The Bean

Prior to my recent trip to Chicago when someone said "The Bean", I assumed they were referring to the glorious coffee chain The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf that sells those delicious things called "Ultimate Ice Blended Drinks". 

I went to Chicago to attend an Olympic Media Summit where we spent 12 hours answering questions for journalists, filming short bits for the NBC Olympic telecast to be aired in August, doing still shots for the media and a few on-camera interviews. I have never done anything like this before and it made my head spin. We had our day scheduled from 7am to 9pm. Which room to be in and how many minutes for each interview/shoot. After fielding the same question (ie. What do you feel about the situation in China and the recent protests surrounding the Torch Relay?) multiple times, I realized that everyone wants you to slip and say something controversial or catch you in an awkward statement they can edit to use as they will. Meaning you had to be on it and focused the whole time. Exhausting! 

Which is why I figured a little adventure outside the walls of our hotel was just what we needed. I googled the area and saw The Bean printed smack in the middle of the park two blocks from the hotel. I was curious. If it wasn't coffee, then what? This is what it is.......

It is a huge metallic structure made of highly polished stainless steel plates and it weighs 110 tons!

I went directly underneath the arch in the Bean and laid on my back, placing my camera on my stomach on timer. This is the result. See me- that tiny star fish shaped thing on the left. Find my reflections on the right. A hand here. Leg there. 

WHO LIKES ICE-CREAM????

I DO! And I am thinking you do too. So get yourself to a Baskin Robbins tomorrow, from 5-10pm for 31 cent scoops!!!!!! AND eating ice-cream is for a good cause tomorrow.....they are lowering prices to honor America's Firefighters! 

This will rival the price of a Thrifty(or Rite-Aide now, i think) ice cream cones when I was little. We would go down to get triple scoops for less than a dollar every sunday night. Those were the days! And lets revist them. :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Here I Come!!!!

China Slideshow

China Recap

Here is a belated picture montage of our trip to China last month. We went to Beijing to play in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament held in the Olympic venue we will use in a few months. The Chinese people were conducting a trial run of how the Games will be run. To work out the glitches. And we used it as a way to aquaint ourselves with the pool, and routine that we will use come competition time. Plus on days off we got to do some touristy things. We saw the Great Wall and then went on a scavenger hunt which encompassed almost all the rest of the major monuments.

Scavenger Hunt Highlights:
1. Taking out a person on a bike when our taxi pulled over in a bike lane. Opened the door to get out.....oops.
2. The Temple of Heaven is massive. (look for me in the bottom right of the picture....i look like a miniture.)
3. Playing a version of hacky-sac with some Chinese people in the gardens surrounding the Temple.
4. Going in a rickshaw through the Chinese "ghetto".
5. Bartering at the Pearl Street market.

I added a couple pictures of typical chinese things we saw while there.... the potty is just a hole ....the "Bird's Nest" is the stadium built for Track and Field and the Opening Ceremonies.......and does that guy not look like he and his pile of sticks are about to get strewn all over the highway?

An hour of darkness.

Sydney started this trend a year ago. Trying to spark some interest in the green movement this city, in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund, turned off their lights for just an hour. Resulting in a 10.2% energy reduction. Maybe numbers do nothing for you. This picture might make a bigger impact.
I have been to Sydney a few times and think the city has a magical charm. It may be because I experienced my first Olympic Games there. Those two weeks, in 2000, I was riding a natural sport-induced high that made everything sparkle....but it could have just been the lights! Look at the way the lights reflect off the cloud cover illuminating the whole area!

This year cities across the globe participated along with Sydney. Creating a tidal wave of darkness that crept across the world for a day. I wish I had been up north to see them turn the lights off on the Golden Gate Bridge. Hopefully I can catch it next year. :)

Here in Long Beach, my apartment remained dark. No lights. Not even for my roommate's boyfriend who wanted to take a shower after getting to our house after work. Hee hee.

