SoCal

I'm hanging out in sunny Southern California but I don't get to see a whole lot of the sun because this is a Skating Weekend.

Fourteen years ago I started out as a skating Mom and then I started volunteering for the parent organization as a competition accountant and have been pretty intensely involved ever since.  It's a great job filled with interesting people and situations, challenging and stimulating and exhausting, all at the same time.

This weekend I'm in Burbank, CA, working at a Regional qualifying competition.  We'll send a bunch of the winners off to a Sectional competition and from there some will go to Junior Nationals and some will go the the US Championships.

The hours are long and hard, so far we've put in 34 hours in three days with two more 12 hour days to go but it's very satisfying work.  This is my first assignment in California and now I can say I've worked from coast to coast, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, Colorado and California.

Today I saw a couple of skating legends today, John Nicks and Frank Carroll, both venerable coaches.  I've seen them at US Nationals and on tv but today they were just doing their job at an everyday ice rink.  It was great!  I wonder if those kids know how truly lucky they are to be able to work with these men?

I miss my treehouse and the boys but I know they're having fun.  It will be great to go home on Wednesday.

Time for bed, got to get up early to help make some champions!

Peace.