Olympic Fever

Well, the final curtain was drawn last night on the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. I have literally watched day in and day out. I've left sleep to the weary and stayed up waaaay past my bedtime to see Canadians win medals and watched with tears as they stood on the podium.

The fact that this Olympics was in Canada seemed to make it all that more compelling. I usually watch the Olympics-but I usually cherry pick which events I'll watch or not. This year, I watched almost everything I could. I watched curling and bobsledding, skeleton and luge. I watched figure skating, snowboarding and skiing. I watched every type of speed skating imaginable. On top of which, I watched the news coverage and the entertainment coverage. To say I was a tad obsessed may be putting it mildly.

My fervour was encouraged by my neighbour who was also strategically placed on her couch. We'd text each other with curses or cheers. We'd check in to make sure the other was watching. One Saturday, we got our girls together in our jammies, had muffins and coffee and proceeded to spend the day, literally, watching Olympics while our kids alternately played and also watched. We got together for dinners dressed in our red shirts with Canada flag tattoos on our cheeks. We sent "Canadian love" through the television screen with our loud, high pitched screams.

Last night, my neighbour invited a bunch of us over for dinner and to watch the hockey game against the US. We wore our red, we all brought a portion of the meal, and we all sat cheering and cringing around her TV. The celebration at the end probably got a few noise complaints from surrounding neighbours.

Afterwards, when my kids were bathed and tucked in bed, I sat and watched the Closing Ceremonies with tears in my eyes. These games were so heart wrenching, so inspiring and with so many incredible stories, it's hard to turn it all off now that it's done.

In my own way, I felt I had won Gold too. A Gold for living the Canadian Olympic spirit, for living vicariously through the athletes, for being embarrassingly proud to be Canadian and for making Olympic watching an at home couch surfing event!