Today, donuts... Tomorrow, Dolomites

Ok, maybe that headline is a bit misleading.

I did, in fact, make donuts today, which was my final day doing the Yum Yum Shop thing prior to my flight to the Olympics, which happens tomorrow night. However, I will not reach the Dolomites by tomorrow evening. In fact, I won't even make France until Wednesday morning. Italy comes on Wednesday afternoon.

But, no matter how you slice it, the Olympics are here and whether I'm ready or not, it is time to get going. Sunday I spent some time doing the stupid little things you don't think about. After making the donuts, I did laundry so it's not piled up while I'm gone. Then I went through and made sure all my bills were paid for the rest of the month. This afternoon I stopped at TD Bank and picked up the euros that I had ordered and after covering a couple of hockey games, stopped in at the office to pick up a few things, go through some last minute paperwork to make sure stuff was in order while I'm gone and take all the trash out so it doesn't sit there for three weeks.

Tomorrow is reserved for packing. I have slowly put some things aside that I know I will need, but I tend to wait until the last minute to pack and in the process, usually forget something. I almost left my passport and Olympic credentials on the desk in the office, but luckily saw them before I walked out and put them on the pile of things I was taking with me when I left.

I am not sure why I don't have the usual excitement I have felt for the Olympic trips in the past. While I am looking forward to it, I can't explain the lack of excitement. Maybe I'm just tired or maybe that excitement will come when I hit the ground in Italy. Or maybe this is just becoming old hat and the excitement I had felt in the past was actually just nervousness and I'm not nervous anymore. Who knows.

What I do know is that I have an 8:30 flight tomorrow night out of Logan Airport and after a morning layover in Paris, I will head to Milan to officially begin my sixth Olympic experience. In many ways I know what to expect, in many others, I have no idea.

I do, however, know that I have a ticket to the opening ceremony on Friday. That e-mail came from Bill Hancock at Team USA shortly after I finished making donuts this morning. Bill has been great to me over the years. As a small outlet, I know he doesn't have to meet my request for a ticket to the high demand events, but each time I have requested one, I have been granted one and I am grateful.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to invest in my journey and I look forward to keeping people updated along the way.


I spent the morning making donuts at the Yum Yum Shop. Tomorrow evening I'll be boarding the plane for Europe.

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