6:10am *Cell phone alarm goes off*
~Groggy, got dressed yata, yata, yata

6:31 I leave the apartment
Half a block away from the subway I realize I forgot my sheet that has the bus & gate number, time,

6:56 I arrive at Port Authority Bus Terminal. I saw the line for the ticketing booth was long (8 people). Rats, I thought, I was hoping to ask the agent the bus number and etc. I decided to go to the kiosk and see if I can remember the number by memory. Hmmm Bus 197 Wayne, Warwick. Sounds familiar, eh, I have to get it now, I dont have that much time. Then the machine ask me the zone number, great! umm I saw the farthest zone 20, rather have much than short.
I started walking towards the gates, now Im going by visual memory. I went into the gate where I thought it would be, YES!!! gate 233, YEY!

7:25 The 197 pulled up and I made sure I sat in the front since I could hardly remember where the exact stop would be

8:27 I halted to the driver to stop on Barbour Pond Road and Valley Road
I walked one block to the rink and found rink 1 empty.

I got dressed and laced up my skates and stepped on the ice at 8:52

I placed Tosca on the loud speaker and had it play on loop at least 3 times.

9:12 Nina Petrenko stepped onto the ice sporting an Italian National team jacket with a 2002 Olympic fleece sweater and scarf.

9:16 I decided to tackle the spins first since I knew that got me easily tired
Camel - blah! Camel - traveled 3 feet (oooh no), Camel - stepped out
Attitude - traveled 3.5 feet (wondered if something is wrong with my left blade - maybe the setting is slightly off) Camel - got into the hook but couldnt hold the edge continously.

9:32 I did two waltz jumps, salchow, salchow/half-loop/salchow (wonky and out of place), I never do half loop jump sequences AT ALL!!! I did at least 1 more time and said, eh, good enough. Then moved onto Flip and Loop/Loop.

9:34 Victor Patrenko stepped onto the ice to coach the head case 2axel girl. He was wearing a Ukraine jacket.

9:36 I decided to play my music for the last time. I just mapped out the jumps and decided to do the spins. Camel - hook too short-step out, Second Camel - body wasnt in a spiral position so I bailed out.

9:44 I stepped off the ice and figured I had enough. I took two pills of dramamine, just in case.

The test was running behind, there was a JR Nat competitor and was being critiqued by the panel.

10:47 I was given permission by the test chairman to ask the panel a question. I asked them if I can do a camel/attitude for a combination and if it would be properly ratified. They said yes. Yey I thought. I told them that due to my surgery I am unable to do a sit spin.

I stepped on the ice for warmup at 11:02 I felt fine, no numb legs, I saw Cathie off the boards reminding me to breathe, I smiled back and nodded.
I started off with a loop/loop, flip, and salchow/half-loop/salchow, stroked around for a little bit then got off the ice 36 seconds before the warmup ended. I quickly took off my left skate because my foot was getting numb. I could feel the looseness of my right boot. I thought it was time for me to start putting duct tape again. ugh

I was calm and not putting too much stress on myself at this time. I figured things would fall into place and if I made a mistake it would only be one and knew I would get a retry.

11:17 I stepped on the ice with full costume (my usual gold outfit-shortsleeves) {yes it was fudging cold} and plus I shaved my head so it was colder. I took two puffs of my inhaler and knew I was set to go.

I did not wait for my feet to tell me to start I just simply took my place and knew everything would be ok.

Loop/Loop: strong checkout and no pussy landing

Salchow/half-loop/salchow: first sal ok, half loop-so/so, salchow (I laughed at myself bc the rarity of me doing these combos)

Camel: one revolution and placed my foot down

Flip: flip? I did the three turn and just turned around like Emily Hughes at Skate America, I quickly turned around to try again, HALF-FLIP! My body was so curved in that it was impossible to get a good check before taking off.

Could this get any worse I thought!

Second Camel attempt: body bailed out and could not even get into an attitude position. Oh dear, I thought: "Darn it, I dont want to go back to this damn rink again and do this over!"

Loop: ok, Salchow: ok, attitude - felt fine so I held it as long as I could and ended on my knees to my swan-05 ending position.

Crap, crap, crap I thought. I took a drink of my hot chocolate that was already cold. I overheard one judge say, "his flip was fine in the warmup, just the spins." I hoped and prayed that my attempt would work this time. I tried THREE TIMES and none worked, they said they kind of understood because of the surgery. Before they were about to dismiss me, I told them I would try a back camel into a back scratch. They agreed. I NEVER did back camels without flying into it, so I knew this attempt would be interesting. I did 1.5 revs and pulled into a backscratch that spun 7 revolutions. I felt like crawling in bed and just forgetting the rest of the day. Cathy handed me the papers and whispered, "you passed" I was shocked. How? Why? Huh? replayed in my head at least 5 times. I got the score sheets and saw:
Judge 1: Tech 2.7 All elements complete, Presentation 2.7 Nice extension
Judge 2: Tech 2.7 Work on your spins - your jumps are fine!, Presentation 2.7 very nice presentation
Judge 3: Tech 2.7, Presenation 2.7 (no notes)

I have hit all passing average scores from all panel. Phew I thought. I knew though that it was not a good performance AT ALL!!! It was trully a gift and a wake up call. It hit me, I am not young anymore that I could pull off these clean performances without preparation. I HAVE TO WORK ON THE FECKING SPINS!!! ugh * Anyways I am happy to compete at competitions as a valid Silver level skater I will be taking time off for a short while and skate at least once a week until mid-January for New Year's Invitational, Sectionals, and Nationals.

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Tim David's Website

ALRIGHT!!!! Way to go! Congrats

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A BIG CONGRATS TO YOU!

HEY, PAL, YOU SHOULD HAVE PASSED THE TEST JUST FOR HANGIN OUT AT THE PORT AUTHORITY THAT EARLY IN THE MORNIN!

Congratulations!! It's great that you have already passed your test in November. Now you have time to beef up your program and get it perfect before Sectionals and Nationals!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Congratulations! What an achievement. Enjoy Adult Nationals...

Congratulations.
Now, can you please send those pass vibes South? I'll be retaking Bronze moves in two weeks!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Thanks, I cant wait for Sectionals and Nationals ~ and finally a valid official silver level skater.
Thanks, Sure will do ;-)

I will debut a new program for sectionals, I don’t know yet what it would be.

Thanks dear, Hahaha, yeh it was a joy ;-)

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Tim David's Website

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

way to go Tim and what an exciting writeup - You really have to save that description of the day - it was inspired.
Lyle

Congratulations!

I hope that you are still competing next year, so that I can go against you and show you how it's really done... Hehehe, well in all seriousness, congratulations.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

CONGRATULATIONS!

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Congrats, Tim. Based on your description, I think your test may be the perfect example of the rule that was being discussed here a little while back. That is, that the judges may pass you if they believe that as a whole you skate at the silver level.

Having seen you compete, IMO you certainly come across as a "silver skater", at the very least. So despite a few mistakes, this must have come through on your test. When I passed my silver freestyle it was with a horrible camel spin. I was surprised, too, but I suppose the rest of my program looked silvery enough.

Tim M.

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People dream of flying, birds dream of skating.