Well guys, as most of you probably already know, the Atlantic States were this past weekend. When all was said and done, I ended up placing 4th in the heavyweight class. Although you might be surprised to hear this, I'm actually pretty happy with the results.
BTW - sorry it took so long to write this update - I've been SLAMMED with work all week. (yes even more than usual...if that's possible! LOL)
So here's how it all went down...
Thursday evening after work I drove down halfway to NC to pick up my daughter Arianna from her mom. She wanted to go to the contest and the trip was also going to serve as somewhat of a birthday celebration for her, as she was turning 9 that next Tuesday and had never been to NYC. Man she is getting big! :) We started painting with ProTan that night when I got back to MD and hit the sack around 1am.
Friday morning we put on a couple more coats of PT and I had to go into work for a bit. It's kind of funny to see how people look at you when you're all tan except for your head, which resembles a glowing lightbulb -lol. Surprisingly, no one said anything to me about it though, which I have to admit is somewhat strange. They must have been scared. hahaha. I got out of work early, ran over to the Long & Foster office to turn in some paperwork for the rehab I just closed on, then we packed up and hit the road around 3pm. NYC here we come!!!
We hit some heavy traffic driving up, which now that I think about it wasn't too surprising since it was Friday - and we got in around 10pm. My mom and sister were already at the hotel so that was really cool to see them. I feel so fortunate to have a supportive family. We put on a couple more coats of ProTan and a coat of Jan Tana that night and hit the sack, knowing Saturday would be a long day.
We were up early Saturday morning and put on a couple more coats of Jan Tana, then were out the door. Rae came with me to the venue while Ari, my mom, and my sister slept in at the hotel. Thank God Rae came with me, otherwise it would have been super boring sitting backstage alone all that time. There were a ton of competitors and I ended up weighing in at 203 lbs, which put me in the heavyweight class. Kevin and I decided ahead of time we weren't going to try and fool around with my weight and wherever I came in, I came in. We tried making weight at Nationals in 2007 and it turned out to be a disaster.
After quite a bit of waiting (one of the downsides of being in a higher weight class I guess!), we finally made it to the stage around 1pm and there were about 18 guys in my class. I'm not sure of the exact number. Man there were some big boys! I was psyched when I made the tail end of the first call out, and felt pretty good until they kept me out there for the second call out as well. I thought "Uttt Oh!!!" to myself, and anticipated that I was going to be in 6th or 7th place. I heard Ari, Rae, my mom, and sister cheering for me the whole time though - which was awesome.
After prejudging we hit an awesome pizza place (YUMMY!) and I had a couple slices, along with some some soda, Pop Tarts, and other assorted junk food. I couldn't help myself! Hahaha. Plus I figured I wasn't going to be fighting for the overall so it really didn't matter that much if I was off a few percent from my best at the night show.
That afternoon we walked around NYC and checked out Ground Zero as well as Battery Park. It was a lot of fun and enjoyed spending time with my family.
When it was about that time, we headed back to the theater for the night show, which actually ran pretty quickly considering the number of competitors. Jay, Dex, and Ronnie guest posed, so that was a blast. Bev and Steve really pulled out all the stops on this show.
It was finally our turn to do our individual routines and it's funny because once I was done, I started walking back to the dressing room because I didn't think I was in the top 5 but the expediter stopped me and told me I made the top 5. I was pleasantly shocked to say the least! When they called me out in 4th place I was psyched :)
After the show it was pretty late and not much was open for food. We wandered around NYC looking for a place to grub but couldn't find anything that wasn't super fancy so we ended up settling for a Dunkin Donuts. Hey I'm not picky! :)
Sunday morning my mom and sister flew out early and Ari, Rae, and I took the subway and saw the Empire State Building. It was awesome! What a view! Rae was a chicken (hahaha just kidding babe!) but Ari loved it. We picked up a few souvenirs on the way back to the hotel, packed up, and drove back to MD.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip and a lot of fun.
Now for what's next...
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