Moving On Up
I have two topics to talk about in this entry, and while neither have anything to do with the other, they can both use the same title. Nifty.
Item One:
I joined Rollergirls of the Apocalypse as Fresh Meat in September 2013. Since the very first day my wheels touched that track, I have poured my heart and soul into this league. I passed my minimum skills test in December and was rostered on the B team, the Night Terrors. All through this year, I have busted my ass with my fellow Night Terrors. I have left buckets of sweat, some tears, and even a little bit of blood on the track while working with them. I have learned their strengths, their weaknesses, and they have learned mine. When I'm jamming, I know who will sit on or pick or completely obliterate opposing blockers so I can get through the pack. When I'm blocking, I know who will stick with me or turn around and narrate when I need help or who I need to turn around for when she needs help. I know who will be a truck to my trailer or vice versa; I even know who will straight up push me across the track to knock the opposing jammer out of bounds. The Night Terrors are my people; they are my team. I love these girls something fierce.
On Sunday (today is Friday), we held another Fresh Meat assessment. We now have five new skaters. We've also been losing people due to moves (darn military wanting to shuffle us around every 2-6 years). New rosters had to be written up, and they came out on Tuesday. It's a given that all new skaters join the Night Terrors. We're the B team; we're simply not as experienced as the A team. So all five of the new skaters are now Night Terrors. Some other names were mixed around too. A few skaters who were straddling both teams are now strictly on the A team, the Wreckoning. Some straddlers are still straddling. Some strictly Night Terrors are now straddling. Then there's me. I'm being moved from strictly Night Terrors to strictly Wreckoning.
Now, the normal person would probably be fist pumping and shouting, "Go me!" And to a degree, I am doing that. I am super freaking proud of myself for progressing so much in just under a year. It helps that I rarely miss a practice, and when I am there, I'm working my ass off. Also, of the fourteen skaters rostered on the Wreckoning, half of them are either straddlers or former straddlers who were also on the Night Terrors with me. So it's not like I'm being thrust into an entirely new team. I also scrimmage with the entire league, so I know everyone.
I suppose I'm a little concerned. I don't want to seem as though I'm bragging, but I feel as though I'm an asset to my team. Am I the best skater? No, not at all. But I do believe I contribute positively to the Night Terrors. Now, being moved to the Wreckoning, I'm a little wary of what they're getting me into. I don't know how much of an asset I will be to this team. They already have a handful of skaters who are excellent jammers, all of whom have been skating longer than me and are way more skillful. I jam better than I block, and I can think of at least five skaters on the Wreckoning who jam better than I do. I just don't want to end up warming the bench. I'm here to skate and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum.
Tomorrow is my last bout as a Night Terror. Win or lose, I can only do my best and hope that I do my team proud before I change my jersey.
Item Two:
In just three short days, the month of August will be behind us, and I will be able to say that we're moving to North Carolina in three (and a half) months. We still don't have an exact separation date. Shawn's DEROS (Date Eligible for Return OverSeas) is 09December2014, but that's a rough estimate. He doesn't have all of the paperwork turned in yet and won't until after I have my physical next week. But as soon as my doctor signs off my paperwork, Shawn is taking it directly to the MPF (Military Personnel Flight). We'll be just over 90 days out by that time, so he needs to turn it in quickly.
Then we still have to juggle some bank accounts, notify our utility and phone companies, and biggest of all, get the vehicles inspected, deregistered, and shipped.
And -insert sad face here- I have to paint over the masterpieces I put on the kids' bedroom walls. Our landlord said we could paint, and I sure did. But now it's time to cover the fairy tree and Beatles songs.
The difficult part for me is that I can't pack. Oh, I can clean and organize to my heart's content (and do believe I've been doing just that, with plenty of bags of donations being set aside), but a shipping company comes in and packs everything, else they can't be held accountable if something breaks 'cause they could say it was broken before they loaded it. I know I say this all the time, but it's still true: I've never in my life lived in a place longer than four years. If there is one thing I know how to do, it's pack my belongings in a very specific way. When we left Florida, I couldn't help but pack my books. I did it alphabetically by author with the appropriate labeling on the boxes. The movers came in, unpacked my books, and repacked them. And because of how anal I was with my packing, they couldn't Tetris some of the books back in the way I had them, causing a few books from each box to be tossed all together off to the side. So I just have to let them do it.
There are certain items in the bedroom that we can pack and sign off on so they're not liable for damages. Jewelry and toys, mostly. And maybe this time, a mover won't find that one toy that doesn't fit in my toy box and shake it at his co-worker...
