My apologies for not sending an update yesterday. It was a long day, and I couldn't muster up the energy. It started with an early breakfast (have you noticed a pattern yet?) sponsored by the Lion's Club, and then we went straight to a local elementary school. The kids were great and really funny. I have to be honest though, they are terrible at geography. Every kid who volunteered to point out one of our states on a map got it wrong. I bet if I asked them what time of year you harvest corn they'd get it right. Okay, in all fairness, we only visited kindergarten through second grade, so I guess I can cut them some slack.
Later we headed to the civic center (barn) to rehearse the opening number. The choreographer is a bit of a perfectionist, so we spent a lot of time making everyone's cane hit the ground at the same time. By the way, the theme of the show is "Puttin' on the Ritz," and every time the music comes on, all I can think about is that Ritz cracker commercial from the mid 90s. Anyway, here's the irony of the situation: we spent two hours working on this number, and then during the show we couldn't hear the music start and missed about 25 seconds fo the minute-long production. Needless to say, canes were flying and not one hit at the right time. The good news is, we looked smashing in our top hats, bow ties, and cummerbunds.
Later we headed to the civic center (barn) to rehearse the opening number. The choreographer is a bit of a perfectionist, so we spent a lot of time making everyone's cane hit the ground at the same time. By the way, the theme of the show is "Puttin' on the Ritz," and every time the music comes on, all I can think about is that Ritz cracker commercial from the mid 90s. Anyway, here's the irony of the situation: we spent two hours working on this number, and then during the show we couldn't hear the music start and missed about 25 seconds fo the minute-long production. Needless to say, canes were flying and not one hit at the right time. The good news is, we looked smashing in our top hats, bow ties, and cummerbunds.
After rehearsal, we dined in style at a local country club before heading back to rehearse talent. As I walked into the dressing room, there was a camera crew filming us from a Champaign new station. The female reporter looked at me and said, "Gina? Is that you?" It turns out to be a girl I went to high school with and haven't seen in years. Talk about a random place to meet up again. The best part was she had them do a feature interview for the 10:00 news, which I never ended up catching. Small world. Speaking of news, there was a great big photo of me practicing my talent in the Champaign newspaper earlier this week. I look really serious and focused.
My talent performance went all right last night. Most of you who know me understand how much I struggle with sound issues and last night was no exception. Let's just say we don't have a prefessional stage crew at this show. I'm grateful for the volunteers, but it was definitely a challenge last night. I'd say it was my second to worst performance to date, the first being the only time I've ever won a talent award. Oh the irony. Anyway, it's over, and I can relax. Well, relax in a swimsuit and high heels, that is.
As I mentioned earlier in the week, I raced in the annual Sweetcorn 5K Classic this morning. I must admit that it sounded like a much better idea three days ago. It was tough to race during a pageant week because my diet, exercise, and sleep routines are completely out of whack. My goal was just to finish under 30 minutes, and I made it despite a bad cramp on mile 1.5. Miss Utah, Jill Stevens, also ran it and finished second amony the women and first in our age group. She's a pretty tough cookie. She is a soldier in the Army National Guard and has served in Afghanistan. After she finished the race, she turned around to run me in to the finish line. It was a Kodak moment if there has ever been one.
After the 5K, we headed home to shower and magically transform ourselves from athletes to beauty queens. We had less than an hour to get home, shower, do hair and makeup, and get lined up for the parade. After rushing back, we sat in line for about an hour, go figure. My costume was a big hit. I had a Michigan football theme with crazy slippers. You will have to see the pictures because I just can't describe it. I was actually booed by a number of Illinois and Ohio State fans, but it was all in good fun.
By lunch time, I was ready to collapse, and now I am home resting before the show. I'm about to take a nap to make up for sleep lost due to the excitement of this week. I can't believe everything that has happened in the last six days. It feels like a dream. Again, thank you all for your emails and phone calls. I'm sorry I can't be better about returning them right now. Time is sleep at this point, and my phone is on roam out here. Thanks for your love and support. Unless by the grace of God Miss Indiana and Miss Georgia put on 20 lbs. in the next two hours, I do not anticipate a swimsuit victory this evening, so don't expect news from me again until tomorrow.
Your corn fritter,
Gina
My talent performance went all right last night. Most of you who know me understand how much I struggle with sound issues and last night was no exception. Let's just say we don't have a prefessional stage crew at this show. I'm grateful for the volunteers, but it was definitely a challenge last night. I'd say it was my second to worst performance to date, the first being the only time I've ever won a talent award. Oh the irony. Anyway, it's over, and I can relax. Well, relax in a swimsuit and high heels, that is.
As I mentioned earlier in the week, I raced in the annual Sweetcorn 5K Classic this morning. I must admit that it sounded like a much better idea three days ago. It was tough to race during a pageant week because my diet, exercise, and sleep routines are completely out of whack. My goal was just to finish under 30 minutes, and I made it despite a bad cramp on mile 1.5. Miss Utah, Jill Stevens, also ran it and finished second amony the women and first in our age group. She's a pretty tough cookie. She is a soldier in the Army National Guard and has served in Afghanistan. After she finished the race, she turned around to run me in to the finish line. It was a Kodak moment if there has ever been one.
After the 5K, we headed home to shower and magically transform ourselves from athletes to beauty queens. We had less than an hour to get home, shower, do hair and makeup, and get lined up for the parade. After rushing back, we sat in line for about an hour, go figure. My costume was a big hit. I had a Michigan football theme with crazy slippers. You will have to see the pictures because I just can't describe it. I was actually booed by a number of Illinois and Ohio State fans, but it was all in good fun.
By lunch time, I was ready to collapse, and now I am home resting before the show. I'm about to take a nap to make up for sleep lost due to the excitement of this week. I can't believe everything that has happened in the last six days. It feels like a dream. Again, thank you all for your emails and phone calls. I'm sorry I can't be better about returning them right now. Time is sleep at this point, and my phone is on roam out here. Thanks for your love and support. Unless by the grace of God Miss Indiana and Miss Georgia put on 20 lbs. in the next two hours, I do not anticipate a swimsuit victory this evening, so don't expect news from me again until tomorrow.
Your corn fritter,
Gina
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