I'm Gonna Miss This

When Kamille was about 5 months or so, I was really really struggling with her lack of sleeping at night because when she didn't sleep, I was obviously not sleeping and it was just a bad scene over all.  On one particular morning, I was eating my breakfast and felt desperate for relief of some kind.  I needed the sleeplessness to end.  Although that request was completely out of my control, I resorted to the next best thing to deal with it - humour.  I grabbed a pair of scissors, but open the Shreddies box that I had just finished and grabbed my big fat black magic marker.  And in big black capitals I wrote FREE BABY on the backside of that Shreddies box and stuck it in my big kitchen window.  

Now to most, this might seem like a good reason to call the Ministry on me, but at the time I was living in a very close knit townhome community where all of the units turned in towards each other and everyone that lived there was either parenting a baby or young child or had done so years ago.  I felt very comfortable posting my FREE BABY sign knowing that anyone looking at it would giggle, relate or offer support.  

My FREE BABY sign did just that.  I laughed as I put it in my window and shortly afterwards I received two phone calls from neighbours offering support and also sharing a light hearted laugh with me.  

It didn't take away the sleepless nights, nor did it take away my fatigue. But it did give me the opportunity to be real and say "Hello, I'm human and this is tough."  

That is kindof the way that I have been feeling lately with my sweet, Kamille.  Parenting is tough!  Its like I never stop saying "STOP" to her or I'm constantly asking her to "use her listening ears."  I've seen the scrunched up angry face that she gives me when she says "NO" in her most assertive voice way too much lately.   And if its not the angry face, its the sound of an over dramatic fall to the ground "I want my Daddy" cry.   To cap it off, this morning she refused to wear the brand new $47 pair of Stride Rite running shoes (that she picked out yesterday and said that she loved)  and it nearly drove me to throw them at the wall.  Argh!  

I know its all relative to what might be going on for her or for me in life right now.  I've been here before many times over the past 3 years.  

While blog stalking last week, I came across this blog post written by a mother of 5 children.  She writes about getting through the tough times by saying "I'm gonna miss this" over and over to herself.  So, hhmmm, just what does this mean in the heat of a meltdown or gong show moment?  What am I gonna miss about a crazy stressful moment?

Simply put, when faced with these challenges of motherhood, choosing to be calm and present in the moment with my babes is about all I can do for a successful outcome.  Its what I can do to help her to move forward.  And truthfully, if its a moment of chaos or a moment during a complete meltdown, I AM gonna miss it.  Fifteen years from now when Kamille is 18 years old and her emotions and hormones are all over the board, I could only hope that I can just sit and be with her.  I will wish that she would sit on the stairs for an 18 minute time-out to think and then we could talk it out afterwards rather than getting a door slammed in my face.  I know at that time I am gonna miss when a simple hug could help her move forward or a kiss on her forehead would calm her down.   

Or in the case of a sleepless night as I mentioned above, perhaps thinking 'I am gonna miss this' would remind me to cherish the quality time of just me and my girl, in complete silence, snuggling together for hours on end.   I am sure that there will be nights when I am up at all hours of the night because I am waiting for her to walk through the front door, and right then I'm gonna miss the comfort of scooping her up out of her crib to rock her back to sleep.  

I know this "funk" is only for now.  I know that in one week we'll be through it and that there will be more in the future.  But knowing that "I'm gonna miss this"is just one thing that I don't want to forget along this journey with my girls.  

Getting My Car Out Of The Ditch

So, yes, I will admit it.  I am sometimes a B-I-T-C-H towards Kevin.  It just happens.

And not to go on about it, but to qualify my B-I-T-C-H-Y status this evening, it was because this morning when he was leaving and I was putting Karis to sleep in my arms, I asked him to put the stroller out and to lay it flat so that I could transfer Karis into it when she was asleep.  Simple request, but there was a jumbling in the communication and I came out to the stroller semi-reclined, and held back from being fully reclined because he failed to take the 2nd seat attachment off.  Argh!  So as I am fumbling to detach the second seat and unfold it down properly with my sleeping baby in my arms, I for sure woke her up.  So much for that effort.

And then this afternoon, when he called at 1:30 or 2ish and announced that he would be home in a couple hours, I was super excited because it would mean that I could make dinner without having to entertain my girls.  Such a better way to start the night!  But, when I looked at the clock at 5:40 and realized that he was still not home and that my usual 6pm dinner time was quickly approaching, I wasn't feeling super happy.  So when Kevin called at 5:45pm and was all "Oh, hey baby, its been a busy day, do you want me to pick up some wine?", the answer was a quick and grumpy yes.  


