A woeful lack of updates are shared

Just been sooo busy. No time to update the old blog. Had a crazy summer of work, and in desperate need of a holiday I ran off to Rollercon 2008 in Vegas. I took Tom with me, and he actually had a pretty good time. Probably because it turns out he fell in love with Vegas. We also went to Los Angeles for some family visit time, and also had a few days of wine tasting in the Santa Ynez valley. Now we are back in London, and looking for a new flat just of our own. London Rollergirls has finally split into permanent teams and we are getting ready to kick off our next season. Good stuff! Check out this latest derby portrait taken at the last LRG expo game:

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Photo by Samuel Hicks

A cacophony of celebration

Yes, inevitably, there is a shaky video of the proposal. Be careful of your ears, there is lots of screaming...



(thats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swj7k9JosYM)

A bout, a victory, a proposal, a celebration…all are had in the summer sun

I had a bloody good weekend. Team Canada came to town, fresh of a major win against Glasgow the night before, ready to kick some London girls in the derby behind. Or so they thought…

Skating with London Rollergirls (and specifically the Travel Team) has reached a very interesting point. We think we are good….like with the potential to be actually GOOD…but we don’t have the benefit of real testing against hardened teams, and we don’t have the benefit of all the guest coaching you can get in the states. I know we aren’t ready to take on the big guys, but I have had this sense that the potential is there, and we have a crop of newbies that make it even more of a possibility. So I was really interested to see what happened against Team Canada, and I had a pretty strong sense that we were going to give them a big shock.

Team Canada has some great skaters, but they aren’t really a team. They are made up of gals from 5 different leagues, who have never skated together before. That’s a big disadvantage in derby, where after a certain level of competency in skating is reached, I think it becomes more about automatic strategy and teamwork. They were also jet lagged and travel weary. I have had to skate against a few tough opponents back in the states after long trips, and I know how it can sap your endurance. So major props to them for giving a super physical game the whole time.

And that’s a big build up to say that it was quite a game. I have to be honest, in the very first jam, Sky Rockit broke through the pack as lead jammer like a shot of nowhere and I pretty much said to myself “yup, we got it”. It never changed. We dominated the score line the whole bout, despite some great jamming efforts from the TC bench (watch out for Mirage and her wily skills). But man it was good. Super hard hits and takedowns, dramatic moments, rock star jamming, the whole lot…

The audience loved every minute of it too. I normally worry about a wide score margin, thinking that the audience will get bored, but it wasn’t a concern here. It was just a fantastically entertaining time.

And in the end, we won 128-45. The victory lap with the LRG flag felt pretty good. We look pretty sweet in black.

Victory Lap Picture:

Video highlights of the bout:

So then we all lined up in front of the audience for the bout awards, and Tom came up with an award envelope too. I won Penalty Queen (again)…not sure why I always get that in bouts, but not in practise, but whatever. (I think it’s the 20 feet violations!)

So finally Tom was the last one left with an award envelope, and he took the mic and pulled out a blank award and said he couldn't write down what he felt about this special person. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring and proposed to me. I said yes, of course.

Proposal Pic:

Another proposal pic:

The whole audience was cheering, my girls were crying, and it was all around the biggest derby-cheesiest best moment ever. Straight out of a Hollywood movie, and pretty much a perfect proposal for a spectacle lover like me. Tom doesn’t normally like the limelight, but he did an awesome job, and I love him for it.

So we got to celebrate a lot at the after party. Then Sunday was the nicest warmest day we have had all year, and we sat in the sun in Clissold Park with friends and just chilled. The day ended with drinks with Canada in Kensington and a well deserved sleep.

So there you have it…quite a weekend.

A Grand Tour of Sunny Places is Commenced on the Holiday Weekend

A bit late, naturally, but here are some nice pics from my spring bank holiday weekend. Tom and I went to Hampton Court Palace and had a picnic in the gardens.

Tom and a garden:

Courtney in the vine walk:

Then we took a river boat down the Thames, through the locks, and got off at Richmond for a nice steak dinner at Gaucho Grill (Tom’s toss up favourite restaurant along with Bodean’s BBQ).

Boat through the locks:

Tom get excited about Gaucho:

We also spent a nice sunny day in Hyde Park, with me skating along the Serpentine Road naturally.

A good boyfriend carries all the stuff:

This type of activity seems to be part of a theme lately….with most weekend finding us visiting some lovely touristy type place. Ice cream sundaes at Fortnum & Mason, reading books in Green Park, meanders around old Hampstead village (lunch at Gaucho’s naturally), etc…. We actually joined as members of the Royal Palaces which means we can get into the Tower of London and Kensington Palace and Hampton Court anytime we want. We both like the crown jewels.

