Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Saturday afternoon – yet another beautiful day during the first ever Spring Olympics! – found us back at Holland Park. This time we went to see the Kee-Gigg K9 Agility Team.

I shot this rough video to share the experience with you, my readers. These dogs (and their owners) were definitely having fun!

We then grabbed a quick bite at the Jamaican food booth; Jamaican patties are flat meat pies with a spicy kick! Good though.

We headed home before the expected 20,000 arrived for the evening concert. I’m impressed with our small park in Whalley!

Wednesday afternoon – a spring-like day here on the west coast, not unusual for this time of year – I ditched watching Oprah in exchange for going back to Holland Park, currently Surrey’s Olympic Celebration Site, with my husband Darrell.

I’m loving being able to capture moments, from my eye level. I haven’t used a stock image for a blog post since my hubby gave me a Nikon Coolpix for Christmas ‘08. Me, a photojournalist – who would have thought it? But, that’s what blogging is all about!

Unlike LiveCity Downtown on Saturday, there was no lineup to wait in. Darrell and I wheeled right on through.

The first noteworthy sight was the long row of pot-a-potties, including two wheelchair accessible ones. These facilities aren’t the most pleasant to use, unless absolutely necessary, then they’re such an relieving experience!

The Surrey site has a winter carnival atmosphere, complete with cotton candy, pizza and hot dogs. The mini doughnuts were calling me! I’m still munching while I type, which means I’m twice as long on the bike while watching Oprah tomorrow. Oh well. We live once, so live it!

Unfortunately, tickets for the evening’s RCMP Musical Ride were already gone. However, the horse stable was open to the public. I introduce my current scooter to the inside of a barn! It has been a while since I’ve seen tack boxes, mucking outs and horse blankets. Seeing the city kids holding their noses was quite amusing; such woosies! I even got horse goober on my coat – yes!

I’d be ecstatic if the barn and the riding arena became permanent fixtures of Holland Park as an Olympic Legacy! Imagine being to ride again only five or six blocks from home. That would be so cool!

An outdoor ice rink allows for some good old-fashioned family fun time! Kids, young and old, don skates for the first time is entertaining to watch.

A clear day meant a clear night sky. I captured the moon for the first time. A beautiful sliver of the moon.

Inside Surrey House is where I’ll likely be should Canada play in the men’s hockey gold medal game on the 28th! Hockey and Randy Bachman – it doesn’t get any more Canadian than that!

Saturday Darrell and I met up with my aunt and cousin and went to LiveCity Downtown – one of the many ways to experience the Olympics for free! Yes, it was raining, but, being Vancouverites, we were well prepared while waiting in line. At the CentrePlace Manitoba, we learned about the Canadian Museum for Human Rights being built in Winnipeg. I’d love to be there for the opening in 2012!

With all of the road closures, the streets are almost eerie! I’ve never seen West Hastings so quiet! The streets, that is; the sidewalks are another story! I kinda like it though. What are the chances it’ll stay this way?

My man in a toque! He’s still handsome!

I love how most store fronts have got their “Canada” on! We can show our patriotic colours when we choose to!

Down in front of Waterfront Station, the sidewalks were like I’ve never seen them: jam packed with people from everywhere! Welcome.

The Olympic Rings floating on Coal Harbour. So cool when seen at night!

Disappointedly, the Olympic Cauldron is behind a chain-linked fence; no doubt for security reasons – for both the visitors and the cauldron. After wandering around the waterfront, I finally got a half decent photo.

Amazing to think that this flame traveled all of the way from Greece and then across Canada, viewed by millions of Canadians during the longest Olympic Torch Relay in history.

Sunday I enjoyed the Olympics from the comforts of the couch, with my Faith kitty curled up in her spot behind my knees. I had my red jammies on though!

(This party has been a long time coming and I’m going to make the most of it. Please bear with me! Regular posts will resume shortly.)

Thursday evening my wonderful husband Darrell surprised me with free tickets to the dress rehearsal of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Musical Ride here at Holland Park – Surrey’s Olympic Celebration Site!

I have often seen the RCMP Musical Ride on television, but never live. For someone who rode for years many moons ago, this was an exciting opportunity! Wheeling into the tent arena, the distinctive smell of leather and horse instantly hit me, bringing back a flood of memories. I was in heaven!

I shot this video (until my camera card filled), raw and uncaptioned. Please excuse the few headless horsemen!

I will definitely return for a second show and, possibly, a third, if I can get away with it! You are welcome to join me.

In creating a buzz about SOBCon2010 – Business School for Bloggers, conference founders Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker are holding the “Blog It, Earn It!” Discount. Essentially, “write a blog post about a person (or people) online who has (or have) made a difference in your life” and earn a 25% discount off of the registration fee, plus a chance to win a free ticket and airfare and hotel (up to $1105). Given how outrageously priced the hotel is, writing one blog post could be like winning the lottery!

My challenge is narrowing the list to one person or even a few people online who have made a difference in my life. Most people may not appreciate how much blogging has changed my life; how when I hit “publish” for the first time on June 1, 2005 my life changed forever. Blogging has given me a voice and a way to connect with people from around the world.

In those early days, Andy Wibbels’ “just start and then learn as you go” attitude got me blogging. I learned much from him. Watching and learning from my virtual sister Pam Slim also kept me going as a newbie blogger.

Since then, countless others online have kindly helped me in my blogging career; some teaching me valuable life lessons, like Liz teaching me how to graciously accept the words “You’re such an inspiration.” There’s also Becky McCray and her no-bs approach to business (she is definitely a rising star to watch!); social media chaplain Jon Swanson who gets me thinking deeper; Ricky Buchanan who has made me see accessibility from another position; Law of Attraction coach Suzie Cheel and her encouragement to think BIG; and many, many other. (Man, this feels like the Oscars and I’m forgetting important names! Please don’t feel slighted!)

However, when I sat down to write this post, two names clearly rose to the forefront: Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse, authors of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. After having an employment counsellor tell me blogging was a passing fad, not an income source, I had goose bumps while reading Darren’s and Chris’s stories. They were proof that living off of blogging could be done. They are what I want to be when I become a grown up blogger! Finally here was something I could do to earn an income!

I shared in an earlier post:

With blogging as an income source, it erases all of the barriers I, a person with a physical disability, faced when searching for a job. With blogging, my typing speed and inability to answer phones – requirements for many jobs I applied for – don’t matter. With blogging, I don’t need to deal will transportation or the accessibility (lack thereof) of the workplace. I can work from the comforts of home, on my own schedule, doing what I love to do: writing and connecting with people from around the world. With blogging, technology has finally caught up to me and given me something else I can do, and with stories like Darren’s and Chris’s, I now have a goal to strive for.

Chris and Darren gave me a career goal that employment programs and counsellors could not. For that, I am appreciative and grateful.

What happens online and virtually definitely impact, change and improve the concrete, real-life world.