Suddenly, this and this morning's mix up was having an impact on me and I was B-I-T-C-H-Y.

So tonight, I am ratting him out.  Not for the simple things that didn't happen today, but for his efforts to turn things around.  Its only recently that I have figured out his simple, yet effective strategy.  And with this post, I am calling him on it!

As it goes, I dodge his enthusiastic hugs and kisses when he arrives home, I get dinner on the table for everyone, still in a funk and just as I am about to sit down Kevin reaches for the SHAW Cable channel changer and with a flick of a button, I start to decompress.   No, I am not controlled by the channel changer.  (Isn't there an Adam Sandler movie like that?) Kevin has nailed it.  I am decompressed by the good old beats of the 80's music station that we can tune in to.

I kid you not!  If you know me well, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE 80's music.  LOVE! Its the total geek in me.  I love 80's music, especially 80's POP!

And so as we sit there eating dinner, the mood tends to lighten and I usually end up telling stories to Kevin that relate to my life back when the current song we are listening too was the song in my life!
I am not sure which, the B-I-T-C-H-Y state or my stories is worse for him!

Anyway, it works.  And he knows he's really got me when a song like this song, by Strange Advance comes on because I will likely break out in a seated dance and sing my favorite lines.  This always gets Kamille smiling and bopping with me.  Usually Kevin and Karis just look at me like I'm a complete and total weirdo (they just don't have that 80's pop groove that I have!).  

So, thank you Kevin!  Thanks for knowing how to, as you once said, "pull my car out of the ditch." 
You are a good one! 

*********

Ok, seriously click on this song and I DARE you to try not to bounce or even get up.  Such a classic hit!  And make sure you check out the AMAZING skills of the keyboard player - he's nailed the one handed play!  ; )
I'm tellin' ya - those 80's were magical! 

Nana's Visit!

So having a look at my blog dashboard, I am a bit overwhelmed by the number of draft posts that I have on the go right now.  Yowza.  It seems that something will pop into my head and I start a new draft and then never get around to finishing it because something new will happen and I will be swept away in fresh inspiration to write about that thought right away.

But there is one drafted post that I do now want to forget to finish and its all about my mom's visit a couple of weeks ago.  Our Nana came to visit us for 10 great days!

Nana comes out from Ontario to visit us about 2 times a year.  The last time our Nana came out was when Karis was fresh and new and she was my glorified baby holder and toddler entertainer.
Thank God for Nanas!

This time, Nana came out with a of couple goals: 1. To hike the Stawamus Chief and 2. To use her physio skills to get my 'little archer' to sit on her own for good.

Having my mom here is such a great time for me because I get to do so much more than I can do on my own.  Her timing couldn't have been more perfect because over the 10 days that mom was with us, Kevin was with us for less than 48 hours. (He had 2 work trips that were longer than usual).
However, in our short time with Kevin, he and I got out on a *date,* and I also got a chance to get out running with friends, make dinner without having to entertain the girls at the same time, pack up some winter clothes and take out spring clothes for us girls and a bunch of other stuff that I don't get to because I am too busy being Mom. 

The only thing my mom hopes for in return is that it doesn't rain.  Let me tell you, this is a lot to ask for in this next of the woods.  Guess what....

..it rained.  But thankfully, not too much.  The rain never stops my mom from taking Kamille to and from preschool (especially when she gets to wear my super duper ultra comfy BOGS!).  

 When the days were clear, we got out to the park for some climbing and swinging.

We ventured to Whistler for lunch and some shopping.  It was neat to see the post-Olympic evidence.  It was a ghost town in comparison to when we were there over the Olympics.  Shopping with my mom is always fun because she buys stuff.  When she is on holiday she buys rather than just window shops.  I like that.  Shopping also gave Kamille the opportunity to show us her inner diva.

shopping at billibong.  this is when kamille found something and said "mom do you wanna buy this?"  my mom offered to pay for it, but my nursing boobs looked awful in it.  that sucked.  

Whistler also has a brand new and very cool kids play area.  We checked it out as well as a couple other great attractions that kept Kamille a happy gal.

 and our little kare bear had fun too!

