Men's Olympic figure skating

Evan Lysacek won the gold!! Yeah!!! I stayed up WAAAAAAAY late to see the 5 minute (or less) medal ceremony. Oh, well, I am very happy he won. He has worked really hard and skated flawlessly.

Next big event for me is ice dancing. Starts tomorrow night. I think I must resign myself to staying up really late until the Olympics are over. Thank goodness I don't have to get up early.....except on Sunday...

I actually enjoy all the winter Olympics sports except speed skating and curling.

Love the Winter Olympics!

It's figure skating heaven for me this week with the Olympics. I love having the competitions and seeing so many skaters! One of my "rich girl" fantasies is to be a figure skating groupie and go to all the competitions every year! The pairs competition finished first, and I thought the winners were spectacular. Since we don't really have great USA pairs, I was happy with the Chinese wins. I have watched Shen and Zhao for many years, and they are magnificent! The Russians have dominated the pairs for as long as I can remember, so it's nice to have somebody else for a change!

Tonight was the men's short program. I have followed Yevgeny Plushenko's career and was very happy to see his fantastic short program. I am also a great fan of Evan Lysacek, the best American, in my opinion. Another favorite, Brian Joubert of France, messed up and would have to have a phenomenal free skate to overcome it. The Japanese have created quite a strong figure skating culture, and two of their men are particularly strong.

I don't have as strong preferences for the ladies figure skaters. I think they perform first on Friday, since the men's long program is on Thursday. The ladies are the "divas" and are usually placed on the program for the maximum viewing audience. The favorite is (South) Korean Kim Yu Nah, and she is SO GOOD! There are two Japanese skaters who have been around quite awhile, her chief competition. None of the U.S. ladies seem to have what it takes right now to be serious contenders for Gold, in my opinion. But they will do us proud, just the same.

Our ice dancers, Belbin and Agosto, are very good, but the other American pair, I can't remember their names since they are new to me, (Davis and White?) have a chance, as well. Belbin and Agosto have been skating quite awhile so I have watched many of their routines. I think Tanith Belbin is just about the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen. Ice dancing is relatively new to the Olympic Games, so I have had limited exposure to it. The Italians used to be the consistent champions, so I'm looking forward to seeing if they have good competitors this time around.

I do enjoy the skiing, as well, but I don't follow that sport and don't know the big players. I'm DVRing the broadcasts so I can fast forward to the skating parts!

January Funk isn't Fun!

As you must have noticed, it has been a month since I posted anything on my blog. I always have a tough time with January, probably because I enjoy Christmas so much, and in fact it has been holiday hog-heaven since Halloween, when you think about it! But this year has been particularly hard for some reason; probably a combination of factors. So I really haven't had any interest in sharing my dreary attitude and lack of accomplishments with anybody.

One of the problems with depression is that it robs you of any willingness to do the very things that will get you out of the depression. I'm not "that bad" fortunately, but pretty close to the edge. There are two obvious solutions: gratitude and exercise. But who cares??? Well, service is a third one. Anyway, I have so many blessings that it only adds to my guilt that I seem to have a lack of gratitude! Oh, well....Whatever! Now it's February and I need to stop whining!

I have Marina's quilt top nearly finished. I should post a photo of it. And I am making blocks for another quilt that I think will be really pretty. So I do have some fun things going on. And I'm keeping myself entertained with Netflix and Agatha Christie and Anne Perry and the scriptures and some new authors I'm trying. And Andy's kids had a sleepover at my house last weekend. I didn't take any photos but we all had fun. And every couple of days I have to make an excuse to go over to Andy's so I can hold the new baby! That's about as close to heaven as I get these days!

It doesn't help that we're having such a bogus winter with very rare snowstorms!

Elliott Ephraim Peterson

I haven't been able to see him "up close and personal" because I am getting over a bad cold, but he is spending his time in a bilirubin box, as have all of his siblings, and I understand he's doing just fine. He looks like the other ones a lot; I think he favors Abraham, but who knows with a brand new baby!? Time will tell! And no new info as to the McTeer eyes vs. Peterson eyes.

A Lovely Day with Libby and a New Grandson!

Elliott Ephraim Peterson finally joined his 2 brothers and 1 sister after causing his mother a myriad of discomforts for about 9 months! Both mother and baby are doing well, and the family is relieved that the hospital removed its restrictions on siblings visiting just in time for Andy to take the kids down to see new baby brother. The big question is, does he have squinty McTeer eyes or big Peterson eyes? Time will tell.

Libby treated me to a day in Salt Lake. Actually, we had lunch at Siegfried's Deli, a well-known small German restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City. I had bratwurst, spaetzle, and sauerkraut, and we split a side of red cabbage. Yum, yum!! Then we went to see "The Young Victoria" at the Broadway, just a few blocks away. I need to remember that it isn't very hard to get to the Broadway Theatre. It has mostly "art" films that I miss because I don't have anyone to go with. I guess I need to cultivate some "arty" friends so I can get up there more often. People who want to go to the symphonies are not that hard to find; nor is it tough to get companions for a play. But art films are pretty specialized. I'm not sure how successful I'll be in enlisting a neighbor or two!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Where in the world did 2009 go? It was over in a blink of an eye, it seems, and I'm sure 2010 will go even faster.

Love, love, love to anyone who reads my blog. I promise to be a better friend in 2010!

Tons (literally!) of Snow!

We have had a wonderful couple of days with lots of snow piling up. Yesterday it was pretty tough driving around, e.g. it took Ethan over an hour to drive here from BYU, which is usually perhaps 20 minutes. Today we got a little more snow, but it was also warmer and so the snow and slush on the roads melted and yet the ground is white and puffy. Beautiful!

Last night in the big snowstorm, Mark and Julianne Lusvardi and Jolene Hood (all Peterson cousins) came for chimichangas, which I have been making for the Bezzants/Petersons for many years. It is Elaine Bezzant's recipe, from back before chimichangas were commonly found in Mexican restaurants like they are now. Chimichangas were actually created in Tucson, and Sunset magazine ran a recipe many long years ago. Elaine made them and I picked up the recipe and the tradition. They were truly yummy, and it was so fun to be together with these favorite family members.

Tonight Sandra and Molly came over and we played "Ticket to Ride" which is one of our favorite games. As always, I came in last. I need to play it several times within a short period of time so I'll remember all the rules and strategies. It took me half the game to remember that I needed to be saving cards of a specific color, so by then I was way behind. Besides, I don't do much strategizing. But we had some good laughs and great conversation. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening!

Tomorrow is the last day of 2009. What a year this has been!! Everybody I know (except my family) thinks I must be rich because I did so much traveling last year. If they only knew...! But I am hoping to be able to bring in some extra money, and then I'll have to decide how to spend it. I'd love to spend a week with Reed, and a week with Scott, and a week with Libby...There will always be more places to go than I have money.

I'm starting to piece a new lap quilt. Gives me an excuse to watch TV!!