My mom, 2 sisters Natalie & Michelle, and I left for Raleigh around noon on Staurday, Nov 20. My dad had to stay home because he got sick. We really had no clue where we were headed, all I knew was we were going to find a hotel on Crossroads Blvd near the Toys 'r Us. I found out on Thursday before that Mia would be signing autographs there on Sunday from 12 - 2, thanks to my dear friends from the boards. After stopping 6 times for directions we finally found the right Toys 'r Us. Much to our surprise there was a semi-decent hotel across the street. That was good b/c then we were able to convince our mom, who didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn after driving all day to wait in line for 6 hrs before driving 8 hours back home, to drop us of at Toys 'r Us in the morning so she could go back to the hotel and go back to sleep.
Of course neither my sisters nor I could sleep at all, we hadn't slept since Thursday night. Finally when my sister Michelle swore she saw car lights going into the Toys 'r Us parking lot we woke up our mom and she drove us over there. It was 6AM when we got there and we were the first ones there, but mom wouldnt let us out of the van until the sun came up. Around 6:45 Natalie and I set up our sheets and pillows, coolers, and other stuff to entertain us for the next 5 hours. Michelle and my mom went to Mickey D's to get some breakfast for us and then mom went back to the hotel leaving the 3 of us there.
We were really surprised that no one else started showing up till around 8AM, from that time on the line doubled every 15 - 30 minutes. We spent our time playing soccer in the empty parking lot, eating cookies and chocolate, reading magazines & books about the team, and spraying each others hair. Mine looked really cool, it was in a Christie Pearce ponytail, the head was done in a blue base with white stars while the ponytail itself was red & white stripes. We were gonna paint faces, but we decided to wait till the game.
I kinda think that was the best part of the whole day because we made so many friends. And all these people helped give my mom directions so we could make it to the game. We traded e-mail addresses with a family so we can keep in touch. It was just an awesome experience and it didn't seem like 6 hours and there wasn't minute when I said "how much longer?" I kinda didn't want it to end, but I kept getting sooooo excited every minute.
By 11AM the crowd was humongous, it even included some angry shoppers who just wanted to shop. The neat thing was, no matter how many more people showed up, I would still be first. Finally they opened the doors and I led the line to the back of the store and I sat down behind the blue line in front of the table. I always enjoyed being the line-leader in pre-school. Only 1 hour to go. All the Toys 'r Us employees were talking to my sisters and I, they could not believe that we drove 8 hrs to watch the tour game and waited 6 hrs for Mia's autograph. Later I found my friends Lauren and Courtney from the Big Soccer message boards. I was so excited about Mia that I didn't know what to say to them, but I promised to come back and find them once I was finished.
About 2 minutes before Mia was due to arrive an employee told me someone else was with her but he didn't know who. What a dork!!! I didn't really hope for anyone, I was just excited. I started the famous Mia chant as the doors opened and then I started my own scream when I realized who the other player was... TRACY DUCAR!!!!!! There is no word or combination of words to describe how surprised I was. Talk about surprise, I go to meet the world's all-time leading scorer and my favorite player shows up too. How many people does that happen to? Tracy did not know I was going to Toys 'r Us so Im sure she was also surprised when she realized who I was. I was going crazy. I ran up and without introducing myself, I gave her her goody bag. I gave Mia the team's bag and I gave them some toys that I had bought for Jackson (I knew Katey & Carli wouldn't be there). I saw Christie standing behind the table but I was soooo excited about Tracy I forgot to say hi and ask for an autograph. Anyway, I collapsed to the ground and plomped my right arm on the table for Tracy to sign. I was wearing my Mia jersey for Mia to sign so she did. My mom did a great job with the pictures so you'll be able to tell how excited I REALLY was. Lets just say I get excited really easy.
I don't know how to describe my first impression them. Tracy is sooo nice, as the whole team is of course, but she seemed really calm and really nice, like she wasn't just pretending to be nice. So did Mia, but I forgot to really talk to her.
After I got their autographs I did a victory lap around the store waving my arm in the air proudly. I found Lauren & Courtney and told them that Tracy was there and I talked to them some more then I ran back around to get another glimpse of Tracy when I saw Christie sitting there signing autographs. They wouldn't let us go back and everyone felt bad for us because we had been there so long. I wasn't mad though, I was too excited to be mad. I knew Christie had a scheduled chat so she wouldn't be there for long. Then this guy who works at Toys 'r Us asked us if we had tickets to the game, which we did, so then he said "I bet you would much rather have these then?" They were 4 passes to the Post-Game Reception!!!!!
