I feel like a kid again...

I feel young. Young and alive.

Okay, that sounds majorly corny. However, when I went skating for the first time with my girls, this is exactly the thought that went through my mind. I've had arthritis since age 5 and there are some activities, as I've gotten older and accumulated more joint damage... and weight... that I just had not tried.

I have such good memories of skating in Granite City at Stopkotte's. I skated on quads then and we would skate and skate and skate. Our church went so they played Christian music. There was limbo, and hokey pokey as well as reverse skating... couples skate (YUK, cooties!). I loved it as a kid, but as I grew into an adult, and then packed on weight, I figured skating was not an option for me anymore.

My kids went to a skating party at the Edwardsville YMCA back in July. I did not skate then because my youngest daughter was a handful. She was terrified and crying. Screaming. Once I got her into some slower skates she was fine, but the party was nearly over. So, the next week, I got the wild idea to take them to the open skate from 1-4 pm they had during the summer. I told a few friends that I may be calling if I need medical assistance, and we left for the rink. I had the thought of ... my husband is gone right now, and if I break my leg it's going to be really hard to care for the kids by myself!! LOL!!

I put the skates on, and started off. A couple day camp teachers said they were impressed I was trying. I guess a mid thirties mom on skates was kind of an unusual sight for them?! I inched my way to the rink and a couple helpful kids said, "are you sure you can handle this?" I asked one if they knew what number to call to get medical help. "Um, 911." I laughed and said, don't forget that, ok? ;)

So, I made my way around the rink, hanging out by the wall. I was surprised at how well I was doing, because I hadn't done this in a while! I guess losing that much weight makes a lot of things more possible! I was going along really well... for a while.

I got really confident, and ended up falling on my bottom. A couple little girls zoomed over and asked if I was sure I was okay... I said yes over and over but they didn't look convinced. I really was fine, and replied, "don't worry, I fell on my butt, and it's padded." They laughed and one said in a serious tone, "they have ice packs if you need one for your butt!!" HAHAHA!! I declined.

We skated a while, and I sat down to enter my activity points for Weight Watchers. 8 points for a half hour! Awesome!! My oldest daughter told me she was proud of me. I kept telling the kids, I love skating! I love skating! I felt so good about being able to do it!!

We got a membership so we could skate at the free member skate times for free and have gone once or twice a week since my first try. I'm trying to get my husband "rolling" so we have a new fun physical activity to do together as a family. My girls love going, and my 4yo has gained the confidence to skate on inlines, yeah! I love that this is something physical I can do that doesn't hurt me (save a fall here and there). I'm so thankful I lost the weight and I can do so much more now with the kids!