just how much....

so i have claimed for a long time that i love the olympics. like.....L to the O to the V to the E them. so that makes this opportunity to actually GO to the city they are being hosted in and working at the Games such an exciting thing for me. i can't believe it's happening - and that i get to be even a small part of the whole experience.

with the start of my Olympic experience just around the corner, i started thinking recently how to adequately explain to people just how MUCH i love them...so they understand what a huge thing this is for me. and that led me to the following list - many items of which i probably should be embarrassed about...and yet...i'm still listing them here. judge if you must....

*i have an album of 90+ national anthems from around the world;

*i have an album titled "NBC presents SUMMON THE HEROES by John Williams" featuring such songs as olympic hymn, bugler's dream and olympic fanfare, the olympic spirit...just to name a few;

*i have an album called "American Journey - Winter Olympics 2002 by John Williams" featuring more olympic-themed music;

*all of these albums are frequently played on my ipod with many of the songs residing in my 'top 50 most played' list;

*i ran a student government campaign in high school around the theme 'go for the gold';

*i have organized and executed (with great participation and success) 3 different 'corporate olympic games' at 2 different companies i have worked for in the past...complete with medals, events, flames, torches, scandals (food poisoning anyone?) and opening and closing ceremonies;

*i had a complete 'atlanta 1996' track suit made for me while i lived in seoul, korea;

*i consider one of the highlights of my tour of 'willy wonka' our stop in colorado springs and my visit to the US olympic training facility;

*i have articles of clothing in my possession to this day from the following olympics: SLC, athens, beijing, atlanta, torino, sydney and vancouver;

*i sill get riled up when i talk about or even think about zola budd vs. mary decker slaney or nancy kerrigan vs. tonya harding;

*i own more than one piece of 'candidate city' clothing from chicago's 2016 bid;

*i had sleepless nights during torino 2006 watching and cheering for curling and cross-country skiing and during beijing 2010 watching and cheering for sailing;

*i stood on the of the track and the infield of the 1988 olympic stadium in seoul, korea and got a little misty-eyed.

* * *
this list could go on and on and on. i do not provide it as a 'my love is greater than your love' argument. i only provide it to show you that finally, after almost 36 years of living and loving the olympics, i am getting a chance to see it all up-close and personal. and my excitement level is getting to a fevered-pitch.

i expect to make the ABSOLUTE most of it all!!!!!