Summer to winter

Apparently we aren't getting a fall this year. The first frost of the year was yesterday--and it reminded me how much I hate scraping it off my car--and today I finally had to admit summer is over and switch out my winter and summer clothes. My weight has stayed about the same since, like, April or something, but I still discovered that more than half my winter clothes are too big, so at least my shape is still changing. Skating must be transmuting my fat into muscle.

Speaking of skating, we started another session today, and now I'm in a class with three little girls. Alas. We're all at about the same level, so it's fine, but I have to admit I really liked having the last class all to myself. Nevertheless, I did make more progress on my inside three turns. I technically managed to do some the first time I learned them a couple of weeks ago, but they were never clean or stable and I could never actually repeat them after that class. Now they're...well, not stellar, but a bit more credible than they were. I'm still having trouble eking out any ground at all on the back outside edge after the turn, but at least I'm turning without putting my other foot down, usually.

Last week, I learned how to do the forward inside and outside edges exercise that comes up in ISI Delta and USFS Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field. It is a lot damn harder than it looks, let me tell you. I wondered why they waited until Delta to introduce it, and NOW I KNOW. It took me all week to figure out how to coordinate my arm and free leg positions, and even now that I mostly have them, it's hard not to fall to the side on those curves.

On the other hand, after practicing those all week, now I can draw a nice ever-decreasing spiral on the ice. It's the little things that amuse me. (Sadly, I don't think that's on any of the figures tests you can take. It should be.)

Another exciting thing that happened today was meeting castalianspring for lunch! Wooooo, a fannish friend where I live, yay! :D