Every day I pull on my black shirt, fleece vest and staff pass (with a growing pin collection on the sash)
Then run to work, sometimes lucky enough to pass the burning cauldron
I sneak in as much of the games as I can during breaks in the staff room
As well as as some of the great catered snacks
Our staff caterer puts out some of my favourite foods every day!
Then it’s back to work, sometimes watching over our real gold bar (it’s worth half a million dollars and weights 28 pounds)
And the million dollar coin (worth 3.5 million)
Sometimes I manage the photo and video booths and try to help people get their best shot
Otherwise I’m doing coin exchange, organizing the crowds, or walking around with a megaphone to warn people of the 7 hour wait to see the Olympic medals. You may even spot me on CTV news as I manage the crazy lines!
By the time I get home, I’m exhausted from dealing with thousands of people and usually try and bake something delicious that I can share with friends and work and my boyfriend.
(Banana nut muffins)
It’s crazy times in this city, but every day is an adventure!
Whether you’ve caught it or not, it’s impossible to ignore it in the streets.
Every day I deal with hundreds of people fully decked out in Canadian gear that wait in line for hours to see our Olympic medals on display at the Royal Canadian Mint.
To survive these crazy days I have been spending my spare time baking. Nothing gives me greater pleasure then to bring dozens of cookies to everyone working hard at the Pavilion and drop some off for my boyfriend who is working around the clock every day. Sometimes a little sugar goes a long way.
I have been making a lot of chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies, but the other day I also wanted to make something healthy, full of fiber and filling.
I came up with this oat bran muffin recipe and it is the best bran muffin I’ve come up with yet. I had some apples that were on their way out so I stewed them down to make an apple sauce and they made these muffins incredibly moist and flavorful.
The plump blueberries and coconut are a bonus. And since there is no butter in this recipe, I recommend you take my lead and slather each bite with a generous dollop of good quality butter.
I’ve got a beautiful French butter in the fridge that has been needing me for weeks now.
If I could ship a box of these out to our Canadian athletes, we’d be bringing in all the gold in no time…
Blueberry Coconut Oat Bran Muffins
Ingredients
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups oat bran
1/4 cup of oats
3 tbsp of ground flax
1/2 cup of coconut
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup of home made applesauce (Stew apples with lemon and allspice until soft, then blend)
4 tablespoons Canola oil
2 tsp all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups of frozen blueberries
lemon zest
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Line or grease 12 muffin cups.
Blend together brown sugar, oat bran, oats, flax, coconut, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add eggs, chilled applesauce, vegetable oil, cinnamon, all spice ad vanilla. Mix until well-blended.
Grate some lemon zest into the batter and then lightly mix in the frozen blueberries last minute.
Spoon batter into muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 15-25 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
Late last night I crawled up on the couch with my boyfriend and watched the opening ceremonies for the 2010 games.
We both worked through the actual event but didn’t want to miss a beat.
I was in the middle of the hype all day, helping tourists and locals make videos, swap coins, and have a look at the Olympic medals at the Royal Canadian Mint pavilion.
I came home to an email from my grandmother saying “It was the most fantastic, enthusiastic, production of anything I have ever seen.”
The visuals were incredible and as I watched the dancers and listened to Sarah McLachlan singing Ordinary Miracle, I felt proud to be Canadian.
Most of us are here because our parents or our grandparents wanted something better for their families.
My grandfather moved to Canada from Ireland with my grandmother and two daughters, including my mother, on a whim. He happened to be with a friend applying for immigration and applied himself. His friend wasn’t accepted and he was. When his father-in-law said “You’ll go to Canada on the boat called the Never Budge,” he decided to prove him wrong. No wonder I’m so stubborn.
I was moved by the dancers and by Shane Koyczan, who performed his poem Ever More. He made me proud to be Canadian and described some of my favorite things about our country:
and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
Or
we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes
a country that is all the ways you choose to live
a land that can give you variety
because we are choices
I believe in this country because every time I walk down the street I pass several ethnic restaurants, faces of every colour, mismatched outfits and people that embrace each others differences. You are free to be who you are in Canada, and that’s something we can all be grateful for.
I was moved by K.D Lang, an openly gay, incredible performer sang Hallelujah flawlessly in the opening ceremony, and Rick Hansen, a paraplegic athlete and activist carried the torch.
I do not believe in the angry protests going on in Vancouver right now. I am upset that more money has gone into the games than have ever gone to solve our poverty, drug and mental illness problems in the streets, but violence won’t solve this.
Yesterday the torch was supposed to run through Vancouver’s Eastside, shining a light on the poverty here rather than ignoring it. It was re-routed due to protesters.
Today the streets are filled with anarchists smashing windows and spray painting cars. These are not actions I believe in.
But I do believe the games will continue, and that this city and country will have it’s moment and bring people together in good ways amongst the bad.
If anyone has any personal questions or questions regarding the Olympics, feel free to ask me here.
Come down to the Royal Canadian Mint and check out our speakers corner, try to lift a block of gold, touch some real Olympic medals and see a one million dollar coin! I will be living and breathing the Olympics from this space for the next few weeks and think it’s going to be a blast! I will do my best to post regular video updates as well as keep you guys updated with all of the excitement going on in the city!
Sometimes all it takes is a long walk by the water to make everything okay.
Today my friend and I grabbed some coffees and walked the sea wall. The smell of seaweed, salt air, and the sight of the mountains and my old neighborhood in the distance warmed my heart.
Things are getting exciting in this city as the Olympics are coming to town, but I’m most thankful for these quiet moments.
I’m still enjoying catching up with old friends and roaming the city, and received the good news this morning that I got a job during the games.
It’s nothing glamorous, but I’ll be a part of the action as a host at one of the sights set up in town. I look forward to interacting with all the people coming to Vancouver for the first time and seeing the city take on a new life.
For now I’m enjoying the quiet, and plotting my life here little by little.
