*Being brave(r)*

I had some possible good news on the wrist situation recently. The hospital has now decided that maybe it will be fixable, if only they knew what the problem was (Well, duh, I coulda told you that - oh yeah, I DID). So anyway, they've scheduled surgery for the end of April where they're going to have a look into my arm with a camera and see if they can work out what's going on. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I've pretty much adapted to the issues and rarely notice it anymore. It's funny what you can adapt to. The only thing it really interferes with is
exercise - it's impossible for me to do certain things, like push ups or "crabs". I also don't have the flexibility in my arm that I'm used to - so can't reach as far around my back etc.

What I forgot to go onto say in my last post was the "skip" part from the title. I discovered I can use my skipping rope again! I was pretty chuffed with that. My wrist has just enough movement to be able to use the rope now so I'm going to use that to get into better shape again.

My hubby and I have just got back from a holiday this week. It was a re-booked version of the holiday (our belated honeymoon actually) that we had to cancel because I broke my wrist. We had a great time, but being home has its own bonus.

Before we went, I told Coach A (and meant it) that once I got back, he was to accept no more excuses or "I can't" from me. The holiday couldn't have been cancelled again (not without losing thousands of pounds) so falling again and hurting myself before the holiday was NOT an option. Now we're back, well, I'd still like NOT to break any bones, but it's more acceptable, so bravery, here I come! This was my resolution: once the holiday is over, I'm going to at least make an effort to be braver.

And actually, I think I have been this week. With the help of a little more gutsy-ness, I've finally started to get something resembling the beginnings of a spin (sometimes, anyway) from a proper spin entry (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNsFq1nTRK4 for a little video). Up until two days ago all that ever happened was I would step out of the wind up onto an outside edge and do a three turn before I even knew what was going on!

I've also been a bit braver with my three jump this week (little video also on the same YouTube channel if you're interested, though I don't think they're the best I've ever done). One of the things I need to try to fix, Coach A says, is my arms. They're not really working for me in the jump at the moment, they seem to be just some other hindrance to think about and forget to do properly. He says I resemble an Irish dancer at times (and he's done impressions of me too, which I always enjoy!), because I put them back and forget to ever bring them forward again, and just do the whole thing with my arms behind me. Haha!

On a totally separate note, I absolutely can't sign off without a big shout out and a bit of recognition for lots of my skatey friends (and skatey people I don't know too) who completed a 26-mile skate yesterday for Comic Relief. There were lots of sore feet today but well worth it because they've raised thousands of pounds for the charity. I'd love to have done it too if I hadn't been away on holiday (I only got back two days before, so no time to find sponsorship etc). I did my bit selling raffle tickets and handing out prizes though! An excellent event organised by the wonderful Derek of iceskatinginfo.com (search on Facebook if you've never heard of it as the main website is still under construction). Nice one, guys and gals!