Carrying The Olympic Torch

So it seems that like the majority of the nation,

I have developed Olympic Fever...

It started with randomly catching a swim match here, a volleyball set there, a parallel bars competition and some other random events. Then I moved on to my favorite sport, basketball.

I watched team USA slaughter China (boo hoo for Yao Ming).

It was cool to see the President sitting in the stands and the sheer pandimonium when Kobe entered the arena. Go USA!

I could feel the fever rising yesterday morning as I gleefully sat through a weight lifting competition. I thought to myself, "Would I normally sit and watch this?" No. But something about the Olympics just adds that touch of magic to even the boringest of events. Ha ha ha. I just couldn't tear myself away.

Then, last night, after a long day, a lengthy service at church, and a late night outing afterwards to El Torito (where I ate waaaay too much), I got home, got ready for bed, and turned on the Olympics.

Swimming. Cool!

I watched Katie Hoff lose the Gold and end up with the Silver Medal. Awww bummer. Well at least it's a step up from the Bronze she won the day before. (How do I know these things?! The fever has taken over it seems.)

Then it was time for the Men's Four 100 Freestyle Relay. I perked up when I heard that Michael Phelps was in the relay and that France had been talking trash about the U.S., saying that they would smash us.

Hmmmm, interesting. (Now during this time, I'm laying in bed, comfy and kind of lethargic.)

And they're off!

The U.S. was strong at the start, taking control of the lead... but halfway through it, here came France. France maintained the lead for the rest of the relay. Now they are down to the last man on the team, Jason Lezak, the team's captain. He was a good distance behind France and the announcers were talking about the U.S. team getting the silver medal.

But wait, what's this? Here comes Lezak, somehow gaining on France. The place is going crazy, the announcers are yelling almost incoherently. I find myself sitting up and yelling, GO GO GO GO! (Remember, it's 11:30 at night, and the whole house was asleep.) I'm bouncing up and down on the bed, holding my breath. The race is over. Who won? It's too close to tell.

France is anxiously looking up at the scoreboard. Lezak, Weber-Gale, Jones and Phelps all have hope on their faces. It only took a split second to reveal the Gold Medal Winners, but that split second felt like eternity.

We Won.

There I was, in my P.J.s, more than half a day away from this live event and I was yelling and clapping my hands as if I were right there and these were my best friends, not even realizing the ruckus I was making.

Wow. How exciting!

See I told you, Olympic Fever.

So how here I am at work... (yes, I blog at work! Isn't that horrible of me!?) and I'm going to find a live feed so I can watch/listen to the Olympics as I work.

AND - I'm trying to think of a way to hold my own Olympics with my family and friends. (hmmmm, pie eating contest anyone?)

So hats off to all you USA Athlete's.

May your time in Beijing be GOLDEN!

~The Gold Queen~