Days of Hands

Yikes!  It really has been almost a month since I was able to post last.  So much has happened, on skates and off.  My life has been completely transformed in several huge ways, and I’m starting to settle into the new “normal”. 

It was really fitting as the year and the decade came to a close that I fully embraced the “out with the old, in with the new” mentality.  A relationship ended that should have been ended long ago, and in the weeks that followed, a new one began.  I had to upgrade my phone plan because suddenly I have a circle of friends calling and texting and wanting to hang out with me.  (I only used 19 minutes in November, but maxed out my 500 minute plan halfway through December!)  And it’s all thanks to derby.

I have been skating at least three times a week, and my body is shaping up quite nicely.  It’s exciting to see and feel the changes!  I’ve become much more comfortable with speed and spent New Year’s Eve literally running through the turns at Yukon’s rink.  My footwork and my edging are coming along, and my crossovers are perfect going clockwise.  I’m close to getting them correct in the opposite skating direction, but the lack of practice shows.  Just like turning and backward skating, I get better every time I work on it.

My “new girl” group has increased a bit; Mariza, Kerri, and Tonya are all excited to hang out and hit open skates with Mo and me.  I gave my son his first set of skates for Christmas, and he’s already getting the hang of them, so he’ll be out on the rink with us soon too.  I suspect that my brother will find more excuses to show up for skating sessions since I introduced him to Mo.  *wink*  And I finally got access to the team forum and can keep up with all that is going on.

February 27th is our first bout of the 2010 season against Assassination City Rollergirls.  I’ll be acting as a Non-Skating Official (NSO) and will hopefully be rocking the afterparty (if babysitters and/or paternal custody allow).   Soon I’ll be skating on the “Wreck” Team.  I don’t know how realistic it is, but my goal is to make the travel team in 2011, and at the rate I’m going, I’m feeling pretty encouraged.  The new year is so very full of promise, I can barely wait!!