AZDonna

The Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics last night was absolutely breathtaking. The precision of the thousands of Chinese performers was unbelievable. Toward the end, there were 2008 people forming a perfect circle, with each row ruler straight and not one body out of position. Have you ever seen a circle of 10 people in perfect position? How about doing it with 2008, and not one marker on the floor! The lighting of the torch is always cool, but this year it made me gasp just watching it on TV. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be in the stadium.

The announcers mentioned that the directors realized the perfection was so intimidating, that they had told the performers to smile more just that afternoon. You could see big smiles on their faces. It must have been an honor to participate.

The parade of athletes was anti-climactic after that brilliant show. The TV commentators are saying it is unsurpassed in memorable history and probably will remain so for many years in the future. If you missed it, you should go search YouTube.

On my recent business trip to Santa Clara, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency where they had this very cool sink in the bathroom. I know …. kind of weird to take a picture of a bathroom sink, and even weirder to post it on my blog. Apparently I live a very dull life, because I thought this was cool.

Holly is having her teeth cleaned on Tuesday. It’s going to set me back several hundred dollars. If I hadn’t been at the vet’s office with her when I got the estimate, I would have said “forget it”.  But I was afraid the vet would think I was a horrible pet owner to deny my dog a dental cleaning. Apparently I haven’t done a very good job of taking care of her teeth over the years. Did you know you are supposed to brush your dog’s teeth every day? She’ll have to have at least two extractions. They’re also going to shave her matted fur while she’s asleep.

This is not the first time she’s had her teeth cleaned, but at least it should the last time. At 11, she is pretty old in in Sheltie dog years. She’ll probably be lucky to live two or three more years.

Brian and Carrie have started a new blog. Yippee! You can read along by clicking here!

Carrie and Brian have been looking at school options for Nathan. He is academically advanced, and they want to make sure he is challenged, not bored. They recently heard about the Paragon Science Academy, which is opening this year as a charter school. The school has a strong focus on science, technology and the arts, to prepare more students to meet the demands of today’s changing world and grasp new opportunities in these fields.

Carrie took Nathan yesterday to have him tested for placement, and he tested halfway through first grade level in reading and math. He is eligible for the advanced kindergarten class, and has secured a spot. School starts on August 11, and he is very excited, especially about the robotics and microscopes. He has already told his mom when he grows up, he wants to work on finding a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome.

Wow, did it rain this afternoon! This was taken at about 4:00.

This was taken at 5:00.