It is coming to the end of November and I've only one post for this month. That is not to say that I have done nothing worth writing about this month, it's actually the opposite. I've been busy with so many things that I either haven't had time to write about it, or I have too many cool things to write about that I don't know where to start.
Right now I am in an interesting sort of mood. I only had one class today, which is great, because now I'm done, but because I want to get another project done before Thanksgiving break, I have to stick around in Corvallis until 4. Usually that's not such a problem either, but most of my friends work... which means however I'm going to spend my time today, it will probably be alone.
Being alone is an interesting thing. I really don't like being alone. I can handle it, but I prefer to be interacting with people instead. Not just any people of course, but friends, people that I care to spend my time with.
Anyway (let me stop sounding so depressing), I have definitely had some exciting things come my way. One thing is, I am very excited about the future. I'm finally make some real plans to do a little traveling, as well what my options are for finishing up school (or not finishing, as the case may be). I also recently got a new backpack for attending a Columbia Sportswear Focus Group session. It was a great thing to experience, and they gave all the participants an OSU Columbia Backpack! I'm pretty happy about that, because I was in desperate need for a quality backpack. I am also very excited about the things that I am learning in karate. We get to play with knives and guns, and do some pretty sweet, but complicated moves. It's also great being known as a brown belt, it makes me feel like I really am one of the Advanced students and I actually know something about the martial arts.
It appears that this blog has turned into a little update of the happenings of my life, as well as a way for me to prep for what Thanksgiving is all about. I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and don't forget to cheer on the Beavers this Saturday!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Signature Water Bottle
It seems that the use of a Nalgene bottle can do more than just hold water. It seems to be able to attract disc golfers to me, that may have just passed me by had I not been holding said waterbottle.
First, you should know that I have 3 disc golf waterbottles (well, three waterbottles in general, all of them relate to disc golf). Two of them are orange and have disc golf stickers plastered on in an artistic format. The other one I have is purple and is from an actual disc golf tournament.
So this morning, I was walking from where I parked my car to school, thinking about all the things I might accomplish this morning, carrying my trusty orange friend and from behind me someone says, "Disc golf is for losers!" I figured this person could not be serious, who could ever say that about disc golf? I turned to see one of my disc golf friends, Kelly Christensen, who also plays a lot of tournaments. He said he wouldn't have recognized me in my normal clothes, I guess the waterbottle tipped him off.
The funny thing is, that this is the second time my waterbottle has done this. The first time was last year when I was walking to class and Nate Sexton came up to see who I was because of the stickers on my waterbottle. It's always nice to see a friendly face, especially to start out your day. I recommend you go buy a Nalgene and put stickers that represent you on it. Seriously, go do it. :)
First, you should know that I have 3 disc golf waterbottles (well, three waterbottles in general, all of them relate to disc golf). Two of them are orange and have disc golf stickers plastered on in an artistic format. The other one I have is purple and is from an actual disc golf tournament.
So this morning, I was walking from where I parked my car to school, thinking about all the things I might accomplish this morning, carrying my trusty orange friend and from behind me someone says, "Disc golf is for losers!" I figured this person could not be serious, who could ever say that about disc golf? I turned to see one of my disc golf friends, Kelly Christensen, who also plays a lot of tournaments. He said he wouldn't have recognized me in my normal clothes, I guess the waterbottle tipped him off.
The funny thing is, that this is the second time my waterbottle has done this. The first time was last year when I was walking to class and Nate Sexton came up to see who I was because of the stickers on my waterbottle. It's always nice to see a friendly face, especially to start out your day. I recommend you go buy a Nalgene and put stickers that represent you on it. Seriously, go do it. :)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Excitment for Halloween
So yesterday I made my way over to the dingy little JoAnn's Fabric store to pick up a couple things that I forgot to get for my costume pattern. I was surprised to see that JoAnn's was very much a hustle. The crowd that was gathered at the tiny fabric store this day was mostly women (like always), but unusually there were a lot of college-aged women who probably don't sew. There were two of these girls in front of me waiting to get fabric cut. One girl was buying some material to make a "tube-top" to go under her costume. The other girl had a neat purple material that looks like it would be difficult to make anything out of, which she was using for her greek goddeess costume.
