roller derby

Weekly Therapy: stop picking on me!

- Mel

the week:
Five days straight of roller derby. Whew. I’m exhausted.

Oh, and my nose is severely bruised (hopefully not broken, but ouch). Not dealing with that until I’m home from California. I also found myself in tears again in the middle of practice out of total anger and frustration after a drill. Then the next practice I smashed my knee on the rink floor (yes, even with knee pads). W.T.F. This week is picking on me.

weekend:
Day trip to Philly for banked track training camp. We’re playing two banked track games in San Diego (we are part of WFTDA, a flat track league), so we need to LEARN how to skate that type of track beforehand. This is on my derby bucket list, so I am excite.

Then, napping all of the hours on Sunday. What super bowl? Pffft. Oh, I probably should get some packing done for Cali. (I’m going to try to fit in meeting an out-of-town, visiting-someone-else friend for brunch too.)

This weekend is also GROUNDHOG DAY. Man, one year I have to drive up to Punxsutawney to experience that madness. Also, I spelled that correctly on my first try! If you can’t make it to see Phil in person, Groundhog Day (the amazing movie starring Bill Murray) is playing tonight at the Hollywood theater in Dormont.

52 books in 52 weeks:
9. The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo. 304 pages. LONG pages. Woof. I never thought I’d finish this book. I was anticipating reading it for weeks (while it was checked out of my branch for a month or so by someone else); what a let-down.

seven things, seven days:
1. Started my 30 days of waking up before 8am… *yawn*
2. Also, my first drink of alcohol in 31 days. Hello, beer.
3. Check out this awesome article from Pitt News about my derby league (you just might spot me in the gallery too *wink*).
4. HOMEMADE YOGURT-COVERED CRANBERRIES!!! {from the Kitchn}
5. Interviewing for a local non-profit internship position for a really cool project. Wish me luck!
6. Boredom (and me) explained! (in under 300 words) {from PsyBlog}
7. How to cope with failure {from PsychCentral}

Tell me what’s part of your Weekend Therapy!

Weekly Therapy: when the boyfriend’s away, the derby will play

- Mel

the week:
practice. practice. practice. repeat weekly. I’m learning to adapt to the late nights of practices and added responsibilities (and soon, travel) that come with the beginning of the derby season. We had tryouts for our incoming meat class on Sunday, which is exciting (I’m a Mentee to two newbies); and hosting out-of-league skaters for a training camp this weekend. I slept surprisingly well for the boyfriend being out of town… likely because I. am. exhausted.

I’m also on 26 days without a drop of alcohol, so I’m all kinds of cranky. (FOUR MORE DAYS to meet my January goal!)

And that’s why Friendly’s makes ice cream.

Oh, and that incident last night with cops responding to an intruder alarm at my neighbor’s house. When I was home overnight alone. o_O

weekend:
It’s the quarterly Gallery Crawl tonight in downtown Pittsburgh! One of my favorite nights to explore the city and new exhibits (yes, even in 20 degree temps and a few inches of snow). New event this year: there’s a pop-up night market and curling session with Yelp and the Pittsburgh Curling Club.

Sunday is BOUT DAY!

52 books in 52 weeks:
I’m falling behind! I’m stuck on this book that is overly repetitive and extremely slow to read… and I should just QUIT already.
8. “I Want it Now! A Memoir of Life on the Set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” by Julie Dawn Cole

seven things, seven days:
1. Interviewing two “hot” jewelry designers for a client – so exciting!
2. Refreshed, new hair color. *ahhh*
3. Brunch at Verde is my new fave. We checked it out as part of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week specials.
4. Found TWO different unused gift cards: Sephora and Old Navy (woo-hoo!)
5. Shopped two sports bras, a yoga tank and a BRIGHT track jacket with balance on Old Navy card.
6. Was nominated for league’s rookie award at our banquet a couple weekends ago. I didn’t win, but so proud and honored. I love my leaguemates.
7. Two weeks until California! (Can you believe it’s been over 20 years since I’ve last visited?)

Weekly Therapy: crushing goals… and the stupid flu again.

- Mel

the week:
Completed my first week of no alcohol, which was difficult, considering tryouts nerves! BUT I found out last night that I made the team! WOO! And also means I’M GOING TO CALIFORNIA! More on that later…

This “12 cognitive biases that prevent you from being rational” story is all the more important when getting a pang of flight anxiety again.

My life right now.

weekend:
After three days of minimal sleep (by no means my own fault; I was in bed… but just no sleep happened), I woke up this morning feeling sick. I’m trying to relax and push through, so that I can see Spank! (a parody of 50 Shades of Gray) tonight with a friend. Sober. I’m expecting it to be hilarious, especially given that I’ve never read the book and only the Tumblr making fun of it.

