DDG Derby! U

Yes, I know, I have been awful at writing and just as awful about getting active lately.  I have been working a lot of overtime and I know it shouldn't be an excuse, but I tend to be a bit lazier the later it gets. 

With that being said, I received the worse beat down over the weekend that I have ever experienced in my life!

As I may have mentioned previously, I have started roller skating occasionally.  Honestly, I am not looking to become a derby girl any time soon, or ever for that matter, but I would like to at least take advantage of the encouragement and advise that my amazing league of girls (and guys) have to offer. 

With that being said, I finally saved up the cash and bought myself a new pair of skates. I got them in the mail about a week and a half ago and got to try them out on the rink for the first time last Wednesday.  I went to the open skate at Riverside arena before practice so that I would have some Derby friends there to help show me some more beginner steps to take.  I have to admit my feet sure did hurt, and my legs were screaming after about an hour.  But I smeared on some Tiger Balm and kept on going. 

By the end of the night, a friend and fellow Stat Army member convinced me to do DDG's Derby! U the upcoming weekend.  Why not? Worse that can happen is that I learn what else I need to work on and make a fool out of myself in the process.

Thursday night left me running around town looking to get knee & elbow pads as well as a helmet.  Thank goodness I had randomly decided to buy a mouth guard previously so I didn't end up with a big bulky one! Friday I got to bed nice and early, and by Saturday morning I was up and running around like a fool.  I got a good breakfast of yogurt and bran with some craisens, got my water bottle filled and all of my gear packed, while Mikey graciously scrapped all of the ice from my car windows. 

Upon arriving to the Masonic Temple in the frigid weather, I found my fellow Stat Army friends and settled in for the unknown. There was a brief introduction and then it was into gear and onto skates.  We skated around and warmed up, were shown some brief stretches and then it was on to the basic skills.  It was very encouraging to know that many of the people in attendance were just as new to skating as I was.  Unfortunately, one of the participants managed to get tripped up and had to take a trip to the hospital in an ambulance.  Just another good reminder why its important to learn the basic skills and wear the proper safety equipment.

The girls with the DDG are fantastic at offering up tips and advise as we were skating around learning our new skills.  If there was ever anything I was having trouble with (T-Stops, Plow Stops, stops in general) one of the girls would skate up, watch me, and then offer their own personal advise on how I could correct what I doing wrong, and if it didn't quite click the first time, another girl would be there soon to offer something else.

Just about the time that I thought my thighs were going to give out, we were finally out of our skates and eating lunch.  After lunch came two sessions, one on Health, and one on Skate Equipment & Maintenance.  Both workshops were very informative.  And that was day one.  I could only imagine what would be in store for us on day two.

Sunday I was up, and not quite as well organized as the day prior. I got to the Masonic and found out we'd be doing off-skates exercises first. And boy was I unprepared!  It has been a few months since I had been dedicated (in the most relax sense of the word) in going to the gym. I have to say, the exercises that they led us in that morning, made me doubt I was going to be able to skate at all. After the rigorous (my words) workout, had an overview on what the skills test involves, and then we got back on our skates to work on what we had learned previously.

I do have to admit that when they started going over more advanced skills, I snuck out of the pack to get cleaned up. Those that participated in Derby U were welcomed to stay and watch some of the DDG girls have a scrimmage, and I was already signed up to work the penalty box. Lunch was again very welcomed and very tasty. And I have another awesome shirt added to my collection.

By Sunday night I could feel my muscles screaming out, and I tried to ice my sore knee a bit.  What really surprised me however, was how bad my abs hurt come Monday morning. I could barely move! If anything this was definitely the kick in the butt that I needed to get myself back in gear and working on losing some of this excess weight, I have been fighting with for so long.

Thank you Detroit Derby Girls for the wonderful opportunity, I look forward to doing it again in June and seeing how I have come along on my skating.

Zombies!

