The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will capture the attention of most of the world from February 12th to 28th, while showcasing Canadian athletes, athletes from around the globe, and our great country itself.  They promise to be an exciting time and represent the hard work of many people who have toiled for years to make these 2 ½ weeks a success.

As with any event of this magnitude, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games have images and mottos that were created to provide visual recognition and add meaning to these games. They have been associated with the games since soon after announcing Vancouver’s winning bid.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch
Teams from Bombardier and VANOC collaborated to create a design inspired by the smooth, fluid lines left in snow and ice after playing winter sports. The torch is 94.5 centimetres (37.125 inches) high and weighs 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds) and includes the official 2010 game’s emblem and motto, plus a maple leaf cut-out that functions as an air intake to ensure the Olympic Flame burns brightly as the torchbearers carry it across Canada.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Emblem
A contemporary interpretation of the inukshuk, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic emblem is an image most Canadians already associate with these games. The word inukshuk, singular of inuksuit, means "in the likeness of a human" in the Inuit language. Inuksuit have come to represent hope and friendship in Canada. This emblem is also present on the Olympic Torch.

Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Emblem
The Paralympic Emblem is dominated by a dynamic human form in the blue and green colours of the West coast and Vancouver 2010.  The green represents our lush coastal forests, the dark blue our splendid mountains and the light blue our beautiful sky. ‘Man becomes Mountain’ is the unofficial title of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Emblem, representing the inner strength it takes for the athletes to reach this ultimate point; the Paralympic Winter Games.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Motto
With Glowing Hearts/Des plus brillants exploits is the 2010 Winter Games motto. It is engraved in the Olympic Torch and used in connection with the Games Emblem (see below). Its presence on the torch is meant to connect each torchbearer to the athletes competing in the Games and impart a feeling of pride in all who will carry the torch.

Vancouver 2010 Mascots
Three mascots were created for the games in Vancouver, inspired by traditional First Nations creatures. This trio appears in various print and online marketing, especially when it is designed to reach children;
Miga is a snowboarding mythical First Nations sea bear that is part killer whale and part Kermode spirit bear.
Quatchi is a shy and gentle sasquatch that loves all winter sports especially hockey and dreams of becoming a world-famous goalie.
Sumi is an animal-guardian spirit who wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty Thunderbird and runs on the furry legs of the black bear.

How many people do you know that got something new in the way of an electronic gift this year? Seems like just about everyone! Unfortunately this also means that millions of electronic gadgets are now considered obsolete. Do your part for the environment by making sure you recycle these devices. It’s easier than you think.

A network of companies have sprung up that will allow you to drop off electronic gadgetry for proper recycling. Check out this site, enter your postal code and you’ll be shown a list of the closest locations that will make the best use of the metals and other materials recovered, while saving our landfills for other less-useful garbage.

Family Literacy Day, held on January 27 each year, was developed by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Honda Canada in 1999 to encourage families to read and learn together on a daily basis. In our information-driven world, the ability to read and write effectively has never been more important and the social handicap that illiteracy represents has never been more apparent.

Check out these Canadian literacy facts;

• Four out of 10 adult Canadians, age 16 to 65 - representing 9 million Canadians - struggle with low literacy.
• Of the above group, 15 per cent have serious problems dealing with any printed materials and 27 per cent can only deal with simple reading tasks.
• As of 2003, over 3 million Canadians between the age 16 and 65 were below middle school skills level, while almost 6 million were below high school skills.
• Sixty per cent of immigrants have low literacy, compared with 37 per cent of native-born Canadians.
• People with low proficiency in literacy tend to have lower rates of employment and work in occupations with lower skill requirements.
• Less than 10 per cent of Canadians who could benefit from literacy upgrading programs actually enroll.
• Increased literacy provides the ability to access, understand, and act on health information.
• Establishing a culture of learning encourages an exchange of ideas, enriches family relationships, and bolsters confidence and independent thinking.
• Literacy proficiency improves chances of employment, builds self-confidence and enables discussions and actions that affect the welfare of individuals and their community.

Family Literacy Day can be celebrated by simply setting aside 15 minutes of family time to read and learn together - playing board games like Scrabble, writing a letter or even following a recipe together.

“There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.  So you have to begin there, not outside, not on other people.  That comes afterward, when you've worked on your own corner.”
~ Aldous Huxley

Laptops are the first choice for many people buying computers today. They are powerful, yet portable. But laptops are no match for liquids of any kind. Damage from spills is second only to ‘drops’ for laptops when it comes to laptop woes. If it happens to you, act quickly to avoid costly repairs and lost data;

1. Unplug the power cord and any other cords.
2. Turn the laptop upside down.
3. Remove the battery.

Don’t try to shut down the laptop. It will take too much time. Leave the laptop upside down for a while to drain the liquid as much as possible. Don’t turn it back on for at least 48 hours. Do not try to speed up the process with a hairdryer. The temperature of the air is too high and may damage the laptop.

