Farewell Vancouver 2010 Farewell O Canada

Well, as much as I've enjoyed these winter games, I will be glad to get back to regularly scheduled programming, which won't keep me up til 1 a.m. every night! These games obviously held a special place in my heart, being held in my dear Canada. I've heard my national anthem more in the past 2 weeks than in the past 2 years! It's funny, because I don't really know how much I heard it living in Canada, once I was past my school years. In school, O Canada was played every morning, and we closed the day with God Save the Queen. 

Now, living away from Canada, I love hearing it. It touches me more now than it ever did when I still lived up there in the great white north, and, I guess, took it for granted.

Thanks Jay, for sharing photos of your Vancouver experience. My Aunt, Marianne, and her husband Jay live in Vancouver and have been busy volunteering for, and experiencing, the Olympics in their beautiful city. I was lucky enough to go to the Calgary Olympics in 1988 and it was an experience I'll never forget. So when my friend Randy, who also lives in Vancouver, was talking about wanting to escape the city during the Olympics, I hoped he would give it a chance. It's an amazing coming together of the world and so much fun to be in the midst of, be a part of.

Other than spending waaaaay too much time watching Olympic coverage, we had a bit of our own excitement this week. Poor Nick, at the ripe old age of 14, had his wisdom teeth removed Thursday. Just like everything else, this too seems to start earlier. (he has friends at school in the same boat!)  But he's such a trooper. No pain meds after Thursday, and the only thing he's grumbling about is the limited diet he 'enjoys' right now. He's a bit swollen, with a jawline that brings to mind Luke Wilson. No chipmunk likeness at all.

Friday, he was bummed because it ended up being a snow day, and our district has already used up those built into our year -- now we have to make them up. The good news was that he only missed about 1/2 hour of school due to his teeth (he actually went to school the day of -- I picked him up 1/2 hour before his appointment)

So that meant Gaby was home too. This time the snow started Thursday morning, and brought with it high winds, causing some to coin the term Snowicane. OK. Students were dismissed early on Thursday, and we got that predawn call on Friday to let us know we could roll over and go back to sleep. For Gaby, the wind created less than ideal conditions for snow play, so she decided to work on her Science Fair project instead.

And me, well, I cleaned my pantry. These are for you Dad!

Who Do I Cheer For?

Why Canada, of course!

One of Gaby's classmates' moms asked me this on Tuesday at the class Valentine party. She seemed genuinely concerned, as if it was a serious dilemma.

If I'm watching an event in which Canada is participating, I'll always cheer my countrymen (and women!) on. However, if Canada isn't in contention, the U.S. is who I'll always root for!

Living in the U.S., if you're the least bit interested in Olympic coverage, you can't escape the personal stories of many of the favoured atheletes. I do know more about Shaun White, Evan Lysacek and Lindsay Vonn, than Alexandre Bilodeau and Maelle Ricker. They're all gold medal winners, but I'm more familiar with the stories behind the faces of the American athletes. It goes with the territory, quite literally!

Facebook helps. I'm a fan of Canadian Olympic Team and Vancouver 2010 Olympics. They allow me to stay on top of what's happening in my beautiful O Canada.

And of course I've been staying up much much too late every night, to catch the coverage. Network television is frustrating. My kids would love to be able to see more of their favourite events, but can't stay up that late on school nights. Some of the coverage isn't even live -- they're running events when they want to get the most people viewing. We already know who's gonna win; I can't stay away from the spoilers on the internet, and FB doesn't even try to keep it a secret!



So here's to another week and some of late nights and groggy days. It's only once every four years!




(Thanks Lin for the Olympic gear. We love it!!)