Flutzing to Vancouver

I’m sure everyone enjoyed our six months abroad.  I totally did.  Harboring in Greece for a week was definitely the highlight.  Unlike Lena, I most definitely did NOT fall off a donkey!  I am actually a pretty pro donkey rider, you can add that to my skating skills!  It was definitely a lot of work.  I know Rita and I basically killed each other by the end with all our arguments about who pulled up the riggings, threw the anchor… yeah, I’m one lousy, lazy Venturer.  But you have to admit I provide entertainment!  And I do pitch in when required.  Actually, I’m always trying to give my share and more, but we all know we got super-stressed by the end and I totally needed to relax.  Sharing a cabin really gets to you!  It’s smaller than a dorm room!

And boy did I need that relaxation!  The day I got home Coach O’Halleran met me at the dock.  Seriously, no joke.  I thought I missed skating and I totally relished our stop in Russia where I got to glide around on a lake, even if it was only for a few hours and I didn’t get any major practicing accomplished… and even if I got scolded for “abandoning the group”.  I’m sure everyone understood by the end that skating is my major passion (I totally didn’t tell on you, Tabs, when you snuck off a couple nights for those midnight swims!).  Or at least I thought it was.  You see, now I am at the rink probably 8-10 hours each day.  We are working on a routine for qualifiers, or trying to.  I’m REALLY rusty after spending 6 months with practically no skates, and to top it off, the ones I brought on board got WATERLOGGED during that huge storm three days before we landed in good ol’ Kennebunk!  Three days!  I had to buy totally new skates, and I’ve had those for forever.  They were basically my lucky skates.  I am having the WORST time breaking in my new ones.  I wish I had an older pair to practice in, but my mom cleaned out my room while I was gone and we think she dumped my crappy skates!  So it’s all blisters for me.

The only hope I have is that new skates=new beginning.  Maybe the reason I’m doing so horribly is because I am so uncomfortable in these skates!  Once I break them in, maybe I’ll stop doing the waxel.  I’m totally serious… fell on my butt five times yesterday.  Coach OH! is working me so hard, but I know I can show her up.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I created this blog to chronicle my journey to VANCOUVER (hopefully)!  And of course, to stay in touch with my amazing skating and venturing and homeschool-club friends while I am stuck in the rink or off in Omaha.  Toodles!