Weekly Wrap

A Chick at the Olympics #5

In case you haven't heard, Chick Karin's husband, Phil Housley, is a member of the United States Olympic Hockey team. Karin and her family headed to Salt Lake for the games. See Report Index.

Wooooo Hoooooo!! What a game! What a day! What an Olympics!!

Have you ever had one of those days that was so cool that you just didn't want it to end? Or a day that was so unbelievable that you had to keep pinching yourself? Friday, February 22 will be a day I will remember forever.

We beat the Russians! WE WON!! Twenty-two years to the day from the Miracle on Ice Game, we sent them packing again. Even more amazing, in our 3-2 win, guess who got the winning goal?? PHIL!! Our Phil! He had a career highlight game getting both a goal and an assist, helping Team USA get into the Gold Medal game against Canada! We were shocked. Probably not as shocked as the Russians. I still haven't called Candace Cameron Bure (the American wife of Russian player Valerie Bure) to see if she had any tissues left. I'm not one to rub any sort of salt. But she'll probably read this. Sorry Candace, you should have married an American.

The kids and I spent the day preparing for the game. We made signs to hold (and hang up) during the 60 minute contest. Wilson's said he wanted a Gold, Taylor's said, "Bring on the Canadians," Reide's said, "USA All The Way!" and Avery's said, "I love you, Daddy!" Not that Avery was in any shape to cheer her dad on at the game. She slept through the first two and half periods. It was a $350 nap. (She did the same at figure skating, but woke up for Miss Hughes and company.) To calm our nerves before the game, and don't laugh, we went to see Crossroads, the movie with Britney Spears. The kids loved it.

After the game we went to PF Changs for dinner with Phil. He was freakin'. Mostly because we really are going to bring home a medal! It was weird even talking about it... and then, beating the Russians, and then, his goal! We had a great dinner and saw many of the other American players at the restaurant. (We also saw Canadian hockey player Joe Neiwendyck with his family. All 20 of them.) The hockey players have become celebrities here. There was a two hour wait to get in to the restaurant but they whisked us right to a table. When it came time to leave the restaurant, the valet pulled our car around, and all seven of us piled into our Rent-A-Wreck. Seriously. It was all they had left here in Salt Lake when I arrived, so I thought what the heck, how bad can it be?

It's bad. It has 117,000 miles on it, is dented up on the one side, is rusted to the core, the tires are bald, and the doors don't lock.

We brought the kids home and Phil went back to the Olympic Village. Taylor and I weren't ready to sleep yet. We decided to meet our friends from Canada, The Moffatts. Their kids are playing in a band that is the talk of the town. They've formed a new band, Pusch, and they're hot. They've been opening for the Medals Ceremonies on the Hallmark Stage at the Olympic Medals Plaza and everybody loves them. We're going to see them play tonight. I can hardly wait!

Now the Moffatts being from Canada, of course they were hanging out with some fellow Canadians, but you'd never guess who they were with?!? They were with the Roots "people"! I met the lady who designed the berets! Uh-huh, THE lady! Her name is Lynne Morris and she's very cool. I asked her to sign my beret and she was shocked to see that I had one of the authentic and original berets. There were only 350 of them made, and they were only for the athletes. The Olympic rings on the authentic berets are a little bit bigger than the other two hundred thousand berets they have mass produced since February 15th. She was impressed, and even more impressed, I'm one of the few who has one signed by the designer. I had to have a picture. That's me and Taylor with the Moffatts, Pusch and the Roots people. What an appropriate ending to our day to remember.

We're heading up to the Olympic Village today to schmooze, take pictures with, and pretend for a minute that we are the athletes.
 

Chick Karin