One of my other favorite things is life are zombies... Which I guess makes it my favorite undead thing.  I'm not really sure how I got into zombies as much as I have. I have always liked movie monsters, even as a kid. I think my resurgence into zombie came when I first found out about The Zombie Survival Guide. A friend of mine had it on her shelf and from there I just fell in love all over again.

Since then, we've tried to write our own zombie movies, even had parts as extras in a zombie flick that never saw the light of day, and pretty much spent too many hours to count thinking of the zombie apocalypse and what to do in the event of.  I have joked with my boyfriend time and time again about "when the zombies rise..." So much so, that at Christmas time when he was looking online at different things, he actually considered buying me a box of Hornady's Zombe Max 12 ga. shells for my new shotgun. I know, pure love right?  The only reason he didn't is because of the cost of shipping one box of ammo.



And talking about ammunition for zombie slaying makes me think of one of Mikey's new interests. 3-Gun competitions. It's basically a modern take on the old Cowboy Shootouts, only this competition uses rifles, shotguns, and handguns. The object of the competition is to travel along a course and shoot targets with the specified weapon, scoring more points for accuracy and fastest time.  It just so turns out that one of the rangers here in Michigan that offer such a thing, is the Blue Water Sportsman Association.  And what makes his new interest even more interesting to me?  They have an annual zombie shootout! That is just about cool enough to make me want to start practicing!  I am an okay shot with all three weapons but I know I could be a lot better. 

Most of you probably don't share in my enthusiasm for actually taking shots at pictures of zombies.  Here are two more fun things related to zombies!

I recently purchased and will own in about 3 days, this cute and adorable, dismember-able plush zombie.  I have seen him on the ThinkGeek website for a while now, and thought that it could be cute to own him some day.  I was looking at my car the other day as I was cleaning it up a bit and thought, hmm, it would be really cute to have some sort of cool something to ride along on that flat surface ya know near the rear window. (And yes that incomplete, incomprehensible thought is mine, all mine).  And then it hit me, I want a cute zombie to ride along with me.  I checked out a few stores in the area, but soon realized that I would have to just buy the one at thinkgeek.com and be done with it.  And so I did, and it turns out he was on sale. 

The other fun thing is this!  The New Way Bar in Ferndale is having a Zombie Prom! March 31st, 2012 Featuring, "The Graveyard Whores" w/ Nuke & The Hellriders, HI-Fi Hellcats, Murder Party, The Aquanetts and The Loving Dead. Also including performances from "SIN CITY DOLLS" burlesque girls from Las Vegas Nevada.  And a art show from "Jerry Shirts"! Best dressed Zombie King and Queen contest with prizes! $8.00 at the door - 18 & up welcome - doors at 8:30pm. I have no affiliations with this, so I am not necessarily plugging them (btw, what kind of a business lists their only website as a MySpace page?), but a few of us may be going and if you have any interest in any of the above mentioned things, maybe you would like to go too!

Well, that's about all I have as far as fun zombie related things.  They just seem to be on my mind a lot lately.  I guess I am going through withdrawals waiting for The Walking Dead to come back on television. And also, if you are not watching that show you are so missing out!  The zombies are coming you know, and you must be prepared!   Oh! And I am also waiting for the 3rd installment of the Newsflesh series to come out!  Feed and Deadline are probably the best zombie fiction books out there! Mira Grant is amazing, and if you haven't read either of these books do yourself a favor and pick them up! The 3rd book will be out some time this spring. I stopped paying attention to the actual date after I pre-ordered it for my nook.

Happy Hunting!

Resolutions

So as I mentioned earlier this week, I had an idea to make a board in my room and post my 2012 goals.  I wanted to have a variety of goals that would not only be serious, but also fun.  And they would be small enough that they would actually be accomplished.  There are a few bigger plans on the board, but I think I was able to break them into increments so it wont be too overwhelming.

Here's what I did. 

I went on Amazon and found a magnetic white board, some chart tape, and some printable magnetic 8x10 sheets.  I got on Word over the past few days while I was awaiting the arrival of the supplies and started jotting down some goals.  Picked a nice font (ok, its comic sans but it was the cutest, yet readable and bold enough to choose from), Lined them up in 3 columns, adjusted the margins and what not.  As the week went on I added more and more little ideas and finally came up with a list I found deserving of my time.

