The meeting wasn’t very informative. It only lasted about 15 minutes. The main thing they talked about was their rules for bikini posing.

When it ended I decided to go backstage and try to find a place where I could sit and put on my makeup. When I got backstage I noticed a couple of other figure competitors in line to get their 3^rd coat of tan. I figured I’d better get in that line. I would put on my makeup immediately after that.

Other women in the line were talking about how it was getting close to 10 am (the time prejudging was supposed to begin). One of them said she wasn’t worried about it because she’d heard that there were a lot of physique competitors and we would most likely not be going on stage until at least noon. That was a huge relief! It sounded like I had more than enough time to get everything done that I needed to.

It was the same routine with the spray tan as I described before. After the 3^rd coat, though, I put on my suit. I would need some glue to keep the bottoms from riding up my butt! First things first, MAKEUP!

The prejudging and night show were held in the auditorium of Cottonwood High School in Murray Utah. I found my way to a hallway, lined with lockers and half naked male and female competitors, behind the auditorium. I was trying to take it all in and also get myself ready.  I found a half empty table in the hall and immediately staked my claim by plunking down my gym bag and laying out my makeup right next to it.

Anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I do not wear a stitch of makeup 99% of the time. On a daily basis I wear Chap Stick, that’s it!  Once a year, on my anniversary, I might wear eyeshadow, blush, mascara, and Chap Stick. My mascara is always pretty dried out! I buy a tube of the stuff maybe once every 2 years.

I had two reasons for doing my own makeup. The 1^st was that I didn’t know how I would get it done there or who I would have do it. The second was economic. I had already spent so much on this endeavor! I felt like makeup was something I could save a little money on. In the weeks leading up to competition day I watched numerous YouTube stage makeup tutorials and practiced twice.  Both times, I felt, were pretty successful.

I was applying the base coat primer to my face when my trainer, Scarlet showed up backstage. I felt silly because she wears makeup and it always looks perfect and I was sure she’d think I was an idiot for how I was applying mine. She asked me how I was feeling and a few other things while I kept chipping away at my face.

Then she said, maybe you should get your shoes on. I agreed. I wouldn’t want to be fiddling around with the straps when they began lineups for the figure classes. I dug around in my bag for them. Terror seized my stomach and heart! I had left them at the hotel! I didn’t have my fucking shoes! My eyes began to well up. Scarlet said, “It’s OK, it’s going to be OK!” She asked, “Can someone go get them?” I told her I would text Ben. He texted back that he was on his way! The only thing I could do at that point was to keep putting on my makeup and hope that Ben would make it back in time!

Scarlet went to look for Jo to see if she had an extra pair.

I was nearly finished applying eyeliner to my left eye (my right eye was still bare) when I heard one of the people who was organizing the competitor (stage) lineup, literally screaming for the figure/Masters/45 and up! I knew my classes would be called soon after, and I WAS NOT READY! My stomach was in knots, I was on the verge of tears, and I suddenly realized I hadn’t put a single thing in my stomach, including water, since my two cups of black coffee at 7 am. I was supposed to be eating carbs and pumping up my muscles. My muscles would look completely flat! But, that wouldn’t matter if I didn’t have shoes to carry my flat muscles out onto the stage!

I kept telling myself, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry!!! Your one eye lined eye will run down the left side of your face! You’ll look even more stupid!”

Jo had extra shoes! Which, when I thought about it later, it didn’t surprise me at all. She really had her shit together! She was calm, poised, beautiful, confident, and READY TO GO! My polar opposite in that moment! She’s literally a figure pro!

I quickly put on Jo’s shoes. They were one size too big. It didn’t matter! There was no time for it to matter! Just as I was fastening the buckles on them they began calling my classes to lineup for stage!

I was signed up to compete in 4 different classes. True Novice (someone who’s never competed in any NPC competition before), Novice (someone who’s never got a 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd placing in any NPC competition), Open Figure B, and Masters 35-44.

I hurried over to my first lineup and realized I still never got glued into my suit. The gluing station was next to the stage lineup. I asked if they would at least fix my top. Other women in my line were calmly pumping their muscles with bands. I was getting the underside of my boobs sprayed with craft glue while a man was telling me I needed to get in line for Masters 35+ NOW!!! He told me to hold on to my suit (boobs) until I reached the edge of the curtain. I could feel my bottoms begin to ride! But, time had run out! I was in line holding my boobs and clenching my glutes to try to keep the material on either side of my ass crack instead of in it! I was in the center of a line and the woman leading it began to walk out onto the stage. There was no turning back!