Still competition eve

First of all, happy birthday to my friend Chris! Chris, I hope you had a great day and will talk to you soon.

I felt a little better after the open mat. I sparred with a big blue belt first, which was kind of a mistake, because I think part of the reason I've been feeling like I can't do anything is because I'm paired up with these huge, strong dudes and can't move. So that wasn't smart and contributed to my bad mood. I talked to Ouano and he made me feel a little better. He said that I sometimes underestimate my ability, which may be true.

Things looked up when I sparred no-gi with Pete. I had sparred with him a couple weeks earlier at the open mat, and we had a full-on war. A friendly, fun war where we were both working really hard and exchanging back and forth. So sparring with him again was a lot of fun and put me in a better mood. Reminded me of why I do this stuff in the first place: because it's fun.

Later in the day I got a pedicure. Bright red. I should take a picture of it before I compete and it gets ruined. I'm lazy, but I'll try to remember in the morning. I just wanted to do something girly; the guys here are really nice and fun, but I am female, much as I seem to efface that sometimes. Not on purpose, but hopefully you know what I mean. Plus, tomorrow if/when I'm putting my foot in my opponent's hippy bone, as Soneca would say, I'll see my tootsies and be a little bit happy.

If I'm gonna keep staying here, I think I'm gonna have to find some girlfriends. I did talk to Chrissy and Natasha today, which is good, and got a message from Lacey that I need to return. So it's nice to remember my feminine side, although both Natasha and Chrissy told me, not in so many words, to go for the jugular tomorrow (they both train; Natasha's a blue and Chrissy's a white). And when I talked to my parents, I think my dad told me, his sweet little girl, to break some knees. So I'm gonna try! And then I'm gonna get a haircut and go for a spa day or something.

Tonight was the UFC. The Hughes-Penn fight was disappointing because Penn gassed out. He's widely considered a martial arts prodigy--hence his nickname, The Prodigy--but he didn't bother to work on his cardio, and Hughes ended up pounding his face in. Afterward, Hughes did something that always cracks me up when I see these fighters do it: he thanked Jesus Christ for his win. "Thank you, Jesus, for helping me beat the shit out of this other guy. I was able to defeat him because it was Your will." (No, he didn't say exactly that, but that's the subtext I always take away.)

It just makes me laugh. Not sure why.

Okay, I'd better try to get some sleep. I'll wake up early tomorrow, 7 or 8, and go over some notes. That's the plan, at least.