Bikini? Nah, maybe in 2010...

Why don a bikini to jump into barely-warmer-than-freezing water on New Year's day, when you could be a soaking tribute to the Hawks, complete with pigtails and under-eye black stuff?

Welcome, 2009! Hawks Win!

(Repeat performance expected 12pm, January 1, 2010. Additional teammates requested. Contact me for details.)

Evergreen Polar Plunge - Evergreen, CO

Yep, so a friend suggested all of our husbands should do the Evergreen Polar Plunge this year. Turns out my husband was not interested, and then my friend couldn't participate, so I was the lone plunger.

Yeeesh! It was a bit chilly, as you can imagine. We were sorted by red and purple bracelets. The 50 red bracelets got to go first. Of note: the first plunger was a 16 year-old girl with cerebral palsy who had raised $2500 for the cause. Her father and another man held her in their arms as all three jumped in. Now that takes some gumption.

After the red bracelets were done, we purple bracelets took off our towels and coats and inched our way closer to the caution tape line that barred us from the "no-more-than-three-people-on-the" stairs and the carpet path that led out to the plunging pool cut into the ice. There really wasn't too much structure to the event beyond keeping us off the stairs. Once we got down to the ice, we were free to dawdle or dash toward the water.

Speaking of, the water was basically a 10 foot by 20 foot pool cut into the ice...about 50 yards from where people were ice-skating. That's why it's a polar plunge, I guess. A couple of firemen in some serious water suits awaited us in the pool. As I toed the edge of the ice, I was kind of waiting for someone to say, "Okay, let's go." But the chilly fire guys weren't hurrying anyone, so I just did a quick, "Go Hawks!" and jumped on in.

Ummmmm...yeah, burrrr....The water was only about 5 feet deep, and I didn't go all the way under. Something to look forward to next year? The firemen pushed me toward the other end of the pool, where a ladder hooked out of the pool. Two more guys stood at the edge ready to scoop any shell-shocked jumpers, I guess. I managed to climb out myself, and spat out a few words to the reporter emceeing the event. A fellow Iowa-sweatshirt-clad guy whooped a bit when the reporter noted that the Hawkeyes were in the house.

Then, slightly in shock, I ran over to Carey (thanks Meinert fans!) who had my cozy bathrobe waiting and headed off to the warming hut to change. Scott and the kiddles were cheering, and shivering on the side of the lake, so once I was dressed, we headed to QDoba for a little Mexican warm up.

Really, it was not a warm event. But it was awesome. And I'll do it again. Will you?