January 1, 2009 - 2009… wow, that happened quick!  Literally, I got on the plane in Washington at around 6:00 pm EST on Dec. 31, went to sleep, and woke up in Frankfurt at 7:00am CET on Jan. 1, 2009.  So, yes, I missed the New Year.  I’m guessing I was somewhere over the North Atlantic when it arrived, but then again, I’m not really sure because I was flying through six different time zones that night.  Oh well.  The point is that 2008 is over.  It seems like the theme among written work this time of the year involves some sort of “recapping” of the memorable events that took place in 2008.  So here goes:

Let’s see… 2008 started out in the exact town where I happen to find myself at the moment - Oberhof, Germany.  That was the first world cup of last year (and the last time I cleaned a race!).  After that; Ruhpolding, Antholz, Ostersund (World Champs), South Korea (11th place), Khanty Mansiysk (food poisoning), Oslo (nearly missed my flight back to the states).  Springtime: Tele skiing at Whiteface, short trip to Washington D.C. to help my sister move (also involved a missed flight and an unexpected train ride down the Eastern sea board), training camp in Colorado Springs and Vancouver.  Summer: Played a lot of music, good training in Lake Placid, headed to Sweden for end-of-summer camp.  Fall: More training in LP, October camp in Utah, November world cup prep in Ostersund, world cups #2 and #3 in Hochfilzen.  Christmas at home… and now it’s 2009.

Wow. a whole year in one paragraph.  Not sure what to think of that.  As far as new year’s resolutions go, well, let’s just say I’m hoping to improve on last year.  Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year.  I’ve got to get to bed.  Early training tomorrow morning.