I was lucky enough to catch both my tricks at the show. I've got some great stuff in store for the next one but it might not be for a long while since my sister is coming home (to Colorado) from her mission on the date of the next show. Maybe if you're lucky you'll see some videos of practice instead.
Just as a side note, I had been Scuba diving all day out at the lake. So you can only imagine how exhausted I was. I slept well afterwards. :)
A friend of mine from work has been taking a flying trapeze class for the last two months and has since convinced me to give it a try. And I sure am glad she did. I'm hooked! I went in for an intro course last Monday and have since decided to take the 8 week course myself.
Here is the rig on my first day. For scale, you can see one of the employees climbing up the ladder to get everything set for us. I have to admit that when I pulled up in the parking lot the first day I was a little disappointed. I had pictured it being a lot bigger. But once I got up to the platform I realized that it was plenty big enough.
The first 3/4 of the night they have you swing by yourself in a trick called the knee-hang then dismount in a backflip. At first I thought, "I won't even do a back flip on a trampoline! How am I supposed to do one off a swinging bar?!?!" I asked all sorts of stupid questions. And after I did it for the first time I realized that all my worry was completely unprecedented. In any case, here is a video of my first time. Unfortunately, my camera gal didn't quite catch the takeoff due to technical difficulties.
Hmmm. That didn't work. Looks like it won't let me upload more than one video and the one below is way cooler than my first attempt so we'll stick with it...
Technically, you are supposed to start with one hand on the bar and then simultaneously jump off the platform while reaching your second hand from the platform cable to the bar. I had some problems with that. Freud would probably have some interesting things to say about not trusting one's self or some jargon like that. But my argument back is, how can you trust yourself to do something you've never done before? Anyway, my inability to trust myself to get my other hand to the bar midflight is why they had me start with two hands on the bar for the video below. When you do a catch, you have to have the timing right in order to successfully intercept eachother so if you hesitate you screw the whole trick up.
Below is my final swing of the night. I was able to complete the catch but couldn't quite get back to the bar.
This morning was a typical morning. I rolled out of bed and wearily walked into my kitchen. I quickly finished the dishes that I had left to soak over night and started the dishwasher. Once that was underway, I turned around to gather the necessary components for my typical breakfast of champions: bowl, spoon, milk, cereal. The first two were no problem. But when I opened the fridge, my milk wasn't there. I was completely confused! I knew I wasn't out, for I had just had some the previous day and it was still half full. I looked around on the counter tops looking to see if I had accidentally left it out. I looked on my dining table, my desk, my coffee table... it was nowhere! I even wondered if I had had a neighbor come in and take my milk and nothing else.
Until I looked up.
That's right ladies and gentleman. I had put the cereal in the fridge and the milk on the shelf. Such is my life.
Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I've never been much of a cook or home-maker. The latter is something that I, frankly, won't care about until I have someone to share my home with. However, the former is something I'd like to get better at. On the other hand, I'm an awesome baker! Which happens to be a byproduct of having a sweet tooth. But actual healthy food has been limited to chicken casseroles and scrambled eggs.
Lucky for me, I have recently bought a couple AWESOME books full of recipes that serve one person! I especially recommend "Serves One" by Toni Lydecker. Most of the recipes serve 1-2 people and are designed to be prepared in under 30 minutes. Its perfect for those of us that live on our own.
(Side note.... Its raining outside! It NEVER rains in Arizona!)
With this newly formed goal in mind, I have combined the kitchen essentials from all of the books I've purchased and my own limited experience and come up with a list of things that I think would be helpful to have laying around the kitchen for my cooking pleasure. I have X'ed the things that I already have in my kitchen. As you can see, I've got a long ways to go. Feel free to use it as you see fit. Or even suggest things you couldn't live without in your kitchen! (Keep in mind, these should be things that keep well.)
I look forward to sharing my kitchen adventures with you in the future.
Since I moved to Arizona I have suffered through a completely new environment, lifestyle, climate, job, friends, no family etc. I have kept myself extremely busy to keep my mind off being homesick. To my surprise, it has worked rather well. I am now participating in a plethora of activities. These include: training for a marathon, ballet class, institute, institute choir, ward choir, Chandler Symphony, rock climbing, pool (billiards) and jigsaw puzzles. Since I've moved here I have put together 4 big puzzles. I had help on 2.3 of them from my good friend Rachel (visiting from Omaha) but I still think its an amazing feat. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of the first 2. I have, however, taken pictures of their boxes just so you can see what I've been up to.
This was the first one I put together and probably the hardest.
This one was done with the assistance of my friend Rachel (750 pieces)
Rachel helped sort the pieces. There were 1500 total.
This one was the same brand as 2nd one up above. It was 750 pieces.
And you know a puzzle has satisfied your puzzle crave when you can pick them up!
(Photo courtesy of George)
Hey! At least I don't have a gizzilion cats! Perhaps I'll make another trip to Wal-mart this coming weekend...
