Purple Pride
What a weekend! My rowing girls were down here in Texas competing in the Longhorn Invitational. I drove down to Austin to watch a race from the bridge and cheer on my Cats. They'd only been on the water for 5 days before their first race, so they had some catching up to do. I hadn't realized how much I missed just hanging out with all my friends on trips. It was great to chat and spend time with everyone.
I finally got to experience some of Austin outside of racing and curfews. I had dinner at Art's Rib House one evening with my girl Christa Bowman and her family. There was a folk band playing right behind us. One of the guys was an amazing accordion player. I don't know if I will ever forget her mom singing "Squeeze Box" by The Who. FUNNY!!! I was laughing hysterically. The brontosaurus sized ribs I had were great. We headed down to 6th Street for some ice cream afterwards. I highly recommend Amy's Ice Cream to anyone in Austin. It was kind of like Cold Stone, only WAY cooler. They have a bunch of homemade flavors. I had Nutter Butter (Who would have guessed? Peanut butter and ice cream are a lethal combination!) The ice cream guys who work at this little shop were highly impressive. They threw the ice cream scoops in the air and caught them in the little bowls. One guy could have been on those bartender bottle flipping championships. He threw the ice cream in the air (still on the scooper) and caught it behind his back. We even witnessed them throwing and catching ice cream across 4 lanes of traffic (they tossed between stop lights). It was a really fun night, and definitely worth the trek downtown.
Sunday morning I got to eat at Magnolia's Cafe. It's right by the UT boathouse entrance, and I've always wanted to go. The restaurant was even on the show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on Food Network, so it had to be good. I walked in, found a table, and decided on an omelet with a short stack of pancakes. I'm a big eater, so I thought I could handle that. Wrong! This omelet was the size of a Chipotle burrito, and the 2 pancakes were the diameter of the dinner plate they were on. It was A LOT of food, but oh, so wonderful. Yummy! I didn't eat for the rest of the day, but it was definitely worth it.
Like I said, I got to see some more of Austin, spend time with my girls, and reminisce with Kylie about all the stuff we'd done there in the last four years. Good times. I don't really miss racing, but let me clarify. I don't miss the intense pain, but I miss the competition. I was able to go out with Coach Sweeney in a launch on Sunday afternoon and watch a nice, easy practice. I did miss those days. Just going out for a long paddle in a set boat, and I definitely missed all coach's comments. He just makes me smile. I even got ahold of my old stroke, Michael Knoll, and told her how much I missed following her lead. Danna, who was my seat partner for a few years, even talked about getting our alumni boat together next March for the San Diego Crew Classic. It's a few days later now, and I'm feeling more like myself again. Not really missing rowing, but definitely missing my good friends. I don't plan on touching an erg for as long as possible, that is one thing I know for certain!
In honor of this rowing weekend, and keeping in line with my Olympic theme, I'm posting our senior awards banquet video from last year. Each year the graduating seniors put together a little something for the banquet. The year before had been The Sweeneys, which was our rowing version of The Oscars. We had some big shoes to fill, and what's bigger than the Olympics? Nothing! (If you ask me, that is.) So, we had a great time making these videos and presenting our winners with their medals. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you don't know us or the team, these probably won't make a lot of sense. I still laugh every time I watch though, and I thoroughly enjoy watching Kris re-enact Jaci's near head splitting fall in slow motion. Enjoy!
I know with the title "Purple Pride" I'm going to hear about my basketball teams losses. I'm so sad for both the KSU men's and women's basketball teams. They both had losses way too early in the tournament. They both had a great years fighting back through adversity, and I hope everyone on the teams remember that.
Not much else going on here. I took me twice as long to get home from Austin as it did to get down there. Zoom was fairly easy on Monday, and I'm just enjoying my week. Hope you're enjoying yours too!
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| Telling my bobsledding stories... Potential crashes draw some good looks. |
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| Miss seeing these girls everyday! |
Sunday morning I got to eat at Magnolia's Cafe. It's right by the UT boathouse entrance, and I've always wanted to go. The restaurant was even on the show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on Food Network, so it had to be good. I walked in, found a table, and decided on an omelet with a short stack of pancakes. I'm a big eater, so I thought I could handle that. Wrong! This omelet was the size of a Chipotle burrito, and the 2 pancakes were the diameter of the dinner plate they were on. It was A LOT of food, but oh, so wonderful. Yummy! I didn't eat for the rest of the day, but it was definitely worth it.
Like I said, I got to see some more of Austin, spend time with my girls, and reminisce with Kylie about all the stuff we'd done there in the last four years. Good times. I don't really miss racing, but let me clarify. I don't miss the intense pain, but I miss the competition. I was able to go out with Coach Sweeney in a launch on Sunday afternoon and watch a nice, easy practice. I did miss those days. Just going out for a long paddle in a set boat, and I definitely missed all coach's comments. He just makes me smile. I even got ahold of my old stroke, Michael Knoll, and told her how much I missed following her lead. Danna, who was my seat partner for a few years, even talked about getting our alumni boat together next March for the San Diego Crew Classic. It's a few days later now, and I'm feeling more like myself again. Not really missing rowing, but definitely missing my good friends. I don't plan on touching an erg for as long as possible, that is one thing I know for certain!
In honor of this rowing weekend, and keeping in line with my Olympic theme, I'm posting our senior awards banquet video from last year. Each year the graduating seniors put together a little something for the banquet. The year before had been The Sweeneys, which was our rowing version of The Oscars. We had some big shoes to fill, and what's bigger than the Olympics? Nothing! (If you ask me, that is.) So, we had a great time making these videos and presenting our winners with their medals. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you don't know us or the team, these probably won't make a lot of sense. I still laugh every time I watch though, and I thoroughly enjoy watching Kris re-enact Jaci's near head splitting fall in slow motion. Enjoy!
I know with the title "Purple Pride" I'm going to hear about my basketball teams losses. I'm so sad for both the KSU men's and women's basketball teams. They both had losses way too early in the tournament. They both had a great years fighting back through adversity, and I hope everyone on the teams remember that.
Not much else going on here. I took me twice as long to get home from Austin as it did to get down there. Zoom was fairly easy on Monday, and I'm just enjoying my week. Hope you're enjoying yours too!