Countdowns and Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle

I'm tempted to just post the video for Final Countdown, but I won't. You're welcome.

I like to get excited about things. (Who doesn't, right?) Sometimes I think the anticipation is better than the event. And that's why I countdown to things. Here are some things I've been counting down to.

1) The Olympics.

Tom Daley is 18 and I definitely don't care or feel like a creep. Take that, World!

I LOVE the Olympics. I like to watch the weird events like archery and badminton (speaking of badminton, did you see 4 teams were disqualified for throwing their matches??) but I'm also super obsessed with swimming, gymnastics, and diving (diving for obvious reasons. See above.) Thanks to my parents DirecTV service I can watch all 3500+ hours live.

2) BFF Alaska Adventures!

My BFF Steven gets here in 19 days and we are going on ALL KINDS of adventures. He's my favorite human being.

3) Speaking of Adventures...

Brandino and Jim forever!

These two crazy kids are getting married in 24 days and they are letting me perform the wedding ceremony. For real.

4) Labor Day Family Time

There have been a lot of milestones in my family this summer, so we are celebrating them all at once. You know, killing 15 birds with one stone. My family is nothing if not efficient.

5) Vacation!

Flying cuts 73 hours off my travel time

Since I've become a "grown up" (using the term loosely, of course) I haven't taken any vacations that I've a) paid for on my own and b) were not related to a holiday or family function. I'll be taking my first one ever in 87 days, thanks to some airline miles, a job that pays real money, and my upcoming PFD check.

This week's hot jam was going to be something else, but I heard Fire Alarm by Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle on the radio this morning and became totally obsessed. (I've listened to 5 times already today.) A little bit bluegrass, a little bit pop and I super love it. Greater-Jackson, WY readers, Carrie is going to be in Victor, ID on Thursday, August 7th. You should probably go.

Postcards and Fleetwood Mac

It's no secret that I love getting mail. It's also no secret that I love weird stuff. So weird postcards are pretty much the best thing ever in my book. I think weird postcards harken back to the era of roadside attractions and trips along Route 66 - the glory days of American road travel. Which, let's be honest, is probably the era I should have been around in.

Circa 1950

Circa 2011

Regardless of which time period I should have been born in, my friends humor my love of weird postcards and send them to me pretty regularly. Here are some of my favorites (and weirdest):

I got this one today. Perfect timing, Sarah!

This week's hot jam is Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac. Really, what's not to love about Fleetwood Mac? My favorite thing about this song is that Lindsey Buckingham wrote it about his relationship with Stevie Nicks and they still performed it together all the time. That had to be awkward, right? Like when two of your friends break up, but insist on still hanging out like everything's normal. I wonder how he introduced it to the rest of the band. "Hey guys, I wrote this really personal song about Stevie and me. But don't worry, it totally won't make anything weird."