Changing to Once-A-Week Posts

Ok - so the slog has definitely begun. At least three days a week, hear the alarm go off WAY earlier than it should, drag my sorry middle-aged ass out of bed and get dressed to skate - drive 20 minutes to the rink, skate for an hour, drive 30 minutes home (traffic has started by then) and try to get my day started....

The only real thing that's wrong right now is that I can't seem to get to the rink more than 3 times a week. Last week it was only once. If it's not an early morning con call at work, then I'm in so much pain from my Thursday torture session with Blue that I can't move, much less pretend to skate... Last week was no exception. Skated Wednesday (had calls Monday and Tuesday, DAMNIT), then had my workout with Blue on Thursday.

The muscle du jour? Shoulders. Suffice it to say that he discovered that my left shoulder is weaker than my right, so he went to town on it. By Friday morning, I literally couldn't lift my arms, and that didn't get any better until Tuesday. I finally got to the rink yesterday morning.... Blue is going to have to back off a little so I can still function after my workouts with him. It's getting so that I spend every weekend with some part of my body in so much pain I can't operate normally... I know this is all having an effect, but DAMN the process is brutal!!!!

Let's see - Last week, my coach and his dance partner went to the Pacific Sectionals in Las Vegas and placed second - so they have once again qualified for Nationals in April. Last year they were the surprise silver medalists and are definitely the couple to watch on the adult competition scene. Will and I had our lesson Wednesday before they left, and I ended up having them BOTH trying to give me coaching on the same backwards move... and they were telling me DIFFERENT THINGS! :) The good news is that I finally "got it", and when I went to the rink yesterday, it all started to "click". I can now credibly skate backwards in that power-pumping style that skaters user to build up momentum for a big jump.

For me, it's a power-pumping, speed generating, wind in your non-existent-hair thrill leading up to a very dramatic......

crash into a wall because I wasn't watching where I was going.... Sigh. I am SO predicable sometimes. Guess what - I actually bounce when I hit something that hard. Who knew.

I'm going to start only posting once a week, probably after my lessons on Friday unless something unusually bad or inexplicably good happens in the interim. My ex managed to run his truck into a telephone pole while I was on vacation (he's OK but banged up bad) so I have almosts no time now - I have to bathe him, dress him, and of course ALL of the household work falls to me.... which is nothing new since he never lifts a friggin' finger anyway (did I say, "ex"?) At any rate, I don't have a lot of time and getting to the rink is a struggle, much less sitting down to write about it afterwards just so I can bore you to tears.

I promise not to leave out anything juicy...

or "bouncy" as the case may be. :)