You're leaving the country for two weeks?!?

Over the last few days at work I've been busy trying to tie up loose ends before I go away.  When I've gone to tournaments in years past I've had no access to my work email, which is both a blessing and a curse.  It is nice because it is the only true vacation I get where I'm completely unplugged but it is also so overwhelming to come back to hundreds of emails. However, as technology evolves companies figure out more ways to keep their employees connected.  The Hartford has some new technology where I was able to download an app to my ipad that will allow me to check my work email while I'm gone.  I can't decide if I'm happy about that or not, we'll see.  Regardless, I've had a number of conversations with both clients and internal business partners that if they need something from me I need to know about it by Friday since I will be out of the country for 2 weeks starting on Monday.  Inevitably, I immediately get asked the question "oh where are you going?" At that point I can go one of two directions - I can either just say I'm going to Canada and leave it at that or I can explain what it is I'll actually be doing.  More often than not I go with the latter, just because saying I'm going to Canada for two weeks doesn't sound very exciting!  Most of the time when people say they are leaving the country they are going to a warm beach or some sort of European adventure! 

So when I decide to explain a little further, I've been starting the conversation with "Fun fact about me - I moonlight as an ice hockey official and was selected to go to Ottawa to work the 2013 Women's World Championships."  The reactions have been entertaining - some people are totally shocked, like they had no idea that girls hockey even existed or that I was involved in sports at all.  For the most part, once they get over the shock factor most people are pretty interested in hearing more about how I got started and what exactly I'll be doing so it turns into a 5-10 minute conversation.  In those conversations I learned that one of my clients is an NCAA lacrosse official and one of the home office employees I work with has a daughter who started playing hockey this winter.  It is always nice when you can connect with work colleagues on a more personal level.  I thought about going into some details on here about exactly how I got involved in officiating but in the interest of time I'm going to recycle an entry from last year. Click here for that blog entry. 

I'm on the road most of the day tomorrow at meetings then tomorrow night I'm playing in game 1 of the championship series for the Penn Men's League.  My team pulled off a big upset Sunday night in the semifinals to move on to the championship!  Game 2 is Thursday night and game 3, if necessary is on Sunday night after I leave so we need to just take care of business in 2! While I'm totally excited we made the championship and happy that I'm staying on the ice all week I'm a little stressed because that is less time I have to get stuff done before leaving.  Alright, off to bed.  Next entry I'll give some more details about the actual tournament that I'll be working.  Goodnight!