About Me

My photo
Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

E is for EXCITING

The most exciting thing on television right now is the Winter Olympics at Sochi, Russia.  We consider ourselves an "Olympic family" because Lorne was intimately involved with both Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.  So naturally, we watched the Opening Ceremonies Saturday morning at 8:00 am and have been glued to the tube ever since.  

We are rooting for Canada, of course, and are thrilled that we already have one Gold and a Silver for sisters Justine and Choe Dufour-Lapointe in the Ladies Moguls,  a Silver for our Figure Skating Team Event, and a Bronze for Slopestyle Snowboarding going to Mark McMorris, who performed with a broken rib!  And we've only just begun.  Our hockey teams (both men's and women's) won Gold medals in the 2010 Winter Olympics here in Vancouver and are poised to repeat those wins.  Fingers crossed! 
 Chloe (left) won Silver, Justine (middle) won Gold, Hannah Kearney (USA) won Bronze
 Mark McMorris celebrating his Bronze medal win!
 Canada's Figure Skating Team

As I say, we are naturally rooting for Canada, but its so exciting to see each country rooting for its  team.  There are so many very talented athletes competing and we are excited to watch them all.  This morning we watched the Men's 30K Skiathlon event and ended up cheering for the Swiss, Swedish and Norwegians win their medals.  Switzerland's Dario Cologna overcame a broken ankle and worked extremely hard to simply be able to compete. He ended up in tears over his gold-medal win. 
We have also watched the Men's Ski Jump (Normal) and were excited that the Polish athlete won the Gold medal.  We lived with a lovely young Polish couple when we were in London and we keep in touch with them now that they have moved home to Poland.  So we thought of them and their excitement for Kamil Stoch's gold-medal winning jump!  Also, speaking of when we were in London, our congratulations go to Britain's Jenny Jones who won a Bronze medal in Ladies' Slopestyle Snowboarding. 
For the next two weeks, we will be riding high with excitement as we watch the Sochi Winter Games.  We will be thrilled for all the winners and wish them well in their efforts to represent their countries in a sportsmanlike manner.
With thanks to the elegant Denise Nesbitt, creator of ABC Wednesday, and to the easygoing Roger, our Administrator.  If you are interested in joining the team (who are assigned about 10 posts per week to visit), please email Roger.  We're pushing towards 100 participants per week, so we always welcome eager beavers to join in to help.  Have a great week, everyone!
 NOTE:  All photos courtesy of Mr. Google.

24 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

I watch the figure skating, but I gotta say that I don't UNDERSTAND some of those competitions. They go very high on their boards and go around 3 or 4 times, and are surely impressive, but I couldn't score 'em at home. I have watched enough figure skating to get a feel.

Still, I like the sports that are measured in time or numbers, such as speed skating and hockey!

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Sorry Leslie , I cannot share your excitement .. I am more interested in what is going on with you two (the wedding) xx

Liz Hinds said...

Not at all interested I'n afraid! But happy to cheer on Canada!

GaynorB said...

We've really enjoyed the spectacle so far. We saw the Canadians dance in the team skating event.

Reader Wil said...

For the Dutch this week was exciting because of our skaters . We had twice gold, silver and bronze. Our best skater is Sven Kramer. He got gold on the first day.

But how are you and your husband- to- be?
Wil, ABCW Team.

Carver said...

Great post for this week. I love watching the Olympics.

photowannabe said...

I really enjoy watching the Olympics and have to admit I have thought of you when the Canadians win and of Wil for that awesome win on the first day.
Perfect post for the letter E.

Photo Cache said...

also enjoying the games so far.

frankly my dear.

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

I follow on and off...

Anonymous said...

I have been watching the Westminster Dog Show but still it IS competition.
Enjoy the Olympics!

AmitAag said...

Exciting indeed!
http://amitaag.blogspot.in/2014/02/elephant.html

Leovi said...

Definitely feel winning is a great feeling!

Nydia said...

I love watching figure skating, it's my favorite part of the Games. :)

Hildred said...

An Exciting post, Leslie, - wonderful to see all those happy faces celebrating their participation in the Olympics. I am looking forward to figure skating today.

Lisa said...

It is so much fun to watch and root for the favorites. We're rooting for the Canadians...behind USA of course! :-) But sincerely, it's a thrill to watch whoever wins, knowing all the sacrifice that is put into training for such an event. I just wish they'd remove the political garbage from distracting us from what's really important.

Joy said...

I always love the Olympics and watching sports not usually seen here. I just watched the Canada women's ice hockey beat USA, exciting end with the seconds ticking away.

Ann said...

I love your pictures of the winners!!I posted about the Olympics too and have been watching as much as possible. How great that Loren has a history with the Olympics-makes it so special for you two.!
Ann

Beverley Baird said...

I've been glued to the tv as well. The Cdn athletes have really been doing well. But it is also the side stories that are so touching - Alex and his brother, the Cdn coach who gave the Russian a ski, the skater who gave up his place for the skater who won silver. And all the stories about the athletes' dedication and family support. Thrilling. Great post!

Powell River Books said...

We are in town right now so Wayne and I can enjoy the Olympics on TV. We didn't really plan it this way, but it was a lucky (and exciting) happenstance. - Margy

Nabanita said...

I used to enjoy Olympics when I was younger but these days I think hardly anything excites me! I think I'm getting old!

WordsPoeticallyWorth said...

Good luck to Canada! Enjoy your watching.

Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

Indrani said...

Wow! The captures!
So thrilling!

Obsessivemom said...

We aren't watching the Olympics here but I love to see the happy faces you put up. Winning is such a great feeling and the happiness is absolutely contagious. Of course unless you're the one who lost.. Not sure if you'd feel like celebrating then :-).

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

did you see that boy from tropical Island of Tonga?