The Olympics are here! The Olympics are here!

I’ve been waiting two whole years for the Olympics! I LOVE the Olympics and can watch it 24/7 if I didn’t have to work, or write or do other things.

My son was born during the summer Olympics when it was held in Atlanta sixteen years ago. I remember waking up in the middle of the night in the hospital and, unable to go to sleep, I turned the Olympics on to find that there had been a bombing.

I think one of the reasons I love it so much is because it’s something the kids and I do together. I have great memories of watching the last summer Olympics with the kids as we sat on the edge of our seat wondering if Michael Phelps would win yet another gold medal.

Each Olympics we also figure out how old the kids are going to be at the NEXT Olympics and we always say we can’t believe they’ll be that old. We try to figure out what grades they’re going to be in and what they’ll be doing four years down the road.

This year they’re 18, 16 and 12. In four years they’ll be 22, 20 and 16. Two of them probably won’t be living at home with me so this might be the last summer Olympics I have with them. ::sniff:: Wow. That just totally depressed me 😦

If I had to pick a favorite sport to watch, I don’t think I could. I love the swimming. And the diving. Oh, and gymnastics. But I think my favorite is track.

What is your favorite Olympic event?

 

 

Advertisement

Lions and Tigers and….Alligators? Oh My!

For the past several years I’ve had this uncanny ability to attract the wildlife of the area we are staying in. Last year, while renting a cabin in the Smoky Mountains, I encountered a bear.

This wasn’t an, “Oh, look at that cute bear,” from the safety of my car or several hundred yards away.

I was leaving the cabin to get something out of the car and as I stepped out of the cabin I came face to face with the bear. We were no greater than three feet away.

It almost ate me.

At least that’s what I told my kids and my husband.

I quickly stepped back in to the cabin, screamed for my family and ran for my camera. The bear lumbered over to the “bear proof” trash can and tried to get into it.

He (she?) wasn’t as big as some bears (because, you know, I’m a bear expert), but his paws were as big as dinner plates.

This past week we vacationed in Hilton Head Island and living in our backyard was this:

I named him Mike and unlike the bear, Mike didn’t frighten me. He intrigued me. And we must have intrigued Mike as well because every day he got closer and closer to our deck. When my youngest would talk to him (from the safety of the deck with the back door open), he would turn his head and look at us.

Isn’t he awesome????!!!!

What I Learned on Vacation

 

1. I embarrass my youngest daughter. Instead of making me feel bad (which, I believe, she’d hoped for when she told me that), I now feel my job is complete.

2. That the bottle of sunscreen isn’t lying when it says “reapply”. Ummm. Ouch?

3. That I am turning into my parents because I like to torture my children by dragging taking them to boring historic cities and forcing them take the walking tours. You would have thought I was torturing the 18 year old. Okay, I was torturing her. I did sorta, maybe extend the walk just a little bit.

4. To never, ever, ever believe my husband when he says something is only “a 15 to 20 minute walk.” Yeah, right. The Tiki Bar he was referring to was a 50 minute walk! One way. Okay, sure, it was on the beach, at night. But still. He owed me a lot of pina coladas for that one.

5. That the beach really, truly is heaven.

6. That I am way too poor to afford a house on the beach.

7. That if I could afford a house on the beach, I’m not so sure I’d get a whole lot of writing accomplished.

8. That the above mentioned Tiki Bar had HOT bartenders who all looked like ex-NFL players. Hmmmm. I feel a story idea coming on here.

9. That vacation time with the husband and kids is the best time ever. Bar none. Hands down.

10. I hate, hate, HATE palmetto bugs–>