My daughter Amanda has giraffes in her backyard in Kenya!

I just wanted to say that. I think it’s pretty cool; and thinking about giraffes in a person’s backyard means I don’t need to think about packing for Vancouver.

As I am leaving in just under 48 hours, it is time to think about packing I want to tell you though of the ways I have gone about distracting myself from doing just that. First of all, there was the search for the perfect computer laptop bag with wheels. I dragged my other daughter Caroline all over the place on Sunday looking for this mythical bag. I wanted it to be an upright rather than long sided rectangle that was light and that could hold a lot of stuff. My friend Debbi has the perfect tan coloured one that opens all the way up and weighs only about 12ozs. Of course, when I dropped by her house for coffee, I asked to look at it again only to find it is first of all a lovely shade of burgundy and not tan and that it is BIG and not all that light when it is all said and done. It is darling though and would work with a myriad of wardrobe choices.

Hmmm….could it be that I have made up the perfect laptop bag in my head?? Impossible! I also rejected Staples totally out of hand as a possibility for the Grailbag (as I now call it) only to find it there. After all, the store in question isn’t the least bit trendy or forward thinking and this was a “special” bag. Not only was it at Staples, but it was at the Staples in my (sketchy) neighbourhood AND on sale. (They must have changed their stock and upped their HQ – hipness quotient.)

Not just big giraffes but baby ones too!! awwww….

Debbie L (the other Debbie – pronounced with an “e” on the end) has …um…pursuaded me to bring with me 2 banners from her 3 different schools AND a Flat Stanley and to take them around to different Olympic locations, take pictures and write about those experiences. I will be posting those stories here in their own Flat Stanley and The Rings Section. I am, of course, delighted to do this for her as she is my oldest ( much older than I) and dearest friend of over 40 years. She also knows where “all of the bodies are buried” which means that “NO” isn’t an option for me. She is dedicated, funny and, she says, really smart. I am not so sure though, as she went about painting the banners with typical zeal she stepped back from her masterpiece (and you have to understand the bigger of the 2 banners is 6 metres in length) only to find that she had splattered paint on the school stage by accident AND she misspelled SCOOL. (Her daughter said to blame it on a grade 2 ) So…you be the judge?

Did I tell you about the giraffes? She has electricity, no running water and no internet and is communicating via text message with me. There is also no end of warm and friendly people in the Masai community where she is located.

Ok…now 46 hours to go…the clock (or as Debbie would write CLOC) is running…next stop VANCOUVER!!!