So I am sitting in the manager's room right now listening to Michelle Carrone give Ham her requisite compliment after telling her what time the bus leaves. Her, Candi, and Doc have to, when anyone asks them what time our bus leaves in the morning, tell them when it's leaving and then give them a compliment. It was their fine for being late for the bus coming home in Edinburgh. It was quite an entertaining evening of skits and a fine session. Will give more details later. I'm also highly amused by the conversations that have arisen from the book that Trucano brought with her, Sextrology. I'm learning more about our staff than I ever needed to know ;)
So back to the course of life here in Limerick (which by the way tonight is our last night). So Thursday was a nice little recovery day for us. We actually had a recovery session in the pool, but Michelle let me use running to the laundromat as my recovery session, because I had to pick up all the stuff that we had dropped off so that we could pack up before noon. When I got back from that little jaunt I went to a nice leisurely breakfast before packing up all my stuff... we needed to pack everything to get it shipped to London because of that pesky 33lb weight limit for ryanair. After getting all packed up there was just some leisure time lounging about. Then Jen and I went to lunch and headed into town so that she could try and get the last of the coaches gifts, which were stressing her out. It was a very lazy time and then it was time to wander back in to the hotel and have dinner. After dinner we had a meeting where the selections for the England match were announced... there was a bit of confusion about it all, because apparently some people knew the selections before we were told them because they had been posted on some website, so Kathy wasn't too thrilled with that.
I will be starting at tighthead prop for the match, which will be a lot of fun, but also a shift after playing LHP for a while now. After the selections were announced we then watched the tape of the Ireland match. It wasn't as bad on tape as it appeared in real life, but some of that may also have been that there was some time to put things in perspective. After the match we just watched tv and went to sleep.
Today was our last day of intense practices. We had to be at the pitch ready to go at 9:30am and worked on clearing in the breakdowns and tactical decisions with regards to breakdown assignments. It was a fairly mellow practice and we broke for lunch at 11:30. After lunch we were back on the pitch at 1:30, with Kathy's goal being that we'd finish at 3:30pm. We worked on lineouts, scrums, and defense, and had a pretty good focused session to wind out the tour. After practice it was ice bath time, and then the Sextrology reading started to entertain us until dinner. After our last awesome meal, it was time for our evening entertainment.
The rookies actually got there skit given to them, sort of. Back when we were in Scotland they were told that they had to make "music video", which they did of Thriller. Let's just say that a few of us took the brunt of the abuse... and those few of use know who we are. After the skit, we did our fine session, where the majority of our punishments were in the form of limericks being composed. This is because earlier in our stay we had a fun little activity where Shouse gave us all pictures of each others pets and we had to write limericks about the pet or the pets owner if we knew who it was. So it sort of became a theme.
After that we just lounged and watched a rugby game that was on tv... so it was a relatively easygoing day, for being a two a day tye situation. Now I am making sure I am all caught up before we head to London tomorrow. We're leaving at 10:45am, which means one more amazing breakfast. We're going to have a walk through tomorrow when we arrive in London, but nothing else really training wise.
On that note, I need to go to bed parce que Je suis fatiguee. I think the steady sleep-deprived state I am achieving is starting to get to me. Who knows what the computer situation will be like in London, but if I get a chance I'll get it going again.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
The UK Saga: Part 4
Okay, so this one is going to be a bit shorter than the rest because I am tired, but I also will try and get this thing caught up.
So, monday morniing the squad for the Ireland match was announced. I was a little disappointed to not be selected, but that's part of the way this level of play goes. We had two practices that day. I wound up minorly injuring my elbow, which was really frustrating, because it was my elbow that I dislocated two years ago and it really scared me. We did lunch at the University of Limerick and then had an afternoon practice. I was a little shocky the whole day after my elbow, which made me tentative at times. But alas, what's a girl to do.
I don't know if I previously mentioned it (I think I did), but the food we have here at the hotel is amazing. Lot's of yumminess! Each morning we have a breakfast of fresh fruit, cereals, yogurt, and then we get to order some hot food (eggs, pancakes, etc). We are getting seriously spoiled.
On Tuesday we had the morning off to go into Limerick and look around a bit. We went to a couple of ruby stores. Jen and I went wandering around as she was on the hunt for coaches gifts, which is apparently a more stressful process than I had previously anticipated. After our day in the town we had a short walk through practice, so that we could get used to playing at that late time of day (our match is at 7pm on Wed). My ebow felt great most of the day, but after practice it was really sore. But now it's feeling better after a few days off. The dya ended with the jersey ceremony and everyone just lounging around watching tv and movies.
On wednesday, we had a lot of free time. THe forwards had a brief lineout practice and those of us not rostered had a short workout with Michelle. Then KTP and I went to Mr. Jeeves to drop off laundry because I was starting to run out of clothes and my roommates were commenting on the odious nature of my under armor. THe forwards had a short meeting before we had a dinner and headed off to the pitch. I was really antsy the whole time at the pitch because I wasn't playing and didn't really know what to do with myself. I wound up helping shag balls for Kosanke as a way to stay busy. The match was... interesting. The first half was really hard to watch, particularly being completely non-rostered and knowing there was no chance I could go in. At halftime Ireland was winning 5-3, and the lockerroom was very somber. The second half was definitely better, and in the end we wound up winning 23-5. Because of that we were given today off from training.
