Great Weekend!

What a great weekend!

On Friday night, my neighbour Dave called. Neomom answered.

"Is your husband free tomorrow for . . ."

"Yes! Take him! He needs to get out of the house!"

So, on Saturday morning, Dave and I climbed aboard a couple of snowmobiles and headed out to join a rally. It was fan-freakin-tastic! We covered about 80 miles during the day. The sun was shining, the temperature was just below freezing, the trails were beautiful, the lakes were covered by more than a foot of powder . . . I loved it!

When I stopped to think about it, I realized I had not been out of the house, alone, for recreational purposes, since we moved here in July. Didn't realize how much I needed it.

I hadn't been on a sled for about seven or eight years. But it all came back in a flash. Flying over the powder on a frozen lake at 80 mph . . . exhilarating! Winding through tree-lined trails at 70 mph . . . what a rush! And just cruising along, taking in the sights . . . relaxing!

And then, of course, came Sunday . . . the gold medal hockey game. Neomom and I were glued to the TV. We watched every gut-wrenching second of the game and celebrated with the rest of the nation as Sid the Kid put away the overtime winner.

It was, without a doubt, the perfect end, make that the only end, to a fantastic winter Olympics. We simply had to win that game. It was the last event, the finale and, after such an outstanding performance by our athletes, it just had to end with another Canadian gold medal.

As one commentator put it, it was like the game to decide who won the Olympics. I know, it wasn't, it just felt that way to many Canadians. Our neighbours to the south still collected most of the medals, but we had our best performance in history and it was felt from coast to coast. So very, very cool for a nation that is usually very subtle and subdued about its patriotism.

I'm not sure what to do today. For two weeks, it's been nothing but Olympic coverage on TV. I will miss it.

And as far as favourite Olympic moment . . . I have to go with Jon Montgomery's gold medal in skeleton. He was just so excited, so honest with his emotions and so well spoken. And he's from Manitoba.

I just loved his triumphant arrival in Whistler Village after the win. Someone handed him a pitcher of beer and he took a big ol' Canadian swig and kept it around throughout his interview.

Anyhoo . . . great weekend! Have a great week!

"We don't like the black guys . . ."

"We don't like the black guys, right daddy?"

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I was thinking the same thing when that sentence popped out of Sonwun's mouth yesterday. Somehow, somewhere, that phrase is going to come back to haunt me.

I'm not sure when and where, but I know it will. Could be in line at the grocery store checkout, could be at playgroup, could be at preschool, could be at the library, could be at the swimming pool. But it's gonna come back and bite me in the ass.

But it's not my fault. I was only trying to inspire a little national pride. And, even as I wrote that last line, I realized I'd better get explaining things before I dig myself a giant old hole.

We're talking Olympics here. I've been trying to get Sonwun involved, watching, understanding the games, nations, Canadian pride. But on Tuesday night our Canadian pride took a major hit at the hands of the U.S. hockey team.

(For the record, we outplayed them, outshot them, but ran into a smokin' hot goaltender. We should have won. But, bottom line, regardless, is that we lost. Ugh.)

Anyway, Sonwun identifies the teams by colour. We, Canada, are the white guys, the good guys, the ones to cheer for. Sonwun has assigned the title "the black guys" to Team U.S.A., based on the dark colour of their jerseys. And they are the bad guys.

And thus, when the U.S. went up against the Swiss yesterday, Sonwun took a look at the two teams on the ice— the Swiss in white and the U.S. in dark blue— and checked with me before cheering.

"We don't like the black guys, right daddy?"

"Um, right buddy. But we call them Team U.S.A. We are Team Canada. And those guys in white there are Team Switzerland."

"The white guys?"

"The guys with the white shirts, yes."

"But we don't like the black guys. They're bad."

"Well, they're not bad, they're just on the other team; Team U.S.A."

I still have some work to do here before I allow Sonwun out in public again.

When I'm writing, I have the time to explain the situation. I'm not sure I'd have the opportunity to explain it to someone in line at the grocery store before accusations and fists started flying.

Anyhoo, we didn't have to worry about this in the Canada-Russia game. And, by the way, WAHOOOOO! Nothing brings out the beast in a Canadian hockey team like a game against Russia. Here's hoping the momentum can carry our boys on through to the gold.

But I digress.

Today is preschool day and I'm a little worried the topic of the Olympics may come up and Sonwun will feel the need to share his new-found wisdom.

I must de-program him this morning. Teach him, among other things, the difference between dark blue and black and the difference between the phrases "the guy in the black shirt" and "the black guy."

The nice thing here, I suppose, is that he doesn't understand why it would make a difference. He doesn't understand racism. Why would he? These things are taught, they are not inherent.

