5 long years, Grand Openings, and fencing suckage

I have been married to my husband for five very long years. Our anniversary was actually on the 21st, but we decided to celebrate a week late because we were busy with a tournament on our actual anniversary. I was really worried that it was going to be a hug disappointment, because my husband isn't exactly the most romantic of men, and usually puts thought into nothing but running fencing schools.

I was actually pleasently surprised. I had arranged for us to go get a "couple's massage," which was absolutely wonderful and relaxing. Then we went to dinner because we had gift certificates for Olive Garden. It was an absolutely perfect evening. His gift to me was a great big 2 person swing for the back patio. Very sweet and romantic. We had a lovely conversation over dinner, and a few drinks. It was really a great evening.

Today, we had the Grand Opening of our 5th school, and had an informal epee tournament to kick things off. We also had a kighting ceremony to induct new instructors into the ranks (me being one of them.) I had to drop out of the tournament a bit early, because one of the lefties went rightto my knee. The tip of the epee went right under my kneecap (even through the knickers). Ouch.

On to the fencing suckage. Why do I have to suck so much? I know what I need to do, and I can't do any of it. I feel like I'm not even worthy of being Knighted. It's not even about winning or losing, just about being a horribly crappy fencer.

Hot and Cold

I usually recap every tournament I fence in here. However, I've really been avoiding this post all week.

I absolutely hate the fact that I can't fence consistantly. It drives me nuts. Sunday was my first tournament back since the mighty thumb incident. Six weeks without a tournament, and five without practice. I had very low expectations for myself in this tournament anyway, but I just wanted to fence ok for my ability. WRONG!!!!

They needed 1 more warm body in the foil to raise the rating of the tournament, so I got thrown in. Fine. I actually won a bout in my pool, and got points in 2 of the other 3. Yay. I drew one of my foil fencing team mates for my first DE. Ick. He's a great guy, and always a pleasure to fence in any weapon, but quite a bit better than non-foil me. I actually did much better than I had anticipated, losing 15-8 in the bout.

Epee. The weapon I was there for in the first place. I blew it. Completely. I won one bout in my pool. :( I drew my first DE against one of my not-so-nice teammates. The kid has always had a real problem with sportsmanship and attitude. Needless to say, I wasn't at all looking forward to being his cannon fodder. Proving me right, he was a complete jerk, hitting very hard, and being really nasty about everything. He ended my day very early. I suck.

Last night was epee night at practice. I fenced really well. My footwork was quick and light (especially for fencing on such a nasty knee injury.) I fenced a couple of students, and then one of the new epee coaches. I did incredibly well, and paced him the entire time. I ended up losing 15-14. Fine.

Why can't I fence that well all the time? It's depressing.

On another depressing note, I just got a phonecall from the job I interviewed for last week that I wanted so badly. I didn't get it. Everything sucks.

Sexist pigs and such...

This weekend was the Georgia Divisionals. I was hired as a referree. Most people were really nice. A few people really sucked.

There was one veteran foil gentleman (I use the term lightly, as he didn't act much like one), who gave me a really hard time. He argued aboslutely everything. He even requested to the bout committee that I do not referree anything he fences in for the rest of the weekend. It was pointed out to me that I was the only female ref in the room, and that certain people believe that women should never be in a position of authority, no matter how qualified they may be. Harumph.

This same man's coach was another offender. I previously had an enormous amount of respect for the man. That respect is now gone. I know there will never come a time when someone in a room doesn't question a referee's call. I don't expect people to agree with me all the time. However, there is a proper and polite way to argue with a referee. This coach set a bad example for his students, and lost my respect. People never live up to what they are in your mind.

On a more positive note:
1) Jeebus really does exist! (and he's a super cool guy!)
2) I'm more convinced that I need knee surgery after spending about 24hours of my weekend on my feet.
3) If I could be half the fencer that I am referee and coach, I'd be doing pretty well!
4) Took my cast off this morning. Thumb is still quite a bit sore, but it doesn't feel too bad. Onward to fencing!

The Good News, and the Bad News...

Yesterday was my follow-up appointment with the orthopaedist to see how how my knee was progressing after a month of PT.

The good news, part 1: While I was there, he decided to take a look at my thumb. After taking new x-rays and fiddling with it a bit, he gave me some good news. It doesn't seem to him like I have a ligament damage, and he said I can take the stupid cast off and fence next week.

The bad news: The knee isn't benefitting from PT at all. Were going to do surgery. He's going to do a lateral release arthroscopy, which is not major at all, but slightly more serious than what I've had done before. He's going to cut along the side of my knee cap, and release all the crap that's pulling my kneecap out of place so that it tracks properly again. He's also going to check out the medial side of my knee, to make sure there isn't a tear there that isn't showing up on my MRI. I'm much more comfortable with the idea of surgery, now that we've exhausted all the options we've got on the stupid knee, but I'm still not excited about it.

The good news, part 2: The doctor said that if I can tough it out until July, he'll wait until then to do the surgery so that I can fence in Nationals. Yay! He told me that, I'm not going to do any more damage than is already in there, so I might as well give it a shot. Besides, July is really the best time to have knee surgery, as there's almost nothing going on fencing-wise until September or so.

So, I guess I'm 2-1. Not as bad as it could be...