After the match we had our function with the Irish team and then we got to go out to a bar called Groody's for a pint of Guiness (I went with the Cider). Then we went home to fall out. Anyways, I guess I won't get to completely catch-up, but I am closer and hopefully I'l get the rest done tomorrow.
Goodnight, now to let Patty use the computer and me to bed.
So, monday morniing the squad for the Ireland match was announced. I was a little disappointed to not be selected, but that's part of the way this level of play goes. We had two practices that day. I wound up minorly injuring my elbow, which was really frustrating, because it was my elbow that I dislocated two years ago and it really scared me. We did lunch at the University of Limerick and then had an afternoon practice. I was a little shocky the whole day after my elbow, which made me tentative at times. But alas, what's a girl to do.
I don't know if I previously mentioned it (I think I did), but the food we have here at the hotel is amazing. Lot's of yumminess! Each morning we have a breakfast of fresh fruit, cereals, yogurt, and then we get to order some hot food (eggs, pancakes, etc). We are getting seriously spoiled.
On Tuesday we had the morning off to go into Limerick and look around a bit. We went to a couple of ruby stores. Jen and I went wandering around as she was on the hunt for coaches gifts, which is apparently a more stressful process than I had previously anticipated. After our day in the town we had a short walk through practice, so that we could get used to playing at that late time of day (our match is at 7pm on Wed). My ebow felt great most of the day, but after practice it was really sore. But now it's feeling better after a few days off. The dya ended with the jersey ceremony and everyone just lounging around watching tv and movies.
On wednesday, we had a lot of free time. THe forwards had a brief lineout practice and those of us not rostered had a short workout with Michelle. Then KTP and I went to Mr. Jeeves to drop off laundry because I was starting to run out of clothes and my roommates were commenting on the odious nature of my under armor. THe forwards had a short meeting before we had a dinner and headed off to the pitch. I was really antsy the whole time at the pitch because I wasn't playing and didn't really know what to do with myself. I wound up helping shag balls for Kosanke as a way to stay busy. The match was... interesting. The first half was really hard to watch, particularly being completely non-rostered and knowing there was no chance I could go in. At halftime Ireland was winning 5-3, and the lockerroom was very somber. The second half was definitely better, and in the end we wound up winning 23-5. Because of that we were given today off from training.
After the match we had our function with the Irish team and then we got to go out to a bar called Groody's for a pint of Guiness (I went with the Cider). Then we went home to fall out. Anyways, I guess I won't get to completely catch-up, but I am closer and hopefully I'l get the rest done tomorrow.
Goodnight, now to let Patty use the computer and me to bed.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The UK Saga: Part 3
First and foremost, we beat Scotland 13-6. More on the game to come, but wanted to get it out right from the get-go. Also we're now in Limerick.
Before I start any updates I need to make sure I write about the tour rules up to this point. I keep meaning to write them and then I forget each time, so I wanted to make sure I did it this time right away. 1. Each time you enter the common room of Drake you had to do some sort of movement to announce your entrance. This provided a lot of motivation to get into the room early so that you could watch the creative entrances. Some funny, impressive, lewd... 2. You have to eat meals with different people (on a side-note to that one, I think the coaching staff have violated that rule at each meal, and are in for a surprise if they think were letting them off unscathed) 3. No bed head, or bed-face (this can best be described by Ham on the first night we were in Scotland) 4. Fashion-faux pas - need I say more? (Crouse tried to argue that my bright-blue superman tights fell into that category, but it was hard to support when our fine-master had some pink paisley tights she was wearing) 5. No leaving your personal belongings at practice or around in general (Hale managed to leave every article of her clothing in the locker room in Netherdale - wonder what her fine will be) 6. I think the last rule was no sharing of TMI (too much information). This one was most regularly violated by our boisterous Mari and Phaidra. These rules are all fineable (most of the fines will be public spectacle I think).
Okay now that I got that out, I can actually finish the update. So, when last I left it was with going to bed on Friday night. Friday night I decided that I was going to sleep with my earplugs in and almost slept through breakfast. That would have been very sad for a prop :( On Saturday we had a bit of free-time before the game. The non-rostered players went to the gym with Michelle for a little workout. And I am actually quite intrigued by the game they describe as "Tiger Ball". After I packed up all my kit gear, I went over to use the computer to do yesterday's entry and then went and ate lunch. After lunch we loaded onto the bus for our little jaunt down to Galashiels. I get very crazy immediately before games if I spend too much time thinking about the game, so I just spent the game with my mind wandering aimlessly through the guilty pleasure of Maxim magazine (I know it's awful, but it serves it's purpose). Other folks zoned out listening to music, reading, sleeping, etc. When We arrived at Netherdale Stadium we had a bit of time to watch the men's match before getting dressed for our match.
After we got dressed we headed out to a side field to warm-up and then it was back into the locker room for final prep. Everyone was very pumped to finally get this tour kicked off, and the intensity was awesome as we all stood listening to the national anthem play. I actually would not do justice to describing the game, so Iam just going to let usa rugby do it. The game description is at http://www.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/02/press/displayFullAnnouncement.pl?announcementId=265 . I can tell you that it was a sloppy game at times, but a win is a win is a win. I felt pretty good about my tackling, but was definitely frustrated by the fact that I let the ref get into my head and throw off my scrumming for a while early in the match. It gave me an important lesson in learning to adapt in the face of things not going wuite the way you expect. On a side note, Phaidra wound up with a pretty heinous injury (she tore her tear duct) and will need to have that repaired. She was highly entertaining on her pain killers :)
After the match we all showered and headed to the Galashiels clubhouse for a dinner with the Scottish women. It was a good meal and our "percussion performance" went off without a hitch. The Entertainment for us came when our new caps, Claudia, Ham, and Trucano, got their "caps" (tartan berets of sorts), went skipping around the banquet to the singing of the Scottish women's squad (we joined them after we figured out what they were saying) "Skip around the room, skip around the room, we won't shut up till you skip around the room". I personaly thought they were saying "skipper in the room" and had no idea what that meant. So I was glad to have it explained. After that we all boarded the bus to make the journey back up for our last night at the HMS Caledonia. When we got back we all did some packing and tried to clean up before falling into a comatose like sleep.
