I am not one of those people who have to watch every single minute of every single event. I am more of a, hey....it's on.....I might as well watch it... type of fan. But, it does only come along every four years, and it would feel un-American not to watch at least some of it and root for "our" Olympians. Right?
I just got done watching the women's freestyle skiing, which made me feel like the most uncoordinated person on the face of the earth! The one and only time I went skiing....it wasn't pretty. I could barely ski down the hill frontwards. These women? They were doing all kinds of flips and tricks, and skiing down the hill BACKWARDS!
Then there is ladies figure skating. I have been ice skating only a few times in my life, and I could barely manage to not have to hang on to the walker while skating! Yet, here I sit, along with the rest of my family, pretending we are Olympic judges.
"Look at how slow she's going compared to the tiny 15 year old girl from Russia!" Yeah....like I am one to talk.
Ice dancing? I can barely dance WITHOUT skates!
The luge? I would probably be hurdling to my death. As a child, I almost impaled myself on our wooden toboggan. Remember those? All wood and sharp metal? Ahhh....those were the good ole' days.
I do have one question: Why did they choose to have the winter Olympics in a part of Russia that is not known for having the correct winter temperatures? They said that today, the temperatures were in the 40's, and the snow was like mashed potatoes. Why didn't they have it in Siberia? There's plenty of cold weather and snow there!
Of course, they could always come and take some of the snow from around here. I guarantee you no one would mind. Free snow, Russia! Take all you want! Think warm thoughts, Amiee.....warm thoughts...
On another note, my youngest daughter's beloved hamster, Daisy (2 years old), was found dead in her cage last night. Here she is in happier times:
The good part? She was all curled up with her head buried under the bedding, and she just looked like she was sleeping. My daughter went in to feed her, and then came to the stairs and told me that she thought Daisy was dead. I asked her why she thought that, and she said, "She isn't breathing". Okay then...
I had heard horror stories from other friends who had hamsters that lived a long time, and was dreading how she would eventually die. Hamsters are not known to live long lives. Two of our friends hamster's hair had all fallen out, and they had turned purple. The poor hamsters were absolutely miserable. One friend had their cat eat their hamster. Another had lost their hamster through a tiny hole in the wall, the hamster became trapped, and eventually died in there. Compared to the other possible ways she could have died, going to sleep and not waking up sounds so much better.
We still have my middle daughter's hamster, Henry, that is living. We got him and Daisy on the same day. I'm afraid it's probably just a matter of time for him too. Even though you try to prepare yourself, and your kids, for your pet's inevitable death, it's always tough. You get attached to those cute little buggers! I am going to pray that he dies in his sleep, just like Daisy did.
Here is our dilemma now: How do you bury a dead hamster when it's winter? Since we do not live in a warm climate, the ground here is frozen solid, and I do mean solid. Trust me on this.
Some of the nativity people are still out there from Christmas. I have tried to dig them out, and I was successful in getting one of the wisemen, along with Mary (who is holding baby Jesus), Joseph, and the cow. Yes, apparently there was a cow at Jesus' birth. Not sure why there was just a cow, and not a donkey, but that is what the light-up set came with, so just go with it. However, the other two wisemen will have to remain out there until warmer weather hits and some of this snow melts. Their cords that make them "light up" are frozen to the ground, which makes THEM frozen to the ground. Of course, because of all the snow, the one wiseman is completely covered with it, and the other one just has his head sticking out of the snow drift. It kind of looks like he was beheaded or something. So sorry, dear neighbors. I tried.
Anyway, currently, Daisy-the-much-loved-and-adorable-hamster, now resides in a makeshift coffin (Glad container), covered in bedding, in the hamster morgue, otherwise known as the cold garage.
One of our friends told us to be sure that we didn't forget about her being in there. She said her parents put her hamster in the garage when it died in the winter, and then forgot about it. Later on, she found just the tiny hamster skeleton hidden in the garage. Yikes!
My daughter wrote a very touching story today about Daisy. It caused tears to well up in my eyes, but it also made me laugh a little too. She was very honest in it. She said that she loved Daisy so much, even though she made her room smell bad. Ha!
Good-bye, sweet Daisy. Even though you sometimes smelled bad, we will all miss you...
The circle of life ...You could put Daisy in the freezer until the ground is soft enough for burial or what about cremation and thrown to the wind? Just a thought. We have had wake ceremonies for all our pets, it gives them the same value as people and really they are part of the family whether it be for a long or short time.
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