Working Out

Still no baby to report on. And its about 6 weeks until state games. Lex will be doing the same program she did for the Classic for state games. She's only competing in Freestyle for this next competition. So I figured I'd do a post on my goals. You may or may not know that our rink is being overhauled (you can see fiberglass in my latest video). We are hoping they'll have the rink renovations done soon (summer or fall). So there should be a Nutcracker on Ice this year. 2007's Nutcracker on Ice was canceled because of the renovations. And Lexie's skated in every Nutcracker on Ice since she started skating in 2003. And I've skated in every one since 2005 (the year of Lexie's first solo). Anywho, I am really excited about the rink opening back up and getting to perform Nutcracker on Ice this year. Some people think Nutcracker on Ice may be a thing of the past because the seating won't be big enough after the renovations. I really hope not. On my agenda is to get back into taking skating lessons again this summer. Maybe I can learn to skate dutch waltz and cha cha over summer. But for the time being I've been getting in shape. Over the last month or two I've been running several times a week. I ran 25 minutes today... walked 10 minutes... and jumped rope 5. And two weeks ago I started lifting weights again. I had quit lifting because I wasn't doing it consistent enough to progress any and decided to spend my time running instead. For two whole weeks I've been making the time for both running and lifting weights. I get to feel every little fiber of muscle ache. In another month or so I should be able to stand some skating lessons without getting so tired I want to quit. Its a lot more tiring when you are working on something than just skating laps around the rink. Maybe by then I'll have had some time to recover from my recent financial setbacks.

Waiting to be an aunt.....

I've been hit repeatedly over the head with the bad-luck wand the past couple of weeks. Since I hate seeing myself as a whiner I'll spare you all the details. And focus on some good news - because any day now I'm going to be an aunt. While I flail around a lot at the whole parenting thing and have absolutely no idea what I'm doing most of the time I've always thought I was a really great aunt. I have had a lot more practice. So in my toast my becoming an aunt again any day now here's an old photo of a young, loving "Aunt Renne" with my other brother's son Curtis. See I told you I had a lot of practice... and you thought I'd only been doing the aunt thing for nineteen years.



Also... when I was looking through some old photos I found a couple of my daughter teaching my now 19-year-old nephew Matt how to skate a few years ago. This is how to do backwards swizzles. I thought it was adorable - though the quality of the photos weren't so good.

Classic 2008

The video is a little small so it might be hard to see. She skated extremely well. She landed all her jumps and did well on the spins. I'm linking through youtube so hopefully you can click on it and make it bigger and see the lutz and camel at the end. It really was a great program I wish I could've zoomed in a little more.

Classic Time - A look back at Classic 2007

In anticipation for this weekend's competition I am posting Lexie's video from the same competition one year ago. This was her last time skating Freeskate 3 before moving up from the Basic Skills competitive levels to No Test A/Tots. This last year she really got stuck in some ruts and only learned for single jumps - loop (which she subsequently lost and had to relearn since then), flip and lutz. For spins she only learned the spin combo camel/sitspin (which is still not very good), stork spin and started work on that broken leg sitspin. This season she is a lot faster, stronger and more confident with her skating.
What I don't like about the Basic Skills competitive levels can be seen in this video. The crossovers in a figure 8 at the 36-second mark along with the subsequent swing rolls look like they just don't belong here in this program. Completely forced. And slowing her down when she is already moving so slow and deliberately. A fourth place finish one year ago. This year will be better than the last.

ugghhh

I was thinking about titling this 'week from hell.' If you've talked to me in the past few days you've probably had the misfortune of listening to me whine about how bad my life sucks. If you haven't consider yourself having been spared the details. Four days stuck at home without a car can do that to a person. Paying $1000 to get a car a fixed.. to get it not fixed.. and its still in the shop and I'm in a rental. At least I have something to drive. Today. But I get to worry about how much more it is going to cost me. And how much this financial set back is going to hit my daughter's skating. With the competition this weekend, and pre-pre moves testing and State Games in May. Skating is not due to slow down until summer. And I'm looking at being broke for the foreseeable future. Man, I am one whiny person. It would suck to be friends with me and have to listen to me whine all the time. I'm working on that. I really am.

