Cat + Yarn = Sad Sarah

Well the lovely Zeus discovered yarn and the joy of decorating with it. I missed the results since my roommate picked up the yarn entrails left all over the apartment. Below is what I found on my bed. (Still yucky phone photos.)

He is so lucky that the yarn is still good for the art trade item it is becoming as of last night. After i'm done knitting with it I'll rewind the remains into a nice ball. When I'm not knitting the project is now safely tucked in my WIP purse. Seriously though, how could anyone stay mad at this ginormous ball of fluff?

I can't wait to see how the project comes out. Cross your fingers that it felts right.

Besides that the monster case is finished. My netbook now has a cozy and safe place to sleep, WHEN HE EATS IT!

Another fabulous weekend

(This was written yesterday. I fail) =)

I had a fabulous weekend that I'm just now able to tell you about since I got back yesterday (yay vacation days!)  and went straight to practice.

Saturday, Charlie and I went to a bike shop in on Broadway in Providence. it's called Dash Bicycle shop. There were having a party for their one year anniversary and we could see why they were doing great. The staff was so nice. I thought I needed a new rim since my tube had a weird valve and the rim was bent, but the employee offered otherwise. He offered to true (straighten) the rim and drill the hole to make it bigger and fit the more common tube for about $20 less. Awesome! I will be going there in the future.

On Sunday Providence Roller Derby had it's first international bout. The Riveters played their asses off against London Brawling. Riveters tried their hardest to show them what's up but London had an amazing defense and some great jammers. Maybe we could have psyched them out if we burned the Gaspee beforehand. Give them a little biological flashback so they remember what RI is made of. For the halftime show we had the Extraordinary Rendition Band. They sounded great and were so energetic. If I wasn't in roller derby I would totally pick up my trumpet again or learn a new instrument. There are rumors that we may have seated over 1000 fans that night. We are still waiting on the final number. That is an all time record for PRD. Lets hope we keep getting awesome crowds this big.

Afterwards we all headed to the 201 on Westminster Street for our afterparty. I had a blast! I think it was ok that we didn't practice because I definately worked up a sweat on the dance floor. What I love about roller derby is no matter what the outcome we all party together afterwards. The band showed up and we had a great private show from them. The DJ also picked some great music to dance to from The Safety Dance to Bad Romance. Big Nazo also made an appearance. I have never seen them before that night but it was great that they came by and crashed the party. I know London got a kick out of them as well as PRD.

London may have won but we still had a great time. How often do you get to play against another country, learn from them, and then party hard with them?

BTW: London brawling is still trapped in the US thanks to the Volcano. Check out their site and donate to help offset costs of staying longer. Click here! =)

The fun continues

Before I show you the awesome bruise from my bike ride, I just wanted to let you know I'm on THE MOB SQUAD! That's my home team for this season. We found out this week and I was so excited. My team is full of awesome people that I can't wait to win the 2010 home team championship with. ;)

Practice this week was fun but I was sad that I couldn't play to my fullest with my knees as all messed up from the bike incedent. No knee falls right now. Last night I started up my salve that has arnica and chammomile. It's skin soothing and it reduces bruising. I have a feeling I'm going to need it quite a bit this year. evidence of this is below. =)

Just eat it.

This weekend was going along fabulous. I'm at Charlie's and last night we had Lenny, Kristen, and Farley over for a lovely dinner and quality time. I love seeing the Forest Folk and their puppies. The food was awesome and the company was even better.

Today was going to be a short day since I had derby scrimmage tonight. Well it kind of got foiled. We had a nice breakfast and got our bikes ready so we could head to the local cafe. My tire was flat but we easily fixed that. The smoothie and the sunny patio was wonderful. The ride home was a different story...

We had to stop at the gas station on the way home. We crossed when there wasn't traffic and had to get on the sidewalk since we were going against the flow. Well, my skinny tires did not agree with this maneuver and  my bike pitched sideways sending me to the cement as I exclaimed a choice word. If it was derby I did a perfect four point fall, but sadly I didn't have all the awesome padding that comes with derby.

One nice thing is Charlie is an EMT so I had my own personal emergency medicine guy. My knees took most of it and my chin has a small scrape that gave up enough blood to make me think it was a lot worse. My hands braced me a bit but they are fine. As I was sitting there all I could think of was "Please don't let me puke up that $4 smoothie." Yeah I totally had my priorities straight. Once I was done being nauseous and he felt he could leave me alone for 10 minutes I took a seat in some shade while he got the car.

At this point I'm cleaned up and relaxing on the couch. No derby tonight. I've been ordered to stay here till the morning so he can wait on my hand and foot and make sure I'm ok. I think I can live with that but I really wanted to scrimmage. See kids, derby is safer than riding a bike....kinda. =) The damage can be seen below.

