Thank You, Henry Ford

Have you ever noticed that just when things are going in the right direction, someone tosses a banana on the ground and hides until you slip on it? There you are, one foot on the peel, the other up in the air, struggling to stay on one foot, trying not to look like a complete idiot (when looking like a partial idiot will do fine, thank you)when you hear the jokester laughing in the bushes. What do you do? Do you throw the peel and everything else at said joker? Or do you try to upright yourself and continue with your day? I am trying the higher road. The "check engine" light came on in my car on my way to work on Wednesday. Rather than risk it, as was suggested by my boss, I returned the car to her parking spot and took the Long Island Railroad. Round trip is $15.25. Ouch. I can fill my tank on $35.00. I decided to take the bus instead. It's cheaper (a 7 day MetroCard for the bus and subway is $30.00) and I have a few more options than the 2 trains that will get me to work and/or home. For the past 2 days, I have been getting up at 5:15am and leaving home at 6:30 to take 2 subways to walk to the bus terminal (5 blocks) to get on 2 buses. With all of that, I arrive at work at 8:45am. Yes, that's a 2 1/4 hour commute for a location 21 miles away. Don't you just love public transportation? As a result, I am unable to get to the rink to practice. This was quite obvious when on Wednesday I was unable to do ANYTHING. When I say anything, I mean anything. Stroking seemed off. My feet hurt, my shoulder hurt. I couldn't balance and nearly fell standing stock still. I couldn't do the simpliest of jumps. My program, such as it is, looked like crap. It is an artistic program, but I really think there should be JUMPS in the darn thing. Amy disagrees. I have done this competition 2 or 3 other times and come in last each and every time. Why? There are NOT ENOUGH jumps in the program. It's that simple. I can be artistic and flounce around until the cows come home, but jumps are what gets you a first place finish. With absolutely nothing working right, I was taught the Dutch Waltz. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate footwork? I've been reading other people's blogs. I know I shouldn't compare myself to anyone, including myself in the past, but everyone seems to be improving while I'm going backwards. It's as exhausting as my commute. I was thinking of video taping myself, but I fear I will just quit the sport all together. It's times like this that I miss the two friends I had who skated: one quit the sport all totally and the other stopped speaking to me. In truth, they have both stopped speaking to me. I mentioned to a skater/coach that my skills were deteriorating. She looked at me blankly for several seconds. I asked her how her family was doing and she proceeded to talk for twenty minutes about her husband and their plans. Wow. Never knew I was that dull or that my skills were that bad in the first place. I am getting votes of "no confidence" on all sides of the table. Not sure if I'll do that competition; it depends on a lot of thing. Mostly time and money. And skills. If you see some lefty jumps just hanging around, looking all sneaky like they're hiding, send them back to me please.

In Sickness and In Health

I've had the flu for three weeks. Just when I thought I was better, it added a gastrointestinal portion that also knocked me off my feet. Being the stubborn fool that I am, I skated a few times with this problem. Funny how many colors are on the ice when you start to feel woozy. Everybody starts spinning, but nobody is moving. My sister/roommate has had it worse. Let's just say many a meal has made a repeat appearance in this apartment. Uggh!