another update:

this morning: won the quarterfinal. may not have deserved it; in fact, what we did was fail to lose. it came down to the other guy's last shot, which his front end overswept. (this is also how we won our semifinal last year, incidentally.)

this evening: lost the semifinal against the toughest team in the tournament (three of whom are going to mixed nationals in a week -- i mean, seriously). but we made them work for it, man. we brought our A game and they fought for every point. granted, the fact that we tied it up in the eighth was because their skip missed his last shot. but it happened! and it came to the last rock in the ninth. this was the best game i've ever lost, and i don't actually regret losing it any more than a little bit -- because playing this well, and deserving to be in the game against them, is the next best thing.

tomorrow: second (or B) event semifinal against the team we defeated in the third event final last year. we ought to be able to take them. only trouble is, the game is at ass o'clock (8:30 am). and if we win, we have an hour or so off and then play in the final at noon.

this has been a lot of curling. for, like, weeks. and it's not going to let up any time soon; after the bonspiel is over, there's sunday league tomorrow night; i'm still the perma-sub for the drama queen on the monday team; tuesday is women's league; we're hoping to have a practice game with our team from the cherry blossom on thursday; there's friday league; saturday is the all-american, an intra-club women's event; next sunday there's sunday league; monday, see above; tuesday is the conclusion of the all-american; and thursday, we head up to utica for the women's challenge, which is the women's 5-and-under tournament. get back from that on sunday (probably not in time for sunday league, which i'm having a hard time feeling guilty about); monday, see above; tuesday, women's league; thursday evening or friday morning, the cherry blossom begins, which will take the whole weekend -- followed by monday, tuesday, friday, and sunday, for two weeks until the meltdown. jesus.

but on the up side, my game has improved immensely.

also: i wonder if i'm hallucinating, or -- nah. maybe i won't say anything about that.

final curling update for the weekend

won this morning, handily. advanced to the second event final. lost that game; we should have won, but we didn't bring our A game. (neither did they, but their B+ game is more successful than ours, evidently.) have a big-ass pin to show for it, now. went on to play in the sunday night league, and couldn't get the give-a-shit together. am tired and achy all over, and have actually strained something in my left arm. eurgh.

the state of the fox

oy. i'll tell you what -- there's good news and there's bad news.

the bad news is, i'm completely exhausted physically, and mostly exhausted mentally, in a combination i haven't known in a long time. (normally i'm mentally way worn out before it gets to where i'm physically beat.) i went to stand up from the table when it was time to come home and my legs just sort of shook for a minute. everything aches. (specific aching muscle groups i'm conscious of at the moment: shoulders and upper arms; lower back; inside of both legs; quad and hamstring on the right leg; fingers; toes.) so i'm already not in a very happy place, being-me-wise ... and, hormonally, this is the first night of my week off. so i'm going to be extra-fun.

i can see it coming. i don't enjoy being as needy as i am. but, heads up to my friends: i'm making an effort not to get all Be My Friend, Waah (since, by and large, the people to whom i get that way are my friends already, and wonder why the hell it has even occurred to me that they might wish they weren't). i really am making the effort. but i can't promise i'll succeed.

the good news is, i'll be past this phase by the time darthrami and i get in the car with two other women and drive to utica.