Is it really Tuesday?

Mom's Blurb:
The days and nights seem to be running together and I'll bring you up to speed on the adventures so far. I'm beginning to dream, hope and beg for more than 4 hours of sleep in a bed. I'm going to try to catch you up to speed.

Saturday:
The hotel's fire alarm woke me around 2:30 am at the hotel ruin any chance of a good night's sleep. Believe it or not, Jacque slept through it. In the morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to pick up her skates at the Winning Edge. As usual, we bought more stuff while we were there including a skirt and tights. I asked Deb about how long it takes to get to Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont, she replied about 40 minutes. Om my gosh, I'm behind already as we are suppose to be at the rink in 30 minutes. We followed the directions from Streets and Trips (and yes, Jacque did give me another play by play). We arrived safely (and on time!) to our destination despite 'Street and Trips' announcing we were off route and showing us driving through farmland several times.

We were amazed that the rink had a freestyle session on Saturday and that it was nearly empty! The freestyle session was only $7. From what I've heard, the rink was a gift and now the struggle is keeping it running. http://www.fremonticearena.com/ After a few laps, Jacque let me know that she was happy with the sharpening. The practice session on the other hand, I'll let Jacque write about if she chooses.

Afterward we had lunch and camped out at one of our family's favorite places, Borders, for a few hours in Omaha since we had lots time to kill before the test session. We didn't have an exact time for the test session so we arrived at the MottoMclean about 6:30. This gave Jacque time to hang out with Anna Blair before Anna's syncro team completed. After the test session, Jacque waited for the results, reviewed the videos (many times) and discussed it with her coach.

It was nearly 10 pm by the time we left the rink. We grabbed some food at Wendy's before hitting the road. The Wendy's experience supported our theory that the further north we went, the worse the food was. Soon after getting on I-80, the temperature was fluctuating between -3 and -7. Jacque fell asleep so I was spared the play by play for several hours and was able to find I-35 without it :-)

A few hours into the trip, I needed a refresher so I stopped in Story City, IA at a Kum n Go. The clerk was friendly, wished me well, and reminded me to stop when I got too tired. After 2 am, I was too tired to continue so I decided to take a nap at the Super 8 in Clear Lake IA. The hotel clerk was really friendly, giving me lots of options for the room including which floor I'd like for the room to be one. I also arranged for a wake up call for 6 am.

Sunday:
We were on the road by 6:30 am and Jacque fell asleep again. I stopped at a rest area about 45 miles south of St Paul and was greeted by a real friendly attendant who reminded me to be careful and stay warm. I began to think that as long as we didn't eat out, we'd meet lots of great folks. We were able to find the Xcel Center and the ramp parking without any issues. We easily located our seats and was able to call Marc and Mom to let them know we arrived safely prior to the start of Novice Compulsory Dance event.

After the event, we drove to the hotel. It took a few laps around the block to find the actual entrance drive to the hotel. We checked in and took our first load up to the room. Although the room isn't as nice as the room in Omaha, it will be our home for the next week. We decided to let things thaw a bit and wen to the hotel restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we took another load to the room and began to unpack.

Jacque and I started to discuss when we were going to call my aunt Dee when the phone began to ring, it was Dee. We made plans for her to join us at the hotel and then go to the Mall of America. We arrive a little over an hour before closing so we wandered around some of the lower level stores looking at prom type dress look for a deal on modifying into a ice dance dress but no luck. When the stores began to close, we went to Tony Roma's for dinner and then back to the hotel. Jacque shared her test videos, some of her art on Deviant Art and other pictures. About 11 pm, we finally gave into to exhaustion and went to bed after setting the alarm for 6:30 am.

I'll need to finish catching you up later as Jacque isn't waking up and we plan on watching the Sr Dance practice in half and hour.