Celebrating Sochi

Just when you thought my Olympic stories were done...

Friday, CBC invited 2010 Blue Jackets (the nickname lovingly given to Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic volunteers) to come by the station for the Early Edition radio show. They were very kind to us and gave us all sorts of swag, in the form of pins (with the exception of the bear shown above-I won that one from Petro Canada, online.) and treats.

Here's a selfie I took in their official Sochi Olympic radio broadcasting booth.

As you can see, the event was well attended. A small handful of us arrived at 5:30 am for the start of the braodcast. We were the keeners! It wasn't a problem for me, being an early riser. I was able to catch a ride with my husband, which was memorable because just as he was letting me off, he thought he'd turned backwards up a one-way in the downtown core. (He didn't-some idiot from the City of Vancouver had parked his pick up in the middle of the oncoming lane. It gave of both of us a moment of panic until I realized there was a yellow line down the middle of the street and we were on the correct side of it.)

I did a little on air interview about my favourite memory from the 2010 Olympics. 

VANOC CEO John Furlong stopped by for an interview.

So did Canadian Gold Medalist in Snowboard, Ross Rebagliati.

He brought along his bulldog Logan, who was very sweet.

Photo op! (At this point, I'd changed out of my Blue Jacket and into my down parka because it was freezing!)

Sunday, the Blue Jackets were invited to Creekside Community Center in the Athletes' Village to celebrate the Games.

While we were waiting for things to get started, this reporter from CBC's French TV asked me to do an interview. It lasted about 5 minutes.

There was a parade, singing of the national anthem and then lots of entertainment, booths and food trucks. A whole bunch of reporters from tv and the papers came out. This photo was of the 5:30 am crew from Friday at CBC Radio and someone photobombing us in the background. 

Incidentally, notice the RCMP member's medal? I have one just like it at home. I should have worn mine!

Canadian Gold Medalist Skier Ashleigh McIvor was there, letting Blue Jackets try on her medal and get a photo and she was also signing postcards as a thank you for our service in 2010. She was incredibly patient and generous with everyone. A real class act!

Just before I was leaving, I did a second TV interview with Brian Coxford from Global BC.

Here's a shot of me on French CBC. Having been on CBC TV and CBC Radio over the weekend, I feel like I've been validated as a true Canadian. *laughs* 

One very wonderful thing that I wanted to share with you before I sign off, is that as of this morning, my friend Andrea Bundon  (Or should I say Doctor Andrea!) has officially been named to Canada's Paralympic Team, as a guide for Cross Country Ski athlete, Margarita Gorbounova. I am so incredibly happy and excited for them to compete and I'll be cheering so loud, I am sure they will hear me all the way from Canada!

In the meantime, you really should go check out Andrea's blog about Paralympic Sport, AthletesFirst. Seriously!

Sochi 2014 Celebrations!

Just a quick post to help get the word out about a few events happening around the Sochi Olympics:

The first two are for Blue Jackets-time to suit up & celebrate!

I hope you’re doing well and excited about the upcoming Olympics. I work for CBC Radio and am currently organizing a big opening ceremonies show for our morning program, “The Early Edition”, on Friday, February 7th. 

I’m writing to invite blue jacket volunteers to come down to our show. It will be held in and around our new CBC Canada House, which is our Olympics studio, between 6-9 a.m. at Georgia and Hamilton in downtown Vancouver. There will be free coffee and the ceremonies will be on our big screen outside the CBC studios.

If you’re interested in coming, we would love to have you out. If you could possibly pass this along to any other blue jacket volunteers, I would sincerely appreciate that as well. 

 Jeremy Allingham 

Producer,CBC Radio One 

***** 

Winter Games Legacy Celebration for Blue Jacket Volunteers 

Sunday, 9 February 2014 from 12:30pm until 2:30pm 

Creekside Community Centre, 1 Athletes Way, Vancouver 

 Celebrate and commemorate the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games at Creekside Centre in the former Olympic & Paralympic Athletes Village! This is an all ages event that will feature big screen play back of Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Events, games and craft stations for children and much more! 

