Packed.

Well, sort of. Here’s yesterday’s to-do list… What I accomplished today is crossed off. What I absolutely HAVE to do tomorrow, that’s in red. Things that will be/should be finished up later tonight, they’re blue…

• One more practice. The last practice of the year. Wow. But a news crew is stopping by that practice!! More on that soon…

• Sewing. It HAS to be done. I don’t want to have to take it with me, but it might happen. Sewing makes me happy… So maybe I should just take it… I don’t know… This is something I have to clear with Lili, to be honest.

• Laundry – lots of it. I seem to have enough rugby stuff for two practices or games. That’s it. You’d think by now I’d have a stock-pile of stuff, but I don’t. The one area I’m apparently a true minimalist.

• Also, my socks keep disappearing. I have no idea where they are going, but I have very few socks in rotation suddenly. What the heck?

• After laundry, I need to figure out what the heck I need to take with me for the weekend. Two flights, one light practice, four rugby matches, at least two or three dinners with the team. And who knows what else. I need to review the kagillion emails in my inbox that I’ve been ignoring.

• Packing:
  • The checked bag
    • The checked bag gets most of the clothes, the bad-ass dirty boots and a bunch of other things. First, however, I need to clear it of all the clothes/crap I store in there throughout the season.
  • The carry on
    • The carry on gets the old boots, and enough for one rugby match & a pair of flip flops. God help me if my stuff goes missing.
  • My netbook bag
    • The netbook bag will have said netbook, multiple reading materials (including Candide, which I haven’t manged to finish yet, given everything else,) Brewfest stuff in print that I can work on, and the essential docs required for roster check in before our game: a copy of my birth certificate, my insurance card and my ID.

• Hopefully two, but absolutely ONE chiropractor appointment. Good thing about this season? I didn’t have back pain at all. Bad thing? When I finally started to participate, my back started hating me in FULL FORCE. OMG. It’s not the worst it’s been, but the constant ache is closing in on unbearable.

• One meeting with UncleCrappy for a good-luck beer tomorrow night. (aka this evening…)
  

• Updating the Angels Chalk Talk Blog… I hate to say it, but I’m scheduling posts between now and when we leave. It HAS to be done, if I want to do anything else on this list.

• Updating the PRFC website to take down mailed out Brewfest ticket orders and switch to Will Call ticket orders.

• Mailing out the remaining ticket orders.

• Getting back to the multiple brewers who suddenly want to attend Brewfest.

Oh, and the brackets stuff? It’s changed. AGAIN.

Seeding:

1. Miami (USA Rugby South)
2. Pittsburgh (MidWest)
3. Albany (Northeast)
4. Raleigh (MidAtlantic)
5. Providence (Northeast)
6. Charleston (USA Rugby South)
7. Maryland Stingers (MidAtlantic)
8. Minneapolis (MidWest)
9. Santa Monica (Southern California)
10. Houston (West)

Pool A: Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Charleston, Houston
Pool B: Miami, Providence, Minneapolis
Pool C: Albany, Maryland, Santa Monica

Saturday

POOL A
Venue: University of Houston

1:00pm – Pittsburgh vs Charleston – Field 1
1:00pm – Raleigh vs Houston – Field 2

3:30pm – 1pm game losers – Field 1
3:30pm – 1 pm game winners – Field 2

POOLS B AND C
Venue: Westland Family YMCA

8:30am – Albany vs Maryland (C)
9:45am – Miami vs Providence (B)
11:00am – Maryland vs Santa Monica (C)

12:45pm – Providence vs Minneapolis (B)
2:00pm – Albany vs Santa Monica (C)
3:15pm – Miami vs Minneapolis (B)

Sunday
Venue: University of Houston

9:00am – Game 11: Pool A #1 vs Pool C #1
9:00am – Game 12: Pool B #1 vs Overall #4
9:00am – Game 13: Overall #9 vs Overall #10

10:30am – Game 14: Overall #7 vs Overall #8
10:30am – Game 15: Overall #5 vs Overall #6

11:30am -Game 16: Loser game 11 vs Loser game 12 (3/4 place)
1:00pm – Game 17: Winner game 11 vs Winner game 12 (Final)

Two days…

Two days from now, I will be staying at a teammate’s house. I’m happy I’ll have a bunch of girls there to make sure my butt wakes up at an hour I don’t really believe exists.