Following a great day in Whistler, Mom and I got to the goals that she was looking forward to.
Goal #1 - The Chief.  Its really hard to prepare someone for the Chief.  First off, you have to dress properly, eat properly before it, consider using hiking sticks and pack your water.  You've gotta know that you are going no where but UP with each step and that it ain't no walk in the park.

So I did my best to psych her up for it!  And you know what, my mom, who is in great shape, DID IT!  We had decided to take the route to Peak #1 or 610 meters up, and we were so close to making it to the very top but decided that the terrain would be easier to get up than it would be to get down from considering my mom's abilities so we sat down, enjoyed the view and the satisfaction that my mom had done it and could check one more thing off on her Bucket List. What an accomplishment!

Here we are at our top.  

 looking down the sea to sky highway.  just lovely, isn't it?

  nice work mom!

Back on flatter ground, Nana taught Kamille all about the Chickadee bird.  Kamille and Kevin had recently hung up her pine cone bird feeder that was attracting many birds to our backyard.  It was so cute watching Kamille call "chickadee, dee, dee" just as my dad had taught me when I was a kid.

And Nana also spent some great quality time with my girl Karis.  They went on walks together and with a little help from her Nana, she was sitting like a pro before the end of her visit!

Our little girl also began to eat cheerios and puffed wheat on her own.  It was so great to watch her progress in a matter of two days from pushing them around on her tray to actually being able to pick them up and get them in her mouth.  Watching her little fingers and her eyes work with such concentration is priceless.  She was so proud of herself.  And I was so proud of my girl for achieving this milestone.  Wow, sitting and eating on her own - this was a big week for her!

don't you dare touch my cheerios mom!

We were happy to share a bit of our every day with my mom, Nana.  We know that she always enjoys coming out to visit and we look forward to her next trip out here!  Hopefully she can drag Grandpa out with her next time!  

 Thanks for all your help Nana!  We love you!

Let The Creativity Flow!

There are definitely days when Kamille does something that makes me stop, stop and think.
Today was one of them.

At her request, we decided that this afternoon's play activity was going to be Play-Dough.  This is always a fun activity for her and we recently acquired even more colours so she was really excited about the possibilities.

Initially Kamille sat down alone and got busy making cookies while I used the time to straighten things up and get some things ready for dinner.  A few minutes later Kamille approached me in the kitchen to show me the brightly coloured, multi-coloured, cookies that she had made.  She grabbed my hand and asked me to join her.

As I sat down with her, I immediately took one of her cookies, gave it my best pretend bite, chomp and swallow and then, when she was distracted, I started to pick away at it,  trying to separate the multi-colours that she had stuck together to create this bright cookie.  It wasn't going so well and when she noticed what I was doing she did not think that it was a good idea.   She took it from me and proceeded to use her mini rolling pin to roll the colours even closer together, eliminating any hope of separating them out at pack up time.

And as I watched her do this, I realized that the cookies that she was making should be multi-coloured!  Each one was different, each one had a different pattern of swirls and polka-dots.  As she rolled them out they became more and more mixed up, making them more exciting.  She loved it!  She loved it and I learned to completely relax about it.

Who cares if she mixes the Play-Doh?  Really?  Play-Doh is meant for fun, its meant for expressing creativity, its meant to be used by three year old hands in whatever way they want to mould it or shape it.

So often (and I know its not just me), we worry about mixing the colours.  Why?  Why did it irritate me so much?
I didn't see it as stifling creativity until today.

So, with a fresh perspective on Play-Doh, I got in there.  I picked away at all the other colours creating a pile of Play-Doh balls and scraps all put together and then I rolled it out.  Rolling and rolling until all the colours blended and flattened together to create amazing hypnotic patterns!

It was fun, it was somewhat liberating for me and it was creative - just the way that Kamille likes it!
And I suppose after all of our 8 containers of Play-Doh are mixed together we will just start fresh with new stuff, like a crisp clean canvas waiting to be painted, right?

This was a good thing thing to remember.  

Play-Doh isn't the only creative outlet for Kamille these days.  I am extremely excited about her drawing skills that she is learning and practicing every day and she has pretty much got the letter K down now too.  It still looks like a bit of an H, but she's getting there! 

Lastnight before bed, I noticed some drawings that she had done on her wipe board earlier in the day.  I was so excited to see what looked like a number of people.  As a side note, last week at preschool each child had the chance to draw their families. Kamille drew me.   Just me and a couple other people shaped figures, but she only wanted to label me as her family.  So last night, I was curious to see what she would say if I asked her about her drawing.  And this time, she proudly labelled herself, me, Karis and Kevin.