Today, all of my goodies arrived in those cute little smiling boxes and I set out to get the board made.

Goals: Typed and Cut Up, Magnetic Board, Magnet Sheets

I printed out my goals, and used my slide cutter (excuse me, my sisters, slide cutter) to cut them all down to size.  Some of the goals were bigger, some had additional pieces.  For instance, I would like to lose weight, so there are goals in 10 lb increments, I would also like to do things like "Go to the gym every (week) day" but I know I can't do that so they are in rewarding increments like "For a week," "For a month," and "For 3 Months" and so on.

Originally, I wanted to have a side that was for "Need to Do" and a side for "Completed" (thus why I bought the chart tape. Yes, I am a nerd and I didn't just want to draw one. And it was only $2.) But once I got every thing on, there wasn't exactly enough room.  I didn't count them, but there are a lot!

My Goals Board: Complete with all my goals

And I of course hung it in my room where I could see it.

I know, I have some strange things on my walls

So, now you are probably wondering what kinds of goals I set for myself.  Well here's the list, in it's entirety:

• Lose 10 lbs.
• Lose 20 lbs.
• Lose 30 lbs.
• Lose 40 lbs.
• Lose 50 lbs.
• Lose 60 lbs.
• Lose 70 lbs.
• Lose 80 lbs.
• Save $100
• Save $500
• Save $1,000
• Save $2,500
• Save $5,000
• Save $7,500
• Save $10,000
• Visit the Zoo
• Go to a Tigers Game
• Go to a Concert
• Go to a Pistons Game
• Go to a Lions Game
• Go to a Red Wings Game
• Go to Boston
• Go to the UP
• Climb a tree with Mikey
• Go Fishing
• Go Hunting
• Learn to Skate
• Go Camping
• Bike the CRT:
• From Adams to Roch
• From Opdyke to Rochester
• Bike the PCT:
• From Roch to LO
• Go Swimming
• Eat Better
• Pack A Lunch Every Day:
• For a Week
• For a Month
• For 3 Months
• For 6 Months
• For 9 Months
• For a Year
• Go to the Gym Every Day:
• For a Week
• For a Month
• For 3 Months
• For 6 Months
• For 9 Months
• For a Year
• Take Diesel for Walks
• Babysit the Clark Kids
• Go to a Fair
• Go to Cedar Point
• Ride a Rollercoaster
• Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride
• Go to the Dentist
• Drink More Water
• Drink Less Pop
• Write Every Day
• Read More Books
• Learn to Drive my Motorcycle
• Drive my Motorcycle to Work
• Line-Up Track
• Penalty Track
• Penalty Time
• Box Official
• Score Keep
• Head NSO
• Go Skydiving
• Finish Molding in:
• Bathroom
• Bedrooms
• Living Room
• Kitchen
• Replace Storm Door
• Put in Sidewalk
• Install Metal Roof
• Insulate Attic
• Promote Blog around Town
• Visit Mackinac Island
• Visit Greenfield Village
• Visit Henry Ford Museum
• Visit Motown Museum
• Visit DIA
• Drive Motorcycle to Cooks Dairy Farm
• Pick Strawberries
• Go Boating on Lake Saint Clair
• See a Shipwreck
• Visit Hartwick Pines
• Donate to a Charity
• Complete a Charity Walk
• Go Bowling
• See a Movie
• See a Play
• Get Carpets Cleaned
• Paint Doors
• Install Doorknobs
• Plant Flowers

I think one of these goals should also include learning how to make columns or some sort of table in HTML.

So there it is.  My Goals for 2012.  I will try to come back and cross things off as I get them accomplished.  As for my board, I will just be removing them and putting them some where.  I think a lot of them can be used for years to come. Some of them will get done sooner than others and I am sure at the end of the year I might look back and say damn, I missed getting that one.  But I am not going to be sore about it.  I am just going to keep trying to clear them as best as I can. 

