Ohhhhh Canada!

The country of Canada seems akin to your little brother...the one that is several years younger and hangs around you and your cool high school friends.  The one that can be amazingly annoying, but your mom makes you let him hang around.  Most times he's just annoying...sometimes he's absolutely hilarious and brings the house down when he pulls some crazy stunt. Tonight, though, that 'little brother' pulled off the best 'tongue in cheek' situation I think I've ever seen. 


On opening night at the Olympics, steeped in tradition, four famous Canadian athletes come out to light the torch, but one of the arms doesn't swing up and suddenly a major faux pas has happened.  It was an embarrassment to the whole country.  At the closing ceremony a 'clown' dressed akin to a repairman on Super Mario Brothers came out and proceeded to fix the arm, raise it and allow the athlete to light not only her arm, but the other three also.  It was a hit!  So funny.


I love the humbleness of the Canadians...although tonight they're probably trying to hold it over the Americans in men's hockey.  Seriously though...sometimes you want that little brother to truely impress your high school friends and make them split their sides laughing.


Tonight...yeah, they pulled it off!  (And...only the Canadians would wear those crazy hats!)

"If you know history, you know there is no such thing as a self-made man or self-made woman.  We are shaped by people we have never met." 


 David McCullough


A wonderful quote for my previous post!

Who do you think you are?

NBC has been promoting a new show that will air following their Olympic coverage called, "Who Do You Think You Are?"  The premise of the show is a genealogist discloses to famous celebrities their family history and introduces them to their families.  The show is produced in conjunction with Ancestry.com...a web page I'm very familiar with!

I LOVE genealogy and the study of the past.  I can't remember when I became intrigued by my family history...perhaps when I heard my grandparents talking about their parents, siblings, neighbors, and "goings on" in the community.  No matter, I've probably spent somewhere near 40 years investigating my family!  I do recall asking my grandparents what it was like when they were kids.  What games did they play?  What were their chores?  They were wonderful people and very patient to answer all the questions of a nosey 10 year old.

I've discovered some very interesting people in my past and in my husband's past.  This picture is of my great grandparents and their children.  My grandfather is the tall  young man in the upper right hand corner.  Oldest child of William Harrison Chenoweth and Dollie Swise Chenoweth, Elzie Chenoweth went on to marry Vera Viola France and become my grandparents!

The funny thing about finding family pictures is I see in the faces of my ancestors, the faces of present family members.  My grandfather and my dad (Dean Chenoweth) and my cousin Derek Litchfield all look very similar.  The curly-haired young lady on the far left is Bertha Permelia Chenoweth, but my grandmother often remarked how my sister, Cathy Chenoweth Onion's hair looked just like Aunt Bertha's.

My husband's great-great grandfather, Johann Marold and my husband look surprisingly similar in the face.  Are we just the same faces used over and over?

We've had family members who have plotted Louisville, Kentucky; settled the middle of Kansas; gave their land up for an Army base; went west for the Gold Rush and disappeared; fought indians on the plains. Family who came to America on a boat to thrive or flee abuse or find a new life as a gardener. I'm  sure we had our fair share of horse thieves, robbers or lawmen.  Heck, we even had a World Champion Bronc Rider!

This is what makes family history - genealogy so much fun.  We ARE  a product of our family and their lives.  Why not discover the story of your family?  Start with what you know.  Ask living family members the names of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and start putting together your tree.  Venture onto Ancestry.com and you can get a lot of help from others who connect to your family.  Nothing is as exciting as discovering someone who is your family member..someone you never knew about.

Did Lysacek "channel" former UCLA Coach John Wooden?

I admit it...I'm a schmuck for watching men's figure skating.  My mom LOVED to ice skate...I, however, did not possess the ankles to handle it. I looked something like Bambi on the ice...it's okay.  I've learned to deal with it.

Maybe that's why I was overwhelmed with the grace and athleticism of Men's Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek.  (A shout out to the Illinois guy!)  It can't be easy to skate that well at the height of 6'2"!  Those are some long limbs to swing in spins...

I was most impressed with his statements after the short program and the following day. He stated he was just trying to do the best HE could...he wasn't watching to be better than Plushenko or better than anyone else, his goal was to set a personal best.  UCLA Coach John Wooden often pushed his players to be the best they could be personally.  To paraphrase his statements (I hope I'm accurate on this), he asked his players to play the best game they possibly could, ask themselves if they had done every thing possible to play the best game, and eliminate all the mistakes they could.  He said practice is where champions are made.  "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

Wasn't that what Evan was saying?  He was saying I did my best.  I worked hard every day.  I put everything into it I could.

On top of that, when the Russian Silver Medalist was critical of the performance Lysacek presented, Evan didn't respond back with any negative comments.  He was very cordial and kind and said, he too didn't like losing and no doubt that clouded some comments Plushenko made.  In his interview with Bob Costas, he emphasized that Plushenko had shook his hand and congratulated him after the announcement.  He never once claimed he was "disrespecting" him.  Evan knew he had given the best he had to offer and the judges agreed!

Congratulations for your class, Evan.  I hope you get a lot of endorsement jobs!  I could think of a few companies that need that character right now, but that's another blog!