DANCING WITH THE STARS

I'm a sap. I've been moved to giggles, tears, suspense, anger, etc., while watching Dancing with the Stars this fall. It's one of just a few shows on television in the evening that Susan and I feel we can watch with the girls and enjoy as a family. It features celebrities matched up with professional ballroom dancers. Each week the pair must win over the panel of judges as well as the voting-by-phone viewing public to avoid elimination. Tonight's finalists were actor Mario Lopez and football player Emmitt Smith. The girls love to dance and every week really "got into" judging the dancers, choosing favorites, and crossing their fingers when elimination time came around. (Hillary usually cried each week, completely sucked in by the sad "goodbye" music and the thought that someone she liked was being let go.) We were all rooting for Emmitt tonight and nearly lept up clapping when he was announced as the winner. I have no good explanation for being so taken in by this show, but it has been a fun experience for our family the past couple months.