Dusting Off Memories of a Synchro Competition – A Golden Anniversary

This is a repost, however, this includes photos from the 1990 Arborg Ice Show, Movie Mania. ~~~~~~~~~~While it feels like yesterday, it was 30 years ago today. It was the 1990 Interlake Regional Precision Competition at the Stonewall arena. The final competition of the season for our 16-member Arborg Junior team. For some reason, Interlake …

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Silver Blades and Hot Pink Bow Ties – The Mighty Synchro Team of Eight

This was the first post I wrote for my other blog, Skating Scene in 2010 I loved my synchro days, formerly called precision, plus the added bonus of the medals. This is one of my favourite posts. I mean, "Antics on Ice" is gold. Even though that season was silver.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Ice Revue during the …

An Interlake Regional Memory – A Golden Figure Skating Moment

The Interlake Regionals are an annual competition that debuted in 1975. After researching the archives, I learned the Arborg Skating Club attended the Interlake Regionals prior to 1989, attending in the late-70s and early-80s.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~When I skated, January meant one thing: the Interlake Regionals. After a brief hiatus, the Arborg Skating Club attended the 1989 Interlake …

Reviving Phantom of the Opera at Stony on Ice – It’s Competition Time

It's the 2019 Stony on Ice Competition weekend! This year, I'll win two medals. When you're an individual entry in one category, and one of three skaters in another category, you can say this without sounding overly confident. A member of the Stony on Ice committee emailed to let me know I was the lone competitor …

From Eight to Sixteen – The Story of a Synchronized Skating Team

Synchro skating isn't about medals. It's about the memories. Medals are a bonus though. During the Arborg Skating Club's 1988/1989 season, our coach produced three successful synchronized (precision) skating teams. I was on the eight-member senior team, winning two silver medal. Two competitions, two silver medals. Not too shabby. We won our second silver medal …

Rebooting the Journey, Again!

I'm a storyteller. And I'm rebooting the journey. 4-0 style. When I was turning 40, I set out to write 40 posts in 40 days. Even from a hospital bed. I tried again at 41, but I didn't feel that "thingy." And when I was turning 42, the attempt was there, and I did post, …

Spandex, Spangles and a Seam Ripper – My Homespun Costumes

Today, I saw a post on Facebook: "Do you remember when mom would make your clothes?" I chimed in: "Clothing and skating dresses." Thanks, mom, for the memories. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyone who understands figure skating knows it's an expensive sport. There’s professional skates. Blades your local sport shop can't sharpen. Hours of ice time. Coaching. Travel. …

Stony on Ice – Dissecting the Aftermath of Inner Demons

What a difference a year makes. Today's one year since I won the gold medal in Adult Intro Interpretive at Stony on Ice. My first competition in 22 years. This year's competition on March 26, 2017 didn't go so well. I flip-flopped for months between Sam Smith's "Latch" or Sam Tsui and Max Schneider's "Demons." "Demons" won. …

Dusting Off Memories Of A Synchro Competition – A Throwback Thursday

It seems like yesterday. But it was 27 years ago. I'll let that soak in for a moment. The 1990 Interlake Regional *Precision Competition at the Stonewall arena. I remember the weirdest parts of that afternoon. Eating pizza buns at a teammate's house. Her mom driving my teammate (her daughter), my sister, and me to the …

Snow’s on the Way – My Knees Told Me

I can predict the weather. Seriously. I don’t bother with the five-day forecast. I’ll look at it and scoff. Because my figure skating knees are tell me otherwise. Years of ice cold arenas have left me with a cool ability to be a walking barometer. I knew last Sunday that Wednesday’s heavy snow was on …

I’m Exhausted – But It Was Worth It

I can’t shake this fog. I know my body’s been through a lot. My meds were lowered. I had two seizures within four days of each other. Then my meds were raised to normal levels, and I jumped on the ice two days after my release – I mean, discharge. It’s obvious this is an …

A Recap of a Golden Moment – Why I Thanked My Fellow Competitor

I hugged the silver medallist yesterday at the Stony Mountain on Ice Competition. Before the gold medal was strung around my neck, I embraced my competitor and said, “Thank you.” Those words probably left her baffled. In 1989, I won the Interlake Interpretive Competition. Music was chosen by the host committee – in this case …

An Exciting Day – Stony on Ice

Thanks for all your messages of congratulations! Obviously, today was exciting. Anytime you stand on top of the podium, it's exciting. And makes for a tiring evening. More to come tomorrow since a lot happened at the competition.

Stony Mountain on Ice – Let’s Give it a Try!

Tomorrow, I’m coming out of retirement. My epileptologist cleared me to compete in Stony Mountain on Ice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIhQuCugJlY Twenty-five years ago, I competed in my first Stony, and I won silver. In 1993, I added another silver. The next year, I tried for another medal, but I placed fourth in Juvenile freeskate after falling very …

I’d Rather Be Skating – But Here We Are

Twelve days before Stony Mountain on Ice. My first figure skating competition in 25 years. And here I am. Sitting in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Watching my brainwaves on the screen in front of me. With picture-in-picture, 24/7 video surveillance. Gazing at pigeons out my window. What is Winnipeg feeding them? They’re frickin’ huge! Cemented …