Me Time

"Me Time" is a luxury that dwindled significantly when I had Mr. Blake and something that went away all together since I've had Brady. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not complaining. Being a mom is what I've wanted my whole life and I gladly give that up. From time to time though, when Brad would leave for a hockey game, I'd have a twinge of jealousy. It sounded so great to get that little bit of time every week to do something I was passionate about and have that me time. So when the opportunity presented itself this past week for me to have that, I jumped on it and Brad was completely supportive of it.
I figure skated competitively when I was very little and being on the ice has always been a passion of mine. Its hard to put into words how I feel gliding across the ice, but its magical to me. Brad grew up playing hockey and has the same passion about being on the ice and something we very much have in common and something that's always brought us closer to one another. Our love for hockey and skating introduced us to an amazing group of friends that we met while I worked for the Dallas Stars. That amazing group of friends convinced me to play hockey myself. Now, I am very much a girly girl (despite my lack of love for shopping) and so I had to be heavily convinced to strap on those pair of hockey skates and put on hockey gear. But the first time I played I fell in love. Our group of friends played on a team for several years before any of us girls started getting preggers and it was some of the funnest, most memorable years of my life. Its hard when you are so passionate about something, like skating is to me, to give it up entirely. One of our friends, who was the goalie on our prior hockey team, recently joined a new team and asked my good friends Heather, Tracey and I to join. And even though there are 6, yes 6, kids between the three of us, we all were in. (And our awesome hubby's were in for kid watching duty).
Last night was our first scrimmage and my first time to step foot on the ice in over three years. As the day wore on, I became increasingly nervous. Could I still skate? Still play hockey? Could I go through all of this without my biggest cheerleader (Brad) there to hold my hand through it all? But as soon as I started lacing up my skates, the nerves left, the excitement of getting to experience my passion took over. As soon as I stepped foot on the ice, that magical feeling came rushing through and I am willing to bet I had a grin on my face ear to ear. Skating, so it seems, is like riding a bike. It is in my blood I suppose. The hockey part? Its a little more rusty, but it will get better with time. The only rough part of this whole experience is realizing how out of shape I am. Seriously out of shape. I have muscles sore today I forgot I had. Reliving my passion though makes it completely worth it.