I love the Olympics!!!!

Can I just tell everyone how much I love the Olympics!!! I really really really really love the Olympics! I remember as a child always loving the winter Olympics because I thought the ice skating was so beautiful, but my love for them has only grown. We lived in Salt Lake when the Olympics were there in 2002. I am sure it was not until then that I really got an inkling of what the Olympics are really about. Millions of people putting aside their prejudices and gathering together for a common dream. I worked down town when the Olympics were in Salt Lake City and it was truly amazing just to walk down the street and hear a dozen different languages and to know that really and truly we are all brothers and sisters and at least for a little while we could forget our differences. A great example of this was at the women's team gymnastics competition where shouts of "China! China! China!" were heard in English! I just think that is amazing and awesome! The other part of the Olympics that I love is to see people dream big and achieve those dreams.

I know everyone on earth is talking about Michael Phelps. His dream of making Olympics history, and realizing that dream, hopefully has inspired everyone who has watched him swim. Gracie, who is only 3, loves to watch Michael Phelps swim! Every morning we turn on the computer and see what Michael Phelps has done during the night. She and I hold our breath while we wait to see who is going to touch the wall first at the end of the race. Gracie watches the swimming and says, "Mommy, I want to swim there tomorrow." I think this is more of a dream to just swim in that big swimming pool where there is so much excitement than to actually participate in the Olympics, but I hope that I can teach her that if she really did want to compete in the Olympics, nothing is impossible if she dreams and works for it. I love the Olympics. I have been watching it every night until I fall asleep on the couch and David comes to get me and makes me go to bed. I love to learn about the different countries and cultures and competitors. I just love the Olympics.