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Good Morning, my Peeps (and Random Blog Surfers)!
I write to you from beautiful, foggy, Cary, NC in a pretty darn good mood as I'm drinking Dr.Pepper and eating a breakfast bar. Sugar, sugar, and more sugar...the best way to start the day.

I know you're all wondering what my plans for the weekend are. And if you aren't, shame on you. Well, as Yours Truly is going to be out of town for the next three weekends, I will therefore have plenty of amusing anecdotes to regale you with on Monday mornings. This weekend, I will be traveling to Virginia to see my favorite boyfriend compete in a water polo tournament with a bunch of other Speedo-clad guys from NC State. Talk about a good time. I had the good fortune to make it to their one in-state tournament at Duke last year and I have never seen so many white legs and hairy backs in one place in my entire life (NASCAR coming in a close second). It was there that I learned that apparently ECU recruits from among the Wookie community for their H2O polo team. Pride for ECU swelled in my heart.

I have to say, in considering all that is involved in playing water polo, I think it would be an extremely difficult sport to play, both physically as well as emotionally (I realize this sounds somewhat like an essay, but not on purpose, I promise). First of all, you have the obvious challenge of playing what is pretty much water basketball, most of the time in a pool so deep you couldn't touch bottom if your life depended on it (literally, in my case). So not only do you have to focus on the game and work with your teammates to get the ball in the little goal while defending your own, but you also have to constantly tread water and swim....a feat most people would find difficult on its own for the amount of time it takes to finish a game. I get exhausted just watching them.

Second of all, you have the emotional trauma of being active in a competitive event wearing nothing more than a full-piece swimsuit (girls) or worse, a Speedo (you poor guys!). I have to admit, I don't quite understand the necessity of the Speedo in an event like water polo. In competitive swimming, you're fighting for the best time and striving to break records so yes, shave your entire body, wear a g-string, and slather yourself in Vaseline if necessary. But in water polo, you're not so much going for speed or trying to make the "best time" so much as just trying to score the most goals. If you're all wearing blue jeans, for pete's sake, you'd all have the same handicap and therefore, could still play competitively. You know what I mean? I say put them all in some conservative swim trunks (in the case of some of them...please!) and then they're all working on the same level playing field, figuratively speaking. I guess what I'm getting at is that Speedos should be a last resort, an absolute necessity. We spectators aren't there to see all that. Believe me. There are just certain things I don't want to see. Ever.

Adding to the emotional trauma of water polo players are the little swimmy caps they have to wear throughout the game. They're usually red or blue (best I can remember), with the team member's number on the side somewhere. And worst of all, they have little ear flaps and tie under the chin, much like those little lacey bonnets you see on pictures of babies from the late 19th century at their Christenings. Cuuuuute!

I've threatened Jeffrey to show up with a camera and a zoom lens this weekend, but I realized I wouldn't want to put him through any more trauma than that he's already had to suffer at previous tournaments. More importantly, I'd kill him if he did that to me. I have to admit though, there's fun in the threat.

Until Monday, have a lovely (rainy?) weekend, go to the State Fair before it closes on Sunday, and do something you've never done before. At the risk of sounding incredibly sappy/Hallmark-y/TimMcGraw-y, I've realized that life goes very quickly and if you're not careful, you'll look back and do a lot of wishing. It's a big world out there and there's never been a You before so get out there and do something you can learn from and tell stories about. Meet people. Do something that makes you uncomfortable. This is my new goal for myself which, at the absolute worst, will give me all the more somewhat amusing stories to tell you guys. I envy you all for your good fortune in that respect.

Drink coffee. Nathan does. It's the hip, college thing to do. You go, Nathan!