Opening Ceremonies

I'm excited for the Olympics to start. (Technically they already have since there's like a 12 hour time difference between us and Beijing.... ) Above photos are a preview of what you can expect during opening ceremonies tonight. For the AZ fan base, it starts at 6:30 p.m. I already have my DVR queued up...

Growing up, I enjoyed playing sports... not that I was amazingly good at any of them, but I had fun nonetheless. I always enjoyed going to PE and played on all the YW volleyball and basketball teams. I never tried out for any school teams, mostly because of my "shyness". (I'm really grateful that Megan and Taylor seem to have no problem "trying out" for something... that's one trait I didn't want to pass on. Ian might be more like me... only time will tell, I guess. ) As a family, we really didn't watch sports that much on TV... but the Olympics were always the exception.

When I married Eric, I was dumped headfirst into the world of the NBA, NFL and MLB. Good thing I was raised to cheer for the right teams... SF Giants, SF 49ers and Golden State Warriors. In the early years of marriage, I would watch games with Eric and I really did follow everything that was going on. I knew the names of the key players on each team and I even enjoyed watching old Michael Jordan videos with Eric on nights when TV was too boring and we had no other life or hobbies (too poor!) (Yeah, we were pathetic... I know.... ) The more children I had, the more I drifted away from watching Sports. Even now, I don't mind a good game on TV, but I will never sit down and turn it on just because I want to watch it. Honestly, I'd rather go to the church and play a "pick up" game with other people than watch sports on TV.

But the Olympics are different. I will watch just about anything that's on. My kids love it too... and they know it's a soft spot for me, so they take advantage of my weakness. Sundays are usually TV free (church videos only), but they know that I will cave during the Olympics. (I also cave for the Superbowl... but that's Eric's one Sunday a year I let him watch football on Sunday.)

Some of my favorite Olympic sports to watch:

• Gymnastics (mens and womens... the women (girls) are so flexible and graceful and the men's strength just blows me away)


• Track and Field (it's just so exciting and anyone who's ever run in a track competition can't escape the excitement)


• the Equestrian competition (my mom taught me to ride English style, so I can relate just a little bit)


• Aquatics (one of my biggest regrets from High School is not joining the Swim Team...)


• This year, I plan to watch the Triathlon too... now that I've done one and I'm signed up for another November 1st, I have more interest than ever before!

What's your favorite sport to watch in the Olympics???