The Phone Book

I do not understand why the phone book still gets delivered.  Why isn't it an optional thing? Or better yet why not a voluntary thing.  Call them if you want one.  Both Patrick and Jackie left them on the door step for a good week before they brought them in the house, only to shove them in a closet or under a bench.  I know that 100% of the population doesn't use the internet but honestly at least 75% does.  My mom does for goodness sakes.  So why waste the paper to print out these books that most people loathe seeing on their door step.  Oh and not 1 but 2 phone books.  Huge waste of paper and money, seriously.  Can we start a petition? 

Black Friday!

Its been ages and ages since I posted.  Too busy or lazy im not sure which.  I had to break the streak to write about the epic awesomeness that was back Friday!
Jackie, Pdog, and I rolled out of the house at 11:30 and headed to Legends where we signed up for the shopping spree and hit up a couple stores that were smart enough to open before midnight.  Then it was off to Toys R Us where we waited in line (with the rest of Reno?!) for 1.5 hours after the store had opened. Brrrrrrrr but well worth it as we got all the holiday deals we wanted and shopping for the boys is DONE.  Jackie scored quite a few things as (insert massive warm fuzzies) she and Ed are not buying presents for each other, they decided to buy presents for the Christmas on the Corridor kids and the cancer kids in the hospital instead.  Yeah you know YOU feel like an ass now, I do too. Toys R Us was crazy insane madness, you couldn't even push a cart down the isles (Jackie totally stole someones cart, and I will be forever grateful, pdog too since he got stuck waiting in the HUGE line while we shopped).
From Toys R Us it was back to Legends, after dropping pdog off at home, and clothes shopping for Jack and I until Target opened at 5.  Target was rad-doors were open and there was no counting heads and stopping people at a certain number.  They had their shit together.  Once again I got exactly what I went for and despite a line that went around the store we only waited in it for 10 minutes!  Jack was done after that so I dropped her happy ass off at home and headed to Ace for the shop vac pdog wanted, got there right at opening (7am) scored te shop vac and headed to 2 different Radio Shacks to get the sweet camera deal.  Finally got home some where around 8 am.  When I say home I meant the place I was cat sitting and while adorable I think the cat was either dying or on a hunger strike.
I managed to stay awake until 10am and then I was out like a light...until Jackie called at 11:30 because we had lunch plans with Kristel.  A quick trip downtown and yummy lunch with Kristel and we were off once again!  This time Micheals where I got all stocking stuffers taken care of and Costco.  Holy effin crap it was an epic day of shopping.
I somehow managed to stay awake until 10pm that night.  No idea how-it felt like high school times.  Super happy that I am DONE with Christmas shopping but even happier that Jack and I spent like 2 days together.  Despite a few bitchy moments-me in Forever 21 and she in Target and pdog in Toys R Us, yeah we all had our moments.  Oh and Forever 21 was awesome.  I have no idea how Jack can come up with this stuff so quickly. Sales girl "You cannot return lingerie" Jackie-"But I do it all the time" with innocent confused look.  I was lmao as the 18 year old said Jackie was corrupting her and I couldn't help insert-dont go A T M.
Steller good times and overall a rad weekend that didn't seem to end but now its Monday and I really need to do homework.

Anything you can do, I can do....(better)

I need to get this out of my system.
The System sucks. I think that I could potentially do anything. As in any job. Train me and I can do it. But I can't in the eyes of "The system". I need a degree to be considered competent or qualified. But that's crap too. Qualified? Ask any college graduate if they feel qualified after they graduate. Or if they retained any of what they just learned. Most will say no. Pdog and Jackie both laughed when I told them I was worried because I could not remember the CCNA stuff I had just learned. Apparently thats completely normal. So if no one retains what they learn and everyone learns on the job then why do I need a piece of paper so that I too can learn on the job. Proof that I, like so many others, am in debt because of school. So in order for me to get a good job I have to go into debt to "earn" that job.
Just silly thoughts that were eating me up the other night.