Good luck to anyone else that has resolutions this year.  Feel free to share with me some of your ideas as well!

Last Day of Vacation

Today is my last day of my vacation from work.  I know that most of you feel the same way I do about work and are dreading heading back into the office/field/shop or what have you.  I for one, love the company I work for, love the people I work with (for the most part), enjoy getting out of the house daily, and most certainly love getting paid.  But I am sure you would agree that its hard to find the meaning behind it all. Sure, in my job I take checks from customers and apply the payments to the proper invoices, for the service they acquired, for the business that makes something or provides a service to someone else and thus employing others along the way and in the end we all get a paycheck.  But I suppose its only human to want to see some kind of greater good come out of the 2080+ hours we spend each year typing away at a keyboard, pushing a mouse, and shuffling papers.

One of the things I have done recently to fight this feeling of monotony was to become involved in my local roller derby team.  I mentioned earlier in this blog that I had started attending the Ref U! course taught by the Detroit Derby Girls.   I have since completed the course and am now an actual staff member of the league.  I have started working a few bouts, doing NSO positions like Outside Whiteboard, Penalty Box Timer, and Scorekeeper.  It has been fun and exciting so far.  I have met a lot of new people and have been building new friendships all along the way.  It's honestly amazing just how busy derby will keep a person.  I am just a volunteer staff person, without the obligations of mandatory practices, however, in order to make sure I know how to do my job well, I have to practice, obviously.  But its even more than that, its the social events, and the ever changing and evolving business of the DDG.  I came into this thinking that I would get to understand the game better, and that I would get to help out.  For anyone that is out there and looking to get into NSOing, make sure you have the time and the ability to travel. 

Now knowing what is exactly required of me, I now have some decisions to make.  How much do I want to dive into this? Am I happy just wading in the kiddie pool, or would I like to be come certified and eventually work my way up to being a lifeguard? (My apologies for the weird swimming metaphor).  Derby to me right now is still overwhelming.  It seems that any time I have a break from the madness, I start doubting if I want to get back into it again.  But as soon as I show up to practice, the fun floods back and and I am totally geeked all over again! 

I am missing my first, and hopefully only, bout this weekend, and I am sad.   Sad that I will miss watching some of my friends play their first game of the season, and sad that I wont be there for any silliness that goes down or to help Stat Army win the after-party. But part of me knows that if I want to be in control of my own life, and not feel like I am being overwhelmed or giving too much of myself to this crazy sport, I have to say no every once in a while.  I know, you are probably wondering how I could feel overwhelmed when I haven't been around derby much in the past few weeks.  And honestly its more because I have heard the stories of other staff members being burnt out and that is one thing I want to prevent from happening from the get go.  I want to take this at my own pace, and provide as much of myself as I can, but under my own terms and conditions. Its volunteer work. I will do what I can to meet the requirements of my league, but it will be up to me how much more I give.

Sounds crazy right?  I mean how have I gone from super fan to cautious volunteer in just a matter of months... Trust that things happen on a derby league just as fast as they do on the track. Am I happy I got involved? Absolutely!  But I am taking it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one bout at a time, and one season at a time. There is no sense in making this fun job as painful to go back to as my real job.

A New Year, A New Start

I know resolutions are only ever set so they can just be broken, and I'm probably not the first person to say this, but this year feels different. Maybe it's because this could be the last year before the zombie apocalypse/end of the Mayan calendar. Whatever it is, I want to take advantage of this feeling and really get some things done this time.

One thing I would really like to do is write more. And I'm thinking I really don't have any excuses to not write at least once a day. For instance, right now I am writing from the passenger seat of my car as Mikey, Diesel & I are on our way home from up state. Smart phones really are changing the way we live.

While we're on the topic of smart phones, I should really start using my Noom app again. I need to really focus this year on eating better, exercising, giving up soda, and losing weight.

