2018 in Review!!!!

January

• I get a Head Ref thing right

February

• "I'll apply to this tournament, but I'll never get in."

March

• Another year, another parade

April

• The beginning of Derby Insanity

May

• Sounds like something out of a bad dream, but it's not

June

• "I'll apply to this tournament, but I'll never get in."

July

• "I'll apply to this tournament, but I'll never get in."

August

• Still no idea where I got that simile

September

• Started wearing a mouthguard again

October

• Derby Officiating, the Second Generation

November

• Pockets are not necessarily a good thing

December

• "Profane, abusive, and obscene language is unsporting and degrading to the sport, but should not always be penalized. If said language was audible to the audience or via broadcast, [the Jammer Referee] is penalized."

So yeah!  2018!  Yehaw!  Let's take a look at my goals for this year and see how I did:

• HR a game (I've been told this will happen at least once) Happened five times, in fact, including once at ECDX!
• Go to one of the "bigger" tournaments  Got into a D1 tournament and a Continental Cup!  
• Apply for certification, if it's open Not yet, but soon.  I did get the Recognized NSO thing, though
• Do more NSOing Ten games this year; mostly scorekeeping, though I did do jam timing and liked it a lot
• Learn how to run the scoreboard Tried it for a game at which I was a fan and for half a scrimmage; nothing exploded 

I'd call that a big honkin' success.

Sooooooo......what are my goals for 2019?

• Take a big ol' step back.  I don't need to officiate every game.  I don't need to apply to every tournament.  I have a family and I do like seeing them every once in a while.  This one will be tough.  
• Part II of this: Take as little time off work as possible.  I'm a paralegal who is the only support for a sole practitioner, and while there are other people in our office who can help out if necessary, it's just a lot easier if I'm here. I took a lot of time off this year, and I kinda need to make up for it, so I can....
• 2020 Goal - Officiate a game in Australia.  Aw yiss.
• HR a sanctioned game.  This is more of a second half of 2019 goal; I'm still not 100% confident on HRing yet (though in a scrimmage this past weekend, I tried HRing from the front and I really liked doing it) and while we're encouraged to reach for the stars, I want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for a crash and burn.
• Apply for certification, if it's open.  Durrrrr.
• Be a good teacher/role model/whatever.  I'm Co-Head Referee for the 19th Wardens for 2019, and we have several newer officials who are starting out on skates.  I want to provide them with the support and training and whatnot that I received when I started as an official, because it was top-notch.

So, yeah.  71 games officiated this year (61 SO, 10 NSO) for a grand total of 241 (202 SO, 39 NSO) in my career.

Onward and upward, as they say!

whoops

THIS PAST THURSDAY NIGHT'S SCRIMMAGE:

QUEENIE realizes she has been following the wrong jammer.

QUEENIE: (very loudly) FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

mini-recapish type thing

So it took me a while to remember, oh, maybe I should update here, too!

Continental Cup was amazing.  Our crew only got three games, and I had to alt one of them, but the third game was the championship game! (Unfortunately it was the one I was alting, but whatcha gonna do.  I'm proud of the fact that my work helped my crew to get the championship game.)  I met so many cool people, had so much fun, learned some valuable traveling lessons (if I have too many pockets in my clothes, I forget where I put things and proceed to freak out.)

eeeeeee!

This is a thing that’s gonna happen soon

OMG I LEAVE FOR LONDON IN LESS THAN A WEEK

I hope I put my passport where I think I put it

And I should probably pack

And I can’t really just shove everything into IKEA bags this time around

yay!

So Saturday Kid Queenie and I went down to Ithaca to NSO a juniors' game.  We got to the venue and discovered that the humidity of the day (their venue is semi-enclosed) and the relative chill of the floor resulted in the WHOLE THING BEING A LAKE OF CONDENSATION.  They tried to dry it out with big fans, but it didn't work, so they switched the game to be a scrimmage at their practice space, a few miles away.

I was jam timer, and it went relatively well, except for the part where I could not for the life of me remember when on my stopwatch I had started the jam (thanks to an official review, I'd started the jam at an odd number), and since there was no scoreboard, I couldn't tell how long it'd been, so I just kinda....ended it at a random point.  (And got called out by one of the coaches for doing it.  Oops.)

