Just wanted to share this email with you. There’s nothing better than getting an email out of nowhere from an old friend, who, after having an experience, thinks of you as the person that they want to share that moment with.

Yes, I feel special. And you’ll feel special, too, after reading this…

________________________

Yes, I LOVE my guy friends! They never cease to make me laugh!

Tags: Stories by Yano
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Ever feel like your life is moving too fast for you to catch up? Lately, I’ve had fleeting glances of that, mixed with a bit of helplessness. I like to be in control of my present, and to know what’s going to happen in my future. But when I catch a moment to think, it’s like an overload - too many things to think about, too many things to shift over in my head. It’s been hard over the last few weeks to be traveling so much (San Francisco, LA and Danver in the last 3 weeks) while there were so many other things going on in my life, like purchasing the house, work to do at the office, paying bills, moving in, social activities, eye surgery, etc. Not that I’m complaining, but I’d love to just have a moment to take a deep breath, let it out, and just rest and relax. Life right now has been a mix of uncertainty, stress, happiness, excitedness, being overwhelmed, worrying about other people’s problems, stress and confusion. I’ve been trying to get a balance of everything, but juggling it all is starting to wear on me. I’m almost missing those 2 1/2 hour commutes to Thousand Oaks. I had a lot of thinking time then!

Being back at work is so crazy for me. I don’t know where to start, what to do. I’m so behind with some things, and I think I’ve lost my direction. I just need to regroup and get back on my feet again. There are many challenges that I’ll be facing in my future, but I just need to keep my wits about me and I should be ok. I’ve been gone so long and missed so much I feel a little out of it.

I actually had a much longer, much more enlightening post, but my comp died for some weird reason.

Well, at least I’m sleeping in my own house tonight!!!

*sleepy*

Tags: Daily by Yano
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I was a real bookworm as a kid, always hanging out at the library, eating up every new book that they had. I pretty much read every Nancy Drew and Choose Your Own Adventure book that they had…

Which brings me to this week’s topic:

10 Favorite Childhood Books

1) The Chronicles of Narnia
2) The Glass Slipper
3) The Secret Garden
4) A Little Princess
5) Bunnicula
6) Grimm’s Fairy Tales
7) My little Illustrated Bible Story book Encyclopedia Brown books
9) Anything by Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary
10) Where the Wild Things Are

Next Week: Ten Things You’d Save if Your House Was on Fire

Tags: Uncategorized by Yano
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The title of this post is one of the sounds I hate the most…well, it’s a love/hate thing.

What is it?

The dial tone, then the computer connecting via dialup.

Because I hate dialup. It’s so damn slow!!!

Hate it, but love it. Because without it, I would have no internet at all right now.

Because the DSL service doesn’t start in my new house until September 7th. *marks calendar. starts countdown*

Argh.

However, I’m back in my new home. And discover that we have a new wide screen TV and bedroom set. It’s like Christmas!

Almost Christmas. Because to truly get that Christmas feeling, I would have come home to see that the DSL was up, too.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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For some reason, dogs seems to really hate it when their owners dress them up. For example, look at the look of humilation and hatred on this poor little wee dog’s face:

Diogi, while looking amazingly cute in that hoodie, didn’t move at all once it was put on her. Even after the hoodie was removed, she still sat there, waiting patiently for us to get our laughs and take it off her. Even after the cat came to attack, Diogi no longer had the will to fight, letting the cat do as she willed.

Ewok is like that, but unfortunately, he seems to have deleted any evidence of pictures of him in his supercool wool sweater.

Anyway, yesterday I drove down to Colorado Springs, had dinner at this so-so Vietnamese place, got pizza to make up for it, and then went for my first mini-tour of the Olympic training center down there. It was a bit anticlimactic since I couldn’t really see anything because my eyes are still messed up. But it was still pretty cool to see. After that, I just hung out for a bit, played with the dog and the cat, and did some technical support. Because, we all know, that’s the only reason I’m down there - to fix computers!

Today, I finally go home to my house.

Doesn’t that sound great?

MY house.

Yay!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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This is Riley, the daughter of Corin and Torrie, the people behind worldshorttrack.com. Isn’t she the cutest? She’s so chatty and a little acrobat, climbing everything she can. She’s also extremely curious, and the whole world and everything in it is something for her to explore.