Now that I am taking this sewing class, and have had to go into JoAnn's to search the store extensively, I feel like I am at a different level of fabric shopper. I now can say I know what I'm doing. Besides that, I should point out that, although I know what I'm doing now, I was in the store for the same reason as everyone else, to get things for my costume.
Now that I am taking this sewing class, and have had to go into JoAnn's to search the store extensively, I feel like I am at a different level of fabric shopper. I now can say I know what I'm doing. Besides that, I should point out that, although I know what I'm doing now, I was in the store for the same reason as everyone else, to get things for my costume.
Monday, October 27, 2008
New News
The best news is that I am now a brown belt. Woohoo! The next thing I would like to point out is the lovely new design on my page and the added "links" section. Just a few websites that either have cool people or great websites of things I'm interested in. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Monday Morning
Today is Monday. As with most mornings, I start out lying in my bed for as long as possible, thinking about what I'm going to wear and what I might eat for breakfast, with the idea that it will save me time when I actually do get up.
This morning it took me even longer to get up, because I'm so beat up and sore from the weekend's events (Belt testing, etc.). I miraculously got out of bed and ready for my Monday so we could leave the house 10 minutes after 7, to be just in time for my first class.
But who should know that when we left the house we would have cause to not be on time to an 8 o'clock class in Corvallis? Nearly into Brownsville, my sister Kambria notices a strange sound and turns off the music. All of us thinking this sound is indeed strange, I decide to pull over in the parking lot of Dairy Mart. Out of the car we discover that I have a flat tire. Maybe that autoshop class from high school will actually be worth something.
Out of the three of us there, I was the only one who had some vague idea of how to change a tire. We knew where the spare was, but had difficulties in removing it from the trunk. As Kambria and Cassandra tried to figure out how to remove the tire, I took out the jack and started lifting the car. By the time I got the car up, they got the tire out, so we now had to take off the flat tire. In a failed attempt to remove the lug nuts from the tire, it was now that I remembered that you are supposed to loosen the nuts before lifting the car with the jack. This discovered, we lowered the car back down and at about this time a nice man came to help us.
We loosened the lug nuts and discovered that my car has a nifty lock on one of the nuts that prevents people from stealing your car tires. That guy finished loosening the nuts and seemed to will the car upwards with the jack at the speed he was going (anything was probably faster than me jacking up the car).
Both of my parents arrived on the scene, and my dad finished fixing the tire, letting the nice man get back to his work. We put everything back together, and headed to school. So much for a normal monday morning.
This morning it took me even longer to get up, because I'm so beat up and sore from the weekend's events (Belt testing, etc.). I miraculously got out of bed and ready for my Monday so we could leave the house 10 minutes after 7, to be just in time for my first class.
But who should know that when we left the house we would have cause to not be on time to an 8 o'clock class in Corvallis? Nearly into Brownsville, my sister Kambria notices a strange sound and turns off the music. All of us thinking this sound is indeed strange, I decide to pull over in the parking lot of Dairy Mart. Out of the car we discover that I have a flat tire. Maybe that autoshop class from high school will actually be worth something.
Out of the three of us there, I was the only one who had some vague idea of how to change a tire. We knew where the spare was, but had difficulties in removing it from the trunk. As Kambria and Cassandra tried to figure out how to remove the tire, I took out the jack and started lifting the car. By the time I got the car up, they got the tire out, so we now had to take off the flat tire. In a failed attempt to remove the lug nuts from the tire, it was now that I remembered that you are supposed to loosen the nuts before lifting the car with the jack. This discovered, we lowered the car back down and at about this time a nice man came to help us.
We loosened the lug nuts and discovered that my car has a nifty lock on one of the nuts that prevents people from stealing your car tires. That guy finished loosening the nuts and seemed to will the car upwards with the jack at the speed he was going (anything was probably faster than me jacking up the car).
Both of my parents arrived on the scene, and my dad finished fixing the tire, letting the nice man get back to his work. We put everything back together, and headed to school. So much for a normal monday morning.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Happenings of My Life
It has been a long while since I have returned to this blog to write, and in the meantime much has happened. Since my last blog, I have won another disc golf tournament which coincides with winning the Oregon Series (the series of disc golf tournaments over the summer), I've started school again, and I'm getting ready for my brown belt test.
