roxie & the return of the spirit tee

today something happened that reminded me that one thing i didn't blog last season was the account of the "misbehaving party".

the misbehaving party is the season wrap up, the everyone has a few (read: gets drunk) and gets jiggy with everyone we've been training with all season. so it was the phoenix, honolulu and disney crews, all fueled with a "all you can drink for $30" special. you knew the night was bound to be interesting.

towards the beginning before most people (not demps - he gets the award for most effective use of the open bar) were plastered, we had a little awards ceremony. the coaches give all sorts of awards, from most improved, to great runs, to good attitudes etc. some are serious, some are funny, some are based on fundraising.

as the ceremony went on, i kinda figured i was going to get something, but then as the pile got smaller and smaller, i thought...hmm i guess not. and really for the first time, my secretly-competitive self didn't mind. i had come to tnt, ran that marathon for bouv and had a freaking amazing time doing it.

the last coach award was the big one - the most valuable player. as ramon says - "this person embodies what tnt is - from the running to the fundraising - we're talking about the whole package. so the person that is getting this award, so first off not only did she sign up to run this crazy marathon, but she got two of her friends to join with her, and they don't even freaking hate her."

at this point, demps starts wildly shaking my shoulders and people are looking at me, oooh. he's talking about me!

he goes on to talk about how much money i raised, and that i was always smiling and how i sold my butt (and how it was a nice butt) and a bunch of just really nice things that are still making me blush. demps was adorably excited, picked me up and swung me around, and i had a ridiculous grin on my face as i went up, gave a booty-shake for effect and thanked and hugged each of the coaches.

i don't think i could have been happier winning an...oscar? like i said, it was already such a sweet victory to have made it over the finish line, but i really felt like it was a testament to bouv too - for inspiring me to do what i never thought possible, and to get mvp just said that i kicked ass for him.

but i'm not done yet. after the coaches, schwecky (our social captain) gave the award for most spirituous. i was only half-listening because i thought i was done for the night, but...the bum girl won that award too, which meant that i would get to keep the spirit tee for the season that i had helped decorate.

the rest of the night was a blur of whisky drinks, dancing and general merriment and drama. but what happens at the misbehaving party stays at the misbehaving party*.

and the point of all this, aside from bragging that i am *so* tnt? well the point is that today i got the spirit tee in the mail at work. i wasn't expecting it, and it's funny, i've been thinking about steve more than usual lately, i'm not sure exactly why. to see the collage of photos i had put together made me both happy and sad. i showed the syrup crew and told them about bouv and managed not to cry about it.

i can't bring myself to delete steve's phone number out of my phone. nor his e-mail address. i know it's silly and ridiculous, but part of me feels like it would be erasing a piece of him somehow. but i'm okay with keeping those things around for a while. bouv, whether in name or spirit, always sparks a smile.



*however, i am open to base forms of encouragement to dish...such as bribery.