Thursday, August 27, 2009

rollin'

A few weekends ago I made one of my lifelong dreams come true. You know, sometimes you can wish and hope and beg and drop 'subtle' hints for only so long before you just go on and get something for your own self. This was one of those situations. I have been whining about wanting Rollerblades for years. I think Matt thought it was just another of my whiny fake-wants...ya know, like wanting a unicorn or pygmy elephant. You know...like, they're cute and everything, but what would you really do with one? [side note: I still want the pygmy elephant, it's just slightly harder to obtain] So despite "ROLLERBLADES" appearing on every single Christmas and birthday wish list since he's known me, he still hasn't thought I'm serious about wanting some. I can't blame him, really...I mean, I'm not really the most athletic girl you've ever met. Most of my attempts at athleticism last for approximately 30 seconds and end as soon as I start sweating (I hate sweating).

But I really did want Rollerblades. I've never had any. My brother got some when we were little and he would never let me use them and so I never got to try. And I just knew I would be so awesome at it, WAY better than Jake was.


So maybe I am twenty-six. Maybe I'm slightly out of shape and way past my athletic prime, if I ever even had one of those. But dangit, I really wanted Rollerblades.



Enter my current passion for yardsaling. (I'm really tempted to spell that 'yardsailing', because how cool would it be if you could sail from yard to yard?) A few weekends ago, lo and behold, at an impromptu stop at a yard sale while on our way to the park, I found ROLLERBLADES. Hello, mother lode. Come to your new mommy. They had a few different pairs (it was a church yard sale), none of which fit me, but I'm not about to let a tiny thing like size stand in the way of my dreams. I picked out the pretty red-and-black pair, handed over my $5, and skated on towards a happier and more fulfilled future. Or rather...shuffled as I held on to Matt for dear life. Have I mentioned I've never even tried Rollerblading before? And they didn't have a helmet or knee or elbow pads for sale, so there's precious little between me and the pavement.


Anyway, in the weeks since I've used them as much as I can, which amounts to about 4 big shindigs. I can't use them unless Matt is with me because a) it took me two week to figure out how to STOP, b) our driveway is a hill and I didn't have the skills to traverse it alone, c) I COULDN'T STOP, and d) the dang things KILL my feet...I'll estimate they're about two sizes too small. Ouch. A girl can only take so much. But since Sunday I've learned how to stop (thank you online video tutorials) and gotten a little more confident in my skills.


Tonight we went over to this little street about a quarter mile from our neighborhood. It's this area that has been cleared as though they're going to build a neighborhood, but nothing has actually been built. So there are just lots of deserted streets with dead ends and cul-de-sacs and no cars whizzing by or neighbors gawking. Basically, it's perfect. And here's what it looks like when you teach a 26 year old girl and her 1 year old dog a few new tricks...
This here is what we in the business call the "t-stop." It's called that because...your feet (blades) make a T when you do it. And it makes you stop. Brilliant, really.

And this is like a waterskiing/dogsledding hybrid and I really do think it should be a competitive sport. Anyone want to join me in starting a league?








Basically you can summarize this as: Erika + Rollerblades = LUV
You think if I keep it up until Christmas I can convince someone to get me some blades that actually FIT???

6 comments:

  1. you are so precious with your rollerblades!

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  2. I am so happy about your new love for roller blading! When I am not pregnant anymore, we should totally roller blade together. I had an extreme love for it as a child and Jonathon thinks I'm crazy for keeping them all these years. But if I had a buddy I would totally pick it up again! Not sure that me, Scarlett, baby, and roller blades would be a good combination though. Maybe we can leave dogs and baby with husbands when we try this out.

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  3. sorry Jonathon...if you're rollerblading too, who will watch the baby(ies) and dog(s)?

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  4. FYI, I took skating lessons when I was little and I totally know what a t-stop is hahahaa....no seriously, I did...and I wore a skating tu-tu....I'm very serious

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  5. EEEEK a skating TUTU?!?! Unbelievable.

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