Friday, August 22, 2008

ZZZZzzzzz . . . .

So I'm tired. Really tired.

Because I keep staying up to watch the Olympics. All the really good stuff happens after my bedtime. (As my mother would tell you, I used to be good at sleeping it. Gold-medal class, you might say. But somewhere, along with the last twenty-some years of getting up every morning to get the kiddos off, I've lost the gift.)

I keep swearing to turn it off. By 10:30, but then there's just a BIT more that I want to see. And then 11, and so on, and I'm feeling the drag.

But I love it. Not entirely sure why . . . it's the ultimate reality tv, I suppose, the one that the producers really can't manipulate. People have the competition of their lives, do way better than anybody predicts. Or they drop batons, or get disqualified. And there's no way of telling which it's going to be.

Do you have a favorite? Mine is, and forever has been, since I was a kid and Olga Korbut flipped over the top of an uneven bar in a way nobody had ever done before, gymnastics. I just can't believe anybody can do that stuff.

Tonight, however, I'm going to bed. I swear.

Have you all been watching?

Susie

11 comments:

Helen Brenna said...

The volleyball's been fun!

Anonymous said...

Yeah sure you'll go to bed:) I've been saying that for 2 weeks! I figure I'll sleep at a normal hour on Monday.

Debra Dixon said...

Oh, I love the Olympics. I haven't gotten to see as much as I wanted this year but I got swimming and diving and the women's gymnastics covered.

It really is the first reality tv!

catslady said...

I've been staying up until 2 - seems like a lot of good stuff is on at night. But there seems to be a lot missing. I don't know if they aren't showing it or it's on during the day when I don't see it.

KylieBrant said...

I don't stay up like you...except to see Shawn Johnson. The gymnastics just enthrall me. And the fact that she's from Iowa is so cool. I was thrilled when she finally took the gold!

Anonymous said...

I confess...I sat up until USA beat Russia last night - indoor volley ball. I FINALLY got to sleep about 4 a.m.

*yawn*

Playground Monitor said...

Thank goodness for the DVR. But I've still had more than my share of late nights over the past two weeks (as you can see from the time stamp on this comment). I've always loved to watch swimming (I saw Mark Spitz win his 7 gold medals), gymnastics (I remember being amazed by Olga Korbut too, and then four years later Nadia wowed us all) and track and field (my boys ran track from an early age and #2 son went to college on a track scholarship, so I ate and breathed track meets from 1984 to 2005).

This year I got into the volleyball because the DH plays competitive volleyball and he was watching (and explaining it all to me). I got really excited about the US Golds in beach volleyball.

We had a hometown girl swimming in the backstroke. She won a bronze and silver and we're so proud of her.

And don't you love all the human interest stories? Lolo Jones being homeless and finally refusing to move again so she could get involved in track. Decathlete Bryan Clay being involved in gang activity until he got involved in track. Misty May-Treanor sprinkling a bit of her mother's ashes on the court after winning the gold. The open water swimmer from South Africa who lost a leg in an accident and still swims. The German weightlifter who dedicated his gold medal to his late wife and then cried like a baby.

Does anyone else find it ironic that Ambien is the sponsor of the after-midnight broadcast?

Marilyn

Unknown said...

I think half of America is sleep deprived! Blame the Olympics. such wonderful, primal drama. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat-- it's all there and all real.

I'm just glad beach volleyball is finally over. I got tired of those two perky gals. And I kept wondering what other worthy things were being ignored by the cameras while the media was focused on their mesh bikinis. Marilyn, it sounds like I missed a lot!

And ::chuckle:: about the Ambien. I hadn't even thought of that!

Anonymous said...

go woman adn men basketball,

Lori said...

I'm laughing, because Iposted on this very thing. The Olympics are kicking my ass. I'm so exhausted. Yet, I can't stop watching. It's a sickness, I tell you!

Just when I think I'm done... gymnastics and swimming are finished... Nooooo... they start the diving! *sigh* I'm so glad they're almost finished! I need my sleep!

Susan Kay Law said...

I was asleep by 11 last night! Feel much better. I'll miss it, though.

At least I resisted watching the basketball team at 2 in the morning on Sunday. My son, however, did not, despite the fact he had to work a ten hour day on Sunday. He was wiped last night.

Susie