Update

This morning I woke at 7am as usual, dozed off for a few minutes, got up and had my morning shower, started getting dressed and then laid back on the bed, allowing myself to sink under the seductive influence of my bed sheets. A few minutes later I gave up all resistance and curled up, half-dressed, for three more hours of sleep. I love the freedom of unplanned Saturdays.

It is such a change from last weekend when Canadian athletes surged to set the gold medal record for the Winter Olympics. The capping glory was the gold medal for men's hockey, the last medal of the Games. The game was against our American arch-rivals. It was won by an unlikely steep-angled shot by Sidney Crosby in overtime. The streets instantly became riotously loud and only dimmed partially for the closing ceremonies.

I watched the ceremonies at Aunty Tinkerbell's place. He wanted a cozy soiree with friends for the watching. Gerry and Danzante came over to my place in the afternoon to play Settlers of Catan, the Seafarer's version, and Flash came by, his first visit since returning from Colorado. Flash was wearing a scarf that was an American flag, a gift from another American fan who discarded it as soon as he saw the Canadians were likely to win. As we coaxed our way down to Tinkerbell's in Danzante's car, jubilant Canadian fans stopped us and offered Flash condolences and friendly handshakes.

I hadn't been keen to watch the closing ceremonies, knowing the rowdy madness of the fans in the streets, the over-furnished awkwardness of Tinkerbell's living room and the possible feeling of being trapped there until I got home. My elbow was swollen with an internal infection and I had been soaking it in hot, salty water several times the night before. I was hoping to use that as an excuse for staying home, but Danzante promised to drive me to and from so I relented. Two of Tinkerbell's "old girl" friends, Debbie and Edith, were there as well as Rainbow Strongheart. Later Garnet dropped by, and nine people were definitely too many for that small room.

The evening was everything I feared, and less. The closing ceremonies were unremarkable and wound down into disarray with a string of performances by little-known Canadian bands. But the time with friends cut into the invasive, almost-constant screaming that might have pulled me towards a state of semi-psychotic anxiety without that break. It was good to see Taylor too. He's the only person I know, other than myself, who has muscular dystrophy. His strength has eroded over the past three years, since I last saw him. He only travels on a scooter now. His ability to stand and maneuver himself though Tinkerbell's maze of plants and furniture is much more limited than mine. It was disconcerting, knowing this will likely be my fate. Tinkerbell says Garnet has been depressed a lot recently, and I did notice an air of resignation about him.

The cacophony of screaming, honking, chanting and cheering increased as soon as the flame was extinguished. I convinced Danzante to leave as soon as possible so he could get home safely. He dropped me off at home at 8:30. I went to bed before ten. I tried to drown out the nerve-wracking noise with music but I wasn't able to sleep until almost 5am. I took Monday morning off, knowing I couldn't think without sleep. When I did go in it was still very hard to answer the calls. My only consolation was that it was only for half a day.

Robert Golling and his bf Michi made it back to Germany safely. They were able to meet me together at the Fountainhead a week ago Thursday. Michi is petite, but sexy. As an athlete he is totally into the Games. Half the athletes we watched on the screen he knew. They both found it disconcerting that Canadians would walk right up to them and say, without a proper introduction, things such as "You have beautiful eyes!" They also asked if pot is legal here, as they smelled it everywhere. Michi was afraid he'd test positive for THC. He told me whenever he and Robert were walking through a crowd, Robert would shout "pot" when he smelled it and Michi would cover his nose with his hands. They said that happened multiple times each block. The image of them doing this tickles my imagination.

I wrote to Robert last Saturday, the day after he arrived home. Since then we have exchanged two more emails. He says I have rekindled his interest in writing by relating the outline of my novel to him. I have sent him the first chapter, which he has promised to read this weekend.

The French boys, Eric and Fred, moved back to their rooms at Seymour and Pender on Monday, leaving behind a smattering of odds and ends that need to be returned to them. They have friends from France visiting them at the moment.

Darlene-The-Ambassador's-Wife (also known as Darlene TAW) called me last night. His purpose was awkwardly described to me, as though he had not considered what to say, although he had called me. There is this social service agency in Ladner which has a residential facility with a series of small transom windows. As far as he was able to describe, the agency permits families of clients who have died there to install commemorative stained glass windows in them. They used to have a firm that made the windows for the families but that agency seems to have disappeared. He was wondering if I would take up the for-profit work for the remaining transoms. That was a pleasant surprise. He wants to take me out there sometime this week if the director is on duty. He will call me at 10am tomorrow.

Not much else is new. I have spend the past week catching my equilibrium in the deaden silence that has followed in the wake of the Games. The inflammation in my elbow is gone, leaving behind it a pocket of water that acts as a gel-pad when I rest my forearm on the armrest of my office chair. I was monitored last week and for the most part the feedback is all good, but Alicja, my Team Leader, didn't have time to go over the notes with me. It's a gloriously sunny day today, but it is expected to be mostly cloudy and wet for the coming week.