Item One:
I joined Rollergirls of the Apocalypse as Fresh Meat in September 2013. Since the very first day my wheels touched that track, I have poured my heart and soul into this league. I passed my minimum skills test in December and was rostered on the B team, the Night Terrors. All through this year, I have busted my ass with my fellow Night Terrors. I have left buckets of sweat, some tears, and even a little bit of blood on the track while working with them. I have learned their strengths, their weaknesses, and they have learned mine. When I'm jamming, I know who will sit on or pick or completely obliterate opposing blockers so I can get through the pack. When I'm blocking, I know who will stick with me or turn around and narrate when I need help or who I need to turn around for when she needs help. I know who will be a truck to my trailer or vice versa; I even know who will straight up push me across the track to knock the opposing jammer out of bounds. The Night Terrors are my people; they are my team. I love these girls something fierce.
On Sunday (today is Friday), we held another Fresh Meat assessment. We now have five new skaters. We've also been losing people due to moves (darn military wanting to shuffle us around every 2-6 years). New rosters had to be written up, and they came out on Tuesday. It's a given that all new skaters join the Night Terrors. We're the B team; we're simply not as experienced as the A team. So all five of the new skaters are now Night Terrors. Some other names were mixed around too. A few skaters who were straddling both teams are now strictly on the A team, the Wreckoning. Some straddlers are still straddling. Some strictly Night Terrors are now straddling. Then there's me. I'm being moved from strictly Night Terrors to strictly Wreckoning.
Now, the normal person would probably be fist pumping and shouting, "Go me!" And to a degree, I am doing that. I am super freaking proud of myself for progressing so much in just under a year. It helps that I rarely miss a practice, and when I am there, I'm working my ass off. Also, of the fourteen skaters rostered on the Wreckoning, half of them are either straddlers or former straddlers who were also on the Night Terrors with me. So it's not like I'm being thrust into an entirely new team. I also scrimmage with the entire league, so I know everyone.
I suppose I'm a little concerned. I don't want to seem as though I'm bragging, but I feel as though I'm an asset to my team. Am I the best skater? No, not at all. But I do believe I contribute positively to the Night Terrors. Now, being moved to the Wreckoning, I'm a little wary of what they're getting me into. I don't know how much of an asset I will be to this team. They already have a handful of skaters who are excellent jammers, all of whom have been skating longer than me and are way more skillful. I jam better than I block, and I can think of at least five skaters on the Wreckoning who jam better than I do. I just don't want to end up warming the bench. I'm here to skate and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum.
Tomorrow is my last bout as a Night Terror. Win or lose, I can only do my best and hope that I do my team proud before I change my jersey.
Item Two:
In just three short days, the month of August will be behind us, and I will be able to say that we're moving to North Carolina in three (and a half) months. We still don't have an exact separation date. Shawn's DEROS (Date Eligible for Return OverSeas) is 09December2014, but that's a rough estimate. He doesn't have all of the paperwork turned in yet and won't until after I have my physical next week. But as soon as my doctor signs off my paperwork, Shawn is taking it directly to the MPF (Military Personnel Flight). We'll be just over 90 days out by that time, so he needs to turn it in quickly.
Then we still have to juggle some bank accounts, notify our utility and phone companies, and biggest of all, get the vehicles inspected, deregistered, and shipped.
And -insert sad face here- I have to paint over the masterpieces I put on the kids' bedroom walls. Our landlord said we could paint, and I sure did. But now it's time to cover the fairy tree and Beatles songs.
The difficult part for me is that I can't pack. Oh, I can clean and organize to my heart's content (and do believe I've been doing just that, with plenty of bags of donations being set aside), but a shipping company comes in and packs everything, else they can't be held accountable if something breaks 'cause they could say it was broken before they loaded it. I know I say this all the time, but it's still true: I've never in my life lived in a place longer than four years. If there is one thing I know how to do, it's pack my belongings in a very specific way. When we left Florida, I couldn't help but pack my books. I did it alphabetically by author with the appropriate labeling on the boxes. The movers came in, unpacked my books, and repacked them. And because of how anal I was with my packing, they couldn't Tetris some of the books back in the way I had them, causing a few books from each box to be tossed all together off to the side. So I just have to let them do it.
There are certain items in the bedroom that we can pack and sign off on so they're not liable for damages. Jewelry and toys, mostly. And maybe this time, a mover won't find that one toy that doesn't fit in my toy box and shake it at his co-worker...