Change

This time next week I'll be in London - woohoo! I'm really looking forward to this trip - I just have to remember not to overplan. Ok, so I've booked and paid for ALL our accommodation, as well as our train tickets to and from Oxford and Salisbury. And I have a list of stuff I want to see, along with -ahem- suggested days for each activity. But in my defense - there's so much I want to see, no point deciding to go to the Ashmolean Museum on a Monday when it turns out it's not open on Mondays, right? Oh whatever, so I like to plan - big deal! The key is not to OVERPLAN. And despite what it sounds like, I don't think I have overplanned this trip (yet!).

Of course, after the big trip comes the big change - moving to WA. Eeep! Last weekend I went to Derby Camp in Melbourne (which was freakin' awesome!), and I was fortunate to meet ladies from both WARD and PRD, so I am not stressing out so much about which League I end up joining now. It also re-inspired the derby love, so now I'm planning on taking my skates with me OS, and have already organised a skate with the Yukon Roller Girls (Whitehorse, Canada), and am hoping to skate with the London Rockinrollers as well. We're also going to a bout while in London to see the London rep team (London Brawling) take on reigning WFTDA champions, Rocky Mountain Fight Club (see how good planning can be? ;-p), which should be awesome.

But back to the big move. I have to be honest and say I'm really not looking forward to being apart from my husband for such a long time. His work have asked him to stay on here until at least January next year, which, though flattering for him, is a bit disappointing. I was kind of hoping that we could take this next step in our lives together. But realistically, he hasn't yet seen any jobs out west that interest him, so he would probably have been staying on in Canberra for several months anyway. And on the plus side, it really takes the pressure off finding a place over there, as there's no hurry to get out of this house. Plus I can stay with a really good friend while I look around, so I have kind of landed on my feet with this one and I shouldn't complain!

You know what's weird, is that when I landed my job in Canberra back in late 2005, my then-partner of 5 1/2 years planned to get a job in Canberra and come join me, but 3 weeks after I got here he dumped me. Seems like an eerily similar situation - I go on ahead while my partner (of 5 1/2 years!) stays behind until he can find a job in the new town. Not that I'm in any way worried it will end the same way, but still, it's a strange coincidence!

It felt good saying goodbye to the Museum. This is the 3rd time I'm leaving that place, and it really is on my own terms this time. I'll miss the CRDL girls, a few in particular, but at least I get to do derby in WA. Plus I get to be WARM!

Hey, what do you know - I'm feeling positive about it all again. So here's to change!

The Derby Dabbler

I've spent all day reading Bonnie D. Stroir's blog and it has a common theme with other derby blogs I've come across, and that is a complete and unadulterated love for derby. And I just don't feel that. I mean yeah, it's great fun, and I really enjoy it - but it hasn't changed my life the way it seems to have changed the lives of others.

Maybe I'm just a derby dabbler, or maybe I'll never put all my eggs into one basket like that. In fact, sometimes I resent having to spend so much of my life at training, or being involved in the work of making derby happen, but I keep doing it because ultimately it's fun. But it's not the Most.Fun.Thing.I've.Eva.Done. Is that bad? Should I love derby more?

My team captain has a pretty good attitude. Derby is just one thing in her life, certainly not The Only Thing That Matters. She's mentioned that she has a lower threshold than others seem to about putting derby ahead of other things in their lives. I mean, she loves it, and she's on our rep team as well as being our Captain. It just seems her attitude is a bit - healthier? Less obsessed? Less sucked into The Cult of Roller Derby ? Not sure.

When I went to Tonga with all the young idealistic volunteers I heard a lot of people saying they'd been waiting their whole lives for this, that it was gonna be life-changing and they just needed it at that point in their life so much. I couldn't really identify with that, either. Maybe it's the cynic in me.

I just found out that the Perth Derby league is located a whopping 2 hours by public transport away from where I'll be living and working (sans car) in Freo. I'm really not sure that my committment level is that great, to be honest. I mean, that means getting home after 11pm from a training session, and that's IF all the connections are spot-on. At the moment that just seems too much of a commute for me to contemplate. I'm wondering if moving west might be the end of my derby journey. I know I'm a fickle mistress, and my enthusiasm has waxed and waned on this blog. I always thought of roller derby as being for a good time not a long time, so we'll see...