productive, barely

[dragonlady7]

Last night's roller derby match was awesome in a way I can't really describe. Our travel team played against another league's local team, which contained (as these things do) members of that league's travel team. Their travel team is currently #3 in the nation in WFTDA's rankings, I believe, after taking third place at Nationals last November. In other words, they're really fucking good.
But I'm not naming names, because I don't anymore. They're an amazing league, and this was an awesome team. Our travel team lost by only 50 points, which really isn't very much considering, and played well, including several rallies throughout the game, down to snagging lead jammer in the last two jams.
They were just such amazing skaters, with wonderful strategy, great communication, and awesome skating skills. It was wonderful to watch-- and really wonderful to see our own skaters hold up against their onslaught and make great plays, offensively and defensively.
I was impressed by all of their skaters collectively, and most of them individually, but one in particular (and now it's a real shame I can't name names) stood out, to me, as an example of amazing skill and real class. She was a hard hitter, laying some really brutal hits (not all clean, but not exceptionally dirty) on her opponents, and not really making any friends on our squad. But at one point her team's jammer had lead, and thumbed her nose at the crowd for a lap. Upon her return to the bench, this skater shook her head at the jammer: No, not okay. We're up by too much and we're in their house. And there was no more showboating, just like that. They played hard and clean, traded hits, and at the end, this skater I so admired, instead of high-fiving everyone, stopped to embrace each member of the opposing team, and then high-fived the announcer's 8-year-old daughter, and several other fans who were standing by.
So classy. And such an amazing player-- agile, fast, strong, smart. I saw footage of her from Nationals, and was so excited to see her play last night, and she absolutely did not disappoint me, not one whit.

Anyway. Not coherent enough to attempt a more detailed insight into the game than that. I feel terribly hung-over today, which just goes to show you that good behavior doesn't reward itself at all.

I had two beers, then left the after-party without even going to the after-after party, because I was just so tired. We were home before midnight, and I was asleep within minutes of getting home.
Today I tried to sleep in but couldn't-- once things wake me, I have to get out of bed. So I was up by 9. As I was making coffee, I caught sight of a tin of baking soda I had mistakenly put away next to the coffee tins, instead of under the counter with the baking supplies.
Baking soda.
Baking!
I decided to make coffee cake. So I did. I made it in two bread tins, instead of a bigger baking dish. So the three of us annihilated the contents of one tin, but the other is untouched-- I might freeze it, but am still deciding. Maybe we'll eat it tomorrow...
Then I did a bunch of dishes, and decided to see how far I could get on that dress I've been meaning to make for lethal_lorelei. (Who is, btw, the player on our travel team with the same number as the opponent who so impressed me.)

I spent 2 hours and 40 minutes making the pattern, cutting out the fabric, and assembling the dress, which included half an hour to unpick two seams that I sewed inside-out. (Awesome!) I have three more seams or so to sew, and then I have to close the casing for the elastic somehow-- I'm worried about how to do that properly, so I may actually hand-sew it. Since I like hand-sewing, that's not a problem, I just have to be aware that it's more time-consuming than normal, and take that into account. (I am trying to track how long it takes me to do a project like this, start to finish, so I can decide whether to accept projects at all in the future, and what to charge people if I do.) It's a very easy pattern and I think it will turn out quite nice. But I am paused just at the moment, looking for a pattern to make the appliqué, which was requested to be a skull. Easy enough, I rather think, but I have to pick a good one.

I paused then for a nap, with Chita, in the attic, which was lovely. And then I sewed for about 15 more minutes. I could go faster if I were more used to the sewing machine, I think. And if I had a bobbin winder, since neither one works on either machine I have. (Awesome!)
Anyone have any suggestions about bobbin winders? I see them at Jo-Ann's but they're like $30. Is it really worth that? As it is I wind them by hand, which is annoying and takes about 5 minutes per bobbin, but isn't unendurable.
I am debating whether to continue with the project. The nap didn't help-- I'm still zoned-out as all heck. I feel like I should Do Something tonight. But my team's practice time has been co-opted for another team, and I am so very very tired, and I just don't waaaaaanna do anything. Oh well. At least I got a bit done today.

Comments

[besina-sartor.livejournal.com]

Ah, don't beat yourself up about not doing anything tonight. Some down time might be just the thing to perk you up.

When you say you wind bobbins by hand, do you mean actually by hand (that seems nightmarish to me!) or on the sewing machine? I've never used a dedicated bobbin winder so I have no opinion on that -- the sewing machine has always worked well enough for me. You do seem like you sew an awful lot though, so if you want to save wear and tear on your machine a bobbin winder might be worth the investment.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I mean I hold the bobbin in one hand, the thread in the other, and wind it. It is pretty nightmarish.

[besina-sartor.livejournal.com]

Yikes, woman! Get yourself a bobbin winder pronto!! You must have the patience of a saint -- I think I'd give up sewing altogether if I had to hand-wind all my bobbins!

[rootsnradicals.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for that anecdote about the visiting team - I hadn't seen it, but am not at all surprised. They were wonderful! They kept getting up from hits with big smiles on their faces, or hitting us with the same smiles - it was like playing against 12 HerAssHer's! I loved seeing them all with their tiaras on at the after-party!

[tenthet.livejournal.com]

I had wanted to come up with them for the game, since I have a fair number of friends in the city but with just getting back from India I couldn't swing it. I'm glad you had a good time playing with them. It was always very important to us as a group that we kept a good attitude and treated each other and the game with respect. I'm *really* surprised to hear about the jammer incident -- that's not cool, and not what that particular team is about.

Anyway, are you guys coming down for the ECE?