Anyway, that's not the point.  Here's the point.  Kid Queenie scorekept, only the second time he'd done it.   After the game:

OTHER SCOREKEEPER (running into the room, talking to the Head Referee): The other scorekeeper, I don't know his name, he's only 17 but you need to get him for every home game you can

(meanwhile, the two of us were standing directly behind the scorekeeper as she was saying this, and I was like, in my head, THAT'S MY SON HE'S AWESOME, ISN'T HE?)

So yeah, looks like I'll be volunteering for a lot more junior games in the next few months, to get him out there.
-----------
twelve days until I leave for my Grand English Adventure (hgahagggaahhhhhhhhhh!)

wheeee!!!!

I got to operate the scoreboard for a half of a scrimmage on Saturday.  It was fun!  I had to do things on the trackpad rather than use a mouse, and I missed stopping the clock on an official time out once, but other than that it went really well and I hope I can do it again soon. 

Nineteen days until I leave for London.  Twenty-six days until the Continental Cup.  Gaaaah!  So excited and nervous and whatnot. 

moving along, as things do

I ended up scorekeeping, hahaha.  It was okay, though - it was the only position left where both spots were available, and I wanted to be near my kid if he needed help. (He totally didn't. He's a natural.)

I might be going to a rec league practice with the London Rollergirls while I'm over there - they have them on Wednesdays if there is enough interest by the Monday before.  I hope I can; that'd be fun.

T MINUS 30 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE FOR LONDON

ZOMG LIKE EEEEEEEEEEE

Saturday I am going to NSO a game about an hour away - so is my kid!  (The game isn't WFTDA sanctioned or regulation, so there's no minimum age.)  He's pretty excited, as am I.  (I hope I don't get put as scorekeeper again.)

Fixed the straps on my elbow pads, hooray hooray.  I also cut the straps so they wouldn't flap all over the place, but instead, they're unraveling a little bit.  Oops.
--------------------
So now it's time for another Queenie Reviews Stuff.   First, it's the Sisu Go Mouthguard.

I used a few different mouthguards back when I played - a sports one that I attached to my helmet with a string of (increasingly enfilthenated) piece of elastic, one my dentist made that I think I wore twice before I got rid of it, and eventually what they now call the Aero and the Max on their website.  (Back then they were just differentiated by their thickness.)

I loved, loved, loved the thinner mouthguard.  I could talk!  I could drink water!  It came in white, so I could look like I had nice lovely teeth in pictures!

Then I became a ref, and mouthguards were not compulsory*, so I stopped wearing one.

After seeing various injuries and whatnot sustained by friends while skating, I recently started thinking I should start wearing one again.   Enter the Sisu Go!

It only goes to my canine teeth, so there's less material to go off center when you mold it (there were points with the original where it'd just go on the sides of my teeth.  It brings back memories - I still can drink, still can talk (though I've noticed that if I have to speak for an extended period of time, I do remove it).

We've got scrimmage tonight, so I'll have to see how well it works with whistles.
--------------
Our second item is Z-Clear Anti Fog Spray.  I used to wear my contact lenses exclusively while playing and reffing, until a little over a year ago.  I felt that glasses worked better with my distance vision.

Unfortunately, glasses fog up, which is where this stuff comes in.

Also unfortunately, it doesn't work at all for me.  In fact, I feel like my glasses fog up more now than they did before.  Sigh.
--------
*for some reason, "compulsory" looks like a word that should mean "voluntary"

le swing de things

Thursday night was scrimmage, and it went well - I was HR, one of our up & coming refs was JR in shoes, and a player who has expressed serious interest in officiating was the other JR.  They both did awesomely - really all it's down to with them is the nitty-gritty: positioning, personal hand signals to remember stuff - and calling penalties.  They kept asking me questions, and apologizing for asking the questions, and I kept saying DON'T EVAR APOLOGIZE FOR ASKING QUESTIONS.

I bought new elbow pads a week or two ago but need to move the Velcro on the straps - it doesn't come anywhere close to hitting the Velcro on the pad itself.  Duct tape worked the first two practices, but I need a permanent solution.

