...And, finally back...

Alright, people. I suck at keeping up with these things. I guess it's my job that hinders my time. I spend eight hours, Monday through Friday, looking at a computer screen. When I get home, a computer is the last thing I want to look at.

Let me recap you all on what's been going on. I'm still poling, and I love every bit of it. It's so sick that it's all I think about these days; just sitting at work thinking of a cool trick, or combo to try. I'm finally understanding a little more about how my body and balance works, and I think there's that moment I've been waiting for, where I can link the connection between my body and the trick. Whether, or not, I can do it is a different story.

Back in January, a very strong poler in the Houston pole community, Lisa, asked me if I would like to do a doubles routine on the pole for some open house, at a pole studio. To much regret, (not really) I was unable to commit because I had planned a trip to DC and NYC, and it would've been hard to practice with vacation on my brain. I'm saying not really, because I was still at a point where I was not feeling confident in my pole skills. I declined the offer, but asked to keep me in mind for future prospects, in hope she would never ask me. Ha, ha.

Lo and behold, in February, Lisa comes to me with the idea of doing a performance for a small-scale competition: The Capital of Texas Pole Championships, in Austin, Texas. With high hesitation, I accepted the offer, not knowing what to expect. I think most of my fears were pacified when she clued me in that this was the first year this particular competition was being held, and that it would be small-scale. I figured this would be perfect for getting performance jitters out of the way. Plus, this was a "two birds with one stone" situation, because not only would I have to perform in front of people, but also compete in front of judges.

For the following two months, Lisa and I worked very hard to meet between our hectic schedules to work on our routine. We had several ups and downs, omissions and additions, bumps and bruises. I even kicked her in the face at one point; sooooooo embarrassing. The competition was April 6, 2013, and as we got closer to the date more details started to emerge about our fellow doubles competitors, and the venue.

The doubles aspect is fairly new to the Texas Pole scene, so we figured we'd probably only compete against 3 other teams, or something like that. Turns out, including us, there were SEVEN teams, also including another co-ed team. To top off that terrifying news, we find out there were some serious teams we were being pitted up against. These are some real, serious girls going full force, who have so many gravity-defying tricks under their belt. After Lisa and I heard the news, we had that, "we are getting spanked" look.

We brush it off, and continue practicing, only to hear word that this first, annual competition, is getting bigger reception and they venue would need to change to fit more people. It turns out the venue that was originally planned for the competition was too small, and a bigger one was sought out, for 300 people! 300 people!?!?! I thought this was going to be "small?" Adding to the hurt, it turns out the show is sold out. This is supposed to be my first, ever, entry into the performance world, and it has to be in front of 300 people! Dear God what have I done?

To be continued...