Went out to dinner with the new parents, and as always, it was a good time. In a short track fan world that has more than its share of gossip and drama, Corin and Torrie manage to keep themselves out of it all, and have a pure love for the sport without getting involved in politics. I always learn something about the sport when I’m with them.

But this time around, I learned so much more. They gave me a lot of insight on what being a new parent is like. I look forward to being a parent (someday) with a mixture of extreme anticipation and apprehension. Although I definitely want to be a parent, but I know life will change, and I won’t have the slefish lifestyle that I lead now. They told me it wouldn’t be easy, that my priorities in life would definitely change. Bringing around a stroller, setting up the car seat, changing diapers, worrying if she’s going to behave in public - those are all things that come with the territory. But in the end, watching them with Riley and how happy they were was amazing. Life changes, but in a way, it gets better.

It’s such a great feeling to see friends growing as people, reaching a new level of life and facing its challenges with strength from each other. I know Corin and Torrie are great parents, and will raise Riley to be a great gymnast, swimmer, or even short track skater. But even more than that, she’ll be a good and genuine person, just like her parents.

Ahh…kids.

Not yet.

So don’t even ask!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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There has been so much drama during these Olympics games. People petitioning, complaining, speaking of unfairness, protesting, crying, suggesting a bias for this or that country, booing, yelling, cockiness.

Not really showing much of the spirit of what the Olympics is meant to represent.

But over all that negativity, there are the shining moments that make it all worth it. The moments that make your heart sing when you watch them on TV. Moments where it doesn’t matter what country you represent, you’re honestly happy.

An example of what I’m talking about happened today. Greece, although it has been the birthplace of the Olympics, hasn’t had the best experience with it. From the rumors of complexes not being finished to the lack of people in the stands, Greece has been having a hard time.

Until the women’s 400-meter hurdles, where before a packed crowd of her countrymen, Fani Halkia won the gold medal. The crowd went crazy. I’m sure the screams were deafening, and it’s probably what gave her the surge to win. I’m sure it’s an amazing feeling to win a gold medal in front of a home crowd.

My favorite part was when she was on the podium, tears welling up in her eyes as she was draped in her country’s flag. When the Greek anthem started, everyone in the stadium started singing, holding each other, smiling, eyes shining with pride. Thousands of voices, singing together, reveling in their golden goddess for the night.

And of course, I have to mention the touching moment of Israel’s first gold medal ever. The stadium wasn’t as big, the sport not as glamorous as track and field, but this win was something special. I can only imagine what was going through the mind of Gal Fridman, the windsurfer who won the gold, as his flag was being raised on that highest flagpole for the very first time, to hear the sweet music of his nation’s anthem being played over the loudspeakers. As his other countrymen sang along, he stood there, just soaking it all in. The whole thing was extremely moving.

And yeah, you can believe I got all teary eyed, too. Both times!

Man, I love the Olympics.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Just saw these pictures, and for some reason, I just have to laugh.

It’s a beautiful sport to watch when it’s in regular time, but get a snapshot of that beautiful graceful moment, and it just looks WEIRD!

Troy Dumais

Alexander Dobrosok

Alexandre Despatie

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Did I tell you guys that I’m in Denver? It was my anniversary yesterday, and I didn’t see my husband because I had to catch a plane and he got held up at the hospital. So the only time we saw each other was right before we went to work in the morning. Work sucks!

Went out to dinner with Rusty and Alice. The food was so-so, but the cheesecake was scrumptious. Afterwards they gave me a tour of downtown Denver, complete with local gangbangers, people shouting in the street, horse drawn carraiges and a place kinda like the third street promenade, but not really.

It’s nice to be in Denver, but I really do wish I was home.

My new home, that is.

Sorry for leaving you all hanging last Friday with the whole house thing. We spent the last weekend moving things and unpacking. We hadn’t really looked at the things that we got from the wedding last year, so it was almost like getting gifts all over again when we were opening all those crate and barrel boxes. We would have been totally overwhelmed if not for the help of our super mover cousins - Fatima, Claudine, Marlon and Marilyn. For their help, I bought them pizza and let them name my goldfish. We seriously would have been lost without them and Dave’s mom and dad helping out.

