Thing 8

Go ice skating.

Chazz: Mind-bottling, isn't it?
Jimmy: Did you just say mind-bottling?
Chazz: Yeah, mind-bottling. You know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle?

How could I start this post without including a quote from either Blades of Glory or The Cutting Edge?  It was irresistible...like a baby, or an awesome brush.  "No exaggeration, I could not love a human baby more then I love this brush." (Blades of Glory)  Okay, I'll stop now. "TOE PICK!" (The Cutting Edge)  Okay really now, I'm done, I promise.

So, Nancy Kerrigan, eat your heart out because guess who hit the ice on Saturday? 

(Getty Images / Chris Cole)

Not you!  Well, maybe she did, actually, I really wouldn't know... But anways, it was

 

 THIS GIRL!

Notice the leg-warmers.  I'm legit.  Too legit to quit.

This adventure seemed a lot more romantic when Winter first arrived.  Back then there were all those welcoming images of couples holding hands and snuggling while smiling and enjoying the ease of skating on ice.  Back then there were Hallmark worthy moments in movies where crowds of people happily flowed across pristine ice arenas while laughing with wide open smiles, like Julia Roberts, at the joys of life.  All the while gigantic snowflakes peppered the atmosphere and somehow it all felt so cozy.

That is so not the case.  When I stepped my first skate onto the ice my first thought was "Holy crap, this ice is slippery!"  Well duh Einstein, it is ice after all.  And you are walking out onto it (basically) on knife blades - what do you expect it to be like?

(this is my favorite of our pictures)

When I was a kid roller skated all the time.  I mean it.  All. The. Time.  That made the switch over to ice skating pretty simple.  In many ways it was similar.  I wasn't amazing but I could get the job done - so as an adult, how hard could it be?  The last time I'd skated on ice was probably 3 or 4 years ago.  I'm definitely older (and fatter) now, my body didn't take kindly to me thinking that I was still 12.  Oh well, deal with it Body.

My shin muscles (who knew those were real things?) hated me the most.  Oh, and my knees, but those tend to hate me on a regular basis anyway.

Moral of the story: I didn't fall.  Not once.  Neither did my friend.  We may have held hands for awhile, but we didn't hug the wall and we didn't bite it falling over (or in front of) all the little kids.  And believe me there were plenty of them!  I guess it was because of the intense mass of people that we kept it tame.  I mean, I'm sure if it wouldn't have been for the hundreds of people we would have had enough space to practice our short program but we didn't want to risk slicing some child's face open with our skate.  A few triple axles and we were good to go. *wink*

All in all a wonderful day.  I didn't even wake up sore the next morning, other then the tenderness around my ankles where the skate tongues dug in because I tied them so tightly.  AND to top it all off, we went out for pizza and used the coupons (for FREE slices) that we had won at the Humane Society Lunch the previous weekend.  Bonus!

Just another day in the life of a professional figure skater.