Prejudging!

by Kris Pitcher

Prejudging is always a whirlwind of an experience. It starts early...because I can never sleep the night before. This time I woke at 2:00 am, and tried to doze on and off...mostly off. I finally got up at 4:30 am to "put on my face". As you can see in the photos, we are pretty dark. And I have a secret weapon make up that I use to match it. 

So I stumbled into the bathroom to begin the process. It actually only took me about 40 minutes. I had practiced a few times before. I seriously wrestled with one eyelash. It won, but was on the side with my long bangs, and I figured it would do. It did.

Next, hair. It stayed pretty good. Since I barely slept, it was pretty much exactly like when I went to sleep. A few swipes with the hot iron and some back combing, spray, spray and more spray and I was good to go. 

My bag was already packed with the essentials. The requisite food was made. It was time to...wait. We ran through our mixed pairs routine a time. And then I glued myself into my suit - it was almost time to go. You can just skip to the next paragraph, because I'm about to tell you about my bathroom habits. It will be too much information. I apologize in advance. Then I felt like I had to go. You know...number 2. (sorry everyone, but that's a big deal on contest day.) 

So while my husband was literally packing the car, I made a dash for it. And low and behold was successful. Thank you for your support.

We were on the road. Once we arrived at the venue, it was time to eat. And time to pee again. Not easy once you're in your suit. But I never glue the bottom, so no problem here.

We met up with fellow competitors, Jacques' clients, and waited for his coach. Inside the theatre we took stake of great seats and waited for the competitor meeting. Our coach, and friends arrived. Everyone excited!

Once the meeting was over, it was back stage to again stake out space, check color and get ready. Mixed pairs was first on the schedule. We did great! Then I was off for a quick suit change for my individual weight class.

All glued in ( I thought) it was time for some carbs and to get oiled up. Then I was off to pump up. And pump up I did! Thank you carbs and sodium. I always get super nervous before I go on stage, my adrenaline is pumping. It's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. And as I was walking off stage...boobage. My right boob did a Janet Jackson out the bottom. We'll just hope the audience either didn't notice, or enjoyed that. 

Next, Jacques was up. And boy was I glad to be done. I was out of my suit top and into my shirt and pajama bottoms to go out into the audience to watch his class. 

And he looks great this year! I am proud of the work we both did during our very focused off season. So, as I write we are resting (on Saturday) waiting to go back to the night show for awards. We don't know how we did yet.

But the work is done. The judging is over. We are already thinking about what might be next. Thinking about what we want to improve upon. But we are also ready to celebrate this moment. It feels good.