Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home!  After a snowy but great day in Montreal, the alarm went off at 3:15 to head to the airport for my 6:30 am flight.  Whenever I have an early flight like that I can never sleep because I'm paranoid I'm going to sleep though my alarm.  I got to the airport at 4:15 and when I put my bags on the scale they weighed 57 and 51 pounds respectively.  Luckily, the lady at the gate was super nice and when I told her I was coming from the Women's World Championships and had gotten so much stuff she said to me "just get it close and I'll send it though."  I pulled out my winter coat and a sweatshirt and got it to 52 lbs and she tagged it.  Funny thing was I then had to drag my luggage over to customs so as soon as I walked away I put the coat and sweatshirt back in the bag and was good to go!  It was strange, I had to go though US customs in Canada instead going through once I landed in Philly.  I didn't realize that is how they handle flights to the States.  My flight was a little delayed so I ended up landing in Philly at 8:40 and had my bag by 9.  My mom picked me up and dropped me off at my house where I immediately threw in a load of laundry and passed out for 3 hours.  It felt so good to sleep in my own bed.  The rest of the weekend has been all about catching up with life.  I'm not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow but I am looking forward to getting back into a healthy routine - eating better and exercising regularly.  

Over the weekend I've had the chance to talk to a number of family members and friends about the tournament.  I am still on cloud 9, the whole thing was such an amazing experience.  The tournament staff treated us like rock stars, the group of girls I worked with were all so nice and the hockey was awesome.  The entire experience exceeded my wildest expectations.  I really can't express how thankful I am to so many people for making this 2 weeks that I'll never forget.  A shout out to USA Hockey for giving me the chance and trusting that I could get the job done, the other girls at the tournament for being so supportive, our supervisors and the amazing volunteers.  I also need to thank so many people at home for helping me get to this level - all my camp instructors over the years, evaluators, other officials, friends and family for their support.  

My hockey season is now officially over.  My equipment is in the wash and will be put away for a little while.  That doesn't necessarily mean the training will stop, I'm a firm believer in the quote "hard work beats talent that doesn't work."  But that does mean a little more down time and a chance to spend more time with my family and friends.  I hope to have an opportunity to work another top level tournament like this at some point in my career.  But even if I don't, I can hold my head high.  The fact that I have worked the best women's hockey in the world isn't something I take lightly.  There are so many people that would absolutely kill have that opportunity.  I don't know what the future holds but I can only continue to work hard take care of the things I can control.  

This blog chronicles my experiences at 4 different IIHF tournaments, all of which have been awesome in their own unique way.  I was looking back at some past entries and every time I have ended with something along the lines of who would have ever thought this would all happen to me.  I am going to say the exact same thing here, I never ever thought it was possible that I'd be on the ice with the best women's hockey players in the world when I started officiating.  Fingers are crossed that I'll get to blog again at another tournament and I'll have more cool stories to share.  Thanks for reading, until next time!