Monday Makes

On Saturday, I had a fun-filled derby day extravaganza!!  Firstly, there was the Auld Reekie Roller Girls (ARRG) home final, which featured two bouts - a team of guest skaters vs their own Cherry Bombers, then on to the final featuring the Skatefast Club vs the Leithal Weapons.  Two of my Fiercies were in the guest skaters line up - Gallus Cooper and Shelby WeeBlock.  So excited for Shelby as this was her first public bout!  So I had to make a sign, right?

 

After all the bouts in Edinburgh, we took a longer than expected journey back to Grangemouth (damn lorry's breaking down on the bypass and no hard shoulder!) to watch the Jakey Bites take on the South Wales Silures.  I love watching merby, the guys seem so fearless when they skate.

For this bout, my Pixxie wife was making her reffing debut :D  So I had to make a sign for this too!

 

The "Deep Fried Pixxie" part looks a little grey, which I was kinda disappointed with, but it was because I put glitter (aka pixxie dust) on it.  Complete with ref stripes and of course pink!

I'd twittered to ask if a ref sign was ok (they are very official!), and ended the conversation realising I should make a Jakey's sign too, haha!  

 

I actually had a lot of fun making these.  Hopefully I get more Saturdays off work to watch some derby!

Derby Round Up - Scrims

Ugh, last night......

I'd been feeling a little light headed yesterday before scrims, but it passed, and it was scrims. I got there, I kitted up, I warmed up, I felt fine. Then I went on for my first jam. Legs went to jelly. It was  not a great jam....not at all, my legs just wouldn't do what I wanted them to do. I came off and they started shaking, like little spasms, it was horrible. After sitting out a few more jams, my legs started to get that horrible tingly feeling they get when they feel restless. I stayed off until the second half, watching each of my team mates coming back for a drink, tired, and I felt completely useless and guilty...so I decided to try my luck in the second half. Oh boy....went on, legs went to jelly again, I got pushed by a team mate to chase after someone, which made me fall, so I fell small, only to get kicked in the head. I stood up and my whole body was shaking. Not good. So that was pretty much my scrims over. Never have I wanted so much to curl up and cry at training. I was worried about my legs, but more concerned that I'd let my team mates down. It was a really horrible feeling. The only up side was all the hugs I got after. FVRGers rock <3.

Ramble - BOOTCAMP!!

The awesomeness that was the ARRG Bootcamp finally arrived on Saturday!

Got picked up by the lovely Monkey Wench with Camelon Diaz in tow, nice and early at 7:45am, which was actually a lie in for me after being on earlies all week. Not that I got much sleep between the night before's try outs and being excited about the boot camp! :D

We got there in time for registration for the first class. Every person I knew there went to the off skates training session first whilst I headed off to the skate maintenance class. I learned so much! How to clean my bearings properly (which I don't think my mum appreciated, coming home to the pungent smell of white spirit....), how to cheaply upgrade my skates by changing the cushions (my R3's of course come with the hardest ones, nice to know there's a reason I find one foot glides on corners difficult!) and that I should probably look at getting new wheel nuts. Very educational!

Then it was on to the skating! Once we got put into our two groups, it was clear to see I was in the bottom group. I think this was decided based on our answers to how comfortable we were at transitions and backward skating, both of which I'd improved on by the time bootcamp came around, lol. Nonetheless, the drills were fun. We had a leaping dusty bluebells one which I particularly loved! Didn't love the one where we had to skate towards the pace line though....that was a little scary.
We moved on to the second skating session, and this is when tragedy struck. A girl landed awkwardly after a fall and broke her ankle. Pretty scary stuff. We took an early lunch.

After lunch, we headed into a session with Alma Geddon (<3) about training schedules. Pretty safe to say that FVRG have some impressive drills :D After discussing training sessions and drills and trying to fit them into a time frame, I'm more in awe of the girls from Sports and Training than ever. Very much appreciate their time and effort to come up with our training programmes.

Then it was back to skating. We didn't have much time left, but we ended the session practising walls. Fucking noodle, I hate you, lol.

