He said - she said

I would just like to elaborate a little bit on a few of these things. That's my job as the designated "talker" in this duo.

I asked her if she wanted to try it out and that I would teach her. She had quite a bit of trepidation but decided to try it. Yeah - more like terrified. I can't even roller blade after trying to learn on three separate occasions. I'd never put on ice skates before and I certainly had never tried to learn in public. But, I figured, what the heck - I can laugh at myself (sometimes).

I told her that I would hold her hand while she rode the rail until she got the hang of it. Mike was incredibly sweet about this. I know it couldn't have been much fun for him to inch around the rink with me trying to figure out what the hell business I had doing on ice skates. Every time we'd do a lap, I'd plead fatigue and tell him to go play on his own for awhile. I'd go sit on a bench and watch him fly around the ice with the other show-off boys.

The first time we went around, slowly but surely, and neither of us fell. Not for lack of trying on my part. Well, not trying on purpose, but I reeeeeally came close a couple of times. I'd make Mike let go of my hand and hug the rail until I felt like I was sturdy and no longer moving. I was pretty sure I was going to hate ice skating while I was on my first time around. I could barely move at all without being sure I was going to fall. Mike was there with suggestions like "If you're going to fall, you want to fall backwards rather than forward." I'm like, "I don't want to fall either way!" Mike kept saying, "Don't worry, I've got you!" But I'm like - yeah. He's on skates too. He's not going to be able to catch me - I'm just going to take him down with me. :D

The second time and third time around, she was clearly getting better and relying a lot less on the rail. I'm telling you, Mike is a wonderful person. He'd be there giving me instructions on how to push off and everything. Then when somebody else would give me an instruction...you know..."Push off with your feet. You need to lean back a little more." Mike would say something to them like, "She's doing really great for her first time!" to make sure I wasn't getting discouraged. Everybody was really nice there.

The third time around I was having a blast. I barely needed the rail at all. The first and some of the second time around, people who'd been leaning on the rail would move out of the way so I could go by but by the third time, I was going around them because I didn't need the rail as much. Oh, I still wanted to be close enough I could grab it if I needed to - but I wasn't relying on it. Toward the end of my third loop, this Black guy who was, in my opinion, the best skater there was like, "Oh yeah. You got it now!" to me. I was inordinately pleased with myself because he'd noticed my improvement. Then on the home stretch, they played Ozzy's "Crazy Train" which is what they play when the Blackhawks take the ice and I was like, "I rule you! Look at me go!" Awesome. Mike swears that by the end, I was pulling him along. I think he's being kind....but it was so much fun!

We had a really fun time and should be going again soon before the season is over. I would freakin' be there every day if not for class and other commitments - and the fact that it's $7 to rent skates. Can I really afford $49 a week for iceskating. Probably not. Damn. Do you think Oprah would sponsor me? Note to self: Write Oprah. Hee hee.