Carried away

The Olympics are over and I offer a sincere ‘thank you’ to the Spice Girls for providing my closing ceremony highlight and splendid flashbacks to high school.

As much as I enjoyed all the Olympic heroes and medalists, I came across another hero today who has me simply in awe.

If you haven't heard about the father who completed a triathlon while carrying, pushing and pulling his 13-year old daughter with cerebral palsy, read the story. The physical strength he showed is inspiring, but it’s the purpose behind his feat that brought me a smile (and some teary eyes). Talk about LOVE!

I'm lucky to be a daughter who's loved a lot, too. And it's precious to hear Jen talk about her love for my nephew (and as his auntie, I'd carry him just about anywhere, too…until his sweet chunkiness makes my arms go numb!)  

This whole story gives new meaning to the commonly quoted Footprints in the Sand poem. In fact, from now on, I'll no longer think of the Lord just carrying me through the sand—I'll picture him doing a triathlon with me in his arms! How cool that he'd do that for each one of us (again and again)!

A summer potluck

Like a Lutheran potluck, this post has a little of everything. It’s a late summer recap of random musings that hopefully includes a dish or two you’ll enjoy, whether it be it vacation, baseball, charity, or perhaps a summer dish of your own. So, let’s dig in!

I recently got back from vacation where we visited family in New York. Sadly, I took almost no photos. But here is my favorite shot from the week…cousins and buddies enjoying their week together.

 I also attended a wedding while out of town. It was a Catholic wedding in a beautiful church, and the entire ceremony I kept staring at the holy family statues up front thinking that Joseph needed a Baby Bjorn to carry baby Jesus around. This is just how my random mind works these days. See baby Jesus (circa 1 AD)…and my own baby Connor and husband making use of the popular baby wearing contraption (circa 2011 AD). 

Recently you may have noticed the “Water of Life” banner in the sidebar of this blog. Compassion International is an awesome charitable organization doing great things for needy children around the world, and I wanted to do what little I could to promote some of their efforts…and give you and other blog readers an opportunity to get involved if you are interested. Through Compassion, I’ve sponsored and corresponded with a girl named Diana in Peru for the last 10 years and look forward to sponsoring another child in a few years who my son can correspond with as they both grow. But even if sponsoring a specific child isn’t your thing, there are a lot of other cool things Compassion is doing and ways you can help. Click on the Water of Life banner on the right to find out about one of their life changing efforts. I may mention others here from time to time as well!

I had my first opportunity this year to see my MN Twins in action at Target Field this weekend. My son looks confused in the photos, but he had a blast. TC Bear (the Twins mascot) has a new fan.

My husband is currently out of town for a couple of days in a state with much warmer weather than Minnesota. There are some potentially exiting things going on in our family. Lots to pray about too. Hopefully I can share more soon.

Well, I think you’re pretty much caught up with my life for the moment. Stay tuned for a less random, more thoughtful blog post next time. Meanwhile, where have your summer plans taken you in recent weeks?

We've got spirit

If you're tired of the Olympics, I apologize, because I'm still addicted and I can’t not talk about it! The comebacks. The records broken. The teamwork. The people who made it despite incredible odds. Summer or Winter Olympics—doesn't matter; I'm so inspired. And I'm moved to tears every time I hear our national anthem during a medal ceremony.

I'd like to bottle up these feelings of pride to use once the Olympics are over. When political mudslinging and annoying campaign ads take over the airwaves, I'm going to need a reminder of the friendly and sportsmanlike competition of these summer games.

I do wish we had this Olympic pride and unity for other things. Of course, we had "spirit" in high school. I have fond memories of cheering alongside the pep band, waiting hours in line for state tournament hockey tickets and Spirit Weeks. We've even had a couple of Spirit Weeks in my office, complete with a Hawaiian day, 80s day, crazy t-shirt day and, of course, pajama day (don't worry, I changed clothes to attend meetings outside my department).

Maybe we need to bring back Spirit Week. True, a national pajama day won't give me the same satisfying feeling as watching our gymnasts stick a landing or our swimmers being first to touch that wall. But there's not a lot of room for controversy when we share a common goal to have fun and be a little silly. I'm not trying to minimize the very serious issues of our country, but when we're all supporting the same team, it sure is refreshing.

What's been your favorite Olympic moment so far? As proud as I am of all the U.S. athletes, I've especially loved seeing smaller countries cheering for their small contingent of athletes—like when the runner from Grenada won his country's first Olympic medal ever (a gold!) in the men’s 400m. I also admired this very classy show of respect from Jamaican runner Usain Bolt.

Go USA!

Been a long week

This was me a week ago today at my third and final snowboarding lesson:


Ok that wasn’t me, specifically, but I resembled that. Kind of. And this is what I’ve looked like for the past week:
I know it looks like my arms were caught up in some industrial equipment, or perhaps burned in a fire. Thankfully, it was neither of those things. But I am nursing two broken wrists.

I’ve been wanting to try snowboarding for awhile and figured now was as good a time as any. And while I quickly learned that the grace I once possessed as a dancer does not at all help when both feet are strapped into a single wood and fiberglass board, it was still fun.

