We're loud, we're proud and we're Canadian!

Today, it is hard not to be proud to be Canadian.

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games are over. Vancouver is cleaning up from its 17 days of being in the world spotlight, athletes are heading home and eastern Canadians are sighing a weary breath of relief that the late nights of being glued to the television have finally come to an end.

While Canada didn't Own The Podium in every sense of the word, it did set an Olympic record medal haul of 14 gold medals, beating the old record of the 13. That record certainly makes up for Canada never winning a gold medal on home soil. And winning a total of 26 medals is not to shabby at all.

In these last 17 days, we have seen Frederic Bilodeau cheer in the stands for his brother Alex when he won Canada's first gold medal in men's moguls. We've seen figure skater Joannie Rochette, heartbroken from her mother's sudden death, continue with her Olympic dream and go on to win a bronze medal. The women's bobsleigh teams didn't fail to disappoint as they both won gold and silver in the two-person event. We've seen the men's speed skaters bounce back from disappointment, winning gold in both the relay and team pursuit events. (And who can forget that crazy finish in the men's 500-metre finals where Charles Hamelin captured gold and teammate Francois-Louis Tremblay snagged bronze. As one of my friends said on facebook, it almost looked like Hamelin did a pirouette over the finish line). And of course both the women's and men's hockey teams were able to deliver gold on home turf.

While I didn't think anything could top the inflatable beavers and flying moose from last night's closing ceremonies, this morning, the ladies of The View paid homage to Canada by walking out to the table to O Canada. Regardless of where our national anthem is played, even if it is on a talk show, it is hard not to feel proud.

A Canadian friend of mine, who lives out of the country, asked me to send her the front page of the newspaper. There was so much Olympic coverage in both the Citizen and Sun today that I couldn't help ripping out every page and stuffing it into an envelope. Hey, I'm a proud Canadian. I like to spread the patriotism around.

It is bittersweet to see the Olympics come to an end. I feel a tad lost today as I surf through the channels, expecting to hear Jamie Campbell or Rod Black's voice in the background while athletes race on the ice or fly in the air.

It's back to regular scheduled programming. Thanks for the memories Vancouver. They will last a lifetime.