February 8, 2010 ~ 4 Days until the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games

I am not sure where to begin explain my last three days.

We left Saturday for Vancouver, we arrived at the Vancouver airport and we were greeted by many volunteers, they were so helpful and nice.  We then had to get our credentials before we picked up our luggage, which made it official that I am an Olympian!  The Women’s and Men’s USA Curling teams were bussed to the hotel where we went through processing.   During processing you get your Olympic gear, which was overwhelming.   Three suitcases later, which were all filled with Nike and Ralph Lauren clothing, shoes and accessories was awesome, if anyone knows me, I love all that stuff!      We then had to try on our opening and closing ceremony attire to make sure we knew how to wear it and to check if we needed any alterations, then off to ring fitting and to pick out our Olympic watch, fun, fun.   We then took our three pieces of luggage to our room, instead of 4 pieces of luggage between two of us, we now had 10 pieces of luggage and as you can imagine not much space left in our hotel room.

Sunday morning, we had our last Team USA briefing, with 1996 Gold Medalist Dan O’ Brien in Decathlon and 1998 Gold Medalist Aerial Skier Nikki Stone, it was a motivating send off before packing up  to move to the Athlete Village.   We arrived in the Athlete Village and were taken to our Penthouse Suite; where all five of us are staying.   We were told before we arrived how lucky we were to get this suite, that the view is unbelievable and it was quite spacious.     Well, when we got to the door to our Penthouse Suite, we were in amazed by the view and when we opened up the door and saw the size of the suite we were pretty excited.   On each of our beds there were gifts from P & G, which was very thoughtful; it was many of the things that you will need extra of when you are gone from home for over 3 weeks.

We then toured the Olympic Village, checked out the shop and maybe spent a little money.    We decided to check out the Olympic Village Cafeteria, which has every type of food you can imagine.   I made sure I went to McDonald’s so I could tell my son that I went to McDonald’s today and it was “free”.    We went to the athlete hangout where everyone was watching the Super Bowl; there are pool tables, WII games and much more, and it’s decorated pretty funky.

Today[Monday], we had our first practice since we left home.   It was at the Richmond Curling Club, it was nice to get back out on ice with the five of us girls and our coaches.   We then went shopping to buy a few things to decorate our room.   Went back to our Penthouse Suite (love saying that) for the next 3 weeks and did some patriotic decorating, it definitely looks very festive!    Nicole, Allison and I went and had a workout with one of our USOC trainers at the athlete fitness center, which was quite busy, you can tell more athletes moved into the village today.   Then off to dinner with the team at the athlete cafeteria, it seems every time I go there I never know what to have to eat because there are so many options.   Then we went back to the Penthouse watched a movie and relaxed together, nice way to end the day.

Chat with you later ~ Tracy

Debbie McCormick, Allison Pottinger, Nicole Joraanstad, Natalie Nicholson and I showing our patriotic spirit!

Lodi's Tracy Sachtjen will compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as a member of the USA Women's Curling team. Go Tracy!

As many of you probably know, Lodi is honored to have Tracy Sachtjen, on the US Women’s curling team for the winter Olympics. Way to go! Attached is a copy of the TV schedule Tracy sent out yesterday – it starts on Feb 16 – and gives you the cable or dish channel you can watch and the local time.

Awesome! Please share with anyone whom may be interested.

USA Women’sCurling- Olympic TV Schedule

At $29.99, these are a "must have" for your next bonspiel.

Our hats are soft like marshmallows, and attractive as all get out. I suppose I should stop there, because I doubt a sentence could get any sexier than that. Of course you’re going to buy one now.

Did you know that there are over 12 million curling fans in North America? I actually bet you did, you curling freak, you. Well, you’re in good company. We’re curling freaks, too.

Our hats are simple, but make a statement. Wear our hats at curling events, but don’t stop there. Wear them to the grocery store, to work, to church. What kinda fan are you?

Check out their site at curlinghats.com.

Bonspiel, Nov. 20 & 21

at LCC. Prize Baskets on display and raffle tickets for sale at the Lodi Curling Club, 705 Fair Street, Sat. Nov. 21 from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., stop by to get your tickets.  Good Luck!

All proceeds from raffle ticket sales go to several CANCER organizations.
$1/ticket           $5/6 tickets

Dear Curlers & non-curler friends,

We would like to host an open Bonspiel “Curl to End Cancer”. The Bonspiel will be in memory of family and/or friends that were members of our club who have died of cancer. The date of this spiel will be Nov. 20 (Fri.) & Nov. 21 (Sat.) with the spiel running 4-end games, 16 team limit, and brooms will be provided by the club, entry fee $100.00/team. A team will consist of two experienced and two new curlers, age limit a minimum of 12 years old.
We currently have six families who have generously offered to sponsor a Prize Basket in memory of their loved one. Prize Baskets are welcomed from other families who have lost a curler to cancer. If you would like to contribute to a Prize Basket already formed, please contact the captain/sponsor.

Below is a list of Family Prize Basket Sponsors:

Lori Cook Lloyd captain/sponsor: Tykie Wescott 444-4320
Joyce Dolson captain/sponsor: Theresa Dolson 592-7801
Gary Markgraf captain/sponsor: Donna Markgraf 592-4160
Bob & Laurie Reese captain/sponsor: Ron Reese 592-3547
Suzanne Weber Klopp captain/sponsor: Jane Geeslin 347-2456
Bernie Zeman captain/sponsor: Belinda Zeman 592-5716

We will sell Prize Basket raffle tickets at the Chili Feed and the Spiel, so we need to know as soon as possible what your Prize Basket will include prior to the Chili Feed. The money raised for each Prize Basket will go towards a charity of the family’s choice.
In addition it is our intent to promote & recruit new members interested in curling. Another idea is to have a ladies Wednesday night 5:00 draw, 6 or 8-end games. We hope again that members and friends will donate towards the events. We will be contacting you at a later date for donations for the Chili Feed.
Most of us have been touched by cancer in some way and your support will be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions please contact:

Colleen Deans 849-3199
Donna Markgraf 592-4160
Chris Ness 592-3492
Tykie Wescott 444-4320