Disc golf is a little more off of my mind these days, because of the grand finale of the Oregon Series being over, but I am very excited about this year's outcomes. At the beginning of the season I was thinking, it would be pretty sweet to win the Oregon Series, but I felt I had no chance at that. After one or two tournaments, I realized I am very much in the running for this win. Lo and behold, it came to pass that I won 2 tournaments which sealed my spot for the win in the Oregon Series. Now I have next year to look forward to, as I will be moving up a division to try and give those girls a run for their money:)
Then there is school, which is the part of my life I am trying very hard to focus on right now. It's my senior year, so I'm finishing up my Exercise Sport Science stuff, and getting started into this Apparrel Design thing. It's very exciting to be so close to then end of my college career, and have a pretty good idea about what I want to do with my life.
Another funny thing about school is, not much has changed. There are still swarms of people at the change of the hour at every intersection, people who are obsessed with their i-pods, and those people who think rubber boots can be a fashion statement. With nothing really changing about school, I still feel different. My attitude in regards to classes and professors has changed, I used to be timid and afraid of even asking a basic question in class, but now I have a new found confidence and my professors and my peers are far less intimidating. Maybe its because I'm a senior this year, or maybe its something else.
The last big thing going on in my life (that I'm willing to blog about!) is karate. I am finally getting ready to promote to the next belt. The journey to brown belt has been quite a frustrating one for me and it isn't over yet. I have obstacles I still need to overcome to be where I want to be for this test, and time keeps zooming by me.
All in all, life is pretty great right now. I know that I will have plenty more to blog about :)
Disc golf is a little more off of my mind these days, because of the grand finale of the Oregon Series being over, but I am very excited about this year's outcomes. At the beginning of the season I was thinking, it would be pretty sweet to win the Oregon Series, but I felt I had no chance at that. After one or two tournaments, I realized I am very much in the running for this win. Lo and behold, it came to pass that I won 2 tournaments which sealed my spot for the win in the Oregon Series. Now I have next year to look forward to, as I will be moving up a division to try and give those girls a run for their money:)
Then there is school, which is the part of my life I am trying very hard to focus on right now. It's my senior year, so I'm finishing up my Exercise Sport Science stuff, and getting started into this Apparrel Design thing. It's very exciting to be so close to then end of my college career, and have a pretty good idea about what I want to do with my life.
Another funny thing about school is, not much has changed. There are still swarms of people at the change of the hour at every intersection, people who are obsessed with their i-pods, and those people who think rubber boots can be a fashion statement. With nothing really changing about school, I still feel different. My attitude in regards to classes and professors has changed, I used to be timid and afraid of even asking a basic question in class, but now I have a new found confidence and my professors and my peers are far less intimidating. Maybe its because I'm a senior this year, or maybe its something else.
The last big thing going on in my life (that I'm willing to blog about!) is karate. I am finally getting ready to promote to the next belt. The journey to brown belt has been quite a frustrating one for me and it isn't over yet. I have obstacles I still need to overcome to be where I want to be for this test, and time keeps zooming by me.
All in all, life is pretty great right now. I know that I will have plenty more to blog about :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
My First Place Weekend
Wow, what a weekend. Not only was this weekend the first weekend of August, but also a first for many other things. I won my first Oregon Series Tournament, I heard a unique pick-up line, and I rode in an ambulance for the first time.
Now for all the details. I had been looking forward to this weekend, because I knew that this could very well be a weekend I could win, and not only that, but in doing so I would beat one of the other intermediate women I had not beat before. You should also know that it just so happens that this weekend was not only the weekend of the Calapooia Classic (the disc golf tournament I speak of) but also the weekend where my high school friend Justine was visiting from Arizona and my friend Heidi's friend Kiira was visiting from Washington. Because these wonderful girls were visiting, Heidi and I had to make sure they had a good time, and of course that means going out and hitting the clubs on a Friday night!
So that was our plan. I wanted to make sure that I got to play the pre-tournament doubles, because they were at the course I had not played in the new layout. Doubles started at 6:00p at Bryant Park, I ended up being partnered with Mike, a great guy who helps run the weekly doubles at Adair. The round that I thought would take a mere 2 hours, ended up taking me 3 hours to play, and in doing so made me late for picking up Justine.
