Two cups of coffee, one large bottle of Mountain Dew, a giant Powerade, and some water later...I was stuck in a van trying not to pee myself

Optional post titles:
"Men with poms and panty lines"
"A dancer's diet consists of crackers, cheese-whiz, hot dogs, french fries, and whatever else is readily available"

Friday Morning:
I woke up at 4:20 a.m. to the sound of my pudgy dog (she's not overweight, she's just hefty) trying not to fall down the stairs. I started coughing and sneezing immediately. It figures that I would wake up sick. I wouldn't have gone to school if it wasn't for our competition. Twenty minutes later I was up and scrambling to finish up packing for our dance.

At 6:30 I was throwing on some make-up while rushing out the door to New York, who was giving me a ride to early practice. We got to school the same time Flip and Look's mom was pulling up, so the three of us stood there in the student parking lot trying to force open the door. The school was completely dark and no doors were open. We wandered up the hill to the elevator doors and found the gym hall light on. We trudged on in to find that the gym we were supposed to be occupying was locked. All the rest of the lights were off, so I had to find my locker in the dark. Somehow I managed to put in my combo, grab my practice clothes, and wander down to the closest bathroom. I want to know who locks a bathroom--honestly? Huft-Daddy showed up, unlocked the gym, and turned on some lights for us. I kicked Harley out of the gym so I could change and had an interesting thought I will post about later. We practiced, I was yelled at, blah blah blah....School started and I fell asleep during biology and lifeguard training. Not one, but two classes I nodded off in.

At 4:30 we started getting ready for practice. Coach Patty told us that when we do our spinning kick or whatever it would look better to remain in the same spot rather than take a step. I changed for nothing...so I changed back. We sat around until 5:15 when we were supposed to leave.

At 6:00 we actually left for our three and a half hour journey to Freedom. I pretty much sneezed ever two minutes, so I really couldn't fall asleep. I resorted to screeching the lyrics to every song that came on the radio. Roll Around, who had the pleasure of sitting next to me, got irritated that I knew every word to every song. She kept getting these phone calls from some girl who is trying to harrass her or something.

We eventually arrived at the hotel at 10:30 and went swimming until 11:00. I was so tired that I was immensely hyper beyond all reason. I guess I kept acting like a train or something. At roughly 2:00 am we went to sleep.

We woke up at 8:00 and started getting ready for the day. Coach Patty did my hair and pointed out the fact that I had two different colored shoes on. I explained to her the purpose of my wearing one pink and one blue shoe and Victim backed me up by saying that I ALWAYS do that (do people really think I'm dumb enough to actually put on two different shoes without realizing it?).

I downed my first cup of coffee in like, two seconds and started on my second one which I savored due to the fact I knew it would be my last for the day. We got to the high school where we checked in, watched some performers, ate, and found our room (which to our fortune, was an actual locker room).

Walking down the hall, I managed to walk into a wall while I wasn't looking.

We stretched, practiced, and then went to go watch some more competition. That was short-lived due to the fact of limited seating meant all spectating dancers had to leave the gym. Pretty sucky.

We practiced by ourselves (in the absense of CoachPatty) and spent most of the time working on facials. We were watching some of the practicing groups come in and out of the practice gym and I pretty much fell in lust. I think it was the Waukesha Pom Team that came in with bright blue uniforms and silver and blue pom pons. New York said something about how cruel they were being forcing the guy on their team to hold them as well (none of us have actually ever seen a guy who holds poms even on a pom team). I turned, saw the guy, and sat and watched. He was the focal point for the entire dance an I can understand why. His high-kick is every bit as good as mine (quite the accomplishment--I can kick myself in the forehead without bending my back). He was an amazing dancer--he leaped through the air, landed in the splits, popped back up, did countless spins, and barked out commands as he did so.
I saw him after he had performed and changed, and it was a great sight. Although he was a guy, he was still wearing the same tight fitting T-shirt and pants that the girls on his team were wearing. I am pretty sure he was wearing the same spandex pants I was, and he even had panty lines. To finish off the outfit he even had a man purse. However, that is okay 'cause he is a freaking awesome dancer and he was cute at that. In the end, his team won first place for Pom Pons Division.

While turning a corner, I managed to walk into a door.

The competition itself was running two hours behind schedule, so instead of performing at 3:51 we went at roughly 5:40. We went to the hole, got through checks, and then lined up to walk out on the floor. We stood at center gym for about three minutes while everyone watched us just stand there. They called us off stage due to some difficulties with our CD. Big P went to get our other copy and we walked back out. We pretty much rocked it up.

We sat in the stands (a lot of people left, so dancers could watch) and watched the High Kick and Funk divisions while awaiting the awards ceremony. The awards came at roughly 7:00 (two hours late). The announcer reached Jazz Division II and announced that we had won second. The team that had gotten first had also placed in a few other categories (in other words, they were REALLY good).
We picked up our trophy and were all happy to have earned a strong second. *cough there were only two teams in our division cough*

I was carrying my bag through the halls and turned my attention to Victim--again, I walked into a wall.

We headed home and stopped at Hardees on the way. They had these huge windows from floor to ceiling right infront of the door we had entered through.

While checking to make sure I had the right order, I walked into a window and left a huge smudge. The lady behind the counter couldn't stop laughing.

I was ushered into the van where I again screamed the lyrics to all the songs. While everyone else was trying to sleep, I just sang and sang and sang (accompanied by a few sneezes). I finally got home at around 12:30, and I fell into bed. I woke up 12 hours later, and here I am.

Perhaps tomorrow I will post about this past week. Who knows.