"Are My Grey Hairs Showing Enough For You Now?"

The first day of Christmas Break (a.k.a. Winter Break) Lil' Miss attended a birthday party for a classmate at one of the MANY local churches' gymnasium. When I showed back up to get her, I found her trying to roller-skate thru the gym on the new Disney Princess skate/shoes, her friend had received. She LOVED those skates and they suddenly became her #1 wish for Santa to bring. Unfortunately, Santa had already bought her the scooter she wanted, so mom turned to Aunt Tracie who had not yet bought her a gift. Done deal and Lil' Miss opened her FAVORITE present a couple days after Christmas. She wore those skates every waking moment until school resumed. She stumbled and wobbled all over when she tried them outside.

Finally, it occurred to her, that she needed to try them out at a REAL rollerskating rink. So we promised to take her, but between being sick, working odd hours and her inability to behave at school, that visit has been put-off week by week for almost 2 months. Overall this past week, she's been very good, with minor occurrences of brattiness. She asked this morning if we could finally go tonight (Thursday is Family Night for only $1.00) if she was good at school. I told her we'd see.

Honestly, I've been wanting to go for the past few weeks and have been upset at having to stick to my guns by denying her this reward. Glenn knows how to skate but hasn't visited a rink in about 10 years or more. I was quite a good skater when I last roller skated, WELL OVER 20 years ago! My sisters and I went EVERY Saturday night and always had a ton of fun, even if we did come home with blisters and callusouses galore. Tracie would LOVE for me to skate at work, since it would not only help me get better tips, but also would help us get points during our mystery shops. But being so overweight and so out of practice, I'm just not comfortable with skating on SLOPED drive-ways, near MOVING vehicles, and with FOOD & DRINKS on a TRAY!!! Oh, I think NOT!

Today she did SUPER at school, so we decided to go. We got there 20 minutes before they opened which just drove her crazy having to wait any longer. We were first in line, but they were clearly not ready to open at 7:00 pm and that really bugged her. Finally we got in, got skates for me and her (they don't allow her skate/shoes). I thought I was gonna kill myself the first time I stood up. The skates were tight and not very comfortable. I barely made it into the bathroom alone without falling flat on my face. Turns out the skates were just too new and I needed something a bit more broken in. After 3 more changes of skates, I found a pair I could live with.

Lil' Miss, on the other hand was out on the floor as soon as dad finished tying her laces. She didn't wait for us and had NO FEAR. Again, she continued to wobble and stumble and occasionally fall, but never cried or ever really got hurt. THANK GOD! I made it a couple laps around before the arch on my right foot felt like I had stepped on a BIG FAT rusty nail. I kept re-adjusting and taking breaks, but couldn't quite enjoy it as much as I'd wanted. (I bought new work shoes this week, and the first day with them, I hurt my right foot, so I think this contributed to the pain I was feeling.)

We had a table in the snack area, next to the DJ booth and when I saw what was in that little carpeted box, I suddenly felt REALLY FUCKING OLD! I laughed and told Glenn, "DAMN! Are my grey hairs showing enough for you now? They have a computer that plays whatever song they pull up, and they've got a HUGE library of songs to choose from. The last time I was skating at a rollerrink, they were still using VINYL RECORD ALBUMS!!!"

CD's and rollerblades had not yet been invented the last time I roller skated! Did I mention I'll be 36 years OLD next Friday??? ROFLMFAO!