Furbiscuit!

Tonight, Copperhead and Angie Christ were the bosses of us. After warm-up laps and stretching, we did pack drills and hitting / blocking.

First, we got into three large packs, and nominated a jammer to get through our pack and through the other two back to us. I need to learn to block with my butt; my legs are long enough that I can get the needed lean on.

Next, we played Whack-a-Mole. We were in groups of six; one skater would be the whacker, and the other five skated around her and stood up or squatted randomly, and when one stood up the whacker would move to her and hit her.

Now cometh the Furbiscuit. It's a - well, it looks like a cross between a Furby and Gizmo the proto-gremlin, but only about six inches tall. We played a game with it that was a hybrid of touch football, keepaway, and proto-derby; two teams, four girls each, one team takes the Furbiscuit, the other team tries to knock the holder down or out of bounds, and if that happens, ownership of Furbiscuit changes teams. Also if you drop it, other team gets it. That thing was SMALL to see where it was, and it showed us how vital it is to talk to your team. At one point, I got on the bottom of a four-girl pile-up ... my biggest wreck yet. Yay? But yes YAY that we all got up and kept going!

All in all, another practice I left smiling. Fun. LOTS of fun.

and, it got better

I'm over my funk. Practice went GREAT the week after F&F, and last week. I didn't get to go last night because of work (special project, and since I only have to work late like once a year, I figured what the hell).

We've done some more blocking and hitting work. I don't know if it's the personalities, or the chemistry, or just that I marginally know my way around the track better ... I'm getting a lot more out of practice than I did this time last year. The past two weeks, I left rec league smiling.

Tomorrow, one hopes, I'll get to do cheap skate. No speed class Saturday - going to Galveston overnight. HRD bout Saturday evening, so the Hostessa of Awesomenessa will bring derby love, fun, beer, and a minimal knowledge to the masses at Bayou Place. Come out and watch the bout if you have nothing going on Saturday night! Doors open at six, festivities commence at seven, girls are hot, beer's cold, venue has AC, and it's all good.