So the house…wow…I really love this place. The people who owned it had some great taste and loved electronics. We’ve met them a couple times and they’re funny, friendly, and really happy to be selling it to people that they trust. As soon as you walk in, it just feels so warm and inviting.

Here’s some pics:

This is the living room. They left their speakers for us, isn’t that awesome? On the left you’ll see the fireplace, which has a remote control that turns it on and off with control of the temperature, as well. On the right is the stereo system that’s built into the wall - they left that, too. The color on the walls is this friendly shade of yellow, and the windows on the left bring in tons of light.

This is the basement, I’m standing in the family room taking the picture. Off camera to the left is the pool table that they left, and way back there, you’ll see the wet bar. There’s a sink, a tap (they left a keg for us, too) with CO2 as well. On the left hand wall, that thing that looks like a picture frame is actually a fish tank that’s built into the wall. And they left 4 fish for us.

This is my kitchen. The place that will be the cleanest place in the house because it will never be used. *wink* Stainless steel appliances, under cabinet lighting, dishwasher, cool sink, and all the appliances we got for the wedding match, too!

This stairway goes to the second floor. Didn’t take any pictures of it, though. There’s three rooms up there, a master bath and a regular bath (the house has two other half baths). That door goes to the basement.

This view is from the corner in front of the kitchen. You can see the front door and the dining room from here.

Whaddya think?

I can’t express how good it feels to have a home. How free I feel, and relieved. I may have mentioned this before, but since I’ve been back home, I’ve felt like I’ve been living in this in-between place. Where everything is moving too fast for me, where I’m trying everything in my power to keep my world in control, where nothing feels like it’s mine, where I’ve lost a place that I can call my own.

But now I can breathe easy again. I have my home. A place of my own. A place where the stresses of the world stops and I can take a moment to be on my own without worrying about someone being around.

Now all I need to go is finish this trip without going crazy, and I’ll be back HOME. And for the first time in what seems like a long time, I can relax and be myself again.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Poor Paul Hamm. Poor poor Paul Hamm. Seems like every win he has is a bit bittersweet. The scoring of the gymnastics the whole night seemed a bit off, which was made painfully obvious by the ultra-low score of Alexi Nemov’s high bar routine. Who, on a sidenote, is looking better than ever. I mean, he looked great before, but now, wow, he looks great.

Um, where was I?

Oh yeah. So everyone in the place is booing, and poor Paul has to stand there and wait for everyone to quiet down. He was all ready to get up there and win a medal, but the noise just wouldn’t stop. Nemov sat on the side with a smirk on his face, every once in a while getting up and waving to the crowd and clapping. Though after a while he started to look embarrassed, too.

But it must be nice to know that you’re so loved by the fans that they would do that for you. I mean, his routine looked REALLY good. I have no idea if there were any deductions, but I think it looked great. And doesn’t he get bonus points for still looking ultra hot after all these years?

And so they changed his score. It still didn’t bring him any higher in the ranks. But the crowd just wouldn’t stop. Poor Paul was standing there waiting for people to quiet down, almost looking like he was going to cry, looking at his trainer like, ‘Dude, what do I do? I think I need a hug!’

Finally, they look to Nemov, who jumps to the stage, bows to the crowd and does the universal ‘Quiet Down!’ gesture (didn’t know it was universal until today - but since he’s Russian, and he did it, and everyone shut up, it’s universal, right? ) And like the sheep that they are, following the shepard of gymnastics.

Not that I’m complaining. I’d jump around, pat my head and rub my belly if he told me to.

But Nemov was really a class act, though. He knew he got screwed. But he didn’t cry, didn’t scream, didn’t throw a hissy fit. He just quietly enjoyed the crowd’s support of him, and later, thanked them when it was time for someone else was up.

Then Paul Hamm got a super high score after blocking everything out (once again) and you know he’s thinking in his head, ‘Please, please someone else beat me! I don’t want to win anymore!’ How sad that he feels that the world is against him - he did nothing but try his best, it’s not his fault that people can’t count. And luckily, someone got the same score has Hamm, but a higher rating, which gave the gold to someone else.

And Waukesha breathes in relief.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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