There is so much to do between now and then:

• One more practice. The last practice of the year. Wow. But a news crew is stopping by that practice!! More on that soon…

• Sewing. It HAS to be done. I don’t want to have to take it with me, but it might happen. Sewing makes me happy… So maybe I should just take it… I don’t know… This is something I have to clear with Lili, to be honest.

• Laundry – lots of it. I seem to have enough rugby stuff for two practices or games. That’s it. You’d think by now I’d have a stock-pile of stuff, but I don’t. The one area I’m apparently a true minimalist.

• Also, my socks keep disappearing. I have no idea where they are going, but I have very few socks in rotation suddenly. What the heck?

• After laundry, I need to figure out what the heck I need to take with me for the weekend. Two flights, one light practice, four rugby matches, at least two or three dinners with the team. And who knows what else. I need to review the kagillion emails in my inbox that I’ve been ignoring.

• Packing:
  • The checked bag
    • The checked bag gets most of the clothes, the bad-ass dirty boots and a bunch of other things. First, however, I need to clear it of all the clothes/crap I store in there throughout the season.
  • The carry on
    • The carry on gets the old boots, and enough for one rugby match & a pair of flip flops. God help me if my stuff goes missing.
  • My netbook bag
    • The netbook bag will have said netbook, multiple reading materials (including Candide, which I haven’t manged to finish yet, given everything else,) Brewfest stuff in print that I can work on, and the essential docs required for roster check in before our game: a copy of my birth certificate, my insurance card and my ID.

• Hopefully two, but absolutely ONE chiropractor appointment. Good thing about this season? I didn’t have back pain at all. Bad thing? When I finally started to participate, my back started hating me in FULL FORCE. OMG. It’s not the worst it’s been, but the constant ache is closing in on unbearable.

• One meeting with UncleCrappy for a good-luck beer tomorrow night.

• Updating the Angels Chalk Talk Blog… I hate to say it, but I’m scheduling posts between now and when we leave. It HAS to be done, if I want to do anything else on this list.

• Updating the PRFC website to take down mailed out Brewfest ticket orders and switch to Will Call ticket orders.

• Mailing out the remaining ticket orders.

• Getting back to the multiple brewers who suddenly want to attend Brewfest.

Yeah, looks like a fun two days, doesn’t it?

This blog, however, will be updated daily, even if it’s to tell you I’m alive. Facebook? Don’t count on it. Twitter? Well, I have my phone, but at this point, don’t expect much there either except for updates on Saturday and Sunday when I can.

By the way, I can’t remember if I’ve said it lately or not, but I felt in the Spring that I finally got the game. Somewhere between then and this season, I lost it. I don’t know what happened…. I plan to think about & write about it in the next few days, but IT’S BACK PEOPLE.

But, after the last three practices and how I see myself reacting to what my teammates do? For the most part, it’s back… I have a few things to work on, but I’m seeing things the way I did in the Spring.

That? Makes me so happy. And so ready for this weekend. We’re so ready, My Angels and I.

 

 

Seedings….

Bonus NaBloPoMo post… The games for this weekend. Commence the freak out, y’all…. Only kidding. The Angels have it. Locked. Down.

I will post here, there and everywhere as soon as I can. Best I can tell you now is be on Twitter-watch. That will be easiest for me. Unless you are Lili or someone else not on Twitter, then I’ll text you.

