Even the best laid plans...

Soooo... the Roby Park thing isn't going to happen tonight thanks to the lovely, yet unpredictable mother nature. We had quite the storm come through earlier this evening which turned Roby Park into Roby Pool. Instead of skating, the three of us freshies (Me, Slashya, and Kristin) met Bettie, Dee, and Sloppy Jones at Chili's for dinner and chit chat.

It was a nice chance to bond with people off skates. I allowed myself to admit out loud that it's ok to say "no" to derby sometimes. Poor Mr. Carnate was all excited when it rained and said, "This means you're not going out tonight right?". When I told him about the alternate dinner plans he got the sad puppy face and said "oh... ok.... :-("

I need to remember that sometimes it IS ok to say "no" to derby. After an all-derby week last week and another one shaping up this week I need not only some family time, but some "me" time as well. I took next week off from work and I'm going to be home by myself all day everyday. It's going to be awesome. It will be time to catch up on a lot of the non-derby life stuff that has fallen by the wayside since this amazing sport took over my life in January.

Assessments are tomorrow at 6:30. All I can do, knowing that I've never skated on this surface, is push to do my best. If I don't make it again then so be it. Bettie made a good point tonight that once we pass, that's it. We're on our own - not that she doesn't still love us - but that we need to take it upon ourselves to work on the things we need to work on for level twos. Even if I don't get there this time, I think it will be soonish. I can feel it getting closer.

Stitches, Needles, and Dirty Word Cupcakes

I may as well get the obvious out of the way before I start. I've spent the better part of this weekend trying to tweak the template of this blog. It's harder than it looks to someone with basic HTML and CSS knowledge; easier than it looks if you go in and actually try to rewrite the widgets themselves >.<

Note to self: You are not a programmer. Leave that crazy stuff to Mr. Carnate

So, after more hours than I care to admit playing around with this, it's finally finished. Now that I have a derby name that I am 99% sure will get approved since I have a letter from the next closest name on TwoEvils, I thought I'd spice things up a bit.

On Saturday, DKB and I made the trek down to Worcester to visit Central Mass Roller Derby who was sponsoring an alternative craft fair called "Stitches, Needles, and Guns". We made it to the fair by about 11ish and went in to help Pixie with her table for Jenaration Creations.

The fair was amazing. CMRD had 40 vendors in the venue and had to turn more away due to lack of space. There were both derby and non-derby artisans there selling everything from chocolate truffles, to metal spiders, to fight club soap.

And dirty word cupcakes. Yes, you heard me. Without going into too much detail take one delicious, moist cupcake. Add icing reading one of several vulgar words. Enjoy.

After a stroll around the whole venue and much deliberation I didn't end up buying anything. DKB, Pixie, and I took turns at the Jenaration Creations table where Pixie was selling ball bearing jewelry, skull barrettes, charm garters, hairbands, and custom painted clothing. We spent the afternoon schmoozing with customers and talking them into buying things. It was a great day.

On the way home DKB and I stopped and had dinner at Bugaboo Creek. BBQ Chicken Nachos have never tasted so good. I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know two more NHRD skaters a bit better. I'm looking forward to Heartbreaker's this coming Friday! :-D

Photo shoot!

I went to my very first NHRD photoshoot today. It is WAY too soon for me to get my photos done but I wanted to go A) To get to know some of the people on the league better than I could during practice) and B) To see what different people do and the process they go through before it's my turn.

After a snafu with the start time I made it to Manchester by about 11:30 which turned out to be way early. I ran into Trixie while I was buying something to drink in CVS next door to the studio where we were doing the shoot. She knew who I was which was nice - sometime I feel like I should wear my helmet with my name on it at all times for derby functions. :-P

We were let into the studio a bit early and I helped her get setup. Pixie showed up a bit later followed closely by Bettie and Vicious (the lovely hair and makeup artists). I designated myself as munchie go-fer but was glad I got to watch most of the shoot. Pixie, Tank'd, Tiara, Chicana, DKB, Roxie, StingHer, and Honey all had shots done. Everyone is so creative! I can't wait to see the new shots on the FABULOUS new website Trixie is working on. I'm hoping I'll be able to find a cool enough name (don't want to post my ideas until they're submitted) and a theme to go with it.

We went to Margaritas afterward for some noms and adult beverages. I had a taco salad which was nice despite being a bit heavy on the cilantro. Pixie had some extra seasoning in her salad in the form of a soggy, cilantro-covered receipt. I had a great time and really enjoyed the chance to get to known Trixie, Pixie, Bettie, Roxie, and DKB a bit better. Thanks for letting the freshie tag along!

In other news I went out and acquired a 65 cm inflatable exercise ball last night. I've got it all blown up now I just need to make some space in the living room. I think Trixie is going to send me some back exercises too. I'm frustrated that I'm having to drop out of some drills early because of my back and want to do what I can to make the issue go away - or at least get a little bit better.

Rules training and off-skates calisthenics this week. Butt... prepare to be kicked again!