OK, gang, I promised a full recap of the Cinderella pageant last weekend, so by golly you're gonna get it! I may get interrupted from time to time, so I might have to work on it little by little. But, I promise I'll finish it as soon as possible!
The weekend started off pretty hectic. I had so much to do Friday afternoon before leaving. I was supposed to arrive at the hotel for registration between 3:00 and 5:30, but because of work that was not possible. So, I called Judy to ask her if I could get there around 7:00 or 8:00 and she said that was fine, I just had to find her to pick up my registration materials.
So, after a very busy afternoon of manicures, pedicures, tanning, last-minute shopping, packing, and taking care of all the pets (I'm dog-sitting for the doctor and 3 of our animals are on antibiotics right now), Mom, Dad and I left for Columbus. I could've driven myself, but then there would've been 2 cars down there on Saturday and with the price of gas being the way it is, Dad thought it'd be better for them to drive me there and go right back, then come back Saturday evening for the dinner following the competition.
The drive to Columbus is always sooooo boring, since there's nothing to see on route 23, and then when you get into Delaware there's all these traffic lights every half-mile, so you constantly have to stop and go, stop and go. Very tedious! We made good time, though, getting there around 7:30-ish. I ran right in to check in and find Judy down in the grand ballroom (fitting for Cinderella, isn't it?), while Mom and Dad got my all my stuff out of the car and up to the room.
The 50's theme party was still going on then, and they were in the middle of the talent showcase when I walked in. I recognized a few familiar faces from the Miss Ohio prelims, so that was nice. Mom and Dad hung around for a bit, talking to Judy and some of the other people, then left to go back home to take care of the animals again. (Dusty, the dog we're watching, was peeing blood the day after the doctor dropped her off, so Mom took her to our vets where we found out she has a bladder infection. Plus, Mikey's having his teeth cleaned this weekend and has been on antibiotics to get rid of some of the infection in his gums, and Baby had both scent glands in her butt burst, so she's been on pills, too. And let me tell you, it hasn't been easy feeding them to her!)
The party wrapped up shortly after that. But, I stayed around to talk to Judy about the piano situation. Apparently, the only piano in the hotel was an old, clunky upright that gets used every Sunday by some church who holds their services there. Tim, the sound guy, offered to bring in a full-sized electric keyboard, but I don't particularly like to play on those. (You can never truly rely on those electronic things.) We'd seen a guy playing on a nice baby grand in the lounge area next to the lobby, so Judy and I went up to the front desk to ask if we could use that one. But, it didn't belong to the hotel, it belongs to the guy who comes in an plays it every night. She asked if they had a phone number so she could contact him. They didn't but said the lounge might have it. So, we went there. They didn't have it, either! So, Judy asked them to give him a message from her as soon as possible (preferably before the talent competition the next day!) While she was talking to them, I saw some people from the pageant sitting at a table in the restaraunt, so I went over to talk to them. I remember seeing the one girl compete at Miss Maumee Valley last year. She was with another lady that looked like either her mother or aunt. I'm not sure how (if at all) they were related, but it turns out that she was one of the judges! Apparently, the rules about fraternizing with the judges before the competition are a little more lax at Cinderella. So, we chatted away for a while, about basketball, our pets, and stuff. After that, I went up to my room around 11:30 or so to get a full night's sleep before the competition the next day. I had to steam my gowns and arrange all my make-up and hair stuff. I also ordered a full breakfast from room service so I wouldn't have to do it all on an empty stomach. I set my alarm for 7:02 the next morning (I always set timers for odd times like that, it's just more fun!) and Mom even called my cell to make sure I was up. I had to shower, get dressed, put on my make-up, do my hair, and eat breakfast, and it took a lot longer than I'd anticipated. Interviews started at 8:30, but I didn't get down to the ballroom until a quarter to nine. But, it was ok because they were going in order according to age group, so being the oldest group, mine was last. The interviews were one minute with each judge, and we had to walk in and stand facing the judge and not sit down until told to, then rotate around the room when "uncle Ron" announced that the minute was up. The first judge I was with was the one I'd talked to the night before. She asked me why I'd entered this pageant. I told her about how talent was a big part of it, because music is my main form of ministry and since I don't belong to any particular church right now, and since the talent competition was 50% of the total score, I thought this pageant would be a great opportunity to share my gifts. She then asked something about how I would describe myself. I answered that, like we had talked about the night before, I am a huge animal lover. I am very dedicated to animal-related causes, I worked for the Humane Society, and would like to spread the message of the benefits of having animals in our lives.....or something to that effect. haha!
The minute was up after that, so I went to the next judge. She asked me about my current job, which I explained was in a OB/GYN's office, which gave me the opportunity to meet all kinds of women, including victims of assault and abuse. She then asked what my most embarrassing memory was (an interesting question!). I couldn't really think of anything all that embarrassing to me, since I'm not a person who embarrasses easily. (Plus, most of my stories probably wouldn't be suitable for a family type place!):) I started to tell her the story about my extreme fear of singing in public that I had for 12 years, and how when I went to college all the music majors have to take a sight-singing course. Time was up right after that, so I finished off by saying, "Let's just say I got asked to sing." The third judge's questions were more involved. She asked me what the biggest challenge facing women is today. My answer was finding their independence, as we seem to plan our lives around what our husbands or boyfriends are doing instead of figuring out what we really want to do. I said we need to get involved with organizations that will allow us to meet people and experience new things because you never know what you might like until you try it. I mean, I did that and ended up totally changing my career path! (Good personal example, eh?) She asked me what my greatest challenge was, and I said learning to stand up for myself, since I was extremely shy growing up.
Time was up after that. It went really, really quickly. After that, we could go back to our rooms to get dressed for casual wear.
Well, I can't remember what happened after that without looking at the schedule, so I'll end here for now and finish up later. To be continued.....