After I picked up Justine and headed to the house in Albany where I was house-sitting, we talked a little, I changed real quick and we headed right back out the door towards Corvallis, leaving Devynn behind with the dogs. (We tried to convince her to come, but for some reason she thought the dogs would enjoy her company better than we would that late at night.)
We started at McMennamins, Justine and I were the first to arrive followed soon by Heidi and Angie (Heidi's roomie). While waiting for Kiira we ordered some food and drinks and discussed all the many things there were to discuss.
Kiira arrived, we continued our evening over at Cantina and the time was about 11:30p. (My original plan was to only stay out until midnight, me having a tournament the next day and all.) We were all pleasantly surprised that the place was actually busy, and the dance floor was moving!
First things, first though, Heidi and I had a much awaited duel to get on with. Since I have started going out, I have learned that there are fun ways to drink drinks. One of them being a drink that you get a shot of some liquor in one glass and some red bull in the other glass. The way you drink this drink is to put the shot glass into the larger glass and then drink the whole thing as fast as you can. You finish first, you win. The drinks we got are called Spider Bites, so the shot is some pretty blue liquid. Angie opted out of the crazy duel, and instead took pictures. I of course, won the contest:)
The rest of the night we danced and drank water and talked, and had a great time. Sometime during the night when we were dancing, actually it was one of the time Heidi and Angie took a break from the dance floor and left Justine, Kiira and me. Now I don't think that I am that tall, but I am definitely taller than Justine and Kiira. With that in mind, I will tell you the next part of my tale.
There's us three girls, dancing in the middle of the dance floor, having a great time, and this tall, very white guy come up to me and says, "Your friends are short, you wanna make out?" I was somewhat dumbfounded at this, and uttered some "No" while Justine blurts into the conversation and says, "She has us to make out with." The guy left, and left us with this funny pick-up line to tell everyone else about. He apparently was pretty interested in making out with me, because he came by another time before we left.
The night was filled with lots of fun memories, and I did not leave at Midnight as planned, but right before closing (1:45am).
And now for the major scheduled event of my weekend, The Calapooia Classic disc golf tournament! Saturday morning, I showed up early, reunited with my disc golf friends, and set about warming up before the round. The first course we were playing was one in Albany, Bryant Park, the same one I had played doubles at the night before. I was on a card with Kim Smothers, and "Over the Hill Bob". Both are very nice people and pretty fun to play disc golf with. At the end of that round I was slightly disappointed with my score of 81, because it only beat my score at that same course (in a easier layout) by one stroke. But, when I heard the scores from the other Intermediate Women's card I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in 2nd. Celeste and Rebecca had played the course with an 85, and the new girl Jackie, had played a 76. So it wasn't as bad as I thought.
Then the race for first got closer, because of a scoring error. Jackie had actually shot a 77, and her group re-counted and thought it was a 76. It ended up being a 77, so her score was adjusted to 79 with the 2 stroke penalty.
The next course we played was Timberlinn, a course I remembered well from last year as fun, but with a lot of O.B. (Out of Bounds). I wanted to shoot better than an 82, and ended up with a 78, which isn't bad, but not as good as I had hoped. Jackie still shot better than me, with a 75 (Now leading by 5 strokes). Rebecca shot an 80 to keep 3rd from Celeste, who had a tough round with a 91. That concluded day one of the tournament. I then proceeded to go to the house and sleep for the rest of the evening.
The next morning, I ventured out early, Devynn decided to join me and the rest of my family informed me that they wanted to watch and would be out at the course later. The course we were playing twice today was Waterloo, a new course to the area with a lot of rough edges still. Devynn kept score and spotted, making us feel quite professional.
Right off the bat, I stole the tee by paring the first hole while everyone else 4-ed. That round I kept playing well and driving far, making the pars come easier. Sometime in the middle of the round I counted up strokes to see that I was now pulling ahead of Jackie, I had earned that 5 strokes back and was now taking some more! She had a couple tough holes, which seemed to cause her to get a little more frazzled. At the end of round 3, I had shot a 69, which made me very happy, because I have never shot under 70 before! Jackie shot an 80 keeping 2nd, Rebecca shot a 79 barely hanging on to 3rd with Celeste shooting a 70 to come back from that previous 91.