Saturday night, we have our annual derby awards banquet. This event calls for a date with my sequin pants!

For my Pittsburghers: check out Saturday’s Mascot Skate at Schenley Park.

52 books in 52 weeks:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (#7) – I read this entire book in less than 4 hours (across 2 days). I was bored at first and really didn’t want to go further (you know, stop before I get too attached to the story). But the character development was quick, and I was hooked. But I’m still confused by a few parts — one, especially an integral part of the story that I seemed to miss (I don’t want to spoiler!)… so I probably need to re-read it. On sale for $3.99 for Kindle at Amazon!

seven things, seven days:
1. Received all my transfer info from another school choice. This admission process requires a personal essay. And my ACT test results (from 18 years ago). Yikes.
2. I think we might have finally found an antique black slate mantel for the living room fireplace (via Craigslist)! Going to look at it this weekend. Cross your fingers!
3. This weekend I’ll be crafting some decorations for my friends bridal shower next weekend. I can’t wait to see my ideas all pulled together.
4. Check this out: HomeEC e-courses! I’m definitely signing up for a refresher “learn to sew” program. Remember those days when HomeEC was a required class in high school?! Just me then?
5. I’m totally in Decorating Mode. And super psyched to see HomeGoods boards on Pinterest.
6. Finding a “behind-the-neck” bra for a sleeveless, high-neck shirt is impossible. Bra shopping is my biggest nightmare, but there has to be SOMETHING. The shirt is white, I cannot go braless… unless I find a tank that’s cut the same way.
7. Author Hugo Schwyzer says empathy can be learned. Thoughts?

Photo credit: HelloFresh via Tumblr

Motivation. And puking.

- Mel

There was a moment I thought my knees would give out. And when I puked in my mouth leaning over to gasp for breath (ew, the sweet, sweet burn of blueberry waffles, banana and peanut butter). I also had a throbbing headache, coinciding with dizzyness (probably getting sick… again). And then i had to run to dry heave into the rink toilets when it was all over. Yeah, I pushed myself.

I still hear the voice of my junior high cross country coach, telling me that if I throw up at the finish line, I get a cheeseburger. I guess that meant then that we pushed ourselves just enough. I threw up a lot that season.

I not only passed my roller derby assessments; I nailed them. Surpassed all requirements, so that I can try out in January for our league’s A (Varsity) team.

I am endlessly amazed at what this 30-something body can do.

Weekend Therapy: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

- Mel

the week:
It’s finally stopped raining. Yesterday, we were on six straight days of rain. This kind of weather is so depressing — even a pair Wellies wasn’t enough to make me enjoy the puddles. Alas, I’ve been pretty much living in my new sweatshirt and fleece pants for the entire week because everything is all… blah.

And drinking hot chocolate.

Thankfully, our area was free of damage from the storms, but I had buckets at the ready for any leaks. It was sad to see on the news some of the places of my previous vacation locations underwater and experiencing the devastating destruction of Sandy. My heart goes out to the East Coast (and some friends in Cleveland, who seemingly got the midwest brunt of the storm, and are still without power).

weekend:
I was excited when I didn’t see anything on my schedule for the weekend — it would be an opportunity to relax, catch up on housework, put away all the Halloween stuff… wash my gear. But that “freedom” didn’t last long: Halloween was rescheduled to Saturday evening because of this week’s storms; since I was without a car for an entire week those overdue errands need crossed off the to-do list FOR SERIOUS (I’m also sans car for tomorrow when I was hoping to DO all of this stuff *sigh*); my brothers’ band is touring through town; and I have marketing responsibilities to task for derby.

{deep breath}

I need some yoga therapy, but spinning will probably be more my speed for the next three days.

I’ll also try to squeeze in some time to watch roller derby. CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Oh, look, an extra hour!

If you’re around Pittsburgh, check out the Three Rivers Film Festival (runs through November 17) and Saturday’s Ti Kanaval Cocktail Party (um,did somebody say “UNLIMITED DESSERT BAR”?!).

seven things, seven days:
1. Consider making a donation to the Humane Society or the Red Cross to help with relief work for those people and animals affected by Sandy.
2. This post from J’s Everyday Fashion is a great read: the anatomy of a trend. Are you an early adopter?
3. Currently on a Spending Strike for November. More on that later…
4. Seriously, I made three more batches of this Apple Pie dip — first, for our bowling league last weekend (and another separate just for me because, well…) and another for the boyfriend’s work/food party. EVERYBODY LOVES IT!
5. Speaking of bowling, I had my best game last Friday and totally screwed up my average (95) in the process. Hooray, 121!
6. Back to home team practices next week! As much as I enjoyed personal leave and NOTHING TO DO, I’m ready to be back in my skates.
7. Twelve ready-to-style Fall outfits: time to shop my closet.

Post #2 complete.