I (pretty much) rocked the bunny hill during my first couple of lessons. But apparently I was no match for Big Foot, the hill on which I caught my backside edge and promptly landed on both wrists. (In my defense, I made it down this hill successfully several times before “the incident.”) My injuries could’ve been much worse, so I am counting my blessings despite my extreme frustration.

I should add that high-school Heather would be totally appalled by thirty-something Heather right now for even attempting snowboarding. In high school, snowboarders were EVIL. The dark side. That’s what my friends and I firmly believed when they got in the way of us much cooler skiers.

So maybe my injuries have helped me come full circle. But then again, I don’t regret trying it at all. And as much as this week has sucked, I don’t want to rule out ever strapping on a snowboard again. But first, I have several weeks of challenging recovery ahead. Already, my family members have been my heroes in helping me manage the day-to-day activities I used to take for granted. Here’s hoping—and praying—for extra patience and perseverance for the long, tough fight back!

Coming soon: Blogging in 3D

All of a sudden, 3D films (which have been around for 50 years) are the next big thing. I don't really get it. Maybe it's because I don’t have great depth perception to begin with. I run into things more often than I'd like to admit here. And my memories of 3D movies growing up mostly involves motion sickness. Basically, 3D just sort of creeps me out. I already jump out of my seat in movies when there's a loud noise (even when I know it’s coming). Why do I now need to embarrassingly dodge flying objects from my seat?

But some people love it. That's cool. I've heard the 3D was great in Avatar. I can see how it would enhance the entertainment value for a lot of people. However, the news that ESPN will offer some of its coverage of this weekend's Masters Golf Tournament in 3D is puzzling. Jen already voiced her confusion about watching golf here. I echo the sentiment and now add: What is cool about watching golf in 3D?! Where are the special effects? After you've seen one guy swing a club in 3D, is there any point to it anymore? Perhaps I'll be less likely to fall asleep while watching if a golf ball is flying toward me at 150 mph. I'll never find out since I lack the 3D TV. Somehow, I'm ok with that.

But back to movies for a moment. Check out the new movie trailer for Step Up 3D. Suddenly I'm changing my tune on this 3D thing. I can't believe I've yet to address my love of all things Step Up on this blog. (If I could turn the clock back 15 years and actually attend the Maryland School of the Arts, I would do it in a heartbeat. And if I could dance with Channing Tatum…yep, I'd do that too.) As soon as the lines begin to form for this flick, I'll be there. I wonder if I should take some Dramamine beforehand. I never thought of a little breaking and booty shaking as causing nausea, but I don't want anything to ruin this movie for me.

So, some like big-budget movies and special effects, some like golf, and I like epic dance battles. I wonder where 3D will catch on next.

March Madness is here...are we excited?

It’s NCAA basketball tourney time, and if you’re like me, you don’t really care. Yet somehow I have my own tournament bracket all filled out and sitting on my desk at work. This is because for the past few years my department has had our own “Masters of the Hardwood” competition. The winner gets a bobblehead basketball trophy, a gift card, and most of all, bragging rights.

The surprising thing about our department competition is that 90 percent of us are women, most of us know very little about college basketball, and some even live in Canada. But, when our vice president initiates this annual competition, we humor him and jump on board.

Some of us make our picks completely at random while others do a little Googling to check out the rankings. I usually base my picks off the rankings, but throw in a few random upsets for good measure. (No, I did not pick the Minnesota Gophers to have an upset…I’ve followed Minnesota sports for too long.)

Amazingly, it gets pretty competitive. (I mean, personally I’m not a competitive person or anything, but…oh who am I kidding…I love to win!) We usually have a fair amount of smack talk going around over email, which is probably the most fun part. I have yet to win in past years, but I’ve come close and usually finish in the top half of the standings. That’s a good enough reputation for me.

I will say that by participating in a tournament contest, I do at least become fan enough to pay attention to the scores, though I don’t typically watch the games. (Remember, hockey is my game, not basketball.) Nevertheless…go Kansas!

USA! USA!

So how is your Olympic fever doing? Let's just say I'm looking forward to being much more productive (hopefully) beginning next week. I just can't stop watching. Although I've finally stopped trying to shield myself from the results before the events air on TV. Now I check the results and then fast forward my DVR to the good stuff.

Highlights for me so far? Short-track speed skating, Lindsay Vonn's downhill gold, Shaun White's half pipe gold and USA men's hockey defeating Canada. I haven't gotten too caught up this year in my past favorite event of figure skating. And the ice dancing? Wow, that just put me to sleep. What's been your favorite moment so far?

As I've been watching all these inspirational stories of odds overcome and dreams coming true, and I see the pride in the gold medalists' eyes as they hear their national anthem, I get such a peaceful feeling. Sure the Olympics always has its share of controversy, but all in all, it's full of great news, unlike what we usually see in the headlines. I've found it very refreshing these last couple of weeks. I'm sure going to miss the games when they're over.

