Cheering For The Hodgepodge

So here we are, another week gone by, and no blogging except Hodgepodge blogging. Some weeks are like that and I'm trying not to let it bother me.

I'm only slightly successful.

Let's carry on anyway. If you've answered this week's questions add your blog link at the end of my post then leave a comment for the blogger before you.

1. February can be a little bit tricky given the weather and the winter and the whatnot. I read a list (here) of things you can do to make your February brighter which included-start planning your next trip, take more baths, make your own chocolate covered strawberries, and exercise in preparation for swimsuit season. Anything on the list you might try? Which suggestion on the list appeals to you most? Tell us something not on the list that helps make your February brighter.

Well I am all about soaking in a hot bath and planning my next trip so those two things are on my February list for sure. I love strawberries and I love chocolate, but I'm not really a fan of making my own chocolate covered strawberries. They're not my favorite treat and they're so messy, both the making and the eating. Exercising should be on my list, but will it make the month brighter? Hmmm....

Something not on the list? I'm going to say buy a fun springtime top, bag, or shoes, even a new lipstick...something to look forward to wearing once winter makes her exit. 

2. Tell us about something you've seen or done recently that you'd say was 'super'?

How 'bout those Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl?! Yay for the hometown team! Plus I really enjoyed all the back stories of this particular group of players. 

3. Best thing you ate in a 'bowl' last week?

I made a pasta dish last week I had kind of forgotten about and consequently hadn't made in ages. I know I used to make this recipe pretty often, but guess we tired of it so I took it out of rotation. It's light as far as pasta goes-chicken, red pepper, squash, zucchini and black olives in a lemon-garlic sauce. My daughter2 had come for dinner that evening and we all loved it.  

4. Something you're 'cheering' for right now?

I'm going to say teachers. My daughter has shared a couple of things with me recently that just make me want to stand up and cheer for all the teachers out there who are full of compassion and care so deeply for the students in their classrooms outside of their classrooms. 

5. The Winter Olympics begin Friday, February 9th in Pyeong Chang, South Korea. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being all in and 1 being no interest whatsoever) how interested are you in the games? Which event do you most want to see (you'll find a list here).

I do like watching the Olympics, summer and winter both. I'm not glued to the TV 24/7, but I'll watch some coverage most evenings, so will give myself an 8. My favorites are probably downhill skiing and the ski jump. It amazes me there are people who literally fly on a pair of skis. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

In honor of the Olympics throwing it back to a trip we made to Austria in 2006. We won't even talk about these cutie patooties who were in high school still. HIGH SCHOOL!! 

We took an elevator to the top of the ski jump in Innsbruck, looked over,  felt a little dizzy...

...well I felt dizzy, hubs contemplated giving it a try (you can't-there's glass in front), and then said a prayer for all the mamas of ski jumpers everywhere. 

I don't know anything about skiing in South Korea, but imagine it will be beautiful too. 

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Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be ski jumpers

Who else loves watching the Olympics? I admire the skill and discipline of the athletes and I love the beauty of the winter setting. The 2010 Winter Olympics begin tomorrow night and we'll be tuning in for alot of the games. One of the first events is ski jumping and I'm for sure going to watch that. Because they are crazy.

In 2005 we took a family ski holiday to a little town in Austria called Seefeld. It is a storybook village plunked down in the Alps and we all say this was one of our very favorite trips.

We flew to Munich and drove a couple of hours over to Seefeld...a small avalanche had closed the main road so we had to come in on a more circuitous route and it was absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a quaint little hotel and woke up every morning to this view from our window.

Everyone was so friendly, the food was wonderful, and the weather was perfect. It snowed about a foot half way through our trip which made for great skiing.

About mid week we took a day off from the slopes and drove about 10 miles up the road to the town of Innsbruck. Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics a couple of times, once in 1964 and again in 1976. I remember the 1976 games...that was the year Dorothy Hamill won a gold medal in figure skating and drummed up business for hair salons all across America. Everyone wanted her haircut in 1976. She was the Jennifer Anniston of the Winter Games.

While in Innsbruck we went out to the ski jump venue known as Bergisel. You come in to the stadium and ride a cable car up to the bottom of the ski jump. Even writing that doesn't sound right.

There is a cafe here and we had some lunch and then rode the lift up to the visitors platform. The tower at Bergisel is about 165 feet high and they take off going about 60 mph. There is a small balcony on the visitors platform and you can stand just above the speeding lane of the jump. It looked scary enough from the ground.

But from the top?

The word steep does not do it justice.

Do you notice the cemetery just on the other side of the stadium? Hmmm....

As we stood there I had to wonder about the first person to try this. I was sure it was a man. Sorry, I know that is terribly sexist but I can imagine some guys sitting around saying, 'hey, I have an idea..." In fact it was a man, a Norwegian lieutenant named Olaf Rye back in 1809. He flew just over 30 feet in front of an audience (of course). I guess this started that one upmanship thing because in 1862 another Norwegian jumped almost 100 feet over a rock without the benefit of poles. It would never occur to me to jump 100 feet over a rock, with or without poles. And it was 1862 so I'm pretty certain the gear was not anything even remotely close to what they have today. Today they can go over 600 feet.

Not always successfully though. Remember the video footage from the Wide World of Sports that was played back in the 1970's as they ran the opening credits....'the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat'...yeah...the agony of defeat was a ski jumper who miscalculated and went tumbling out of control while we watched. There is a building at Bergisel you can walk through to read some of the history of the sport. They also have a continuously running video clip of ski jump disasters. It is almost too hard to watch. You have to look away.

Did you know there is an Olympic sport called skeleton racing? The racers go head first down a bobsled track while their chin and toes are just millimeters from the ice all while balancing on a steel and fiberglass sled going approximately 80 miles an hour. They must have the same DNA as the ski jumpers.

Ski jumping begins on Day 1 in Vancouver...the qualifying round is at 10 am Friday morning and the individual final rounds on Saturday morning. I'll be watching. I admire their guts and their coordination and their skill. And their mamas, who I'm sure hold their breath until the skis are planted firmly back on solid ground.