Sunday morning was really chaotic, as we tried to eat breakfast, clean, pack and get on the road to head to Glasgow. I was really tired so as soon as the bus was loaded and on the road I fell asleep. So I missed the adventure that was us going to the wrong airport first before discovering that there were two airports in Glasgow. The airport we flew out of looked like something that Rainbow Brite would live in and was decorated with the phrase "Pure Dead Brilliant". Does this seem like a wise marketing choice to anyone? Why don't they just name the airlines that flies out of there Crash and Burn Air? Either way the flight was uneventful and we landed at Shannon right around 1pm. Once we had gotten all our luggage, we loaded yet another bus to head to Limerick.
Oh, I almost completely forgot. So, at last writing I think I had mentioned the packing fiasco of possibly mailing things to Ireland, possibly mailing things back to the states. Well, neither of those happened. Instead, it was decided that we would load the bus in Scotland and it would then go via ferry to ireland and would drive down to Limerick with all our stuff. I only remember this detail now because that bus just arrived and we were able to get to all our luggage again. How entertaining!
Once we got to Limerick we checked into our hotel, Castletroy Park Hotel. It is definitely much nicer than anything I am used to. Each room has a double bed and a single bed, so me and my roommates had to figure out a democratic system for deciding who got their own bed. We opted for drawing cards, whoever got highest got the bed. I sunk it with the Ace of Hearts. Whoo hoo! Then it was down to the pool for a brief recovery session, which us tight-fivers turned into noodle-racing, and underwater wrestling. But it was nice and relaxing and just plain fun.
Dinner was at 5pm. It was a real treat, we had an awesome meal with crystal glass-ware, waitresses who put your napkin on your chair when you get up, etc. Definitely happy about that. A fed prop, is a happy prop! After dinner we had a meeting, where we watched last night's match (after some slight technical difficulties - and several downloads of user manuals, etc). Watching the game from the outside really showed some places where we had really not capitalized on huge opportunities. So, I have a feeling we will be working on all that stuff tomorrow. After the meeting everyone scattered to get ready for bed, go get treatment, work online. I hit up Sara for some work on my shoulder that was feeling a bit tender and crunchy from yesterday's match. And then I came to room 133, the manager's den so that I could get this thing all caught up. And now I am! Yeah! I can go to bed and get ready for practice tomorrow (9-11:30, and then again 1:30-4:30)... though I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am very excited about breakfast after the dinner that we got. The way to my heart... Also, the squad for our match against Ireland will be announced tomorrow morning, which I'm sure has everyone antsy and curious and speculative. We'll see how that goes. Alright, now it is time for me to go to sleep in my single bed and put my earplugs in to save my sanity.
Before I start any updates I need to make sure I write about the tour rules up to this point. I keep meaning to write them and then I forget each time, so I wanted to make sure I did it this time right away. 1. Each time you enter the common room of Drake you had to do some sort of movement to announce your entrance. This provided a lot of motivation to get into the room early so that you could watch the creative entrances. Some funny, impressive, lewd... 2. You have to eat meals with different people (on a side-note to that one, I think the coaching staff have violated that rule at each meal, and are in for a surprise if they think were letting them off unscathed) 3. No bed head, or bed-face (this can best be described by Ham on the first night we were in Scotland) 4. Fashion-faux pas - need I say more? (Crouse tried to argue that my bright-blue superman tights fell into that category, but it was hard to support when our fine-master had some pink paisley tights she was wearing) 5. No leaving your personal belongings at practice or around in general (Hale managed to leave every article of her clothing in the locker room in Netherdale - wonder what her fine will be) 6. I think the last rule was no sharing of TMI (too much information). This one was most regularly violated by our boisterous Mari and Phaidra. These rules are all fineable (most of the fines will be public spectacle I think).
Okay now that I got that out, I can actually finish the update. So, when last I left it was with going to bed on Friday night. Friday night I decided that I was going to sleep with my earplugs in and almost slept through breakfast. That would have been very sad for a prop :( On Saturday we had a bit of free-time before the game. The non-rostered players went to the gym with Michelle for a little workout. And I am actually quite intrigued by the game they describe as "Tiger Ball". After I packed up all my kit gear, I went over to use the computer to do yesterday's entry and then went and ate lunch. After lunch we loaded onto the bus for our little jaunt down to Galashiels. I get very crazy immediately before games if I spend too much time thinking about the game, so I just spent the game with my mind wandering aimlessly through the guilty pleasure of Maxim magazine (I know it's awful, but it serves it's purpose). Other folks zoned out listening to music, reading, sleeping, etc. When We arrived at Netherdale Stadium we had a bit of time to watch the men's match before getting dressed for our match.
