Yay, party!

Thanks to everyone who made it to our party yesterday! I know there were conflicting events going on that day, so I’m glad so many people showed up, even if they stayed just for a little while. There were people coming and going from 4pm to 1:30am, so it was a nice, long, fun day, indeed!

Of course, it’s a gorgeous day today. Figures. But at least the rain held off all afternoon and evening so we didn’t have to come inside! We’re going to keep the badminton net up for a little while if anyone wants to come over and play some time. Oh, and we’re finally putting up the dart board that MO gave us for Christmas last year! (We rented a small storage unit to keep all the boxes from my parents’ house so they don’t clutter up the upstairs, so we now have a place to actually play darts.) We took it out and bought some more darts so that if we had to come inside, at least we’d have something to do, but we never ended up playing.

Right. Off to clean up! (Reminds me of that TMBG commercial: “Whose left shoe is this? Does anybody know? Cleaning up after an all night blow out!” Except that it wasn’t an all-night party, but still…) If we find any lost items, I’ll post a list here, but really I think it looks pretty good out there.

Labor Day Weekend Party!

Saturday, August 30, 4pm, Our House.

Badminton. Volley ball. Horseshoes. Bubbles. Music (bring your acoustic instruments). Fire! Runnin’ ’round actin’ a fool.

Be there.

Happy Birthday, Amanda!!

Or rather, happy few days after your birthday! We had a blast last night celebrating your 29th (not your 30th) birthday! We played Rock Band for the first time, and holy hell is that addicting or what? When we went through the list of songs, I wasn’t sure which ones I knew. I’m terrible at song titles, and it turns out I knew way more than I thought I did. Though, what’s up with those lyrics in Orange Crush? I’ve never heard those before? I’m not sure if I like bass or drums better.

Anyway, so much fun! It just confirms my belief that if we had a video game system I’d never see the light of day. They’re way to addicting. Especially ones that let you pretend to play instruments.

If they came out with an Accordion Hero, I’d be all over that!

THANKS!

Thank you all who came out to support Providence Roller Derby last night! It’s always so great to go out there and know that you’ve got people cheering you on! I’m not a star player, but I have the BEST fan club EVER!!! Thank you all for your support, not just for me, but for a sport I love! I know I’m not the only one who loves roller derby, and you don’t have to be on skates to show your love. Just coming out to watch us means so much. Not just because we get your money (which we really need) but because if no one came to watch, it wouldn’t be as much fun. So, a million times, thank you!

I didn’t feel like I had a very good game last night, what with taking myself out on several occasions. I kept tripping on myself and others, so that I didn’t get very many good hits in. BUT, I still had a blast, and really, I’m my own worst critic. I did better than I did the first time out, because I knew what the hell was going on. I’m a wee bit more experienced, so now that I know what’s going on, I can see what I have to do, I just can’t always get my body in position to actually do it. And I think that’s where my frustration comes in. I see what has to be done, but I’m neither strong enough, nor skilled enough to actually accomplish what I want.

And for a brainy person like me, that’s a bit hard to swallow. I see it, so why can’t I do it? You’d think my brains would be able to say “Um, dude? You’ve only been doing this less than 7 months. Lighten up!” But no, I’m lame and continue to beat myself up when I can’t perform at the level I think I should be at. Which is an arbitrary level anyway. Just because I work hard, doesn’t mean I’ll ever be at the top, and I just need to let that sink in a bit. Derby is not school. I’ve never played a sport before, so really I just need to cut myself some slack and just chill out about it. Dude, I hope the video crew didn’t catch me crying. That would be totally lame. But I’m not going to think about potentially embarrassing footage.

Because we won! And it was great fun at the after party! I’m not much of a kareoke person. I’d rather dance to a DJ, but that’s the nature of PRD, they love to sing! I’ll get over myself soon enough and step up to the microphone eventually. I almost sang last night, but they didn’t have the songs I wanted. I’ll be better prepared next time though.

Now I need to soak in a hot bath. My back is freaking killing me. I need to check for Kid Ace shaped bruises, because I’m pretty sure she was the one who landed on me when we had that (one of many) massive pileup, with me flattened to the cement.

Anyway, thanks again for being such awesome friends! You all ROCK!!!!!

And back to our regularly scheduled derby time:

Come see me skate with the Old Money Honeys as we battle the Sakonnet River Roller Rats in Providence Roller Derby’s last bout before the Championship. The Rats fought hard against the Mob Squad in July’s bout, though the Mob reigned supreme in the end; let’s see how they hold up against the Honeys, who dominated the Mob in the bout in May.

Due to my absences from practice (stupid dizziness), I have not been able to score many advanced tix. I may still be able to arrange to get you a discounted ticket if you give me a call by Thursday afternoon. Then you can phone Jesse when you get to the bout and he can hook you up with your ticket.

A free ticket to the championship bout for the Foxie fan who brings the best sign or slogan or Foxified t-shirt (etc) to the bout on Friday!!! Be creative!

Country girl at heart

Hi! Remember me? That person who used to do fun stuff and then post about it? Yeah, well, I still do fun stuff (derby), but don’t really have much to say other than: fun. sore. derby. sore. fun. bruise. skates. sore. derby. fun. And that gets a bit redundant, yes? But wait! I did something else! I went to Colorado for Andrea and Bill’s wedding! It was so much fun!

And, wow, did I need a vacation. Even for only a few days. Mountain air. Hiking at 8,500 feet. Watching two awesome people be awesome together. Hanging out with GSLIS folks who have moved away (to Baltimore and Austin). It was a great time, indeed.

As soon as I came back (yesterday) I started looking at job options and living arrangements beyond the Boston area. Originally, I hadn’t been looking for anything outside of this area because of Jesse’s promotion, but then I got to thinking. If I still have to work part-time, temporary jobs in the interim, I can look for full-time stuff elsewhere, and make it a two-to-three year plan for getting out of the area. I need mountains. Or at least not paved-as-hell urban/suburban sprawl. I need air not completely tainted with smog. As Bilbo said “I want to see mountains, Gandalf, mountains!” Hell, I even pre-applied for Canadian permenant residence to keep my options wide open. I looked at the listings for Memorial University (in St. John’s Newfoundland), but nothing came up so far. They do have a several-person archival staff, so there may be hope getting in on the ground floor or something. But that’s a digression for another day. I’m still applying for stuff around here, because, well, I need to move beyond my essentially student-level jobs. But, a fire has been lit, and I’m keeping my options for the future WAY open.
We’re already planning out trip back to the Frying Pan River Valley area in a couple of years. As soon as we began the four hour drive from Denver into the mountains, we knew we had to come back to see more of it. They have a hot springs, too! And who doesn’t love an outdoor bath?

Anyway, all this is a rambly way to say, “I’m back from Colorado.” Photos and details of the trip forthcoming.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

Happy Birthday to MK!

Going to a super-fun party tonight to celebrate her 30th time around the sun. I have a fabulous new dress, and fabulous shoes, and a fabulous new hair cut. All of which is appropriate to the theme, “Dress to Thrill.” (Especially my fabulous new hair accessory.)

In health related news, I still don’t know what’s up. So, let’s hope no news is good news, eh? Another appointment on Wednesday morning. And I’ll (finally) get my heart-test results back Monday. I figure if I exploding were immanent, they would have been required to tell me, yes? One hopes.

But no time for worrying, Dr. Jones, there’s a party to go to. (And cookies to eat.)