Roller Derby = Awesome

So this past Tuesday was an exciting and nerve wracking night. It was our scrimmageable assessment that would earn us our name and also the chance to be on a home team. It went well. We skated with a vet and did all the assists (whips) and took and gave hits. It was quicker than I thought it would be. We went ahead with practice afterwards. Eventually we did the second half of the assessment which consisted of scrimmaging. It went pretty well.

Once that was all done, it was a waiting game. They wanted to tell us that night and in person so we had to entertain ourselves till then. The Killah Bees were practicing so at least we were entertained. It took the coaches almost an hour before they started to call us over. I was so anxious for my turn. I knew I did well but I just get really nervous and I'm bad at waiting.

It was finally my turn. Rhode Kill had a big smile on her face so I was thinking to myself that it may be hopeful. They told me that I made it! There were high-10's all around. I was so damn proud of myself. I just need to be more proactive in the pack. To be honest I get lost when I know they are watching and assessing me during scrimmage. I was told I have a good hip hit. Now I need to be a pain in the ass and use it more often. I think in last nights practice I already played better because I wasn't being tested anymore.

Sadly my camera died so please excuse the phone camera quality.

Speaking of last nights practice, I got to use my new Atom Tracker wheels (and laces) that I bought. It's amazing how much of a difference having grippy wheels makes. I wasn't sliding everywhere so I was more comfortable and I felt I was faster. I still need to break them in so I can plow stop again. It was amusing in the beginning of practice because I earned my new name. I'm now Natasha Fatality. I was so lost when people would yell my name. I had no idea they were talking to me. It's going to be something to get used to. When we were scrimmaging I also scored 2 points in the last jam!

I seriously never thought I would love a sport as much as I <3 Roller Derby.

Smells like spring

I love how it's now consistently being spring on the east coast, though RI has it's moments. It finally is smelling like spring and I hear the birds outside my window all day. It really wakes me up. I even spent last night skating outside at the outdoor rink in Providence.

This past weekend the two awesome somones and I spent quite a bit of time in the park. It was absolutely gorgeous out. The pup had a blast rolling around under the pine tree. I'll leave you with some photos. =)

Birthday Surprise!

Here's my account of a lovely Sunday suprise. You should check out the one by the birthday girl over here! She has great pictures up.-->http://jonirae.com/

My friend Joni has an amazing husband who wins at surprises. For a couple of weeks he had secret plans that I got to be included in. It was fun to hang out with her the week before and think secretly to myself "I know something you don't know!"

What were those plans? Well a surprise visit from Vicky and I. We then went off to an undisclosed location for breakfast (the Hearth and Kettle). The whole time we were traveling she had no idea where to. Breakfast was great. We were seated quickly since we beat the church traffic and all our orders came out as hoped.

Next came a trip to the next location, Borders! She had a shopping spree to take care of. I picked up a couple of books for myself. Maybe I'll let you know how they are in the future. They were Men of the Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong and The Forest House - Marion Zimmer Bradley.

During the shopping spree it was a waiting game. She didn't know it but we had one more surprise for her. Eventually the Huz (as referred to in her blog) asked her to take a seat. The birthday guest strolled up with a smile, a drum, and a guitar. It was one of Joni's favorite local artists, Kelliana! She was to have a private show in borders! Not a bad birthday at all. The show was great. She has a great voice. We only had one guy with major issues. He used a bit of profanity, stormed out with a plate clanging on the counter, and shared a few choice words with the baristas. We were all much happier when he left. Many of the other patrons enjoyed the random show along with us.

After the show we hung out a bit with Kelliana. She is so nice and down to earth. It's great to spend time with musicians like that. I recommend checking out her music. She has a great personality and voice. After a bit of chatting it was time to head back home. It was a wonderful day. I was exhausted and still had practice that night but the whole day was totally worth it.

A small piece of the flood of March 2010

This weekend is going to be a beautiful weekend that RI needs. It was a devastating week for many. Homes are being pumped and stores are cleaning up. The Warwick mall is out of commission for a long while. The disgusting water of the Pawtuxet River took over Warwick, West Warwick and Cranston. Thankfully my parents are on top of a hill in Warwick, keeping them safe from the river and the end of their street. They also have patched the foundation of the years and have and empty cesspool to collect the rain.

I went to the Pawtuxet River to check out the rapids that are speeding down the river. It was so loud and made me almost kind of want to grab a raft. If only raw sewege wasn't mixed in. The waves looked like they would have been fun, if you don't wack your head on the archways of the bridge. =) I'll leave you with photos of the river. Click them to see a larger version. On a normal day you could sit on these ledges in the corners but the water completely covered them.

I just really like how this last picture came out. I was wondering over by the boat house and there were lots of rusty remains.