And I’d like to start with a special thanks to Vicki who came down especially to say hello and get in on the first day!!  It was so nice to see you!  And to a random person that recognized me as 2010vanfan!  Sorry I didn’t have time to stop and talk, it was a crazy day!  Oh, and I met another Olympic Torchbearer which was neat, and saw the Mascots (pictures will be coming, yes, with me in them!!), and I tried to help John Furlong buy a jacket (drat we didn’t have his size!),  and I met Matt and (damn my useless brain… Brandon??? or Jacob??? darn, and I thought I was getting better at remembering names, sorry!!) from VANOC who are organizing the volunteers for the Vancouver Athlete’s Village, (where I’ll be volunteering!!) and I was run off my feet all day with Canadian Olympic merchandise as the Vancouver 2010 Team Canada uniform pieces were announced today and everyone seems to love them!

* OK – this is my disclaimer, if I was tired last night, I’m more tired tonight (and may be worse again tomorrow as I’m considering going to a Lions game – Go Lions – but really should sleep instead!).  So, if I don’t make much sense, or skip around a lot, I apologize.  I will try to get some sleep in the next few days and regain some semblance of sane conversation!*

Right – back to today!  I would like to start with my favourite pieces from the Team Canada uniform!  I would start with how exciting it was to meet Steve Yzerman (Hockey Canada Executive Director), or the other athletes, or to watch Dan Mangan, the Cowboy Junkies or the Sam Roberts band, but I didn’t really get to see any of that ’cause I was working (the bands did sound great though!!).  Personally I especially like Dan Mangan, fun music and a very interesting band!!

Right… the pieces…  My favourite (this is tough!), but it’s probably the hand-knit zip sweater.

Hand-knit Team Canada Sweater - men's or women's $350.

This is a really great sweater.  Currently we have the wool hand-knit, made-in-Canada version (anyone know where in Canada??).  There will be a wool, machine-knit version available for around $100 sometime soon, but the Superstore doesn’t have it yet.  And I really love this hand-knit version.  I’m also that I’ve already heard jokes about the women’s one featuring a ‘rack’.  We have very few of these hand-knit versions in stock, so get your’s early!  I’ve always wanted something ‘like my grandma would knit’, except neither of my grandma’s really strike me as the knitting type!

Next, I love the ‘lumberjack’ line of products.  It includes a shirt, toque and a great dual-sided ‘rah-rah’ scarf, which can be worn plaid out, or you can hold it up to show off your Canadian spirit!!

Women's 'Lumberjack' shirt, also available in men's and children's.

These are very popular! And fun! And I will always say 'toque'! We're in Canada, this is not a beanie, TOQUE!!

Nifty scarf! One side is 'Lumberjack', the other side says CANADA and will make a great banner to cheer on our Team from the stands!

Alright, well, I really do like quite a lot of the line a whole bunch.  So if you’re interested in getting suited up like our Canadian athletes, come see me (I’m in a lot, or email if you want to make sure I’ll be around 2010vanfan@gmail.com).  I do think the hand-knit sweaters will be sold out quite quickly (ergh… pressure is on… am I buying one??).  And of course, the Hockey Jersey’s are part of the collection, even though they were announced earlier, as are the Red Mittens!!  (Did you buy your’s today??  Rob and Lynn did, but I must sadly say that I ran out of time, but I will get them tomorrow!).  The Red Mittens were flying off the shelves!  It wasn’t unusual for people to buy 6+ pairs of mitts at at time!

What else… well, there has been some neat pins.  These aren’t the best photos ever, but the pins do accompany my great Panasonic Lumix pin from the other day!

Three really great Visa pins!! The Maple Leaf, Quatchi and Miga, and a Figure Skater - the best of all, she is 3D and twirls!! Thanks D from V!

Bottom - my HBC work pin. Top - So exciting! Air Canada sent me some pins for my 'friends and readers'! That means you! I'll be posting up a contest in the next couple of days on how you can get yours!! (I will try to take a better photo!!).

And…

My Panasonic Pins - So fabulous!! Thanks D from P!

And now it’s late.  And I’m uber-tired and have to work in the morning, so I’m going to end with a photo of Phillipa with some Mascot friends!!

Miga, Phillipa and Sumi!! What a great day we had!

Was that scattered enough ??