What's Happening Here

(Shot in Whistler for YAYOM)

-Watching the light change as the season begins to shift. Autumn brings light the colour of faded denim. I love witnessing this transition.

-Attending Popluck, a new dining experience, following the same plan as the Al Fresco dinners we enjoy. This group started last month, so it's very new. I am making a lemon loaf to share. It's in the oven now and smells delicious.

-Enjoying some down time. I needed it. I didn't know how much, until it happened. It's a good reminder to create space for this every now and again.

-Just starting to think about the things I want to accomplish over the next few months. Getting some of those plans in motion now. I live for adventure, truly.

-Watching the 2012 Paralympics. I saw the opening ceremony yesterday. It was infinitely more enjoyable than the Olympic one. I was especially thrilled to see Stephen Hawking hosting. That was brilliant! Team Canada looked like they were eager to get to work. GO Canada GO!!

-Penn, Carol & I got tickets to go to the Vancouver Etsy Party next week. If you're local and want to go, send me an email and I'll help you get tickets at a discounted rate. The good folks who are organizing the party sent me a promo code to share with friends who might want to join us. All the fun you can craft for $15! (Click the link to learn more.)

-I treated myself to this new Sabrina Ward Harrison book. I thumbed through it in the store and it's full of eye candy, so I had to have it. It also has a big glassine envelope inside the front cover, full of collage ephemera. I didn't notice that until after I got it home, so it was a pleasant surprise. It's the kind of book you pick up over and over again to pour over. YUM!

And you? What are have you been up to?

Magic Mailbox: London 2012 Edition

I had the honour of guest blogging for Andrea, of Athletes First while she was away in the UK at a conference and she very kindly offered to bring home some swag for me from London 2012 as a thank you. 

True to her word, these fabulous goodies arrived today! There's Mandeville, the Paralympic Mascot (who at this moment I can totally relate to, seeing as I've been a one eyed spectator!) a mug to match (in my favourite colours!) and two packages of Cadbury chocolate mascots. I'm going to save the chocolate till I go to Whistler. It seems fitting to eat 2012 chocolates where our 2010 alpine events were hosted and you can bet I'll be saving the wrappers! Those will end up in my journal for sure!

Andrea also included a beautiful card that depicts eight rowers. In addition to being a Paralympic ski guide, she is also a rower. She said the card was in celebration of the silver medal the Canadian Women's 8 team won last week. Andrea has friends who were rowing in that boat! 

So, so cool and very much appreciated! THANK YOU ANDREA!! 

Catching Up

Boardwalk

In the interest of freshening thing up a bit, I give you my new blog header. Happily, there is a new, easier way to create them, so I may be inclined to do this a bit more often.

Things have been kind of quiet in the studio. I've mainly been writing material for a presentation I am making in about a week on crisis intervention and suicide prevention. Serious stuff! There's alot of information to relay in a short period of time, but I always love the opportunity to help empower others, especially when they are doing important work like this.

Meanwhile, the excitement is building for London 2012. As you can imagine, I am counting the days! It seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for the Games here in Vancouver. I watched the Americans' gymnastics trials last weekend. It was pretty intense-when people make mistakes, it's pretty spectacular. (And scary!) The balance beam always freaks me out-fall on that and you're going to clobber yourself!  I am very much looking forward to watching the Games obsessively.

 Vivienne has encouraged me to take my camera in for it's servicing. I am loathing the idea of letting it out of my sight, but I suppose I should do it sooner, rather than later, so it's all spiffy and ready to go for Whistler. I am so used to just grabbing it and shooting when the spirits move me that to not have it available for a few days seems like torture! I suppose I should just get it over with.

In other news, I had a lovely surprise arrive in the mail the other day. It was an honorarium for participating in the gallery show Dispelling the Myths: Disability & Art  at the Leigh Square Community Arts Village in May. It was completely unexpected. I'll probably treat myself to some new art supplies next week. Good karma is always welcome!

Lift-Off To London!

Yesterday, as I was watching the morning news, they mentioned that they were having an event to send off the Canadian Athletes from British Columbia at the Athletes' Village in Vancouver. I decided to drop everything and go!

This is where the ceremony took place, in the Salt Building at the Athletes' Village. It's a gorgeous old building that was restored for the Games and served as the "living room" for the athletes during the Games. Since then, it's hosted Games related events. I think it's really nice that it's being used in this way. It seems fitting.

 Here's members of the Paralympic Rugby team wheeling in.

It was a sea of red, both on stage and in the audience. The Olympics begin in 32 days so we've begun to fly our colours!

This was the master of ceremonies, a Chef de Mission, but I can't remember his name. (Sorry! I tried looking it up, but no luck.) He addressed us in both French & English. This is the Olympic (and Canadian) way. 

He introduced the BC athletes present, which included members of the women's soccer team (Including beloved #12, Christine Sinclair), Swimmers and Paralympic Rugby. 

Interesting fact: BC represents only 1/3 of Canada's population, but if our Canadian Athletes win in London, will be responsible for 50% of the medals. WOW! I'm not entirely surprised-British Columbians are outdoors people and tend to be very active. How could you not be in a place as beautiful as this?

Four time Paralympian, Elisabeth Walker-Young, the Assistant Chef de Mission for the Paralympic Games spoke as well. She commented on the fact that she was glad the Olympians and Paralympians were being honoured together. I agree. It was wonderful to have all our athletes share in this moment together.

 Olympic swimmer, Scott Dickens gave a very moving speech explaining how tough the road to the Games can be. He missed qualifying in 2008 and had to refocus on why he loved the sport in order to keep working hard to qualify for London 2012. He also talked about how as Canadians, we are reluctant to say we want to win (because humility is so much a part of our national identity) but that he's changed his mind set to "Why not ME?" He's right-somebody has to win and why not him?

The whole ceremony was quite moving and several times, my eyes were full of tears. I love the Games and I am so proud of our athletes.

 I ran into these two ladies, whom I've volunteered with at other big city events. Apparently, they were volunteering at this one. No idea how I missed the notice-I would have volunteered in a heartbeat. Love the shirts!

Afterwards, they handed out these posters so you could get them signed, so I did. It was fun to personally wish each of our athletes the best of luck in London.

There were cameras everywhere!

Just before I left, I spotted 5 time Olympian and silver medalist, Charmaine Crooks. On impulse, I said hello and asked if I could have a photo with her. She was very nice about it. It's kind of surreal bumping into her like that, after seeing her for years on television. She's represented Canada for over 20 years in athletics. She's a very big deal in the world of sport and Olympics.

Afterwards, I walked over to Terra Bread (in the village) and had lunch alfresco. It was such a beautiful sunny day, which was wonderful, after how dismal and cold the weekend was. 

I'm really glad I went. My excitement for London is building! Safe journey and good luck/bonne chance to all our athletes! I am SURE they are going to be able to hear me cheering across the pond. I BELIEVE!

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*