Hell on wheels

It’s been a nice 3-day weekend. Saturday we celebrated Emily’s birthday with the kids and got to meet her new beau, Alex. He seems like a fine fella and if he sticks around after hanging out with all of us for an afternoon then he’s probably worthy of her;)

After some lunch and birthday cake, we all went skating (of course) and Emily worked on regaining her skating legs. She wants to try roller derby and plans to start attending beginner practices next month. So I think she’ll be spending more time at the rink between now and then, which is great! The more, the merrier! We are already well on our way to dominating the Saturday afternoon skates sessions. Small children and wobbly skaters, beware. Mwahahahahaaaa!

Sunday night derby practice was awesome. I never had so much fun getting my ass kicked, and boy did I ever. Mama Knee-Ya led the practice and introduced a new drill in which we divided up into 2 packs, and then one person from each pack took turns playing the jammer. Whoever was jammer had to break through both packs while racing around the track. It was my very first full-contact blocking drill and it was both humbling and exhilarating. I was so exhausted from being knocked down and then racing to catch up with the pack that by the time it was my turn to be jammer I was all used up. I never did get through either pack, but oh well. For the remainder of the drill I decided to focus on staying upright and blocking, and that was more than enough.

My determination to improve my fitness level has been renewed. I’m hoping to start skating outdoors soon, but this winter weather is a major impediment. For now it’s just me and my stationary bike. It certainly gets the job done, but it’s boring as hell.

Soon, however, I will have thighs of steel. Steel! Oh yeah.