the olympics in middle age

i have learned, at least in my life, that watching the olympics changes over the history of one’s life. when i was young, although i was the furthest thing from an athlete, i would watch these amazing games with the wide eyed wonder of a hopeful child, dreaming that perhaps one day i could be there, walking down that walkway that leads to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.  I could see myself, long blonde hair blowing in the breeze as i skated across the ice, spinning and leaping through the air in the long or short program of my figure skating performance. believe me there were several hair cuts that were inspired in my life by the olympic atheletes…any one remember Dorothy Hammil? Sometimes it was a dream as simple as being one of the people who would be dressed in a strange costume carrying the name of a country during the opening ceremony’s.  The Olympics were a family event in my home growing up.  I would love those evenings when we all as a family gathered around the TV set to watch expectantly for the US to win another medal.  

Then as I got older and the hopes of being a competitor in the olympics faded into the past, not that it was ever a reality in the least, other things would race through my mind. For instance “I wonder if that guy is single and if he would love to marry me?” Another dream that was pretty unattainable but very fun to think about.  But still the family moments still rang very true.  I remember watching the dream team Hockey Team that won that amazing battle in the 80’s for gold.  My family sat watching, along with the rest of the country, with bated breath as the dream team pelted in those pucks to win the gold for a country that was so very grateful.  And more often then not a movie of the week (we had no cable, or Lifetime, or netflix at that time) would be promoted for several weeks building up the excitement so we could relive those magical moments again.  Sometimes those movies were so big that they actually were shown in the movie theater, some of my favorites were cool runnings, chariots of fire, miracle.  The olympics have always been one of those things that brings our families, our culture, our country and our entire world together on a level that is rarely seen.  

As my own kids grew I watched with them as the olympics would fill the tv screen with sights and sounds and cultures that they had never seen before. They would pick out their own favorite sports, they would root for their favorites.  And we would cheer together.  Those are memories that now, as I look back, are so precious to me.  Those few times that were spent as a family with no one screaming to turn the channel to something else.  We all agreed on what we would watch…and we all felt pride in our atheletes and our country for every medal that was won.  It didn’t matter the color of the medal, honestly it didn’t really matter if there was a metal.  What mattered was that it was our nation working together, celebrating together.

Now, as a middle aged women, with kids of my own who are all grown up, I am sitting here, with the dog, watching these opening ceremonies, mezmorized by the colors, by the spectacle of the whole thing. On the screen is this little girl, fearlessly being flown hundreds of feet in the air to tell the story of Russia, and the stadium is silent.  Seeing the wars and horrible times that Russia went through also binds us all together as countries, none of us having been kept from those awful times in our own histories.  This year I am not watching the Olympics dreaming about what I could do in the games, or even dreaming about what sports my own kids could medal in, but rather I am enjoying the art, the sport, the thrill of it all. I am hoping for safety for our young athletes, I am hoping for calm, for safety in a very unstable world.  And I am remembering all the happy times that I have had in my own life, thanks to the Winter Games.  Go USA…and let the games Begin!

My rant about the women on the view…..

I don’t normally watch the view as a  habit, but I have tuned in now and again.  There are times, when they are chatting, that I find them sort of fun and interesting.  However, whenever they get on to politics I pretty much just want to muzzle them….well most of them.  Here is my problem.  There are 3 sometimes 4 women on the show who are politically very liberal and then there is Elizabeth Hasselbeck.  She is a conservative..and like the liberals she is not afraid to speak her mind.  I’m not going to debate whether I agree with her or the others or not..that isn’t my problem.  My problem is the lack of fair journalism on that show.  When Elizabeth speaks she is immediately attacked by the other women barely able to get a word in edge wise.  She has no one on that show as a partner in crime, so to speak, and often times they are all just rude to her…almost blasting her for her religious and moral beliefs as well.  It is really fine to believe in what you want..after all this is america…and it is fine to  have whatever political views you want.  However, if you have a TELEVISION show called THE VIEW shouldnt it be evenly spread so that all views are heard not just the loudest of the five women?  No one can even attempt to disagree with Joy Behar…heaven forbid…and if Ellizabeth disagrees it is like heaven and hell have converged to take over the planet! 