Living in the State of Hockey

On any other Olympic Opening Ceremonies night, you’d probably find me at home getting pumped up about the Games in front of my TV. But this year, I have DVR, which is really a better way to speedily watch the athletes parade into the stadium anyway. So instead of watching action on TV (which is my plan for the rest of the weekend), I took in a live version of one of the more popular winter sports by attending a Minnesota Wild hockey game.

I usually get to attend one or two NHL games a year, and Friday was my night for this season (thanks, dad!). Being at the game reminded me that there is something extra special about living in the State of Hockey. By comparison, a few months ago I attended an NHL game in a different city and was a bit disappointed in the fans, who didn't even stand up when the home team first took to the ice. And, it's no secret that St. Paul has what is probably the best hockey arena in the country. And even at the high school level, the state hockey tournaments in Minnesota are still exciting...13 years after my high school days ended.

However, it seems we've failed to spread our reputation far beyond my home state, as evidenced by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. During my visit there last fall, the store there did not have a single piece of Minnesota hockey memorabilia for purchase. Oh well, maybe our treasure is better kept a secret.

So, while all of my NHL home team is from other countries and most have names I can barely pronounce, it's still the best place to be a hockey fan. And I say this despite the fact that I'm still nursing a broken heart from not winning the Zamboni ride during the second intermission last night.

Go Wild...and go Team USA!

Fumbling my way through the week

Stupid Vikings. They got this fair-weather fan on the bandwagon at the beginning of the season and now I'm mourning with my fellow Minnesotans. Yesterday, most conversations I had went like this...Me: "Hey, how are you?" Everybody else: "Well...you know." And yes. We all knew. The game was a heartbreaker.

Not even last night's episode of The Bachelor and all its awkward craptastic-ness could pull me out of the funk. It's not that I care that much about the Vikings. It's more that I can't believe I spent nearly 4 hours of my weekend completely stressing out—high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, lots of yelling at the TV—for nothing.

Today I received an e-mail invite to our office's annual Super Bowl Potluck and the invite from the Fun Committee used this photo:

See, not even the FUN Committee could be excited about it. But the world will go on. I'll cheer the Colts to victory. And after all is said and done, I still have the Winter Olympics and a few more months of hockey to look forward to.

So this was my really long way of saying I just don’t feel like writing a thoughtful blog post today. It’s not just the Vikings. It’s January weather. It’s being sick of staring at my computer. And it’s that I have no words to respond to John Travolta flying Scientology ministers to Haiti to “re-establish communication within the body by touching people through their clothes...” Ummmm, yeah. Goodnight.

Fair weather fan fun

I’m not a big sports fan during most of the year. Wild hockey is about the only thing I pay attention to all season long. However, if you’re from Minnesota, you couldn’t miss a short string of recent days in which the Wild opened their NHL season, the Vikings (with Brett Favre) beat the rival Packers, and the Twins fought hard for 12 innings (plus a few games before that) to clinch the division title and head to the MLB playoffs. It’s one of those rare good times to be a Minnesota sports fan—when the stakes are high and the teams are strong (at least for the moment).

For me, this is the time when I hop on the bandwagon and pretend like I’ve been following this stuff all year long. Yes, I am a fair weather fan and proud of it. I like to think it’s fans like me who help to add a sense of heightened excitement to these times. So, suddenly I’m following the Twins and the Vikings and sharing water cooler conversations about the previous night’s scores. I feel so… athletic. I mean, what’s more athletic than sitting on your couch watching other people be active, right?

What great sporting event is next, you ask? Well, for those of you who agree with me that dance is a sport, then I’ll be enjoying another great night tonight as I head to the So You Think You Can Dance tour! It’s more exhibition than competition at this point, but after following these athletes on TV all summer long, I’m excited to see them do their thing. Here’s video of my favorite dance of last season, which I'm looking forward to seeing live tonight (explanation: the male dancer represents an addiction and the female is the addict…such a powerfully illustrated story). It’s art; it’s sport; it’s two minutes of enjoyment for moi!

Golf madness hits home…sort of

Things in my neighborhood look a little different this week. You see, just a short walk from my home is the site of this year’s PGA Championship tournament. I’m not a golfer (only a mini-golfer), but it has been kind of exciting watching the big signs, tents, etc. go up gradually over the last few weeks and know that the national sports spotlight (at least for golfers) will be on my neighborhood this weekend. What’s more, I just learned (too late, of course) that I probably could have rented out my house for the week for $6,000 to people traveling here for this major tournament!

Now, I actually think I might enjoy playing golf if I were to try it. But, here’s the thing…I don’t understand the draw of watching other people golf. I’ve tried watching it on TV with my golf-loving dad, and I almost always end up taking a good nap (no offense, dad). I’ve seen the die-hards watch it intensely at the country club restaurant I worked at during college, and I don’t know if I can ever get as excited about a birdie as they do.

Nevertheless, I am planning to try watching at least part of the tournament on TV. I’ll let you know how it goes. And for the golfers out there…please explain to me the proper way to watch golf and enjoy it. Do I need to study up on the players and terminology ahead of time? Is knowing Tiger Woods good enough? Should I dress in a polo shirt and visor just to look the part? Or do I just need to start playing it myself to truly understand? Help me become a fan!

Now here’s some entertaining golf…