Day 1499

Day 2: Tickets!

As a sports fan, a music lover, and a sucker for the classics, you could never go wrong getting a girl like me tickets for two. This is a great gift for your man too...get him two tickets to his favorite whatever, and a note to "Have a boys night on you." I have no doubt he will worship you forever. As would I...here would be some of my pics.

Sports Tickets

Since I already have my coveted Sugar Bowl tickets, I guess my next best hot item sports ticket would be Steelers tickets...or Redskins, or Capitals, or Hoyas basketball tickets...all would make me a happy girl!



Concert Tickets

If you have a real music lover on hand, you probably can't go wrong. Hard to get tickets like Lady Gaga or U2 tickets are a dream gift, but a gift certificate to a local venue like 9:30 Club, or tickets to a great summer music festival like Wakarusa or the Virgin Music Festival would make her shriek with joy!



Theater Tickets

Living in Washington, I am lucky to have so many amazing venues for cultural experiences and live theater. The Kennedy Center, the Washington Ballet, the National Symphony Orchestra, Opera in the Park...all would be a fabulous gift for someone equally fabulous in your life.

Day 1468

Tomorrow the circus comes back to town, and by that, I'm sure you know I mean the United States Senate. This coming week is going to be a busy, crazy week, so I decided on Friday to take a quick weekend trip to my grandparents' house in West Virginia. Given the tough week I had last week, I thought the long afternoon drive and a quiet, small town weekend would do me good. And as always, it never fails.

I literally did nothing this weekend but hang out with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and watch football. Saturday afternoon the whole family went out to watch the first round of a bunch of my cousins' high school football playoffs game, and I'm very happy to report that the Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights won, 48-7. The Peluchette boys dominated, as they always seem to do!

Lee, #7, is a Junior and plays QB #1...and is also the punter, which I find hilarious. If I was him I would pull some serious sneak plays on 4th and short.



Lee's brother McKenzie, #15, is a Senior. He plays wide receiver and also a safety on defense. Our cousin Maxx also starts, but was out with a concussion this weekend.



As of now, I have seven grown male cousins on my mom's side that are all over 6 feet tall. Many more still have some growing to do. To say the least, we are an athletic, competitive family, and I couldn't love that any more.

Anyway, after the victory, we can home to watch some college football and of course made everyone watch the Razorbacks win big. Today's drive back was a bit disappointing due to a three hour thunderstorm, but what can you do. The good news is, I walked in to last week's cheer-me-up flowers, which are now in full bloom. Can I just tell you how amazing my condo smells right now? Heavenly!

Day 1320

Jesus has come to Washington and I was there to witness!

That's right, last night I went with friends to watch Stephen Strasburg's second home game as a Washington National, and it was a sight to see. He is, in a word, unbelievable. We were lucky enough to get pretty good seats, on the ground level right behind the dirt on the 3rd base line, and the weather last night was just perfect for a night at the ballpark. Great Friday night, it even ended in fireworks!

Day 1193

Day 12 of Wonderful: XXI Winter Olympics



I may not be a winter sports kind of girl, but I love, love, love the Olympics. The triumph of the win and the agony of defeat...it reaches the heights of human emotions in every aspect, and leaves me in tears pretty much every night. To work so hard all of your life to achieve such greatness...as dad would say, "It doesn't get much better than this."

I'm retiring to my couch early tonight for a bit of rest and relaxation and to watch the Opening Ceremonies. Goodnight, and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

***On another later note, my heart goes out to the Georgian Olympic Team and to the family and friends of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luger who was killed in a crash during a training run today. He was only 21 years old. What a terrible tragedy on a day that is supposed to be filled with such hope and joy. Truly heartbreaking. My prayers go out to them all.

*****And on even later note, I've already started crying and we're only on Austria in the parade of athletes. Oh Lord...let the games begin.

Day 1188

Day 7 of Wonderful: New Orleans Saints



I love football. There is really nothing better than a comeback story and a come-from-behind win. And this year, the New Orleans Saints really was America's team. Congratulations on becoming the 2010 Super Bowl Champions! That win, it was nothing short of spectacular.

Sports have always been a part of my life. Not just swimming, but all sports. My dad didn't have any boys, and I guess being the oldest of three daughters, he taught me all there was to know about sports. And I was always enthused and eager to learn. It was our thing, watching games together, reading the Sports section in the paper each morning. Even when I was a very hard-to-reach teenager or off living my life in college, dad and I could still fall back on talking about the sport of the season.

We didn't have ALL of the same favorite teams though...he was a Cleveland Browns fan. I took after my mom's side of the family and cheered on the Steelers. At least we both had the Cowboys as our second favorite...Emmit Smith was our mutual favorite player.

Today I thought about dad a lot. I looked at old pictures and hung some of his articles on the wall, and got such a sense of pride, happiness and yet a longing sense of emotion for how much I missed him today. He would have loved this comeback story...fighting to win more for than just for personal glory or money or fame. They fought for the pride of New Orleans and the hope and inspiration of its people. Dad would have loved to see this game.