Oh, I wish I had thought of GardenWeb four years ago! I rescued a batch of tadpoles from the spring draining of my above-ground swimming pool cover, thinking they'd morph out into frogs and go their merry way. Unfortunately (or delightfully, actually) the spring draining didn't happen until mid-summer that year and the tadpoles I saved got a late start. I had set up a tadpole pond for them on the picnic table, on a covered patio. A wisteria branch pulled over to the "pond" was to serve as their highway out. But, come October, I still had about two dozen tadpoles in various stages of metamorphosis and it got cold. Too cold for a container that held water only 2.5" deep. They can take extreme cold, but frozen solid? I had my doubts. My happy mistake was bringing them inside. You have NO idea how labor intensive it is to raise baby treefrogs until you do it. I ended up with five different terrariums set up, for tadpoles, froglets, and frogs; heat lamps; flightless fruitfly cultures in my bedroom; crickets over the heat vent in my bathroom; and it took 9 months for it to get warm enough and them to get large enough to release. They had to be fed at least twice a day and keeping up with the tank cleaning and their food supply made it a full-time job. In the end, some went to live at Zoo Atlanta and some to Fernbank Science Center, with much gratitude to the herpetologists at both places who were gracious and patient enough to answer all my over the course of their little froggie beginnings. Was it worth it? Well, I did it all over again the next year. LOL I had all the equipment and a lot more knowledge, so I wouldn't be totally lost during a second run. I didn't really plan to repeat the experience, though. I only wanted to see if a spoonful of eggs... EGGS, not tadpoles, would be viable, having been laid in chlorinated pool water. All 48 turned into tadpoles! They were the size of that exclamation point, but just large enough to get my heart. Again. My frogs were Cope's Gray Treefrogs. First year, I lost six out of 26. The next year, I didn't lose a single frog. Of the 48 I started with, most morphed out and were released before winter. I ended up raising the last dozen. That dozen now reside at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga (thanks to a dear friend and fellow froglet raiser who is a volunteer shark tank diver at the aquarium.) I just found this thread today and can't wait to read it all. I have a time crunch, so I could only read about half before I stopped to write this. Love frogs? I adore them. I'll post pictures from my adventure when I can find time to upload them from the little digital discs to my computer.

First, congratulations to Canada for their very gracious hosting of the Olympics and their ability to take many glitches in stride. As for those girls, I think it was bad judgment to celebrate there, the beer and cigars should have been left in the locker room and then there would be no contention. However, girls that age very often display poor judgment, as do girls/women/boys/men of all ages. Of all the things that happen in the Olympics, that's one of the issues that didn't cause me to do any more than shake my head and think that Ashley probably would have done the same thing. And then I'd have busted her for it, LOL. Annie

How you feel about winning a particular medal is a relative thing. Going in to a competition expecting to win nothing, you would probably be elated to win Bronze. Going into the same competition expecting to take Gold and ending up with Bronze, that's a completely different feeling. Not that I'm excusing anyone, just that I can completely understand. It's human to feel disappointed when losing a hard fought game. On the other hand, do ya just LOVE Apolo Ohno? He got disqualified in that final round in the 500 meter when he could have won silver. I'm CERTAIN he was disappointed, and he made some remarks regarding the fact that he disagreed with the judges' decision, but he still smiled and said how he had no regrets and felt that he'd had a successful and satisfying time. And speaking of speed skating controversial decisions, the judge who disqualified the Chinese team in the women's relay received threats on his LIFE! How's that for sportsmanship? Ah well, it's over. It was great fun to watch. Congratulations to ALL the winners. Looking forward to the summer games in London in 2012.

Have a wonderful time--there's absolutely nothing like seeing a hockey game in person. And how fortunate--whoever wins, one of you will be happy--will make for a fun experience, I think Really hate to bring this up--but if things there are anything like they are here (Philadelphia), it's highly unlikely you'll get anywhere near any of the players on game night. They're really protected and kept away from the fans. Which is sort of weird, because they live right among us (I live in NJ--as far as I know, all the Flyers live on this side of the river. DH has been to some of their houses and met them in the course of doing his job, my sister lives around the corner from one, they frequent the local bars and restaurants). Anyway, I wanted to suggest that the best way to get to see players up close, chat with them, and maybe get a photo or autograph is to go to a practice. You should be able to get the practice schedule and location on the team website. The Flyers practice facility is just a few blocks from my dd's house, and they're wonderful about chatting with fans in the parking lot after practice sessions. It's the BEST place to actually see the guys. Maybe that's something else you could do while there, if there's a practice session scheduled? Know you'll have a fantastic time, ENJOY!!!