In lieu of actual content...

1.) What smell brings you a fond memory?

There is a particular combination of diesel, motor oil, and dirt that smells exactly like every truck my dad ever had when he was still in the oil field.  It smells the best when the truck is slightly warm, and seems to go with vinyl seats and a haze of sheen on the floorboard that will stain the cuffs of your pants if you're not careful about how you get in.  I find that smell accidentally, sometimes, usually when I'm going to look for something in one of our shop trucks at work.  It doesn't bring me a specific memory, but just a general sense of happiness in the wooshing back of my childhood. 

2.) What song makes you nostalgic?

Not that it's the only one, but here lately Possum Kingdom by the Toadies has been making a comeback.  It reminds me of the summer in between my Sophomore and Junior years in High School, when Squid and I worked together at McDonald's and were dating a brother and sister that lived in Converse (Mary, who is still amazing, and Corey, who still looks a little bit like Lyle Menendez).  Between the four of us, I was the one with the vehicle I wasn't sharing with a parent and so the 4 of us spent a lot of time crammed into the front seat of my tiny Mazda truck.  We went to the public landing a lot with our portable CD player, and while I'm pretty sure that it was actually Green Day's "Dookie" album that we listened to the most, I remember very clearly the indignant, loud, 4-way damned argument that broke out over whether or not this song was about vampires or rape.  That fight resulted in one person choosing to walk home and a breakup that probably lasted for at least 3 days (which was a very long time, back then).  Wikipedia says "neither" (where the hell was that 16 years ago?) but I still think it's about vampires.  And I still think Corey was kind of a dumbass for saying rape.

3.) What taste reminds you of school?

Thunderbird with grape Kool-aid. Not that I've HAD Thunderbird with grape Kool-Aid since school, but I can still remember what it tasted like.

4.) Which season makes you remember the most things in your past?

Autumn.  I get super nostalgic around Halloween/ Day of the Dead.  No particular reason; almost every deceased person I miss passed in the summer or winter.  I don't get nostalgic for football or marching band. Honestly... I'm not sure much of consequence has ever happened to me in the autumn but it's still my season for reminiscing. 

5.) Which memory do you treasure?

It's no secret that I have an awful memory but I seem to do just fine at remembering the important ones.  I remember when I met Squid, Sabine, James, and John, all specifically. I don't remember exactly when I met Evil Sara but I do remember lots of memories of her from before we were BFFs and still just Freshmen/Sophomores at LSC.  I remember when all my favorite kids were born, a few extra special first kisses, and more than a few times when one of the people I love made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe... or started snorting.  So- given that I have such a crappy memory, we'll just say that anything I do remember is probably still there for a great reason.

Wherein Sabine will likely ridicule me for still liking Pantera...

Yesterday a handful of us did a 6 mile riverfront skate.  I plan on going back, maybe even this weekend, and doing the full length of the available trail (8.9 miles round trip).  In celebration, I've made myself a skating playlist of angry grungy metal-ish sort of music that is concrete proof that I didn't find much at all wrong with 1992-1995.  Anthrax, Ugly Kid Joe, Pantera, and LL Cool J all in one place.  It makes me happy, and I'd share it with you but I'm afraid it's just too awesome to unleash on the internet, and anyway, slap bracelets have already started making their comeback and I don't want to be responsible for that kind of thing.

This is still awesome. You know it is.

While skating, the revolving sign at Centurytel informed me that ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd are coming to town, which might just be the best musical act to come to Bossier since the last time Lynyrd Skynyrd came to Bossier.  I've seen both bands, loved them, and will pay a ridiculous amount to freakin' Ticketmaster to do it again.  I will also sing along to every single song- badly- and I will chant "Freebird" like a moron.  I'm looking forward to it already.

I just realized that I made a reference earlier to how the last time I saw ZZ Top was "A few years ago."  A few years ago when Jeanie was pregnant with Kenny... and seeing as Kenny just got his Black Belt in karate, is only a few inches shorter than me, and has his own iPhone, I'm officially doing That Thing that Old People Do.  Dammit.


Annnd that's it. I'm preoccupied.  One of my dear ones called a bit ago and is rushing to town on account of his mom having an emergency surgery.  While I'm delighted to have a chance to put up a buddy in the guest room and do some catching up, I'm also kinda worried. 