Round 4 started off ok, Jackie took back the tee right away, and I was not playing that well. I was letting the pressure get into my head that I was now in first. After a few holes I did shake it off (with Rebecca's help) and started playing well again. At the end of the round, I was definitely in the lead, shooting a 75. Jackie shot a 79, Rebecca also shot a 79. At the end of the round we did not know what Celeste shot, but she ended up shooting another 70 taking 3rd from Rebecca.
After calculating our scores and initialing the score sheet, we started walking back to tournament central across the parking lot. My friend Rebecca is really allergic to bees. The day before her husband played the same course we were playing today and got stung 6 times. Because of this she made sure she carried her Epi-pens with her in case she happened to get stung, and before the rounds started on Sunday, she showed me and the whole group how to administer the shots if she couldn't.
As we walked across the parking lot, the thing that we thought we had avoided happened. Rebecca stopped and started messing with the back of her hair, trying to get a bee out. I stopped too, and kept asking her if she had been stung. All of a sudden she stopped trying to get the bee out and looked at me and said "I've been stung." I rushed over to her disc golf bag and pulled out the first aid kid she had in the front of it. I opened it up as band aides and various things started falling out as I fumbled around to get the Epi-pens out. I handed one to her and immediately started undoing the next one. She jabbed herself in the thigh and dropped the applicator. I asked her if she needed the next one yet, and she told me we need to wait 3 minutes. She asked for a place to sit down because she knew she was going to faint. I looked around and saw the picnic tables, then noticed my car right next to us, so I went to open the door to that.
Some other people had noticed by now that something was wrong, and someone brought over a fold up chair as Rebecca gave herself the second shot. I noticed Jackie on the phone and asked if she was calling the ambulance. (She was)
In a crisis situation it seems that is easier to take if you stay busy. Rebecca told me to get a hold of Kevin (her husband), which proved to be a rather difficult task, because he didn't have a phone with him. I called all of the people I knew who were at the course he was on, and no one was answering. I went through her phone and looked for people to call.
All the while I am calling people and trying to get a hold of Kevin, Rebecca faints in her chair and starts having convulsions on and off. The first time she had one and stopped scared me. It seemed normal for her to faint and her body to be shaking, but when it stopped I was afraid of what that could mean. So many thoughts ran through my head. This was the first time she met my family and they got along great, surely this would not be the only time they see each other.
The ambulance came and the EMTs started checking the status of Rebecca. I was there answering all the questions they had about her and about the situation. They got her situated and moved her to the back of the ambulance from the parking lot and it was about this time the tears started streaming from my eyes. I kept it pretty well under control, most people have never seen me cry because I have mastered this skill so well.
I was chosen to ride with Rebecca in the ambulance, and while I was waiting for us to take off, Josh or "Crawdad", helped comfort me and tell me she was going to be ok. He told me about different situations with bees and people being allergic to them and being way out in the woods and them ending up ok. When the ambulance took off, the EMT driving also helped me deal with the situation. I find it an amazing thing that comfort is always there when you need it.
My whole family waited for her in the hospital, I finally got to go in and see her. She was awake and doing well, and was ready to go find out if she kept her third place or not. Right before we finally got the discharge papers for her to leave, we got a call from her husband Kevin that he was in Albany at the Calapooia Brewing Company. (He had went there after he had driven all the way over to Waterloo and found no one there, terrible way to find out his wife had been stung.) We told he we would meet him there.
We got to the Awards Ceremony in good time, Kevin wanted to take Rebecca home right away so we said our goodbyes and she left. At the Awards I had lots of people telling me congratulations for my win and an equal amount of people asking me about Rebecca. It was definitely a unique experience, I hope that the next time I win a tournament there won't have to be anyone getting stung!
Now for all the details. I had been looking forward to this weekend, because I knew that this could very well be a weekend I could win, and not only that, but in doing so I would beat one of the other intermediate women I had not beat before. You should also know that it just so happens that this weekend was not only the weekend of the Calapooia Classic (the disc golf tournament I speak of) but also the weekend where my high school friend Justine was visiting from Arizona and my friend Heidi's friend Kiira was visiting from Washington. Because these wonderful girls were visiting, Heidi and I had to make sure they had a good time, and of course that means going out and hitting the clubs on a Friday night!
