Look, guys! I'm NOT DEAD!

So, alright. I'm still processing a lot of the weekend but here's the stuff I've got in words thus far:


When I first got interested in the idea of derby, I read blogs and as many websites as I could. Some blog somewhere had a collection of peoples' bout day rituals. Things like "take a nap" and "have a long lunch with my derby wife" and "go for a nice mile long run and meditate with a pony."  Those people live in a different universe than us. In our universe, we showed up at 1 to get the rink ready and didn't leave again until the bout was over and the rink was cleaned up.  Nap? Seriously? I'm glad I had the forethought to bring food I could eat on a nervous stomach with me, because I don't think I'd have left otherwise, even to run to the grocery across the street.  Obviously we need a bout production staff that's made up of people who aren't skating and who aren't working the bout itself, but then, we also need a unicorn on that staff so that he can glitter the track for us with his magical horn of glitter sprinkling.  I'm not complaining, though.  Having lots to do and keep my mind busy was great for me. It kept me from getting into the mad panic stage of the day until the doors opened at 6... and then the bottom kind of fell out and I got all the nerves all at once and suddenly I was not having any fun at all. 

That expression kinda sums it up.

I didn't quit or even threaten to- though the thought crossed my mind.  According to EvilSara, I was pretty much shaking visibly and I don't doubt that. I do know that I was nervous enough to be really rude to people that I really like and I feel like a major ass about that.  So- the skateout portion was a nightmare for me. I didn't care much for the "demo jam" to show the rules, either... but once the game got going, I was much better. I think I even had some fun in the second half.  By the end I was considerably less hating-of-the-world, and was able to spend a few minutes with my sister and her kids and other loved ones who came.

I love that muffin and the amazing girl who made it (Katie, who is holding the poster).

See the 5 on my arm? That was a good hit.

Mi familia.

By the time I settled the evening's attendance numbers with the rink owner (671 + the free kids + skaters and volunteers), helped clean up, and got in a friend's truck to go find the afterparty I was absolutely crunchy and drained. We stayed at the afterparty for about an hour, if that, before I grabbed my people and we went home so I could try to let myself reinflate or decompress or... whatever.  It was good, though. The 12 or so of us that made it back to the house had some pretty educational conversations and then I managed to get something like 5 hours of sleep, if that. Daylight Savings time threw me off, but I didn't feel exhausted or even extra specially sore... just really emotionally hungover and kind of weepy and very "don't talk to me, k?" 

Fortunately Sunday was a low-key day.  I had a ton of things I had planned on getting done but ended up napping through a movie with Mouse, Squid, and Kevin, then went and enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon hanging out with a friend whose car had stranded him. Unfortunately there was no Sunday afternoon solution to that so it turned into a lovely dinner with said friend, dragging said friend to the skating rink for a little bit, and then fixing up the guest bed for said friend to sleep in until Toyota could get him figured out this morning.  Not what I'd planned at all but a good way to slowly come back from my little funk I'd landed in. 

And now- here we are. It's Monday. I have practice tonight and I FINALLY put on the new wheels that have been driving me nuts for a week (I wasn't going to do a wheel change right before a bout so I had to sit on them til now and they're SO PRETTTTTTY). 

Oh, right. And we won. Apparently the actual score was 234-61 which wasn't exactly what I thought it was but I was pretty dumb by that point.

Now- I've got a hell week of work ahead of me (working in 2 offices, getting ready for a home show, getting ready for a radio live remote and the seasonal pickup of the business in general makes for a stretched-out office queen), but it ends on Thursday because baby brother and his fiance and I are heading down to Lumberton to go camping with 4000 of our closest friends and see a very dear family member get some very well deserved recognition, so that shall be my light at the end of this tunnel.
Granted, I've not actually started packing yet but I'll work it out.