After we got dressed we headed out to a side field to warm-up and then it was back into the locker room for final prep. Everyone was very pumped to finally get this tour kicked off, and the intensity was awesome as we all stood listening to the national anthem play. I actually would not do justice to describing the game, so Iam just going to let usa rugby do it. The game description is at http://www.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/02/press/displayFullAnnouncement.pl?announcementId=265 . I can tell you that it was a sloppy game at times, but a win is a win is a win. I felt pretty good about my tackling, but was definitely frustrated by the fact that I let the ref get into my head and throw off my scrumming for a while early in the match. It gave me an important lesson in learning to adapt in the face of things not going wuite the way you expect. On a side note, Phaidra wound up with a pretty heinous injury (she tore her tear duct) and will need to have that repaired. She was highly entertaining on her pain killers :)
After the match we all showered and headed to the Galashiels clubhouse for a dinner with the Scottish women. It was a good meal and our "percussion performance" went off without a hitch. The Entertainment for us came when our new caps, Claudia, Ham, and Trucano, got their "caps" (tartan berets of sorts), went skipping around the banquet to the singing of the Scottish women's squad (we joined them after we figured out what they were saying) "Skip around the room, skip around the room, we won't shut up till you skip around the room". I personaly thought they were saying "skipper in the room" and had no idea what that meant. So I was glad to have it explained. After that we all boarded the bus to make the journey back up for our last night at the HMS Caledonia. When we got back we all did some packing and tried to clean up before falling into a comatose like sleep.
Sunday morning was really chaotic, as we tried to eat breakfast, clean, pack and get on the road to head to Glasgow. I was really tired so as soon as the bus was loaded and on the road I fell asleep. So I missed the adventure that was us going to the wrong airport first before discovering that there were two airports in Glasgow. The airport we flew out of looked like something that Rainbow Brite would live in and was decorated with the phrase "Pure Dead Brilliant". Does this seem like a wise marketing choice to anyone? Why don't they just name the airlines that flies out of there Crash and Burn Air? Either way the flight was uneventful and we landed at Shannon right around 1pm. Once we had gotten all our luggage, we loaded yet another bus to head to Limerick.
Oh, I almost completely forgot. So, at last writing I think I had mentioned the packing fiasco of possibly mailing things to Ireland, possibly mailing things back to the states. Well, neither of those happened. Instead, it was decided that we would load the bus in Scotland and it would then go via ferry to ireland and would drive down to Limerick with all our stuff. I only remember this detail now because that bus just arrived and we were able to get to all our luggage again. How entertaining!
Once we got to Limerick we checked into our hotel, Castletroy Park Hotel. It is definitely much nicer than anything I am used to. Each room has a double bed and a single bed, so me and my roommates had to figure out a democratic system for deciding who got their own bed. We opted for drawing cards, whoever got highest got the bed. I sunk it with the Ace of Hearts. Whoo hoo! Then it was down to the pool for a brief recovery session, which us tight-fivers turned into noodle-racing, and underwater wrestling. But it was nice and relaxing and just plain fun.
Dinner was at 5pm. It was a real treat, we had an awesome meal with crystal glass-ware, waitresses who put your napkin on your chair when you get up, etc. Definitely happy about that. A fed prop, is a happy prop! After dinner we had a meeting, where we watched last night's match (after some slight technical difficulties - and several downloads of user manuals, etc). Watching the game from the outside really showed some places where we had really not capitalized on huge opportunities. So, I have a feeling we will be working on all that stuff tomorrow. After the meeting everyone scattered to get ready for bed, go get treatment, work online. I hit up Sara for some work on my shoulder that was feeling a bit tender and crunchy from yesterday's match. And then I came to room 133, the manager's den so that I could get this thing all caught up. And now I am! Yeah! I can go to bed and get ready for practice tomorrow (9-11:30, and then again 1:30-4:30)... though I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am very excited about breakfast after the dinner that we got. The way to my heart... Also, the squad for our match against Ireland will be announced tomorrow morning, which I'm sure has everyone antsy and curious and speculative. We'll see how that goes. Alright, now it is time for me to go to sleep in my single bed and put my earplugs in to save my sanity.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
The UK Saga: Part 2
So, to continue the update... I'm using this as a way to diffuse a bit of the nerves that are building seeing as we have a match in 5 hours. Hopefully, this will help take my mind off it bit, so I don't start chomping at the bit too much.
So, when I left it last time, we had just finished our morning practice on Thursday and were getting ready for our free afternoon. I was one of the folks who headed into Edinburgh to putter around. I have been there several times, so I really didn't have an agenda. I just wanted to get of the base for a little while. Other folks had plans to visit the castle, go on the underground crypt tours, etc. Hedwig, Jen, and I went wandering around aimlessly on the quest for a rugby store... When we found out it was a 20 min walk away, we decided to veto that idea (though another group - Ashley, Suzanna, Kelly, and Baja- made the trek) and instead opted to go into a Scottish pub for some coffee and relax. We hung out there for an hour and then continued our wanderings. Hedwig abandoned us on her own mission to find an internet cafe, which is quite funny since about five min later we stumbled into one where we found a number of the team checking email and drinking coffee. I jumped online, and continued my mission to try and figure out how I was getting to NH (still working on that one). There were two buses going back to the base... One at 5pm and the next at 6pm. So, at about 10 til 5 we all wandered back to the bus to make our way back to the base.