Reality Bites

I went camping this weekend. Yup, me, I went camping. And it was everything i dreaded-dirty, bug filled, what looked like a toilet but no plumbing, nature, allergies, etc. But I also had fun just hanging out by the water and gabbing like bitches with the girls. The boys had fun-both adult and child size. It was butt ass cold the first night but the second was better with patricks and my sleeping bags zipped together I had pdog on one side and digger on the other. They are my personal heaters. I was a little sad to pack up and go. Getting back to reality and chores and checking all the messages that were building up on my phone.
As soon as I got a signal the first message came through-"Where are you we need u"
Shit, it was from a derby girl. I goraned thinking of the derby drama that might have taken place while i was out of range for the weekend. I wish it had been derby drama.
Hannah, Mz. Vindictive, the girl whos always got my back is in the hospital. In serious condition. I dropped off the boys and the gear and headed to St. Marys with a brief stop over to get my car. I needed to get Kermit-he has kept me safe for many years now and i figure he coud do the same for Hannah. She was asleep when I got there and from what I have heard that was a blessing. She cannot talk and gets frustrated when she tries and that leads to crying. I was and have been doing plenty of crying since the call came in from LMT. I put on a brave face in the room but when I saw she was asleep the tears sneaked out. I left when the number of her real family (non derby) increased and realized with a little help from Jays mom (in a totally non rude way) that by visiting Hannah we all were making ourselves feel better but it really wasnt the best thing for her. SO I am sitting at home waiting for news and sendign her all my good ju ju and woosah. Please do the same.

Why is it

That I have good times and fun and always mean to blog about it but i only seem to have motivation when its bad times.
I did have a good weekend. Sunday was awesome. The river was rad, and the company was awesome. I needed that and it was a good "last day for Patrick". He started work today!!! Woohoo!!!
But blogs aren't meant for that. I like sharing the fun times with others. I don't like sharing the bad feelings with others, who wants to listen. Seriously, not like pity party or anything, everyone has their own worries to worry about. Blogs are so I can get it out and move on.
I am tired. Physically but mostly mentally. I should be enjoying the last few weeks of my summer before school starts but instead I am worrying about derby. I shouldn't be worrying about derby. We have tons of skaters, we are looking at warehouses, we have a double header coming up. Things should be great! But they aren't and I don't know what to do about it and I'm exhausted.

Uh-Oh

I am getting LAZY. I woke up at 11am today. It wasn't even like I woke up and went back to sleep and re-awoke at 11, I was in deep sleep until 11am! The only productive thing I am doing is laundry otherwise I am still in my jammies. I have done a lil rrg stuff but mostly watching tv and chatting thru messenger.
Ok I couldn't live with my slackerness so mid-post I got up and cleaned both bathrooms, windexed all windows (including the slider), picked up after Dig in the backyard and pulled weeds. I am now sweaty and ready for a shower.
I have started looking for a job. I really don't want to go back to work but I miss having money. On the flip side if I can get FAFSA money and go to UNR then that would be the ideal route but that costs money just to apply! So I need a job or a way out of this Catch 22.
If I do go back to work how the hell will I be able to balance work, derby, and life? I have been doing all things derby constantly since school let out. I am pondering starting a derby journal so one day I can look back and go-oh yeah thats where my mid-life went.....

The song WAS about me

I had a fucking crazy dream last night. I've had similar dreams in the past but it doesn't matter how many times I have them they scare me on a deep emotional level. I dreamed my body was covered in warts. Yeah, gross. I have also dreamed that I have no nose. The dream before this consisted of me having no teeth. WTF. There is always a horrible feeling of dread in my stomach before my brain decides to clue me that its a dream.
It's a horrible moment and even after my brain and my sub-conscious speak I can't get my dream to steer out of that direction.
Wat does this say about me? How vain am I if my fear is that I will be disfigured somehow. I need a dream dictionary cause I know that most of the time the obvious answer is far from the correct one.

