Picnic By The Pool

Sadly, we have to admit that Summer's drawing to a close. This is Minnesota after all. So our usual lunch gang decided we should have a picnic by the pool today at the condo.

Tanya wasn't able to join us, but Julie, Jennifer Ryan and I had a nice time soaking up some rays...and you can see we had just a little bit of food as well.

Cowabunga, beach buddies!

But then Jennifer was notified by Owl Post that we had to get back to work. Glad it wasn't a Howler!

Star Wars Invades San Francisco

Is San Francisco really being invaded? Well, not really. My friend, Michelle, shared this link with me, and it's way too good to pass up.

So enjoy the clip. They really did a great job with this!

http://current.com/items/89204971_death_star_over_san_francisco

The Olympic Zones

I know it's hard to see here, so click on the picture and it's a little easier to see what I'm talking about. But these are the four Olympic websites I have going constantly at home (not at work...I promise!!!)

But the other morning for us while they were asleep in Beijing, someone forgot to turn off the webcam in the newsroom and give us lovely shots of Beijing. Instead, we had to keep looking at this. Perhaps Eric Perkins planned that. Those two are known for doing goofy things.

Like the other day, Perk kept showing the webcam a cracker he was eating, and then we watched Drill eat a banana.

I know I've said it before, but read their blogs. I love the ones about Drill and his laundry.

Out of Control

So today quite by accident, I discovered something on Facebook: Pass the Baton at the NBC Olympics.com site. It's a fun challenge where you pass the baton to others all over the US. You gain medals the more you pass your batons, and you can request batons from others. (I've passed the baton off on a few of you...get going!)

And then on NBC's Olympics.com site, you can play Olympic Quick Picks.

Yet more Olympic-related things to keep me from sleep!

(Go check it out for yourself on Facebook and Olympics.com!)

Addiction

Addiction.

Merriam-Webster's defines addiction as such: "compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal."

I think they need to add one more word in that description for not only me, but for many of us (and I don't mean the word 'Disney', but that certainly can fall into the category as well). The word I'm thinking of presently is 'Olympics'.

Yep, as usual, and as you can tell from my previous post, I can't get enough of the Olympics. I'm not even a big sports nut, but every time the Olympics come around, I can't help myself. I tell this story to people, but back in 1984 when the Olympics were in Los Angeles, my mother and I got hooked on pin trading. There was this huge inflatable Coke bottle near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and we went nuts. And then when Disney started with the pin trading, well, those of you who know me (and are equally addicted) know about that.

It didn't help that many of the events happened all over Southern California, but that addiction started back then. So now, thanks to Tivo, I'm able to watch Olympics when I get home from work, after dinner, when I get up in the morning before I go to work...you get the idea.

And to top things off, now I can also Beijing Cam, thanks to one of our local news stations. And let me tell you, anchor Eric Perkins (Perk) and photojournalist John Drilling (Drill) are hilarious to watch when they are at their desks. They will do all sorts of wacky stuff for the camera. See for yourself.

http://www.kare11.com/news/olympics/beijing/default.aspx?menuid=141

When they are away, you get nice views of Beijing. Thankfully, I'm too busy at work to spend time watching that all the time, but will sneak a peak at lunch. Check out their blog, too. Those boys are nuts. They went to the wrong airport here and almost missed their flight. But then, like me, when in Los Angeles, they had to eat at In-N-Out Burgers.

Okay, have to check out the scores and the medal count....

Ni Hau, Y'all!

It's time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and I'm excited! In fact, I decided to throw an Olympic Opening Ceremony party for some friends. How sad is that?

Since I had a short time to plan, I didn't get to go all out, but we did have lots of Chinese food, personalized Chinese Zodiac place mats, Chinese and Greek trivia, and customized fortune cookies, all with Star Wars sayings. We even had our own drinking game based on what Garry would or wouldn't say.

With Hercules meeting Mulan, my Disney decorating theme was strong with my Disney friends. And I also have to thank Carl for sending a WDCC Olympics Goofy poster for my door and to Michelle for calling us to see if we were having a good time.

But the biggest thanks has to go to Sara, Dani, Chris and Garry, for putting up with my constant Chinese trivia ("You are now eating bao. 'Bao' means 'treasure' in Chinese."), my attempts are cooking some of the food, and for making them pose with these lanterns.

I'd be surprised if they ever came back for another party. But at least I didn't make them dress up in the Olympic colors and make them pose like the rings, like I told them I would make them.

They even posed for a picture (we were well into the drinking game at this point).

And here's the welcome sign I made for the party. I think my neighbors will steer clear of me after seeing the party theme.

Star Wars: Nothing But Star Wars

Well, I'm going to be releasing my inner-Star Wars geekness now. St Paul was lucky enough to be one of the cities to host the Star Wars exhibit at our Science Museum. Here's proof that I was there.

To quote my favorite Star Wars character, "We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life." If you are brave enough, click the link below to see all the pictures I took at the exhibit. May the Force Be With You!

http://picasaweb.google.com/disneytimon/StarWarsExhibitAtStPaulScienceMuseum