Footprints on the Moon

Well, it’s not a Self Portrait, but it is Sunday! And since I haven’t posted at all in a while, I don’t feel you are in a position to be picky!

This picture is from Thursday night, when we put on our very first public exhibition bout. The amazing Jedediah Johnson came and took our pictures and we are all in LOVE with them! Once the glamor shots were over though, we got down to playing some roller derby!

We crammed about 800 people into the skating rink, and rumor has it, turned another hundred people away at the door. There’s not really words for the experience. It was an awesome bout, it was great to have the support of our community! So fun to watch something we have worked so hard for come to fruition.

My wallet is crying this morning… I don’t need any mma gear, but I do have some derby gear that is in need of replacing. Not because it’s falling apart necessarily… more because it’s falling off! I do have smaller elbow pads and knee pads already, but I need to get some smaller knee gaskets. Mine are just big enough on my legs now that they slide and I feel like I’m needing to tug my knee pads back into place often. I also have some bruising in spots that should be protected so I can only assume that ill-fitting pads are part of that problem.

I’ll be starting with new gaskets and probably replacing my wrist guards that are getting worn. I’d also like to replace my helmet and buy a new set of crash pads because mine are big enough now that I have trouble keeping them up. That would add an extra $100 or so to the bill though, so I’m thinking those will have to wait. And I won’t even talk about the socks and tights!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had more than enough snow! You are more than welcome to my share. I meant to blog this weekend, but then I couldn’t be bothered with the uploading of photos… I took Self Portrait Sunday pics that are still languishing on my camera. 4 days later, I haven’t even downloaded the memory card. Oops. Darn that blogging inertia.

Anyways, the picture above is from Saturday afternoon. My car is the snow covered one on the right. It was definitely one of those days that if what you wanted wasn’t already in your medicine cabinets at home, you probably weren’t getting it!

I know it’s hard to tell in pictures, but that’s about two feet of snow there. It was the highest single day snowfall on record! I don’t recall hearing a final total, but I know that between midnight Saturday and 7pm, there were 25.4″ of snow at the airport. And that was adding on to the snow we’d been getting since Thursday.

I went out and dug out my car when the snow had mostly stopped, and couldn’t even get out of my parking space. I was stuck in until my mom came over with a shovel to dig snow out from behind my tires.

It wasn’t a very productive weekend, but it sure was a relaxing one! Since I couldn’t go anywhere, I hung out on the couch snuggling with the cats, playing games on the internet and clearing out some of my Netflix Instant Queue!

I’m sorry, I can’t blog right now, I’m reading. I’m probably about halfway through Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Oh my goodness, these books are good! They demand your full attention and will not be denied. I have not gotten a full night’s sleep since I started them! I’ve found myself opening to read for “just a minute” and then suddenly it’s half an hour later. I was almost late for practice tonight because I was so absorbed! I LOVE when books are like that! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more reading to do…

Well apparently, this is going to be a good year for roller derby! (Not that I didn’t already know it was going to be…) After yesterday’s pretty awesome practice that still has me smiling, they also released the roster for our very first public exhibition bout! So I will not be wearing polo boots on January 27th– I’ll be suiting up and skating with the “Pretty Young Things”! We haven’t drafted teams yet, so this is just a bout between our scrimmage teams. Rather than just being black and white teams, we are going to be the Smooth Criminals vs. Pretty Young Things.

Yes, there is a bit of a Michael Jackson theme there… originally, we were going to have someone who does the Billie Jean dance on skates for the halftime show, which is where the team names came in. Of course now, he decided he doesn’t really want to do the dance and is going to be jamskating instead, so our team names seem a little weird. Oh well, they’re single-use names

Anyway, so I’m super excited, but also nervous! I think my stomach did about 13 somersaults when I heard that the roster was out! We have a small audience for our scrimmage practices these days, but they are kind of out of sight, out of mind. The bout audience will not only be a lot more people, but a lot harder to ignore! It will also include several people I know… one week I had a friend over in the audience at practice, and I discovered it does make a difference in the nerve factor!

First Self Portrait Sunday of the new year! And only looking a bit like I need some md clear You can tell from the braids that it’s a derby day! Post-practice picture, actually.

Practice this morning was awesome! Sunday practices tend to be my favorites. They are half an hour longer than Tuesday/Thursday practices, and there are usually less people that show up. It feels like we get to work harder and push ourselves harder. Especially when it comes to scrimmaging. Because there was such a small group, we only swapped out 1-2 people in each jam so we not only got to play a lot, but we got to work together a lot and really pull it together. I felt like I played well this morning. There was one time that I was holding back the other team’s jammer and two of their blockers all by myself until one of my teammates made it out front to help me. Another time, I was chasing down the other team’s jammer, and I actually almost caught her! I don’t usually chase because I can never get there in time, but I pushed it and almost got there this time. At the last second, my own jammer used me for a hip whip… the whole thing was just amazing.