I also got a Sisu Go mouthguard.  I haven't worn a mouthguard since I started refereeing, since I feel I don't speak very clearly with a mouthguard in, but I know I really should probably wear one.  We'll see how this one works.

LEAVING FOR LONDON IN 40 DAYS ZOMFG.  I've got my plane tickets and my hotel (both in London and Birmingham).  Have my passport.  Have a plan for my luggage (I'm going to use my wheeled gear bag as my checked luggage, but when I fly over, keep my gear in a carryon bag, and then switch everything once I get there).  Making a list of things to do (seeing Hamilton on Thursday, yaaaaaaaaay).  Testing out the uniform components I'm going to wear (new jersey, bottoms, etc.) to make sure they're comfortable. 

back at it!

first practice of the season last night.  Ankle did fine.  Skating drill stations - on this one, it was SO HARD to look at the cones, when every bit of muscle memory I have says DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR FEET THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU TO SEE DOWN THERE

time slogs onward, like a slug through mayonnaise

(no idea where or how or why I came up with that simile)

Anyway.  Every year our league has a big end-of-the-year party, which involves a lot of drinking and fun and playing Hit the Beach Ball Back and Forth in the Pool When It's Dark Out and You Can't Really See It, and me screwing up my ankle.  This year was no different, but this time it did NOT result from me being drunk (although I was) - there was a divot in the host's yard that had been covered by a cooler, but the cooler got moved, and it was dark and I stepped backwards and fell. 

It's better now, but the first thought that went through my head was EIGHT WEEKS I HAVE EIGHT WEEKS UNTIL BIRMINGHAM WHATEVER JUST HAPPENED BETTER CURE ITSELF IN UNDER EIGHT WEEKS.

I also was awarded some trophies!

yay me!

They are, of course, proudly displayed in our dining room, on top of the china cabinet, along with all my other awards.  (My husband and son have taken over the fireplace mantel with their bowling trophies.  I may need to muscle in on their turf.)

The off-season is over next week, anyway - Tuesday the 4th is our first practice back.  I finally got around to getting new elbow pads (mine basically disintegrated the last time I put them through the wash), I bought a new mouthguard to try out (I haven't worn one since I started reffing, but probably should), and we'll move onward and upward to the NEW SEASON, HUZZAH!

71 Days (not that I'm counting)

watching the North American East Continental Cup and realizing THAT'S GOING TO BE ME OUT THERE IN THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

wait...what?

this past weekend was odd.  Saturday I just sort of lounged around the house, read a book, watched a movie.  At the end of the day I was like "I get to do this again all day tomorrow?" 

What Queen Kicktoria Can't Live Without

(shamelessly stealing from http://nymag.com/tags/celebrity-shopping/)

1. Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick

I've tried every single "long lasting" lipstick out there (or what feels like every single one) and this is the only one that lasts longer than 10 minutes under heavy whistle usage.  I still have to reapply it at halftime, but at least it's still somewhat there.

2. Etymotic High Fidelity Earplugs

 Whistles.  All the time.  (So many times I will forget to put one in, and blow my whistle, and be like OH FUCK OW THAT HURTS) I had ones without the cord for a while, but I kept losing them.

3. A Stadium Seat

This isn't the one I have, but it's similar.  You don't realize how much back support you need until you've been sitting on the ground for multiple hours watching games.

(Here's where I admit I have one of those inflatable lounger things, but I can never get it to inflate enough.  I run around the parking lot like a maniac, but it never inflates.  This is easier to deal with.)

4. Portable Hanger Thingy

Clip your pads to it, hang it somewhere, AND HOPEFULLY YOUR STUFF WILL GET DRY. 

(This really only works in a place that has hanging hooks or cords or whatever, so you can hang it without it bumping up against a wall.)