When we got back began the entertaining task of doing lots of muddy laundry in washing machines that don't really remove mud very well. Suffice it to say there was quite a back-log. Those folks who stuck around or who came back on the early bus went and ate at the dining hall, and those folks who took the 6pm bus wandered in right at the end to eat desert. There were a few funny stories from that group. Particularly the description Candi gave of her evasive running from the restaurant she had dinner at with Dr. Bartoli and Michelle Carrone, our strength coach. Apparently she left them in the dust as she sprinted back trying to get to the bus so it wouldn't leave them.
That night consisted of more laundry for everyone, and then the fun began. We had a meeting where we found out the schedule for Saturday and then we had to discuss our trip to Ireland. Prior to our leaving for Scotland we had gotten an email telling us that for our flight to Ireland our checked baggage weight limit was 33lbs and our carry-on weight was 20lbs, because it was going to be a small puddle jumper plane. Most people did not heed that advice and came to Scotland with some folks being near 100lbs of stuff. In my own defense, I planned accordingly in that I had one bag that was 27lbs and one bag that was 40lbs, so I figured I could do some swapping around, and get them to 33lbs apiece. But then I found out it was one 33lb bag total. The charge for being over was $5/pound, which could get very expensive. So the plan was to pack everything we'd need to get us through Monday into one bag that was under 33lbs and the rest of the stuff would be shipped to Ireland to arrive on Monday and then shipped again to get it to London. So all of us started our frantic packing-unpacking, guesstimating weights, etc. Then the idea came up that if we weren't going to have the stuff in Ireland for much more than two days, before it would have to be shipped again, why not just ship the stuff home rather than sending all over the place. So, everyone then unpacked and packed again. This time having one bag to check on the plane to go immediately to Ire, one bag to be shipped back to the States, and then another bag if necessary to go to Ireland along shipping routes. They had to be ready by the next day because the bags going to Ireland were leaving at 8:30am. So, the halls of the Drake building were filled with a lot of chaos for a while as everyone debated their critical essentials. I for one realized that as long as there is laundry available, I could probably get away with half of what I brought with me - lessons learned! That was a late night and everyone, went sleep with visions of rolling luggage and scales dancing in their head. I tried to go to sleep but alas had some snoring roommates to deal with (I won't name any names) and wound up in the end heading into the common room where I set up a really comfy little nest of couch cushions on the floor. I wasn't the only one who had that idea as another teammate joined me in there around 3am, when the howling of the wind was keeping her up.
I woke up Friday morning slightly tired, but not too bad... my little cocoon was actually more comfortable than the bed, so at least I felt better about that. We had practice that morning. Now up to now the weather had been rather mild and we'd been pleasantly surprised. Friday was when that changed. When we got to the field, the sky was dark, the air was frigid, and there shearing daggers of icy death pelting us from the sky. You may think I am overexaggerating, but I'm not. There was sideways sleet and hail pelting us. Us forwards were glad for the scrum practice that we started with just because it meant we all got to stay warm from body heat for a while. We worked on some looseplay, a penalty play, and then called it good at 10:20am, when hypothermia seemed imminent. Most of us opted to just walk back to the dorms in our boots and kit, rather than stay out in the torrent to take them off. We all took warm showers and then the mad crush in the laundry room began as everyone tried to get all the things washed and ready that they would need for today's match. The rest of the day was fairly lazy, with people napping reading, watching movies. The forwards had a brief afternoon session of lineout work in the gym and then we had free time until dinner. After dinner, there were a few meetings to get last minute plays ironed out before the jersey ceremony at 7:30. As always, the ceremony was emotional. There's nothing like walking up in front of your teammates and getting that USA jersey handed to you by your coach. Knowing what that represents for me as a player... it's a symbol both of playing for this team, representing my country, a tribute to all the people who supported me up to this point, all my hard work... there's no real way to do justice to it in words, but those who have been there and done it know what I am talking about. After the ceremony things got a little lighter as we practiced our entertainment for after the Scotland match. Last year we did a little choreographed dance number to Usher, this year we worked on a rhythm presentation. Director Keenya kept us until we were performing up to her standards (which are fairly high considering the fact that the back triangle was banging spoons together and the centers had shakers full of pasta as their percussive instrument of choice). After that everyone left to go watch rugby games, and do whatever pre-game rituals they had in place. I stayed up talking and otherwise being a lazy bum, until I wandered to my room and rather than take any chances shoved my earplugs in a went to sleep.
With that I need to go eat lunch and get ready for today's match. I'll get the rest of this updated, probably when I get to Ireland, where supposedly we have wireless internet, and therefore I won't be trying to cram multiple days worth of stuff into each post. But for now I am going to get to work on mental prep for the game.
So, when I left it last time, we had just finished our morning practice on Thursday and were getting ready for our free afternoon. I was one of the folks who headed into Edinburgh to putter around. I have been there several times, so I really didn't have an agenda. I just wanted to get of the base for a little while. Other folks had plans to visit the castle, go on the underground crypt tours, etc. Hedwig, Jen, and I went wandering around aimlessly on the quest for a rugby store... When we found out it was a 20 min walk away, we decided to veto that idea (though another group - Ashley, Suzanna, Kelly, and Baja- made the trek) and instead opted to go into a Scottish pub for some coffee and relax. We hung out there for an hour and then continued our wanderings. Hedwig abandoned us on her own mission to find an internet cafe, which is quite funny since about five min later we stumbled into one where we found a number of the team checking email and drinking coffee. I jumped online, and continued my mission to try and figure out how I was getting to NH (still working on that one). There were two buses going back to the base... One at 5pm and the next at 6pm. So, at about 10 til 5 we all wandered back to the bus to make our way back to the base.
