CONFESSION: I'm a Recovering Addict

I have a confession. I am in recovery. From a very serious addiction. An addiction that wreaked havoc on my life for the past month, taking my social life, routine, and productivity level and turning them upside down. Every morning I would wake up and tell myself that today would be different. But alas the night would come, and once again I would give in. Night after night, for three weeks straight. This addiction was short-lived. I'm now on the road to recovery, trying to find a way to move on.

So what is this addiction I speak of? I have no doubt this addiction hits very close to home for some of you. In fact, I have a feeling that many of you are experiencing the same trials of recovery I am now experiencing. My addiction? I feel it necessary to give it some formality...

"Hi, my name is Jessica, and I'm a recovering Olympics-aholic."

Well, there you have it folks...the SUMMER 2008 OLYMPICS! How great they were and how quickly they left me.

I loved them. I loved every second of them. From the opening ceremonies (yes, I admit to being one of the sappy ones who fell in love with Yao Ming's little friend from the earthquake) to the closing ceremonies (minus the yellow suits and white visors), I loved it all.

What's not to love? I mean, Ohh Emm Geee people!!!, this stuff was like crack in TV form! Shawn, Nastia, Michael, Sonya, Misty May...my new best friends! Sure, friendship usually requires the other person to be even slightly aware of your existence, but in this case I feel it's okay to make an exception. I love them. And in my addict's mind, I will choose to believe they knew I was rooting for them, on the other side of the screen. (or other side of the world, however you want to think about it). The point is, I was obsessed!

It's really a good thing that I was out of school during this time, because starting 8-8-08, life as I knew it was no more. My nights were spent watching balance beam routines and swimming races, and my days were spent contemplating where the female Chinese gymnast's fountain of youth possibly could be. *(I mean, they must be sitting on a fortune...to be 16+ years old and look like you're 9 is a miracle! Someone seriously needs to bottle whatever it is they're drinking, slap a label on it, ship it to the good ol' US of A, and BAM! You've got yourself an instant fortune! ORRRR, on second thought, someone needs to stop lying on documents and stop putting babies on Olympic teams! Whatever, back to the point).* If I had been in school, I surely would have failed, seeing as the Olympics take precedence over all.

But now I'm left, on the road to recovery. What am I supposed to do with my time without the Olympics? Yes, have a ridiculous amount of school/studying to do...but learning about chest tubes and pink frothy sputum doesn't quite have the same appeal. You get what I'm saying.

Well, I loved you Olympics of 2008, but the time has come that I must say so long old friend. It's time for me to move on, and stop living in the past. The past 8 days have been dull without you, and there are sure to be more boring days ahead. It gives me hope to know that I will see you in Vancouver in 2010 and then again in London in 2012. But until then, I'll be here. Waiting. And practicing my badmitton skills so I have a chance at being on some Olympic team. Because badmitton is the most hardocre Olympic sport there is.