Skating, etc…

So the other day I surprised Tom with a present: a brand new pair of size 12 Riedell R3 speed skates. Muahahaha…..

He was amused and shocked (dunno why) and now he has to learn to skate.

I don’t think he will end up as a derby ref, but it will be nice to have him able to roll around with me.

Speaking of rolling around.

This weekend is pretty much one of the most exciting things to do with London Rollergirls to date. Its our first ever international bout. We have a team of skaters from 5 different Canadian leagues coming over to play us as Team Canada. This is a big one. Winning means major props for us…and we are going hard core for it.

Mutiny on the Mountie Poster:

In other LRG news….last week I competed in a BBC game show called Eggheads. It wont air for another month or so, but it should be AWESOME.

Eggheads pic:

Mondays and relationships are pondered

Mondays in general are always a bit sucky, naturally, because you have to go back to work and deal with all the stuff you left behind on the glorious Friday of the past. But when you are in a relationship you get this little added bummer…. after a nice weekend of cuddles and fun, you all the sudden feel you are going through couple withdrawal!

I felt it keenly today, so Tom and I arranged to meet halfway between offices (me at Oxford Circus and him on the western edge of the square mile), for a little extra dose of coupleness. In true romantic style, Tom brought me a big bunch of red roses. Very sweet – and they are making me smile as they sit on my desk inviting glances of envy from all the ladies in the office.

Tom is off to an emerging leader course for work this week, so we will have 3 whole nights to miss each other, but then a nice long bank holiday weekend to be sappy again. Instead of spending too much money to go to some village in the country, we are planning a London tourist weekend. We are going to visit Hampton Court Palace and maybe do a London Walk, and if the sun shines even a picnic in Hyde Park. I have been here a year so its time to pretend to be a visitor again for a long weekend.

P.S. the flowers and trees are in bloom and it’s SO GORGEOUS here right now. Lilacs and cherry blossoms everywhere…especially in my hood of Notting Hill.

On the Occasion of the Happy One Year London Anniversary...

Let’s pull a quote out of the archives to start this off:

From approximately one year ago, specifically April 22, 2007:

“…It was certainly not how I expected to feel on my arrival, but I guess in hindsight I should have figured on it. I mean seriously, a lot of people make this kind of move because they are tired of where they were before. I love LA...I love my friends and the life I had in LA. I did this because I always wanted the chance to live here...not because I wanted to leave LA. For me this is a challenge I gave myself....not a reward. So it's hard. But yeah, that day I was seriously questioning myself. And I still have that thought from time to time...but it's more geared towards allowing myself the possiblity of not living here for a long spell...and being ok with going back home if that’s what feels right too. People have told me that I am pretty ballsy to make this move, and I get it now...cause it sure ain’t easy…”

So here I am. One year to the date of my arrival in the UK. I have come a long way from pulling up in a black cab to my temporary flat on the Camden canal…and I am still here. There are no plans to leave.

Life does go on, I do adapt, I get over the homesickness, I get over the fear, and the longing for familiar things. New things become familiar, new friends are made, new bonds are forged…and it all combines to make me feel that London is now home.

But I am still ballsy and brave. I did it. I moved to London. I made it happen, and I enjoyed it…still enjoying it. Pretty cool, eh?

Following a holiday, the writer becomes busy

I always seem to slack on the blog posts after a trip or holiday. Most likely because returning from a holiday usually finds me thrown back into work or activities with no free time. That has definitely been the case this time.

So here I am reporting a while later.

The trip was good. I really enjoyed the sunshine and the beach and the Pacifico with lime down in Mexico. It was also fun to hang out with my brother, see my dad, visit with cousins and aunts, and introduce everyone to Tom. Tom wasn’t a huge Mexico fan…the street food and poverty weren’t too his liking…but he did enjoy the family, which is what really counts anyway.

Then it was back to LA for a short time. Once again I felt a sense of oddness about being back in LA. It’s like I don’t belong there anymore, but yet I have strong ties in friends/family/familiar scenes. Tom did like it quite a bit. We went shopping and had posh drinks and enjoyed lovely Santa Monica. It all felt a bit short, but I was ready to come ”home” to London.

And now Tom is officially living with me and that has been really good. It’s nice to have that feeling of being in a serious relationship again, knowing that you can come home and always have that person there to support you. He might even learn to rollerskate!