I PASSED!!!

Just wanted to share :)

So, it's a bit early to be thinking about academic year 2009-2010, but I am...here's why...

If I stay at SU for another year (I have an application out to another school in the general area, but it is a real possibility that I will not get that position and will stay at SU another year), it will be my 4th year in my current position and there is no way I would be able to do a 5th...I will have outgrown the position and there would not be very much more for me to learn. But, I do not want to leave the Syracuse area. I don't want to uproot my life again and move to yet another new place. I keep thinking about the people I know here...not just the people from work, but also from skating. Unlike a year ago, I now have connections outside of SU and that just makes it so hard to leave...within Student Affairs it is common to move around and to not stay in one place for too long so that's not the issue, but how would I be able to leave MC, little M, AT, and all of my teenage and younger friends at the rink. And then there would be the issue of leaving Coach J. I don't think I could do it. In the 6 months I have worked with her, she feels more like a friend than just a coach and if I end up doing the synchro team next year, how would I just up and move away from that as well? Now, none of this will be an issue if my application to this position at the other school is successful, but if it's not, there is no guarantee that a position that is not a lateral move and would be something I am interested in and qualified for would be available in this area. Now that I am getting older, I want some place to call home, and Syracuse just feels like home... I know that I could skate and make connections in another place, but I just don't know if I could do it...even thinking about the possibility now, I'm starting to tear up...I didn't think I was going to get so attached...

So, I've been working hard on getting my moves ready for my test next Saturday. Brackets are still my nemesis, but they are better than what they were....but they come and go.... But, power circles are really good, power 3's are good as well, the CW ones need to be a little quicker, but I have better control, back double 3's got some awesome comments from coach J, brackets are brackets (aka: they suck), and I need to make the slide chasse pattern needs to be made more "lively..."

I feel bad because I was in a foul mood on Friday and coach J noticed...the crap hit the fan last week at work and I was upset with other folks...I didn't mean to take it out on her :( plus the fact that I have already started freaking out about this test just doesn't help ANYTHING!!

Freestyle is coming along okay as long as I don't over think the lutz jump...that entire jump is a head game with me...always has been. At times I also have issues with the scratch/back scratch for the pre-juv test...although coach J pokes fun because the requirement is 3 revs on each and my scratch spin is regularly a good 15-20....

I've been working hard on my axels...they are still not fully rotated and they are still not landing on my toe...coach J actually said that she is afraid I'm going to break my ankle the way I've been twisting it...oops! But, the jump is actually very high off the ice and at times weirdness happens where my body rotates quicker than my feet....don't know how the heck that happens...coach J gets so giddy when we work on them because they are sooooo close...and I am just soooooo ready to land it already!

So, funny story...as I was in my lesson, and we were working on axels, I started to analyze exactly what I did wrong immediately after I fell...well, one of the other coaches thought this was extremely hilarious and kept coming over (as she was coaching someone else) to listen to me tell coach J exactly what I did wrong...she kept saying how I didn't even need coach J there :) well, obviously I need her there because otherwise I would already be landing that freaking jump!

We did figure out that we could never work together in a professional setting (i.e. actual jobs) because we would never get anything done! :) hehe... I am extremely lucky to have found a coach that I get along with so well, and someone I could see myself being friends with outside of the coach/student relationship....

Back from Atlanta

I had a ton of fun in Atlanta...got to see friends that I haven't seen in a long time...D, JB, DW, D, LG, and others. I love being able to catch up with folks...

But, being in Atlanta for 5 days meant, *sigh* no skating....

However, I was able to go yesterday, which was good. I mainly did moves to try to get my feet under me. Moves felt good. I was a little bouncy on my power circles, but that's okay, that's a pretty easy fix. I still hate those brackets....particularly the back outsides...I still need to keep trying my hardest to get those...

I did some freestyle...axels are still not landed correctly, but they are close!!

Off to Atlanta, GA until Wednesday. It will be fun, but SMJ won't be there :(

No skating until I get back, and even then, I don't get back until 1am or so on Wednesday night...and then there is no ice at my usual rink, so I will need to skate on campus. Which is fine, just that I really enjoy my time when I am not here.