After spending time in the dark for an hour, I am far more conscious of extraneous lights than I was before. You really don't need many. My parents have been aware of light usage since I was little. They would go around reprimanding us for leaving lights on. Even now when I go home, I often I think they are not home, only to find them watching TV with not a single light on in the house. I think they mainly wanted to save some cash for the family when I was a kid, but they were also ingraining in me the hippie vibe I carry around now as an adult.

I have jumped on the Green Train. I have bought a Prius, which was expensive but I believe worth it. My team and I recycle the plastic water bottles we use at practice. And now I use a lot less light at home. Leaving fewer carbon footprints every day......

Earth Hour

Help save our earth! Participate in Earth Hour tonight. Just sixty minutes. Turn off your lights.

It is easy and free.

Click here for more info.

CHINA

There were two things I was hoping to see on our trip to China this week. And I have seen them both!

1.Blue sky.

It does exist here! The day we flew in I was expecting haze, and smog far worse than LA. We exited the airport to find a light breeze, blue sky with little fluffy white clouds, and a clear view of the surrounding city scape. As far as first immpressions go this was first rate. 

First observations from the bus were that while things are definetly still under construction here, it looks like the Chinese are well on their way to getting things in order for the Games. There are so many freshly potted trees and plants lining the higway and streets on the route from the airport. Thousands of baby plants are being protected and reinforced by sticks and netting. Just to make sure they make it through their first few months and are still growing come August. Could this be the reason the sky was so clear? All those plants pumping oxygen into the Beijing air has to help....but not enough to make it this nice. 

It has been two days since we got here and the air quality has not stayed as pristine as the day we flew in. :( Today in the bus on the way to practice there was 10 times the traffice we experienced yesterday.....Ah! Today is a Monday. Back to work for everyone. Which means the factories were closed two days ago for the weekend and no one was driving. That definetely made a difference in the air. Some are now taking pictures everyday to mark how much worse the air gets every day. I have a feeling by Friday we will not be able to see the building across the street.

2.The Great Wall of China

Is truely impressive. The section we saw was in the Juyongguan Pass. It was about an hour outside of Beijing. We had an hour to climb as far up the steps as we wanted and explore the watch towers situated every so often along the wall. I think a really cool trip would be to back pack and hike the entire length of the wall. But I think the Chinese governement may throw you in jail for such things.

Pictures to follow....I didn't bring the cord to upload them to my computer!

Its WAR!

In Novemeber, during a spectacular session of retail therapy at Target I brought home a beautiful $12 piece of floral flare for the front porch. Coming home to a drab cement wall was not boding well for the chi and I though this little number was just what we needed.

It was dark when I got home. I put the plant on the cement wall just outside our door while I took all the rest, of my probably unnessesary (you know how that $1 ailse can suck you in) purchases, inside. I came back out and saw there was a tag sticking out of the side of the plastic pot which was totally unsightly. Thinking the pot would be more substantial than it was, I tugged hard on the tag to break it off. Being that the pot turned out to be very flimsy plastic and I am SO strong, the backlash force as the tag broke free sent the pot over the cement wall falling 5 ft to the grass below. OOOPS! Looking down on it from above all I could see was dirt everywhere, plant parts in dissaray, and the stupid plastic pot sitting on top of it all. 

In my training induced brain retardation it had taken me a good 20 minutes to pick out just that plant from all its friends in the garden center. I had picked it because it had the biggest and brightest red flower in the center of the pot. And that was now at the bottom of a big ol mess. I ran down there, and in the dark, scooped up the dirt and shoved the plant parts back in the pot. The next morning when I could see my hurried handywork, I realized that I hadn't done that bad a job at repotting the plant....but that beautiful big red flower in the center......was broken off where the stem met the plant. I vowed that this poor plant had had enough trama in its short stay at my house and I would do whatever I needed to help it flourish.

With regular grooming and lots of water it has done just that.....thus becoming a healthy plant beacon in our front yard. Which has attracted EVERY snail in the Long Beach area. They have taken up residence in my plant, feasting on it at will. Every morning I will check underneath all those pretty flowers and find at least six! At first I was nice to them, simply taking them out and dropping them the five feet to the grass below. I naively thought it would take them a long time to make their way back to the pot. HA! The next morning they would be back! Little poopers! Now I throw them into the yard next door. And one bounced off the neighbor's steps and bounced into the street. Maybe that will teach the darn gastropods to invade my plant.

