Remember yesterday how I went to the cat show and saw a bunch of Russian pins? Well, I went back today and bought some. I bought a CSKA pin, which was the cheaper of the three since CSKA still exists and can produce more. The other two were more pricy as there are only a limited amount of these pins out there: Leningrad European pin from 1970 and another one from the same competition in 1990.

I need to tell a funny story before I forget about it. Jayar Walker (writing for Golden Skate this week) has been helping out the ice-dance.com staff here in St. Paul, getting quotes and giving us audio files. He told us a story about how he used to go to skating competitions and shows with Jay Adeff. This was before Jayar started writing for Golden Skate, so he was there as a spectator sitting by Jay while Jay took pictures. Jayar said he used to come home from skating competitions with a big lump on his forehead where Jay had hit him with the camera lens. Jay would pan; Jayar wouldn't. Jayar is glad this doesn't happen anymore.

As I'm waiting for the final group of men to take the ice, I've realized I'm only one hour away from the conclusion of my first nationals. As the week comes to a close, I've realized some things aren't the way I imagined them. But on the other hand, things have been better than I imagined them to be. The blogging experience has been much more fun than I thought it would be. I managed to "sleepblog" at least once. I've also received messages from people who can't be here thanking me for my "behind the scenes" anecdotes.

Now I'm going to sit back and watch the battle between Johnny and Evan. So long from St. Paul, and thanks for reading!