Selfish

The 7th Reno Roller Girls bout was last night. I didn't get to skate. I was working the door until half time schmoozing and taking money and hand stamping and wrist-banding with Annibel and Mz. V. I had fun at the door. I like talking to people to learn stats, how they heard about us and what not. It also gives me instant gratification with $ #'s and if we covered our asses. Anyways, come half time I closed up the table and headed into the bout. Thats when things started to suck. There was drama, of course there was drama, there always is drama. But thats not what sucked. The sucketh part was that.....I WASN"T SKATING. Because, well, I am selfish damn it.
Its freaking awesome that we have 4 teams and I am so excited and all the new girls are so great. But right now I am being slefish. I love skating! I get a crazy high from it that I cannot get any where else. I cannot afford cocaine. :(
I am better now. In June I will be awesome. June 27th is the next bout and I, as well as Mz. V and the Wife, will be skating. Yesssssssssssssssssss!

Talking to myself

Talking to my self is a given. I state a question out loud and my brain responds silently.
Q: I wonder if I can get my Nutrition teacher to post the test early
A from my brain: You have enough to do, don't worry about that right now.
A from Patrick: It doesn't matter anyway your going to die.

The problem at hand is we both happen to talk to ourselves. Well in his case he is speaking to opponents in a game. Same difference.
Our worlds collided and the result is my death.

My Night

I spent good quality bonding time with Mz Hannah last night. Unfortunately it was at the ER. We got there about Midnight and at 3:30 they still didn't know what was wrong. I swear that room was a time warp. There was no way we were in that room for 3 and a half hours. If its possible we spent all that time talking about Jack in the Box mini churros. I still want some of those. I wound up going home just before 4 am. I went back and got her today (at 11:30) and she is resting at home now but we still don't know whats wrong with her :( Almost 12 hours and they couldn't figure it out! WTFEBBQ
It felt good to be there for her. We may not be super close friends but I know that girl has always got my back and it was nice to have hers too.
In totally unrelated news I need to start keeping track of Ed's monikers to date we have:
Eduardo
Heed
Hedgar
Edaroo
Head

(Wife! what was yours??)

Yesterday

All my troubles seemed so far away! Now it seems as though they're here to stay...
Yeah so yesterday was awesome! The boy and I went on a fabulous bike ride. We started at my house in Sparks and rode all the way along the river to downtown. I didn't think I could do it. About 1/4 of the way there I vocalized these fears but the boy kept me going. My reward for this great feat??? An awful awful and oh it was so tasty. I can't believe I have lived in Reno for over 10 years and I have never had one before. We took an easier route back; hopped off the trail at Kietzke and followed that to Prater. My reward for going through town back?? A pumpkin marshmallow shake at Scoopers! Oh the tasty goodness that is Scoopers. All in all we rode 16 miles and not having been on a bike in 19 years I think I did pretty damn good. But my ass hurts...a lot. I plan to keep it up at least once a week. As long as this damn snow stops!

"The"

Just a quick blog to note an observation.
Adding the word "The" in front of a location bother me tremendously. It, imho, makes a person sound white trash. Example: I am going to "The" Walmart. Patrick tried a wide array of establishments and it just doesn't work. Not even "The" Round Table. I am sorry if you use this phrase you must stop now. Thank You

the freak out

Every day it gets closer. It's still many months away but closer than its ever been before. I have always said that I am 23 forever and believed it too. But now that 30 is getting near it feels like I went from 23 straight to 30 with no notice. I am officially freaking out. Moody-like chick moody. Like depressed and irrational and I think on the verge of another mid-life crisis (derby was my first). My desire to visit bars and go out on the town is a sure sign of crisis. Normally I am a home body happy as long as I have munchies and cable. I think in my brain thinks that if I go out and baout and do things then I am still young. And maybe it'll keep me from remembering that I am almost 30 and I have not met any of the goals I set for my life. That I am unemployed (yes I am going to school full time) and when I was employed it was not a career it was a job. It'll keep me from thinking about the very real possibility that my relationship will never get any better. That I will continue to be upset about the same things over and over because he simply will never change and I simply will never come before his own thoughts in his mind. That he will never ask me to marry him. That I can attribute many bad decisions in my life to him. My 5 year anniversary is tomorrow and guys are notoriously bad at remembering these things but c'mon-April Fools Day is the easiest day ever to remember. He has the kids tomorrow, I can handle that. His friend and her daughter are coming over tomorrow for dinner too. That I really can't handle. At this point I feel they have him more than I do. The really bad thing is the more it happens the more I don't care...and not in a good way.
In the way of the world when one part of life crashes another does well. Practice was rad last night. I was back to jokey havin fun time. In other news I have made it 10 days without a cigarette. Well 9 full days. Typing this has really made me want one and I will be helping Mz. V with an english paper in a couple hours and she smokes...so we will see if I can hold out.

