Weekend of derby goodness and our debut mini bout!

So, I promised everyone an update after the bout this weekend.
WOW! That was a hell of a thing, and I can't wait to do it again, only do it better next time!

Okay. Now that I have that out of my system, I can blog in earnest.
For me, the weekend generally starts on Thursday evening with practice. We had an awesome practice this week. We had officials come in again to help us prepare for our mini bout which was yesterday. We played hard, and I feel like I did better this week than I did last week, though I am still WAY too timid as a player.
Someone managed to talk me into jamming. Yep, me, jamming. It was insane. It was super fun, but very intimidating. My blockers (okay, the blockers out there with me that jam) were working VERY hard to get me through, and I DID make it through the pack, but I managed to get a major back block on the way through the second time. Crap. Off to the sin bin for Indy. I served my time and went back out, and promptly cut the track. I knew I did it as soon as the lovely Tosser Assout blew the whistle. I looked right at her and asked, " I just cut the freaking track didn't I?" This made her laugh, as I was on my way back out and was clearly not arguing with her. SO, back to the box I go. This combination of penalties had me jamming in two consecutive jams. Fortunately for me, I was headed back in after serving my second penalty when the other jammer called off the jam, so I was able to go to the bench.
The rest of the scrimmage went pretty well, but everyone was playing a bit more aggressively than usual, and a lot of girls took some pretty nasty spills. There are, I believe, three nearly identical rink rashes on shoulders.
Then Friday comes, and I actually had to work. Granted, my Friday shifts are two whole hours, but still, boo. I wasn't feeling 100% on Friday. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat, and a little sniffle. Meh. I blew it off as allergies. It's April. That happens.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck and then tried to stuff it in my sinuses. Uh oh. Sick? NO! Not on Bout day! Well, I took my cold medication and started with the denial therapy. "What's denial therapy" you ask? It is the constant mental repetition of "I'm not sick, I'm not sick, I'm not sick."
I met with several of my awesome female buddies (non-derby sisters!) before the bout. We had a day of beauty. I had my makeup done by the lovely Malli, who made me feel just like a pinup. Then I had my numbers painted on my shoulders in black henna (which doesn't come off until I take it of with alcohol). I put on my boutfit and I was ready! I was working the bout as an NSO, so I had to be there early. I was able to hang out and talk to the other officials for a while, everyone was SO encouraging.
The bout is a blur. I remember blocking one jammer. Apparently I looked straight at three other jammers and just let them go by. Ugh. Gotta work on that. All told I held my own though. I only fell once. I remember being shoved out of bounds twice, once was by my own jammer. I think I was in her way. The other time, I am pretty sure it was an opposing skater than put both hands on my arm and shoved me out. I don't think the ref saw. It doesn't really matter who won, but my team won.
Today I woke up absolutely miserable. I think denial therapy works to delay, but then you have to deal with two days of sick when you let the sick happen.
YAY for Derby!