I swear my ass is broken.

Just about positive, luckily it has lots of extra padding...though that doesn't seem to help.

My daughter had a competition this weekend, and it was a two day one.  Tri-State competition for MI, OH, and   ??  I don't know what the other is, or maybe it's just the Midwest? Anyway...it means a LOT of sitting on bleachers.  It was in Ohio, and we are from MI...it's a 2 hour drive for us so we (Me, my DD, my friend Stacey and her daughter) decided to stay overnight in a hotel, so as not to drive that far two days in a row.

The first day of competition is teams.  Well at Tri-State, the teams can compete in Open, and Championship classes, both or just one.  A lot of the teams opt for both, so that means they do their routine twice.  Same music, same outfits, same everything...twice.  UGH! Shoot me now!  I'd forgotten how much I hate Tri-States, but let me assure you, by the end of the day I was fully aware.  It wouldn't be so bad if all the teams were great and fun to watch, but their not.

  There are two or three great teams..and a WHOLE lot of really crappy teams that make you want to scratch your eyes out and run screaming from the building.  What I don't understand is, these crappy teams are usually full of really heavy girls, not like a bit chunky but like REALLY overweight, no question on whether or not they fit into the obese category.  HOW do they even get the idea in their heads to try dance/pom/baton team competition?  Have they never seen the other teams compete?  Do they not know that all of them wear form fitting outfits for ease of movement?  Have they ever taken a dance class in their life?  They obviously don't know how a good "illusion" is supposed to look because most of them are so stiff they can't lift their fat little legs high enough to do one the right way.  DANG!  I'm not saying they shouldn't find sports that they can do, heck I'm not even saying that heavy girls can't do it, because there are some of them that are really good, just saying please..PLEASE have some idea of what you're doing before you jump into the arena and make us all watch your horrible performance, twice.

Then there's the music...usually the teams try to use modern, hip/hop type music that the teens like, as most the performers are in that age range.  I swear if I even hear the beginning of Lady Gaga's "Born this way" or "Edge of Glory" today I'm going to scream.  Seems like everyone of the teams chose one of the two for their song this year.  Last year it was Katy Perry's "Firework".  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy some Lady Gaga...in fact I even liked both those songs until I heard them over and over Saturday.

Back to the first day.  We arrived at 9:30 and competition was supposed to start at 9:00am, it didn't because they had trouble w/ the P.A. system.  GREAT!  We didn't need to be there til 10:00 but as it turns out, we really didn't need to be there til about 1:30!  So it was a WHOLE lot of hurry up and wait.  I just seemed to drag on and on and ON.  Finally my daughter's baton team performed, the did GREAT! and took first in their division!!  Woohoo Great job girls...that's what makes the waiting worth it.

Lining up to perform

Good luck from the coaches daughter

Then it was time for the solo girls to do their "box" competition, that took forever...my daughter got 5th.  Which, after watching all 6 girls march, I thought wasn't where she should have placed, but I'm not the judge, so what do I know.  I thought the girl who got 6 should have placed higher as well.  DD didn't care, she was happy to get her little ribbon/medal and that's all that matters.  

Salute

Finally their Pom team got to go, they did great again, and took first for their division on that one as well.  I didn't take any pics of that one, as I already have a ton...but I'll toss one in from another competition.

practicing before their turn.

Then we had to stick around for team awards.  So we got there at 9:30 am, and left at 7:30 pm, 10 glorious hours of sitting in bleachers.  I know I  know...I should probably take one of those stadium seats, but you have NO IDEA all the shit that I have to carry in already, adding ONE MORE thing is just too much.  So I complain, and ache.  The girls were just really excited to get to the hotel so they could swim.  By the time we checked in, ate dinner, and they were in their suits it was 8:30 and the pool closed at 10:00 so off we went to sit in some more hard chairs for an hour and a half.   I enjoy going, I do, but I'm getting too old to sit in bleachers that long I swear my ass is broken.  

We finally head for bed when the pool closes.  I thought it seemed cold in our room when we got there, but we were in such a hurry that I didn't really deal w/ it, turned the heat on and left the room.  When we got back it was still cold, so I turned the heat to high and set it to 85 degrees...Nothing.  OK who cares too tired to deal w/ it, threw on the covers and went to sleep.  Middle of the night...I'm sweating.. it's SO hot, too tired to care, awake enough to know it's too hot, not awake enough to fathom why.  Kicked off the covers go back to sleep.  Finally about 5:30 I gotta pee, so as I'm contemplating getting up, I realize. "HOLY SHIT! it's gotta be 100 degrees in here!  The freakin' heat must've finally come on!"  So I get up just turn it completely off.  Thought about opening the window, but didn't.  Went to the bathroom, head back to bed.  Then I heard a "click" and I swear that I thought the stinkin' heat was going to come on again...nothing...then the fridge started running.  Whew!  If that heat would have come on again I would have opened the window and the door!  Sheesh!

Second day, not as long, got there at 10:00, done at 2:30, not so bad.  My daughter got a second in her solo, and an "Excellent" rating on her routine.  Excellent is the highest you can get, and they just don't hand them out that often, so I'm pretty happy w/ that.  

I hope someday she understands how much work it is to attend these competitions, and I hope she has great memories of the fun she had, the friends she made, the great experiences, to last a lifetime. And,  I hope my ass stops aching soon.