Party Time

The Little One celebrated her 9th birthday at the skating rink. The kids had a great time, and the staff at the rink were fantastic. The young lady that served as our hostess was friendly, helpful, patient, and professional. Who says young people have gone to the dogs? (Well, no one says it exactly like THAT, but you know what I mean.)

After most of the other parents left the rink, I did the unthinkable. I got some skates and took to the floor. Back in the day (I'm not saying which day), I was pretty good on wheels. My best bud, Sherry, and I spent at least two nights a week at the local rink, showing off and meeting boys, not necessarily in that order. We even snuck (or is it sneaked?) our skates into the school building on the last day of our senior year, skipped out of our least favorite class (government, of course), and skated up and down the halls until we got caught and sent back to class. We were actually terrific students with flawless records, so we did not get into trouble. We were a little disappointed...

Anyway, let me say that skating is not like riding a bike. It does not come back naturally to you after years (and I mean years) of inactivity. It takes several l-o-o-o-n-g unnerving moments of wobbling and flailing and screaming like a girl before you feel any semblance of control. And even then you can be going along pretty confidently until suddenly, for no apparent reason, you just start to fall down. And then there are those annoying little kids that go flying past you with no regard to your safety or pride. I only fell once, and it was not spectacular at all. And no one had a camera trained on me at the moment. Ha!

The event was a success. Yeah, yeah, sure - the kids had a good time, and the Little One got a load of cool gifts. But the real success is measured in the fact that I sustained no bruises or broken bones! More importantly, I have finally found something physical that I can do better than Mikel. He whups me at tennis, cycling, bowling, swimming, skiing, arm wrestling, everything. Until now, that is. I think we should go skating every weekend. Wonder if I can convince the DJ to play REAL skating music, like Boogie Wonderland...