Am not skating on Wednesday nights anymore...

I'm starting to gain back some weight from not doing enough cardio and I'm not getting as much productive practice as I would like, so I am going to switch back to doing the gym on Wed nights to help get that 3 day a week at the gym.

I'm just sick of having to deal with the kids there and I need an emptier session to start gaining power on the moves w/o feeling like I'm gonna crash into someone. I'll try this for a few weeks to see what happens.

Also, I'm now looking into doing Pilates either on Sat. or Sun. with a Pilates trainer to appease the secondary coach goddess' need for me to be more flexible and have more muscle control. I don't know if I'll add more skating time... but if I don't, I don't think it'll be that big of a loss... (Of course, I'll tell the secondary coach this. I think she'll understand why I'm dropping Wed. nights, considering that I take lessons on Wed mornings with her! And my primary coach doesn't really care about how I spend my time as much... he just wants results!) :-P

Playing QA spy again...

I'm now learning the Extreme Programming Model so that my company can get started on using this model for testing software. This should be a pretty hard sell though since everyone right now has their own office and is very content having their own cube and not into the open office model that this model is encouraging.

And then a thought came to me... I was thinking of the office setup that the blond office window guy was in. Initially when I saw the office I thought "Ewww!!! No privacy!!! And I have to face people in the middle too!" Now thinking about it, it was INTENTIONAL!!! I saw how the office had design notes and how the objects are organized. I also noticed on occasions that they have a meeting in that office but on occasions, one or two may have headphones on and keep working. I realized that this was part of the working environment that EPM promotes. However, I don't see developers work in pairs that often, though there may be cases where a developer is hovering over a person's computer on something. (Pairs programming?)

The other thing I noticed that's strange is that they all work at pretty much the same hours!!! They also mostly leave at the same time too...well, except for the Lead Engineer/founder (Yeap -- "Blond office window guy") who usually leaves first.

I wonder if they know that I'm slowly picking up on how they work, even though I don't know their technology yet. Well, other than that they're writing in Java and are probably using LAMP (b/c they're a startup!) :-P

Post AN stuff... and next year's stuff!!!

AN was fun, even though I didn't attend it. Imagined if I did attend... :)

Lots of my friends have medalled. A couple of them even got the Gold!!! And lots of interesting things at the post-AN competitors party!!! Oh, my!!! :)

My poor primary coach got a lot of people asking "So when am I testing and qualifying for AN?" He says "When she gets her power 3's!!!" *rolleyes* Figures!!! :-P They also hassled him to hassle me to go to Peach Classic in September. Better start saving now...

Of course, there's "other gossips" too but...

Next year's Adult Sectionals is sorta on my home turf! I really want to make my debut as a Bronze lady this year and I've been pushing myself hard to pass Bronze moves b/c I'm really sick of it and also b/c I need to pass it to work on passing the Bronze FS (which I'm already close to getting... all I need is a program!!!) to qualify for AN. The talk now is that I will test once the new skating season starts and all the kids are done with testing for regionals, so that 1) I don't get really tough judges who also will be scrutinizing the kids along with me and 2) the test requirements for the Moves test would have been changed to make it easier for me to pass the test.

GRRRR!!!! (But... he's right! No chance in hell I'm getting enough power from my skating to pass this year.)

Last Lesson before AN...

My primary coach and I had our lesson this afternoon before he takes off for Adults Nationals. This year he is "in retirement" and won't be competing, much to the sadness of a lot of adult skaters out there, because he's such a beautiful skater to watch!

Oh, dear! I still have a long way to go on my basics to be ready for Bronze Moves, especially the back crossovers going the counter-clockwise direction!!! I guess my homework this week, like last week, are practicing those 'til the cows come home! I also have work to do on my FI mohawks too! He skipped working on forward power 3's this week (which is just as well, since the LFO side has no power whatsoever.) *rolleyes* However, he did like my forward alt. crossovers a lot!!! :D

So I got work cut out for me while both of my coaches are gone. (My secondary coach is also out of town at a competition but NOT AN!) No rest for this demi-geek/skater!!! She's got WORK to do this week!!!

Adult Nationals Send-Off Party

The skaters who ARE going to AN from my rink just had an informal freestyle session where they warm up for about a half hour and do their individual programs with the entire patch of ice split amongst the skaters there on the second half of the hour. It's like a mini-skating show of sorts and it was fun watching all the programs that are going to be done at AN -- especially the interpretatives programs! Loved all the outfits donned for the program! :)

I wish them all good luck at Kansas City! Go kick some ice butts out there, you guys!!!

Getting close to Adults Nationals

...and I'm not going!!! :( I am STILL struggling to pass my Bronze Moves test this year. I've worked very hard for the last 3 years to pass just this one test. I did take this test back in August but I was nowhere near ready. This year I'm a bit closer to being ready, but I'm going thru some rough patches on a couple of the moves.

Right now:

Forward alt. crossovers - It's the strongest of the moves! I think I'll pass with this move, but it's still not perfect yet. I sense at least one of the judges will ding me on the quality of the crossovers.

Back alt. crossovers - Have trouble with staying on the BI edge when I step out and letting the edge ride around. And we are NOT going to talke about those back crossovers around the ends of the rink... *rolleyes*

Forward power 3's - getting much better. I think if I could get more power on my weaker LFO3 and keep going on my RFO3 side, this move may become the second move where I'll score higher than average.

Back crossover to BO edge - It's hit and miss! When it's good, it's very VERY good! But when it's bad... well, it TOTALLY SUCKS!!! AUGH!!!

5 step mohawk. The first step is consistently crappy. The 4th and 5 step is dicey b/c I have to be careful not to let it go on a flat. I've had good and bad days on this.

But WAIT!!! Even if I pass the Bronze moves, there's also the Bronze FS to take care of before I can go to AN 2006 in Dallas. Meanwhile I'm keep practicing as eveyrone else is in Kansas City... and hope that by this time next year, I will be on a plane to go to Dallas to compete. :)

Yoga... Yoga... Yoga....

This is the new command from my secondary coach for today! She wants me to start taking Yoga classes and learn to stretch those hips. In fact, she encourages yoga for me over ballet! (Now there's a first!!! She pushes ALL her students to take ballet usually...) :-P She said that she can always work on "my arms and my overall presentation." But I definitely need to work on stretching and flexibility.

I practice on the ice a lot and work out a lot at the gym as it is and now she wants YOGA too!?!?! Where am I gonna find the time besides on weekends? And since she wants at least 3 times a week, where am I gonna fit in the 3rd day? YIKES!!! =8-O Unfortunately, my primary coach and NOW my chiropractor says the same. So... *sigh*

Best bargain at Walgreen's yet...

Found THIS at the Walgreens on Market near the Castro district!!! It's $99.00, but well worth it!!!

AHHHHH!!! :D

RIP John Paul II

Nuff said... :(