Shoes

I have been retreating inward lately. When I say inward I mean the couch. Its a really comfortable couch, very inviting. My favorite pillow has joined me. Its become my safe haven.
My brain is fried. My Spring break has not been a break. I have been doing homework like its a full time job. When I am not doing homework I have been trying to hide from all things derby. Derby -the one thing that used to bring me immense joy is now the bane of my current existence. Its funny how quickly things change. Just a few weeks ago I went on the best road trip ever with 3 fellow rrg's to LA to skate on the Derby Dolls track. It was EPIC! Not just the skating-which was rad and the picking their brains-which was radder-but the whole road trip. 16 hours in a car with 3 chicks and we got along the WHOLE TIME. Amazing. We told stories, played games, bought team beef bowl sweat pants and some random gas station on the way back. Ate way too much junk food, drank too man energy drinks and loved every minute of it. Seriously it was the best most needed time. I even got to see my brother and his son (so freaking adorable!) Jack West. He is gonna be a movie star some day-I have no doubt of this.
As I dropped off the last girl reality set in and the panic of homework that needed to be done and derby crap that needed to be done set in. But it was all quite manageable. The next bout came up so quickly I didn't even have the normal freak out time for it. Of course as this was bout number 6 maybe I am just getting used to it all. Anyway bout number 6 was GREAT. I didn't feel all bitter like I did at the last bout. I didn't let bad juju get to me. My team stayed positive and had a great time. Terri and her ENTIRE family came down to see it along with Sara and Kera and Thomas and Patricks mom. It was a super great feeling to have all those people supporting me. I had an entire row of fans! WooHoo. It was also the best crowd we have ever had. All seats filled and people standing all over the place. AWESOME. At half time I really thought the Dolls were gonna over take us but the Mollies wound up winning. I thought we all had a great time. I guess I was in such a good place that I didn't notice the other team wasn't in the same happy place. I can understand being upset at a loss. I cannot understand not looking to yourself to see where the problem lies but instead attacking the other team and telling them someone needs to leave. That someone being me. I am tired off being attacked. I am tired of spending all of my free time on derby just to be argued with for every decision that is made. I am tired of people not getting involved and then bitching because they were not told. Like its a secret club. Secret club of the door mats. All of this has caused me to retreat. I am not stalking my email accounts like usual or answering my phone on the first ring or even responding to messenger. I don't have it in me to even pretend to be a person right now. I am abandoning homework as of this moment so that I can pay attention to a neglected friend. The television. The television does not ask anything of me. Lets me choose what I want to watch, even lets me pause mid sentence so I can get a snackie or pee! TV also does not require me to leave the house. I had to leave to feed Jackie's kids yesterday and I didn't even bother to put on shoes. Just left in my socks. I don't even have the energy or desire to wear shoes! Today when I had to leave the house (to check the rrg po box) i put on patricks flip flops because they only required minimal effort on my part but it did take me a good minute of thought to not leave bare footed. Oh I did manage to put on jeans for my jaunt to the po box but otherwise I was still in my jammies. If left to my own devices I would prolly just stay here and not make contact with anyone. So its a really good thing my wife is checking in on me. She knows me. A day goes by without contact and something is definitely up. Which it was and while I don't want to talk about it, with her it all comes pouring out. She understands cause shes is stuck on BOD of doom too. Thank God.
Did I mention I have the plague too? Yes, just when you think you've hit rock bottom the rock crumbles.
In other news I am super happy to be going to SF to support Mz V this weekend. Shes a superstar and I am so proud of her! And hopefully Sunday I will get to see the wife and her mom. A nice weekend something to look forward to. But that means I will have to leave the couch. Maybe I will be Lucas and take a cushion with me. Then I can be AJ and glue quarters to the floor. I have always wanted to do that. Jackie has an extra coffee table...hmmmmmm.