5. THE TOWER OF POWER

There are never enough outlets in the officials' room.  Plus, this one has USB ports, so you don't have to worry about losing your adapter thingy.

reviewing my 2018 goals

• HR a game (I've been told this will happen at least once) Four games!
• Go to one of the "bigger" tournaments La Classique Georgia W. Tush AND CONTINENTAL CUP EUROPE
• Apply for certification, if it's open [it's not open yet]
• do more NSOing I did some, but mostly Scorekeeping.  Did get to penalty box manage a juniors' game, so that was cool.  I might also NSO some upcoming local-ish games)
• learn how to run the scoreboard I sorta did - watched a live game and ran the scoreboard.  Not sure how I'd do, though, with people relaying the information to me and possibly talking over each other

so yay!

indeed and whee-ee-ery

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home Game
• Away Game
• Tournament
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend (he's going to be SEVENTEEN WTF)
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's a wrap!  The Onslaught of Derby is done!  47 games in 92 days.  (18 OPR, 14 JR, 4 ALTR, 4 HR, 4SK, 2 IPR and 1 PBM.)

No wonder I'm exhausted. 

Anyway, there's one tournament I'm waiting to hear from, but other than that, I don't have anything scheduled for the rest of the calendar year.

Oh wait - that's not right.  I do have one more thing....

a very special day is today

Ten years ago tonight I went to my very first roller derby practice. 

It was during Adult Skate Night at the local rink.  All we could do were pacelines and some weaving and sprinting around.

But it was enough. 

the end is in sight!

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home Game
• Away Game
• Tournament
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend (he's going to be SEVENTEEN WTF)
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

So, Connecticut!  It was great to visit my sister and her family.  My niece's boyfriend's family ended up coming to the games.  His little sister is 9, and she did a report on roller derby in school and was TRANSFIXED by the games.  It was so cool.

Anyway, what was not cool....

During the second half of the second game, I was jam reffing and either got tangled up in my own skates (or someone took me out; I'm not sure which) and landed thigh-first on one of my wheels.  I tried to get up but my thigh was like NOPE NOT GONNA HAPPEN so I yelled at the Rear IPR (who was not HRing) to take over for me.  Once the jam ended, the other refs were like "Do we need to get the medics" and between my thigh and the fact it was 900000° with 10000000% humidity, I was like "Yes, please get the medics" so they came out and helped me to their station and then sat me outside with an ice pack on my leg.

this was Tuesday evening.  the little cut in the "eye of the hurricane" part is from my truck's axle

I usually do not bruise, either, so I must've broken, like, every single blood vessel in my leg or something.  It doesn't hurt now, except when I accidentally touch it or my husband decides he's going to be cute and pokes it.  Tonight'll be the first time I'll skate since it happened; hopefully it won't hurt.  

wrapups and whatnot

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home Game
• Away Game
• Tournament
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend (he's going to be SEVENTEEN WTF)
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

So Georgia W. Tush was SO MUCH FUN.  Refereeing roller derby at that high a level is such a treat. It makes you want to up your game.

Plus, poutine.

(ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: called a penalty on an Olympic athlete.)

Got back from ECDX just about twelve hours ago.  It was high points (everyone on my ref crew seemed to think I did really well HRing; I got to OPR Philly/Paris and Philly/Madison which was phenomenal) and low points (JRing a game at 10pm is not ideal; I got waaaaay into my head during one game and had to call an OTO to extract myself) and I really need to do more junior derby (not as an OPR though.  Those kids are faaaaast)

Anyway.  This upcoming weekend is a doubleheader in Connecticut, where my sister is, so she's going to the game, so that'll be fun.

Part II of All Teh Derby All Teh Time, I guess

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home Game
• Away Game
• Tournament
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend (he's going to be SEVENTEEN WTF)
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

I need to make myself new nameplates, and permanently affix them to my jerseys.  The ones I have right now are kinda ratty looking and never quite worked by Velcroing them to the shirt.  

I also need to find my outdoor wheels (they're somewhere in the house) and put them on my old skates, and do some outdoor skating.  It's beautiful weather out now and I need to get extra exercise.

ever spinning towards freedom or something

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home Game
• Away Game
• Tournament
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend (he's going to be SEVENTEEN WTF)
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I don't think I ever mentioned (mostly because there was a Cone of Silence that we were never really told was lifted), but the next tournament I'm doing is La Classique Georgia W. Tush, which just, y'know, features TEXAS WHO IS RANKED #6 AND RAINY CITY WHO IS RANKED #8 AND JACKSONVILLE WHO IS RANKED #9 AND MONTREAL WHO IS RANKED #11

noooooooooo pressure there, none at all

(this was another one of those "eh, I'll apply, even though I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting in" tournaments)

