3 Days at Home

Ok....so after arriving in Vancouver on Aug 26th.....my lovely husband came to pick me up from the airport! I am so lucky to have him :). As much as I would love to just lay on my couch for the next 3 days....I really have to train because I will be running a fitness in only a few days when I arrive in Trinidad. I also had a list of things that I need to buy to bring with me, so...no rest for me!

Friday was a day of running around like a crazy person, trying to find a bunch of random things like safety pins, double sided tape, Canada souveniers, etc. I also needed to do a light training session to try and get the jet-lag out of my legs. But...by far the most important task of Friday was to go up to the school and get all the planning done for the entire month of September as I am going to be away! Actually, the most important thing that day was getting my hair highlighted as it was looking very tragic! HEHEHHE

On Saturday morning I woke up early and went up to the track to run my fitness test, just for practice, to push my legs in preparation for next Thurs. They feel pretty good considering all the travel lately! Saturday afternoon I refereed a charity soccer game for a fellow official who works with Kidsport. Sunday was dedicated to laundry and packing.

Poor Alain had to drive me to the airport Monday morning at 5am....I really hope I'm still married when I get back from Trinidad! :)

The End of Singapore

Well, I have come to the end of my journey in Singapore. I really enjoyed both the tournament, and the country itself. As many of you have heard, I'm sure, it is a really clean country. I asked about the "no gum" rule, but was told it is not illegal, but it's almost impossible to buy gum in a store here.

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to go and see any other sports, or the closing ceremonies, but I am ok with that. We stayed at the St. Regis Hotel, and it was absolutely beautiful and the staff was extremely helpful. On my phone there was a button that said "butler" and every time I pressed it....someone came. In fact, she even ironed my shirt for me one day...sweet. I tried to fit the phone in my luggage to take home, but there just wasn't space :)

It was a great experience to have both a boys and girls tournament together, because it meant we were 1/2 women, and 1/2 men referees....it was fun. The final night was had a wrap-up party in the hotel with all the FIFA staff and referees. It was a nice way to end the tournamet. I flew home on Thurs morning, and, because of the time change (15 hours), I arrived home only 2 hours after I left...isn't that strange!

Thank you Singapore for a great Youth Olympic Games Experience!

Turkey....guess what!

I was appointed to referee the Bronze Medal match between Turkey and Iran....hmmmm...a bit of deja vu? These are the exact 2 teams that I had in my 1st match...at least this time I should know what to expect :)

The game itself was a bit more lopsided this time. Turkey had really found their rhythm in the tournament and came out fired up for this game. The final score was 4-0 for Turkey, and they were definitely the better team on the day.

The next day we did some shopping before going to watch the women's final. It was an exciting game with Chile beating Equatorial New Guinea to win the 1st ever Youth Olympic Games. It was very cool to watch the teams stand on the podium and receive their medals!

The following day was the Men's Final between Haiti and Bolivia. It was great to see Haiti in the final after everything they have been through in the past year. Unfortunately Bolivia was just too strong and easily defeated Haiti in the final.

Before the game we took a trip to the fish spa....hahhah...what an experience! I giggled the whole time. You put your feet in this pool of water and little fishes eat away all the dead skin! I'm not actually sure that it worked, but I'm definitely glad that I tried it!

If Blogging Was a Job...I would be Fired!

I know, I know....I'm really bad at keep this blog up to date....everytime I think I have time to sit down and write something, I think...I have so much to say, and there's just not enough time. Then, more time goes by and it just gets worse. It's like the friend you haven't called in such a long time, and you think...it's been so long, I don't know what to say...well people...I'm here to say....JUST PICK UP THE PHONE! hahahh! And so, here I am, after a 3 week hiatus, updating my blog!

Rather than give you a huge long dreary novel to read, I will break the story up into short, concise blurbs that will highlite what I think are the most exciting parts!

Last I left you I was appointed to be the 4th official for the semi-final between Turkey and Chile. It was pretty funny when I walked into the Turkey dressing room and said "Surprise...it's me again"! All the players laughed and the coach said it was nice to see me again! The game itself was very exciting with Chile scoring the winning goal in the 3rd minute of added time to clinch their place in the final against Equatorial New Guinea.

The next day we had a rest day so we went to this tourist attraction called Sentosa. It's hard to really explain what it is because it has a bit of everything. It's on an island and you have to take a "skytrain" to get there. There are hotels, amusement rides, Universal Studio, and some tourist attractions. Unfortunately, when you are trying to get 18 referees to a location, taking public transit, and varying languages are used...it can be a bit painful! It took us so long to get there that we only had about an hour to spend there, and were really only able to do a couple of things....but....hey...at least I can say that I went! hehehe

The next day we will receive the appointments for the Gold and Bronze Medal matches...we are nearing the end!