World Cup 5: Finally to Edmonton

So yesterday was a very lazy day but had some very entertaining portions that popped up every so often. After I updated this blog yesterday I proceeded to do some packing and then I wound up getting sucked into the movie "Love Potion No. 9" with Laura and wound up watching that. After the movie I went down to the pool/hot-tub and did some stretching and recovery type stuff. A bunch of other people went to the MOA and watched 'Talladega Nights', which they said was very funny. After I went to the pool I wandered over to the MOA to get lunch and then went on the 'Screamin' Eagle' ride and the 'Timberland Twister' roller-coaster using the free-ride coupons we got from Jane T yesterday.


I came back to the hotel and finished packing before we went to Major's for a send-off dinner. They had the wireless trivia game that kept Dude andI involved even so much that we bypassed the first round of food. You know we're enthralled when two props will skip food. In the end Dude wound up winning one round and I was ahead by 1500 points when we had to leave. On the way home we swung by DQ for a little late-night snack.
When we got back to the hotel many people worked on laundry and finished packing, but those of us in the front row had bigger issues to deal with. The lifting sleeves arrived for the jumpers, but it turned out that they are a bit tight for them to wear. Therefore us front-rowers decided to help them out by putting them on and wearing them around to stretch them out. It took a little wrestling to get them on, but in the end we managed to get them to the right size.

This morning was the three-ring circus of trying to get to the airport and getting everything together and everyone on flights. We had somewhere in the range of 17 extra bags that had to be checked in addition to the many bags that were in excess of the 50lb limit that had to be rearranged. But in the end we arrived in Edmonton where our liason Susan picked us up and got us out to the hotel. When we got there we had a lunch, that to the happiness of Ashley had of a great dessert spread, and then went out to the Druid rugby pitch for a training session. After training we came back to the hotel and had dinner before being released to the care of the Docs who worked magic on me. After getting worked on I got to have some QT with Jen and then came back here to do my update.

We have less than 48 hours left till we play England and I am starting to really feel it. It was hard to really believe that we're at World Cup when we were in MN, but once we got here and met the liasons and saw the French and South African teams (all teams from the same pool are at the same hotel) wandering around it really started to sink in. I'm at World Cup! I'm part of something that I have been striving for for years. It's finally here... Now it's time for bed before I get myself too worked up.