So that I could always remember her gorgeous 3 year old drawing, I snapped a photo of her - the artist - and her work of art!

S

gosh, she makes me smile! 

Grocery Shopping with my girls

This morning, while feeding Karis her cereal, attentively responding to Kamille's enthusiasm for the letter of the day on Sesame Street and eating my cereal, I found the much needed time to check my email, read the new list of status' and updates on facebook and caught up on some blog readings.

The talented blogger Kelle Hampton (Enjoying The Small Things) posted that she was a guest blogger at Life Rearranged and that it was all about grocery shopping.  Its the plain ol' act of grocery shopping but Kelle's always got the best way of making it an amazing story with her use of words and photos too.  

I was inspired.  Why not write about grocery shopping?  I mean, it is such a part of my life with my girls every week and each and every time its an adventure in itself.  

And so, here is my 'grocery shopping day' post (sans photos because my camera is still in for cleaning and I don't think I could pull of the camera in the grocery store anyway).

So as I said above, I started off my morning with my typical feed, eat, acknowledge and laptop open routine.  I knew from the second that I woke up that it was grocery shopping day because this morning the fridge was empty.  This weekend's procrastination made for some pretty creative meals and last night we managed to pull off the make-your-own-pizza-with-whatever-is-left-in-the-fridge for dinner.  There was officially nothing left for today.

As I have posted about before here, I like to be in control and organized about my meal planning and all things in my kitchen, however today, for this shop, I was goin' in blind.  I had nothing planned and no list made at all.  Hence, I am not always a Kitchen Diva.  

So the original plan was to get up and go, but after seeing Karis rubbing her eyes, I opted to give her the nap and I would have a few extra minutes to think about a list.  Somehow I ended up doing everything but create a shopping list while she was down - I talked to my sister and coached her through a mini 'mom meltdown, we had a quick drop-in visit from our 4 year old friend Liv and her mom Jill, I talked to Kevin on the phone and I did some dishes.  By the time I realized it, Karis was up and it was nearly 11am.  

So forging on, I went along with our plan to get the shopping done.  I quickly changed Karis, made Kamille a piece of toast and jam so that she was good and full, put Karis on the boob, opened up a food magazine and wrote down all the ingredients that I would need to get about 5 meals made this week.  Kamille then got her shoes on and proceeded to stomp around the house asking "When are we going to go?" about one hundred times.  Argh - dont' give up!  Keep going!!!!

So, I pack Karis up in the car seat, remind Kamille to do a pee before we get out, walk out the door with both girls, run back in to get my list and a couple baby toys, get Karis in the car and happily watch my determined-to-be-independent Kamille climb into her seat all on her own and it was just then that I remember that I'd left my shopping bags in the garage, so I left the car to get those, come back, close the doors, start the car and we were off - it was 11:47am.  

And as we drove off, everything was seemingly usual with the chaotic, but familiar take off, but as I looked back at Kamille in the rear view mirror I noticed something rather unusual - I forgot to buckle her in.  Yikes!  An honest mistake, but thankfully she had managed to put on the shoulder straps and get the chest buckle done up on her own.  So, just to be safe(er), I took my foot off the gas pedal and coasted down the road to the grocery store - at this point getting to the grocery store without attracting the RCMP was more important that getting there quickly.  

As we pulled into the parking lot of our favourite grocery store, there it was sitting outside of the entrance doors!  The coveted bright green, double seat, double decker Rocket Ship shopping cart!  The cart of all carts, the cart that a mother, especially with two kids, must have.  Not two seconds later, Kamille excitedly announced "Mom, there's the Rocket Ship." All flustered and on a mission to get the cart, I missed the first available spot and then feeling pressured by the car on my tail, so I took off to find a place to turn around so that I could get closer to the entrance and swipe the cart before some other mom did!  Thankfully, I orchestrated a turn-around just perfectly and I got the cart!   

This cart would have been worthy of a photo for sure!  It has two levels and that even though I put the car seat in the top level, I still have room for the groceries on the bottom level and Kamille is happier than anything because she gets to "drive" in the simulated rocket ship driver seat, complete with steering wheel and dashboard.  Woo hoo!

