A sick day

I'm sitting on my couch on a dreary Wednesday because I took a sick day today. I have not been feeling well lately and it's annoying because I can't quite put a finger on what it is. It is the "extremely tired, achey, headache" illness, whatever that is.

Anyway, Monday night I watched the Golden Globes for the first time in a long time. I used to be into all those award shows throughout high school and college, but have gotten away from them more recently. I'm actually surprised I watched the whole thing because I haven't seen nearly as many new movies as I would have liked to see this year.

While I was watching though, I was struck with a few things that reminded me that celebrities are really just people.

When Reese Witherspoon's category was up for best actress I think...and I'm blanking on the movie it was for (the Johnny Cash one), they kept showing shots of her waiting to see if she won. Her husband, always been a favorite of mine, was clearly showing his support for her. When she went up on the stage to accept her award, she thanked lots of people...and then thanked her family. She said the award wouldn't mean nearly as much if she didn't have her husband and kids to share it with. The camera showed Ryan Phillipe and he had a glistening of tear in his eye....and I just knew how in love with each other they were.

I guess we get so used to hollywood couples not making it very far because they get together, get married not long after that, and divorce not much longer after that. When you see a real moment, one that gets captured and you realize just how much in love they are, we're reminded that they can just be everyday people.

Sports Happenings

This weekend produced a lot of interesting results in the sports world. The defending Superbowl champs lost, the #1 ranked team in the NFL lost (which happens to be my team), and Michelle Kwan was given the green light over the 3rd place finisher in the trials to compete in the Olympics. The third of which was the most baffling to me.

I find it kind of interesting that I'm talking about figure skating, but, I've been following the Michele Kwan saga and have been a little baffled that they are able to tell someone who competed and placed in the Olympic Trials that they are now an alternate. I do understand that Michele has dominated the figure skating world for the past 10 years or so now, and giving someone a bye has happened in the past, but I do find it a little unfair to those who have trained and were ready to compete when it was time to. It's always an unfortunate event when someone gets hurt at an inopportune time, but is it fair to those who are ready?

Michele Kwan is quoted as saying that if she's not 100% ready to compete by January 27th, she will give up her spot to the alternate because it would be unfair for her to keep the spot. That is a noble thing to do, but should she even have the spot to begin with? I honestly don't know. There's two ways to rationalize this situation.

Next, my Colts lost yesterday. Even though I am a Colts fan, I can honestly say that I don't think they played as well as I have seen them play before. In fact, I thought the Steelers dominated the Colts throughout much of the game. Yes, you can say the kicker blew a chance to tie the game, but a lot of other players also missed opportunities that would have produced different results.

I'm a very disappointed fan, but disappointed in the fact the Colts could not produce big results, and disappointed that the Steelers played much better.

I love how things work out...

It's funny how things work out...how an ordinary day can turn out into an extraordinary one because of one small minor thing that happens.

There are those people in our lives who we may not talk to or see that often, but when you do, you can talk forever. There are those people who have crossed our paths and made an impact on us, but they have drifted away from you. That is, until the day you reconnect again.

I have a friend from college who was a roommate of mine for a couple of years. He had an impact on my life because he was there through a very difficult time period, and always thought of me to check up on me and make sure I was doing ok, even if it was through tear soaked eyes and a runny nose. After college, we kept in touch for awhile, but then he joined the Navy and one day, his phone was shut off. I've always wondered how he's doing and what life has brought his way, but didn't think I had a way to get in touch with him.

This past Christmas, I was thinking about him again, and decided to try to send a letter to what I thought was his mom's house with the hope that maybe it would get passed along to him. I left some varying contact information for myself and on the outside of the envelope wrote "I hope whoever gets this can forward it along to wherever he is located".

Low and behold, I'm going about my business on a dismal day at work, standing in front of the vending machine trying to decide what I could eat that would dispel some of my hunger pains...when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I actually thought it was going to be someone else about a job I'm working in a few weeks and when I answered, I didn't quite recognize the voice right away. And then, voila! It was HIM!! My letter had actually been sent to his grandfather and was later forwarded to him. The power of trying.

Let me tell you, it has really made my day to get that phone call...because he's one of those people who crossed my path years ago...and I always wanted to see what life has brought my friend. Now, I have the opportunity to find out.

Big Decisions

I know everyone comes across decisions that need to be made, regardless of whether or not we actually want to decide between the options. Recently in my job situation, I've had to make a decision based on wrong and right, even though I really would have gone in one direction.