Last but not least, scrims!! Omg, this was such much fun! I found my pivot voice! And everything seemed to click into place, better than it ever has. I was so much more aware of my tactics, and beading, and bridging, and closing that damn door! My positional blocking was good, and I even knocked a few people over, although I really need to stay on my feet after hitting someone....lol. All in all, I must have done good as I got a wee award at the end! :D

Derby Round Up

Try outs were last night.....

After the first lot of skills, I wasn't feeling too confident. Every time I did a transition, somebody seemed to be right behind me, ready to knock me down. And my right footed glides just completely failed me, which I don't understand - I've been practising one footed jumps on Thursdays and my right foot is my strongest. Happy with my backwards skating though - nobody overtook me at least.

Then it was on to scrims. If I make the team, this will be why. I think I did pretty good. I was more vocal, really working on my pivoting, although I find my pivoting is more confident when I'm in a group of newbies - for some reason, telling the more experienced girls what to do is kinda intimidating, and usually they end up taking over, I lose my pivot voice completely. My positional blocking is coming along, but I've recently taken a different approach to it, seeing it more like basketball and marking a player. And my jamming was pretty good although I need to work on my endurance - power jams are killing me after about the 3rd time around the track. Not that I think I'll jam if I get on the team, but it's always good to be available as a fall back.

We won't find out until next Friday who's on the team, so I'm not going to worry too much about it. And at least it means I can enjoy bootcamp tomorrow! :D

POSITIVES: Better backwards skating, good positional blocking, good jamming.

WORK ON: Right foot glides, endurance.

Derby Round Up

Last night was an.....ok session for me. Lots of recycling and kill boxing. And frustration....

For some reason, I was extra fouly last night. I heard a few of the girls say the same thing, but still, it makes me feel like I'm losing it. After scrims on Friday, I was on a high - I only got sent to the bin twice and got best jammer for my team! :) But last night almost sucked all that away. I'm not usually bad with fouls. My main problem is my forearms and elbows, but lately I've been keeping those minors down. Last night I got a major for clockwise blocking, WTF! I've never got one of those before....I know I probably don't give as much at training as I should - it's not a realistic situation for me, I can't seem to get my brain to register that I need to treat training as I do scrims.

When I was the person on the outside of our wall, and I got to knock the jammer out of bounds, I felt a little better - I was pretty much knocking the jammer out with one hit. The running back to the wall wasn't so great, but I got great advice - positionally block the jammer all the way back to the wall, EXCELLENT! Worked a treat. So at least I can say I learned something, lol.

Our very last drill was....meh. I recycled a little, switching positions to help the wall. But as jammer, I felt useless. It wasn't necessarily a jammer drill, but I like to try and it feels good to break through a strong wall. Not that I think I'll ever be picked to jam in a bout. Which reminds me, try outs are on Friday.....

Roller Derby Round Up

Last night was all about aggressive jamming! After a little warm up (we had to skate 6 laps in 5 minutes, which I managed! I focused on one person who I knew was fast and chased them! Haha!),  we moved on to some drills.

The first one involved the jammer starting from a lying down position. On the first whistle, the jammer had 4 seconds to get through the two blockers approx. 10 feet away from her before they walled back up. 4 seconds was pretty easy, 3 seconds was harder, but I managed it the first time :D I also managed an epic fall on my left arse cheek after my wheels got clipped, lol.

For the next round of drills, we had to practice getting through a tight wall as a jammer or blocker who had been herded. We were shown some techniques such as wiggling your shoulder through or hip checking through. I mainly tried these two as I seemed to be getting some success using them, depending on who was in the wall. However, when my time came to block....oh dear...I really need to work on my anchoring and small plough stops. I was getting better towards the end of the session, but it's something I really need to work on if I want to be a better blocker. I also fell backwards AGAIN when my wifey clipped my wheels...I need to keep my weight more towards the front, or I'm gona need a new helmet soon...

POSITIVES - I think I'm getting quicker :D
WORK ON - anchoring, small plough stops.

Scrimmy Scrims

Scrims was last night! Mixed with 3 lovely ladies from Dundee - Carnage, Gadget and Roal Dahling (love that name). I was on Team Black with Jen, Maz, Dita, Max, Lila, the gorgeous wifey (who's back after 2 weeks away, I missed her!) and Roal from DRG.

