Ottawa in a week!

As I promised, I will continue this blog in memory of my Grandma.  I hope she is reading this from up above! If you don't know the story, read my "letter" from Feb. 2nd, 2012.

Well here we go for Round 4!  Last time I posted, it was 181 days until the start of the tournament.  I don't know where the time has gone but this time next week I'll be in Ottawa for the Women's World Championships!  Every year the IIHF announces the tournament assignments in early October.  Last year, when I went to u18's, I only had to wait 3 months and the tournament occurred at the halfway point of my season.  Anyone involved in hockey knows the season can get to be very long.  The travel wears on you, physically and mentally you just get tired.  I must admit, I struggled a little bit mentally after the tournament last year because my big event for the season was over.  This year the scenario is much different.  I have had this huge reward all season to look forward to.  So on those cold, dark winter days when the last thing I felt like doing was driving to another ice rink, this kept me motivated and working hard.  It hit me today when I was getting changed after my last game before I leave - I've put in the work all season, now it is time for the reward.

So at this point here is what I know - I leave Philadelphia on Easter Sunday at 3:30 and arrive in Ottawa at 5:15.  Beyond that I really don't know much about the tournament in terms of where we are staying or our schedule.  That said, it doesn't really matter because the only thing I can think about right now is how much stuff I take care of before I leave!  The to-do list includes taking care of a bunch of stuff at work, sending in my tax returns, do the Crossfit Open workout #4, and running a 5k that supports a charity near and dear to my mom's heart (lbrun.org if you are in the Philly area). And did I mention laundry, packing, cleaning the house and paying my bills!  It's crazy how much I have to do to prepare to leave the country for 2 weeks!  In between getting all that done, I'll try to update this blog a few times with some more details about the tournament, my preparations and how I got to this point.  Off to meet my parents for dinner and give my mom my referee pants to hem (at least I can check that off the list), have a great Sunday!