It's easy to get swayed, to have someone pushing you to make the decision they want, even if it's not the right decision. You want what's best for a person, yet on the same sense, what's right for everyone as a whole. I know I made the right decision today, I know that I chose the decision that is right for me, for the individual, and for the unit as a whole. Even though I made the right decision, I feel so bad and it really wasn't the way to start off my morning. The right decision in this situation, is not necessarily the decision that the others invovled wanted to be made...

Some things are just so hard.

Soooo annoying

Sigh.

Does anyone know why my internet font keeps randomly changing sizes? One minute, it's so small I can't even read it, and the next...it's huge!

It's driving me insane. I have no clue how to fix it at this point, I've tried EVERYTHING.

A show of strength

Many of you may be aware of the recent tragedy suffered by the Colts head coach, Tony Dungy. I am. Not only am I aware, but I have found myself immersed in the articles recently written about him, his family, and his family in the Colts organization.

I have been a big Colts fan for about 2 years now and you may find my reason for choosing them as a rather silly one. After being around many NFL fans of different teams, I decided that I wanted to choose a team that I could root for, follow, and hope to win the big one. I just decided that I was going to be a Colts fan because of some players, and just because. I just liked them.

So being a Colts fan, and being a human, I felt awful for Tony Dungy and the rest of his family to have suffered such a tragedy. No matter how you look at it, it's a major loss in someone's life. I have found myself loving the Colts even more for the respect and for the love they have showed Tony and the rest of his family throughout the whole ordeal. I have read many articles pertaining to this about how everyone has risen above and showed a huge amount of support for their coach.

In a particular article I read today on ESPN.com, I fell more in love with these guys because they show how they are a close knit family in ever way. Here is a section of the article that draws me....

"The tragedy has increased our sense of urgency," Brackett told me. "It has brought us closer. Communication is what brings teams together, and this really had guys talking -- about real things and real issues. You just wouldn't know how guys feel about things unless something like this forces you to reach out to each other. Teams that don't talk, everyone has their own opinion, their own agendas, and everyone is so far removed from each other. No one knows where anybody stands on anything. But this death really showed us how much everybody loves Coach and just how much we're all in this together. Everyone is coming from the same place now with the same motivation -- let's finish what we started."

David Fleming is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine

It makes me feel a certain way inside to know that these big organizations in pro sports are not just all about the money and the fame. They are a small community and in the face of tragedy, all must stick together to support each other through it all. They must stick together through the glory, as well as the tragedy.

Saw a shooting star...

Saw a shooting star like a diamond in the sky, must be someone's soul passing by...

If you've seen Ladder 49 at all, you might recognize this song from the last 20 minutes of the movie, as well as a special feature "music video".

Being someone who is attracted to the idea of what's beyond this life and the little clues that someone might be leaving you, this line from the song stuck with me. For as long as I can remember, the stars symbolize something to me much more than little sparklies in the sky. They offer something to wish and dream upon, and even as this line suggests, maybe a way to know there's someone out there.

There's nothing proven as far as I've been aware that these stars reflect a message or an immortal human...but to me, it offers a possibility. You don't have to believe in the same things, but to think of a lost loved one "passing by", gives me a warm feeling inside.

A parent of a boyfriend of mine who was lost to cancer recently told me that a psychic offered her the possiblity that finding a dime suggests that he is saying hi. Now, whether or not you believe this could actually happen is up to you, but I found that to be a comfort, much to the effect they do. It seems now that dimes seem to be popping up everywhere, in the bottom of the washing machine, in the middle of the floor in the bedroom, in the parking lot in front of my car door, etc. Is this coincidence or is it a "higher being". That's up to you to decide, but for me, I find comfort in discovering a dime for me to find. Maybe, just maybe, he's leaving a message for me to simply say hi.

It's a funny thing...

So, it just so happens that today on my way to work, I do not realize that my coffee cup has been leaking the whole way to work everytime I take a sip, so when I get to the traffic light right before work I realize....Oh, nice...not only do I have brown spots all over my WHITE shirt ranging in size, but I also have brown spots on my brand new shirt. WONDERFUL.

So then, I'm at work, and I'm drinking my carnation instant breakfast which happens to be chocolate flavored....and as I take a sip from the water bottle, the lovely brown liquid escapes the bottle before getting to my mouth and ends up near the crotch area in nice lovely spots.

Not only do I now have brown spots on my white shirt, but I have brown spots on my khaki pants...

How does that HAPPEN?