Blacksnake Tournament January 8th and 9th

For those of you who have never experienced the joy of a debate tournament or the pleasure of being in charge of several teenagers that are not your own, I will give you a brief synopsis of my weekend:

6:45 AM Friday morning: Standing in school building loaded down with luggage, team treats, games, and materials for debate rounds including a heavy law dictionary. Students and judges are here. Bus should be here soon.

7:30 AM Friday morning: Bus arrives half an hour late. Students all in pajamas. Teacher realizes she hasn't eaten breakfast. Break into granola bars in team treat bag.

7:30-9:15 Friday morning: Check on students, visit with judge, visit with bus driver and help judge explain to bus driver how to get to college campus

9:30--- Check in, pay money, find table for rest of today that can be our team's

10:00--- Go shopping at Pocatello Mall with crew of 6 students, busdriver, judge, and me, Eat first fast food meal

12:30--- squeeze bus into row of car parking, check into hotel

3:00--- return to college campus, explain to students that they are basically on their own until the end of the tournament, and go to first round judging, pray students make it to rounds safely

9:00---end of 3 debate rounds, gather group, return to hotel, eat 2nd meal of fast food

10:30--- student sick to stomach, run to gas station to buy pepto bysmal

12:00--- stay up until midnight to check on students even though I am ready to drop and my day starts at 6 tomorrow

6:00 AM Saturday--- press snooze 2 times

6:15 --- wake up to call students to make sure they are getting ready to go and check out

6:45--- showered, filled up on Continental Breakfast, talk to bus driver to warm up bus

7:30--- check out of hotel, loading bus, student's IPOD lost, student still sick

8:00--- get more pepto bysmal, sprite and tums

8:30--- debate round #4

11:00--- 3rd fast food meal, semi-nap with eyes closed but still aware of students around me

12:30--- 5th debate round

3:00--- awards ceremony, student makes it into semifinals, most schools leave

5:00--- Buy 4th fast food meal--- tacos for whole team, student makes it into finals

6:30--- Student places second in large tournament (complains he lost), another student lost cell phone, tab room takes time to copy all my ballot sheets, get on bus to go home

7:30--- Stop for bathroom break

8:00---Large bump sets off alarm that can not be turned off

8:30--- Arrive in high school parking lot with headache and loud complaints from busdriver and students about alarm

8:45--- Fortunately all students' rides are there waiting

9:00--- enter house,call family

10:00--- pass out on couch

9Am Sunday morning---wake up exhausted with a stomach ache