At the last tournament I was at (Royal Brawl), I happened to be able to work with a few of the referees who are on my crew for GWT, and our general attitude towards it was absolute HOLY SHIT THIS IS WAY ABOVE MY PAY GRADE

anyway

I got my assignments for ECDX as well - I get to HR a game!  Yay!  This'll be interesting, because the two games I have HRed before were part of a doubleheader, so I kinda let the sanctioned game HR run the captains meeting and the crew meeting and was just like "yeah, what they said" but this time it'll be ALL ON ME

anyway

I'm a horrible blogger and so I apologize

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home Game
• Away Game
• Tournament
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

So I am deep in the throes of OFFICIATE ALL THE THINGS and it's been going well.

I got to HR another game (an away game!) except that when I got to the venue I discovered I'd forgotten to bring my jersey and my black shorts and my gaskets and my socks.  FORTUNATELY one of the other team's skaters refs on occasion and she had spare stripes in her car, and fortunately I'd worn a pair of black pants I could cut into shorts (they were getting too big for me anyway).  No one died, everyone had a good time, and I bought eight cases of Diet Mountain Dew Code Red 'cause you can't find that anywhere in New York State.

The night before the HR, I was scorekeeper in Buffalo, and tried out the finger lights.  The JR said they worked well, so maybe I can incorporate that into my routine (and maybe I can convince an SK while I'm JRing to try them out so I can see it from the other side).

Coastal Chaos (weekend after Siege of CNY; in Maine; flew there) went well; I love Maine and was excited to be able to go there.

My skates are back to normal.  I totally do not get it.

This weekend it's Royal Brawl; leaving as soon as I get out of work.  O CANADA, OUR HOME AND NATIVE LAND!

one weekend down, eighteen thousand more to go

So Siege of CNY went well, except for the part where my goddamn skates were making my goddamn big toenails turn goddamn black again.  The last game of the tournament my toes felt like they were getting smashed with hammers.  The last time this happened, it was because they were really tight on my feet, but this time around, they felt fine. WTF IS GOING ON WITH MY SKATES I'M REALLY GETTING TIRED OF IT.

so holy crow

So I took another look at my weekends.

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home game
• Away game (with a Friday night game in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Nothing, but there's a Friday night game in Buffalo I could go to
• Kid's birthday weekend
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Away game
• Men's game
• Away game
• Home game

That goes to LATE JULY, PEOPLE

it's been a while, again.....

This weekend begins Derby Insanity, where my weekends look like:

• Tournament
• Tournament
• Tournament
• Home game
• Away game for league (with additional game the night before in Buffalo)
• Tournament
• Weekend off
• Weekend off (kid's birthday)
• Tournament
• ECDX 
• Away game for league

it's crazy, I tells ya.

Today I submitted my WFTDA Tournament Officiating Application.  Technically (because I am attending a few WFTDA-recognized tournaments), I qualify to officiate at championships.  (Not gonna happen - at least not this year - but it's interesting.)

What else....I'm NSOing next weekend (the 27th/28th) and I realized that my current black NSO polo shirt isn't printed per the requirements (my name is on the left side; it's supposed to be on the right), so I have to do up a new shirt.  OH WHAT A SHAME.  (I also have to make my NSO swing dress - not gonna wear that next weekend 'cause I'm flying to the tournament and trying to pack a swing dress and crinoline is just HI I WEAR WRINKLED CLOTHING.)

geez, it's been a while; my apologies

so, let's see!

Dust Devil was faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic.  The crew I was on really gelled from the start, I got a lot of great advice and compliments on my reffing abilities, I ate a lot of great food, I saw a lot of great things (Grand Canyon is insane), I met a lot of great people.  It was good to visit with my aunts and uncles again.

First HR assignment?  Went a lot better than I thought it would.  I need to work on pack definition and giving failure to reforms and whatnot when there's no pack, but I didn't have any brain-breaking issues, or belligerent coaches or anything.  One official review at the very end of the game that went off without a hitch.  I'm quite pleased.

this is on the short list of Favorite Derby Pictures of Me EVAR

miscellany

Tomorrow is the St. Patrick's Day parade!  This will be my....tenth parade?!?  2009, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18?  Wow.  It looks like tomorrow will be partly cloudy and just around freezing.  Oh well - break out the long underwear, I guess.

