It's been a rollercoaster of a year, but I'm glad I went along for the ride

So once again, I totally forgot to update my blog. Not great, I admit, but I'm back now, and there is much to share.

So when I last wrote, we were getting ready for Christmas Show 2016. That was Alice in Wonderland, and quite frankly was the best way to get back into skating regularly, and make new friends at the rink. After that, around this time last year, I found out we were going to do an Easter gala show, and began attending Saturday rehearsals. The coach was one I'd not worked with before, I was the oldest skater by around 5 years and the lowest level.

I really felt out of my depth and like I would drag the group down, but do you know what? A nice chat with the coach, who explained that I actually wasn't so far behind the others, and I felt better. He even did something I thought was a little crazy, and gave me a step-out solo in one routine. He made it so that we each had one, and although it was the most terrifying thing I'd done to date, it was super fun.

I still skate with that group, every Saturday morning. In a year, my skating has come on in leaps and bounds, and my confidence has grown. In May 2017 we had an in house artistic competition, and I skated a little routine to "Singin' in the Rain", and scored 18.5 out of 30, which I was really pleased with. I also took part in a large group number at an inter-rink event in July, which pushed me to my limit skating wise, but was a fabulous experience, and if the option is there this year, I'll be auditioning again.

After that event, it was time to get back in to Christmas show rehearsals, from September onwards. This time it was Around the World in 80 Days, and I decided to audition for a main role. I didn't get one, and was pretty sad about that, but with hindsight, I'm glad! The guys who did had so many rehearsals and routines, I wouldn't have coped with it, at all. I was in 2 routines, and had a great time with my friends.

Right now, we're about to kick into Easter rehearsal mode, but I've not got any real idea of what we're doing yet.

There is some other news I have to share, but I'm going to do that in a separate post, as it's quite a detailed story.