September 15, 2004

It feels like it’s been such a long time since I’ve written, but I think that’s because so much has been going on here in Florida! Can you believe one hurricane after another? First Charley, then Frances, we are so thankful that Ivan decided not to make a visit!!! I feel horribly though for those who did have to experience that storm...a tree even fell on our Coach Jeanine’s roof during hurricane Charley! I (as well as everyone else here in Florida) now know a little too well what it’s like to go through something so severe and devastating!

Luckily, I was able to get out of town before Frances came through. After experiencing Charley, I decided to head up north so I wouldn’t have to be terrified through another storm. I packed up my car, took my dog Sonny and drove all the way up to New Jersey…which if you didn’t know is normally about an 18 hour drive, but when 2 million people are evacuating the state, it somehow takes you a little bit longer!!!! It took me six hours to get out of Florida alone!! I hate traffic!! It was well worth it though. After 22 hours in a car, I made it safely to my hometown. It was so nice to be back home to see my mom, dad, and my brother. I got to walk around New York City and go to the Jersey shore. Best of all, I got to see my friends, especially my best friend Robyn!! I have to admit, I was feeling sort of guilty having so much fun while so many people were stuck here having to endure another hurricane.

With all that’s been going on here, our rehearsal schedule has been interfered with a lot. It’s tough getting to know your team when you don’t get to see them that much, although we did have our first team outing together which was an absolute blast!!! We went bowling. Now imagine 16 dancers in a bowling alley……pretty funny right? You’d be surprised at how well some of the Dancers can bowl…I was definitely impressed!! Deanna, one of our rookies, bowled like a 150!! (By the way, Deanna is going to be on a new reality show called ‘I’d Do Anything’ on ESPN this fall representing the Orlando Magic Dancers. You have to check it out!) I, on the other hand, didn’t do so hot as bowling’s not really my game. I’m more of an air hockey kind of girl! It was O.K. though because I had a great time!!

Aside from getting to know each other, we have been working like crazy to get our team ready for this season. It’s creeping up on us quickly. Pre-season starts in just under 4 weeks!! We’ve been attending team workouts and dance classes regularly now. We’ve started having regular weigh ins (which all of us Dancers love so much) so we can make sure we look nice and fit in our costumes!!!! We’ve also been learning a ton of choreography and trying to prep the rookies for what to expect on game nights. We are approaching our training camp weekend. This weekend is similar to our boot camp that we go through for auditions, but even more intense. We’ll have a strength training session, a nutrition session, some team building activities, and learn routines from guest choreographers. It sounds like a lot of work but it’s also a lot of fun. We also get to go out for a nice team dinner together. This will be everything we need to work on to make us the best we can be this year!!! Can’t wait for the fans to see what we’ve got planned for this season!!!

I’ll be turning over the diary reigns to another Dancer after this entry…thanks for reading and I’ll see you at a game real soon!