Family Day

Today is Family Day in Alberta, which means I have the day off from work--or at least I don't have to be in the office. I have been traveling quite a bit for work this past month and will be the next two weeks as well, which means that my days in the office have been limited. To catch up a bit, I will be doing some work this afternoon, but I did get to have a massage this morning, so all in all, not a bad "work" day.

I've received several questions about Calgary from my US friends and family. First of all, where is it? Imagine yourself in Western Montana, and then head a few hours north and you'll land in Calgary. Being that I'm not a native and I've only been here for 7 weeks, I'll leave it to wikipedia to provide a summary. Some of you may recall that the 1988 Winter Olympics were held in Calgary. Last week I visited Olympic Plaza, which was the location of the medal ceremonies. Yesterday was the Heritage Classic, an outdoor hockey game between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens. I did not attend, but RTC and his dad braved the extreme cold and watched the Flames beat the Canadiens 4-0. This event was held at McMahon Stadium, also the site of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics. And here's a fun fact: RTC was part of the yellow ring during the opening ceremonies. His dad told me there are pictures of this, which I am very much looking forward to seeing. Here's a link to the opening ceremony highlights. You'll witness the aforementioned human colored rings and blow up dinosaurs...my, how Olympic opening ceremonies (and television!) have changed!

In honor of the Heritage Classic, the flame on the Calgary Tower was lit, which we can see from our living room window.