It was so much fun. The atmosphere I've been feeling since we got back from Belfast wasn't there, and when I messed up, I wasn't getting so annoyed at myself. I just picked myself back up and tried again. I jammed a couple of times. The first time, I thought I was going to be sick, lol...I was definitely working my agressive jammer skills last night. Team white had amazing walls, but I just got stuck in until I found a gap, or at one point, I held onto Dita and snuck through xD I definitely felt like I contributed more, but had I not felt so tired before I got to scrims, I might have thrown myself on track more.

I hope the atmosphere has gone for good. I know I'm not the only one who felt it. The thing is, other people's emotions tend to mess me up - if someone is angry, it rubs off on me, and I hate it. I've left training the last few times feeling really shitty, and not because I thought I'd messed up, just because some of the girls have been really frustrated since Belfast and have almost taken it out on the rest of the team. I know we can't all have great days, every day of the week, but training is my escape. So I'm going to continue to turn up with a big smile on my face, and hopefully that'll rub off on people instead :D

And the wifey was back last night. OMG, I've missed her! Training isn't the same without the 20 minute talk after, lol. I missed just having her there, even if we don't get to talk much at training, I know she's there. She is an awesome wife :)

And as of the beginning of September, we'll have an extra training session - YEESSSSSSSS!! So aswell as Tuesday and Friday, there'll be Wednesday training too, and I think an optional Sunday session after Fresh Meat to practice anything we need to work on. So much skatey time! So much time to work on those skills! :D

Derby Round Up

Last night's training consisted of some endurance (1 minute sprint followed by 1 minute of squats followed by 1 minute of sprinting followed by 1 minute of small skull crushing followed by a 2 minute sprint, then all that in the opposite direction), catching our partner (do a four point fall then try to catch up to your buddy within 10 seconds) and catching lots of goats!

The endurance part was fine, except my skull crushing seems to have gotten slower....might be the poisons, and the fact that my left knee and right thigh have been a little painful all week.  But it's something to think about working on.  I think I'm quite good at endurance - you notice other people slowing down half way and I'm still giving it almost as much as I did at the start, passing them.

Catching your partner was fun.  I was with Erin, one of the intermediates, but she's quite fast.  We didn't have to go into the middle for a plank once because we always caught up with each other.  Until Max changed it to 5 secs and in the opposite direction, lol.  I think this has been a training exercise thought up after Belfast.  They kept the pack pace quite fast, faster than we're used to at scrims.  Although last scrims, we had Alma and Teenie, and the pace was faster then.  I prefer that.

Aside from training, I've put my name down for Dundee Roller Girls "Cherry Poppers" team.  It's going to be a mix of girls from FVRG, DRG, Perth and Aberdeen who have only bouted a few times, part of their double header in September.  I hope I get picked.  I would really like more experience, especially playing against other girls - when we do scrims, I know who to avoid, who's the big hitter, who's the fast jammer, I think we rely on that too much sometimes.
There's also an ARRG bootcamp coming up in October.  Alma is going to be one of the coaches, I'd love to do this!  I'm hoping to start going along to her Saturday sessions every now and again, more experience, again.  I need it!
And then we have our home bout in November.  I changed my holiday plans, just in case I get picked (I was originally going over to the US that week to see the boy).  I really don't think I will.  I need to improve a lot on Belfast.  But I'm working on it ;)

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

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!

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 :)

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 :)

Derby Dayz

So once again, the weekend has been and gone.  But at least this is my last early shift week for 3 weeks :D.
Friday's skating was awesome.  We had a mammoth endurance session - do at least 25 laps in 5 minutes, 20 in 4, 15 in 3, 10 in 2 and 5 in 1.  I managed to do at least one lap over every time, even managing 26 and a half laps after falling twice (spaghetti legs...), so I'm pretty happy with that.  It's good to know I can still do it :)  Was a great night, with lots of laughs (especially with the Wifey) and finding out that I will be here for the team try outs against Belfast!  Not that I'm confident about getting on the team, I'm just glad to get a chance to try.  I also found out I have a rules test to study for this Friday.....lol.  Whilst I'm not looking forward to a test, I am quite keen to know how bad/good my knowledge of roller derby is.