Our first stop with our super rocket ship is the recycling depot where we can return all of our Western Family and other specific brand name packaging for grocery points.  I am a bit obsessed.  My recycling habits are ridiculous really, but why not rack up as many points as possible?   Its was my points that got Karis' awesome Fisher-Price Rainforest booster seat (a $50 value) and I am sure that I have saved a lot of money in groceries along the way as well!  

We blasted into the grocery store with 98 well earned points.  And just as we were landing in the produce section, Kamille joyfully announces "Liv is here!"  For the duration of our shop through the produce, dairy and aisles beyond you could hear two giggly girls calling out to each other.  Thank goodness that Monday isn't a busy grocery shop day and there weren't too many people staring at our overly giddy daughters! 

Row by row we went adding delicious food to our rocket ship.  

Contemplation and negotiation always happens in the cereal aisle.  Our usual 'treat' cereal is MiniWheats, or "min-eats" as Kamille used to call them and usually 'min-eats' is the first thing that Kamille asks for, but today it was "Cock-a-do" or what I know as Corn Flakes and so to encourage the healthier choice Corn Flakes was our choice today!   I stood infront of the milk and contemplated a jug of milk.  Why is it that I can never remember the state of the milk jug at home?  Its one of those items that I never put on the list, but always assume that I will know when I get to the grocery store if I need it or not.  I hate when there are two heavy jugs taking up space in the fridge and so hence my hesitation to just bring another home.  I decided against it and thought that it would make for a good excuse to walk to the grocery store mid-week anyway if I needed milk then.  

The highlight of my shop was that the cute reusable produce bags, like these ones,  that I have been eyeing up and contemplating over my past few trips were now on sale.  I am a sucker for not paying full price.   It was a sign.  I finally bought them and an extra set to give as a gift to someone - not sure who, but its kinda like Oprah and her favourite 'things'.  I like to give things that I like.  

Overall, our trip through the aisles was relatively uneventful.  We got to the check out just as Jill and Liv were leaving so there was one last giddy goodbye between the girls.  Bags packed, points redeemed, points gained and we were on our way out the door.  My biggest challenge and least favourite part about grocery shopping is unpacking the groceries because I am usually accompanied by two girls who are usually stretched to their limit, eager to play, tired or very hungry.  Today was not such a big challenge.  Somehow it all flowed well and everyone was fed and happy - afterall we did have a fridge full of yummy food now!

And of course when I came home I realized that I should have bought the milk.

Our Olympic Experience

So my camera has been turned in for an overdue cleaning and the only good that comes out of that is,

1. Kamille is finally smiling.  She is so over my obsession with documenting her life in photos that she won't even smile when I bring my camera out,  and
2. My mac hard drive gets a break and it gives me some time to delete and clean up my photos!

So in my surfing through gigabytes of photos, I came across my Vancouver 2010 Olympics stuff and thought that I have yet to record this as an unforgettable experience.
So without further ado, I will type away.  This will be long and choc full of photos!

We've had this incredible and amazing opportunity to live through the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, right in our backyard.

At first I wasn't sure what to expect.  The countdown to 2010 had been fuelled by such negative media attention, protests and discussions of how its 'bad for the budget' etc so it was kind of up in the air as to how it was going to be when the time came.   As the Olympics approached, it seemed that my CTV@6 was now becoming a nearly "all Olympic" news cast as there was so much to report on, good, bad and ugly.

we all got olympic wear for christmas to show off our canadian pride!  

But as the flame made its way to Canada and then travelled across the country, it ignited the Olympic spirit and it began to spread like wildfire!  Woo hoo!  People were catching on that THIS was going to be something and that YES - Vancouver was perfectly capable of hosting the world!  What an amazing opportunity.

I will never forget the energy and vibes that we experienced as we watched the Olympic Torch relay make its way through our town.  We were fortunate enough to host a Celebration Ceremony on a gorgeous warm February night.  It was perfect and for a town that seemed to be divided between those who cared and those who didn't, you would never have guessed that not everyone in our town was out there cheering and singing Oh, Canada!  The place was jumpin!

such a great set up and great entertainment.  and ctv was there.  i was excited.  bit of a crush on perry!  

In the morning we had the chance to catch the Flame in action as it left our town and headed up the highway for another great party!

the torch bearer who was catching the spirit right on our street! what a great experience for her.  

A few days later, the TV was turned on to catch the entire broadcast of the Olympic Flame making its way through Vancouver and on to BC Place where the Opening Ceremonies would begin.   AMAZING!  The Olympic spirit was incredible!  This was going to go off!

And it did!

The Opening Ceremonies were incredible.  I am sure that it made us all proud to be Canadian and for me, certainly proud to live in one of the most amazing parts of Canada too.  I was so excited to know that people from all over the world were here and were going to see just how gorgeous Vancouver and the surrounding areas are!

a gorgeous february day @ english bay - unreal!

To make the most of this experience, we made sure to take it in by hanging out in Vancouver and Whistler as much as we could.  Just walking around, observing people, feeling the energy, proudly wearing our Canadian Olympic wear!

the decorated west georgia street

go world!  the international presence was amazing.  people came from everywhere and they were impressed!

if you look closely you can see 2 zip-line tracks.  a huge attraction that had people waiting hours just for the 20 second experience over robson square.  

they closed down granville street and filled with with art and fun things to do....the people came and they loved it

the swarms of people surrounding this cauldron was a pretty neat sight!

cruising around the village in whistler

these rings quickly became a memorial site for the tragic loss of nodar kumaritashvili.  

Kevin and I didn't fair so well in the lottery for event tickets however, we did managed to get tickets to one hockey game, and it ended up being pretty easy to pick up tickets for different events once the games began.

Dawn and I brought our babes to Whister to see the mens and women's cross country sprint events.  It couldn't have been a better day.  

seriously, could you ask for better scenery?

the babes were rockstars through it all - they even napped on the ground!

Although the Canadians didn't fair so well in the heats, we were surrounded by a large group of Norweigans, whose athletes were dominating the sport and made it to the podium by the end of the day!

feeling such great vibes from these crazy norweigans!

just a reminder of who came to experience this magic!

The next event in our schedule was the Slovakia vs. Latvia hockey game.  Now I am in no way a big hockey fan.  I get that its Canada's game and all, but if this wasn't a Team Canada game, I was at least hoping that the experience of being at an Olympic hockey game would be incredible!  Woo hoo, was it ever!

I cheered for Latvia (the major under-dog) like I was straight off a plane from Latvia!  This experience was made even more exciting because we made it a double date with our good friends Martin and Shannon.  Karis even came along for the ride too!

shannon, karis, me, kevin, martin and he back of our tickets!  

clearly, i became Latvian!  

how ridiculously cute is she?!!??  can you believe she fell asleep in my lap for a short bit too!

After the game we got carried away into the flood of people in the streets.  The nightlife was INCREDIBLE.  

One of my most memorable Olympic experiences was standing in the streets at the CTV building watching the Hamelin brothers skate for medals.  There was so much anticipation for the event. The people all around were cheering, singing Oh, Canada, my stomach was in knots in hopes for the boys, however, this race was not their shining moment and they did not medal in the event.  It was such a high, followed by a low and I could only imagine how amazing it would have been to be right on the streets if Canada had won at that time.  No fear though, those Hamelin brother came back and kicked some ass in the end!  ; )

ohhhh, ahhh!  

looking back on vancouver (thanks for the photo martin)

Our Daddy had to be in China for work during the final days of the Olympics, but that didn't stop his Olympic spirit.  He got up at 4am to watch the Canada vs. USA gold medal hockey game.  Best of all, he watched the entire game commentated in the Mandarin language.  

We wanted to share the experience with him, so we SKYPE'd him while we watched the final period, and then overtime minutes.  What a thrill!  The strangest thing about this experience was that Kevin's broadcast of the game - in China - was about 3 seconds ahead of what I was watching on our TV - about an hour away from the actual game.  So when Sidney Crosby scored that winning goal, I happend to see Kevin throw his hands up in the air and cheer about 3 seconds before it became our reality at home!  Strange, but funny!

always connected.  kev and kam share this great experience!

And with all the excitement of Hockey Gold we finished our run at 'hosting the world' with an equally as spectacular Closing Ceremony.  It was true when they said that people would experience an Olympic withdrawal.  It was like the biggest party had ended, the lights were turned on and we were all forced to go back to normal life.  My TV was finally shut off and it felt different.  

Vancouver had just pulled off the most amazing experience it had ever seen.  For two weeks, there had been no talk about what 'bad' this experience would bring or result in, there were no people complaining about disorganization or mistakes.  Vancouver and VANOC hosted a near flawless world famous event and we lived through it, right in our big backyard! 

I am thrilled that we caught the Olympic spirit bug and I hope that the experience and memory lives on for us all!