Holly’s Happenings

It’s weird to think that the Olympics are just about over! After more than 2 weeks of watching them nearly nonstop, I guess I’ll have to learn to start watching something else during the daytime again. But then we have roughly 18 months until the 2010 Winter Olympics start. I look forward to those because I really enjoy the skating and the bobsled races!

This morning on the news they had quite a bit of coverage over the “scandal” that’s going on with the female gymnasts from China. I have to admit myself that when I was watching them perform I questioned their ages, to the point that I went online looking up what the minimum age to compete in the Olympics is. When I read that it was 16, I told myself that there was NO way those girls were 16! I know that people in different countries and of other ethnicities age differently, but you could almost tell by looking at those girls that there was no way they were any older than 13, 14 at the most!

It’s sad, especially since there is questioning about whether or not they really are old enough to compete! But according to the one guy on the news this morning, it will be a long time “IF” anything is even done about it. In the mean time, these girls are allowed to keep their medals. I’m sorry, but if there is any question as to whether or not they were legally old enough to participate in the Olympics, the investigation needs to be done sooner, rather than later! In the mean time they shouldn’t be allowed to participate in any other competitions in any way shape or form! No practicing, no warming up, don’t even let them step foot on treadmills if that is something they do to prepare! But I know that’s not very realistic!

Yes, I know it’s already Tuesday, but it’s honestly taken me until today to “recuperate” from the weekend…LOL! This past weekend was spent at Michigan International Speedway courtesy of my husbands employers. There were only 5 employees that could or were willing to make it up this weekend, then there were the two brothers that own the company as well as many of their family members and friends.

The initial group headed up to the campground on Thursday night to set up the campers and tents because they were staying right through until Monday. My hubby and I didn’t go up until late Saturday morning and spent part of the day hanging out at the campsites before heading up to watch the Busch race, which was won by Carl Edwards. After the race we went back to the campsite for a FANTASTIC hobo dinner cooked over a campfire! I’ll admit that I drank a few too many, and trust me, I REALLY paid for it too…LOL! But we had a totally awesome time!

By the time we got home Saturday night it was nearly 10 PM and we had to be up the next morning by 4 AM so that we could leave the house, drop off our daughter at my mothers house in an attempt to be to the campground by 8 AM. We ended up being a little later than that because we didn’t figure in the fact that we were taking a different route than we had the day before because we were meeting one of my hubby’s co-workers so they could follow us up to the track. So we ended up not making it up to the campground until nearly 9 AM, but everyone was either just waking up or just stumbling back to the campsites, so it turned out to be a good thing we weren’t up there earlier anyway!

Sunday was probably one of the most amazing days I’ve ever had, except for my day in San Francisco…LOL! Not only did we have FANTASTIC seats to the NASCAR race (10th row in the 4th turn), we also had pre race pit passes that allowed us to go right down on pit row where the crew teams were at, getting things ready for the race.

Some of the team for Paul Menard (the #15 Quaker State/Menards car) was MORE than happy to smile for me! THANKS GUYS!!

We also got to see some of the cars already out on the track getting readied for the race.

It was just a fantastic experience! I’ll be the first to admit that even though I’ve watched many NASCAR races on TV, I was usually kind of bored by them. But watching them in person…..WOW, I could really get into NASCAR if I could watch all of the races in person! It’s just so different! And of course the people you’re with help make it a good experience as well! I got to sit next to Fred for both races and let me tell you, this man MADE the races an awesome experience! He was such a fun guy and I didn’t even mind that he was rooting for Tony Stewart! JUST KIDDING!

By the time we finally left Sunday, we ended up not making it back home until almost 10 PM again…LOL! And yes, just in case you’re wondering, I did end up with one heck of a sunburn that was REALLY made to look goofy when combined with the mark from the lanyard around my neck that held all my tickets and passes…LOL! But amazingly, even with it being the first real sun I’ve gotten all summer, it never did hurt. And my husband, who is REALLY tan, got a sunburn as well and his hurts to beat all get outs and is already starting to blister up…LOL!

Anyway, I have a TON more pictures and probably more video footage from both races that I hope to be able to get to at some point this week. When I do, I’ll definitely share them with you!

OK, I admit, it wasn’t until just a couple of days ago that I watched my first minute of the Olympics. Life has been a bit busy the past week, and I just didn’t think about it. That, and the fact that they’re on so late at night, and I’m usually in bed by 10 PM.

Tonight the kids and I have been watching everything we can! We watched some Beach Volleyball, we’ve watched some Gymnastics and, of course, we’ve watched Swimming. It was absolutely thrilling to watch Michael Phelps achieve Olympic history, and you can bet that for the rest of the Olympics, I will be glued and watching him EVERY time he swims!

Both of the kids think that the gymnasts are absolutely amazing, and I have to agree with them! Tonight we’ve been watching the women’s teams, which just wrapped up. It was heartbreaking to see Alicia Sacramone on the US team fall off the beam and fall on her toosh for the floor exercise. You just felt so bad for her and could tell that she just wanted to cry her eyes out. My daughter was like “Mom, she just made a mistake” and I told her that’s exactly was, a simple mistake. But this kind of mistake isn’t one that can be erased like putting blemish acne cream on a pimple. When you get to the Olympics, there is no room for simple mistakes, and I’m sure that Alicia will never forget that! It was awesome that they were able to go on to win the silver medal, though!

WOW, we just watched the mens 4×200 freestyle swimming team receive their gold medals, which includes Michael Phelps getting his 11th gold medal. It’s VERY cool to think that we just watched Olympic History be made, history that will probably not be broken in my lifetime. AWESOME! And on that note, I’m calling it a night!