So, that’s my view rant for the day…fair honest journalism, that’s all I’m askin!  At least even out the playing field!

How did the world get this way?

While watching the American Music Awards on sunday night I found myself feeling very old and “out of it”.  But upon further reflection I  have discovered that what has really happened is that the world has gone completely bonkers.  There was so much bleeping out of words, so many times when I thought to myself “how inappropriate is that, and these are the people our kids look up to”.  And then came Adam Lamberts “performance” if you can even call it that.  I was shocked, appalled and quite honestly sickened by the whole thing.  I remember watching American Idol thinking that he was so talented, he had so much potential.  I remember thinking that God had given him a gift that he would hopefully use well!

guess what…I’m not so sure he is using the gift well!  It is just my opinion, but, his performance was so explicit and just plain wrong that I was really glad I wasn’t watching it with my kids.  I had hoped to purchase  his CD when it came out thinking it would be a great one to have.  Now, I won’t buy it! 

So, when did the world, people in the world, decide that behavior like that was okay on TV and that ‘we” all wanted to see it???  I guess I’m thinking that surely someone knew that the performance was going to be like that, and maybe a disclaimer or possibly those awards shows that are so disturbing, where they can’t even play entire songs without bleeping out half the words, should be on a cable network instead of a regular channel!  I believe in free speech, but there is a limit to what I want to see on TV.  And yes I could have not watched the show, however, there were a lot of other artists on the show who were wonderful and have amazing talent and were appropriate for a Sunday evening viewing.  What happened to our world?  To our sense of what is decent?  What is pure and right?  Adam Lambert’s performance was none of that!

Just my humble opinion.

Octo mom rant….

I have been known to rant on occassion about various topics that really have nothing to do with me personally, and now I believe it is time for me to add my two cents…for what it’s worth (which isn’t much i’m afraid) regarding Octo-mom.  While I will admit that she is a little odd and her ways of going about gathering a family about her is unconventional, I have to say…this is america and most of what we do here is unconventional.  We are the land of the free the home of the brave and the country of the strange and odd.

I guess what bugs me the most is that she has become this person that people seem to think doesn’t deserve to have her children or who is mentally ill or whatever.  However, when I look at the myriads of reality shows that put on pedistals the oddness of large overgrown families I wonder why she has been singled out in this catagory.  We have John and Kate + 8 and while they seem like a lovely family, they are not without their own sort of dysfunction and are now going through marital growing pains and problems of their own.  There is the family with the 18 children who are not even sure if they are done having children, and they just married off one of thier kids…who is now saying they are going on in their parents footsteps to have as many children as they can.  No one can say that it wrong..it is their life, their family, their choice.  AND they have a reality show to prove it.  There is a new show starting I believe on TLC about a family with two sets of twins and a set of sextuplets….that’s a lot of children….yep they are married, a two parent household.  Will they stay married?  In this day in age….who really knows???  Let’s face it…i am on marriage number two and between my husband and I we have 9 children and 3 grandkids, 2 dogs, one snake, one lizard and a host of other odd sorts of relatives.  Are we happy? Yes.  Are we family? Yes.  Do we have problems?  You bet we do. 

So, today Octo mom kicks out the angel nurses that were sent to help her because they are “spying on her” to get stuff for child protective services.  Well, I would have to say that since they sent in 2 reports on the first day they were there that had to do with the paparazzi that were hovering outside her house (where were the police to handle that situation?) she was probably right.  And when 911 has to be called to have Gloria Alred removed from your house there is a problem.  Why would those nurses have needed the “wonderful” (said sarcasticly of  course) Gloria Alred to be around them 24/7 anyway?  I wouldn’t want her around my house watching me parent my children that’s for sure and I don’t have any thing to hide!  But guaranteed….she would find something.

That poor girl just needs to be left alone once and for all to raise her kids and get on with her life!

That’s my octomom rant!