deep freeze

It was 85 degrees Thursday afternoon. Today, it was 25. No wonder I'm sick!

I stayed in my jammies all day, snuggled under an afghan on the couch, watching the Olympics. I was glad to hear cutie pie Lindsey Jacobellis admit that she WAS showboating yesterday in the Snowboard Cross. But you know what? Haven't we ALL done that? Who here hasn't at some point in their life looked back, gloated a bit, then turned around just in time to run smack into a telephone pole or something? It happened to my little brother back in 1981.

I was 12, he was 10. We lived on a boomerang-shaped street, and our house was right on the curve. The driveway was long and wide, and flanked by two gray brick flower beds that stood about 3 feet off the ground. On a glorious afternoon that I'll never forget, David and I were racing our bikes. Mom and her friend Ann were sitting on the porch watching, and all the neighborhood kids lined the street as we flew past. David was winning, the little turd. I was standing as I peddled, pumping my legs as hard as I could, but I still couldn't catch him on his black Huffy. Just as he entered the curve, he turned to see how much he had gained on me, and when he saw that I wasn't catching him, he started acting a fool, howling and laughing and taunting and BAM!!! A terrific crash into the brick planter, hard enough to bend the wheel on his bike. He went flying over the handlebars and right through the holly bushes that filled it, landing on the other side in a crumpled, whimpering heap. I laughed. It's true, I did. I'm laughing now as I think about it. He was SUCH a show-off, and SUCH a punk to us his whole life. It was sorta fun to watch him make a fool of himself. Am I heartless? Not usually. But in this instance, yes. I was. The most pathetic part of all was that forevermore, he claimed to have hit a pebble in the street that caused him to lose control and steer into the planter. My big white behind. There was no rock, save for the one rolling around in his head after he plowed through the prickly holly. :)

So yesterday, when Jacobellis said she'd lost control during that last jump which caused her to crash, I hung my head. No, Lindsey, don't be like David. You grabbed that snowboard in a celebratory "Look at me, I'm AWESOME and I'm winning and I'm gonna win in STYLE, baby!" grab. It was cool. No one blames you. Youth and inexperience give you a free pass on that idiotic split-second decision. Today, when you admitted it, I applauded.

I love the Winter Olympics! This year, Snowboard Cross and the Halfpipe have been my favorite events. I always love the speed skating, so today was fun. And I'm looking forward to Ski Jumping. I get chills watching those jumpers flyyyyyyyyy. It's magical.

Tonight, I added something to my list of things to do before I die: attend a Winter Olympics. Vancouver 2010, baby! Methinks I need to grow a thicker hide, though. I bet it'll be a smidge colder than what I'm experiencing here today, and I sure have whined enough about THAT.

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Part of the reason I've been so cold today is that I'm getting sick. Body aches, fatigue, and chills all day. But at 6:30, something happened that warmed my soul to its very core. My brother-in-law, in town briefly from Tennessee, stopped by with grocery sacks full of soup, crackers, Sprite and Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. And in the other hand..... a Sonic diet vanilla coke with my name on it. My seester must've told him that we're all puny. I love my seester. And I love my seester's husband. Thanks, Santos! MUAH!