ChaCha

Fun day today!

A knock on my door resulted in the coolest pet ever. 

This couple came to our door today with a duck. I thought maybe the feed store had sent them for duck diapers. 

This cute duck followed them home from the park! She'd been following them around for a few days and they realised they just couldn't take care of her, so they were walking around the neighborhood searching for a new home for her. 

Everyone else on the street so far wanted to eat her (She's a little small for a meat duck, I don't think she'd be all that yummy). When they saw the pair of Ancona ducks in our yard they hoped we would take her in. 

I brought her in and put one of Trina's old diapers on her and she took right to it. 

Trying on her very first diaper

ChaCha sleeps right at the head of our bed, takes her breakfast in the tub, and loves a little wind in her 'fro when she rides in the car.

Checking out her new carseat

Napping in her bed

Trying out a sparkling TuTu

"Ducky Burrito" 

Just what I've been wanting! Someone else who likes to sit on Randy LOL

Modeling her new hair bow

SKATES!!!

Alright! So first day of practice ON SKATES!
I picked up NEW in box safety gear - elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and a helmet - on craigslist for half retail price. The skates are the biggest expense, even more so because of my weight. The less expensive plates (what holds the wheels and connects them to the boot) are plastic based and aren't meant to carry a skater over 200 lbs. The aluminum plates are heavier and quite a bit more expensive, but hold up better to more weight. So rather than shelling out $300 or more for a pair of skates, I opted to try out some loners from the team supplies. I got a great little black leather pair of Riedell's, with some funky green wheels and mismatched laces.

Once I was all geared up, sitting on the ground tightening the last bit of laces, I realized...

 I have NO IDEA how to get up.

 So I sat.

 Aaand I sat.

 Aaaaand I sat.

 FINALLY I got the courage to roll over off my butt and on to my knees. It was only a few seconds up on my feet before the coach called me over. Expecting me to SKATE to the rink. I made it though. No falls or anything! Just itty bitty baby steps.

The coach (Mel) was super helpful. She asked about what previous skating experience I had, and then had me skate a lap to see where I was skill-wise. I learned feet shoulder width or less apart,smooth rhythmic strides (even if they are short strides), knees bent, lean forward, shoulders back, and look up and where you want to go. It worked great! I was flying around the rink!

OK I was putzing, and the little kids who had come from the neighborhood across the street were lapping me even though they fell a lot. But I was moving! And better yet, I was NOT falling.

BUT - I had no clue how to stop. So I skated another lap, and at the coach's direction headed for the fence with a nice crash stop. Next I learned to knee stop. Drop a knee and skid to a stop (with a little more detail on what NOT to do). And then how to get up! After a little practice I moved on to T-stops, which I absolutely could not do. Not enough muscle and confidence to pick my foot up, put it behind me, and drag. So I practiced the motion as best I could and used the fence to crash in to.

Then it got hard.

We did side steps and vine steps and toe steps. Then stationary knee falls/get ups, then burpees (of which I did exactly 2), mountain climbers (again, 2, but on each leg, yippee!) and then I got to sit in the middle and watch. All of that from skates on to resting in the middle took about 90 minutes. After another 20 of sitting and watching and trying to catch my breath, I did 3 speed laps, the speed of a sugar high turtle, and I was done!

I survived PRACTICE #1

I learned I need stronger calves, but MOSTLY a stronger lower back. That "ready position" that ALL athlete's learn - legs bent, lean forward, shoulders back, prepare to shuffle! - is about a thousand times harder on skates. Just saying'. And it burned! But a good muscle building burn.

I fell twice (2 is my magic number today I guess) once I went down forward, yay wrist guards, and once down straight back on my butt, arms and legs flailing, all in slow motion of course. One of the girls has the butt/hip pad pants that I saw online during my equipment research, I think I'll be getting a pair of those suckers cause I like my tail bone intact.

Any other "fall" was really just a knee stop, which were all intentional.

All in all I think it was a pretty good practice. I did WAY more than I expected I'd be able to do, and I think it's going to be really fun! I'll be super sore tomorrow and Sunday, but by Monday I'll be ready for another practice!

BIPAP - The first night!

Randy's face mask - if only I could get you a real life picture ; )

After some doctor confusion and a whole lotta appointments, Randy has FINALLY got his new breathing machine to help with his sleep apnea! His two sleep studies showed that not only was his airway restricted, but that sometimes he actually stops TRYING to breathe! A standard machine is called a CPAP, but Randy's machine is a BIPAP. It not only holds his airways open with a constant stream of air (this is what stops him from snoring), it also detects when he isn't breathing and will stimulate him to breathe. Without the machine he would stop breathing once in a while, no rise of the chest in an attempt to breathe, and then suddenly there would be a snore-gasp for air, sometimes as much as 30 seconds later!

Randy's fancy machine with heated humidifier!

It's about a foot long

If Randy would let me, I would totally post before and after sound clips but he would totally kill me. So it will have to suffice to say that a little air hissing is a HUGE improvement on the old snore symphony that was his nightly routine.

It's only night number 2, so we will have to wait and see if he feels any more energized during the day from getting a good nights sleep (and maybe me too)!

A New Hobby

Recently I've been having a bout of high school nostalgia (although I can't really imagine why, high school sucked...). Mostly I think I miss playing sports. I've also come to realize I need more social interaction in my life beyond animals and Randy.
So I've decided to try Roller Derby.

Yup, roller derby!

But this isn't your average roller derby league... this is the Renegade Rollergirls of Tucson! A no rules, no wussies, no holds barred league. Established in Phoenix, the league has grown to 7 teams, half of which reside in California. Last Saturday Randy and I attended a bout (that's roller derby speak for "game") between Tucson and LA at rrot's practice rink. It was tamer than I expected, but looked like a blast none the less. I met with one of girls to get some more information on joining and on Friday attended my first practice. I'm looking at borrowing some gear from their loner selection to start, hopefully I'll be on skates giving it a try this Friday!

Wish me luck!