Real randomness:

1. Some of my favorite TV shows include Criminal Minds, Law & Order (all of them. except Miami is not my favorite), NCIS, Cold Case, City Confidential, Numbers and The Mentalist.

I like the idea of the good guys solving the cases and the bad guys getting caught and then getting the book thrown at them...if they live to go to trial.

2. New drama at our little breakfast restaurant. One waitress quit. We found this out when we went into another restaurant and found her serving there. She told us that she had gotten into a fight with the sister of one of the cooks. They were both in the kitchen although the sister did not work there. The sister bit her. We did see a dent in her finger where she was bit. She said she had the woman in a hammer lock (probably learned from watching the above TV shows). There is a video camera in the kitchen (think that through) and the fight was caught on tape. The owner of the restaurant showed the tape to the other servers and everyone had a good laugh. That made her so mad she quit. She said she didn't get medical treatment for her injuries. If it had been me, I would have gotten a tetanus shot.

3. Olympic thoughts: the Finnish women were so happy with their hockey bronze. I wish the USA women could have been a little more gracious in losing to Canada and had been able to get past the loss to realize that the Silver Medal at the Olympics is nothing to look so sour about. Sixteen other teams would have been thrilled to have one.

4. Loving the Proctor and Gamble commercials during the Olympics. The one where they are singing "You'll never walk alone" always makes me tear up.

5. Too bad, back to hockey, that the Canadian women couldn't have been a little more circumspect in their after-win celebration. They looked like a bunch of drunken burn outs laying around the ice with their beer, champagne and cigars. And some of them still under age. That put a shadow over their win for me.

6. The earthquake this morning in Chile was 100 times stronger than the one last month in Haiti. Having said that, I am predicting that the number of deaths will be only a fraction of what Haiti experienced. Still tragic, don't get me wrong.

7. Oh my gosh, watching the cross-country skiers at the Olympics right this minute and it appears that there may be a Finnish woman in contention for a bronze. No wait, she had to stop and change her skis and lost seconds. Now tell me, they had four years to get the proper equipment. This is not acceptable. It's okay, she took the bronze even with the stop.

8. Also love the commercial from McDonald's where the mounted fish sings, "Give me back that fillet-o-fish, give me that fish." A memorable little ditty.

9. Packed for a week at the seminary. This post may have to last you for a week. Have a good one.

And that's what I think about it.

Life is good.

What else can I say after hearing a sermon on complaining?

I remain amazed at the number of people who do complain. Often they label it something more palatable, like truth, discernment, honesty.

They complain about the weather: too cold, or too hot, too windy, too dry, too wet.
They complain about food: too salty, too fatty, too tough, too mushy.
They complain about their kids: too bossy, too lazy, too inattentive, too far away.
They complain about their jobs: too hard, too boring, too little pay, too few benefits.
They complain about their lives: no friends, no social life, no dreams, no hope for the future.
They complain about the society: going to the dogs, going to hell in a hand basket, going down the drain, going to pot.
They complain about the government: too much spending, too few benefits, too little attention to the little guy, double-tongued and tellers of great fibs...otherwise known as lies.

How very depressing a blog is that lists the many things that can be complained about. Complaining is a choice.

Complaining is one of our most punctual instincts. And that's what I think about it.

Still watching the Olympics, wondering why Finland, which is covered 12 months of the year with snow and ice, can't field a decent ice hockey team, or downhill, or cross country ski team. Finland should take advantage of its most abundant resource, that same resource that the rest of us look forward to until it arrives and then can hardly wait for it to leave. In Finland, the snow never leaves. Why don't they take advantage?

And why can't they figure out a way to get the cross on their flag upright? Couldn't they have re-figured it so it fit the right way up? And only two colors. Or one color if you believe that white is the absence of color.

And what is with the spelling of most Finish names? Speech therapy must be a really big career opportunity in Finland. All those double vowels and consonants. When you pronounce a Finnish name you emphasize the first syllable and then keep making mumbling sounds until you think the word is finished. The Finns love their abundance of the following double letters: a, i, k, p.

Example: Valiippaakkanan.

Valiippaakkanan is a family name. A last name. You probably figured that out. It would be rally silly to have Valiippaakkanan as a first name. Even the Finns like their children better than hanging that handle on them.

After watching the nations of the Winter Olympic Games I have come to an interesting understanding of history and an AHA! moment.

My version: Finland and Slovakia were waging war against each other. At the peace talks, after both sides tired of the battles that were raging, a pact was signed to decide who got what. And so, the Finns went home with most of the vowels and Slovakia won the consonants j and z and vowed to use them often and together. The Finns, for their part, also pledged to show off their wealth in vowels by doubling them, as if the vowels were stuttering. And they all lived happily ever after.

And that's what I think about it.

We didn't move south to escape winter although we did give away the snow blower and snow shovel before we left. Come to find out we were precipitous in thinking that a few hundred miles south would make a big difference in the weather pattern.

Last week my husband bought another snow shovel. Twice he has used it on the drive, twice on the walkway and once helping the next-door neighbor. Forget all those warnings about 60-somethings not shoveling snow.

Students have enjoyed several snow days and several other days of delayed openings. Today I read on Facebook that the kids are ready to get back to the books....okay, they are at least ready to get back to their friends.

Driving in snow and on ice is like riding a bike. Once you've learned the techniques you can always pick it up again and so we have been safe and out and around. Many of the roads have been deserted, unplowed, covered with drifting snow covering a sheet of ice. Just like I remember the first several decades of my life.

And that's what I'm thinking about.