Guest blogger is Loralee Anderson, a character from my novel, DEATH BY GRAMMY
Howdy,
Lawsy, can you believe these olympics? My butt’s been so glued to my couch that if it weren’t for the commercials, I’d probably starve to death. And the commercials about the athletes’ mothers–they say they’re for Proctor and Gamble. Do they make Kleenex or something? Every one of them makes me cry.
I tried having Olympic open houses where friends could come and go as they pleased, but every time they held a medal ceremony I turned into a blubbering idiot. I finally had to limit my company to just Nan and Emma. Of course I TiVo’ed the gymnastics to watch during the daytime with Emma’s daughters who are five and seven and as limber as noodles. Don’t be surprised if you see them at the 2024 games.
A few months ago, I did a month-long gig in a downtown bar that was struggling financially–mainly cause the owners were fighting like cats and dogs, but that’s another story. I was doing okay and let them go a few weeks without paying me. When they gave up and closed the doors, they offered me one of their 52″ flat-screen HD televisions. Now, I confess I have to work hard not to be a couch potato and I knew this weren’t going to help me none. But it was take it or get stiffed so I brought it home and vowed to only watch it on weekends and special occasions like The Olympics and American Idol.
While I loved the gymnasts, it was the USA swim team that really won me over. Could the reason be they weren’t so intense? They seemed to actually have fun and even made a music video. You know that won my vote! And being kind of loose paid off for them in the medal count, for sure.
As I write this (with three days of London games left) the US has 90 medals, including 39 gold. Over a third (31) of the medals are in swimming — 16 gold, 9 silver, and 6 bronze. The next largest category for the US is track and field with 24. And there are still a couple of swimming events to be held so that count could go even higher.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know Michael Phelps (yep, swim team) has won a record 22 career medals. This year he got 4 gold and 2 silvers. Not to be outdone, 17-year-old Missy Hamilton from Colorado also won 4 gold and 2 silver medals, more than any US woman EVER in any Olympic sport. How about that? Now she gets to go home and be a normal high school senior. You think?
I’m so inspired when the Olympics are over I might even head to a pool myself. Now, that’s saying something since I don’t even swim!
~Loralee