I got to hang out at the rink last night watching dress rehearsal for the show. Got razzed a little bit because I'm not going to be around this weekend. And razzed because they want me to do the show...and I had pinky swore little M that if I didn't have anything for work going on next year that I would do the show....well, of course little M told EVERYONE, and now I have a feeling that they will NOT forget it. Which is fine. I was a little envious of the girls who were skating... However...I will not miss the small group numbers or the skate school freestyle groups practicing and me not being able to get anything in...and there are certain pieces of music that I will NOT miss...especially the one honky tonk country song we had...I am sooooo not a fan of country, especially honky tonk!

But, I should probably go pack...I hate packing...almost as much as I hate unpacking, cleaning, and credit card bills....ugh....

I put my test application in the mail today...along with the $85 check...but I don't really care about the money, I am just hoping that I got the form in quick enough to ensure a spot in the test session.

I've been working hard on landing my axel, which still is not there, but is so freaking close! I've been landing flat-footed, and now I need to stop that and land on my toe, but it just hasn't been happening. Coach J and I worked on them on Friday after doing moves and my program.

Moves are coming along...I am just so over them and ready to work on something else, but I can't let that get in the way of practicing them because I still need to take that Intermediate moves test!

My program is looking good (I hope). I skated it clean on Friday in my lesson, minus an extremely slow camel spin after my flip/loop, but according to Coach J, my camel/sit was beautiful :) I have been trying to work on my spins, especially the camel because I was having issues with that one...

No skating until Wednesday because of Easter tomorrow and then practice for the show took over the Tuesday time. I'll skate on Wednesday at Tennity and then have a lesson on Thursday...no ice Friday because of dress rehearsal (I'll be there anyway to drop off stuff for the bake sale), and then on Saturday it's off to Atlanta for ACPA. I won't be back until late on Wednesday, then it's straight on to duty for me. But, we don't have ice at B'Ville until the 12th/13th anyways, so it works out. I don't know what Coach J and I are going to do for a lesson those two weeks, but we will figure it out...at least I will be able to skate at Tennity. The break from skating every day will probably be good because today my knees were achy...they don't hurt, and I can walk and jump and all of that, but they just have a slight ache to them...plus, my right knee is still swollen from when I bashed it twice in two weeks...

Time for me to finish up cleaning my apartment in preparation for Easter dinner at my apartment tomorrow....

Sunday Night

I was originally going to be testing my Intermediate Moves and my Pre-Juv freestyle on Sunday, but that didn't happen due to the test session being full, so I practiced instead :) I didn't touch the moves, as I am so sick of them at this point, but I did all of my jumps, and then decided to spend a large amount of time working on axels...I also spent a good amount of time working on laybacks, flying camels, and the camel/layback/backsit combo Coach J was torturing me with on Friday. I also threw in some double sals :) But, Coach J doesn't need to know that...hehe...

My laybacks are getting better, I can see behind me, I just don't know about my leg position. I'll have Marissa take a look on Wednesday. I had a few good flying camels, I just need to keep doing those, I was hitting the position a lot better on Sunday than I was on Friday.

Axels were okay...I was trying to work on pulling in, as that is one of two big issues with my axels...that and my not pointing my toe and landing very, very, very flat footed. I just figured I would work on one issue at a time :) I just want to land that freaking jump!! Coach J was pretty much in the middle of a tantrum on Friday because I was so close. I have even had other skaters tell me how close I am :( I want to land it!!!

It was so nice to work on what I wanted to work on rather than what I needed to work on for the test. I love working on the test stuff and the moves in the field, but after so long, it just gets old. It was good to just have fun, although, starting tomorrow, it is back to the grind working on my moves and my program...although, I'm going to try to work on the other stuff too just so that I don't get so bored.

I ordered my new boots last week Saturday (3/8), so they should be here in another 3-7 weeks hopefully....putting me about mid-April - mid-May before I will get my new skates. I will need to buy blades when the boots come in and I am pretty sure I am going to upgrade to Pattern 99s. I can't wait! By going with the upgraded blade, I will get out of the super flat comets I'm in, which have been doing me well, but it is difficult to spin in them, and hopefully I'm not building it up, but I think my spins are going to improve with the new blades.