Miss Galaxy 2010!!

***DISCLAIMER***


The characters portrayed in this story are purely pageant-pooped. In no way does this reflect their actual demeanor in normal, human settings.........:-)

***TUEDSAY***


I am at the airport, and my flight has just been delayed. After, that is, the initial bump-back of three hours. I will have officially arrived at my destination seven hours behind schedule. I pull up to my hotel room, in the pouring rain, close to midnight. Yessir, I am at Miss Galaxy!!!! **yawn***…why am I doing this again???


***WEDNESDAY***


While I am sure I met my roommate last night. I didn’t really notice she was here until this morning. I groggily reintroduce myself as I pull myself together for orientation. I am hungry. I order room service and realize I have spent close to 15 bucks on one meal. This will not work.Head on over to orientation and am happy to see so many familiar faces-however I am sitting with none of them. We are arranged by division, alphabetically by state. I introduce myself with no high hopes; I have learned by now to not waste the energy, all that friendly $#!* goes out the door in a day or two after the exhaustion sets in (and before you say it, read the Caraibes Hibiscus entries, lol). Luckily, most of the girls seem to be good sports about the whole thing. Our “Director extraordinaire” says some stuff about this being the best pageant in the Galaxy (get it? Hehe?) and some other ‘follow the rules or die’ kinda thing-y and we get ready for photoshoots. Mother Nature, however, was not. It rained the entire shoot (thank heaven for weaves!). Our photographer was a pro, and made everyone look great. I somehow sneak to the supermarket between shoots and snag enough food for the week. We are now in business!! Pool party after was cancelled due to the rain (which I see is going to be a reoccurring pattern in this post…), so we get to turn in. Make some tasty (as tasty as salt-free cooking can be) dinner, get in a workout, unpack, & head off to bed.


***THURSDAY***


Rehearsal, rehearsal and MORE rehearsal. Although I didn’t get to extol the AMAZING stage production that was Miss NY MAO, I now can reeeaaallly empathize. Our opening number involved some jumping, pivoting, arm-flailing, shimmy-ing and that didn’t include the ADVANCED section (which I unsuccessfully tried out for, FAME-style). Shockingly, we learned the dance that day, and moved on to the stage pattern. Now, for those new to pageants, here’s where the claws come out (giggle!). You have four kinds of girls during stage practice: The “has no clue or does not care/is here for fun and just walks the stage pattern when it’s her turn” girl; the “I’m going to do a crazy walk so no one knows my stuff” girl; the “I’m going to show you everything I’ve got ‘cause there’s no way you can copy me ‘cause you ‘ain’t ready for this jelly” girl; and the “laser-focused step-counting while walking on the stage blocking everyone out” girl. Trust me, we all fall in here somewhere, but I’m only brave enough to give you the categories, not tell you which one I fall in (lol!). I enjoy the show until it’s time for us to head to our rooms. My roommate somehow convinces me to spray-tan in the room and I go to sleep wrapped in a towel.


***FRIDAY***


Prelims!!!


My interview isn’t until 1:50, so I have just enough time to worry myself sick. I make breakfast (that I don’t eat) and attempt to calm myself down. Why, you ask? It’ my 1st interview in over a year- I haven’t even been on a job interview-and all I can think about is everything I tell my girls during coaching sessions. I’m a wreck! I get to the meeting room 30 minutes early to calm my nerves & do my hair (I finally figured out to do my hair AT the destination, not before) so it will be fresh and rain-free. I meet up with Mrs CT (my appearance buddy!) and we joke around until my interview. Head into the room, and take a seat. All I remember was one judge saying, “so, you’re a coach..”. So are they and we end up talking shop the whole 5 minutes. Although I’m not sure how productive that was, at least I’m not nervous anymore? I try to block it out of my head and focus on getting ready for the stage.

I grab my stuff and hear for the dressing room. It is a mess of clothes and hairspray. I get ready for my close-up, watch my hair fall flat, and a twinge of regret comes over me. Is this it? Have I gone as far as I'm going to go? Why am I here? Then I get onstage for swimsuit...

I strut! I twirl! I clomp (I sound like a horse, don't I?)! I am having the time of my life. I LOVE competing! All that time away, I'd forgotten how much fun it was to compete, the reward of all your training & preparation, the stage, the lights, everything! After that, I was friendlier, more relaxed, and I began to have fun again.


***THE MAIN EVENT***


This one's short, because Lord knows I don't remember it! We had rehearsal, we packed our stuff and got dressed, and we had a cute presentation show. I got a second chance to strut my stuff, and then the top 10 was called. It was my time to shine!

Or so I thought.

I clapped, & clapped, & clapped. Then I took a step foward for my top 10 spot, and realized they had already called out 10 names....uh, huh? I strutted! I twirled! I clomped! Ah, well. I will strut, twirl & clomp next year, because I am now officially obsessed with Galaxy (LOL!). So, I watched the rest of the show.

At the end, UK won teen & miss. Hilariously enough, UK was the Miss who took this experience the most in stride. She enjoyed the entire pageant because she had prepared as well as she could, and left the rest up to the heavens & just had fun, something I had missed out on. We could all learn a lesson. If people ask why I returned next year, it's so I can have some fun!

However, the MOST fun was watching my appearance buddy, Mrs.CT, take home the Galaxy title! I jumped higher than she did when her name was called, and had to stop myself from rushing the stage! My fave memory of the pageant will always be us standing in the middle of the stage, screaming at the top of our lungs, jumping up & down-man, that's the stuff pageants are made of. It was then that I realized why I was there. I wouldn't trade it for anything. My time will come, but until then-shoot-I'll just keep having the time of my life!