On January 2010

January 21, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

Yes, it’s been a long time.

I would expect that many of you have moved on to other things, and by now are addicted to “American Idol” or “Jersey Shore” or the like.

But I have been busy.

First of all there’s Face-Off or Clutch and Grab or Dump and Chase or No-Contact – or whatever am I going to call this sequel to Power Plays? Not that I have the final say in any case.

I’ve edited the first 100 pages and with the help of my editor (who is a lovely person) I should be able to wade through the last 200 in a few weeks. I have some major re-writes to do on Chapters 6 and 12 – the Flashback Fiascos – which I should have foreseen. It’s interesting to go through the process of cutting – instead of adding scenes. It’s rather fun slashing away at drivel – especially when I thought I’d already eliminated quite a bit of it.

Work is work. The pumpjacks keep pumping, and the pipeliners keep pipelining, and the facilities guys keep renovating facilities, and so the reports just keep pouring in. Only once in four and a half years have I ever felt like I was wasting my time – and that was only two days ago. I got over it quickly, however. I do like my job, and something has to pay the bill for my new motorcycle because royalties and the Public Lending Commission sure won’t.

I have twelve presentations in Regina and Saskatoon next week –  nine readings (one at the Book and Brier in Regina on Tuesday evening!) and three workshops. I’m more than ready for all of them.

And lastly, I’ve been learning to skate.

You heard me.

Some people think I’m planning to play ladies’ senior hockey. I have, in fact, been seen at several practices.

What they don’t know is that I really have no inclination to ever play a game. I just want to learn how to skate like a hockey player, and the best way to do that at my age is to wear lots of protective equipment. From what I’ve seen of middle-aged women learning to skate, helmets and elbow pads and hockey pants are a necessity.

It’s interesting to be a student again. This hasn’t happened since I did a motorcycle safety course in 2004.  And what a humbling experience that was. 

As a classroom and Special Education teacher, I know all about the Adaptive Dimension, and I’ve been using it regularly on the ice. When the rest of the team does wind sprints, I skate straight down the ice – arriving at the same time as everyone else. When the rest of the team skates backwards from one end to another, I (you guessed it) skate forwards – and arrive at the same time as everyone else.

At last practice, a young boy helped me out by passing me a puck when I lost mine and giving me pointers on how to hold my stick. I could definitely use a fulltime teacher’s aide.

And the looks I get from my coaches. . .

Pained. That’s what they call it.

And there’s another thing. I have yet to find a stick of the proper length.  My husband has given me two sticks already – both of which weren’t long enough. The girls on the team told me so. My husband said each time, “It’s good enough.”

I don’t think he is taking this whole learning to skate thing seriously.

For instance, he wanted me to learn to skate on my daughter’s skates  – even though they were too small and hurt my feet. “They’re good enough,” he said.

Well, they weren’t, and so I bought myself a brand new pair. A pair especially designed for people with weak ankles. They are marvelous, and I love them.

If I was satisfied with “good enough,” I would be content to make my way from one end of the ice to other , off balance and unable to stop. That is definitely not good enough for me.

Skating is great exercise, and I hope to do a lot of it over the course of the next few months. The ice will only be in for so long as the rink, and I definitely have my work cut out for me.

And so do my hockey coaches.

Posted in On Sports, On Writing | 3 Comments »