Surprises at ACS Texas State

I mentioned already that my singles results was a huge surprise to me.

But there were a few other surprises that trip I wanted to share. 

First, I got sick (a cold/sore throat type thing) at the tourney.  And this is what I found near me after I returned to my chair after shooting in a match:

I have such great friends!  They all know I'm all alone and they treat me like their kids, and I really do need that at times as I don't take care of myself enough.

And then, I was thoroughly surprised when I received a THANK YOU note from a maid!  It might seem weird, but I have left tips at most all the hotels I stay (even for work) and have never, ever received a thank you before.  It really made my day!

(yes, I know she misspelled it, but still!):

And then another surprise was FOR someone.

One of the refs has seen me through triumph and failure for many years. The time I won ACS State, it was about 2am in the morning and there was only about 5 people in the whole place, and that included Shannon.  She has been so cool and nice and a GREAT ref all these years for us.

At one point in the singles match at 9am on Friday, I needed a ref.  I raised my stick in the air and waved it, and then I saw Shannon walking over to call the shot.  For some reason, I decided I would mess with her.

This is the layout of the table:

I am standing near the cueball, and I need to hit the 12 ball clean (click photo to enlarge).  She walks up and she says, "what are you trying to shoot?" as she surveys the table looking near the cueball.

I reply, looking down at the cueball area, too, "I'm trying to hit the 7 ball."

She looks up at me, and I start laughing right away!  She busts out laughing too and I finally confide, "Just the 12 ball."  LOL.

It was a really great moment.  It showed I was in a good mood, it put HER in a good mood, and it started our morning off well since it was so early for us all.

:)