The joys of my own home

I'm currently sitting comfortably in my own house watching Canada vs. Denmark in women's curling on CNBC. Seeing the Olympics live is a blast but it's also quite nice to be tucked under a blanket watching any number of events as the spirit takes me.

The drive back from the hostel was pretty uneventful. I drove the school van with a co-worker which made for much quieter traveling than being on a school bus with a bunch of kids. We were a bit of a convoy...one white van leading three short yellow buses.

I took a bit of a nap when I got home but I'm still tired. Feeling a bit under the weather - hoping it's just fatigue and not a cold coming on.

Hubby and I have been talking about maybe going back up to Vancouver to see an event together. I don't know if it will happen but it's crazy to not go if we can. It's totally worth it.

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow.

Pretending to be a bobsledder

Please note that I am holding a Canadian flag and I'm in a Swiss bobsled with a bunch of Americans. Go team!

Skeleton and the end approaches!

What can I say? I was a little wishy-washy about going to skeleton. I figured, "How interesting could it be to watch a person flying by for a split second?" Well, let me tell you...I'm a convert. The skeleton event was the event to be at last night. It's just a big old party of people wandering around, talking to each other, drinking, and seeing athletes flying past you at 140 km per hour. I loved it!! Our kids could walk around in their groups and we could hang and go where we wanted without worrying about where the kids were. At one point, we wondered where they were...when we looked up at the jumbotron there they were!

Here is a photo of what it looked like at the Whistler Sliding Center.


It was such a good time...I got to hang out at the end of the run and take photos as the women finished. They're sooo tiny. I could be a skeleton athlete. I'll have to see if there's a sliding area I can go to.

Sudden slow down at the border. Bye bye 5 minute crossings. We will miss you.

Chuggling along toward Burnaby. 5 minutes down, 3 hours 55 minutes to go.

Skeleton today

It's early...7 am and I'm up before the kids enjoying some peace before they awake. We head up to Whistler today for skeleton (hurling down the sliding track head first on a sled). The day may prove challenging since it will involve about 4 hours driving first to Vancouver and then to Whistler on a bigger bus. Our event is at 4pm so we've got a very long day and evening ahead.

The sun is shining...who would've believed how great the weather would be. It's a far cry from the downpour we hit on the way up from Seattle. Putting on the warmies for Whistler though.

I'm not feeling super articulate at this moment. I've got some coffee in me so far but it's not making me more clever (but I'm prettier).

Finland wins 5 - 1!!

A great game between Finland and Belarus though the former was definitely a more mature team. It was so exciting to actually attend an Olympic event after years of just watching tv coverage.

The crowds in Vancouver City Center were atrocious. Decidedly not my favorite feature of attending the Olympics.

Even international events get yayhoos like this nitwit on their jumbotrons:




More later...

Steaming toward the border again. Looking forward to Finland vs. Belarus in men's hockey. Go team!

Picture of the Granville Island aliens

Early mornings

One of the things you start doing when spending time around middle schoolers is think a lot about motivation. Why is this kid doing this particular thing at this particular time? My suspicions are raised when I hear kids up and taking showers at 6:20 when they don't have to be anywhere before 8:15 or 9:00. Hmmmm....

Lots of running around last night. The kids were really jumping and driving us a little crazy. Tonight should be a lot different...after a full day of walking around, event-watching and trying to get along with one another.

Last night we were at Granville Island. It wasn't exactly out of control as I was rather expecting it to be (it was Mardis Gras after all). There was a crazy parade of French-speaking alien/monsters that wandered around the streets though. Lots of friendly people and the occasional group of athletes (we saw a crew of Canadian men walking as a group...didn't know what sport they were but they certainly looked athletic).

There is an awful lot of driving on this trip. That's going to be one of the biggest drags of this trip since the border crossings just don't seem to be an issue.

I've got coffee by my side and it's still quiet, though I'm sure not for long. I'll be heading to a shower pretty soon. I miss my cozy bed but I had a good night's sleep.

A tiring day but fun

Our day began with a drive up to the curling rink in White Rock. It was a blast. The kids went from never having curled to actually trying to play a match. We had nervous expectations of the border crossing but we got through in about 5 minutes! I'm really tired at the moment (it's now after 11:00). I'll post some more in the morning. Suffice it to say that we all got from point A to point B to point C to point D, etc. without losing any kids and without any mishaps.

Driving along trying to find our crossing. The weather is turning out to be glorious. High hopes for our curling experience.

Getting ready

It's 4:25 in the morning and I'm drinking a coffee ruminating on what I have neglected to pack. In an hour hubby will be driving me to school so I can "hop" on a bus that will take a class of 7th graders, 5 chaperones and me up to Vancouver for a variety of Olympics fun in the coming days. I know I've over-packed (as usual) but I'd rather run the risk of having too many warm clothes than too few.

More to come.