Criminal Masterminds

Knowledge Bowl, Knowledge Bowl, dresses and Knowledge Bowl

So, the few days have been very busy, but lots of fun. On Thursday it was the final Round Robin of the Knowledge Bowl season; it was going to be an interesting meet right off the bat because Tay had left the day before for Germany, so we knew we were going to be short him. Little did we know that Rezac and Pritschet would decide it was best if we played one short, and therefore our team for the final meet was Sam, Logan, Michelle T and I.

The meet went okay... It wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but we somehow managed to scrape together a third overall with a pathetically low amount of points. The only good news, we managed to move up one place in the overall regional rankings; therefore we will now be the top team in our division at Sub-Regions on the Monday after break and not have to face The Starbellied Sneetches which is the girl power team at Subs with Rianna, Jennifer, Sarah, Michelle and Catherine. I'm very happy with our post season team; it was the team I was expecting all along: Logan, Sam, James, Tay and myself.

So, next day, we have a meet in St. Anthony in the afternoon; which is great, I miss the second half of the day. I even get to tell Alvarez I'll be gone the Monday after break, go me. So, we arrived at St. Anthony, our team only slightly different than the day before with Sarah in place of Michelle. After the written we find out that we're tied for seventh, and have been placed in the third room (C). The top Brainerd team has managed the highest written score and is seeded in the top room. The other Brainerd team is something like 26th or something.

So, we manage decent rounds all around never actually leave the third room; we got to know our readers pretty well. And finish eighth in the end, two and half points out of placing, which was seventh. Of course, since I can personally come up with four questions that I had right and we went with a different answer, that irks me. We don't actually leave St. Anthony until a little after nine; that's fine, we'll be home 11:30-ish. We drop Jason off with his parents so they can go to Florida and go on our merry way.

Mom picks me up so that I can go spend the night at Crystal's because we're going dress shopping at the Mall of America for prom on Saturday where we will be meeting Rianna and Sarah at some point because Sarah's down visiting her sister for the weekend. Crystal and I are on the road out of Brainerd by eight and we arrive at the mall around a quarter to eleven.

We go in search of a dress shop and find one pretty quickly, but I find nothing. Two dresses I slightly like, and I try them on, and they are nothing special. Well, so we start walking around in hopes we will find another dress shop. We walk into one and not a single dress is less than $300, so we're out of there pretty quickly.

I'm kind of frustrated by the lack of dress shops, so I suggest we go to the Apple store because no trip is complete to the MofA if you don't go to the Apple store. So, we look around, and I basically come to the conclusion I should buy an I-pod with the money my mother gave me instead of a prom dress. That way, I a) have something I'll wear more than twice and b) have what I want now as opposed to later. We walk out of there, and I'm kind of contemplating it.

We find another dress shop, this one is obviously more expensive than the first one we looked at, but the dresses aren't obscenely priced, and therefore, I can actually think about buying one. So, I find a black single strap dress that I really like and pick that up; since I wanted two dresses to try on, I start digging through the rack, and find another one that's within my price range, but not my size, so I look at the dress right in front of it, which is my size, and I grab that.

I take them both back, and try on the second one I picked up first. Basically, it's the perfect dress, it looks amazing on me, no alternations needed. So, I got to double check the price, and nearly die. Apparently the two dress right next to one another were not the same dress. The one I saw was $100 cheaper than this one, which is quite a ways outside of my budget. So, Crystal comes and sees it and agrees, it's perfect. So, I tell her of my dilemma.

I try on the other one, which is very very nice, and I love it too, but not quite as much as the first one. So, I hang the dresses back up and Crystal and I go and walk around some more while I try to figure out what to do. We find coffee, go to Barnes and Noble (I buy Catch-22) and then wander some more as we wait for Rianna and Sarah because I need a couple more opinions. Somewhere along the way, we find this amazing Vietnamese hand painted wood artwork store; I buy an eggshell painting on wood for really cheap. Like, so cheap I feel guilty that I'm walking out of the store with what I just bought.

Rianna and Sarah arrive a little after one and we show them the dresses. The agreement is that the expensive dress is perfect and that the other one is also very pretty; so we go off and find lunch and talk and look for shoes for Rianna and a purse for Sarah. We all debate the possibility of me finding another dress in my price range that looks as good as the second one does and that I'll love as much. Basically, the chances are none if I'm not willing to spend another day looking for a dress, which I'm not. I make the decision and we go back and buy the dress as I gaze longingly at the one I want, but by the time we leave, I'm happy with my decision.

Crystal and I head back to Brainerd around four; I'm having separating anxiety because she's leaving for Germany the next day and won't be back until the 22nd. She's just as bad, and so this is not going to be fun. We pick up Logan on our way into town so Crystal and Logan can spend the night together before she leaves.

I meet my parents at Crystal's and then we head home with my pretty prom dress, book and eggshell hand-painted Vietnamese wooden print. It was a great two days, now I just have to survive Spring Break without Crystal.

posted by Kara @ 10:37 AM