More hardware!

I'm way behind in my Olympic updates, but I have a good excuse. I took 3 days off and went to lovely Palm Springs, California. I was hesitant about leaving town, seeing as how all I realllly wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch The Games. But my friend Lucky told me that I had to go, and that I would thank him for it.

Well, I will be kissing the ground that Lucky walks on from now on, because he is a prognosticating god. More on that later, but suffice to say that I had a great time in Palm Springs and am very happy I went. I came back to San Diego yesterday afternoon and felt like I had been away for-fucking-ever. I was refreshed and revived, I had a bounce in my step, and I was grinning from ear to ear. My staff could see that something was up, and they were right. It was the start of a whole new era.

Nurse Girl has left the circus and I'm on my own. From the already-smallest staff in my department, my group has now been cut in half: from two to one. The "one" is me. Toute seul, on my own, making my own way. But I'm excited at the upcoming challenges, I'm excited about the potential, I'm excited about what I know I can do. I absolutely love my job, and I'm stoked to be starting a new era where success is dependent on what I do, what I accomplish, what I manage. I'm very much a team player, and will rely on the other members of my department (cuz they rock!), but I'm excited at being the undisputed captain of my ship. And that's the reason I had such a bounce in my step at work last night. I took advantage of Nurse Girl's last few days to get my butt outta town and enjoy three uninterrupted days off myself. And the results showed in my attitude last night. And my attitude will continue to be very positive and results-oriented.

But all of that aside, imagine the homework that I had to do this morning -- checking up on all the Olympic results from the past 3 days, finding out how many more medals Canada has taken home, and just feeling like I'm up to speed again. So while I was gone...

• A silver medal for the gals Beckie and Sara in the women’s Team Sprint Cross-Country Skiing event. These gals rock, seeing as how they’re the standard-bearers for the rest of the world competing against the European juggernaut of XC excellence. Quite honestly, it’s these gals against the world.
• A bronze medal for Anouk Leblanc-Boucher in the women’s 500m Short Track Speed Skating.

And this just in: today has been a BIG day for Canada in Torino!!!

• A silver medal for our ladies Speed Skating Team Pursuit squad!
• And not to be outdone, our men do the same thing – they've brought home a silver medal in the Speed Skating Team Pursuit event!
• And a bronze medal for Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards in women’s skeleton!

Whew, I’m exhausted. But keep the hardware coming, Canadian Olympians!

And all you readers out there, have a terrific day!