Tonight as I was eating ice cream and watching the Olympics (don't judge), I started thinking of the last Olympics, and how much different things were.  And not just that the Opening Ceremonies and Michael Phelps were better (too soon?), but other stuff too!

The last time the Olympics were held...

• I was in my twenties
• I was an elementary school teacher with no real desire to ever leave
• I had not even thought of pursuing a Masters degree in administration
• I had not met 6 of the 8 friends on my recent calls log
• I didn't have an iPhone
• I still had a TV with a built in VCR (seriously)
• I had only been to 30 consecutive games at Commonwealth
• This blog had one post
• I was still six months away from "White Death 09" 
• UK Basketball was coached by Billy Gillespie
• I had never heard of Kentucky Sports Radio
• I was not on Twitter...
• But I am pretty sure I still had a MySpace
• I still had three grandparents living

I'm sure there is more too... that's just what I can think of off the top of my head.  It's funny that you don't notice these things happening, then all of a sudden, it has all changed...

We've had an especially dry summer, but finally the forecast is calling for rain for a week. This morning when I woke up at 9:45 and saw nothing but blue sky out the window, I decided to head to the pool to squeeze in all the sun I could.

About three hours into my stay, it barely started to rain. No "storm," just a sprinkle. Lots of parents were scrambling to get their kids out of the pool and into the car, and even some adults without kids left as well. But not this girl! I'd decided I was staying til they kicked me out... Plus it was still sunny and hot so the rain was actually refreshing. Less than five minutes later, the cloud passed and the skies were clear again. Of course within the hour, thunder rumbled and we were all forced to leave the pool, so I sadly packed up and came home.

As I was driving home, I couldn't help but think of the saying "If you want to see the rainbow, you've got to put up with a little rain." I've always loved that saying. But you know, sometimes the rainbow doesn't show up as soon as you want it to. Sometimes there's rain, then a break, then an even bigger rain. Sometimes life knocks into you, and you steady yourself and move forward, only to get knocked completely down. But it will get better.  There will be a rainbow.  You just have to wait for it. Today, the "little rain" was simply a precursor to a big storm and a dark day, and I saw no rainbow.  But by putting up with that "little rain" I did get 30 gorgeous minutes of sunshine, and if that's not worth a little rain, I don't know what is.

I know there are some people out there who don't like the beach.  I don't understand those people.  It's like not liking ice cream or puppies... it just doesn't make sense.  Do these people not like smiling?  Are they communists?  I just don't get it.

If you ask most non beach lovers, they will complain about the sand... that it gets everywhere and you can't get rid of it.  Not me.  I love the sand.  When I went to Hilton Head for fall break, I think I was as close to a stress related break down as I had been in years. And that first day, even though it was raining, we went to the beach just to see the ocean.  When I took off my flip flops and took my first step in the sand, I literally think that I could feel my blood pressure drop.

As far as the sand getting everywhere... I think that's one of the charms of the beach.  My beach/pool bag has two kinds of sand inside. My car is sandy, and as psychotic as I have been about my car, I am hesitating cleaning it because somehow I feel closer to the ocean with it in there.  Today I went to the pool for the first time since vacation, and upon opening the book I took with me (of course Can You Keep a Secret?) I was greeted with a pile of sand being dumped onto my lap, and I had to smile. In fact, I love sand so much that now when I go to the beach I purposely bring it home with me.  I want to get tons of little vials and fill them with lots of different sand (because that will mean I need to go to lots of different beaches, you know, for the sake of art).  But until then, I have this:

Top to bottom: Coronado Beach, Hilton Head, Tybee Island (I love that you can see the difference)

I love the beach, and more than that, I need the beach.  I need to get there at least once a year and put my toes in the sand, listen to the waves, close my eyes, and just breathe. It makes life better. Sometimes I wonder why in the world I don't live close to the beach, but then I think if the beach was an everyday thing, it might lose its importance (plus it would be hard for me to keep up my football attendance streak from the east coast). But I do think next time I might have to bring back enough sand that I can run my toes through it, even if I am in the middle of Lexington.