I think I felt bad for the snails at first because I thought they did something good. If they had at least ONE redeeming quality, I still may. But no. I read up on them and they are just slimey, eat plants, and destroy gardens. 

If there are a few casulaties of war as I throw them FAR away from my plants....well, it happens. Anyone have any other good strategies for ridding plants of snails....that aren't poisonous chemicals? Do tell green thumbs out there. 

 

The Day of the LEAP

It only occured to me this morning that while this day happens every four years, it happens to fall in every summer Olympic year. That will make it easier to remember in the future. Why in my 29 years, have I not noticed this before OR celebrated it earlier!

It was decided after this rediculously hard week that it was time to have some mexican food, a coronita or three and play some shuffle board to some spectaularly choosen juke box music. Here is to friends and 24 extra hours in our life every four years!

(the first photo was a 10 sec. timer shot we did on the corner of the street. it took us a few tries to get a majority jumping at the same time) :)

Random Acts of Kindness

First off, I should apoligize for falling of the face of the earth for a month and a half. How did it get to be February 14th already?!?

Second, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!
I hope that you all have spread some love around and ate some chocolate today. :)

Because today is so centered on love I found myself thinking about those people in your life that just do incredibly generous and kind things for you just because they want to. For example, almost 5 years ago I met a chiropractor in the bar at the restaurant we went to for my birthday. He could tell we were athletes. Ten tall, muscular, extremely sunburned girls was not a tip off at all. When he found out we were Olympic water polo players training at the Armed Reserve Base in Los Alamitos, he said if we ever needed chiropractic work to come to his office which was right around the corner from the pool. He gave me the number to his office and told me to call and make an appointment.

So, he seemed like a really nice person....but I was still wary. I never called. A week later I stopped at 7-11 to grab a Gatorade before practice and who was in there?? The chiropractor! This was too much of a coincidence to ignore. I told him would come into the office the next day. I had been having problems with my back at the time and no amount of therapy had been working.

After the first visit my back felt better and he had me come in every day that week to keep working on things. After that I went in once a week for a while and then whenever I felt I needed a tune up. What he does has an incredible effect of how I feel physically during training. I can not imagine the last five years without his help. He has never asked us to pay for the treatments. Only a photo to hang in his office, next to the other athletes he helps. Plus he offered to help any of my teammates that may be hurting. Now at least six of us go in and see him on a regular basis. I never know how to thank him enough when I leave his office. I wish there was something more I could do or say. He makes a huge impact on my life and is so happy to help.

His name is Randall Stark. I would recomend him to anyone looking for a chiropractor in the Southern California area.
I just love him!

Happy New Year!

The sky is the limit next year friends!

Make it spectacular.
May you all be healthy and happy tonight and for the next 365 days.

Traditions.

A few years ago I decided to make a new Christmas tradition. My family had not had any big ones when i was growing up....other than having dinner together at some family members house....but that seems pretty normal to me.

Other families have train sets they set up every year around the tree.(My teammate Natalie Golda and her fiance Eric, liked this tradition. They bought a kick ass train that generates real steam this year.) Or some folks always go and cut down their own Christmas tree. (That would be real festive if you lived in a wintery, cold forest type land.....which Southern California is not....Target sold me a sweet tree. Who knew?)

But I was looking for something that my family and best friend's family could do together. Instead of sit at home and eat more and more and more.

So began our annual Christmas trip to the movies. In our pajamas. Yup....I said pj's. They are comfortable and cozy and great for watching movies in at home. Why not out in public? At first it was just me and my best friend Jamie braving the world in our sleepy time outfits. But then, I guess when we didn't get stoned to death or banned from public places for sporting fleece oversized pants striped like candy canes with white snowflakes, the trend caught on. My mom went out and bought special pajamas just to wear out last year. I am not going to lie....I am always on the look out for great festive pj's to wear, whenever I shop. Our first movie together was Harry Potter(the first one) and last year was DreamGirls. What about this year?