Well, tomorrow I'm going to Columbus for the Cinderella state pageant. I've been busy preparing for it for the last several months. I've been eschewing chocolate and white bread (except pasta, of course) and taking walks with Kirbs, to keep me in shape. I'm going tanning right after work today then getting my nails done tomorrow at 2. After that, I'm off! I still have a lot of shopping to do (hair care product, pantyhose, and the like) and I need to start packing tonight, too. Oh, and I also have to bleach my arms tonight. So much to do, so many T.V. programs to be engrossed in instead. haha!
I need to practice my talent piece a few more times and steam my dresses and all this other stuff before the competition Saturday. Oh, and I'm also dog-sitting, so someone's going to have to fill in for me this weekend. Any takers? Yeah, though not.
Well, with all this stuff to do sitting before me, and yet I sit here blogging so I must end this now. I'll give full details of the weekend when I get back. Ciao, belli!

Herpes, anyone?

I had a very interesting eveing last night. (Did you detect the hint of sarcasm there?) Now that I'm working in a physician's office (an OB/GYN) I get to attend all kinds of functions, like going out to dinner at expensive restaraunts, all paid for by pharmaceutical companies. The only catch is that we usually have to sit through a talk about their product and promise to prescribe it to some of our patients. But, for a free meal and drinks, I'd be willing to sit through almost anything, as I'm sure you all would agree. Well, last night we went out to Rockwell's for what I had thought was to be dinner with a nice young girl who peddles Ortho-Evra (a birth control patch), with just the other ladies in our office. Turns out, that dinner was cancelled, and what we were actually going to was a function for multiple area physicians with a lecture on Valtrex. Yes, that's right, the herpes medecine! So, we got sit through a (very informative!) power point presentation on herpes, including some quite graphic pictures. And, all this during dinner! Fortunately, it was an open bar. Unfortunately, I hadn't eaten in over 7 hours, so the stuff went straight to me. The food there was very high quality (and undoubtedly expensive, if you're actually paying for it) but there wasn't a whole lot of April-friendly food. Jumbo shrimp (blech!), stuff with mushrooms on it (double blech!), and a choice of filet mignon, chicken with crap on it, and mahi mahi. Seriously, what's wrong with a little pasta, people?
Anyway, the guy was a good speaker, but more people came than they had anticipated which made the event a little late getting underway. Mom and I finally ducked out of there around 8:30 or 9:00 (I think). And, this morning (ironically, as I was typing this) 2 of the Valtrex reps we met last night came in to bring us some more samples and patient information. The one guy was wearing a nametag with the Valtrex logo on it, which made me laugh because I started thinking about Stephen Lynch's album "Superhero." (In case you're not familiar, Stephen Lynch is a very talented-and hot!-singing comedian who's been featured on Comedy Central, and recently released a DVD "Live from the El Rey.") Shameless plug, huh?
Well, anyway, on his album "Superhero" he asks the audience to come up with new superheroes and some weirdo from the audience shouts out, "Valtrex man!" Well, I guess that guy already exists! I even asked the guy if he'd heard of Stephen Lynch, and he had and even knew the song. So, we had a good laugh about that, as he joked that his cape was at the cleaner's. So, that was my lovely, educational evening. Happy herpes, everyone!

HEADLINE: April makes front page of Sentinel-Tribune

For those of you living outside the BG area, I made the front page (full color, btw) of the Sentinel last night. Well, actually, Kia made the front page, but I was holding her up in the background. It was a very nice picture of the 2 of us, though (mostly because my face was blurry-haha!). And the story about the cat show was pretty cute, entitled "No dogs alowed!" I have pictures from the show on my yahoo photo album. I'll try to scan the picture from the article on there sometime, too, in case anyone cares to see it. Well, it's been fun but work is funner so I should sign off. Yeager, out!:)

Well, in light of the recent blog craze that has begun spreading all over the country, I've decided to renew my old diaria. I can't promise I'll update often, but I can promise you I will try to make it interesting. Maybe one day I'll get around to finishing my Hawai'i chronicles. But, if I don't...well, you can just watch the freakin' video.:)