Datebook: Saturday, August 5th

It is 5:45 am.

I am awake and writing by the dim glow of this tiny Mac Powerbook.

My daughter has set her phone alarm for 6:05 so she can get up and coiff her hair into a style for practice “in case the judges are watching”.

Okay, I’m thinking, by now even the most dedicated judge has had enough. He/she has judged for five days and really doesn’t feel the need to “bone up ” on a compulsory dance practice. I tell my daughter she could just wear a pony-tail and half make-up.

This was apparently the equivalent of telling her to go out in curlers and Keds.

Because I got “the look”.

Thankfully, it was not accompanied by “the sigh” or an eyeroll.

I told Daphne I would not talk about the specifics of skating. We do that enough in our own groups and it often requires the stimulation of alcohol.

Yesterday, however, felt like a round of Extreme Dodgeball.

I don’t think they really have extreme dodgeball, at least not without jerseys, but its cousin, regular dodgeball, was my favorite elementary school game. They have since banned it from schools became it is considered “excessive in force” and “personal”.

Yesterday, the majority of the teams seemingly took some headshots and some in the kidney areas of the back.

As an audience, we sent the look, some sighs, and numerous eyerolls across the way but there must be a glare from the ice because they seemed to go unnoticed. Today we are sending the skaters back in the center of the rink, armed only with those dazzling smiles and sequins as armor.

But, alas, the most important part of waking up today is realizing it is Saturday and we can leave tomorrow. There is the whole packing issue. But, thankfully, after today we can go home and rest.

From our vacation.

Mombo #9