(no subject)
Ok....I'm back home, after being gone from Minot for 18 days. Flying into Minneapolis was good. Clear skies and smooth flights. Made it to the airport, and was greeted by Tammy, my sister-in-law. She took me to Rosalin's house, and I got everything organized. Around noon I had everything in the vehicle and in the guest room, and I decided to take a nap. Now, normally a definition of a nap is at least an hour, but due to my jetlag and lack of sleep the day before my nap was 6 hours long. I wake up to find how late it was and started to move around. I come out of the room, and was greeted by Chuck. We talked, and then went to Applebee's for dinner. After dinner I come back to the house, and watch tv and sleep.
Next day comes, and I prep to leave for Rochester. Hop in the vehicle, and manage to go through noon day traffic to make it to the hotel. One of the worse drives ever. Make good time to the hotel, check in, and go eat at The Hangar Grill and Bar. Good place to eat. I finish eating, and go back to the hotel. I get out of my clothes, into some swim gear, and head to the pool. Usually I just bake myself in the sauna, but it wasn't working, so...that left me with the hottub. I'm relaxing in the hottub, and then all of a sudden 2 girls appear out of nowhere. I come to find out they are part of a high school freshman volleyball team. They sit in there for about 3 minutes, and hop into the pool. I get out of the hottub, and get dressed to head back to the pool area....but had to make a detour to my vehicle to get my poker set. Had to check that bad boy out. I get to the area, and the parents of the volleyball team are around and about. One of the dads, Dan, saw that I had the set and asked if I had any other players with me. I say no, and ask if he wants to play. So, we start up a game with two brothers that are there just for a visit to the area. That game lasted 5 hours. The longest I've every played. Needless to say, I spanked them. I end up going to bed around 3am. There is nothing like a hotel bed. So soft and comfy....
Saturday....day 1 of National Qualifiers. I wake up around 7am to get dressed, eat breakfast, and drive to Mayo Civic Center to watch the competition. Nothing like watching 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, and 14-17 yr olds fighting. Forms competition was excellent. All competitiors had good technique. I was impressed. The fighting was even better. After watching the first day of competition, I went to pick up my credentials, and get weighed in. The training with Loopy paid off. I lost weight. I weighed close to 250 when I left, and when I weighed in I was at 231. Great improvement. I head back to the hotel, and begin working on my form. Around this time, I was beginning to have my doubts. I was messing up on the smallest details on Taebaek, and I shouldn't be. I took a break, and went to the hottub. I'm in there for about 30 min, and the volleyball girls come back. This time the entire team is around and talking, so we start jabbing about different things. I hop out, and make my way to the breakfast lobby. Time to play more poker...this time for money. Same players as the night before, but added one more parent. This time, it wasn't as long, but I lost. No worries, it was only a $5 game. I turn in early because I compete the next day.
Fast forward to today. I wake up early around 6ish to get suited up, and get some food. I drive to Mayo Civic Center, and begin to warm up. While stretching, I come to find out that National Qualifiers is only to qualify for World Class division in Nationals....not for Nationals in general. Nationals is a open event, which means anyone that is a USAT member can compete. Oh well...I'm here, I paid for it, and I'm there for a good time. First event comes up, and I'm still nervous about my form. I begin talking to one of the other participants and we're just clowning. Anyways...come to find out he's one of my oppenents in the event. We line up and head to the ring with the other black belt participants. There's only three of us in our form division. The first two go first at the same time, and they both have good forms. Very impressed...and my doubts of winning come way up. My turn comes up. I perform my best form. After everything was said and done...I win second place. I was real close to winning. Missed it by decimal points. Still had fun though. I wait for a few hours, and it's time to suit up for sparring... Now, I won't go into great detail about the match, but I lost. It was a very close fight though. I scored a three point spinning heel kick. After I was done with the fight, I got into the vehilce and drove back to Minot, and to a great welcome home from Alona. All in all, it's a good day and a good vacation. If y'all have any questions, ask away...and we'll have storytime later.
I'll post pics from the Texas vacation soon. Later days.
Next day comes, and I prep to leave for Rochester. Hop in the vehicle, and manage to go through noon day traffic to make it to the hotel. One of the worse drives ever. Make good time to the hotel, check in, and go eat at The Hangar Grill and Bar. Good place to eat. I finish eating, and go back to the hotel. I get out of my clothes, into some swim gear, and head to the pool. Usually I just bake myself in the sauna, but it wasn't working, so...that left me with the hottub. I'm relaxing in the hottub, and then all of a sudden 2 girls appear out of nowhere. I come to find out they are part of a high school freshman volleyball team. They sit in there for about 3 minutes, and hop into the pool. I get out of the hottub, and get dressed to head back to the pool area....but had to make a detour to my vehicle to get my poker set. Had to check that bad boy out. I get to the area, and the parents of the volleyball team are around and about. One of the dads, Dan, saw that I had the set and asked if I had any other players with me. I say no, and ask if he wants to play. So, we start up a game with two brothers that are there just for a visit to the area. That game lasted 5 hours. The longest I've every played. Needless to say, I spanked them. I end up going to bed around 3am. There is nothing like a hotel bed. So soft and comfy....
Saturday....day 1 of National Qualifiers. I wake up around 7am to get dressed, eat breakfast, and drive to Mayo Civic Center to watch the competition. Nothing like watching 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, and 14-17 yr olds fighting. Forms competition was excellent. All competitiors had good technique. I was impressed. The fighting was even better. After watching the first day of competition, I went to pick up my credentials, and get weighed in. The training with Loopy paid off. I lost weight. I weighed close to 250 when I left, and when I weighed in I was at 231. Great improvement. I head back to the hotel, and begin working on my form. Around this time, I was beginning to have my doubts. I was messing up on the smallest details on Taebaek, and I shouldn't be. I took a break, and went to the hottub. I'm in there for about 30 min, and the volleyball girls come back. This time the entire team is around and talking, so we start jabbing about different things. I hop out, and make my way to the breakfast lobby. Time to play more poker...this time for money. Same players as the night before, but added one more parent. This time, it wasn't as long, but I lost. No worries, it was only a $5 game. I turn in early because I compete the next day.
Fast forward to today. I wake up early around 6ish to get suited up, and get some food. I drive to Mayo Civic Center, and begin to warm up. While stretching, I come to find out that National Qualifiers is only to qualify for World Class division in Nationals....not for Nationals in general. Nationals is a open event, which means anyone that is a USAT member can compete. Oh well...I'm here, I paid for it, and I'm there for a good time. First event comes up, and I'm still nervous about my form. I begin talking to one of the other participants and we're just clowning. Anyways...come to find out he's one of my oppenents in the event. We line up and head to the ring with the other black belt participants. There's only three of us in our form division. The first two go first at the same time, and they both have good forms. Very impressed...and my doubts of winning come way up. My turn comes up. I perform my best form. After everything was said and done...I win second place. I was real close to winning. Missed it by decimal points. Still had fun though. I wait for a few hours, and it's time to suit up for sparring... Now, I won't go into great detail about the match, but I lost. It was a very close fight though. I scored a three point spinning heel kick. After I was done with the fight, I got into the vehilce and drove back to Minot, and to a great welcome home from Alona. All in all, it's a good day and a good vacation. If y'all have any questions, ask away...and we'll have storytime later.
I'll post pics from the Texas vacation soon. Later days.