ADD - 1 Mature/Adult/Responsible Side of Brain - 0

I'm leaving for Edmonton today, and last night while I should of been packing, I made myself a whiteboard.

My memory is comparable to that of a goldfish, short term and long term. When shit needs to get done I need it written down and ridiculously obvious and with being a mom, Roller Derby girl, and housekeeper, the "To Do" list is endless.

So I went to the Dollar Giant and bought an 11 x 14 frame like this:

Not exactly like this. Think cheaper, much much cheaper. The cheapest. You get the idea.

For a background you can use almost anything, a cool poster, a cardboard cutout, or a snazzy fabric pattern like this. I didn't have anything cool like any of those things lying around so I took a plain sheet of white 11 x 14 sketchbook paper and put that in it instead. I'm easily bored of things so the beautiful part about this is that you can change your whiteboard background as often as you'd like.

Then I took a picture I had of the number one furry friend in my life and put it in the bottom right corner of the frame.

Then, instead of writing down the massive list of things that need to get done, such as packing for our weekend getaway in Edmonton (or how about just going and packing in general)...

I decided to illustrate my Chihuahua's take over of a large city (Calgary maybe?) by way of Martian alien force. 

(The cape represents her Queen Martian status.)

Has it been 3 years already?!

That's me working my best "airplane" three years ago in 2008, wearing 10 lb loaner skates at one of my first practices ever at the birth of the Red Deer Roller Derby Association. Take note of the lack of a mouthguard, elbow pads, and wrist guards. Well, I'm wearing one wrist guard ;)

And some things never change.
Gas City Rollers vs The Nightshades October 22, 2011. Photo by Richard Lowes

There's this "25 things about Roller Derby" thing going around Facebook, and I thought it was about time I jumped on the bandwagon to share things I've learned over the last few years, things about myself, yadda yadda. My actual derby-versary was really at the very beginning of November, but if I was gunna write this shit out, I wanted time to think about it first.

Sk8mare November 2009

When I joined I was 18, there were 3 leagues in Alberta. The CRDA, E-Ville, and Oil City. Now it's like every day there's a new league, I never knew it would be as big as this. I'm proud of everything I've accomplished, and the stronger person this sport has made me. It helped me grow up and still is. I can't imagine who I'd be otherwise if I hadn't met all the people I have. Here's to another year, and hopefully many more.

Red Deer vs Saskatoon February 2010

1. buying better skates won't make you a better skater. Spending the money on a major gear upgrade has to come when you're good and ready. If you still have a hard time staying upright or mastering a cross over, what you need is more practice not new gear. Don't buy the stilletos if you can't walk in em'.

Red Deer vs Oil City "GI Janes" March 2010

2. Practice Counts. Everyone has a life outside of derby, but dropping the ball in a game because you haven't been working with your team sucks. I don't care how GOOD you are, while you missed those last few practices not working on your knowledge and basic skills, you got sloppy. To quote a quote by Suzy Hotrod, who quoted Michael Phelps, "For every 1 day out of the pool it takes 2 to get back". 

3. Ask not "What can my league do for me?", but rather, "What can I do for my league?"

House team Death Row vs Heavy Duty Chickanics April 2010

4. My fiancee got me new skates for Mothers Day last year. I was 41 weeks pregnant and skated around my whole house. I gave birth 2 days later. I'd say it was incentive.

 

Gas City invitational "Revenge on the Flat Track" January 2010

Photo by Susan Knight 

5. I played against Quadzilla in the Co-Ed All Star game at the CWRDA 2010 Bootcamp. The two or three times I jammed against him I got lead and sent him back to his bench with no points. I was battling a chest infection, and I jammed nearly every second jam that game. To this day it was the best game I've ever played. My blockers were amazing, and I'm sure he knocked down his superior skills a bit, but I still feel like I could die a happy derby death.