All former volunteers at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games can register to attend this free event and participate in a parade, pin trading, interactive games, and enjoy live entertainment. 

Registration is required for Blue Jacket Volunteers (ages 19+) and have your accreditation pass number ready when registering, and present on the day of the event. To register, please call the Creekside Community Recreation Centre at 604–257–3050 ext 2.

***** 

BC Sports Hall Of Fame & Museum 

Red Mitten Weekend 

Feb. 8, 9 &10th 10 am-5pm 

Gate A, BC Place Stadium 

Website:http://www.bcsportshalloffame.com/ 

Hey kids, do you remember where your RED MITTENS are? Be sure to find them and wear them to the BC Sports Hall of Fame over Family Day Weekend for FREE admission! 

We've got lots of activities to choose from Family Day weekend February 8,9, & 10th including:

- the chance to slam some ping pongs against your opponent on the table used in the 2010 Athletes’ Village 

- a unique collection of figure skating paintings of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Joannie Rochette, and Johnny Weir 

- breaking a sweat in our games room where you can rock-climb, run, and try your hockey shootout skills! 

- watching highlights of the 2010 Games on our big screen and MUCH MORE! 

Everyone welcome! Look forward to seeing you over the weekend!

So Much To Share!

Hello again! Well I have lots to share, so grab a cup of tea and settle in.

Last week, I had my 8 week follow up with the surgeon who repaired my wrist. I thought you might find it interesting to see his handiwork.

This is the ulna bone in my arm. It's the one that runs from your wrist below your pinkie finger to your elbow. He sawed this bone in 3 pieces, removing a section in the middle, and bolted the two remaining pieces together using a titanium plate and 6 screws. This is where I have a rather long and spectacular scar on my arm, which is still healing. Surprisingly, this was the least painful of the two surgeries I had done. It hasn't really hurt since after the first 2 weeks post-op. Yay for that! The other surgery, on the heel of my hand continues to be incredibly painful. I am still trying to find the optimal dose of nerve pain medication to deal with that. *sigh*

Meanwhile, in the good news department, on Tuesday, I got an email telling me I'd won a 2 night stay at Summit Lodge & Spa in Whistler. This is the same lovely hotel I stayed at in August 2012 when I went to Whistler for Vivienne's You Are Your Own Muse photography class. Indy blogged a review of the hotel and they are going to share it on their Facebook page on January 27th. They are extremely dog-friendly and we love that because where we go, Indy goes!

In the email they sent, they said if I sent a selfie about winning, they would have a gift waiting in my room when I arrive. I thought it would be fun to send them this:

We look forward to visiting Whistler later this year and I am thrilled we get to stay at our favourite hotel! We LOVE Whistler.

In other news, awhile back, @CBCOlympics asked Canadians to tweet a message of support for Canadian Olympic athletes as part of their #OurAthletes project. I sent them a tweet. Yesterday they let me know that mine was one of twenty selected to be made into a pin. 

(Photo used with permission of CBC Olympics)

Monika Platek of CBC Sports has pinned these 20 pins to her scarf and is taking them to Sochi. As she meets Olympic athletes, she will gift them with a pin and snap a photo, which she will then share with the person whose message appears on a pin. I'd say that's pretty darn cool! I am so pleased to be able to participate in this project-I can't wait to see who ends up with mine! You can read about the #OurAthlete project here.

In other sports related news, I woke this morning to find an email from FIFA. I applied last year to volunteer for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015. (Crazy to think I'm planning my life 2 years into the future!) Anyway, I was accepted! YAY! I fell in love with women's soccer when I volunteered for the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifier for London 2012 and I couldn't be happier to support women's soccer in Canada (in Vancouver!) again in 2015. No idea what I will be doing yet, though my specialty is serving as a VIP transportation dispatcher, so that's a distinct possibility. I am sure it's going to be an amazing experience!

And while all this stuff has been going on, I quietly decided that this year's word is 

Extraordinary. 

May it be extraordinarily good in as many ways as possible!