Have you ever read something that made a fond memory from your youth come rushing back so fast you feel like it’s current again? When I read that Rich “Goose” Gossage was admitted into the Baseball Hall of fame, memories from my Senior year of high school came flooding back!

Ahhhhhh, High School, those years that “most” people remember fondly. It’s not that I don’t have good memories of High School, it’s just that I honestly don’t have many memories period! I was your typical “wall flower” and on top of that, I was a band geek…LOL! I kept to myself and really didn’t have many friends. But, as most teenage girls, I had a HUGE crush on a very cute boy and his name was David.

David was your typical American boy, he loved fast cars and baseball, and his favorite team was the New York Yankees. (PLEASE don’t shoot me Christine…LOL) I had tried to garner David’s attention a couple of times during my Junior year, but I didn’t know ANYTHING about fast cars or baseball, so I went back to my wall and spent the year “observing” him…LOL! Over the summer between my Junior and Senior years of High School I spent as much time as possible learning about baseball and watching every Yankee’s game I could catch so that I would be able to at least know the players names and what position they played. I also started paying more attention to my looks and started taking the time to do my hair differently and even started wearing just a little bit of make up….LOL!

What I had done over the summer WORKED! The first day of school David actually said hello to me for the first time, without my having to do anything to get his attention. I gradually started talking to people I knew he talked to and would drop comments about how the Yankees had done in their latest game or what an awesome play a specific player had made. In time, David and I were “talking game” on a daily basis, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled in my life! He even “loaned” me his prized Yankees jacket one afternoon in class because I had mentioned that I thought the classroom was cold ;o)

Looking back now, I honestly can’t remember how the Yankee’s did that year. But the one thing I do remember was that David’s all time favorite player was Goose! So when I read that Goose had finally made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the first thing that crossed my mind was David and the Fall of my Senior year. If you’re wondering if David and I ever “hooked up”, the answer is no. My best friend at the time decided that he was “The Man” for her and since she was prettier and more popular, she hooked up with him instead. Turns out that was a good thing because shortly after graduation I found out that they were looking at diamond rings because she was pregnant….LOL! Better her than ME!

I’m sitting here, waiting for a phone call.  My daughter is finding out today whether or not she made the cut and is on her 7th grade basketball team.  Last year she played on the young kids league, but this year it’s an actual team.  She has spent her time since last years season practicing and doing anything and everything she can to hone her basketball skills, so if she hears today that she didn’t make the team, she’s going to be crushed!

My husband left to be to school in time to pick her up at 4:15, which is only 7 minutes away, but trying to not be anxious waiting for this call is getting more and more difficult!  I guess I’ll go put away my laundry from earlier, that should help make time pass a little bit faster!

After being together for 17+ years, my husband has managed to change my mind on sports. Prior to his coming into my life, I didn’t care for sports that much. I never got into sports while I was in school, and none of my friends paid too much attention to sports. Now, I’d have to say I’m a sports addict, well, mostly football, but I do watch other sports too!

One of the latest sports I’ve gotten into watching is college football. It used to be that the only time I watched college football was when the Michigan Wolverines were playing. But lately I’ve managed to catch a few other college teams and have to say that I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve seen. One team that I recently watched was the Oklahoma Sooners, they’re a pretty impressive team this year and if I lived closer, I’d be tempted to grab some Oklahoma Sooners tickets and catch a game in person.

I don’t know about you, but I am THRILLED that football season is finally here! It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a High School game, a College game or the NFL, if I can watch football that’s all that matters! I get tired of the people who get this “I don’t like you because I don’t like your team” attitude. It doesn’t matter of you’re a fan of the teams that I like or if you are a Penn State football fan, or a fan of a completely different team; what matters is you love the game! Football is one of those sports that you either love it or you hate it; there is no middle ground when it comes to the game.

Today’s Photo Hunt was actually a difficult one for me because I personally don’t have any hobbies. I used to be a crafter, but that was before I discovered computers…LOL! And as much as I like my computer, I dislike thinking of it as a hobby. So I started digging through the thousands of pictures I have here on my computer and ran across a folder that made me say “AHA”! Even though I thought I didn’t have any hobbies, I realized that I do have one and it’s actually a “family” hobby as well…LOL!

We’re a family that are football addicts…LOL! Many years ago my husband was asked by one of his friends if he’d be interested in joining a fantasy football league. He was thrilled and decided to join because he’s been a Detroit Lions fan his entire life and has always enjoyed watching a football game. I never really enjoyed them, the sport just didn’t make sense to me. BUT, my choices after he joined the fantasy football league were to either watch the game and get to know it or become a football widow. I opted to start watching football. That was in the fall of 1997. Today, I am a complete football addict and even have my “own” team. I also try to play online fantasy football every year.

That being said, the pictures I’m sharing this week are pictures of a dream come true from this past Christmas Eve. It was to have been a boring day staying at home in anticipation of Santa. That was until our phone rang. We were offered 4 tickets to the Detroit Lions game as well as a premium parking pass. Going to an NFL game has been something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time, but it simply wasn’t affordable for us. And being able to go to a Lions home game was a dream come true! We all dressed in our best Lions gear (even though I am NOT a Lions fan) and headed out. It was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget!

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Current Mood: Esctatic

I’m so happy for them!  And even though I was rooting for the Colts, I’d have been happy for the Bears too!  But it was a great game!  Hope everyone else that watched it enjoyed it!  Time for bed now.  The kids’ school is already delayed 2 hours tomorrow and I am fairly sure they’ll close, but I still have to work :-(  NO FAIR!!

So have a good nights sleep all!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it is THAT time!  What am I talking about you wonder?

IT’S SUPER BOWL TIME!!!

So, without further adieu, I bid you a farewell until the game is over!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COLTS!!!!  (unless you’re rooting for the Bears)

It’s so hard to believe this is it!  *cry*