CWRDA Bootcamp All Star Co Ed May 2010

6. Don't take yourself too seriously. I am my own worst critic. No one can rip apart my game play like me. If I have a bad jam, or a bad game, you can count on it I'll lose sleep for a few days. Roller Derby really brings out the perfectionist in me, and if my attitude takes a drop because I'm getting too serious, I play like complete shit. It took losing my cool once to make me never want to do it again. The more I smile the better I play, and the more I appreciate the game.

 Red Deer vs Saskatoon (the second time) August 2010

7.Small victories are still victories. With every game I play I try to come out of it with a few things I did really well and things I need to work on, and dear God the list for the latter is always a hell of a lot longer. Anything I do effectively, is a victory, whether the game was won or lost. Anything I didn't do, or do very well, I swear to learn from it and never let it happen again.

CRDA Hops vs Bellas May 2010 Photo by Chris Edwards

8. Double Knee Falls and T-Stops are NOT COOL! The only adjectives that come to mind for these are "knee busting" and "ankle shattering". Learn them for the sake of passing your benchmarks, but please, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't do these in practice if you don't have to!! With the ample amount of other ways there are to stop, we should never have to do this. Fuck, I'd rather land on my face.

 

Coach Rookie Game Medicine Hat Invitational July 2010 Photo by Susan Knight

9. I rarely wash my gear. I don't believe in being considerate for those around me, it's almost like a not so secret weapon. 

Red Deer vs Oil City October 2009

10.Roller Derby is apart of my family. At family dinners, we talk strategy and game play. My sister and I both play, and both of our spouses do. My cousin plays for Tri-City Rollergirls. My mom is our biggest fan, she's missed maybe a handful of my games, and she calls me constantly for score updates if she misses my sisters games. Before we joined, me and my sister weren't as close as we are now. I've seen her transform and grow from who she used to be in all the best ways, and I love who she is. (hugging is still weird.)

Calgary "Ink Cup" Red Deer vs Gas City/Calgary mixed team August 2009 Photo by Nicolas Charest

11. Try Reffing. You'll play better.

OCDG Men's Invitational & Oil City vs Saskatoon January 2010 Photo by Pat Zaph

12. Derby + Drama Go Hand in Hand.You can switch leagues but you'll just end up in another one with it's own dirty laundry. Gather a large group of strong women who all carry a superiority complex and have alpha female syndrome and drama is inevitable.  That being said, when we DO work together, we create beautiful things. And if you ever notice that the common denominator in any negativity in your league is you: step back, evaluate, and try to better the situation, maybe you're the cause.

Summer Slam Advanced Game July 2009

13. It's all a headgame.

"THIS, this is my next line!" Belladonnas vs Lassies February 2010

14. Confident, Not Cocky.

 Red Deer vs Winnipeg Murder City Maidens April 2010

15. I've never seen my derby self as a "persona". Who I am on skates is exactly who I am off skates. 

Red Deer vs Cutthroat CarHops September 2009 Photo by Wytchy

16. Making a second Facebook account for your derby life just because your non-derby friends don't want to hear about it is dumb. They're not your friends.

  

Gas City vs St Albert September 2011

17. I picked Spaz to be my derby name because I wanted something that wasn't going to take up half the back of my jersey. Short, sweet, memorable, easy to cheer for. It ended up suiting me more than I ever thought.

Gas City vs Missfits of Mayhem June 2011

 

18. My number. My age when I first started. My first number was 5'1", I retired it when I moved away and joined another league.

Medicine Hat Invitational Co-Ed August 2011

 

 19. I changed leagues because I fell in love with a referee and got pregnant. I regret nothing.

Gas City vs The Gravediggers November 2011 Photo by Susan Knight

20. Playing with an injury is stupid. I did this with a knee injury, that took longer than necessary to heal because of it. I get that we're all super badass because we skate fast and hit each other and we can play through the pain, but this one can make you fuck your body up for the rest of your life. Take the time to heal, there are always more games to be played.

