Getting better in spite of lack of time to practice

Well, work kicked my ass again this week, and between that and trying to finish up the costumes for the high school's musical, I only got to the rink twice this week, and one day of that was my lesson! I hope I can stabilize things better next week so I can skate more...

That being said, I actually did make some progress this week, and managed to surprise Will in the process! He taught me three-turns about two lessons ago, and during my practicing, I started doing them while skating forward ("in the field") rather than around the circle, which is where he taught me. At the start of my lesson, he said "let's see your turns", and as we went down to the other end of the rink to find some space, I did one out of the blue. He was actually surprised! Woo Hoo!

Of course, the rest of the lesson was back to the microscope. Will and his dance partner are going to nationals next week, and were there practicing before and after my lesson - which of course meant that they both did my lesson this week. :) It's kind of fun to watch them team-teach. They have such different methods for teaching skills, and they sort of get into arguments sometimes about it DURING my lesson (don't you hate it when Mom and Dad start fighting?). :) She loses patience with him sometimes and you can VERY much tell they are a couple when that happens... she gets this "there he goes again doing it WRONG" look on her face when she doesn't agree with how he's explaining something, and he's WAY patient when she jumps in after she just can't stand it any longer - with this long-suffering look on his face along with a loving smile. They are going to be a VERY cute old married couple one day if they don't kill each other first. :)

Because they will be gone to nationals next week, we will be missing a lesson, so Will poured on the new stuff to keep me busy. I've got my hands full practicing two of the three dances for my first test, as well as some new footwork stuff that my feet simply refuse to understand.

Step, Step, Tangle, LooneyTunesFall, sheepish grin.....

All in all, however - things are really settling in. I'm feeling less the mutant on the ice now, and if I can figure out how to balance things so I can get to the rink consistently, there might just be hope for me yet!

Oh - and I worked out with Blue this week - and once again I was nearly prostrate with exhaustion by the end... in fact I actually got sick DURING the workout and had to ask him to back off the intensity. I'm willing to work as hard as he pushes me, and I don't seem to have a "governor" that will stop me from killing myself.

You see, the problem is that I'm a middle-aged has-been with a testosterone poisoning problem. During my workouts, Blue is always asking "where are you painwise on a scale of 1 to 10? 8?". My response? "4, bring it on!", even though I'm much nearer 11 by that point. Yes, I'm an idiot. Testosterone doesn't make that any better.

We had a long talk and he's going to ease up on the intensity so I won't die in his studio. We can work hard without killing me - and his 32-year-old underwear-model brain just has to learn that I'm friggin' 47 and can't keep up!

At least, not yet :)