Thin Mint cookies from the Girl Scouts.

Maybe I’ve been a little bit homesick for the US lately. Or maybe I’m just looking to do some stress eating because it was “raining” in my walk-in closet yesterday thanks to some leaking pipes. Whatever the reason, I’ve been excessively thinking about Girl Scout cookies. In particular, Thin Mints.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved Thin Mints. For those of you not lucky enough to know about these cookies, let me fill you in. This cookie is a thin peppermint wafer covered with dark chocolate. For more than 80 years, Girl Scouts have sold cookies as a fundraiser. There are always Thin Mints, Shortbread and Peanut Butter cookies. And then there are alternate cookies which are sold some years.

I sold cookies when I was a Girl Scout. Then, I liked my Thin mints served cold and with a glass of milk. Come to think of it, that’s still a pretty good way to have them. Now if only I knew where to find them in Europe.

Wylie Walleye hangs from atop a crane, waiting to take a new year's plunge. Photos by Robert Corkery.

Times Square has a giant silver ball. Port Clinton, Ohio has a walleye. And on Friday night, we went to see a giant walleye plunge from its perch atop a crane down to the ground in honor of 2011. It’s not every day that you get to see a 20 foot long, 600 pound fiberglass fish got dropped. So Robert and I were happy to accept my cousin Kezia’s  invitation to check out the Walleye Madness at Midnight.

Wylie plunges to the ground.

Port Clinton is on the shores of Lake Erie and is known as the walleye capital of the world. A walleye is a prized catch for fishermen in this part of the world and somehow because of this, it now hangs from the top of a crane so as to be dropped and reel in the new year. My aunt and uncle’s house is just across the water from the party, so we hung out at home, periodically checking to see the progress of the fish.

Fireworks accompanied Wylie's plunge.

About 1,000 people were gathered by the time we got to the celebration and bad karaoke was being sung on stage. At the stroke of midnight, Wylie Walleye did indeed take the plunge while fireworks exploded in the sky and the crowd sang “Wylie, Wylie” to the tune of Louie, Louie. It was something to see. I have to say that this was the most unusual new year’s party that I’ve ever been to.

And at the end of the night, Wylie was strapped on to his trailer to go home.

I love love love watching the world cup. I love the dramas, the penalty kicks, the crazy fans and how the world comes together to watch it. It’s also the sport that I played the most as a kid, so I  understand it best.

Watching yesterday’s match of the US with Algeria was exciting and fantastic and it left me anxious until the winning goal came during injury time. I’m thrilled that the US will go on to the next round. But I was disappointed for the Aussie socceroos as even though they won, they will not advance further. Such is the scoring system of the world cup.

I think that both the Americans and the Aussies need to improve their acting skills after an injury – all the European teams can play up the drama much more skillfully. I’ve missed watching Sweden this year – it was so much fun four years ago to be able to watch them, the Americans and the Aussies. All the pubs would be so overflowing with people that tables and TVs were set up on sidewalks. Last night, our local was packed for the Australia and England games, but there were no outside TVs. Oh well! Now let’s go team USA!

It’s funny how far removed I can feel from the US sometimes. I had completely forgotten that it’s the Memorial Day  holiday. Granted, this was never a big holiday in my book as an adult, even though it is a three-day weekend and that’s always a good thing. But as a kid, Memorial Day was always exciting. Very importantly, it signaled that school was almost out for the summer.

Plus there was the local parade to either march in or watch in the morning. Walking in my Girl Scout uniform made me feel very cool, for instance. The local high school marching bands were always in the parade, along with the Shriners in their mini cars and a cast of local politicians and businessmen. An old man dressed in an Uncle Sam costume and known as Mr. Spoons was always a highlight, funnily enough. Mr. Spoons had a collection of spoons that he would clap together against his body and dance around with. I guess that’s hilarious stuff to an 8-year-old!

Decorating my bike to ride around the neighborhood with the other kids was the other tradition. My brothers and I would attach baseball cards around the spokes of our wheel so as to make a cool thumping sound. And putting some streamers and American flags on the handlebars added to the fun.

With my parents, we would go to the cemetery to place flowers on relative’s graves in the early afternoon. And later in the day, there was always a BBQ, often the first big family picnic of the summer. It was all good stuff. Just thinking about it is almost enough to make me want to decorate my bike…

My palms were sweaty watching that crazy and action-packed snowboard cross. If not for the fact that I have never snowboarded, I really wanted to be on that slope. I actually felt patriotic when American Seth Westcott rather casually pulled out the win. Seeing Lindsey Vonn hurtle down the slopes,  I was willing her to not lost control on those turns. And when  Swede Anja Pärson did in fact crash in that event, I felt her pain. It’s the old “the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat” Olympic slogan from American TV in action.

Shaun White was amazing in his up in the air acrobatics on the halfpipe. And while I like cross country skiing, it is not quite so exciting to watch on TV. I’m sorry, but that cross country technique is a bit funny looking, admit it. Even so, my Swedish pride got a nice hit from seeing  Bjorn Ferry’s gold in the biathlon and Charlotte Kalla’s in the 10k freestyle. The Swedish announcers were beyond euphoria in their commentating on Kalla’s finish. The oi, yoi, yoi, yoi exclamations and chants of Kalla over and over were just fun to listen to.

I love watching the Olympics. Whether it is winter or summer, I find myself transfixed by the stories of the Olympic athletes. And these days, I cheer not only for the US, but also for Australia (even though the winter Olympics are not quite the thing for the Aussies) and Sweden. And of course, I have to cheer on the other Scandinavian neighbors as well. It’s just good entertainment. Now what events are on tonight?