happy new year!

in case you hadn't heard, january was such a disaster (on both personal and global levels) that i've written it off completely. which means 2010 starts now. because i said so.

now that that's out of the way, 2010 is off to a good start. no major traumas today and lots of looking forward to do. the most exciting of which is just three(ish) short weeks away, and it can't get here quickly enough.



as soon as i return from vegas, a work trip i'm also sort of looking forward too (ssh, don't tell), i'll be swapping suitcases and heading off to portland, where i'll be meeting spencer and we'll be driving up to vancouver to bask in olympic spirit.

our home away from home is a lovely little carriage house in surrey, about 30 minutes outside vancouver. we got a steal on the place, and couldn't be happier. i mean doesn't this look like a place you could settle in for a few days??

i certainly plan on taking advantage of the fireplace in my room, although i expect my opportunities will be somewhat limited as we've gotten tickets to hockey and (drumroll please), curling. and i expect that we'll spend a fair amount of time wandering the streets looking for trouble:)

needless to say, i'm excited about reliving my glory days. and, over the course of the next couple of weeks, i'll be reposting the recaps i sent out to family and friends during my experience at the salt lake olympics.

since there's no time like the present (after all it is the first day of the new year) i present, 2002, part 1:

I got the dog dropped off at a friend's house on Sunday night, which was difficult, probably more for me than for her. I was up late to finish packing, and was relieved to eventually be done with it. I am a notoriously bad packer—one of those people who will take twelve changes of clothes and 6 pair of shoes for an overnight stay. So you can imagine what packing for a month was like! Though I continually tried to remind myself, that since I have to wear a uniform, there was no justification for over-packing, I still managed to give myself stress headaches the entire week prior to leaving. The final result? Well, I did over-pack, but not grotesquely so—so, I can still live with myself. :)

Monday was a travel day. It was a long flight, but fortunately, an empty one. After the in-flight movie, I headed to the back, where I could have an entire row to myself, and managed to sleep through the rest of the flight. After arriving at Aunt Shannon's in Salt Lake, I unpacked, and pretty much relaxed the rest of the day—knowing it might be my last opportunity!

I did touch base with my friend Sara, who had already been here for a couple of days. I got the update, and it sounded like things were getting pretty wild at the Media Center. That just makes it more fun though, right?

Tuesday was my first day… I was scheduled to report at 9:00am, but since I didn't know how long the bus or security would take, I caught the 7:30am bus, and was on my way. I arrived at the building at about 8:00am, and security was a breeze.

My first Press Conference was the SLOC Daily Briefing at 10:00am—and also the only one on the schedule for the day. No major problems, and I spent the rest of the day orienting myself with the Main Street Vendors, the Bullpen, the PDC, etc, and meeting those who I'll be working closely with.

The bulk of the media have not arrived, since the US Press won't be coming until after the SuperBowl on Sunday. So it was a somewhat quiet day. However, it still ended up being a 12 hour one, and I was informed that there is no such thing as a weekend and no such thing as a day off. I guess it was to be expected, but I'll admit that I was hoping to have a little bit more time to catch up with old friends. Speaking of old friends—I neglected to mention that I have run into several former Salt Palace co-workers, so it is already becoming very comfortable for me to be back.