of overalls.

Otherwise, it was a successful, relaxing getaway. I even finished a couple of books, making it possible to finally respond to a tag related to 10 good books I have read recently. Stay tuned. P.S. - please forgive my Photoshop gone awry

3 Long Years Ago........

Today is the BK and my 3 year Anniversary. I know most of you out there have a few more years to brag about, and the BK and I are still waiting to break our own longest relationship records, but it is still a milestone and I wanted to share a couple of my favorite memories and qualities of the BK with y'all.

1 - The Wedding

Universal karma and all of that kind of stuff would probably say that a great beginning is the sign of a great journey. Nothing like riding a ski lift in a wedding dress to the top of a mountain where prince charming awaits in a meadow. Awwwww. It really was amazing, and I don't think it could have been more perfect.

2 - Humble Pie

My favorite BK quality is his willingness to say he is sorry. It is really hard to stay mad for too long at someone who genuinely acknowledges his mistakes and shows an interest in improving. I have learned a lot from him, although I still have a much longer way to go than he does.

3 - My Kind of Man

I remember telling one of my girlfriends that I would know I had found the right person when I found someone who would follow through. I found him and married him. The BK is reliable and a man of action. As a perpetual procrastinator I really appreciate how hard he works and his insistence that things get taken care of quickly. His reliability also extends into other aspects of his life, like his diet. He doesn't like to try new things - just pizza. Since there wasn't pizza in China, he chose noodles as a safe and tasty substitute.

4 - Daddy - O

Who doesn't love a man who loves his children, provides for them, changes diapers, and is willing to roll around and get dirty when mom won't. The BKs love affair with the LG started almost at first sight - those of you who have witnessed a birth will likely understand why a few minutes of shock and horror preceded the awe, wonder and adoration.

5 - Mattresses
I love that the BK always acts like he is right, even when he couldn't possibly say he KNEW something to be true. He likes to form "educated guesses" that he will then back up and defend at all costs. It can be quite amusing when he does it with people who don't know him that well and assume that because he says something with such conviction that it must really be true. For example, I might ask if he knows what makes the sunset a particular color. With a straight face he would be willing to say that it is from bird droppings and the color depends on what the birds ate that day. I guess you could say that the BK is VERY good at BS. Every assertion he makes, he is willing to go to the mattresses to defend. So am I. The difference is that I only assert when I really believe I am right - which is often, so we spend a lot of time in bed.

6 - Me Factor

My favorite thing though is that he is willing to put up with me, and seems to enjoy the challenge most of the time. The picture below is a fairly accurate representation of my mood on more occasions than I would like to admit: anytime before 8am, when it's too hot or too cold, when there's too much noise, when I'm tired, when I'm hungry, etc. The BK is pretty much a saint - not that he doesn't have his own pouty face that gets plenty of wear, but I love him for putting up with mine.

Choosing to love, and be loved by the BK has been a the ultimate adventure so far, and the qualities above are why 3 years in, and many to go, I love you BK. Thanks for getting us tickets to see Jack Johnson in concert tomorrow. Woohoo - Portland, you better do me right and keep the rain away for the evening.

Olympic Fever

I'm sick. I'm very, very sick. There aren't many things that make me teary, but honestly, there is just something I absolutely love about the Olympics. I can't get enough - for the most part, but there are a few gripes I have that I need to get out.

1 - For all you complainers out there (BK - are you listening?), these are the GREATEST athletes on the planet. The BK was upset the other night that the news media was blowing Michael Phelps achievements out of proportion and that he isn't really all that. Okay, I get it, he can swim, and I agree that it isn't like he is swimming, running, biking, playing basketball, soccer, etc. for each of those gold medals, but seriously, this is one of those situations where I think if you can't find anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, or at least bring home one gold medal of your own before you say one unkind word. (PS - I love this pic because he totally looks like a frog).

2 - China has done a phenomenal job with these games. Sure there have been some minor mishaps, like pulling the original singer, planting a cuter body double and playing it off in front of the whole world. Not condoning, just commenting that the only difference here is that we just don't let people sing at all if they are unattractive. I don't want to post of pic of the girls involved, so I am posting a pic that I like.

3 - The US women's gymnastics team blew it. I'm not saying they would have won the gold if Sacramone would have performed well, but at least they wouldn't have lost by a landslide. That said, I find it really annoying that the press seems to be trying to overshadow this loss by raising suspicion about the actual age of the Chinese gymnasts. Lame. Sure they look like they are small enough to be mingling with the Pre-K crowd, but even so, shouldn't that make it more embarrassing that the US team with international experience couldn't pull it together?4 - As for women's volleyball (I REALLY wish NBC would do at least some replays of soccer - men's or women's, I am not that picky), could these women put some clothes on? Seriously. Yup, we get it, you have great bodies, but this is the Olympics, could we set the sex aside just once? In the pic below, can you honestly justify the bikini as practical sportswear? These guys need a shower after every play more than the divers if you ask me.5 - NBC's coverage is terrible. I have never seen so many commercials, and I feel very strongly that the winner of the bid to air them should be required to show the Olympics 24-7. Are Oprah reruns and soaps really more important? It's 2 weeks, and I am sure that they pull in plenty of money from sponsors who would still pay top dollar for commercial slots.

Mosaic

I've chosen to be tagged (I am still trying to get in enough good books to do another one). The above mosaic is the result of me answering a few questions. For those of you interested in doing the same, a full explanation of how to create your own is at the bottom, and leave a comment letting me know if you plan to do one.

1. What is your first name? (Jenn)

2. What is your favorite food? (oatmeal cookies)

3. What high school did you attend? (Logan)

4. What is your favorite color? (blue)

5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Ashton Kutcher - in What Happens in Vegas)
6. Favorite drink? (sparkling lemonade)
7. Dream vacation? (Africa)
8. Favorite dessert? (oatmeal cookies)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (wise)
10. What do you love most in life? (love)
11. One word to describe you. (chameleon)
12. Your Flickr name. (email****)

If you want to play too, type your answer to each of the questions into a Flickr search. Using only the first page, choose your favorite image, then copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows).