Let the games begin..

I do love the Olympics as I find it an inspiring time and a great opportunity to see sports that you might not be familiar with.

I'm fiercly proud to be Canadian and beyond excited that Vancouver is hosting the games. I'll admit when they first announced it I wondered if Vancouver's normally mild winter weather might cause problems.

It's so sad about the Georgian luge competitor who died in a training accident at a mere 21yrs old. My heart goes out to his family, his teammates and all the competitors in that competition.

Last night we had our Olympic shindig and I watched the opening ceremonies with a critical eye. I'm watching this as an opportunity to show the world what Canada is about. When Calgary hosted the Winter Games in 1988 it was awesome.

My overall thoughts were...meh. There were parts that were spectacular and then there were parts that made we wonder "what were they thinking?".

Nikki Yanofsky's singing of the national anthem gave me goose bumps.

Measha Brueggergosman was phenomenal singing the Olympic anthem and that girl got toned since the last time I saw her on Project Runway Canada.

Loved the choices for the Olympic flag bearers. Betty Fox (mother of Terry Fox) was a particularly nice choice.

Loved the Native People portion and those whales going across the floor of the stadium. I love Haida art.

I realize blue is an Olympic colour but couldn't Nelly Furtado be wearing a red dress and maybe a wee bit shorter heels as she seemed to teeter a little. Despite the fairly obvious lip synching going on I thought she and Brian did a good job. I loved the native dancers especially the hoop dancers as that's pretty cool what they can do with those hoops.

Then there were parts that I thought were a bit off like the "what seemed like forever" Sand portion. The boy had skills on those wires but I thought it was boring.

Yes the trees in Stanley Park are breathtaking but the interpretive dance didn't float my boat.

I love fiddle music but why were they dressed as extras from Pirates of the Caribbean?

The whole snafu during the lighting of the flame, well that was unfortunate. Plus watching Wayne Gretzky on the back of a truck (where the headlights working?) and the longish drive to the second location of the flame.

I just remember watching the Beijing opening ceremonies in complete awe. There just seemed to be a lot of dead space while watching last night.

Now we focus on the games ahead and I wear my red Canada hoody with pride everywhere I go. Go Canada Go!!!

At the shindig they were playing the Winter Olympics Wii game and I think I need to pick that up. I didn't try it but it sure looked fun.

Went to see Avatar today and I enjoyed it but I think the 3-D stuff gave me a rip roaring headache. I'm not fond of Chinook Centre (one of Calgary's bigger malls). Generally when I need to go there I go smack when they open and then I'm out in an hour. Today the mall was packed silly so after the movie I headed home. I could not look around with my head pounding.

Went home, took some advil and then lay down for 40min or so. I feel so much better now.

I am inspired by the Olympics and my goal is to stay completely on plan during the games. Today is going super well. I'm aiming for 186 on Saturday as I want that 5% sticker. I'm halfway through my 12 week journal and the last half to be spectacular.

Hope your Saturday was wonderful, talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs!!