Jeez, Olympics. Can't a girl get some sleep?

The Olympics has seriously been messing with my sleep schedule. They don't start until 8pm, which means they're usually not over until midnight. Last night, they weren't over till 1:30. AM. That leaves us with a measly 5.5 hours of sleep before heading off to work. Dear lord, are we crazy?

Yes.

But.

It was worth it (I think).

Of course, they show the best stuff last, spending the first hour or so of coverage on semi-finals of indoor men's volleyball, and pre-qualifying rounds of swimming that doesn't involve Michael Phelps. They want you to stick around until the end, when it's the all-around women's gymnastics, and when Phelps has a chance to win yet another gold (PS - you'd think we would be sick of Phelps winning by now, but no. Can't. Stop. Watching. He's even tricking us now...trying to make it look like he might not win and then pulling a full body length ahead in the last few meters of the swim. What a tease.).

It was fun to watch our awesome athletes do what they do...and you better believe I'll be watching again tonight -- thank god I can sleep tomorrow morning though. These late-night Olympic viewing marathons (um, we watched 6.5 hours of Olympics last night!!!) are
taking a toll on this working woman and her working man.

Someone suggested TiVo'ing the competition and watching it when I get home from work, or even over the weekend. Um, clearly this person is not a true Olympics Obsessor. Here's what's wrong with that philosophy:

1. It is hard enough to avoid all media outlets while you're watching it "live" - all the media posts *actual* realtime results, and stupid California TV puts us several hours behind the news to begin with. I can't imagine avoiding all the news, not to mention the people talking about it, for another 24+ hours until I get home to my TiVo. Which brings me to
2. If you don't watch it the night it's on, you can't talk about it the next day. Part of the fun and excitement is getting to talk about it with everyone who watched it, and get geared up for what's going to be on next!
3. There's something exciting and fun, albeit exhausting and painful, about watching it in semi-realtime. We know we're not seeing it *live*, but still...watching it without knowing the results is pretty damn exciting! I felt like a total outsider not having watched the Opening Ceremony live (I was on an airplane). I'm watching it online now, and it's really cool...but now nobody wants to talk about it. It's sort of isolating, and makes you feel like a total latecomer to the club. The Olympics are supposed to bring people together, and you just can't feel the same camaraderie while watching it alone on your TiVo after everyone else has already seen it. At least I can't.

Anyway, back to work. I can barely keep my eyes open, and I may need a nap before tonight's competitions...and boy, will I sleep well tomorrow morning!