The Ice Storm

Okay, since kare has been bugging me forever to do this blog, I figure I should probably do it.

I started figure skating probably around the age of 5 or 6. My brother was in hockey all of his life, so we pretty much spent a lot of our evenings and weekends at the rink.

I loved to skate. I loved the ice shows. I loved dressing up and performing. I lived for it. And then, around the time I was 13, I had gone as far as I could go in the small town we had lived in, so I started teaching the new kids, which meant everything to me.

My Dad was the typical 'hockey dad'. Even though my parents worked constantly, he was always at my brother's games, and going away quite often on his tournaments. It really wasn't that way with my skating. I know, it doesn't have the excitement of hockey, but I was usually dropped off and either driven home by another skating mom or in a cab. I can only remember them ever going to my year-end ice shows. But I didn't care. My parents had me enrolled in every extra-curricular activity known to man, but skating was the only thing I truly loved.

Skip ahead....We were doing the show based on the story 'Oliver!' when I was 13. I was skating as a market girl selling flowers. I loved it. I can still see the dress, and it was my favorite show ever. After the show, I overheard my mother talking to another skating mom who was complimenting my performance, and my Mom was saying, "Darlene will never be a real figure skater. She doesn't have the grace for it." That was the last time I put on a pair of skates for almost 23 years.

My girlfriend, Dena called me about 3-4 years ago because the skating club in town was offering adult lessons and she was wondering if I'd be interested. After long thought, I figured, why not? I purchased my 1st pair of skates since I was a kid, flew out on that ice and fell flat on my ass. I got up, and I fell. I got up again, and I fell again. But I continued to get up until I didn't fall anymore, and I loved it still.

We had a few people in our classes over the past years that had no clue whatsoever. At one point 2 years ago, one lady fell so hard, when she hit the ice and cracked her skull, you could feel the vibration throughout the entire arena.

Skip ahead to registration this September. Dena calls me to see if I'm still interested. Hell yeah, I'm still interested - Friday nights are the highlight of my week. I live to get out on the ice. But wait - there's a stipulation this year. Because of 'cracked skull lady' we have to wear helmets. Silence.

For about 20 minutes, I thought 'I can't do this. Geez, I can skate my ass off. I'm not wearing a stupid helmet'. And, to find the humor in it, we all joked about skating with the 'special' people while I wear a helmet and a bib. Then it stopped. I couldn't believe that a stupid helmet would be the one thing that would stop me from doing this.

So, I 'Pimped my Helmet' with enough bling to sink a ship, and thought I seriously couldn't look any more idiotic than everyone else out there. It gets me out there, with the ice under the blades. Helmet or not, it will always be my favorite thing to do. If I do lose my balance every once in awhile, I blame it on the extra weight on my head.

Am I any good? I'm not great, but I'm not bad considering I'm kind of an old lady now - LOL. I forgot everything, but it's all coming back. I'm even practicing the "Dutch Waltz" after Christmas. I can't wait.

I'll take some pictures of Darlene and the Amazing Technicolor Helmet at the next class. LOL

Have a great evening, everyone. Peace.