The Hot Dog and the Gold Medal

So finally, an urge or a little inspiration has finally gotten me to sit down and write. My friend Jess (actually closer to a niece!), but friend too, told me that she was waiting for me to blog…waiting for that little bit of Jenn that would what…give her entertainment? Make her laugh? Or maybe just help her to kill some time in between her bouts of being amazing? Who knows! Well tonight it finally hit me.

I just spent the evening watching the Olympic Games and the amount of emotion that I am feeling right now is so overwhelming, so consuming, that I needed to find an outlet. The weird thing is that I’m not a writer, so why the sudden need to write? Hmm.

I felt like crying when Shaun White won gold. Crying over snowboard half pipe? How could you not cry? How many times in a person’s life will they have the opportunity that he just had? He had the opportunity to just go out there and hot dog it – the chance to not only BE the best, but then to go out there and enjoy it. To stick his tongue out and say nah, nah, nah nah boo boo! What a day at work! When was the last time you got to do that? Will you ever get to do that? I just might give it a try next time I have a moment of greatness at work…I’ll report back how that goes over.

Of course my mood then shifted a little - I started thinking that as a mom of a little boy (and a Colorado native to boot) – someday he might want to do that, hot dog it in a snow half pipe like Shaun White. Oh help me. Ok, enough on that thought.

Well before the whole waterworks over the snowboarding episode, I was cheering when Lindsey Vonn won her gold medal. Simply amazing! And she did it injured. How many times have you thought of calling out of work for a headache, a cold? She just won a gold medal with a shin injury that would have most of us in the hospital. Personally, I would probably be in traction (come on…y’all know my threshold for pain). Why can’t we all have that same drive, that same energy? What does it take to feel like that? I can’t stop asking myself what is it that she knows, that someone like my (hopefully, soon-to-be-ex) brother-in-law can't even get a glimpse of? And of course…I got angry.

So I went from excited and cheering, to crying and proud…and then found myself angry. It is simply amazing to me how closely tied our emotions are. The reality is that I have spent a lot of time being angry lately…so I wasn’t particularly surprised. But I knew that I had to shift it back…so I started to think about the “podium worthy” moments of my day…

Today, I won the gold medal at being a mom! I sang the “poopie on the potty song” to my little boy who was so proud that he actually did it on the potty today (subsequent tries were not as successful, but credit where credit is due people). Oh, I guess I should mention that I sang this song in the parking lot of daycare – with the accompaniment of our part-time nanny, Kris. Yup, it was a proud moment.

And I think I take home the bronze for my good wife efforts. I would have liked another gold, but it was a tough crowd tonight. I definitely lost points for making spaghetti for dinner – I’m sorry, I can eat spaghetti for dinner and not be overcome by the evil carb guilt – forever will we disagree on this. Besides tonight I couldn’t help it, it was quick and easy. Carbohydrates aside, I tried to regain my position, by giving him a little pep talk. I know that sounds lame, but I really meant it when I told him that everything is going to be okay, and really, I believe that.

Hmm…I believe that! Not a bad note to go to bed on.