Tag: olympics

Frack – It’s February????

This has been an interesting winter, to say the least. We wound up having two days off the week before last and even had a snow day last Wednesday. That now puts us at 9 days missed. Sounds like Ohio might be nice and give us 4 days beyond our normal 5 calamity days, so we shouldn’t have many to make up (hopefully!)

Anyhoo, I’m sitting on mom’s sofa and watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony. It’s always a damn shame when politics gets in the way of the spirit of the Olympics (Putin, I’m looking at you!), but that’s pretty much what happens anyhoo. I shall watch with the same optimism that I always do – here’s hundreds of people from around the world coming together to NOT kill each other, but instead show off how well they’ve been working on their particular skill or talent. And I just love that and have since I was wee.

The Rite of Spring part of the opening ceremony is currently showing on the telly and it’s quite beautiful. I do wish that NBC would allow people to watch the ceremony WITHOUT the stupid color commentary. This part of the show is NOT a sport, so needs no color commentary. (I also wish NBC would sell a “see it all online” package to those of us who’ve “cut the cable.” I’d pay good money to see the Olympics without having to subscribe to cable or satellite. (Still, this gives me an excuse to visit the folks. Not that I really need an excuse to visit.)

On Wednesday, our last day off due to snow, I made my first loaf (actually, first two loaves) of sourdough bread. I bought some sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour which arrived last Saturday and it was plenty ready to be used by Wednesday. I donated blood that afternoon (thankfully the roads were much improved by then) and brought a loaf along to share with the folks. Mom had invited me to supper afterward, so we had chilli soup and sourdough bread. Yum!

Tonight, I brought the second loaf with me and dad and mom made toasted cheese sandwiches (which we had with leftover soup) with the bread. Yummy! I intend to try another sourdough recipe on Sunday.

Anyway, I need to stop and just enjoy the rest of the opening ceremony. For those of you who watch the Olympics too, I hope you enjoy them!

Biking to Sea Salt

Yesterday was the nicest weather day of my trip. We started the morning with a quick drive to pick up donuts from A Baker’s Wife and then had breakfast on the girls’ back porch (Amy also made scrambled eggs).

Our main goal for the day was to ride bikes to Sea Salt, a restaurant near Minnehaha Falls. My butt was still sore from yesterday, but I took Advil an hour or so before we departed and I think that it helped.

The girls had contacted another friend of theirs to see if she’d meet us at Sea Salt and she was game. So when Rachel had returned from checking in on Winter (the needy kitty), we biked on towards the restaurant. Their friend was saving us a place in the LONG line and we joined her.

I bought a Crispin’s hard cider (with maple syrup flavoring too) which turned out to be a huge bottle (so I shared some of it). I ordered fried calamari as an appetizer and a crab cake sandwich for lunch. Then Rachel got me a salted cashew ice cream (recommended by their friend) to eat while we waited for the food. Everything that I had there was excellent – probably the best calamari I’d ever had.

We wandered a little bit around the falls whereupon my sister bumped into the fellow she just hired (and his family) – fun coincidence. We had decided to ride over to the Riverview theater to see Snow White and the Huntsman and their friend joined us.

Although I wouldn’t say it was the best movie ever, I enjoyed seeing Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, and Toby Jones playing dwarves. And for $2, I felt I had gotten my money’s worth.

We parted company with their friend and then headed home on the bikes. And since we’d been too full to partake of Riverview’s real buttered popcorn, the girls decided to pop & butter some at home. So we sat on the porch eating popcorn and peanuts in the shell. I had a cider. Then for the second round, we had sesame sticks (which Amy bought specifically for my visit) and chocolate chips (and I had a second cider).

We finished the evening watching Olympics in their basement (after Amy showed me a short film she had worked on and is going to put online soon). Another fun day with the girls!

80 Questions

Since judiang did this meme, I thought I should as well. Watching the Gold Medal Match between Canada and Sweden for women’s curling. Go Canada! (Or Sweden!)

1. What curse word do you use the most?
The f-word (just ask the kitties).

2. Do you own an iPod?
No. I own two. An 80GB classic (almost full) and a 16GB Nano (purple).

3. What person on your flist do you talk to the most?
Online, it would be judiang & elsaf, but via phone calls, my sister. Seeing ’em in person is about even for all three. Heh.

