High-Speed Competition Sitting

We enjoyed a little blizzard on Sunday, so venturing very far from the house was out of the question. It was a perfect opportunity to cozy up to the fire, eat, play music, play with the kids, take long naps, eat, take short naps, eat...you get the picture. The weather outside was frightful, but the Olympics were quite delightful. Nothing will make you feel less like an Olympian than eating ice cream sandwiches on the couch while watching cross country skiers in superhero outfits bust their butts in Torino. My favorite game to play while watching the Olympics is the "See, I'm still young enough to do that" game. There are 50+ year olds in the luge. See, I'm still young enough to do that. There are downhill skiers older than me, so I can still do that. I'm probably way too old to be an ice skater, but there's too much drama in that competition anyway, so who cares. Not to mention their outfits are usually hideous. They should have points deducted for some of those eye sores.

But let's face it. I will never be an Olympian. Or an athlete, really, for that matter. I did all kinds of sports growing up, but I think the closest I ever got to that Olympics sensation was when I was taking downhill ski lessons at thirteen and our instructor set up a little race track on the mountain for us, complete with flags and I remember skiing down that thing as fast as I could, feeling exhilarated and kind of out of control, my heart pounding in my ears. Maybe that's a little taste of what these competitors feel when they're in the heat of the race; those moments when they can't hear the roar of the crowd, just the buzz in their head as they go through all the motions. I'd run in a couple of road races too, but all I remember from them was feeling like I wanted to puke after. I imagine that's not often what an Olympian feels like. At least I hope not.

But getting back to Sunday. I didn't feel bad not being a competitor, out in the cold, with all eyes on me. I was happy to be inside, warm, relaxed and entertained throughout the day.

And I totally took the gold in the couch slug event.