Races That Are Amazing

I have been an ardent fan of Amazing Race for a while now and part of what I enjoy about watching is thinking about how Ben and I could do some of the challenges, which challenges are better choices (for non-viewers, the game is about traveling the globe in a big "amazing" race, and usually in each episode you have two or three challenges which you have a choice about, and they each have advantages and disadvantages, e.g., trying to get a llama to move twenty feet or carrying a thirty pound basket 2/3 of a mile) - anyway, I seem to have convinced Ben that we could get on the show and at the very least not be the first team to be eliminated (we already have a strategy, but obviously I can't tell you what it is!). Of course, if you have ever traveled with me, you know that the traveling part of the traveling is very not enjoyable for me; on a trip to Las Vegas last fall for a conference, we got stranded in Phoenix for six hours, and I was so unhappy that when Ben and I played hangman, he had only filled in one A before he guessed my phrase, "I'M SO SAD." Also, one can easily surmise that there is a decided lack of sleep in this game, which is something else I'm very not good at. I enjoy the sleep. Why, you must wonder, would I want to do this? Isn't it obvious? Because it's Amazing! You get to go all around the world and do stuff like slide down mountains and herd llamas! That's awesome! So, to try to finish the story, I went online to investigate and it turns out that the next Amazing Race is not for pairs but for a family of four, so after having gained my ever-energetic and game stepmother Lois (the conversation: Me: Do you want to go on the Amazing Race with me and Ben? Lois [enthusiastically]: Yes! What's the Amazing Race? Me: It's a TV show! Lois: Oh, The Amazing Race! Yes! For sure!), we are currently recruiting one more member of the family and are hoping Ben's brother Fritz will represent for his side.