Springtime 2009

I'm sitting at Cambridge coffee, drinking a caramel iced americano w/a touch of soy milk, surfing the interwebs and enjoying myself immensley.

Two days ago, BCR won our first bout.  It was an exhibition bout, (two fifteen minute periods), and we kicked serious butt.  It was the first time the Jailbreak Betties have played in a bout and it was a real pleasure to be the ones delivering the schooling rather than being schooled by others.  I did the best I have ever done.  I kept my left foot on that inside line and held that avenue of track with determination.  Once again, I didn't get hit much at all by the opposing team.  A couple of my travel buddies from BCR have convinced me that I cut an imposing figure when I get on the track (which has been hard for me to believe since in my head I am so nervous).  A few months ago one of our derby mentors (Reba Smackintire from Atlanta Roller Girls) told me that tall girls who skate low (meaning squatting down into derby position) are scary.  I'm finding this to be true.  And I do so long to be scary.  I want other teams to get flutters in their stomach when they see me skate onto that track.  I'm very close to getting Swervin' Justice's (an AMAZING pivot from the Brew City Bruisers) e-mail from BTE to get some tips as a burgeoning pivot myself.  

I am going to pursue derby in Syracuse.  I've been almost sure I was going to continue, but was letting nerves prevent me from committing.  I think I am committing to myself right now to give Syracuse derby a go...wish me luck!

Derby continues to enrich my life.  And I see it challenging and helping others to grow as well.  I am so proud to skate with this team.  Time and again we see other derby players underestimating us  and walking away surprised when they see what we have to offer.  It makes me feel good about how hard we have worked and it makes me want to work harder.  Which I will be doing in the near future...I've been informed that we will be doing "endurance testing" on Wed.  We are supposed to be bringing our skates and our tennis shoes!  Eep!  I might puke...but hey, that means I will have worked hard.

On to other news.  Joshua and I are beginning to prep for the move to Syracuse.  I just made the truck reservation.   We have mostly plotted our route back up north.  I, for one, am excited to be heading north of the Mason -Dixon.  But I am ready to bring my dirty south derby self to the great frozen tundra of the northeast!  

I've applied to four jobs and I intend to apply to at least another two this week.  This week will also mark the first round of packing boxes and getting rid of those things we no longer need.  I am looking forward to the process.  Organizing and paring down our material objects will do me much mental and physical good.

The Sunshine State

I am sitting in a BEAUTIFUL house on the Florida coast, as my Joshua, my friend Brandt and other friendly peeps from the AU philosophy department play Texas Hold Em'.  Seriously, I hand my first paella, homemade, with several glasses of red wine.  I finished my dinner with a glass of Ardbeg Uigeadail, the gem of my liquor cabinet.  For those of you who don't know, paella is a rice dish with seafood.  This paella had clams, (clam shells in the dish!) and shrimp.  I sat at the dinner table and looked out the back door to the gulf.  In my opinion, seafood should only be consumed when you can see the salt water from wherever you are eating.  Mission accomplished.  And it was SO so good.  

I have much to report since the last time I wrote.  Many things have happened.  Barack Obama has been sworn in as our 44th president.  Derby has heated up and our team played our first bout!  On Friday March 13th, the Burn City Rollers (BCR) played a bout in Birmingham against the Tragic City Rollers (TCR).  We had a great time!  I have never done anything like that and it was the best time.  I can't wait until our next bout at home on April 18th! 

I attended a Gil Mantera show in Atlanta.  I was worried that the crowd in Atlanta wouldn't show the proper reverence for Gil Mantera.  That they wouldn't truly appreciate the joy that GMPD has to offer.  My nerves were so misplaced!  Seriously.  I am astonished to report that the crowd in Atlanta was MORE receptive to the show.  Tons of people were dancing and letting it all out.  It was a fabulous show and, prior to the bout, the most fun that I had had down here in the dirty south.

The biggest new of all comes in the form of a job offer for Joshua.  We are excited and getting ready to move in a few months.  This change should be a good one for both of us.  It results in a great position for Joshua and a wonderful opportunity for graduate school for me.  This summer will be awesome, but will exhibit a hint of bittersweetness when we say goodbye to our closest Auburn friends.  I am seriously bummed about saying goodbye to my derby team mid-season, but interested in continuing to pursue derby in our next town!  

In the meantime, I plan to pack, clean, set up an account on Odesk, nose around for a VERY part time job and play derby.    

As for right now, I will enjoy this spring break.  I will spend the majority of my day tomorrow standing neck deep in the gulf, laying out on the white sand beach, searching for the world's best key lime pie, drinking and eating seafood with good company.  What could be better?

 

2009

I've long neglected writing here, so much so that I had to stop and really think before I could type in the web address.  I hope that this finds our friends and family doing well.  2009 promises to be an interesting year.  Most years seem interesting at the start, don't they?  

Joshua and I are still living here in Alabama.  My initial dedication to keeping our apartment clean is fading and I find that clutter is building up.  The novelty of living in a new apartment has worn off.  

Roller derby has opened an old can of worms.  It is challenging certain ideas I've held about myself, forcing me to take a serious look at my mental processes.  All of this sounds rather dramatic, but I think the end results will be great!  I've long assumed that I would always suffer from a rather crippling performance anxiety.  I want to be good at derby, but will have a hard time succeeding if I don't change my performance mentality.  It is also forcing me to come to terms with a lack of excersising.  For years I've just ingored excersise and mourned the loss of my healthier, thinner high school body.  I've reached a point in my training with derby where I will not improve unless I get off of my butt and work outside of practice.  My desire to be good at derby may just help push me towards a healthier life and body.  I've also gone off sweets for a good few weeks.  It is not as hard as I thought and when I do have something sweet, it hasn't resulted in a major sweet food binge.  Another win for derby!

I've been enjoying getting to know the women on my derby team a little better.  There are some seriously cool ladies skating around the track with me.  I'm meeting with my new friend 9 lb. Hammer...