Au Revoir Les Jeux Olympiques**

So the Olympics have come to an end and I am sure that while we are watching the Duke game this evening there are fantastically bizarre happenings going on for the closing ceremonies. I thought it would be fun to look back at my favorites and not so favorites from the games. So, let's start with the likes.

1 - Awesome Olympic mascots. Check out their website. They are both delightful and a little trippy at the same time. My favorite is the seabear - part orca, part bear - loves to surf. Or ski or something like that.

2 - The outing of Canadians. Who knew so many people living among us were Canadian? I am glad the opening ceremonies set the record straight on so many of them. Donald Sutherland? Sarah McLaughlin? Joni Mitchell?? Crazy Canadian talk.

3 - Nordic combined. I am hesitant to include this because suddenly this sport is one that Americans can win at and I hate to make it look like I only now like the sport because American win medals. Not true. I just can't believe this sport has never been on tv before (that I've seen) and that it makes cross country skiing so exciting. I was actually yelling at my television on more than one occasion during a race to finish in cross country. That and I love how they all collapse at once over the finish line in a pile of cross country skier.

4 - Bill DeMong - So he is part of the nordic combined American power house, but it was this story on NPR that made me love him. His mom is really cute, I love the story of her being pregnant in Lake Placid in 1980 and deciding he would be an Olympic baby. I think the fact he proposed to his girlfriend during the Olympics so cute. And I think its great that he gets to carry the flag at the closing ceremonies. Just a great Olympic story.

On the other side of the coin, some of my not so favorite Olympic moments/things.

1 - Lindsay Vonn. She was overhyped. I find her really annoying. Not at all sweetheart like. And a giant cry baby. She claims she will be back in 4 years, but I certainly hope not.

2 - Always knowing the results. I know a lot of people were upset with the tape delay. I don't really mind - I work all day so watching the day's bobsled race that night works for me. What I don't understand is why the media world cannot recognize this and not make headlines like "Bodie Miller Wins Gold" the headline at 2pm. A button that says "Olympic results here" works fine for those who want to know. But ESPN, I think putting the results on your bottom line during PTI is just not cool.

3 - The idea that you have to win a medal to matter. There are so many human interest stories, so many of them overplayed, but there are so many others who come to the Olympics and never even make it on television, and they matter too. Just like nordic combined mattered to a lot of people before the US medaled in it.

4 - Olympic commentators. I know they have space to fill and that they can only know so much. But the skiing people always seemed to talk about it being the competitors "best run" right before they crashed - or discussed the "amazing speed" of a bobsled, before they were 2 seconds behind the leader. I'm sure they do a lot better than I would, but I also think it might be nice to watch the competition set to the soft tunes of Canadian songstress Anne Murray.

** I used google translate to double check my French for "Good bye Olympic Games". It suggested "Good Bye Jeux Olympiques. " It may have been over 10 years since my last French class, but I am pretty sure "good bye" is not the correct translation.

An Oldie But A Goodie

And more appropriate than you can know. My brothers and I always loved this one when we were little. If you haven't seen The Muppet's Treasure Island, I highly recommend Netflix-ing it, especially with all this snow.

Are We Surviving Without Bananas?

I am sure many people were awaiting the Snowmaggedon/Snowpocalypse post follow up to ensure we made it through. The good new is, yes, we've survived despite the complete lack of bananas and red onions. Cookies ran out on Sunday, but we've found a suitable replacement. (Word is Andrew has a stash hidden somewhere in case this thing goes longer than any of us expected.)

So, what have we been up to? First let me say I grew up in New England. I spent over 2 years in Colorado. I do not think I have ever seen anything like this. We have truly been snow bound since about 2pm Friday. We are lucky in that snow bound means we just have to walk to the pub or the grocery or Whole Foods. The natives are getting a little restless - we live in about 800 square feet and when you put a dog, a cat and two people in there without much escape, it can get a little tight. But we have power (knock on wood) and we've been ok. Here's a look at what we've been up to - for more photos be sure to check out the Exnicios Photo Site - which you can link to by clicking here or through the link on the left side of the blog.

Saturday we took Calhoun out for some play time and to see how bad things really were. The answer, pretty bad. This is Cal playing with Andrew, you can see how high the snow is by the cars in the background.

Later that day we met Alison on King Street for some basketball (watching, not playing) and tasty grilled cheese sandwiches. We had a prime location by the window overlooking the street, so we could watch as the world walked by - or in this case, skied.

Sunday we had to cancel our Super Bowl plans because we couldn't get out of the neighborhood and walked up to the local grocery store to get some last minute game provisions. Apparently everyone else in the neighborhood was in the same dilemma because there was a run on the weirdest things - like beer, chicken wings, tortilla chips, frozen coconut shrimp. We made do with a lovely collection on frozen TGIFriday's appetizers. Being a Tom Brady loyalist, I was thrilled with the outcome of the game as well. And I may have cried at the Google commercial. Oh, and Puppy Bowl was awesome. Really. Google "Subaru puppy bowl dog commercials" or look them up on YouTube. Genius marketing.

Monday the government closed, meaning I was home and Andrew would telecommute. More of the same - some knitting and some resting. We took Calhoun for a long walk to stretch his puppy legs. Our neighborhood is still pretty well snowed in. Bailey is not used to sharing her space with people and puppies for such a long stretch of time and by Monday was asking to be put out of her misery.