And of course, I can’t post this without saying Happy Birthday to my mama!

I hope the very first day of 2011 is treating you well. Since I did almost nothing that could be considered productive, I had a great day! I spent a good portion of it curled on the couch with Pudge watching movies, I took a nap, I curled up in bed with a book. It was fantastic. A nice and restful day that was very much needed after the stress and busyness of the last couple weeks.

I can’t say I didn’t do anything productive either… the dishes got washed, and all the Christmas stuff got packed up and put back in the storage unit. Just not as much stuff as I probably should have done, looking around at the state of my apartment

So 2011 is off to an excellent start, and I can only hope it will continue that way! No resolutions to speak of… I don’t like making them. Basically, I want to keep on keepin’ on, refocus on some things that I’ve already been working on: Get the Weight Watchers back on track now that the holidays are over. Get my budget back on track and the credit cards moving in the right direction. Continue on with derby and keep working hard to improve. Be happy on the first day of 2012.

Well, have you finished your Christmas shopping or are you one of the stragglers out doing some last minute browsing? I didn’t get my own shopping done until Wednesday after work! And let me tell you, I definitely remember why I have tried to finish my Christmas shopping as close to Thanksgiving as possible during the last few years. I don’t do well with crowds, especially a bunch of rude ones like the ones I ran into on Wednesday! Next year, I think I’ll try to save up a couple of vacation days to use the week before Christmas. At least that way, if I run into a similarly scheduled December, I will have a bit of a breather!

In any case, I’m glad I’m done present buying for awhile. I think the next one is going to be Killian’s birthday in February. My mom’s birthday is before that (January 2nd), but I don’t have to buy any loving birthday gifts for her this year. Last spring, I gave her my iPod nano because I hadn’t used it since I got my phone. We agreed that it would be for her next Mother’s Day and birthday present. Works for me!

Whether you are last minute shopping or not, I hope you enjoy the holiday with your families! Be safe.

December 10 – Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)

I can, have, and will continue to say until I’m blue in the face if I have to: Joining SBRG to play roller derby is the best decision I could have made this year.

I could go on again about the amazing people that are in my life now, the changes I’ve seen this year, all those things I’ve said over and over again… instead, I will leave you this quote. It’s from the book Going in Circles. I read this over the summer, and I’ve had this quote in a draft called “roller derby” ever since. I’ll probably never get that post written… there’s too much to say, and I can’t find the words.

“The rules of the track work well for life. Roller derby is life in a tiny circle. You can only go forward, even if you find yourself turned around, facing the wrong way. There’s speed, unpredictability, and danger. You can’t be sure what’s going to happen, you don’t always know when you’ll stop, and it appears most people are out to get you. You will fall. You will get hurt.
But you will get up again.
Look, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Anything that hurts eventually heals. You get back up. You keep going. You get stronger. You get better. Life goes on. That’s it.”
- Going in Circles, Pamela Ribon

December 7 – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Author: Cali Harris)

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

This one seems like a bit of a “gimme.” Obviously, the community I discovered this year is the one I found in my roller derby league. It’s a beautifully different community because it is filled with beautifully different people. Roller derby seems like a place for all the misfits, outcasts, never felt like they had a place anywhere folks to have a home. It’s a group of girls who have come together and realized that they can get along with other women. Who are overcoming self esteem and anxiety issues. Who are learning that they are beautiful, and lovable. And not just lovable– they ARE loved.

You would have to know me in person, and spend a lot of time with me, to really be able to appreciate the changes in me since I started this thing 8 months ago. Obviously there have been physical changes that anyone can see, but there has also been mental and emotional growth. It’s hard to put into words, but I guess one way to put it is that I’ve blossomed. I’m happier than I was before, for one. I’m learning to accept myself, learning to let other people in. That’s the great thing about a sport like this… there is room for everyone. I might not be great at everything, but there are certain areas where I excel that fill in the gaps where other people struggle. Every single one of us is different, but we’re so similar too. It’s beautiful.

Actually I’m going to cheat and throw the next one in here too:

December 9 – Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)

Every social gathering with the ladies I was talking about above rocks my socks off. Whether it’s our first BBQ, a “wellness” party or our Christmas party… it’s always a good time. As far as the shenanigans… I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. You’ll just have to bribe the person with the pictures.