You don't have to be an Olympic athlete...

... to eat like one.

At least that's what McDonald's current advertisement says.

What's most disturbing about this ad is that you know it (will) work. People may know that world class athletes don't train on a diet of McD's, but will likely be encouraged by the phrase.

It's just sad.

And disturbing.

We pay for our bad health twice: once when we heavily subsidize the food industry by providing the agribusinesses with incredibly cheap corn, and then we pay higher health care costs on the other end when we eat our way to death (diabetes, heart disease, etc.)

Eggnog gone...

A month ago I made some egg nog. I waited the requisite 3 weeks before digging into it, and I must say, it was darned tasty. Both Mary and mom thought it tasted pretty good.

The nog was very smooth and easy to drink. I think I'll probably cut the alcohol just a little bit next time because it was pretty boozy.

What A Day

Mary is gone for the weekend at a retreat, which means Simone and I get to spend the weekend together.

She woke up this morning, pretty chipper. She did ask for momma, but handled it well when I reminded her where Mary was by asking, "When is nana coming?" Ha.

We planned our day while hanging out in bed - there was much to do.

First up was the sheep barn, which is open for lambing season. Mary and I have talked about going every year for the past 9 years, and I was finally going to check it out. We piled into the Burley - with a blanket and a hot water bottle to keep her warm.

It was a beautiful day for a ride, and we cut through Bald Hill. They're doing a bunch of construction there, so I stopped to read the posted "what are we doing?" sign. Turns out they're relocating a major road, which in the long run will be nice (adding a bunch of wetlands), but right now means the walking & bike path is going to be right next to the new road.

The gravel road up to the barn was a bit tough with a road bike - especially while towing a trailer.

the barn was filled with sheep chewing their cud. A few of the sheep had little lambs, cute as can be. Simone really wanted to feed and pet the sheep.

One of the gals decided she'd been pregnant long enough and had her lamb right in front of us. It was pretty exciting - and much faster than the last birth I attended (Simone's).

After the birth we headed out because we had a children's matinee to get to. Regi Carpenter led us in some songs and a very interactive version of the three little pigs. Simone soaked up the stories. We saw a classmate of Simone's at the matinee and also our neighbor.

After the stories we headed outside and over to central park's playground where we bumped into another friend of Simone's (and Mary's). The kids played and the parents chatted it up. The five of us headed over to the library to get some more books, where we parted ways.

Simone and I then walked over to the "move store" to get a movie. She'd been debating between Kipper and Mamma Mia since we planned the day in bed at 7am. In the end we went with Kipper (though I was pushing for the new release of "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs" which got great reviews).

Then we headed to the co-op to pick up some food, and back on home to let poor Hazel out of her crate.

Of course we had dinner, watched Kipper, and went to bed. whew!

We'll have to see what tomorrow brings...

Winter Olympics Take 2

I've been watching the women's downhill.

First impression: Best last name ever Görgl. (Though I think NBC spells it Goergl). Really cool name.

Second impression: Lindsey Vonn's run was pretty impressive. And even better, the commentators analyzed it afterwords and showed how Lindsey (Ms. Vonn) was favoring her injured shin. That was worth watching. Congrats to her and her gold medal (crushing the competition).

Winter Olympics

It's the first night of the Olympics (opening ceremonies don't count).

My impression: way way way too many commercials. I'm pretty sure there is more time spent on commercials than actually showing competition.

The short-track skating was pretty exciting with Ohno getting silver only because the two Koreans took each other out on the last turn.

What I don't get is why the commentators are so bad. I'm watching the women's moguls - and some gal started down the hill. The commentators commented that she was skiing with a torn ACL. Then we're treated to this, "She's skiing with a torn ACL. Imagine... what it'd be like to ski 3 football fields with a torn ACL."

Thanks genius. I have no idea what it'd be like. Imagine, the most beautiful sunset in the world, it's like the most beautiful sunset in the world.

That, and all the women "really excel in the middle section [of the moguls]". They all excel doing moguls? That's not helping me understand the sport or what to look for while watching the event.

And then there was the short track. Lots of bumping and passing going on. One of the commentators asked, "is that [bump] legal?" The other jumped in and really helped out with, "I wouldn't want to have to make that call at this level." Thanks a lot for your help. What about this gem? "She's skiing for a medal here." Really? In the Olympics? She wants a medal? I thought she was skiing for fourth, or maybe for the commemorative dessert plates.

And earlier there was the ski jumping, and again they'd say the same thing about all the jumpers. "Look how he explodes... immediately gets over the skiis... really loking for the air...". So... not... useful.

The commentators are really helping no more than if they were saying, "ooh, ahh. very pretty."

Some of the best athletes, some of the worst commentators.

Makes me wish I were watching the Canadian coverage (just ask my dad about the XC skiing event he watched 10 years ago when a skier broke a pole...)

Hungry

I love the "Hungry" monster that weight watcher's is using in their ads.

On a whim, I just googled for it and it turns out, Hungry is dangerous: Weight Watchers' Hungry Dolls Recalled.

Sigh... it's true, they can't be found.