Being rather brave folks, The Hub and I decided to take the teens of our church ice-skating last night. As an avid-roller-skater (by avid I mean solely in my head and not by my feet in oh, say 20 years pretty much) I figured ice-skating would be similar. I have seen those professionals on TV and I know it can't be too particularly easy, but...how hard could it really be? I can do it...
Off we go to the lovely ice-skating rink in Reston. Thankfully not too many souls out there on a Friday night. As we hit the ice, all of us grabbed ahold of the wall, immediately our best friend in this venture. But oh, Youngest, he entered that rink, and I kid you not, did not touch the wall. He just glided on out on the ice and took off. As he lapped us for about the 6th or 7th time we decided to pick our jaws up off the floor. This is the same kid who told us to remove his training wheels when he was only 4 years of age, because he had "seen" someone else ride without them and he could do it too. A testament to the power of believing in what you can do? We reluctantly removed those training wheels, more as a "we're the parents and we know better and this is an opportunity to teach you a lesson" type occasion. We were wrong. He coasted on his bike, a little wobbling here and there but he never fell. Amazing. We shouldn't have been surprised to see him gliding on ice skates making it look way too easy. This time he didn't even wobble. So unfair. Seems so unnatural. But I guess that's just it, for him it's all natural. Safe to say, he had a great time.
The majority of the rest of us made fast friends with that wall and didn't want to let go. Ever. It took me a bit, and I was shaky at first. I'm happy to say I made it all the way until the end of the night before taking my first spill, and that was a result of someone knocking me off my game. Once I got my balance figured out, I could go pretty well too. Not to get too confident in myself, I had BBall Girl also looping me as a reminder. She had no troubles at all, either. Both her and Youngest were showing off to tell you plainly. I started to trip them one time just to bring them down to my level. But you know, the mature adult in me said no, let's not be petty now...
Our teens, including Soccer Chick, remained on the wall for the most part. I got Soccer Chick to finally, after about an hour, let go of the wall and come around with me. I had gotten the hang of it, but like so many other things in life, just because you got it, doesn't mean you can help someone else get it. She would have been the opposite of Youngest. Where he had no doubt whatsoever that he could do this, she believed firmly that she couldn't. That inhibited her success more than her actions ever could have. Poor girl. Like I said, I finally got her to let go of her BFF wall, and off we went. We were doing pretty good until one unfortunate tumble where she lost her balance, fell towards me and I wasn't able to be the rock she needed me to be. Hey, I'm no wall. We both fell and I whacked my butt, followed by a sound thud of the back of my head on the ice. Ouch...
At first I couldn't even get up, and immediately had a massive headache. Pretty sure this is as close as I will come to having that NFL concussion experience. After two or three failed attempts at even getting up I somehow made it over to my new BFF wall. There was my night in shining armor, The Hub to greet me. Did I tell you he's smarter than me? He retired his skates about half an hour before I did. He knew he had done enough show-boating and schmoozing with skilled teens on the rink, and before anything stupid happens, go ahead and turn those skates in. He's smarter than me, for sure. He had face planted, butt planted and wall smacked enough times to know he was done trying to be Mr. Big Shot. But there he was coming to my rescue, and man was he the best sight for me to see. Poor Soccer Chick, hurt her fingers trying to catch my head, which instead got pinned under. What a mess. I'm thankful there are no YouTube watchable moments for this, because I am quite sure it was ugly. Uglier than ugly. It felt ugly, so I know the look of it would have brought me embarrassment for days.
And where was the skate monitor anyway? All night they were skating up to folks who fell to help them get up and make sure they were okay. I tell you I laid on that ice unable to get up, feeling dizzy and dazed and thought now where in the world has that girl gone too. She was inside the skate booth chatting with her co-workers. That also is like life, we can't take a break from doing the things we are supposed to be doing, because you just never know when some poor sap is laying on the ice needing help. Man down! Well, like I said I got myself over to the wall, definitely with the help of Youngest and BBall Girl who, with their ever-compassionate selves were very worried about their mama. The Hub made me feel better, rubbed my now aching knot on the back of my head, and declared it was time to go...for me at least. No more skating for this old gal. I thought about getting back in there a few minutes after resting, but The Hub gave me a stern look that said don't be stupid. Sit your butt back down. That's what that look said, and I read it loud and clear.
All in all, it was fun. I'm glad we tried it. Other than youngest and Bball Girl, I'm not sure we'd be excited to try it again. Now, take me to a roller skating rink and I think I'd be alright. I can confidently say I used to be a dynamic skater. Like an every-Saturday-afternoon skater. An every-Christmas-new-skates skater. You folks from Charlottesville know that Roses at Barracks Road had those shiny whites with beautiful red wheels on display every single Christmas. And I couldn't wait to get my newest pair and head on down to the rink. Eventually they closed the rink down and messed up my life and for sure my career in roller-skating. I could be dreaming, probably am, but I think I still got what it takes for the roller skating bid. Ice-skating I'm not sure to mess with anytime soon. After all, I have woken up this morning feeling dazed and confused, and like I should call my coach and tell him I'm out for the next two or three regular season games. My head is aching and to add to my misery, my whole body hurts. Ice-skating is a great workout by itself. After running 45 minutes on the treadmill earlier in the day, it's pretty much guaranteed the next day will be painful.
I'm going to take it easy today. Moving slowly and recuperating by vegging out, other than BBall Girl's upcoming game (where they will be working to advance to an 11-0 season, by the way!). If you're heading out to do something new and adventurous anytime soon, beware of the ice. It's unforgiving as my butt and my head can tell you twelve plus hours later. How are the rest of the folks this morning, you wonder? Youngest is just peachy, I can faintly hear him making all his imagination sounds as he turns his room into yet another adventure. BBall Girl is washing clothes at the moment (don't get me to raving, she's a girl after her mother's own heart) and Soccer Chick, much to my envy, is still sound asleep. The Hub is working on his sermon, and relatively pain-free, because again, he is smarter than me.
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