The 2009 DII Women’s Nationals game info has been posted… Here’s what we’re dealing with:

Seeding:

1. Miami (USA Rugby South)
2. Pittsburgh (MidWest)
3. Albany (Northeast)
4. Raleigh (MidAtlantic)
5. Providence (Northeast)
6. Charleston (USA Rugby South)
7. Maryland Stingers (MidAtlantic)
8. Minneapolis (MidWest)
9. Santa Monica (Southern California)
10. Houston (West)

Pool A: Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Charleston, Houston
Pool B: Miami, Providence, Minneapolis
Pool C: Albany, Maryland, Santa Monica

Saturday

12:15pm – Game 1: Pittsburgh vs Charleston (A)
12:30pm – Game 2: Miami vs Providence (B)
12:30pm – Game 3: Albany vs Maryland Stingers (C)

1:30pm – Game 4: Raleigh vs Houston (A)

2:30pm – Game 5: Maryland Stingers  vs Santa Monica (C)
2:30pm – Game 6: Providence vs Minneapolis (B)
2:45pm – Game 7: Winner game 1 vs game Winner 4 (A)

4:00pm – Game 8: Loser game 1 vs game Loser 4 (A)
4:30pm – Game 9: South #1 vs MidWest #2 (B)
4:30pm – Game 10: Northeast #1 vs SoCal #1 (C)

Sunday
9:00am – Game 11: Pool A #1 vs Pool C #1
9:00am – Game 12: Pool B #1 vs Overall #4
9:00am – Game 13: Overall #9 vs Overall #10

10:30am – Game 14: Overall #7 vs Overall #8
10:30am – Game 15: Overall #5 vs Overall #6

11:30am -Game 16: Loser game 11 vs Loser game 12 (3/4 place)
1:00pm – Game 17: Winner game 11 vs Winner game 12 (Final)

GO ANGELS!!

Bad-ass.

Ok. On Friday I mentioned that it was still too early to enter freak-out mode for Houston.

Well, it’s almost time. Tomorrow will be spent fixing something that kinda went bad on me & needs to be done NOW! Yikes…

Then it’s two practices, two days & one semi-free evening to get my ducks in a row. I managed to make a packing list, but I’ll modify it and get things together on Wednesday. Hopefully it won’t take too long.

And then it’s a 6:11am flight on Friday. Yes, six eleven AM. And how great am I at waking up early & making those early flights? I’m a big failure. So to counteract my inability to wake up, I’m going to crash at a teammate’s house the night before the flight. This teammate lives 10 minutes from the airport and has graciously offered up her house to the team. Whoo. Thank you!

I’m checking one bag, the day-glo yellow rugby bag. All because of my big, bad-ass boots. Personally, I love my boots and see nothing wrong with them:

However, according to Woycheck & Shireman, they are terrifying, lethal weapons.  Heh. We’re all entitled to our opinions. They may be wrong, but they’re entitled to their opinion.

So I’ll be checking the bag & my boots. And since I’m literally terrified to check bags? I’ll be taking a carry on which will hold my falling-apart old boots, and enough clothing for one rugby match. Let’s hope that’s a fall back plan.

A season of success…

As of Saturday around 12:30pm, this rugby season officially became the most successful season for the PRFC. At that point, our men’s team beat Lexington to become the Midwest DII Eastern Conference Champions. They had one loss this season, to Lexington, just one week before.

The men will now head to the Midwest Championships in the Spring of 2010. And I am SO proud of them. SO proud.

The Angels continue to prepare for Nationals this coming weekend. You can keep up to date on the Angels here of at the Angels blog.

Considering that I have about 30,000 things going on this month, between Nationals, Brewfest, Thanksgiving and seeing Little C, a sewing project I just finished, and my everyday life, I’m going to try NaBloPoMo again…

I completely forgot that this was coming up, but I did it last year, so we should be good to go!

Friday night.

It’s Friday night. It’s the first Friday since August that there is no rugby for me to deal with tomorrow. No spectating, participating or running touch.

The men are in Toledo for their Conference Championships. If they win, they will be the #1 seed for the Midwests in the Spring. I really, really, really hope they win. I’m so proud of them.

With tonight off, I should be doing something, right? Out somewhere? Instead? I’m sitting here writing this. At home.

I’m finishing up that sewing project. It’s awesome, if I do say so myself. I’ll post pics in a few days.

