Say Cheese

I had such a long and busy, but wonderful, day! Whew! I am ready to drop!

I was invited to a ceremony celebrating the Paralympic torch relay and I had a great time there, and then my husband and I attended the opening ceremonies which were absolutely amazing. Surprisingly though, those two major events were not what comprised the majority of my day…

For the celebration they asked us to attend wearing our uniforms and carrying our torches. I came fully decked out and between chatting with people at the first event, doing a couple of interviews, and posing for hundreds – yes, very literally, hundreds – of photographs throughout the afternoon and evening with people wanting to pose with the torch as we made our way through the streets, it would be an underestimate to say that it was a full day.

It was a blast! I had the time of my life as I smiled for picture after picture with the continuous stream of people, excited for the chance to touch the spot that had held the Paralympic flame. Seriously, my cheeks hurt I was grinning so enthusiastically for so long! It was incredibly fun and left me feeling in awe once more of how everybody is a part of these games. It was awesome to make so many people happy by simply taking the time to pose for a photo or by handing over the torch for a few seconds. I felt like I was spreading joy!

My husband and I actually went to the main cauldron at the end of the day to take just a couple of photos for ourselves, but we ended up staying there for over an hour because so many people wanted their time with the torch. That’s what it was like the whole time we were downtown! I even had a couple of really nice people try to convince me to go back to the city centre every day during the Paralympics. I think that at first they thought that I was an official volunteer; they didn’t realize that I was just walking around on my own. They mentioned that they had not seen anyone else doing what I was doing and that I had such a great attitude and a nice smile that I should return daily. I love the suggestion, but I don’t know if my cheeks could take it! (I have to admit that they did make me consider it though; I absolutely loved contributing to so much happiness!)

Oh, and one of the especially fun points of the day was at the torch relay celebration when we were all gathered together for a group photo. I just felt that spirit overwhelming me and had to let it out, so I started a “Go Canada Go” chant! I’ve never done that before! When that died down a woman behind me said that someone had to then begin singing “Oh, Canada”. I waited a moment to see if she or someone else would, then I shrugged and started it myself. Everyone immediately caught on and the whole big bunch of us torchbearers spontaneously sang the national anthem! It was great!!!

Sigh… but there was a very slight downside to the day. My food intake was pathetic. I don’t think I have had a day this bad since I started this journey! It all boiled down to the fact that there was no time; I just couldn’t pull myself away from the excited crowds long enough to find the time to properly fuel myself. Not good. I am lucky that the spirit of the day helped maintain my mood, because normally eating as little as I did would have had me getting pretty grumpy.

Also, the lack of time resulted in me having no real opportunity to exercise today. I will, however, say that holding the torch for as long as I did has left me hands and forearms completely worn out. My biceps are hurting a bit too. So, even though I’m not sure how I would ever record something like that as official activity, I have confidence that my upper body got an incredible workout today. Cheeks and hands… I am going to be sore in some pretty odd places tomorrow.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 7 glasses of water
- 1 banana
- 2 small Mandarin oranges
- 6 inch sub on a whole wheat bun with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, onion, black olives, light mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper
- 1 small mug coconut steamed skim milk

EXERCISE:
- 30 stomach crunches