I hurt, everywhere

Saturday night was the bout. I am pretty close to positive that all the hard work (the driving around town handing out fliers, selling ad space, making phone calls) paid off. We had a great crowd at the rink and omg the freshmeat were amazing-they set up, sold raffle, cleaned up and generally did whatever was asked of them. Which of course makes it so difficult to let them skate in the next bout. They better all find a replacement!
The first half was crazy tension and a bunch of bitterness from me. I was super unhappy with the way people were playing. Its so easy to say "Just let it go and have fun" its so freaking hard to actually to that. Despite Robins numerous pep talks, even one that kept my team from having a pivot or blockers on the track, it was so hard to pull myself out of that black mood. I am sure it had a whole lot to do with this being my first bout without health insurance and I walked away from it with more injuries than ever before. I've got some awesome rink rash on my left hip, my right knee is wicked bruised, my right shoulder hurts, my right arm is totally bruised where I tripped over Patrick and hit the penalty wheel (yeah, yeah) my ass hurts from getting knocked on it all night. But its derby and I love it! I am bummed none of my bruises are photo worthy.
Oh and of curse my wife gave me a bloody nose! Wasn't painful just managed to get bumped in the right spot. And I needed that, I needed a fun little fight it got me back in the mood I wanted to be in, I needed to be in.
So the Mafia Mollies won (that's the team I am on) but it was super close.
The damper on the evening was girls from the other team in town showed up to bestow upon us their advice. Which they yelled out as we were skating y like we had never done this before. Like this wasn't our 5th bout in less than a year! They even had the nerve to walk up and offer to coach us. I was upset over that but simply skated away. I don't understand when they are going to accept that we skate but 2 completely different sets of rules! One team has nothing to do with the other. Its absurd that its been 1.5 years since I have been an RRG and this crap has always been happening. It is only a small number of their girls that behave that way, unfortunately their president is one of them. That's the girl that came to the bout and yelled snide comments throughout and if that wasn't bad enough she showed up at our after party too. She and another cornered our girls and told them we would never be banked track and tried to recruit our media relations girl and our Vice Prez. Dumb CUNextTuesdays didn't realize the mistake they made there! After they threw a beer at H.Ivy and got punched in the face for it they were booted from the bar. Only to return an hour later at which time Mz Vindictive handed them their asses. I don't condone derby girls fighting derby girls and everyone on RRG knows they are not to talk badly of any other league including the other league in town or the one in Tahoe but when this girl smack talks at the bout and then shows up at out after party still running her mouth well then she got what she deserved. I will back Mz. V 100% and I will also be damn glad that Mz. V is on my side and has my back!
I went into this bout worried about my team v your team mentalities and unneeded rivalries. There was for sure tension during the bout but the after party was anything but clicky and I am quite happy that things returned to normal.
I don't know if I really want to bout again in a month but I am sure by that time I'll be more than ready.

Spinning

I need to know if other people feel this too. Some nights when my eyes are closed and I am trying very hard to go to sleep I get this feeling like my body is spinning. Spinning and rocking at the same time. That sounds absolutely horrible and I can only liken it to the feeling you get when you've had to much to drink. However without the alcohol its this rad super soothing, calming feeling. I have no idea why it happens or how to make it happen. As I laid down last night it happened and I went to a super happy place in my mind. Then one little thought of the evenings events brought me back out into the dark reality. Which brings me to my second question. When it is dark (outside, inside, wherever there is no light) I see all these little tiny colored dots everywhere like snow on a tv set but colored. I think I tried explaining this to someone once and they thought I was crazy but I'm pretty sure it has to be a normal thing. As I get older it is becoming more and more clear that we (people) just aren't as unique as we think we are. Its kind of depressing in a way. Shoots down my theory that the whole world revolves around me. Oh my gosh if my High School history teacher could read that sentence he would fall over and die. We had many arguments about my insignificance and I never wavered. The whole world revolved around me. Now I don't want it to, it's too much pressure. I don't want to be in charge.

The good times always come at a price!

