Nationals Team Send-Off
In previous years, our rink did not send many adults to the Adult Figure Skating Championships (“Nationals”). I’m not quite sure why. There was one year where I think 3 or 4 adults from our rink competed, but that was long before I even began testing.
This year, we have 5 adults competing at Nationals. It will be neat to go up there and know that I have 4 other people who will be there to cheer me on (and I will be there to support them as well). None of us will be competing against each other, since we are all in different levels and/or age groups.
One of my Nationals teammates organized a wonderful send-off for us this week. She baked a gorgeous cake (as seen above, but with the other skaters’ names covered up), which was a chocolate cake filled with a chocolate mousse and decorated with a cream cheese whipped cream icing. Addie came along and ate a piece and my extra frosting. I’m going to ask for the recipe and hopefully can share it with you here.
My teammate also gave us each a goody bag – filled with snacks, a restaurant gift certificate for Boston, champagne, plastic champagne glasses, water with our events labeled on it, candy, ibuprofen and tissues. It was completely unexpected but very much appreciated. I am floored that someone would do something this kind for us, and I am blown away by her generosity.
This same teammate has been to several Nationals before, and she told us about a long-honored tradition after each skater’s performance. Audience members throw “tossies” at the skater to congratulate them for a fantastic performance. The tossies are usually small stuffed animals but can be any small gift. We are tagging them with our names and home rink so the skaters can remember us. It is going to be fun to be showered with gifts after my skate, well, assuming that people throw me a few.
I’m still trying to run through my program as much as I can, but it’s hard when I work full time. Regardless, I’ll be happy to debut it in a few short weeks.
