on the edge of my seat.

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a bit Olympics obsessed this year. Four years ago, I don't think I watched a single second of the Games. Thinking back on it, I don't think Andrea and I had television in the summer of '04. We were too busy carousing Southport bars and going to Cubs games, I suppose.

But I remember watching it as a child with my family, begging my parents to stay up later and later to watch the gymnastics or ice skating finals (all little girls' favorite Olympic sports to watch). I remember tuning in to the Games in 1996 while on a church mission trip in West Virgina, all of us huddled around the little television, watching Kerri Strug brave a bum ankle on the vault to bring home gold for the American team.



You can't help but tear up at watching Bela Karoyli carry her to the medal podium.

Despite having a temp job this morning, thus having to rise early, I stayed up 'til 12:30 to watch Nastia Liukin bring home the gold. It was great to see this eighteen year old beat the pants off those Chinese children. For some reason, the Chinese athletes scare me to death. When they screw up, I see them thinking....banishment to a one room shack six hundred miles outside Beijing living off only $33 a month in welfare. That country seriously scares the crap out of me. Proud to be an American, I am indeed.

Watching Michael Phelps is nearly as enthralling. I'm convinced he's half-fish or merman or something. But watching history in the making is fascinating, and I've been glued to the television all week. Not to mention that most of the U.S. men's swim team members aren't half bad to look at. ;)

I guess part of the reason I've gotten so excited about these Games is that I identify (somewhat) with the athletes. Call me crazy (you won't be the first), but opera is pretty much the Olympics of singing. It takes the same sort of rigorous training, natural skill and talent, and narrow focus as training for a sport. Often in our OFY tours, when the kids would ask "how we sing like that", we would tell them that training your voice is like training for a sport. And it really is. It's all about muscle memory and stamina and training certain muscle groups to perform certain tasks. I know what it's like to be on the "disabled list" and the fear and determination that comes along with returning from an injury.

So though I'll never stand on a podium and have a medal put around my neck for my "sport", I feel a connection to these athletes. Sure, there are differences -- the main one being I'd like my career to last past my 30th birthday. But seeing their hard work and success materialize onscreen has given me new hope for my career. The main message being: keep on truckin'.

If you need a little inspiration in your day (life), just watch that Kerri Strug video a few times. See if you can get through it without tearing up.