Tuesday afternoon, I'm hopping on a plane and flying to... well, Newark, but then I'm hopping on a plane and going out to Arizona!  Yaaaaaaay!  Zero humidity and non-winter temperatures ahoy!

While some officials pride themselves that they are able to pack for a multi-day tournament and fit everything (including gear) into a carry-on, I am not that official.  (Plus the fact that I'm spending three days doing non-tournament stuff.)  This means that I can bring my hex key thing that I believe would qualify as a weapon according to the TSA (which I need to bring, thanks to weird skate issues).

As to the weird skate issues - my skate plates (Ophira, for those of you scoring at home) are starting to be weird.  The king pins (or whatever you call the parts that hold the trucks and the cushions and whatnot) are not fixed into the plate itself - they are big threaded bolts.  What's started to happen on my left skate is that the whole bolt itself starts to unscrew itself from the plate, so the front truck gets loose.  I spend a lot of time on my toestops, and when that's wobbly, it's annoying.

But anyway.

When I leave, I'll be dressed for Rochester (high 27 degrees) and arriving in Phoenix (high 79 degrees) and then going to the Grand Canyon the next day (high 48) and doing the tournament in Tucson (high in the low 80s).  YAY FOR PACKING FOR THREE SEASONS!

in news that actually is exciting

I will be Head Referee for the regulation game at our home doubleheader on March 31. 

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And I'm officiating at ECDX again!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

in other news that is not nearly as exciting

OPRed a game in Buffalo on Saturday night.  Took the front position; only got burned a few times.  At one point I was doing backwards crossovers where you pick up both feet to keep up - the last time I did these, I ended up in a JANE STOP THIS CRAZY THING loop where the only way I could stop my momentum was to wheel-lock myself and fall, but this time I was ok.  There were a few points, though, where the coaches were creeping into the OPR lane and I could feel myself brush past them as I zoomed by backwards and I was like FOLKS WATCH WHERE YOU'RE STANDING BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO GET KNOCKED OVER 'CAUSE YOU'RE IN MY WAY. 

There was also a point where two skaters crashed into the spot in the OPR lane just where I was going to skate, but some quick swoopy movements put me out of their way.

Yeah, it's been a while. I KNOW THIS.

Cone of Silence has been lifted - I've been accepted to be a referee at Dust Devil, in Tucson!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

This is one of the tournaments I really feel I had no chance of getting accepted, but...I did!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

three years ago tonight, I refereed my first bout. 

sometimes it feels like last night, sometimes it feels like a million years ago.

here's at least another three more years, and hopefully lots lots lots more.

and now for something kinda different

I donated blood yesterday afternoon, so I figured it would probably be a good idea if I didn't skate at scrimmage last night.  So, I worked in the penalty box.  There were only two of us, so we each took a team.

It went pretty well - there were a few times when my side had a rotating cast of penalized skaters - but I was able to do the timing with one stopwatch.  The only time I really screwed up was when I went into the center of the track to check the number of penalties on a skater, the jam started, and *then* I remembered there was a skater in the box who I was supposed to be timing.  oops.

Going out to Buffalo to JR - the weather actually seems to be cooperating!  Yay!

at the clinic

(I am Head Refereeing.)

ME: NO PACK! (pause) [TWEET!] WHITE, TWO-THREE*, FAILURE TO REFORM!

PARKING LOT: Why did you issue that penalty?

ME: Because her responsibility was to slow down and she continued skating.

PARKING LOT: Correct!

ME (internally): YAAAAAAAY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
---------------------------------
*not the actual color/number; don't remember what it was



Also found out I was accepted to Royal Brawl, a tournament in Guelph, Ontario over Memorial Day weekend.  Yaaaaaay meeeeeeeeee!

weather sucks

so the weather prevented me from going out to the game last Friday.  Boo!

and it's possible that the weather may prevent me from going to an officiating clinic on Saturday.  Boo!