4. What time is your alarm clock set to?
Mine has 2 time settings. I usually have it set for 6:30am, but the alternate time is 7:30am (for when we get a 2-hour delay, I always sleep in an hour more).

5. Do you still remember the first person you kissed?
Yup.

6. Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001?
I was at work. The secretary told me that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center and we tried to access a news station on the Channel One TV in my room. (We weren’t successful – my room never got a decent cable signal.)

7. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
Much rather take the photo. Though I’ve taken photos with my shadow in it to prove I was there. 🙂

8. What was the last movie you watched?
On DVD, Coraline. In the theater, Avatar.

9. Do any of your friends have children?
A few.

10. Has anyone ever called you lazy?
I often call myself lazy. I tell my students this all the time. Why else would I love chemical symbols and equations so much? 😉

11. Do you ever take medication to help you fall asleep?
They never work for me, so why bother?

12. What cd is currently in your cd player?
My car has a CD/MP3 player and it currently has an MP3 CD in it. With an assortment of music. I just recently managed to purchase all of the David Tennant read audiobooks by Cressida Cowell (the Viking books), 3 out of 5 of which were CD (the other two, audio tape). But most of the time, I buy MP3 albums. (Just recently purchased a year’s subscription to Big Fish Doctor Who audios, so lots of stuff to download in the next year – woo!)

13. Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk?
Actually, I’d prefer vanilla over chocolate or regular.

14. Has anyone told you a secret this week?
If I’d been told a secret, I wouldn’t tell you that I knew it… 😉

15. When was the last time you had Starbucks?
Probably since my last trip to Chicago. In this area, I’d prefer going to Boston Stoker over Starbucks.

16. Can you whistle?
Yup. Good at it, too.

17. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Like Judi, the eyes.

18. What are you looking forward to?
Being done with my thesis.

19. Did you watch cartoons as a child?
Yup, and I still watch cartoons today.

20. Do you own any band t-shirts?
I sit on a Squirrel Nut Zippers shirt in my den. (Old raggedy office chair. Shirt makes it a more comfy seat.) But I think that’s it.

21. What will you be doing in one hour?
The same as I’m doing now – watching the Olympics. (Hopefully no longer answering these questions.)

22. Is anyone in love with you?
No idea – probably not.

23. What was the last song you heard?
No idea. I finished listening to The Web of Fear earlier today. And then started listening to Fury from the Deep.

24. Last time you cried?
Don’t remember. I almost cried after Joannie Rochette performed her short program.

25. Are you on a desktop computer or a laptop?
Laptop.

26. Are you currently wanting any piercings or tattoos?
Nope.

27. What’s the weather like?
Snowing. I’m staying at the parental’s tonight so I don’t have to drive in that again. Was an icky drive here.

28. Would you ever date a girl/guy covered in tattoos?
I’m more concerned about their personality than their decoration.

29. What did you do before this?
Had supper. We had Papa John’s pizza. Yum!

30. When is the last time you slept on the floor?
Back in ’96 when I was visiting Spigi. (I’ve slept near the floor a number of times since then.)

31. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
5-7 hours. Been at the minimum of late due to staying up for Olympics watching.

32. Do you eat breakfast daily?
Yeah, can’t function without it.

33. Are your days fast-paced?
Not particularly.

34. What did you do last night?
Watched Olympics with a kitty on my lap.

35. Do you use sarcasm?
I probably shouldn’t. My English teacher once told my sister that if she didn’t stop using sarcasm, she’d never get a guy. Turns out Rachel doesn’t mind Amy’s sarcasm. Heh.

36. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
40.

37. Are you picky about spelling and grammar?
For the most part. Also particular about pronunciation.

38. Have you ever been to six flags?
Nope, just King’s Island and Cedar Point.

39. Do you get along better with the same sex or the opposite sex?
Well, my two best friends are women, but I each lunch at work with the men. So I guess I’m even.

