Monday, January 24, 2011

Skate!

I love that exclamation point in post titles, because it makes the title sound different and more exciting in my head.

The secret skating project is now nearing the end of its second week, with four trips to the rink so far, and it's going very well except for two things:
1) My back is killing me.
I know I'm leaning too far forward because I'm totally paranoid about falling backwards and hitting my head (even with a helmet on and every conceivable type of padding), but I've apparently compensated by leaning forward in such a way that my back pays a severe price. Not good. So I need to figure that out, and soon.

The good news is that my legs don't hurt at all. The jillions of squats required by "NFL Training Camp" have clearly helped. And I could skate much more than I am if I could just do so without straining my back.

2) I have a lesson on Thursday at 5:30, which means I have to leave the house while Eli 9.5 is home and not return until about two hours later. I've told him it's a super-secret project, and that "big changes" are coming soon, but it's bothering him, because I almost never leave when he's home after school unless I'm going to pick up dinnner.

"Dad, how long is this going to last?" he asked me last Thursday. "I'd rather have you here than big changes."

That's one of the nicest things he's ever said to me, really, which made it very tough for me not to tell him right there. Plus one of his teammates saw me last Thursday at the rink and I had to tell him what's going on, so information leakage is ongoing. It's hard to expect a 10-year-old to keep a secret, even though he said he would. So I'm in a race to become competent before he finds out, and without winding up in traction.

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