The Swans are Singing Now

One final post before leaving for Worlds. I hope, Dear Readers, you enjoy the humor of this one.

You know that advice that you should never get a new hair style the day of a big event? I have more advice to add to that. "Never change your laces the day before leaving for a competition!" This should be etched on the wall of every rink where skaters prepare for a competition.

Yesterday, I had on my lengthy task list to switch out my laces for new ones. Now I haven't changed my skate laces for over 6 years. Mine were looking really pitiful. Because I hadn't had my skates polished, as I had planned, I figured the least I could do was have some nice looking laces. This ended up being a very bad idea.

It look me two hours to complete this job. Why? I purchased cotton laces (my old laces were nylon) and they absolutely would not fit through the eyelets of my skates. Dear Husband came up with the idea of make the eyelets larger which we accomplished with something akin to an ice pick. Great idea and the only one that would allow me to thread the laces. At one point, DH told me to stop working on this task and take a shower. Guess he could tell that my frustration level was through the roof at that point. I complied, but only until he had gone to nap; then I was back at it again. At one point, I even looked on YouTube for some clips entitled "How to Put New Laces on Your Skates." No luck, except for a video from a hockey player on how to great maximum "skate volume" (what is this anyway?) from tight vs. loose laces. No help here.

I finally had one skate laced when I realized that I had - OF COURSE - done this incorrectly. Yep, there was an entire hour down the drain. So I sent an e-mail to Coach J and my best skating buddy asking the following: "Do you lace the skate from the inside up or the outside down?" and telling them about my lace problem. I was so embarrassed to have to ask for help. One would think that 11 years of skating would have taught me how to do this, right! Apparently not.

After two hours (maybe a little longer), I had my old laces washed and dried, packed in my skate bag, along with my pliers and ice pick implement (hope I don't have to go through any metal detectors at the rink!) just in case I have to switch laces while in SJ, new laces on my skates and a sense that I must be the dumbest skater alive. Perhaps this was just a symptom of pre-competition jitters.

Here I sit at 8:00 am, drinking my last cuppa of java, and reflecting on the week ahead. And, outside, I hear the sound of swans singing, "I DID IT MY WAY."

At long last, onward to Worlds we go!