Time for a Break

It's been a blissfully quiet weekend in my whare with only Erin and I here.
Iain took the older two to the Sounds for a McConnell clan holiday and with Erin only just recovering from the chickenpox we couldn't risk her sharing with her cousin who's in the middle of leukemia treatment.
So with just the two of us it has been very relaxing, time to catch up on some sleep and recharge after having the lot of them home over the holidays. Erin has enjoyed some time to explore and do her own thing to without so many 'helpers' around.

I love my children and I am grateful for each one of them, but it is just so exhausting with three of them around. There is always someone who wants something from me or who is fighting it out with someone else.
I am really looking forward to seeing them tonight when they return and I am looking forward to them starting the school year tomorrow morning...now that's what you call perfect timing. :)
I found it funny to reflect that I would have completely stressed out at the the thought of being left alone to care for Zoe when she was the only one. Now it seems like a walk in the park, having three has certainly upped the anti.
Another 'break' to mention is that I have broken up my blog.
I looked at the description I had written when I started this blog and realized that I didn't actually write about parenting or community or God that much anymore.
I also realized that I still wanted to write about those things and not just roller derby!
So I have started a new blog solely about my derby delights and dilemmas, you can follow it on here if you want.
Hopefully this will encourage me to still write about the other parts of my life too.
I'll let you in on a little secret....I mostly write these blogs for me...because I enjoy writing and because it helps me think about things and process what's happening.
I write them to help me reflect and keep me honest.
And I share them because I have appreciated reading the honesty and reflections of others over the years. They have helped me grow and learn and feel less alone.
So even though I write for myself I hope that in some small way by reading it that you can feel less alone too.

'To know that one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.' Waldo Emerson

Surviving scrimmage

I've scrimmaged and lived to tell the tale....and here it is.....
It's fair to say I was a little nervous at practice on Friday night....okay....so I was packing myself.
I really didn't feel like I was up to having my first full hitting scrimmage with the old meat.
I had just had a long break over Christmas from skating and exercise, like most people I guess, except that I had the perfect excuse in the form of a mild concussion that I'd got at practice beginning of December. Drs orders meant I could enjoy a lazy break guilt free. 
So come Friday I was close to wimping out actually....except that I didn't get a chance to.  
I was pretty much told that I was going to scrimmage (interesting to note that I am more scared of our coach than of taking part in scrimmage.) 
I decided that I would try the first couple of jams, and when it became obvious to everyone that I was way out of my depth I could ungracefully bow out for the rest.
But there was a flaw in my plan...
I couldn't stop after a couple of jams because I was having too much fun! 
And I wasn't completely useless either.
Turns out I have gotten fitter and can now skate more than one jam in a row without feeling like I'm going to vomit.
And all the strength exercises must be starting to make a difference too because I didn't feel like a rag doll on wheels out there, and I didn't fall over every time I got hit (just 90% of the time but hey baby steps....) 
Towards the end of the practice I got really brave...yep I actually tried to hit other skaters.
Wimpy, ineffectual hits.... but I willingly made aggressive contact with another skater in a pack....look out I tell you I'm on a roll...(very bad pun unintentional but duly noted). 
I still have a ways to go and lots of hard work to do but I was encouraged by the progress I have made.
I'm beginning to feel cautiously optimistic that I could be bout ready in time to join Team Glee on the track come February 25th...

Awesome doll my mum made me for Christmas.