When we got back began the entertaining task of doing lots of muddy laundry in washing machines that don't really remove mud very well. Suffice it to say there was quite a back-log. Those folks who stuck around or who came back on the early bus went and ate at the dining hall, and those folks who took the 6pm bus wandered in right at the end to eat desert. There were a few funny stories from that group. Particularly the description Candi gave of her evasive running from the restaurant she had dinner at with Dr. Bartoli and Michelle Carrone, our strength coach. Apparently she left them in the dust as she sprinted back trying to get to the bus so it wouldn't leave them.
That night consisted of more laundry for everyone, and then the fun began. We had a meeting where we found out the schedule for Saturday and then we had to discuss our trip to Ireland. Prior to our leaving for Scotland we had gotten an email telling us that for our flight to Ireland our checked baggage weight limit was 33lbs and our carry-on weight was 20lbs, because it was going to be a small puddle jumper plane. Most people did not heed that advice and came to Scotland with some folks being near 100lbs of stuff. In my own defense, I planned accordingly in that I had one bag that was 27lbs and one bag that was 40lbs, so I figured I could do some swapping around, and get them to 33lbs apiece. But then I found out it was one 33lb bag total. The charge for being over was $5/pound, which could get very expensive. So the plan was to pack everything we'd need to get us through Monday into one bag that was under 33lbs and the rest of the stuff would be shipped to Ireland to arrive on Monday and then shipped again to get it to London. So all of us started our frantic packing-unpacking, guesstimating weights, etc. Then the idea came up that if we weren't going to have the stuff in Ireland for much more than two days, before it would have to be shipped again, why not just ship the stuff home rather than sending all over the place. So, everyone then unpacked and packed again. This time having one bag to check on the plane to go immediately to Ire, one bag to be shipped back to the States, and then another bag if necessary to go to Ireland along shipping routes. They had to be ready by the next day because the bags going to Ireland were leaving at 8:30am. So, the halls of the Drake building were filled with a lot of chaos for a while as everyone debated their critical essentials. I for one realized that as long as there is laundry available, I could probably get away with half of what I brought with me - lessons learned! That was a late night and everyone, went sleep with visions of rolling luggage and scales dancing in their head. I tried to go to sleep but alas had some snoring roommates to deal with (I won't name any names) and wound up in the end heading into the common room where I set up a really comfy little nest of couch cushions on the floor. I wasn't the only one who had that idea as another teammate joined me in there around 3am, when the howling of the wind was keeping her up.
I woke up Friday morning slightly tired, but not too bad... my little cocoon was actually more comfortable than the bed, so at least I felt better about that. We had practice that morning. Now up to now the weather had been rather mild and we'd been pleasantly surprised. Friday was when that changed. When we got to the field, the sky was dark, the air was frigid, and there shearing daggers of icy death pelting us from the sky. You may think I am overexaggerating, but I'm not. There was sideways sleet and hail pelting us. Us forwards were glad for the scrum practice that we started with just because it meant we all got to stay warm from body heat for a while. We worked on some looseplay, a penalty play, and then called it good at 10:20am, when hypothermia seemed imminent. Most of us opted to just walk back to the dorms in our boots and kit, rather than stay out in the torrent to take them off. We all took warm showers and then the mad crush in the laundry room began as everyone tried to get all the things washed and ready that they would need for today's match. The rest of the day was fairly lazy, with people napping reading, watching movies. The forwards had a brief afternoon session of lineout work in the gym and then we had free time until dinner. After dinner, there were a few meetings to get last minute plays ironed out before the jersey ceremony at 7:30. As always, the ceremony was emotional. There's nothing like walking up in front of your teammates and getting that USA jersey handed to you by your coach. Knowing what that represents for me as a player... it's a symbol both of playing for this team, representing my country, a tribute to all the people who supported me up to this point, all my hard work... there's no real way to do justice to it in words, but those who have been there and done it know what I am talking about. After the ceremony things got a little lighter as we practiced our entertainment for after the Scotland match. Last year we did a little choreographed dance number to Usher, this year we worked on a rhythm presentation. Director Keenya kept us until we were performing up to her standards (which are fairly high considering the fact that the back triangle was banging spoons together and the centers had shakers full of pasta as their percussive instrument of choice). After that everyone left to go watch rugby games, and do whatever pre-game rituals they had in place. I stayed up talking and otherwise being a lazy bum, until I wandered to my room and rather than take any chances shoved my earplugs in a went to sleep.
With that I need to go eat lunch and get ready for today's match. I'll get the rest of this updated, probably when I get to Ireland, where supposedly we have wireless internet, and therefore I won't be trying to cram multiple days worth of stuff into each post. But for now I am going to get to work on mental prep for the game.
Friday, January 20, 2006
The UK Saga: Part 1
So, perhaps it is a good thing that I waited to write my update on what's been going on here in the UK until today, because otherwise it would have missed out on some entertaining tidbits. But I'll give the highlights up to this point.
