Miss Michigan Week Day 4

I apologize again for skipping a day, but it's hard finding time to write. It's Tuesday and the girls had their interviews today. Everyone seemed pretty happy, but you can tell that the mood has shifted. It's easy to forget how intense this week is for the contestants. Not only do they all want the same job, but so many of them are waiting on the results to decide their next move. It's scary and as the week goes on, it's becoming more real.

Yesterday was a lot of rehearsal. We had lunch with the Exchange Club and the girls went to Red Lobster for dinner. I opted to skip out because I was really crabby and I wanted to get a run in. It has been a surprisingly emotional week for me and I needed a release. Last night I had a chance to catch up with our Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen, Madee. She is also a fiddle player, and we have a lot in common. It was nice to sit down and have a real conversation with her. We're both in similar places right now.

Today the girls were in and out of interviews and talent rehearsal, so I used the time to work on my farewell. It's so difficult to wrap up the last six months in only 4 minutes, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. My friend, Katie, will be playing mandolin and singing for me, and I can't wait to put it all together.

We had dinner with AMBUCS at Rafferty's this evening. Everyone looked so great all dressed up and it was a nice relaxing event. You know what we did after dinner? Rehearsal!!! Yay!!! Even more exciting? We're wearing spandex pants for the production numbers!!!! Double Yay!!! The only thing worse than having to wear spandex on stage when you haven't been preparing for a swimsuit competition is having to shake your groove thing next to 27 girls who have. Does anyone else see the injustice in this situation?

We finished up at about 10:40pm. I took a few extra minutes at the end to rehearse my new piece on stage. My sister and I are playing together, and I think it will be great, but we could use some serious practice time. Living on opposite sides of the country makes things a little more complicated.

As I was writing my farewell, I started thinking about all of the thank-yous I wanted to include and how that would take up so much time that I wouldn't get to really say anything of substance. I figured that I would be better off thanking those individuals in a more personal way, but I was in a goofy mood and started thinking of all of the things I'm really grateful for. Thus, I have created my unofficial thank you list for all to enjoy:

• Thank you to Apple for inventing the iPod and to Honda for putting an auxiliary line in my Civic Hybrid.

• Thank you to Google for providing a constant source of free snacks that travel well and saving me the trouble of grocery shopping.

• On a related note, thank you to Kashi for creating a chewy granola bar. As far as I'm concerned, your seven whole grains have fulfilled their mission.

• Thank you to everyone I have met who has set me up with 'the perfect guy', for both raising my standards and lowering my expectations.

• Thank you to all creators of zero-calorie highly caffeinated beverages for saving me from falling asleep at the wheel.

• Thank you to all of the gas stations and McDonald's I have stopped at to use the bathroom, but didn't buy anything. Your hospitality is appreciated.

• Thanks to mobile broadband for allowing me to turn places such as Perkin's, Burger King, and Russ' into makeshift offices.

• Thank you Wal-Mart for the package of bobbi pins I accidentally stole from one of your stores. I owe you $0.87.

• Finally, I'd like to thank the crown itself for getting me out of a speeding ticket.

It has certainly been a fun six months and I'm sad to see it end. I have had so many good laughs and great moments, and I'm happy that I took the time to write about them. I hope you've been able to share some of that joy with me along the way.

I'll be posting my actual farewell soon, but I don't want to give anything away. In the meantime, I will continue reporting to you from pageant headquarters. I posted some new pictures for you to enjoy in the slideshow to the right. Hope to see some of you soon!

gv