Catching my breath

This has been a crazy busy week and I feel like I've finally caught my breath.

The Hero had a big day on Tuesday with a spot on the local breakfast show promoting the Fire Within project that he has been involved in since the summer. Following that he had to rush to pick a up a colleague from the airport, meet me and then we all headed back to the city to attend the press conference. It was a great success with representatives from several fire departments, politicians, corporate sponsors and the all important media. They got a few moments on the 6 o'clock news which was no small feat considering we are in the midst of an election and that is the top story these days. It was awesome to see the organization get some recognition and see more people jump on board with such a worthwhile effort. Hopefully the exposure will parlay into more departments getting better equipment and PPE. I was very proud watching the Hero in his element and it was awesome to hear people sing his praises. He could care a less about the glory but I was glad to see him get some pats on the back after the months of hard work and juggling of all the hats he was wearing in this endeavour - as a corporate sponsor, as a volunteer with a VFD and assisting the organizers of the Fire Within.

Wednesday was Kodiak's day as Torch Bearer for the Winter Games. We cheered him on as he did his part in the run. He was so proud and excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity. He's such a great kid!! After the run the Hero was approached by a team doing a documentary on the games and they interviewed him as parent of a torch runner, as well as a volunteer doing medical with the VFD for one of the events. Later in the day the crew came on the bus and asked whose Dad was a firefighter and then interviewed Kodiak to tie the story together. The documentary will air this coming weekend. Kodiak is very excited about it.

Thursday night was the Opening Ceremonies for the games and Kodiak was involved with the rest of the torch bearers in the procession that led to the lighting of the flame and the official opening of the games. It was a long event but thankfully it wasn't too cold that night so we survived without frostbite.

La Diva kind of got the short end of things this week. Her birthday is Valentine's Day which usually means a party at school because it is her birthday but this year they were out of school due to the games. Add her big bro stealing her thunder by being a torch bearer for the games, the opening ceremonies having the nerve of being scheduled for Valentine's Day and you a Diva who was feeling a bit less than special on her national holiday. We did our best to make her day special and had a breakfast of chocolate waffles, pink whipped cream and berries. She opened presents after breakfast and was pleased with her loot. My 'rents came down in the afternoon for the ceremonies so she was showered with more gifts and we had Chocolate Wafer Cake. I lined a heart shaped cake pan with parchment, layered chocolate wafers, topped with pink whipped cream and repeated the layers until it was full. The next day I loosened the sides, warmed the bottom of the pan with a hot cloth and it came out onto the plate seamlessly. It has been ages since we had this cake. My Mom used to make in the style of a log per the recipe on the side of the Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Box. It was as delicious as I remembered and my Mom was impressed with my use of the heart pan. (no small feat to impress her).

La Diva and Iceman headed home with my 'rents after the ceremonies. They spent the rest of their holidays with them. They will be back tomorrow. Kodiak and Turtle had a good weekend together learning how to play the Wii. Yes we finally found one!! It was almost an act of God as the Hero and I crossed wires in our communication that morning. If that did not occur he would not have been at Wally world at that precise moment and snagged the last of the shipment that had came in that day. It was their first shipment since Christmas.

The Hero has been busy since Friday doing medical for the games. He has put in some long days. Kodiak, Turtle and I took in some of the ringette games on Friday. It is quite the sport. I think it requires more finesse and greater skating ability. Even Kodiak was impressed with the skills of those girls and I think a bit surprised at how vicious they can be. Yesterday we were lazy, catching up on emails, blogs, message boards, playing Wii and Webkinz, doing a bit of laundry but basically vegging. I read the best little book packed full of wisdom and hope to get a post compiled about it very soon. It really impacted me in a huge way. It was a lovely day!!

Tomorrow the whole crew will be back together again. I'm sure they had a great time but it is always nice to have all the bunnies back in the Hutch. Back to school and routine on Tuesday.