Once dry, depending on the level of liquid penetration and which liquid was spilled, it may be best to take your laptop to a competent service centre for advice before restarting. Then swear to never have liquid within a metre (1 yard) of your laptop again – ever!

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The Olympic Torch Relay has become a very integral part of the celebration of the  games. Host countries take great pride in designing a torch that represents the country itself and one that will be remembered through the ages. The ceremonial relay connects the various communities across the country.

Did J’a Know these torch relay facts?

• The Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Torch Relay will involve 12,000 torchbearers and light-up 1,036 communities connecting a ‘Path of Northern Lights’ during its 45,000 kilometre journey across Canada.
• In 1936, the first modern day Olympic Torch Relay took place when the torch travelled from Olympia, Greece to Berlin, Germany.
• The first Olympic Winter Games Torch Relay occurred in 1952 in Oslo, Norway.
• At the Montreal 1976 Olympic Summer Games, the Flame was transformed to an electronic pulse. The pulse was then carried by satellite from Athens to Montreal, where a laser beam was used to light the cauldron.
• At the London Olympic Summer Games in 1948, the first games held after World War II, the lead torchbearer was a corporal in the Greek army who changed out of his military uniform and laid down his arms to signify the sacred truce before carrying the Olympic Flame.
• The first global relay took place before the Athens 2004 Olympic Summer Games. The journey lasted 78 days, covered a distance of 78,000 kilometres and involved 11,300 torchbearers.
• Some early torches were dangerous to carry, lit with various fuels including gun powder and olive oil. The last torch used in the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Torch Relay burned the torchbearer’s arms when chunks of the magnesium and aluminum fuel fell.
• The Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games Torch was designed in the shape of the Calgary Tower and bore the 1988 Olympic Motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”
• The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games featured a torch inspired by the Sydney Opera House, the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the curve of a boomerang.

Household Chore Shortcuts – Cleaning up truly is an endless task – it never takes a holiday. Check out these time-saving suggestions to make sure you aren’t spending too much of your valuable time trying to keep the place in shape.

Diet Help – It’s still the most popular new year resolution; dieting. Unfortunately it’s also one resolution that routinely gets shelved well before the end of January – unless you get some help. Check out these tips to help you stay on your diet and make it more effective.

Choose Plastic Carefully – Plastic is used for so many things these days that it can be tough if not impossible to feasible eliminate it totally. This site provides some very useful tips and information that will help you reduce your use of plastic and know the pros and (mostly) cons of the many different types of plastic used today.

Homework; Help your Kids Help Themselves – Getting a good start to the second term is particularly important for children who are not proud of what they achieved in the first term. This site has very practical and applicable solutions that will help you help your son or daughter get more out of homework and school in general.

Reusable fabric bags are becoming common for many Canadians who realize how practical and effectively they reduce our need for plastic grocery bags. But why just for groceries?

Be sure to apply the same sense of environmental stewardship and environmental awareness when you shop elsewhere. Leave your reusable shopping bags in the car so they are always handy and be sure to use them for all your shopping, even at the mall!

Meet the Olympic Mascots – Serena, age 6, says, “Mom and I went to the website for the Olympics and got to meet the mascots. There are 3 of them; Sumi, Quatchi and Miga. They’re really cute. You should meet them, too.”

Make Your Own Olympic Medals – Lori, age 8, says, “I’m making real-looking Olympic medals out of clay. We’re going to paint them gold, silver and bronze like the real ones and award them to me and my friends so we can wear them during the Olympics.”

Paralympics - Andrew, age 13, says, “I hope to represent Canada in the Paralympics one day soon – in sledge hockey. This site has a lot of information about our Paralympic athletes and Canada’s success at the games.”

Learn to Snowboard – Mitch, age 11, says, “I got a snowboard from my uncle this year, so I’m learning how to do it. This site has lots of good tips for beginners like me – and even guys that can already snowboard.”

Troubled by Mice? As the cold winter weather sets in, mice can turn-up in just about any home – even high-rise condos. But before you reach for the traps, consider a simple natural deterrent; peppermint oil. The smell is simply too intense for them. It also helps mask the scent of other food that may attract them.

You can find peppermint oil in most health food stores and even some major grocery stores. Infuse some cotton balls with a drop or two of the oil and leave in and around where mice are likely to enter your home.

“I don't even butter my bread; I consider that cooking.” ~ Katherine Cebrian

“What happens if you get scared half to death twice?” ~ Unknown

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” ~ Anon

“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” ~ Calvin Trillin