The Craft Fayre on Saturday was a great success - we raised just over £700 and I panicked for no reason, the cake stall had a few cakes left over afterwards, lol.  It was an awesome day.  Met the girls responsible for Roller Grrrls, and they shown a keen interest in the Cubs.  My mum won "Guess the Tiger's Birthday" and my cousin, Louise, won "Guess How Many Sweeties in the Jar" from the Cubs stall - I promise it wasn't a fix!! I also bought the cutest pair of earrings from one of the stalls:

After getting home from work today (nice early finish, tee hee), I've sorted my kit out for tonight, cleaned the kitchen units after Bailey's tail massacre, and I'm sitting relaxing with a cup of tea and a cupcake (you'd think I'd be sick of seeing them...), before getting ready to head out to watch Avengers Assemble with Mike.  It looks like it's going to be an awesome film!  Only problem is it's in 3D, which of course I have to see it in, but those 3D glasses over my own glasses gives me a headache :/  Then it'll be a quick change for skating tonight :D
Oh, and last but not least, the Photo a Day May challenge starts today :)

TGIF

Friday is finally upon us! Wooo! :D

My Wednesday went without any issues.  Best described as normal.  I don't think I like normal too much, but it's always better than having a crappy day.  Highlights were Mama Do The Hump by Rizzle Kicks (this song always makes me happy):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxEINSBsbeo

And a new Epic Meal Time video which involves cakes! I won't lie, I may have drooled....and excellent week for this with the Craft Fayre just around the corner and me in charge of organising the cake stall :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMYJxeebGmY

I also got my payslip, before I got paid!! What blasphemy is this??! Made me breathe easy seeing that.... lol.

Thursday was a good day.  Scrap that, Thursday was an awesome day!  I got in contact with Elifino from Quad City Rollers, just to let her know how things were going with the Cubs and to thank her again for all the help she's given us with all the advice she had starting their junior league.  I told her I'd be over in the States in June. Well, she only went one better and told me that there's a junior roller derby tournament right where I'll be staying, the day after I arrive!  I'm gona go along and hopefully meet some of the girls and watch junior roller derby in all it's awesomeness! I'm sooooo excited!!  :D
(Also got to come home to Strawberry and Lime Kopparberg and a strawberry cupcake! Yummy!!!)

Today, well, holy hell have I been busy already!  Fun Ghoul popped by to drop off all her goodies for the cake stall and tombola/raffle, then I had to pop out and get dog food and pipe insulation for Crazy's tail (don't ask, just nod your head).  I've baked cupcakes for the cake stall and am ready for work, just to come home, iron my gear and clean my wheels for skating, head to training, collect Cubs stuff from Frocky, come home, put the icing on the cupcakes, paint my nails, maybe play some WoW before heading to sleep a little earlier than normal to get up bright and early for tomorrow's Craft Fayre!  (And breathe...).  Can't believe the Fayre is tomorrow, all this organising and it'll be over by 4pm tomorrow.  Hopefully we make lots of money for FVRG! :D

Hump Day

So, we're half way through another 6 day week for me.  Happy Hump Day!!
Been a busy week so far - Sunday I popped over to Frocky's to discuss the paperwork for the FVR Cubs stall at the Craft Fayre on the 28th.  Between the Youth committee and the Fund Raising committee, I've been kept quite busy, which is great.  Not only does it keep me out of trouble, it makes me feel like I'm giving back to the team who's given me so much <3.
On Monday, the Momma treated me to dinner at La Banca.  I don't care what anyone says about the portions in there (I always hear they're too small), we were both stuffed afterwards, om nom nom!

Tuesday was scrims day.  OMG did I have butterflies, I was so nervous, all day.  So something to take my mind off it, or so I hoped, Cabin in the Woods.  Very gory (which doesn't really phase me), not so scary (which did, because I wanted Mike to be scared gdi!!), and kinda almost a what's become a typical "horror" flick.  Yes, it was funny in typical Joss Whedon humour, but all in all, I was a little disappointed.
Then it was home for a quick change and off to scrims!!  I only got to jam twice, but both times I got lead jammer, I was so happy!!  Definitely have the jamming bug now, no matter how bad I think I do at practice from now on, I am not losing it!  I was on Team Black, aka Team Ninja, and we won 87-83, a very close score (to which I contributed :D ).  The girls on my team were so great, giving out advice, I learned a lot.  And Team White were awesome.  I love my roller derby family!