40. Do you like mustard?
Yup.

41. Do you sleep on your side?
And on my back.

42. Do you watch the news?
Not if I can help it.

43. How did you get one of your scars?
4 years old, was playing with a chisel. Got 4 stitches on my left hand right behind my thumb. Apparently it didn’t hurt. Poobie poobie poobie.

44. Who was the last person to make you mad?
Hmmm, can’t remember.

45. Do you like anybody?
Pritnear.

46. What is the last thing you purchased?
Either the year’s subscription to Big Fish or the audiobooks mentioned above. Both were purchased earlier this week.

47. What side of the heart do you draw first?
Had to think about that one. I believe I draw the right side first.

48. Can you dive without plugging your nose?
Yup.

49. What colour is your razor?
White & purple.

50. What is your blood-type?
O positive.

51. Who would you want to be tied to for 24 hours?
No one, actually.

52. What is a rumour someone has spread about you?
A rumor at work was that I was gay. One of the other teachers explained to the kids spreading the rumor, “No, that’s her sister.”

53. How do you feel about carrots?
They are a wonderful thing to munch on during lunch.

54. How many chairs at the dining room table?
None. Although I have a dining room table, I don’t have any dining room chairs.

55. Which is the best Spice Girl?
Rosemary. Or maybe Sage.

56. What colour are your eyes?
Olive green.

57. Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince Theme Song?
Nope.

58. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator?
Read a book on my phone. Though I’d first play a game of Euchre.

59. What’s your favourite kind of gum?
Juicy fruit. But chewing gum locks my jaws, so I rarely chew it.

60. T or F: All’s fair in love and war?
False.

61. Do you have a crush on anyone?
Just fangurl crushes.

62. Do you know how to use some words correctly, but not know the meaning?
Yup. This is brought home to me often when students are reviewing for their vocab tests during study hall. Heh.

63. Do you like to sleep?
Yes, especially with kittens piled on top of me.

64. Do you know which US states don’t use Daylight Savings Time?
None of ’em right now. Thankfully DST doesn’t start til next month.

65. Do you know the song Total Eclipse of the Heart?
We actually studied it in junior high music class.

66. Do you want a bright yellow ‘06 mustang?
Not really.

67. What’s something you’ve always wanted?
I’ve usually managed to obtain what I’ve wanted. Although a pet dragon would be pretty nifty.

68. Do you have hairy LEGS?
Yes. Not close enough to summer to bother shaving.

69. Would you rather swim in the ocean or a lake?
A swimming pool. But then lake and finally ocean.

70. Do you wear a lot of black?
Yes, for work. For some reason, outfits in black are more prevalent in my size.

71. Describe your hair:
Mousy brown & short.

72. Do you have Entomophobia?
Nope.

73. Are you an adult?
Physically yes. But still a child at heart.

74. Where is/are your best friend(s)?
In other states.

75. Do you have a tan?
Nope. Fish-belly white describes me well.

76. Are you a television addict?
During these Olympic games, yes. Otherwise, the TV i’s basically a DVD viewer for me.

77. Do you enjoy spending time with your mother?
Yup. Spending time with her now. We’re both sitting on her sofa watching Olympics. Dad is also here.

78. Are you a sugar freak?
Unfortunately, yes.

79. Do you like orange juice?
Yes, but it doesn’t like me.

80. What sign are you?
“No Smoking”

Well, in the time it took me to write my answers, the curling match went to 11 ends and Sweden won the gold. Very exciting match. Tomorrow *sniff* I watch my last 2 curling matches until 2014.

A Pleasant February

For some reason, February is usually my worst month of the year. You’d think a short month wouldn’t have such an affect on me, but it usually does.

Usually, it’s cloudy, rainy, cold, with little snow (but often with ice). We usually have few breaks in school at this time and spring break looks so far away. Valentine’s Day arrives and reminds me that I’m single and likely always will be (most months this isn’t a problem, but add that to a dreary mood and there ya go). Past couple of years have had my folks in California.

But this year it’s been a good February. The Olympics, of course, is a mood improver for me. We’ve had 6 days off due to SNOW (yesterday and today being Calamity Days 7 & 8). The folks may have moved last November, but only to the next town over. Heh. VD came & went with little fuss.