Sitting at home since Tuesday, I had an epiphany about how I need to start treating other people the way I'd like to be treated. I'm not mean to people. But I don't exactly jump and down to do favors for people either. If someone wanted a ride somewhere I'd figure somebody else will help them out. Which is probably the wrong attitude to have.

Due to circumstances beyond my control Lex had four days off the ice. She had a fair lesson this morning still occasionally falling on the lutz and a few putting her hand down. After watching worlds fairly closely I think she should get credit for the lutz and no deduction for a hand down. It won't be pretty if I manage to get a video.. but I think it'll count the same as if it were pretty. And she's not wanting to practice on public sessions at all anymore. The fall-out she had last summer over Kate & Alex left her without friends to skate with. Skating with me isn't the same. And the older (or further advanced in skating) she gets the less patience she has for other people on the ice. Maybe skating on empty or nearly empty ice before God wakes up has spoiled her. I don't know. Maybe she gets the whining from me. I don't suppose I can expect her to get better until I do?

A few tidbits.....

The switchover this morning could not have gone more smoothly. I was worried for nothing. She had amazing sitspins, decent camels, great loops & flips. A couple hands down and a fall on a few run-throughs with the lutz. But perfect right before a competition is dangerous. I covered that in the previous post. We'll see how the next couple of weeks pan out.

So how about those worlds? I started pulling for Canada. I've always like Joannie Rochette and Jeffrey Buttle. And when it looked like the USA was not getting a single medal. I was pulling for Canada. I'm not a fair weather fan. I still love Tanith & Ben and Kimmie Miesner and Ashley Wagner. And Johnny Weir. Congrats to Johnny Weir for the bronze medal. It just wasn't our (USA) year.

Prior to watching Worlds on Sunday... I was tuned into some March Madness. Did you see that game? Holy Sniikes.. (I was going to say salchow but it doesn't quite fit with the basketball). I almost missed it. I was flipping back from ESPN to CBS waiting for Worlds to start. And caught most of the second half of the Davidson - Georgetown game. Even if you don't like either of these two teams you have to admit that was an awesome game. Davidson was in my alma mater's Swim Conference - the Southern States Athletic Conference - and we held our Conference championships at guess where? Davidson. We swam against Georgetown too. I was pulling for my conference-mates. They won!! And I almost missed it. They said it was the first NCAA game Davidson had won since the 1960s. I hope you got to see some history being made yesterday - and not just UNC being whoever it was they beat by like 50 points or whatever. I was watching Worlds then.

It's a Girl!

The baby arrived this morning. And we officially make the switch over Monday morning at 6:20am. I'm looking forward to 20 minute lessons. I think shorter lessons, more often and more practice will have to be the way Lexes' skating goes as she gets older. After the past couple of days the possibility of her pulling off all five jumps and both spins without falling seems practically impossible. You know its bad luck for her to skate well right before a competition.. with less than 2 weeks to go... we're getting into that bad luck zone. Generally, if my daughter can pull off her program effortlessly she will get into her head it is easy and she doesn't have to try. Then she will completely blow the competition. If she skates poorly she will work harder prior to the competition and pull it off on competition day. After 4 1/2 years of competitive skating - I know how she works. Still - oh God how I would like to see this program done well before competition day. I really would. Probably not going to happen. And at this point seeing it come together in the next week would be seriously bad luck. She needs to fight to stick all six landings (somebody can tell me if that counts as four landings and not six). Also not fall coming out her spins either. It will come together... it will. I have the job over the next two weeks of making her believe that she can do it. She can.. of course she can. Can she do it all at the same time? Yes. In the next 2 weeks. We'll see. And if she doesn't we just put it behind us & start working towards state games.