My Alternate Universe

Now we're having fun!

Hey dad, bottoms up?

Listen, son, you gotta cool it with the tap water.

Look at Vanessa's juicy mouth! I know I should turn and smile, but I can't...

HELLO. My life is crazy. In a given week, I work three jobs, work on my Master's degree, go to Rugby practice and Rugby games, socialize, teeter on the edge of insanity, and occasionally find time to sleep a few winksters. So now I'm done excusing myself for not blogging, and will deliver some details about rugby, as I think that's in the highest demand at the moment.
I joined the Boston Women's Rugby Football Club (BWRFC) about two months ago. Winter conditioning was just starting and so it was the natural time for rookies to start. There are probably 5 or 6 new girls on the team that have never played before, myself and my friend-turned-roommate Jamie being one of them. Jamie coaches soccer at Newton North High School, and someone that she works with there suggested that she give BWRFC a try. She didn't want to do it alone, and I'm well-built for rugby, so she asked if I would join with her. We decided that it would be a good way to stay in shape, give us the opportunity to meet a whole new group of people, and push us out of our comfort zones a little bit. So we showed up to the gym at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where practice occurs until the weather dries out a little bit, and dived right in.
It was definitely scary for me at first. I haven't run sprints and done big drills like this since high school soccer, and while I've lost 40 pounds since college I'm not in the best shape of my life. I had worked up to running for 30-45 minutes without stopping to walk, but sprints is a whole different matter. The first practice I literally thought that I was going to pass out, and my head got all fuzzy towards 9pm. Luckily I made it through without passing out, and it's just been steady improvements since then. I'm still one of the slowest goobers on the team when we're doing those sprints, but I hold my own. It isn't embarrassing. What is embarrassing, however, is going to the gym and trying to run for distance again, and failing miserably. I need to start doing both more often, and then maybe I'll turn into some albino Flo-Jo.
Onto the action bit. We had our first game yesterday! We went down to Providence to play the Brown University club team, and it was rough. It was POURING rain (Belmont High is closed tomorrow because the school flooded) and barely 40 degrees. The ref decided to cut our game short to only 55 minutes, down from 80, because the conditions were so bad. The visibility was terrible, and it was really tough to hold onto the ball because it got so slippery. Jamie has developed some sort whooping cough, and I have an ear ache. Either way. While the Brown team is supposed to be a little beneath us, they beat us 25 or 30 to 0. Not only are they BIG girls, and the inclement weather severely handicapped both teams, but their game was sloppy, which made our game sloppy. But I'm sure what you care about is how I did. Since it was my first game- and I still don't know all the rules, let alone where the HECK I am supposed to be on the field when I'm not in the scrum- I was truly terrified to play. For some reason our roster wasn't very big for the game, so they told me to be prepared to play, and I went in for the last five minutes of the game. I'm a forward since I can throw some weight around, and they had me flanking. That means I'm on the outside of the scrum pushing the girl on the outside of the front row (my shoulder against her butt cheek) to help the scrum hold our ground and hopefully push the opposing team's scrum backwards. Other than that, I'm not so clear on my duties. So in the three or four scrums that formed while I was on the field, I felt great! But once that scrum broke, I was basically running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Thankfully it was only five minutes, or I might have been tempted to cry on the field. I was glad when it was over, but I was also totally exhilarated and warmed up considerably from running around on the field.
The second the game was over we practically sprinted to my car and stripped most of our wet clothes off, shoved them in the trunk, and blared the heat. It took a good long time to get warm after that. Then, while driving home and fielding all of the excited calls and text messages from people wanting to know how the game went, I went the wrong way on 95 and didn't realize until we saw a sign that said "Welcome to Connecticut." I guess it gave us a little extra time to warm up?
***
Here is my first official rugby portrait. This is Jamie and I in our warm-up shirts, rugby shorts, and rugby socks. I was tempted to cut myself out of it or airbrush Sienna Miller over myself, because I think I look pretty scary, but isn't that what Rugby is all about?

I am so sorry that I haven't been blogging. It came to my attention recently that it's been roughly three weeks since my last post! I can't believe how quickly time flies. Between having two jobs, being in graduate school, and active social life and a grueling gym schedule, I barely fit in time to sleep! I get nervous sometimes when I realize how quickly time flies... this life is so short! But at least life is treating me right, and I'm having a lot of fun. I can only think of a three things I would even improve at all: I wish I were warmer more often (it's cold here!), I wish I made more money (but who doesn't?) and I wish my back didn't hurt. As for the back thing, I fell down my *ICY* front steps on the the way to work about a month ago, and now I have a sharp sharp sharp sharp sharp pain in my lower right back when I bend over or move or sit a certain way. Even crossing my legs can make me go cross-eyed sometimes. I'm suspicious of a pinched nerve, so I'm going to hit the chiropractor when I find time to get things adjusted and see if that fixed the problem.
Here's my favorite picture from Christmas break, which I spent at my parents' house in Los Angeles:

This is me, holding Clare, my 9 year-old cousin. I can't believe that it's been so long since she was born! It feels like yesterday that she was breaking hearts with her chubby legs and curly baby-hair. I pretty much worship her. And here's my OTHER favorite picture from Christmas break:

Now, I recognize that the word "favorite" denotes only one, but I couldn't ignore this picture. This is my dad and my nephew, Quentin. Quentin is my parents' first grandchild, and watching them love him is really fun for all of us. I came down one morning for breakfast and Poppie was nonchalantly holding Quentin like this. It kind of melted my heart on the spot! My dad also loves to sing the Talking Heads song that goes "Little baby, you're just a play thing, I want to make you stay up all night..." to which my sister-in-law good-natured-ly scoffs and takes back baby.
In other news, my good friend Whitney Low got married over break, and is now Mrs. Whitney Erickson. It was a beautiful event, and it was wonderful for me to be able to participate in Whitney's happiness (not to mention shopping for honeymoon unmentionables!!) Congratulations, Whitney!!