Maybe I'll just put the de-programming on hold. Children have no trouble with children of other races. To them, it just doesn't matter, doesn't really even register. Children are children. People are people and the only difference, to Sonwun anyway, is the colour of their jersey in a game.

It's a good way of looking at things. Who needs de-programming? The kids or the adults?

Happy Thursday! And GO CANADA!

Go Canada Go!

Not sure if it was the two-day-old taco salad, or a stomach flu relapse, but last night was not a good one for me.

I'll leave it at that.

This morning, coffee in hand, I'm feeling better. And I'm ready for another day of Olympic fun. Much to the dismay of Sonwun and Sontoo, the TV has been tuned to the Olympic channel pretty much all day since Friday night. Good-bye Dora, good-bye Diego.

It's one of the joys of being the stay-at-home parent. I get to watch it all. And yes, I've seen each of Canada's medal victories so far. Great stuff. Go team go!

All three of my favourite moments, thus far, have been at events where Canada has medalled. Big surprise, yes?

In the women's moguls, where Canadian Jenn Heil took silver, I enjoyed watching American Shannon Bahrke. For those of you that didn't watch this event, there are three giant pillows that the top three skiers sit in. As better scores come in, those three are bumped down and, eventually, off the big pillows.

It can't be easy to sit there, waiting for the big bump. But Bahrke's enthusiasm for the new winners felt real. She started in the top spot and with each bump, she enthusiastically congratulated the new top dog. And when a team mate fell during her run, she met her at the bottom of the hill with a giant hug. Great to see.

Others on the big pillows congratulated new winners, but for most of them it looked more like a formality than a heart-felt expression of camaraderie.

Bahrke ultimately took bronze, by the way.

In speed skating, I loved watching Kristina Groves. Again, the enthusiasm she showed, the little dance when she won, the little dance on the podium . . . the unbridled joy was just fantastic to see. She grabbed bronze in the 3000m event. I just loved watching her.

And finally, Canada's golden boy, Alex Bilodeau, who brought home the top prize last night in the men's moguls. An awesome display, made better by his older brother Frederic. I won't get into the entire story there, but it was cool. (You can read more about it here.) Alex's brother has cerebral palsy and, according to the gold medallist, Frederic has inspired him and taught him many life lessons that contributed to the drive to win. Really cool to watch Frederic celebrate his little brother's victory!

Anyhoo, as for the MTV, etalk additions to CTV's coverage of the games, I'm tolerating the extra crap. It has not been as offensive as it was the first morning.

I still don't care about who's dating who and I have yet to see an MTV bit that I actually find funny or amusing or even mildly entertaining. But at least it's not as offensive as the opening night recap.

I'll leave it at that for now.

Go CANADA!

CTV Olympic Morning Coverage Failure

Wow. Mixed feelings about CTV's Olympic coverage thus far.

On the one hand, I enjoy the Canada AM crew. Always have. Bev, Seamus, Jeff and Marcie come across as friendly, fun, cohesive and very Canadian.

But they've added to the coverage crew, as I expect is necessary. And some of these folks leave a lot to be desired. A whole lot.

This morning I was watching a segment entitled Freeze Frame, or something. It came across as unfriendly, unfun, divisive and very unCanadian. These two twits, apparently MTV personalities, sitting in front of the CTV fireplace, took cheap shots at those involved or attending the opening ceremonies from the "Royal Box" occupants to the dancers who welcomed the world's athletes.

But most notably, and most annoyingly, they used a telestrator (sp?) to circle the face of Wayne Gretzky's six-year-old daughter and then comment on the amount of makeup she was wearing.

Where the hell do you people get off? Was everyone having too much fun? Was it just too friendly and, well, nice? What the hell possesses you to go after a six-year-old on national television. You're sick, you're stupid and you're just not funny.

Here's hoping that little segment gets cancelled before these two morons get any more air time.

And I'd be happy to see them scrap the etalk "reporter" that I saw this morning in the main broadcast. I'm tuning in to watch the Olympics, not to hear who Sara McLaughlin is dating, or was seen with or breaking up with or whatever. Don't give a shit. If I want to watch trashy celebrity gossip, I'll tune in to etalk. Don't mix it in with my Olympic coverage, thank you very fucking much.

Yeah, I'm a little irritated this morning. I have been looking forward to watching the Olympics and this kind of crap really annoys me. I want to see the games, hear about the Canadian athletes and other athletic success stories from around the world.

Save the celebrity gossip and mean-spirited attacks on six-year-olds for MTV and etalk. That way I don't have to watch it. I don't give a shit where you put them, just get them out of the main coverage of the Olympics.

Thanks.