The time finally came for another adventure to my second national judo competition. This time our destination was Irving, TX.
I spent the majority of the night doing laundry, packing, and watching day 2 of the IJF Qingdao competition. I went to bed around 5 AM and thankfully with a nicely packed suitcase. Three cheers for eliminating additional clothing that will ultimately make it harder in the long run.
I woke up around 8:15 AM, took a shower, and hopped on the 9 AM train bound for Jefferson Park. I transferred to the blue line and took it to O’Hare International. Check-in was painless and the TSA checkpoint was rather dead for that time of day. Surprising considering it was Friday.
Independently finding the gate, on the other hand, completely jostled my confidence. I found myself aimlessly wandering until I found the end of the B concourse. I was then poorly directed to the correct escalator and found my gate with 15 minutes before boarding. Ugh! I am so stubborn… I refuse to accept help at the airport because it makes me feel like I’m not capable. However, it all worked itself out. I wasn’t the only one who was late. In fact, I was there before several others.
We boarded the aircraft. Then, we were delayed for 40 minutes because of computer problems. Other than the crying children that usually accompany the majority of my flying experiences, the flight was uneventful. We actually arrived almost on time. We proceeded to find our bags at the baggage claim and then looked for a way to the hotel. A cab refused access to us because of W, my guide dog. I was furious, but we sought other means to get to the hotel. We didn’t have time to fight with the ignorant cab driver.
Upon arriving at the hotel, we checked in and found our room. I have a bed to myself. The view outside our window is of a lake. I chose the bed closest to the door and situated my belongings. I relaxed for 10 minutes and explored the room. W watched me from a perfect down-stay.
Once everything was in place, I left the room and found the practice weigh-in scale. I found out that I was 89 kg on the dot. My teammates and I went to the convention center where the competition was being held. We proceeded to register and then went upstairs to officially weigh in. Without the usual bulk of clothing, I was at 87.9 kg, the lightest I’ve been in over 7 years. It baffled me… Granted, this scale is different from mine. There is fluctuation. However, I couldn’t deny the fact that I had lost weight since Reno. I was 91.0 kg in Reno and 87.9 here in TX. That equates to 3.1 kg AKA 6.8 pounds lost! So you can imagine my surprise and delight.
Three of my teammates and I had dinner together. I wolfed down a piece of chicken quesadilla, some calamari, a mushroom and bleu cheese burger, and french fries. It was delicious… Then again, after not eating for almost the entire day, anything would taste epic. I don’t plan on dining in the hotel again because of how expensive the bill was.
Post dinner, I returned to my room and started catching up on social media and my blog.
So here we are… Day 2 will be here shortly. Considering I have already weighed in, tomorrow should be a breeze. Now, I believe it’s time for me to go to bed. I have a full day ahead. Goodnight all!
