Thursday 14 June 2012

A Week of Photos

I'll start with my Photo A Day June ones:

8th -  6 o'clock - this was a flower at one of my patients houses. First thing I saw when I realised it was 6pm and I hadn't taken my photo yet.


9th - your view today - boooo, at work on a Saturday....


10th - best bit of my weekend - lazing away on the couch cuddled up with Crazy


11th - door - one of the many doors I come across in my job


12th - from a low angle - this was lying in the station....reason enough? lol


13th  - art - food art! The cake my sister made for my brother's birthday, which was today :)


14th - time - a few of the time pieces around my home


Bailey is featured again, this time sleeping up against his momma's smelly derby kit bag....that's unconditional love for you right there, lol


And speaking of derby, I of course got my new wheels :D


And the Olympic torch came by Falkirk yesterday. Only got this photo because some lovely woman decided to abandon her car in the middle of the road to take a photo herself.....


Wednesday 13 June 2012

Derby Round Up

Training was a mixed bag last night. My plough stops are improving, my t-stops have gone wobbly....probably because of the new wheels, however, at the session in Camelon before training, I was plough stopping no problem. Damn you Grangemouth floor!! On the other hand, my transitions are loving the new wheels...lol.
I need to go over the hand signals for fouls...we did a little drill where the refs would shout out a minor/major - if we got sent to the "sin bin" for a major, we had to show Fun Ghoul what the foul was using the hand signal. It was a good communication drill. If our bench manager wants to know why we were sent off, just in case they want to contest it, we need to be able to let them know what it was for.
We practised more walls - I'm learning to stay up a little better, although my one footed ploughs aren't so great. And when I do fall, I'm recovering quickly, with little impact on my wall. My hammer and nail technique is also improving, I really felt like my hip checks were actually effective :D
My jamming....I'm still finding gaps and moving quickly, and I am staying on my feet better when I get hit, but my aggressive jamming really needs some work. To be honest, I'm too worried about getting 4 minors for my elbows....

So, in conclusion:
NEED TO WORK ON: T-stops on new wheels;
                                       referee hand signals;
                                       one footed ploughs;
                                       agressive jamming.
IMPROVING ON: Plough stops;
                                transitions;
                                staying on my feet/skates.

And here's a funny little photo someone posted on Facebook tonight. This is me xD


Tuesday 12 June 2012

Smiles

So yesterday seemed like it was going to be one of "those" days. Started out with two crabbit patients, I was so ready for the next one!! However, turned out a complete opposite. I had the joy of taking two of the loveliest patients to and from the hospital. One of them called everyone Angel, which I love. She seemed like such a kind wee woman. The other was so anxious about going out but soon settled, enjoying the fact that we had to detour so much before we got home! It was one of those "I've seen places I've not visited for many years" kind of patients. You actually feel nice for taking them to the hospital, lol.
Today has been a tying-up-lose-ends day, which as incredibly boring as it sounds, actually gives me a little bit of peace and well being. I finally got my log in and e-mail sorted out at work (yes, apparently ambulance staff on the ROAD need this....) thanks to a lady in IT who spoke plain English and not the IT version of it. I also had a lovely day out shopping with my momma. Got a few other things sorted, but also had to buy a shit tonne of cards this month! I even treated myself to a new dress - yes, me, a dress.
And now I'm off to an extra wee skatey session before training at 9pm. Hoping I'll get to help out some of the girls and meet the Fresh Meat again :D

Sunday 10 June 2012

Positive Attitude

I "like" a lot of pages on Facebook who post funny pictures, inspirational pictures and some really good positive pictures. Some of them hit home and help me get through a bad day. So I've decided to post a collection from the week up here. Ideally on a Sunday, before work on Monday.... lol.





I'll have a quick peek at these every time I'm feeling a little low. Here's hoping they work! ;)

Saturday 9 June 2012

Derby round up

Last night I got to wear in my new Poisons! :D And wow, did I get a work out. We did two endurance sessions - the first being sprinting with skills in between (like jumping :D), the second being shopping trolleys. I found myself getting lower than I usually skate, which is good, means more speed. However, my back hated me for it! I'm sure I'll get used to them, hopefully before Belfast, lol. I also managed a Dusty Bluebells without falling! It wasn't until I was talking to the wifey after training that I realised I hadn't fallen. I don't know why, but for some reason, that seemed to be my nemesis. Always near the end, my legs would just seem to go like jelly and down I'd go. I won't contribute it completely to the new wheels, I'll say I've improved my skills too xD.
We also did some positional blocking, which to be honest, outside of a pack, I just don't seem to do so well with. It's not very accurate, we were only doing it in pairs, but I understand why we practice it that way. As with everything else, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. And when I get into scrims, it all just clicks into place.
Still having issues with numb feet, which was really bad last night. So I've taken some advice and added two sets of laces to my skates - the set at the bottom being more lose so I'm not cutting the circulation off to my toes! Fingers crossed this works!