WE BROKE TRADITION!!!!! Sadly this year there was no movie. Logistically this year was a hard one. My mom had to work until 4pm. My best friend's sister had to catch a flight to San Diego at 5pm. People would be coming and going. Eating would end up being a little more potluck style and less formal sitdown style, leaving everyone on the move and unable to be in the same place at the same time.

But we had to do something together! So I got Cranium! The spectacular boardgame with a little of everything. Word puzzles, factual questions,acting, drawing, and sculpting with playdough(my favorite!). So all was not lost in terms of the real root of why I started this movie tradition in the first place....I just wanted everyone to do something together. We did and it was fun. :) Only we are really bad at spelling words backwards in groups. We will need to work on that if we play again next year. Brandon and Sus (and the growing niece/nephew) were missed as they stayed in Seattle this year. They would have been a great help on the Petri Cranium Team. :)

So next year....movie or Cranium????

Merry X-Mas!

Almost. :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

The holiday season has arrived. Just after Thanksgiving Mom, Dad, Betsey and I went to Target....yes, you read that right....Target to get a tree. They were the only folks selling trees the day after Turkey Day!!!

We picked out a 6 ft. beauty and took it home. Let the decorating begin!!! I went crazy and purchased a million things for our lil apartment to make the atmosphere nice and festive. I wanted to get it all done because we left for Canada two days later.....now we can come home to a cozy place. Lets just hope the tree doesn't die while we are gone. :)

We got to Montreal on Tuesday. Canada, Russia and Australia are the other teams here and we will play five games before heading back home for our own tournament, the Holiday Cup, next week. Brenda has been giving regular updates about the games on her blog if you want to check that out. She is far better at recapping the games than I am! :)

How is Canada you ask? COLD!!!! It is snowing up here! Today it was -20 degrees C. We take the metro to the pool complex and it requires a little walking outside. Which means I wear all of the clothes that I brought with me to and from the pool. But despite the way the frigid air numbs your face it is rather refreshing to be out in the fresh air when you spend the rest of your time inside an indoor pool complex or a hotel.

Speaking of hotel rooms...Betsey is my roommate on this trip and we have embraced this winter wonderland. No....we do not go out and have snowball fights or make snow angels. Instead, we keep the curtins in our room wide open so we can watch the snow flakes floating down to cover all the buildings outside. And have a constant flow of Christmas tunes emitting from one of our computers, while we play Text Twist on the internet. Much warmer than the alternative plus we should conserve energey for our games. :)

Oh the life of a water polo player! I love my job.

NOTE: If you don't know what Text Twist is.....well it is a great way to pass time, procrastinate, or learn to spell, in my case. It is addicting! TRY IT! Just google it. It is a Yahoo game.

Our pet.

Meet Bangkok. He is our beta. We acquired him after attending the wedding of our goalie Jamie. Her center pieces were beautiful glass vases with orchids and river rocks. And fish! Swimmin around while we ate and celebrated the night away. When we were leaving we were able to take the fish as little momentos. Brenda got Bangkok into a plastic bag, put the bag in the little bowl you see, and put him in my trunk. Then forgot to tell me! So the next morning when i was packing the trunk to go home I found him. He was alive and probably hungry and really wanted to be out of that bag. But we got him home and he has been quite happy on our book shelf.
Until recently. He has moved from his very tiny living space into a much bigger vase. Just like the one that we first met him in. Ever since we put him in this upgrade of a tank he has been quite agitated. Betas by nature are fighters. When they see other male Betas they puff out their gills and if they were in the same tanks they would fight till the death. Bangkok has never puffed up for us.....until today. We put him in his new home last night and when I came to feed him this morning he made a menacing shark-like swirl around the bowl and then faced me.....and PUFF. Out came his gills and he undulated backwards, in what I am sure he thought was a very intimadating fashion. When I fed him he snapped so fiercely at the food pellets it almost launched him out of the bowl. Dang....what aggression. Where the heck did it come from???

Do Betas hate space? Maybe he liked his teeny-tiny original bowl? This is a whole new persona our fish has adopted. I am thinking I liked the old one better. Geez.