I've been watching a bunch of the Olympics, marveling in the shape and form and strength and perseverance and beauty of all the athletes. You wanna talk about inspiration? This is it.

So I get up earlier than J does all the time on the weekends, and I oftentimes turn on the boobtube and watch meaningless TV while I do crafty stuff. Well on Saturday mornings for the last little while they've been showing the Olympic swimming trials, so I've started paying some attention to the sport. And then, of course, it's one of the most enjoyable sports to watch in The Games themselves, so I've been watching a whole lot of that.

Have you guys heard of Ian Thorpe? He's an Australian swimmer who is the newest coolest thing in the sport. His nickname is the Thorpedo. Very cool. The boy has size 17 feet, so it's like he comes with his own built-in flippers. And lordy is he fun to watch. He has the most beautiful freestyle stroke I have ever seen. It's just perfect. And, although I am no longer the strongest swimmer around, I am I am a former swim instructor, so I actually do know what I'm talking about. And he's hot. I'll admit it ... that's one of the reasons I like watching him.

So it's been a pretty good kick in the ass for me. I have spent a lot of time in the last couple of days thinking about the amazing things that the human body can do, and how we should all be striving to do these things as much as we can. The fact that I've been slacking off so severely means that I've been actively avoiding my potential. That's a huge waste of my time. So, thinking about it in those terms, there's no reason for me to not go back to it. Who cares if I'm never the best at anything that I'm doing. Who cares if I'm never the strongest or most flexible or thinnest. Just as long as I'm the best me that I can be ... that's the only important thing.