Today is Tuesday and the Government is closed again. We are sitting at home, waiting for the next wave to come through. Still nothing yet, but they are calling for 10-20 more inches. In anticipation of this next storm, and to get Calhoun out of his Dad's hair, who was still telecommuting, Cal and I suited up and headed out. Along the way we ran into this: The National Guard. It is a convoy through our neighborhood. I am not sure what they are doing, but they have set up camp behind our condo complex. I felt like a small child in recently liberated France. I half expected them to throw candy to Cal and me out the window.

Calhoun decided to show off his snow skills for the nice Guardspeople and climbed the nearest snow drift. He is quite the mountain climber. Knowing that our neighborhood would soon be liberated from the snow, Calhoun and I continued on to our favorite yarn store, Fibre Space, also dog friendly, to say hello to folks there and do some shopping. We picked up some lovely Spud and Chloe Outer to make a winter hat. (Fellow knitters, especially snow bound ones, check out Spud and Chloe, best yarn!!)

After all that yarn, the snow had still not started. Seeing this as a gift, Calhoun and I risked life and limb (and car alignment) and hopped into the car to make a quick dash to Buzz. We may have survived this long without bananas, but clearly cupcakes were needed. The roads are still terrible and we probably should not have gone out - but look how happy Calhoun is with his Buzz puppy cookie! And inside that box are 4 little pieces of heaven just waiting to be washed down with a decaf latte. Mmmm.

So - are we surviving? Sure. As I said, we have power, we can walk to tons o'places. We have 4 3 cupcakes waiting to be eaten. Life is pretty good on this weather imposed island.

Snowpocalypse/Snowmageddon/SnOMG

The snow of the decade is upon us. Or so Bob Ryan tells me. And if you live in the greater DC area, you believe Bob Ryan. Besides, there are about 5 inches of snow out there already and it's starting to snow heavier, so there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Bob knows what is going on.

Like a good DC area resident, I headed to the grocery store today to stock up on "necessities." Like a good Old Town resident, I went to Whole Foods. I arrived shortly after the snow had started and the federal government had been released for the day. I learned a few things about humans in snow storms while there.

1 - People like bananas and red onions and will buy the store out of these items before a historic snow storm.

2 - When told there is buy one, get one free shrimp cocktail, people will insist they need four to make it through the weekend.

3 - The store had both milk and bread - but no dark chocolate.

4 - My husband will not be snow bound without chocolate chip cookies.

So what did I get? Spinach (the last package of baby spinach to be precise), salmon, cream cheese, some bubbly, sour dough bread, milk, Annie's mac and cheese, salt and vinegar chips and ginger chews. I hope we make it through the night until the Safeway opens up. We only have two dozen chocolate chip cookies. . .

Still in the Same Place

Soooo, its been a while, right? Lots has happened. A season of Lost come and gone and back again. Jack Bauer saved the Port of Alexandria from terrorists. We attended many, many weddings. A decade ended. I may have turned a very momentous age. All of this and I realized I've lived in (practically) the same place for almost three years. This may not seem like much to some, but to Army/higher ed brats like Andrew and me, well, we haven't really lived in the same place for that long since high school. If you go back to 1997 when I graduated high school, my address book would look something like this (and this is what makes doing background investigation forms for the government so much fun).

Aug 1997 - Princess Diana dies. I move to Kostka Hall, Fairfield.

Dec 1997 - Christmas break in Willimantic

Jan 1998 - Kostka

May 1998 - Willimantic

Sept 1998 - Loyola Hall, Fairfield

Oct 1998 - Regis Hall, Fairfield

Dec 1998 - Willimantic

Jan 1999 - Regis Hall.

March 1999 - UConn Men win their first National Championship.

May - July 1999 - Willimantic, Tijuana, Klaver Hall (Fairfield), Willimantic

Aug 1999 - Townhouse 93, Fairfield. The Triscuit Nacho is born. (Note I remain here for Christmas break).

May 2000 - TH something-something. It was in the corner. By the office of Printing or something.

Aug 2000 - Beach house on Reef Road. Remain for winter break.

May 2001 - Graduate college, sigh. Fairfield kicks me out, return to Willimantic.

Aug 2001 - St. Louis, MO (ever been in St. Louis MO in August? Right.)

Dec 2001 - Willimantic, with cat.

Jan 2002 - St. Louis, MO

May 2002 - Willimantic, with cat who must learn to live with two dogs for the summer.

Aug 2002 - St. Louis, MO

Dec 2002 - Willimantic

Jan 2003 - St. Louis, MO

May 2003 - Savannah, GA. (Remember St. Louis in August? It has nothing on Savannah in May, June, July or August).

Sept 2003 - St. Louis, MO

Dec 2003 - Willimantic (still with cat. Oh, she was in Savannah too.)

Jan 2004 - stop in St. Louis, move to Arlington VA.

Sept 2004 - Willimantic. Stuff in about 3 storage locations.

Jan 2005 - Fort Lee, VA. Followed by Charlottesville, VA (on the grounds, of course.)

April 2005 - Colorado Springs. (Now while my moving tapers off here, remember I
also start a long distance relationship at that time. During this relationship Andrew lives in OK, VA, CA, WA, CA, VA, NC. So while my stuff sometimes stayed put, I definitely never did. The cat usually did.)

July 2007 - Alexandria, VA. (Two different addresses. Eventually moved in with my husband and got a dog.)

Which brings us to today. Everyone under one roof. One very small roof. But we're together and everyone sleeps in the same bed, so I can't ask for too much more. But I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little antsy. But can you really blame me? (PS do not tell the cat.)