Olympic invasion

As we all know, the Olympics are just around the corner, just across the water. I used to be an excited Winter Olympic viewer, tuning in for every event. The first two (and only two!) hockey games I ever sat through was when Canadian teams made it to the gold medal match.

Over the past decade, reports of scandal, corruption, high-tech cheating and a lack of ethics has dampened my excitement. As a taxpayer set to foot the bill for the upcoming over-budget games, my excitement has taken a further dive. I have been so disinterested in these games that I tried to convince Jeff to take a vacation that would put us out of the country (and out of viewing reach) during most of the whole thing. Jeff and I were busy the night the great flame came through town although, truth be told, I'm not sure we would have gone to see it.

The Olympic torch moved through Nanaimo on Oct 31-Nov 1 and created a surprising amount of community excitement and pride. Our cousin-nephew Spencer got out of bed at the crack of dawn and was able to touch this little bit of history as it ran by. Just the look on his face gave me a change of heart. Now I'm planning an Opening Ceremonies watching party- want to come and join us?

November Skies

This week, it has rained, rained, and rained again. My previous association with the term "November Skies" was this:

That's the bathroom in my Ontario condo, painstakingly renovated using a hand saw, a mitre box, a paint brush and the internet for DIY tips. And Ikea for cheap artwork and cabinets. The paint is Benjamin Moore's "November Skies" and was a big part of why I loved that bathroom so much.

"November Skies" during a rainy week here on the West Coast is a little more bleak.

The only thing to do on a day like this is to make a pot of soup and curl up to read a book. For me, today will include the soup (already bubbling in my crock pot) but no fireside books- I'm off to run some errands. Jeff and I have a hot date at 5pm at Home Depot.

I'll leave you to this video (with a nod to the Swedish members of my family!). If you haven't already seen it, it's certainly worth two minutes of your time. Have a good weekend!