Of Note

1. One year ago today, we sat in our family doctor's office and heard news that no one every wants to get: my husband had kidney cancer. This past year has been incredibly rough on so many levels and we're not out of the woods yet. In less than 2 months, we'll celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary and I am just so grateful that this man that I love so much is alive and fighting for his health. 

2. My blog turned NINE (!) at the beginning of the month and I'm just getting around to mentioning it now. Yes, I started blogging in the dark ages of the internet. This post is number 1548. Go me! I am humbled that people are still interested in reading about my art, my life and the random stuff that rattles around in my head. I will have to plan something great for next year when my blog turns 10!

3. I sent Peter Grande and the good people of MV-1 Canada some event photos and a thank you card for being such generous corporate sponsors for the inaugural NMO walk/run. This week they sent me a thank you card for my thank you card. This is the epitome of what it means to be Canadian. Funnily enough, I've had this happen before-Canadian sportscaster Brian Williams has twice sent me thank you cards for my thank you cards. Its charming and sweet and it makes my heart smile when this happens. I've hung MV-1 Canada's card on my inspiration board where I will see their kind words every day.

4. My friend Deryn Mentock, who is a stunningly talented artisan has published her first book, The Jewelry Maker's Design Book: An Alchemy of Objects. I am so incredibly proud of her. Years ago, when we were starting out in the mixed media art world, we formed an artists' circle made up of good friends who  supported one another as we built our art careers. It's so fantastic to see her having success and to know how hard she's worked and how far she's come. I couldn't be happier for her. Congratulations Deryn!

London Calling!

Today is a banner day because as of this very moment, there are just 365 days till London hosts the 2012 Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games!

It's exciting to see another city gearing up for the experience of hosting the world like we did in 2010. The internet is all abuzz as their preparations kick into high gear now that the final count down is on.

There will be live streaming coverage of London's 1 Year To Go ceremony here at 2 pm EST/11 am PST today.

CTV's Olympic coverage website is up and running here. The Canadian broadcast team for 2012 has also been named, with the incomparable Brain Williams at the helm. Which makes me hugely happy because for me (and many Canadians, I suspect) Brain Williams is the Olympics.

Twitter is the hub of Games news.

You can follow the progress of London 2012 here:

@London2012

@London2012HQ

If you're Canadian and want to stay up to date with our teams,

you'll want to follow:

@CTVOlympics

@CDNOlympicTeam

@CDNParalympics

In addition to that, many, many athletes have personal Twitter accounts. You can do a search to find your favourites! If you want to support our athletes, follow @CanFund  and make a donation because they can't do it alone!

Can you tell I'm excited?! It's like waiting to open gifts on Xmas morning-I'm fairly twitching with anticipation. Only 354 more days to go! *grins*

Good Things Aplenty!

First of all, the magic mailbox was very good to me last week. My husband brought me a piece of mail which at first glance, I had no idea where it had come from. After I flipped it over I saw the return address and I couldn't get it open fast enough!

Awhile back, I'd sent a thank you note to Brain Williams for the autographed photo he'd sent me, which was taken at the 2010 Olympics. Turns out, this piece of mail was a thank you note for the thank you note. *laughs* That's Prairie manners for ya! It just goes to show that Mr. Williams is indeed, the nicest guy in television. Maybe someday I'll be really lucky and our paths will cross. You just never know! I do believe that anything is possible.

My friend Pilar sent me this beautiful birthday card, which is from her original painting Goddess of the First Thaw. I just love her soulful work and she is one of the most thoughtful people I know. She's always sending me cards to say hello or to cheer me up. Everyone needs a friend like her-she's a gem. Take a minute to check out her Etsy shop-she has some wonderful work available!

Starbuck's send me a birthday postcard for a free whatever I want. YAY! I'll be stopping by my local shop for a frappe soon. Free is good!

See? I told you my birthday morphs into a month-long celebration! I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm also getting excited as the time to purchase my new DSLR camera with birthday money gifted to me by family and friends draws near. I'm still doing my homework so I can make an educated purchase, but the plan is to have it in my hands by Mother's Day. I am also planning to take Vivienne's You Are Your Own Muse in the fall as well. I figure by then I will have had time to learn the new camera enough to be able to continue my exploration of self-portrait photography. I had such a good experience in Wading In and I am excited to learn more. If you missed my interview with her, you can find it here.

