Time Flies When...

None of us will be around to see this one again. It is 1/1/11. The next time that date is penned will be 100 years from now. I don't know why I find that both exhilarating and sobering all at the same time. For me, this first day, this 1/1/11, is a realization that 2010 went by in the blink of an eye. In skating terms, 2010 was four revolutions in just under a second: Grand Prix, Nationals, Olympics, Worlds. They were so anticipated, so stressful, so joyful and sad. They were life-changing. They are gone.

I actually went back and read some of my blogs from 2009 and 2010 last night before drifting off to sleep sometime after realizing that Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper are the oddest couple on TV, though they make for great New Year's Eve entertainment whether you've been imbibing or are stone cold sober...or somewhere in between. Perusing my hyperbole, I  found myself asking the question, "Whose life is this?" Certainly, I recognized some of what I wrote, like the blogs on scary skating parents, schlepping, sequins and sitting in the stands. After all, those things have made up a large part of my life, nearly a third of it, to be exact.

But it was rereading the blogs from Nationals and the ones from Vancouver that made me realize how surreal 2010 really was. I am actually struggling to find words to explain how that feels. I suppose the best description would be like living in a time warp. Knowing what I know now, I'd love to go back and experience it again while holding the advantage of hindsight. That doesn't mean that I would necessarily do anything differently; it just means that I would recognize the Black Hole before gleefully tripping over the edge. 

Now it is 1/1/11. It is literally the dawn of a new day and the beginning of another year of sitting in the stands.
Sochi? Who knows.
What I do know is this: The only thing that is real is now. We can't live in the past; the future is not ours to predict. All we can do is grab our E ticket once again and go along for the ride.

If "Time Flies When You're Having Fun," then I guess I'm having a blast!  

Happy New Year, my friends!