So this has been a good February. I like having a positive mood for February. Oh sure, I’ll be a little sad that we have no Spring Break this year, but hey, Feb’s almost over, and then it’s basically March and April and we’re done!

Today was especially indulgent. I watched the first curling match for the US today on TV, while also watching Great Britain’s first match on my laptop. And I’ve even been working toward my thesis. Go figure!

Women’s curling starts shortly. Woohoo! I’ll double-dip that as well. 🙂

‘Lympics!

I own a high def TV, but am too cheap to pay for high def stations from my overpriced cable company. (I just don’t watch enough TV to make it worth the extra moolah.) So I figured mom would be interested in watching tonight’s opening ceremony and invited myself around to her place. Cuz she not only has a high def TV (even bigger than mine) but also has high def channels.

So here I sit on mom’s sofa with the high def NBC station on. And soon the ceremony will begin – woohoo! (I think mom got captured by her laptop upstairs. I’ll be sure to call her down before the ceremony actually starts.)

For those curious, we did wind up missing school yesterday. So I finished my last book evaluation and now I just have to write the thesis. (Only that, heh.) We’ll have one day to make up (at least – we’re not even halfway through February), but that’s not until April. Heh. Watch me grumble then.

NBC is full of it…

Does NBC think we’re stupid or something? The gymnastics event (uneven bars) with Nastia Liukin took place already in Beijing. However, while watching MSNBC’s 5-7pm show on the Olympics, everyone was talking about the event as if it hadn’t happened yet. (And yes, the MSNBC show was live.) What was really ridiculous was when they interviewed a lady over what she thought Nastia’s chances were. Fer cryin’ out loud! I had already looked on the website and knew the outcome (and won’t tell y’all in case any of you are waiting to see what “happens.”) I found the whole exercise insulting, actually.

(Despite this and some other irritations I’ve had over NBC’s coverage, I’m loving the online content that they’ve provided. I’ve seen more table tennis & archery this year than I’ve ever gotten to see and that makes me very happy.)

Riding by the Lake

Today has been Exercise Day here in Chicago. Earlier, we rode bikes along Lake Michigan and just a bit ago we went swimming in the pool. And we’ve only had brunch for food today – it’s almost like a health spa or something! Anyhoo, I’ll get into more detail (or you can read elsaf‘s journal entry instead) about my trip thus far.

Yesterday, judiang and I slept in. Elsa arrived around 11 and then we were able to go off for food. We decided to have dim sum for brunch. So it was off to our favorite dim sum place in Chinatown – Three Happiness. Since we weren’t having dim sum on the weekend, they didn’t have the carts moving around serving stuff. We had a piece of paper with lots of photos of foodstuff and got to pick which things we ate. It was kind of cool actually knowing what we were choosing for once. And we chose well – lots of yummy stuff!

After brunch, we headed over to Trek Bikes on Michigan Ave (not far from Judi’s apartment) so that Judi could purchase a Trek bike. They didn’t have Navigator 3.0’s in stock (the bike Judi rode when we biked last weekend), so she tried the other comfort bike that they stocked. Even with a couple of different adjustments and also sampling the unisex bike, Judi decided that she really just ought to special order the Navigator 3.0. I bought her a bell in celebration (which she’ll have put on when the bike arrives later this week). On our way back to the flat, we stopped for ice cream at Marble Slab. I got a double chocolate malt – tasty tasty!

Back at the apartment, we snoozed. Actually, Elsa and Judi snoozed while I played World of Warcraft. I wasn’t going to actually play, just check on auctions, but with Judi sleeping, I thought “well, I’ll just go do this…” and then “she’s still asleep, I suppose I could start this…” and then I finally had to pull myself away.

Once we were all awake and not gaming, we headed off to Navy Pier to Bubba Gump’s for supper. The goal was to get the dippin’ shrimp – only they don’t have that right now. Bummer. So I got the Shrimper’s Heaven meal, which had coconut shrimp, breaded shrimp, peel & eat shrimp, and shrimp tempura as well as french fries and slaw. Tasty tasty! I also ordered the chocolate chip cookie sundae for dessert. Yum! Elsa and Judi enjoyed their meals as well. (I think Elsa goes into more detail.)