So that was our plan. I wanted to make sure that I got to play the pre-tournament doubles, because they were at the course I had not played in the new layout. Doubles started at 6:00p at Bryant Park, I ended up being partnered with Mike, a great guy who helps run the weekly doubles at Adair. The round that I thought would take a mere 2 hours, ended up taking me 3 hours to play, and in doing so made me late for picking up Justine.
After I picked up Justine and headed to the house in Albany where I was house-sitting, we talked a little, I changed real quick and we headed right back out the door towards Corvallis, leaving Devynn behind with the dogs. (We tried to convince her to come, but for some reason she thought the dogs would enjoy her company better than we would that late at night.)
We started at McMennamins, Justine and I were the first to arrive followed soon by Heidi and Angie (Heidi's roomie). While waiting for Kiira we ordered some food and drinks and discussed all the many things there were to discuss.
Kiira arrived, we continued our evening over at Cantina and the time was about 11:30p. (My original plan was to only stay out until midnight, me having a tournament the next day and all.) We were all pleasantly surprised that the place was actually busy, and the dance floor was moving!
First things, first though, Heidi and I had a much awaited duel to get on with. Since I have started going out, I have learned that there are fun ways to drink drinks. One of them being a drink that you get a shot of some liquor in one glass and some red bull in the other glass. The way you drink this drink is to put the shot glass into the larger glass and then drink the whole thing as fast as you can. You finish first, you win. The drinks we got are called Spider Bites, so the shot is some pretty blue liquid. Angie opted out of the crazy duel, and instead took pictures. I of course, won the contest:)
The rest of the night we danced and drank water and talked, and had a great time. Sometime during the night when we were dancing, actually it was one of the time Heidi and Angie took a break from the dance floor and left Justine, Kiira and me. Now I don't think that I am that tall, but I am definitely taller than Justine and Kiira. With that in mind, I will tell you the next part of my tale.
There's us three girls, dancing in the middle of the dance floor, having a great time, and this tall, very white guy come up to me and says, "Your friends are short, you wanna make out?" I was somewhat dumbfounded at this, and uttered some "No" while Justine blurts into the conversation and says, "She has us to make out with." The guy left, and left us with this funny pick-up line to tell everyone else about. He apparently was pretty interested in making out with me, because he came by another time before we left.
The night was filled with lots of fun memories, and I did not leave at Midnight as planned, but right before closing (1:45am).
And now for the major scheduled event of my weekend, The Calapooia Classic disc golf tournament! Saturday morning, I showed up early, reunited with my disc golf friends, and set about warming up before the round. The first course we were playing was one in Albany, Bryant Park, the same one I had played doubles at the night before. I was on a card with Kim Smothers, and "Over the Hill Bob". Both are very nice people and pretty fun to play disc golf with. At the end of that round I was slightly disappointed with my score of 81, because it only beat my score at that same course (in a easier layout) by one stroke. But, when I heard the scores from the other Intermediate Women's card I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in 2nd. Celeste and Rebecca had played the course with an 85, and the new girl Jackie, had played a 76. So it wasn't as bad as I thought.
Then the race for first got closer, because of a scoring error. Jackie had actually shot a 77, and her group re-counted and thought it was a 76. It ended up being a 77, so her score was adjusted to 79 with the 2 stroke penalty.
The next course we played was Timberlinn, a course I remembered well from last year as fun, but with a lot of O.B. (Out of Bounds). I wanted to shoot better than an 82, and ended up with a 78, which isn't bad, but not as good as I had hoped. Jackie still shot better than me, with a 75 (Now leading by 5 strokes). Rebecca shot an 80 to keep 3rd from Celeste, who had a tough round with a 91. That concluded day one of the tournament. I then proceeded to go to the house and sleep for the rest of the evening.
The next morning, I ventured out early, Devynn decided to join me and the rest of my family informed me that they wanted to watch and would be out at the course later. The course we were playing twice today was Waterloo, a new course to the area with a lot of rough edges still. Devynn kept score and spotted, making us feel quite professional.
