Pudding

In the play "The Matchmaker", which subsequently became the musical "Hello Dolly", written by Thorton Wilder, there is a scene in which two workers (a clerk and the assistant to that clerk) at a Hay and Feed store named Conelius Hackle and Barnaby Tucker, respectively, decide to have an adventure in New York City. They leave Yonkers and have a catchphase for when they are having an "adventure". They will say "Pudding!" when it hapens. After watching the movie "The Matchmaker" (it's a lovely, sweet old movie with Shirley Booth - look her up), my sister Becca and I decided that "pudding" would be our catchphase whenever we had an advenure. Got lost? Pudding! Stuck in a freak snow storm without proper clothing? Pudding! My competition last weekend? Well... It started off well. We took the train to the location because I no longer own a car. Upon arriving at a rather old hotel, one key card didn't work. Becca went upstairs (yes, the lobby or the foyer was on the 3rd floor; our room was on the 2nd floor) to get new key cards. And they worked, once each time. Afraid of bedbugs? Do what we do, which is bring bedbug spray and spray down your beds. Don't place your suitcase on the bed either. Don't forget to wipe down the remote, door handles, phone and light switches. We did this pre-pandemic so it's not our paranoia about germs that caused this. These things aren't usually cleaned and I don't want someone else's sickness. Some things didn't go as planned and one major one was my fault. I didn't do my due dilligence regarding the actual location of the rink for the official practice. As a result, there were two locations and the UBER went to the wrong one. Since we were not in NYC, the wait for another UBER took the entire length of the offical practice. So, no practice for me. Competition time!!! Let's just say, I was there. My nerves got the better of me and I missed three of the four jumps planned. I duplicated a spin because I fell out of the planned camel spin and received zero points for that. I did receive a nice amount of points for my footwork and attitude (which was supposed to be a layback) spin and skating skills. All in all, this being my first IJS competition and being away from it for several years, I was there. I am back! First IJS competition down, more to come. As far as "Pudding" is concerned, both my sister and I had a small bout of food poisoning after the competion was done. We both ended up with extreme dizziness and nausea, which lasted a few hours, but having the world spinning around you is quite disturbing. Maybe it was the water. Eight UBERs in one short weekend makes me think about renting a car for my next competition. The drivers were great, but the wait time was not. Onward to the next competiton... next year.