Have a shiny weekend!

Wherein our heroines work it out re: grammar and unicorns.

I am the only person in the entire world who can change her diet pretty majorly AND increase physical activity AND go camping for 3 days AND still maintain the exact same weight.  To the OUNCE.  I win, guys.

I'm not really complaining.  Weight doesn't matter so much to me these days.  I'd still LIKE to lose another 20 lbs, because I'm pretty sure that's one of the requirements of keeping my ChickCard that also gets me out of things like changing my own tires and squashing potentially venomous spiders.  Anyway- the fascinating thing to me today is that in 2 weeks, my body fat percentage has dropped and my resting metabolism has increased by something like 300 kcals.   

Oh! And Sabine bought me a present and even though she isn't owning it I'm becoming more and more certain that it might be a unicorn.  See how good she is at throwing me off the trail:

me:  grammar check? Boughten vs. bought.
me:  "Grandma gave me a store-boughten dress" is correct.  "Sabine has boughten me a unicorn" is not correct?  I mean, not the fact of the unicorn you have in your office, but it should be "Sabine bought me a unicorn" right?
Sabine:  Hypothetically speaking it should be "Sabine bought me a unicorn." - if I in fact had bought a unicorn. But I'm not owning the purchasing of a 108 inch unicorn.  If I bought a 108 inch unicorn it would require way more than just 3 AA batteries to operate. just sayin'
 me:  That's just for the glow collar. Unicorns don't take batteries... but it's ok.  I'll pretend I don't really know what it is. That way I can be "surprised."
Sabine:  I hope your Hypothetical unicorn will provide you with years of joy.
 
Yeah. Hypothetical. Sure.
--

Gulf Wars was great. I thought about doing another Top10 List, as has been done in previous years, but... no.  The weather was great, the company was stellar, I wasn't there long enough for the sheer volume of people or even specific people to make me feel the need to go hide in the parking lot.  I had some great moments with people I adore.  Brent's Knighting and John's earning of his squires' chain were both very awesome to be a part of.  It was good but I'm not putting together a punchlist... I'd forget something.  We'll just say it was exactly what I needed for exactly as long as I needed it, and I came home feeling amazing, loved, healthy, and my feet didn't hurt.   

--

Day 4 already? It's going fine.  Yesterday I didn't have anything I'd call a craving but I did feel a little more short-tempered and impatient than is typical.  Today I'm as happy as a basketful of kittens with a fresh ball of yarn and I'm hugging everybody I work with so maybe the crazy has passed... then again, maybe this is the crazy. 


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If anybody has any great ideas on how I ought to fancy-up my helmet and wiffle ball bat for San Fermin in Nueva Orleans, holler.  It feels like July is going to be here very soon and I do so wish to be... er, the Bulle of the Ball? That just doesn't sound right.  Ideas, people!

Your Monday Crazy Advisory!

So, um.... I may have quit smoking cold turkey about 36 hours ago.

Or I may not have. I bought a "GreenSmoke" Electronic cigarette, which gives you nicotine but no tar and fiberglass and fertilizer and...stuff (we're just gonna call it stuff for now), so I really don't know what you call it.  But I am visualizing the e-cig as a "help me stop smoking" therapy item and so that's what it is for me.  Just like Chantix was but without the added fun and benefit of the BatShitCrazy and the spontaneous crying and the vivid dreams and the irrationality.  So really, I'm pretty much taking the fun out of quitting.

So my plan WAS to use the e-cig to slowly rule out smoking in certain places. Like my truck to start, and then I'd work it out from there.  And yesterday, I woke up and was going to stop and get cigarettes and I just kept putting it off, because really- this 'lil gadget is keeping the edge off but it doesn't have an odor and that's the thing that's been getting to me lately, the stank of being a smoker along with this little niggling idea in the back of my head somewhere that MAYBE I'd be a better athlete if I weren't doing it, because I think I read that in a book somewhere and books are always right.  Instead of buying cigarettes I went and spent 3 hours detailing my truck and decided that I was just going to do this, and so doing this is what I'm doing.      

I've quit multiple times before (the longest was for... 6ish months?) and I can't swear that this time is going to be different but I think that I am ready for it to be, and this is the absolute BEST time to be a non-smoker because it's spring and I love the smell of grass and honeysuckle. 

