75 Days away!

Beadraich - WOW, in 75 days Woodsy and I will be boarding an Air Canada plane to Vancouver and preparing to experience something that I know I never really dreamed I would be able to.

I woke up this morning and was loading my snow tires into the car to get them changed and it was snowing. So, I naturally started thinking of the snow they are experiencing in Whistler and how much I want to go skiing tomorrow, But I'm in Ontario and we have only seen flurries.

I must say, it seems like so long ago that the casual mention of volunteering sent us down this road, but it has already been an amazing experience. and now it feels like the last 25 days have just flown by.

Steward Crew get together and Networking

Woodsy - The job I have for the Olympics is working with the Steward Crew. I received an email from the head of the Steward Crew about 2 get togethers for "Ontario Stewards". I hope I can make it to at least one of them!

Nothing to do with the Olympics...Last night, I attended a Women's networking night presented by http://www.solomag.ca/. This magazine was originally intended for single women. It has branched out now. The editor, Jacqueline is a master at networking or connecting as she prefers to call it. One of my girlfriends invited me to the event. It was excellent. I connected with many amazing dynamic women. Meredith and Susie own www.phatchicks.ca in Burlington, ON. They both have excellent attitudes about life, business and fitness. Andrea owns www.cheekymonkeycosmetics.com. It is a great cosmetic company. Check out the nail polish names!! Usually networking events are boring and stuffy. This one was far from it.

Uniforms, schedules, companions

Woodsy - I have to admit the designers of the Vanoc Volunteer uniforms knew what they were doing! When I first saw the pictures, I was a bit shocked. For some reason I thought the uniforms would feature red and white. As you can see from one of Beadraich's posts, they are blue, turquoise etc. While shopping this weekend we visited several ski shops and they are all carrying these colours.

With receiving our official schedules last night everything is becoming "real". It is very exciting. I am anxiously awaiting the local ski hills to open (it has been unusually warm here for November) so that I can test my new ski boots and demo some new skiis!

I had dinner last week with our travelling companion, Annette. Annette and I used to work together, and we have kept in touch over the years. Annette's volunteer position is concierge in the Village. I'm sure you will hear more about her as we get closer to our departure date.

Reality Check!

Beadraich - Ok, Tonight, while I was sitting watching television I received an e-mail from VANOC 2010, and my schedule is up and ready for my viewing.

So... it's real, and with 86 Days to go until we fly out, it's going to get here so quick it's not funny. Woodsy and I are both starting to get our ski gear ready, including bringing our skis home this past weekend to take in and get a tune-up.

Woodsy has also been researching some gear so that we can stay warm out west (I think I have plenty of insulation already) She has pointed out this awesome stuff called Ice Breaker which is base layer and insulation layer ski apparel that is both stylish, soft and apparently super warm and you can get it from the fine folks at Kenmark Snow Sports

Excitement building!

Beadraich - http://www.vancouver2010.com/, The official games time website is now up and running and is a sudden reminder of the magnitude of the event that we are going to be a part of. I've spent some time poking around the site, looking the information on the various venues, sports, and communities that are participating and WOW, there will a lot going on.

It's 114 days until we fly out, and 116 days until the opening ceremonies. We won't be able to see or participate in the ceremonies, however we will be likely watch them on TV from a pub or apres location in Whistler.

To see where we'll be, and what will be going on the there.. check out http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-alpine-skiing/

Uniforms.

Beadraich - I'm sure Woodsy can tell you about the number of volunteer t-shirts that she helped me purge from my closet when we first started dating.

I think we have both been hoping that the Vancouver 2010 Volunteer Uniforms wouldn't become another item we would want to purge.

So, naturally we were both pretty nervous about what the Volunteer uniforms would look like after seeing a lot of the Vancouver2010 merchandise available. The colours are often not so fashionable greens and blues, and I honestly want to be able to wear this after the games with pride.

Today they introduced the uniforms that 30,000 of us will be wearing and they aren't that bad. A blue jacket with a hood that is designed to fit over a ski helmet and navy pants, and of course the blue toque will be nice and warm.

I like it.

Whistler Transportation

Beadraich - Along with the excitement of new sites, and experiences to explore, travel to a new community is always full of a little bit of anxiety for me. It's just that I'm quite used to what lies next door, or around each corner in Guelph, and I don't have that security elsewhere. So, one of the things that I've always enjoyed is reading maps. Yep, just staring at a map and wondering how do you get there from here.

Today, I've spent some time trying to figure out how to complete our transportation plans, looking at maps of Whistler to acclimatize myself with what surrounds our accomodations, and researching how to get to Whistler from Vancouver Airport. I've discovered that Pacific Coach offers an Airport to Hotel/Condo door service which is perfect, since we will have ski's and gear, as well as our usual clothing, laptops, and camera's. We will be booking this in advance to ensure seating for the 3 hour ride to Whistler.

Now, for VANOC 2010, the communities along the Sea to Sky corridor have a significantly improved public transit network, and we will now have a Whistler bus almost at our door step. This is going to be needed when I have to be on the hill at 5:30 a couple of mornings. The really cool thing is that Whistler buses have a ski rack to carry your skis to your destination.

So, the maps are now starting to make sense, I know that I can take a bus to Creekside, and even beyond. All of this planning is starting to make it feel real and closer to a dream come true and I really must thank Woodsy, as she is the one who is a planner. I would be scrambling on Feb 10 to figure out what to take with me.