Right off the bat, I stole the tee by paring the first hole while everyone else 4-ed. That round I kept playing well and driving far, making the pars come easier. Sometime in the middle of the round I counted up strokes to see that I was now pulling ahead of Jackie, I had earned that 5 strokes back and was now taking some more! She had a couple tough holes, which seemed to cause her to get a little more frazzled. At the end of round 3, I had shot a 69, which made me very happy, because I have never shot under 70 before! Jackie shot an 80 keeping 2nd, Rebecca shot a 79 barely hanging on to 3rd with Celeste shooting a 70 to come back from that previous 91.
Round 4 started off ok, Jackie took back the tee right away, and I was not playing that well. I was letting the pressure get into my head that I was now in first. After a few holes I did shake it off (with Rebecca's help) and started playing well again. At the end of the round, I was definitely in the lead, shooting a 75. Jackie shot a 79, Rebecca also shot a 79. At the end of the round we did not know what Celeste shot, but she ended up shooting another 70 taking 3rd from Rebecca.
After calculating our scores and initialing the score sheet, we started walking back to tournament central across the parking lot. My friend Rebecca is really allergic to bees. The day before her husband played the same course we were playing today and got stung 6 times. Because of this she made sure she carried her Epi-pens with her in case she happened to get stung, and before the rounds started on Sunday, she showed me and the whole group how to administer the shots if she couldn't.
As we walked across the parking lot, the thing that we thought we had avoided happened. Rebecca stopped and started messing with the back of her hair, trying to get a bee out. I stopped too, and kept asking her if she had been stung. All of a sudden she stopped trying to get the bee out and looked at me and said "I've been stung." I rushed over to her disc golf bag and pulled out the first aid kid she had in the front of it. I opened it up as band aides and various things started falling out as I fumbled around to get the Epi-pens out. I handed one to her and immediately started undoing the next one. She jabbed herself in the thigh and dropped the applicator. I asked her if she needed the next one yet, and she told me we need to wait 3 minutes. She asked for a place to sit down because she knew she was going to faint. I looked around and saw the picnic tables, then noticed my car right next to us, so I went to open the door to that.
Some other people had noticed by now that something was wrong, and someone brought over a fold up chair as Rebecca gave herself the second shot. I noticed Jackie on the phone and asked if she was calling the ambulance. (She was)
In a crisis situation it seems that is easier to take if you stay busy. Rebecca told me to get a hold of Kevin (her husband), which proved to be a rather difficult task, because he didn't have a phone with him. I called all of the people I knew who were at the course he was on, and no one was answering. I went through her phone and looked for people to call.
All the while I am calling people and trying to get a hold of Kevin, Rebecca faints in her chair and starts having convulsions on and off. The first time she had one and stopped scared me. It seemed normal for her to faint and her body to be shaking, but when it stopped I was afraid of what that could mean. So many thoughts ran through my head. This was the first time she met my family and they got along great, surely this would not be the only time they see each other.
The ambulance came and the EMTs started checking the status of Rebecca. I was there answering all the questions they had about her and about the situation. They got her situated and moved her to the back of the ambulance from the parking lot and it was about this time the tears started streaming from my eyes. I kept it pretty well under control, most people have never seen me cry because I have mastered this skill so well.
I was chosen to ride with Rebecca in the ambulance, and while I was waiting for us to take off, Josh or "Crawdad", helped comfort me and tell me she was going to be ok. He told me about different situations with bees and people being allergic to them and being way out in the woods and them ending up ok. When the ambulance took off, the EMT driving also helped me deal with the situation. I find it an amazing thing that comfort is always there when you need it.
My whole family waited for her in the hospital, I finally got to go in and see her. She was awake and doing well, and was ready to go find out if she kept her third place or not. Right before we finally got the discharge papers for her to leave, we got a call from her husband Kevin that he was in Albany at the Calapooia Brewing Company. (He had went there after he had driven all the way over to Waterloo and found no one there, terrible way to find out his wife had been stung.) We told he we would meet him there.
We got to the Awards Ceremony in good time, Kevin wanted to take Rebecca home right away so we said our goodbyes and she left. At the Awards I had lots of people telling me congratulations for my win and an equal amount of people asking me about Rebecca. It was definitely a unique experience, I hope that the next time I win a tournament there won't have to be anyone getting stung!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)