Friday 8 June 2012

Smiles :)

So, on Wednesday, my new outdoor wheels arrived! Yay!! And then boooo.....it's pretty much rained since, lol... I was hoping to get out on them at the weekend if the weather stays dry, but Elton John has pretty much scunnered that idea by deciding to play a gig at the stadium where I skate. I'll have to ask around about some of the Helix footpaths I think. I've got 300 laps to practice for!!
This day was pretty awesome as I also won free cinema tickets :D There was a competition on Central FM and at about 4:45pm I heard the question - pretty easy, "who sang the main theme song for Top Gun". We were even given a clue, it's the name of a German city. Well duh, lol. Showing my age, I text in, Berlin of course. 10 minutes later, I get a phone call asking me to repeat my answer and bam! Tickets won xD So, now I have to find a few scary films to drag Mike to, bwuhahahahahahahahaha >:D

Thursday saw the arrival of more wheels, this time Atom Poisons after my wee shot with Fun Ghoul's. So this morning, I got stuck into my skates, taking the bearings out of the old wheels and cleaning them, then popping on some speed cream.



A Week of Photos

The Photo a Day June challenge started last Friday!


I need to up my game a little on the inspiration in my photos, some of them are....a little obvious...







Going to make this a weekly feature (as pretty much suggested by the title, durp), hopefully with more than just the challenge photos :)

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Derby Round Up

Bobbie took training last night. I love it when she takes training. For some reason, everything she says makes sense and I come away from the session feeling like I've learned something. She's also very motivational and praising :D
We went back to basics, mostly covering walls. After practising this with one group of three one way however, I moved on to another group of three and found they were doing it slightly different. So I got a little confused, and then frustrated...but good ol' Griz was there with her patience and eventually I got it. Had a little warning about my right foot coming up too high from one of the refs, eeep. However, I was borrowing Fun Ghoul's poisons and was trying to get used to the extra grippyness, my skull crushing left a little to be desired....Aside from that, I found them very good for my plough stops, so I ordered some today xD
We finished with some scrims. I was quite proud of myself for not falling as much as I usually do - getting the hang of this staying-on-my-skates thing....lol. I was a blocker for the few that I got on for, Bobbie even made me wrecking ball at one point, which I love, but I need to work on more. I do think that my general blocking is improving though.
Was great to see the girls who passed their mins at Tuesday training :D So many more people showing up. Can't wait to see the newbies on Friday :)

Saturday 2 June 2012

A New Month

I really need to start posting more regularly.... I've become lazy with this and I don't want to stop doing it. Time for a kick up the arse! So with this new month, a new me shall start. For this to happen, I need to work on a few things:
Work - so lately, really not happy with work. Not the actual job, my job to be fair is very easy and it pays well. I like my patients, and most of the people I work with. However, there are a few who like to make our job seem more difficult than it is, lazy people, lazy, arrogant, shallow people who really shouldn't be in the profession they're currently in. This frustrates me. There are also management issues, and a few other things that annoy me to no end, but at this moment in time, there is nothing I can do about them. I've tried looking for another job, but realistically, it's not an option right now. So, stuck where I am. I've devised a plan for every time I get pissed off at work - song lyrics. If you see Facebook or Twitter getting spammed with song lyrics, this is why - I apologise now, lol. I shall count to ten more often. The only person me getting angry is affecting is me, and I need to start looking out for myself.
Bailey - I love my dog. He is a great companion, gives me unconditional love (even when I come from derby training smelling like I've skated ten times more than I have!) and generally makes me smile even when I'm feeling like crap. He needs to be walked more. I need to walk him more. I also need to stop losing the rag with him so much, something that seems to have happened a lot more since moving back home with the parents. My dad has a very short temper, something that I've grudgingly inherited, and it makes everyone around him miserable. I don't want to get to that stage (if I'm not there already....). He loses it so much at Bailey, just for wagging his tail, or being too hyper, and I find that I'm getting angry at Bailey for doing it because I know it's going to set my dad off - vicious circle. So, time to sort this out.
Roller Derby - I went to try outs on Tuesday so down in the dumps, because I knew I wasn't going to make the team. I looked at who we had from the last bout against Dundee and I was sure there would only be a few spots left and I wouldn't get one. During stretches, I got a pain up my left leg that I'm assuming was trapped nerve pain. I could have cried. I just thought "well, that's it, you're definitely done now". After a 75% attempt at knee falls, I just decided, I'm not making the team, might aswell enjoy the training session. I went home, I slept. I woke up at about 2am and thought I'd have a look at the team roster anyway, put myself out of my misery. And then I saw my name. Holy crap! No no no no, there must be a mistake. I refreshed the page. I refreshed the page again. Nope, still there. I kept checking the forum all day at work, they must have put my name there by mistake, but no, it remained there, third from the top. :D So now I really really need to start working on my fitness. As on tomorrow, I'm restarting the Roller Derby Challenge. I've ordered outdoor wheels and will be skating as much as I possibly can over the next two months. I'll be doing more sit ups - need to work on that core strength. I'll be working on stopping more quickly with my plough stops (possibly ordering new wheels, shall see after trying out Fun Ghoul's poisons and of course depending on funds). I've been given a dream opportunity, I'm not about to let my team down by doing a half ass job of it.
Blog - going to try and start updating at least twice a week. Think I'll give myself a Wednesday and Saturday as definite updates, with anything in between being a little bonus.
Crochet - this was supposed to be a hobby to chill me out. So I'm gona try and get properly started this weekend and go from there.

So, sorry about the rant, this was more of a "kick-up-the-ass" post than a "this-is-what's-made-me-smile" post - they shall resume as of Wednesday :)