Another thing I want to do is post a board in my room with things I want to do this year, one side for things to do and the other for completed items. Simple things like go to the zoo, household chores like finally finishing the molding, and more serious stuff like losing 10 lbs. And fun things like go to the UP, and to Boston to visit my aunts. Saving some money will also be a nice goal to set too.

So many things to do, and why not have some fun doing it. I hope everyone has a great 2012. Be safe, have fun, be yourself, better yourself. :)

Where Do I Begin...

You are probably used to me saying this by now, but its been too long since I last wrote on this blog.  I have been keeping myself quite busy lately with another blog, Diesel Stomping, where I write about walks that Diesel and I have been going on.  It's been a lot of fun and its getting some good reception.  I have also been attending the Detroit Derby Girls Ref! U course and trying to volunteer my time with them as much as possible.  And last but not least, I am trying to get back into shape again.  Something you can read about in my other blog, Back to Little.

So what's this about the Detroit Derby Girls, you ask?  Well, about two years ago, a co-worker of mine hung a poster for the DDG in her cubical.  We started talking about it, and that led to Gabby and I heading up to Flint one day to check out the Flint City Derby Girls.  That piqued my interest in derby, I had to learn more!  A few months later, Gabby and I headed down to the historic Masonic Temple in Detroit and that's where I fell in love with the sport. 

Masonic Temple Detroit

When you first walk into the 85 year old building, its like you are taking a step back in history. Through the revolving doors, into the magnificent main lobby, and onto the ancient elevators up to the 4th floor.  From there you hand off your ticket, go down a corridor, have your hand stamped and walk through the doorway that opens up to the uniquely designed Drill Hall.  The Drill Hall was constructed with a "floating floor" so that the drill marches would not disturb the rest of the temple, and also give relief to the feet of the marchers. 

There is not a lot of room in the drill hall, unfortunately, but seating is available if you get there early, or you can brave it and sit on the floor in the "suicide seats."   Feeling the rush of the skaters as they skate pass, and hearing the crowd go crazy at every grand slam, is completely worth the experience.  You feel like you are participating in some underground activity like Fight Club or something.  The skaters all have fun aliases and they wear fun uniforms that show of their unique personalities.  And even though they are playing against one another, you can still feel the comradery between them. 

The next season I went ahead and purchased two season tickets.  They were so popular with the fans the season before, that nearly every bout would sell out.  I had to be sure I was going to get tickets!  Of course, that was the season that the DDG moved to Cobo Arena.  They had many more seats available, and I was able to get some pretty good size groups to come with me to many of the bouts.  I was geeked to even start making some friends within the teams and I prided myself on getting "the wave" started at a few of them as well!

Once the season came to an end, I knew what I had to do.  The first opportunity that came along for me to sign up and be a volunteer, I did so!  Would I love to play the game? Sure, but I need to get in shape, and besides that I am a bit of a dork, so why not add my mad number skills to the Stat Army.

I have been taking the course for a few weeks now, and I am really starting to learn so much more about the game.  And let me tell you, watching the game from the inside of the track is amazing!  And on top of that, I am also making new friends.  I am hoping that once I am officially part of the team I can start traveling with them and making some of their appearances as well.  This might just be the chance I get to see this great country before I'm too old to enjoy it! 

As I get more involved in the DDG, I will be sure to check back and let you all know how its going.  :)

Getting Creative

It has been quite a while since I last posted on my blog, which seems to be the norm.  I had signed myself up to make something homemade this year for a few lucky Facebook friends, and just remembered that I have to get on that as well.  I have all this time now that I am not at school, yet I can't seem to get motivated.  Although, I did convince myself to buy a new printer the other day, maybe I can start making some buttons again.  And really, I should get back to making my hemp necklaces and stuffs.  The one thing I do really want to get done is a fan shirt for my derby gal, Joy Stixxx.  I have to get started on that design.  Speaking of design?  Anyone know any good graphic design programs?  I usually make my buttons with MS Paint, but I am starting to have some limitations that I can't seem to get around.  Well, just thought I would get some thoughts out of my head... Thanks for listening.  Follow me! www.littlepitz.blogspot.com