 Medicine Hat Invitational July 2010 Photo by Susan Knight

21. Derby destroys relationships. I can count on more than two hands how many relationships and marriages I've seen end because of it. Mind you, I'm sure many of those were already on their way out before derby. That being said,  I've seen Roller Derby liberate and free many women from their former selves. The guys that have stuck around with their ladies, are real men.

Belladonnas vs Mixed Team May 2009

22. When I played my first game, I had never been to a Roller Derby game. I had never even watched a video of a Roller Derby game. I had no comprehension of the rules and didn't understand what the hell all the whistles going off were for. A ref yelled "CUT TRACK MAJOR" 10 seconds into my first jam. I was terrified.

E-Ville house teams vs CRDA house teams March 2010

23. I played a game when I was 6 weeks pregnant. Didn't I just say something about playing with injuries? I didn't say I always follow my own advice..

E-Ville vs Terminal City November 2009

24. I played my first game back when my daughter was just under 3 weeks old. I was still carrying 40 lbs of baby weight, breast milk, and still had stitches. (I'll let you think about that last one.) Lesson: Getting hit in the boob when it's full of milk HURTS.

25. Roller Derby is completely consuming and it's up to you to make that a positive or a negative in your life. You pay to be here, give everything you got at practice. We're non-profit, help in any way you can. Criticism is a good thing. Watch videos, go to games, go to bootcamps. ALL GAMEPLAY IS GOOD GAMEPLAY, play every chance you get. My biggest lesson learned, is that there is always something to be learned. Just when I think I get something, there's a thousand others I don't. And I love it.

 Coaching Belladonnas vs Regina November 2010

Sometimes you swing..

...Sometimes you miss

And sometimes,

Just when you think you're in the clear...

 c.Susan Knight

You get hit.

And taken the **** out.

But always get your ass back in the game.

And if you're off balance...

Just airplane it.

What does "Contact Dermatitis" look like?

This.

Those diseased looking things are my hands. I've been living with that giant red spot on my right hand for at least a year and a half now. The first time I ever experienced this was in the spring of 2010 while I was working as a supervisor at a liquor store. These extremely dry, red, ITCHY, oval-shaped spots showed up on my thumbs. I figured it was due to constantly handling cardboard boxes, and constantly dealing with dust. Maybe an allergic reaction? They were bright red, flakey, and cracking from being so dry. I put heavy duty cream on them and eventually they went away. But then they came back.

I soon noticed that I was developing this huge red spot on the top of my right hand after practices and games. This spot would flare up and go away repeatedly, once again it was dry and so itchy, but I didn't see a doctor about it until months later when I found out I was pregnant and was experiencing a particularly intense flare up. I figured it was possibly a fungal infection from my wrist guards, since they are the Triple 8 "Hired Hands" that I had started using within the last 6 months of this rash showing up. The Hired Hands are comparable to fingerless gloves, so lot's of hand coverage, and I was sure throwing them into the washing machine wasn't likely getting them as clean as I'd like to think. The doctor said it was definitely not fungal, but more of an eczema type thing with a small infection, and she prescribed me a yeast cream. I thought this was strange, as I have no history of eczema and it's rare to be seen in adults, but I was willing to try anything.

Triple 8 Hired Hand wristguards. These gloves are fantastic, but to my skin, an irritant.

The first few days this mildly helped, but fast started to sting when I'd apply it, and the reaction just kept coming back still as strong. I stopped using the cream and eventually the spot calmed down but never went away. I wasn't playing derby anymore, so I attributed it to insane pregnancy hormones. But then the spot came back with a fury, and I developed other patches on my hands while I was working in a tattoo shop as a counter girl. I'd spend much of my time in nitrile gloves while cleaning, and assembling sterilized tubes, which was a huge chunk of every work day.  Not to mention I was washing my hands constantly. My hands would sting after I took off the gloves, and would get extremely dry from washing, and although having hand cream at my desk helped that irritation, it did nothing to completely relieve me.

Elastik brand examination gloves. Powder free, and not latex, but still irritating to my skin.