The price for this good time was sleep. I guess I can't complain too much I still slept for 7 hours. The boy only got 5 hours of sleep.
When I got home from practice last night I was all wound up as I usually am (either from hard skating or drama..) and he was still awake. So we started to talk about the night since he came to practice (but didn't stay for all of it) he had some input for me that was quite helpful. But that wasn't the good part. The good part was when we started talking about nothing. Absolutely nothing of importance but there were tons of giggles and belly laughs. I thought at one point I was going to hyperventilate and of course my cheeks started to hurt in that great way when you have been laughing too much. Sitting here the next morning I have no idea what we talked about except that Patrick and Paula get drunk together, Paula Abdul, that came about because I harmlessly sang one of her lyrics wrong. Crap maybe I sung it right Patrick isn't known for knowing those kinds of things. But despite that he corrected me and informed me that he and Paula drink together and then he completed the verse I was trying to sing. I don't even know why I was singing that particular song except it had something to do with my cold feet......cold hearted snake! Ah, yes its all coming back to me now. Which may lead me into a meatloaf song so I better stop this before I start.

Superbowl!

WooHoo Football! Hahahaha like I have the attention spam to watch football. At least last year I liked the Patriots (when I say like I mean I used to live in CT and so I root for them and same with San Francisco). So last year it was quite entertaining to be the only female in a room full of guys and the only Pats fan. But at least it was fun witty banter the whole night. Although watching Brady get sacked repeatedly got to be a little much, well not so much watching that as the glee and happiness on everyones face when it did happen.
This Superbowl no one was rooting for anyone really. I mean everyone seemed to choose a side but not really care. There were some good plays thank god but overall it was just really long. Luckily Grace was here so I could make derby references to get myself thru it. The quarterback is now the Jammer in my mind and they don't fight nearly enough. Although one guy did and he fought dirty! Punching the other guys back, that's not right. And the ballets moves were pretty cool too. I just can't handle the stop and go, stop and go. Way too much downtime for not enough action in my opinion. Although I think there are millions of people out there who disagree for starters the 75,000 that were in the Stadium and lets see cheap seats are $2,000. So that means at minimum they made $150,000,000. Holy beejezus that's a lot of money.
Dude it would be so sweet if that crowd was there to see Roller Derby! Good god i really need to start talking about other things I'm sure my non derby friends are quite sick of hearing about it by now.

Cell Phones & Cigarettes

In class yesterday it was brought up that for some it may be easier to give up cell phones than smoking. I think I probably fall into that category as well. My cell phone has slowly taken over my life. Derby of course greatly helped that out. Before derby I didn't have unlimited minutes and texting was rarely done. Now I'm up to 1200 minutes+ a month and probably just as many texts. I am trying to get more polite about my phone usage. If I hear the chime of a text I try and wait until there is a break in conversation or dinner is over or what not. But if it chimes twice then I have to get up and see what it is. I have to! I tried to make a rule that after 5 on weekdays I wasn't available to the derby peeps it lasted for awhile and maybe they just need a reminder.
I just finished watching Good Morning America and there were 3 teenagers on that were labeled "Extreme Texters". They averaged 33,000 texts a month! Holy Crapola what could you possibly have to say? At least I'm not that bad! Well if the boy could have his say he would tell me I am that bad. If I don't answer my phone or a text right away he asks if I am feeling OK! Hopefully he is joking I have been making an effort to be a little better. Like quittting smoking-one day at a time and start by cutting back slowly.

Tired

Rock Band-great game super fun and very addicting. Also the reason I am super tired today. I didn't get to sleep in either not that I have been but if I had the choice I would have slept in today. I didn't tho I woke up at 8 so that I could take the angel to the park and hit the town with Taryn. Our goal was to go from business to business asking for money. Hooray you say "Oh I wish I could have been there!" Asking people for money, yes it was a joy. My least favorite task for the RRG but quite necessary because well, we are poor and NEED money. It was despite the whole being told no thing I got to hang with my derby peep Taryn and gab. Its nice to get out after spending way too much time watching daytime television lately. OMG it was fine for the first week or 2 but then the boy decided to ditch the movie channels. Damn it. I hate commercials. I am so spoiled by the damn DVR. I remember the old days when I would get up and do stuff during the commercials like laundry or dishes or pee. Not anymore now I just record what I want to watch and fast forward. Damn I am lazy. Everything I need from the comfort of bed. TV and laptop so I can farm while I watch tv. Damn Grace for introducing me to my farm. I lost 2 whole crops during the SF trip. 2 crops! Yea so its a fake farm on facebook, so what. I am quite attached to it. Maybe because I don't have a green thumb in real life. I have a blck thumb. Terri and I used to put all the plants we'd killed on the back deck. It was a sad sad site out there. But now I don't need dirt or water just a computer and who cares that I get nothing from it. I get satisfaction.
It was a very satisfying day but now I am sooooooo tired and I have practice. *Woosah*

