Some of My Own Stories in Spokane

I had stated previously that this blog, while I'm in Spokane, wasn't going to be a "I did this, and then this happened" kind of thing. I'm going to break that commitment now, because I think that yesterday's experiences are bloggable and part of the overarching theme discussed here.

I was very burnt out yesterday. I was exhausted, because I haven't been sleeping very well in a new bed. I was weary after all the emotional highs and lows of the long weekend. I was peopled-0ut. I was homesick, missing my kids. It didn't help that kids were all around yesterday; it was a holiday, so the Arena was full of children and their families. Even though I spent the morning at my hotel, there were times, while watching some of the skates, I kept nodding off. I didn't even bother to leave the Arena and spend the energy to go somewhere else to eat dinner.

The evening sessions, however, changed all that. The novice men's final was almost as exciting as the senior men's. The skater who won, Nathan Chen, is just ten years old, and the silver medalist, Emmanuel Savory, is eleven. To be honest, that was part of the emotional ups and downs of the weekend. Nathan is only fourteen months older than my George, who's so developmentally disabled that he can't even throw a ball. As I've said before in this blog, the comparison can be difficult to face.

It was very exciting, though. Both Nathan and Emmanuel are so charming and cute. They reminded me of Ryan Bradley's charm and connection with the audience. Nathan fell twice, and he still had amazing scores--over five points ahead of second place. And the third place winner, who won the long program, came back from ninth place. One of the most striking things about being at Nationals in '07 was the level of the skating at even the lower levels. Not being exposed to novice and junior skaters, I came into those Nationals with low expectations and was amazed.

During the novice free skate, my seat mate and I were joined by these two young women, who introduced themselves as Amanda and Samantha. They happened to be training this week as pairs judges, and they remained there for the junior pairs free skate. What are the chances of that kind of thing happening? I moved myself to sit closer to them, and listened in as they discussed the technical elements of the skating. Amanda was so generous about sharing her wisdom, knowledge, and experience. It was so much fun, and it completely rejuvenated me.

I felt so smart! Here I was, a lowly stay-at-home mom at the second figure skating competition in my entire life, and I was actually able to keep up with these girls. I told Amanda that I've never been able to identify the jumps (i.e., the difference between an axel and a toe pick), and she gave me some pointers. She even supported some of the impressions I've had about the more technical elements of skating. As I told her, "Everything I know about skating I learned from Scott Hamilton."

I had a friend in college who often said, "It's a God-thing." I think last night was. I was at a low point, and things just came together to remind me of why I'm here and that it's okay to be me. I even managed to embarass myself in front of a famous person again. Brandon Mroz happened to be sitting in the next section over, so I ran over for an autograph. He totally broke my pen! I told him that it was chancy anyway and said, "Guess I have to get a new pen." It was so typical of me and how I interact with people in general, and especially celebrities.