I started working on the Brewfest judging tonight… And now I’m looking to add 2 judges. I want the judges to have fun, not end up in a beer induced coma. There’s just too many beers. Seriously.

Since I’ll be away next weekend, I should be making a list of all the stuff I need to take to Houston. I should also be kind of panicing about Brewfest. But I’m not.

I’m so “on the job” when in a stressful planning/event situation. But we’re not there yet. I have 6 days till I leave for Houston (on a flight that leaves at 6:11am. OMG. That’s going to be ROUGH.) I have until Tuesday night before I enter that stress time.

And Brewfest? Well, that freak out will start on Tuesday after we return from Nationals. It’s just too early to start.

So until those times are upon me, I’m in find-a-freaking-job mode and in la-la land.

Spectacular.

Nationals: A second chance

As I said in my last post, the Angels have a blog for their trip to Nationals. After you read this, I ask that you visit that blog over the next week or so. The posts are starting to come in, and I’ll put two or more up each day. I think you’ll get to read some very wonderful things about a great group of women working towards our goal.

While some of us might post more than once, the Coach gave each member of the team an “assignment” – a topic to write about. They vary from a Top Ten list, to Balance, whether you’d prefer a Big Hit or an Awesome Try… Ten in all. And each post will be categorized based on the topic.

This was my assignment, we’re tagging it Insight: “As a veteran player on the team, this is your second trip to nationals.  How is this championship going to be different than the one in 2006?  What are the biggest differences between the 2006 team and the 2009 team? What does this year’s opportunity mean to you?”

I may write more here about this soon, but here is my post. It’s here and on the Angels Chalk Talk today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If someone had told me in 1993 when I entered college, that I would take a chance as a non-athlete and play rugby at Ohio U, eventually become a captain and a player-coach and fall in love with the game? I wouldn’t have believed them.

If they’d have then told me that I’d leave the sport & come back because there was something missing in my life and rugby was it, I’d have laughed out loud.

But that’s what happened, and in 2002 I joined the Pittsburgh Angels.

If they’d told me in 2002 that I’d eventually become not only a part of an organization that is a family in many ways, but also a leader for an organization such as this, or part a team that would eventually obtain THREE Midwest Championships in my time and go to Nationals twice while I was playing? I would have told them they were insane. But wow, am I glad I’m here now.

Since 2002, so many things have changed on this team:

- We are no longer an individual team standing alone. We are now a part of the Pittsburgh Rugby Club. Where we are supported by our men’s side and support them as well.
- We are no longer a few women playing with college girls at Pitt. We are now women who play with women, recent college grads or collegians that choose to play with us!
- We are older, some of us more than we’d like to admit or acknowledge. But we’ve recently gotten a huge influx of younger girls that makes my old heart happy.
- We have gone through 3-4 or more coaches, and now have a coach who is so dedicated to us I can’t even wrap my mind around it. I honestly remember a time where I had to find us a coach and I had no idea what to do. Not a clue.

The fight has been hard. And it’s been long. But the Angels have been fighting since before I joined in 2002. While we may not have been as freaking fantastic as we are now, we’ve always been a team of women fighting to better our game. Achieve more. I am so proud of this team.

In 2006 when we won Midwests and were going to Nationals, I almost didn’t go. I managed it, and I can tell you now that I really didn’t know what I was going into. Besides some of our teammates who played for Penn State, I’m not sure the rest of us knew what we’d gotten ourselves into.

We didn’t do poorly, but we didn’t do as well as we hoped. We ended up 3^rd in the Nation. We weren’t overly happy with the result, but overall we were okay when we got home.

But now? It’s different. It’s so very different.

We were not the team then that we are now. We are a lot of the same people, but NOT the same team.

This team? This team knows what the hell is going on. And we know what we are getting ourselves into, are intent on overcoming whatever comes our way.

I’ve said I’m old, and I am. And as an administrator, and having much to do now & over the years, this season really got away from me for many reasons, and I didn’t apply myself as much as I should have…

I took over the running the Midwest Championships because of the love for my teammates. That and being able to run touch made me unable to play. And when we won? I was so happy. But I was also so incredibly sad.