1 Day Road Trip

Yesterday I drove 3 derby girls and myself (duh!) to San Francisco to get on that wonderful banked track of the Bombers. The track was awesome as always. A little crowded-it seems word is spreading that people can just jump on the track and have at it so there were a lot of girls from Sac City and even a couple from Spokane, WA. I was super stoked when Dave asked me to be one of the people up front for drills. I need a little acknowledgments here and there. Not all the time just every now and again-but who doesn't. Hannah was doing awesome learning some tricky backward whips with Frank and I am super proud of VaNastee and Bottle Rocket who kept at it till they got it!
As much as I love the track and skating the best part was the car ride there and back. Good conversation, jokes and derby dreams the whole way. I love it when I get to hang with girls I don't know so well and get to know them better. It was the perfect mix of girls to make it interesting and entertaining. We stopped at Ikea on the way there for lunch (Swedish Meatballs!) and I wish I could say our stops on the way home were as pleasant and uneventful as Ikea was. Sadly no but stil a good time. We made it to the Reno turn off on 80 (just past sacIi think) and stopped for gas-totally delirous. The cashier thought we were high as we tried to decide between hostess and candy and energy drinks and sodas. I went with the Chocolate Hotess Pie and a strawberry soda that complemented the energy drink I had previously quite nicely.
Then it was smooth sailing again until right before Boreal when the EFFING CHAIN NATZIS in California had a damn mandatory chain check. Of course they plan these things right before a gas station and it was mutually decided that for $20 it was well worth it for the gas station attendant to put them on for us. I would like to say that I did bring a trash bag, gloves, a beanie and blanket to put on my own chains but it was 1:30 in the morning and I was tired! The rad guy that put the chains on agreed to take a picture with us. When I say agreed I mean we prolly made his night!
Anyway that was 1:30am and it was slow going from then on out. We finally got them off (I mean Hannah got them off cause shes fuccking rad) just past the agriculture check station and after dropping everyone off I got home at 3:40am!
Holy shit tho those girls are the best co-pilots ever! Very little dozing and awesome conversation the whole way! A very succesful trip imho.

Permanent Vacation!

Attitude is apparently my downfall. Not bad, just attitude. I was laid off due to cut backs on December 31. We all knew this was coming and I was quite prepared. The poor guy who had to break the news to me was very somber while I tried rather poorly to hide my shit eating grin. That was it I am free. I have been free for a little while now and while I did have a few do nothing but watch tv days I find that derby is now my full time job. Not that it hasn't been its just different when I'm not cramming into spare minutes at work and actually planning my day around it.
Thank god we are practicing again or I would be having many moments of "why am I working my ass off?". Oh yeah cause I get to skate! And when I skate everything is good and happy.
The boy is being incredibly great about the whole laid off thing. So is the sister. Of course I am cleaning their houses since I have the time. I am slightly worried tho that I may have been sucked to far into derby. Must balance better and not get all consumed.
Oooohhh and on the ex-work front the bitches that threw me under the bus are slowly going down in flames. And those that were my friends there still are and are defending me! That's so amazing to me as most of the time the person that gets canned becomes the scapegoat for all and I even told Mz V that I don't mind if that became me. But she wont let it! What a rad girl.
So happy I have my network of peeps and my poor wife who has me calling all the time for everything from venting to omg (insert randomness here)!
Ooohhh and a new venture with an old friend-Cakes of awesomeness. I am not so good with the hands on but I have ideas and she can make fondant! WooHoo!!!!
Plenty to keep me busy.