Well, I survived and managed to have fun.
The waiting was hard. We got there at 8:30 and didn’t compete until after noon. Gah! But such is the way with these things. Sam and I were competing at the same time of course so there are few pictures of either of us.
There were 4 women under-black-belt competitors. One was older than I, one was in her 20s I’d guess and one in her 30s. They were all great to compete with and easy to talk to. Really helped me relax and just enjoy the competition. At points during sparring there was even laughter. Great group of women!
My Kata scores seemed decent if I remember correctly. 8.50 being the lowest and 8.7-something the highest. I noticed that the 8.5 judge scored everyone around that point. I remember doing my presentation, stepping back, taking a breath… then I was done. Somewhere in the middle my mind fell into a black hole and my body just went on auto pilot.O_o Sam confesses to have the same experience so maybe this is normal. LOL!
Sparring… still can’t believe I did that. The idea terrified me back in college but now it is almost fun. I certainly got hit more and harder in the dojo. LOL! Yesterday I had to remember I was not there to be nice. Inside the ring it is “business.” Outside the ring we’re all friends and family. Man! that seems to weird to type. Again there was that unconsciousness of movement where it was almost like my body knew better what to do than my brain did. One time in particular I don’t remember thinking “throw a ridgehand” but that is what I saw my right hand do. Is this normal?
At first they weren’t going to have us really compete against each other as there was one white belt (me), one green, one orange and one blue. But in the end I competed against the orange in kata. She took first and I second. Her kata really was crisp. (but I kiai’d louder 
) And I sparred against the orange and the green. Won both matches and took first in sparring. Yeah, hows that for weirdness?
Afterward we and a couple other families met for a celebratory icecream. Much thanks to those moms for helping me wrangle Jessie. She had a couple run ins with boys who were not playing nicely but by the end of the day they were all playing together and calling each other friend. Ugh!
Jessie was even telling me that she practiced her presentation with a “judge”…??? Not sure at what point this happened (when my head was turned apparently) but a big “thank you” to whomever sat and listened! She is really gunning to take classes.
Today I am stiff and sore but no unpleasantly so. My hip even feels pretty good. Maybe I can convince the kids to go to the ARC for a swim later today (and I can get into the hot tub). MMmmmmm!