Another thing I am really happy about is that my husband got us tickets to see Little River Band in the fall. We have 4th row seats! It's his favourite band of all time and I like them too. Their music has been the soundtrack of our life together. My husband owns all their albums and we've listened to them a zillion times over the years on our road trips. We were lucky enough to see them at the PNE last summer at an outdoor concert and it was fabulous. Their music conjures up such good memories for us and we're looking foreword to this "date" in the fall.

Meanwhile, back in the studio, my fingers have been flying as I write some articles for a new project I am involved in. (which is why things have been so quiet around here!) I am really excited about it and I'll share the details soon-the unveiling is scheduled to take place next month!

And So It Goes...

So...like the rest of Canada, I watched the special on CTV last night and held my breath every time I thought my segment might come on...but it didn't. Alas, it ended up on the virtual cutting room floor.

In the big scheme of things, it really doesn't matter. It was great fun meeting Dave and Jeff and by way of email, Tracy. It's another amazing memory (and story) to add to an already incredible Games experience. I also have a signed photo and handwritten card from Brian Williams who instilled in me an abiding love for the Games and set me off on this wondrous journey in the first place. I've been exceptionally lucky in all of this. Like I said before, my Olympic dreams far exceeded anything I'd ever envisioned. It's one of the biggest things I've crossed off my life list.

EDIT: This just in: CTV's posted my "Shared Experience" on their website. You can view it here. There is always a silver lining.

The photo above was taken on Saturday. It's dark because it was pouring rain. My teammate and pal Sharon and I stopped by the CTV booth to have our photo taken together. They had a blue screen and we got to choose a background we wanted to appear on. Well apparently, you cannot take a blue screen photo in a Blue Jacket. What resulted was the worst photo ever-we're two floating heads. I didn't throw mine away though-I'm putting it in my journal so when I look at it, I will remember how silly it was and how hard we laughed when we saw them. (And the fact that we stood in a torrential downpour for 45 minutes waiting to get our picture taken.) In a way, it's so typical of our shared experiences of the Games-completely unpredictable and hilariously funny.

One thing I failed to mention in my previous post was that about 2 minutes prior to the torch actually being relit, the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds. It was the oddest thing. Apparently John Furlong has pretty big connections!

This weekend (and the whole Olympic and Paralympic experience, really) can, in my estimation, be summed up this way:

"There is a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street, and being the noise." ~Rumi

Okay, so I guess that's it for Olympic coverage! If you missed it, I've posted an Olympic giveaway. It's your chance to have a small piece of the magic for your very own! Click here for details on how to enter!

The Magic Mailbox, Olympic Anniversary Edition

(Copyright Brian Williams & CTV)

A couple weeks ago, when I was communicating back and forth with Tracy, the producer of the upcoming CTV Olympic 1 Year Anniversary special, I mentioned that I'd long admired Brian Williams. It just so happened that she works with him and forwarded my email to him with the nice things I'd said about him in it. The next thing I know, she's asking for my snail mail addy because he wanted to send me something. Yesterday, this signed photo and a lovely card arrived.

Yes, my fandom includes a certain Canadian sportscaster. I am sure that surprises alot of people, but there are alot of quirky things that make my world go round and Brian Williams is one of them. Here's why: He made me fall in love with the Olympics.

My whole life, he's been the voice of the Olympics. He's covered 13 of them in fact, which is kind of mind boggling, really. Anyone who knows me, knows that when the Olympics are on, there's no point in calling me or asking me to do anything for the duration. I'm glued to the tv, night and day and if it's on in a difficult time zone, then I'm taping while I sleep and watching during all my waking hours. Everything stops in my house for the Olympics.

Brain Williams is what makes the whole Olympic experience special. When he talks to our athletes, his warmth and caring comes across. You can tell that the Games are his passion, not just some job assignment. He is warm and kind to everyone he interviews and he presents the story in such a way that even if you're sitting home in your pyjamas, you feel like you're there and a part of it. He represents Canada in a way that makes us proud. (And I am especially proud that he comes from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg has had some mighty fine exports over the years!)

It's because of him that I grew to love the Olympics and that love grew into a dream of someday participating in the Games. When the Games landed in my own backyard, it inspired me to apply to volunteer and that led to the best experience of my life.

I got to see and do things other people only dream about and ultimately, I got to carry the Paralympic flame, which was beyond anything I had ever envisioned. I have story, after story, after story of my memories of the Games and I have him to thank for it.

The fact that he was moved to send me this gift underscores what a sweet and caring person he is. It was unexpected and much appreciated. So thank you Tracy for setting this in motion and Mr. Williams for your thoughtfulness. I will be framing that photo and hanging it in my studio, where it will make me smile every day.