We arrived in Scotland on Tuesday morning at about 7:30am, without too much trouble (other than some serious jetlag and one unfortunate passport-losing incident). When we arrived we all got settled into our rooms at the HMS Caledonia, which quite a number of us were familiar with seeing as we are in the same place as the last UK tour. Lunch came and went and many of us crawled into our beds for the deadly pre-practice nap. I woke up slightly disoriented due to the surroundings and the exhaustion, and stumbled my way out to the playing fields. We had a brief handling practice just to take some of the edge off of flying and (I think) to keep us from sleeping the rest of the day away. After practice was dinner and then a short meeting. A quick glance around the room by Kathy, told her all she needed to know... watching the Scotland match from last year was not going to happen that night. Quite a few of us (me included) were using all left over energy stores just trying to stay vertical and keep our eyes open. Shortly after the meeting adjourned, most people were sound asleep. I forced myself to stay awake until 9pm, in an attempt to get on something resembling a normal schedule.
Despite the nearly 10 hours of sleep I got (some got closer to 14), when my alarm went off at 6:45 I muttered a few choice words, and rolled out of bed for the day to begin. Breakfast (poached & fried eggs, stewed tomoatoes, baked beans, and potatoes) came and went - I can't really say for sure whether I was even awake for it, but supposedly I was there. We then had a meeting (i think, the days are all starting to sort of run together) or maybe that was after lunch. I think it was after luch. In either event, we went to practice and spent the better part of the morning working on decision making and tackling. The weather was remarkably mild, and the fields were soft, so it was actually quite pleasant. Our time on the field looked a lot like some sort of strange dance though because we had to constanly move locations to avoid ripping up too much of any given piece of ground. After practice we came back and changed into dry clothes and headed to lunch. Following lunch there was a team meeting to talk about the afternoon schedule and to announce the squad for Scotland. It was 1.Burke 2.Miller 3.Ottens 4.Trucano 5.Crouse 6.McMahon 7.Ham (I am not even going to attempt to spell her last name) 8.Nesberg 9.Braymer 10.Hale 11.Neder 12.Warner 13.Jervey (I could be wrong on whose IC vs OC, but I am a prop so I sometimes don't pay attention to these things) 14.Karvoski 15.English 16.Wallace 17.Joyce 18.Barth 19.P. Knight 20.L. Knight 21.Aerts 22.Kosanke. Knowing the squad helped with the afternoon practice, which involved scrummaging, lineouts, backline stuff, and general game play... I know I am missing things in here, but really it's been a lot of rugby and I can't really keep track of everything we've done on any given day. After practice we showered and ate dinner. Then there was a little free time before we had a team meeting where we did in fact watch the Scotland match, and tried to breakdown some of our tendencies that did not suit us very well last time. Following that there were individual forwards and backs meetings to work on whatever it is that backs talk about and for us defining our scrum calls. That evening we all just hung around (some people stayed up and watched a rugby game that L. Cabrera had brought with her on DVD) and went to bed. I spent some time on the computer trying to figure out the rest of my life, seeing as I have a grad school interview in NH the day after we get back from the tour and no way of getting there.
Thursday was a fairly mellow day (relatively speaking). We had our usual breakfast and then a team meeting. We were supposed to meet from 8:15am to 8:45am and then practice from 9am until 12. Sadly (I don't know if you can sense the dripping sarcasm, considering my love of 3 hour practices- and I don't think I was the only one not too disappointed) our meeting didn't end until 9:15, so we didn't start practicing till a bit later. That morning we started out working on some more scrum stuff and then went into a lot of slow ball work. We ended the practice with counterattacks. Yet again the weather held out for us, and it was breezy and a little drizzly, but nothing too bad. It was definitely not like the artic tundra we had been expecting. After practice everyone hustled back to shower and change because we had the afternoon off and so a group of us were headed into Edinburgh to hang out for a few hours. Another group opted to just hang around the base and watch movies and relax.
But alas, I will have to continue my story (and right when the entertainment of last night and thismornings practice were getting ready to come up) later when I have more computer time. We have limited access, and with 30 people trying to use one computer it can get a bit hurried. Hopefully this evening I can get everything updated.
We arrived in Scotland on Tuesday morning at about 7:30am, without too much trouble (other than some serious jetlag and one unfortunate passport-losing incident). When we arrived we all got settled into our rooms at the HMS Caledonia, which quite a number of us were familiar with seeing as we are in the same place as the last UK tour. Lunch came and went and many of us crawled into our beds for the deadly pre-practice nap. I woke up slightly disoriented due to the surroundings and the exhaustion, and stumbled my way out to the playing fields. We had a brief handling practice just to take some of the edge off of flying and (I think) to keep us from sleeping the rest of the day away. After practice was dinner and then a short meeting. A quick glance around the room by Kathy, told her all she needed to know... watching the Scotland match from last year was not going to happen that night. Quite a few of us (me included) were using all left over energy stores just trying to stay vertical and keep our eyes open. Shortly after the meeting adjourned, most people were sound asleep. I forced myself to stay awake until 9pm, in an attempt to get on something resembling a normal schedule.