We returned to the place around the middle of the Parade of Nations for the Olympic opening. Alas, we missed the really cool stuff, but we did get to watch the parade (which I always love to see) and the lighting of the torch (very cool – but Barcelona will always win with the archer). While we were watching the recorded opening ceremony, I was also watching a live badminton match between Ireland and Germany on my laptop. I’m really excited by all of the coverage that NBC is going to do for this Olympics.

This morning, Judi was up at a reasonable hour – surprise surprise! She had a grill scheduled for delivery between 8 am and noon, so figured she should be up. So at 9:30, we walked over to the Bongo Room for breakfast. As with my last Bongo Room trip, I opted for the BLT eggs Benedict. Very yummy! I also had a hot chocolate. Judi made a major faux pas by buying a double espresso from Starbucks before coming into the Bongo Room. Tsk! Her excuse is that Bongo doesn’t have soy milk. Yeah, yeah, whatever. 😉

When we returned, they still hadn’t delivered her grill. So we vegged and geeked while we waited for the grill delivery. And when they did deliver, Judi and I headed downstairs to meet the delivery dude, only to have him tell us they’d already sent it up to the apartment. Returning to the apartment, no grill. But the phone rang and it turns out they were on their way up. They dropped it off in her kitchen and then we were FREE!

We headed off to Millennium Park to rent bikes for a bike ride around the Lake. We decided on a 2 hour rental, which made them $20 a piece before taxes. Nice. We got Trek Navigator 2.0’s for the ride and rode towards Navy Pier (and then past it). It was a very pleasant ride. Although it had been cloudy and threatening rain, when it was time to rent the bikes, the sun came out and it was very sunny and pleasant. I don’t think we could have asked for nicer weather for our bike ride.

After we’d been out for about half an hour, it was nearing the halfway point of our rental period. So we turned around and headed back, not knowing how long it would be to return (there was more uphill, we thought). Turns out, it took less time to return to the park than we figured. But we opted on finishing anyway – especially since we’d all attempted going up one of the steep hills by biking. (I did it, but it wasn’t easy! Even Judi made it 3/4ths of the way up – you go gurl!)

There was one more steep hill to try, which I also successfully did – but once again, it was hard the last 3 feet or so. Go me! Right after we turned in our bikes, Judi and I booked a place in tomorrow’s 2pm Segway tour of Chicago’s lakeside. That should be fun! And shortly after, it started to rain. It sure was nice that the weather cooperated for our bike ride. Now we just wanted it to cooperate for our planned swimming venture.

We geeked for a short while before putting on our swim suits, and when we got to the pool, it was lovely outside again. There was sun and there were clouds, but it was warm enough to be in the pool. We stayed in for about an hour (long enough for us all to get wrinkly fingers). Now we’re all here updating our blogs. (I’m the last to finish.) The plan is to get supper at Ma & I, the Thai place near Judi’s place. Then we go off to see Jersey Boys at the Bank of America Theater (what Judi says was once called the Schubert Theater). Should be a fun evening!

Too much of a good thing?

So, I’m coming upon the morning hours while sleeping today when I have an interesting dream. Leo, meanwhile, was rattling the phone, which is his way of telling me it’s time for breakfast. I managed to work this into the dream.

Apparently, there was an international sporting event where people would try to rattle phones. There were four top rattlers being announced while I grabbed the phone in real life and hid it under the covers. When Leo started playing with the phone charger, the dream modified to fit that too.

I’m willing to send Leo off to represent the US in phone rattling if it’ll get him out of my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning. 😉

Definitely OD’ing on the Olympics when my cat rattling the phone becomes an international sporting event.

Olympics Junkie

You know you’re an Olympics Junkie when you schedule the rest of your life around the Olympics.

Oh, sorry for not being on CoX lately, judiang. I should have some time this weekend to finish up our Valentine’s Mission with Icy & Imanni. Looks like Sunday will have to be it again. Should be available from 11am til 4pm (though I’ll have hockey on in the background).

(Oh, and the only reason I’m not watching Curling right now is that I decided to take a break before the intensive viewing at 8pm starts on NBC.)