So- there's your advisory.  If'n I seem a bit touched or off or maybe a little antsy, chances are that it isn't you.  Patience will be appreciated for the next little bit.

Time for some Happy.

This week has kind of sucked.

Work is picking up.  I'm the Office Queen for a seasonal business and this time of year, things start getting hinky.  I imagine bears coming out of hibernation require a little bit of time before they hit their summertime groove, and that's what this feels like.  I'll be fine in a week or so as I get myself back into the swing of how things are for the busy 8 months of the year around here.  In the meantime though- my stress level has gone up higher than I typically allow, and I need to refocus some after-hours attention on letting it go. 

Normally, I take a 10-day vacation in March and I start getting ready for it in early February. This week, due to a number of factors I've cut it down to 3 nights/2 days, and I start getting ready for it... tonight. This shouldn't be a problem, but it feels very discombobulated.  If I forget something, I'm going to not have a second chance to remember it, and instead I'll just find myself mooching off of my friends if it's that important. I doubt that's going to be a problem though... most of my friends are the human embodiments of Swiss Army Knives and they always pack extra. Heck, I usually pack extra... but this year, I'm just going to kind of jump and hope it works. After all- it's just a couple of days. I can do without anything but my pillow for that long.  The important thing- in the very near future I'll get to enjoy time with some of my dear ones, and when you take that into context, it doesn't matter if you forgot your shoes. Which I just realized I don't have on my packing list...

On a very high note though- full vegetarianism is treating me very well. I'm feeling pretty awesome, and I've only felt a twinge of longing once when the roommate was frying boudin (but seriously, Ghandi would want some of that).  I'm sleeping soundly, I've got good energy levels, and I don't find myself craving salt or pickles or bananas, so I'm thinking that I'm being pretty well balanced.  It would be PERFECT if I could find a locally available and yummy nut-free granola that didn't have candy in it... but then again, I still want that unicorn, and some degree of want is good for you.

So, yeah. Lent is the trial run, but I'm putting serious consideration into just staying on this wagon once Easter passes.  We'll see how that goes.

This is my guilty pleasure song of the day.  Do share it with me? 

Wherein our heroine is a graceful creature of poised elegance and then stays up too late.

So last night we started a run of minimum skills requirements testing.

Last time I did the timed 25 laps- I sucked. I got 20.5.  Last night I only got 23... but I also managed to wipe myself out in the most spectacular manner possible with the timer running. In one fall--- unassisted by anybody other than myself- I managed to land on my ass, my ear, and my thumb. Actually- I may have rolled over my own thumb because sometimes, I just channel a gazelle and it's so hard to hold back that urge. I completely knocked the wind out of myself.   I do know that the thumb isn't broken and that's really about all I can say for it.  Anyway. I'll be doing that again next week (timed laps, not "interpretive Serengeti dance of joy on wheels").  And if I don't get my 25, I'll be doing it again the week after. This is something that I am capable of doing when people aren't watching and/or timing me- I'm certain.  So I just need to turn that part of my brain off and get the crap done, preferably while remaining in a relatively not-on-my-ass sort of position. 

And in a more somber note, one of the freshies totally gets the "derby practice sucked" trophy.  Looks like she's going to be having surgery for a spiral ankle fracture and I'm very heartbroken for her.  Out of respect for her and her cast, I shall now stop complaining about my black thumb and get the hell over it.

--
I'm not going to stop complaining about my heinous bout outfit, though.  I really thought that it was fine in the mirror but all I see in the pictures are big biceps and a high waist that isn't flattering at all. And boobs. I normally don't complain about those but the ensemble looks far less "sassy" and far more "trailer park" than I was going for.  Sabine and I have a plan. After seeing my ass on Youtube I'm thinking that my long-suffering housemate is going to be forced to use his helmet cam to tape me skating in the street in a selection of outfits.  We'll work it out, anyhow.

--
Last night, I got home from practice, crawled into the bathtub, and proceeded to read 3/4 of Bailey's Cafe over again just because I was feeling a bit homesick for the book and wanted to crawl up inside it.  This resulted in my actually going to sleep at 2:30ish, which was not a Very Good Idea.  I can't brain today, kids. I have the dumb.

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.