Despite the nearly 10 hours of sleep I got (some got closer to 14), when my alarm went off at 6:45 I muttered a few choice words, and rolled out of bed for the day to begin. Breakfast (poached & fried eggs, stewed tomoatoes, baked beans, and potatoes) came and went - I can't really say for sure whether I was even awake for it, but supposedly I was there. We then had a meeting (i think, the days are all starting to sort of run together) or maybe that was after lunch. I think it was after luch. In either event, we went to practice and spent the better part of the morning working on decision making and tackling. The weather was remarkably mild, and the fields were soft, so it was actually quite pleasant. Our time on the field looked a lot like some sort of strange dance though because we had to constanly move locations to avoid ripping up too much of any given piece of ground. After practice we came back and changed into dry clothes and headed to lunch. Following lunch there was a team meeting to talk about the afternoon schedule and to announce the squad for Scotland. It was 1.Burke 2.Miller 3.Ottens 4.Trucano 5.Crouse 6.McMahon 7.Ham (I am not even going to attempt to spell her last name) 8.Nesberg 9.Braymer 10.Hale 11.Neder 12.Warner 13.Jervey (I could be wrong on whose IC vs OC, but I am a prop so I sometimes don't pay attention to these things) 14.Karvoski 15.English 16.Wallace 17.Joyce 18.Barth 19.P. Knight 20.L. Knight 21.Aerts 22.Kosanke. Knowing the squad helped with the afternoon practice, which involved scrummaging, lineouts, backline stuff, and general game play... I know I am missing things in here, but really it's been a lot of rugby and I can't really keep track of everything we've done on any given day. After practice we showered and ate dinner. Then there was a little free time before we had a team meeting where we did in fact watch the Scotland match, and tried to breakdown some of our tendencies that did not suit us very well last time. Following that there were individual forwards and backs meetings to work on whatever it is that backs talk about and for us defining our scrum calls. That evening we all just hung around (some people stayed up and watched a rugby game that L. Cabrera had brought with her on DVD) and went to bed. I spent some time on the computer trying to figure out the rest of my life, seeing as I have a grad school interview in NH the day after we get back from the tour and no way of getting there.
Thursday was a fairly mellow day (relatively speaking). We had our usual breakfast and then a team meeting. We were supposed to meet from 8:15am to 8:45am and then practice from 9am until 12. Sadly (I don't know if you can sense the dripping sarcasm, considering my love of 3 hour practices- and I don't think I was the only one not too disappointed) our meeting didn't end until 9:15, so we didn't start practicing till a bit later. That morning we started out working on some more scrum stuff and then went into a lot of slow ball work. We ended the practice with counterattacks. Yet again the weather held out for us, and it was breezy and a little drizzly, but nothing too bad. It was definitely not like the artic tundra we had been expecting. After practice everyone hustled back to shower and change because we had the afternoon off and so a group of us were headed into Edinburgh to hang out for a few hours. Another group opted to just hang around the base and watch movies and relax.
But alas, I will have to continue my story (and right when the entertainment of last night and thismornings practice were getting ready to come up) later when I have more computer time. We have limited access, and with 30 people trying to use one computer it can get a bit hurried. Hopefully this evening I can get everything updated.
Friday, January 13, 2006
QUOTES
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. Peter Ustinov
Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less. Rabbi Julius Gordon
The things that one most wants to do are the things that are probably most worth doing. Winifred Holtby
Could you imagine how horrible things would be if we always told others how we felt? Life would be intolerably bearable. Randy K Milholland
Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them. John Updike
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead. Bertrand Russel
Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. HL Mencken
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness. Friedrich Nietzsche
We can only learn to love by loving. Iris Murdoch
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. Edgar Allen Poe
In order for people to be happy, sometimes they have to take risks. It's true these risks can put them in danger of being hurt. Margaret Cabot
Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved. Victor Hugo
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
The Invitation
The Invitation
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to! know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to! know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Refelections on my past
As we head bounding forward into this new year of 2006, i have found myself coming to a crashing face-to-face awareness of the life I've lived and really not been too thrilled with it. It's time for a change. I've spent the better part of my years living either in fear of my emotions and therefore have kept them behind walls so thick that they could have spared Nagasaki. Now I sit with a floodgate of emotions that I am not used to experiencing (let alone with this velocity and ferocity): anxiety, fear, overwhelming love... they all occupy a heart that had been so protected, but from what? all of my worst fears are realities of my own making and I need to come to terms with that in order to not fall prey to it again. So I sit. I sit with my emotions overpowering me at times, knowing that this is the only way. Realizing that while I may have idealized the notion of the Bene Geserit Litany I've never lived it.
"Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear's path. Where it has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." - Bene Gesserit Litany
Rather than taking the hard and unpleasant road, I have historicall chosen the "easier" one. I put that in quotes, because while it misleadingly seems easier at the time, it most certainly is not when all the cards are dealt. It is a hard lesson to learn, and one I wish I had come to terms with much earlier in life, but how's that pesky catchphrase go "it's better late than never"!?!
I find it particularly poignant that I am coming to this cross-roads now as I prepare to venture across the country on a move that has no enddate in sight and has no safety nets. It is unbelievably liberating and scary as hell and is perfect timing (if you can have perfect timing for these types of things). I need to step forward fears still present, but not being allowed to dominate how I live my life. THIS IS MY LIFE AND I WANT TO LIVE IT AND BE HAPPY!
"Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear's path. Where it has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." - Bene Gesserit Litany
Rather than taking the hard and unpleasant road, I have historicall chosen the "easier" one. I put that in quotes, because while it misleadingly seems easier at the time, it most certainly is not when all the cards are dealt. It is a hard lesson to learn, and one I wish I had come to terms with much earlier in life, but how's that pesky catchphrase go "it's better late than never"!?!
I find it particularly poignant that I am coming to this cross-roads now as I prepare to venture across the country on a move that has no enddate in sight and has no safety nets. It is unbelievably liberating and scary as hell and is perfect timing (if you can have perfect timing for these types of things). I need to step forward fears still present, but not being allowed to dominate how I live my life. THIS IS MY LIFE AND I WANT TO LIVE IT AND BE HAPPY!
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