Once I heard what it would take to get me to Houston, I was devastated. I’m unemployed. Not just one job, but two jobs unemployed. It’s not fun here, folks.

However, I’ve been given one of the best gifts & opportunities in my life. I’m going to Houston. I will be there with the rest of my Angels.

And I’ll be damned if I waste it. I promise those of you who know why & what I’m talking about… I WILL NOT waste this. Not for a hot second.

I’m in it to win it. You have no freaking idea.

We can do this.

Stress?

The Angels and I… We leave for Houston on Nov. 6th. Some return on the 8th, the rest of us on the 8th.

Brewfest is Nov. 13th.

I might lose my *stuff,* if you will, between now and the 6th and the 8th and 13th. This is your fair warning. If you don’t read this blog, and you suffer the wrath, it’s your own fault. (Yeah, guess who I’m pointing at? There are a few…)

Two other things:

1) The Angels now have a blog for their Nationals trip

2) I may not post here as much as I want between now at the Brewfest…

But I’ll do what I can. As always. Woa. I’m overwhelmed.

Hard work.

First of all, I have no idea who reads this blog unless they comment, obviously. But sometimes the spikes in my hits and the “top posts” of the day have me wondering what’s going on in the world. I put up two posts in the past 24 hours. But what did people look at most? My St. Patrick’s Day post & the Madonna post. The Madonna one doesn’t surprise me. It’s the biggest draw I have, ever. Hilarious, to be honest. But the others? No clue.

However, thankfully, the last biggest draw was the one about Houston.

Our first practice before Nationals was tonight. And coach decided to throw in some fitness running. God I hate running. Especially with post-nasal drip and a stuffy nose (no, I have not kicked the head cold that I got nearly 3 weeks ago.) And the back pain that comes with the rain. So awesome.

However, considering I’m so anti-fitness and anti-running, I am shocked at the fact that I finished the drill (no, not the pushups/burpees, although I tried, but the post-nasal drip won on that one… ) but I completed the running. I hate running unless I can have the chance to hold a rugby ball. But this didn’t involve a rugby ball. So I’m happy.

I’m trying to work really hard before Nationals. I know it’s late, probably to late, to do so, but I’ve been given the gift of going to Houston, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste it. I WILL make the most of the entire experience. From tonight through the trip home.

In other news, I’ve created a page on the pghrugby.com website for the Angels trip to Nationals. You can find it here: http://pghrugby.com/2009_Angels_Nationals.html

Me and my cute blue Netbook will be updating everything as it happens, well, as much as possible…

And also, the Angels have a blog. Well, we will. As soon as I receive the first post. We’re going to blog about what we expect, how we feel about this and what it means. I’ll post that link as soon as it’s live. It has a built in post and comment RSS feed. Sweet!

I’ll also be blogging here throughout about my experiences.

I hope that you’ll all tune in to see what’s going on. I’ll also Tweet little bits of info as I can.

Houston, Texas

On Friday, November 6th, my teammates and I are headed to Houston, Texas. For the Division II National Championships.

This is a big deal, folks.

I”m sure we’ll face some crazy competition. But after seeing my team play this past weekend, I am convinced there is nothing we can’t overcome. We have some things to work on this week and next, but I really believe in my team.

I know we can do this. We have so many talented players.

Because I am blessed with some of the most amazing friends on the planet, I will be posting updates here and on a soon-to-be-created page on our website so that everyone can see how we’re doing.

As if I’d leave home without a guaranteed way to access the interwebz. Hah!

Based on a Twitter convo this evening, I think I’ll have to check my rugby bag for my flight. Well, at least my cleats. According to @shireman, they are terrifying. I disagree, but add them plus the enormity of my rugby bag, I guess it’s going to be easier to check it and pray that it gets there.

To me, hoping that my bag gets there is more terrifying than my cleats. Really.

But at least at baggage claim, I won’t have a problem finding my day-glo yellow bag with my name emblazoned on it. Lol.

All in all, it’s really all worth it, considering that I can make it to Houston!

And everyone? Thank you.