By this time I knew the constant glove wearing and hand washing was the irritating factor with my hands, but there was nothing I could do for them as I couldn't just stop wearing gloves and washing my hands in a tattoo shop. By the time I went on maternity leave my hands found some relief and calmed down since they weren't in gloves anymore. But going back to Roller Derby practice two weeks after having my daughter, they flared all over again. It's been 3 months since then and as you can see I now have these patches all over my hands, the itch is so intense it keeps me up at night. 

I did some searching online along the lines of "roller derby wrist guard rash" and found a question posted on Yahoo by a fellow roller derby girl describing the exact same symptoms, who wore the exact same wrist guards. I bit the bullet and went to the doctor that same day. Immediately just by looking at my hands he knew right away it was contact dermatitis. I was prescribed a strong steroid cream, and told to wear wool gloves underneath my wrist guards when I wear them, anything to keep the material off of my skin. 

It's been a week and my hands are starting to heal. I have a light scar underneath that will never go away, but they're healing. I had no idea what was wrong for so long and didn't do much to be proactive about it, and I would have given anything to see something like this to give me an idea of what it could be.

 My right hand a week later

If you experience anything like this and think it may be related to your protective gear, try wearing thick gloves/arm-warmers underneath them when you practice and see if that helps. Keep the area clean at all times, and wash your gear after every practice. Something that didn't fix the problem, but helped soothe my skin in the meantime, was using an After Sun aloe spray and using unscented Aveeno cream. And lastly, don't wait to see a doctor, certainly not over a year like I did.

Try these for temporary relief.

I'M GOING TO TORONTO

Can I just say, 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

 This pretty much sums up my reaction when my Fiance came home the other day and handed me a piece of paper with my name and "VIP Ticket" printed underneath it.

Why Toronto? For the Roller Derby World Cup but of course! This competition is the first of it's kind in the Roller Derby world. For you non-derby folk, this is basically like the Stanley Cup, on roller skates. Teams from all over the World will be making their way to Toronto, with the competition running from December 1-4.  Tryouts for Team Canada were held across the country from May-July, and with the roster being announced August 5th, I'm super proud and stoked to say my own sister, Gunpowder Gertie from the Belladonnas in Red Deer Alberta, made it!

The World Cup is being hosted by Blood & Thunder magezine.

After getting past my initial,  omg I get to see my sister play! OMG I get to see BONNIE THUNDERS, my hero from Gotham Girls Roller Derby in New York, play! AHHHH!! My second thought was the baby, what about the baby?! To which I was told, "we'll just take her with us".

With us?

On a TWO day drive just to get there? Through the states? In WINTER?! My ecstatic feelings came to a screeching halt and my new mom anxiety kicked in. Simultaneously, the small part of my brain that has remained somewhat sane since childbirth, then took over and said, "why the fuck not?''. I'm constantly having to remind myself that life does not stop just because you had a baby.

I hear from other parents, and people who are just generally terrified of the idea of having children, "Isn't life just SO different now?", or better, "You must barely have time to live your life..". Well no, and no. Childbirth made me realize many new things about myself, mainly what my body was capable of. Hell, I played my first game back to derby when my daughter was just 3 weeks old. I still had stitches! And despite racking up penalties due to 9 months of no gameplay, and getting booted from the game (for the first time EVER) with 30 seconds left, it was a hell of a time and I was so glad I did it.

Jamming, 4 practices under my belt, still carrying 20lbs of baby weight, breast milk, and post-baby stitches. Photo cred: Visual Musings Photography

I'm 21 years old, for the sake of my youth I can't afford to let my life stop! I just now have a beautiful baby girl who makes my life better. When I do something, I make sure to fit her needs into it. And I wasn't robbed of my young life by having a baby, my life is just worth that much more now when she smiles at my silly faces, and shows me that I'm her only comfort when she cries. She gives me an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment every time she does something new. 

 Stopping for "lunch" during the Medicine Hat Chili Cookoff.

Having a child isn't this total life-altering, fun-stopping, bomb-dropping weight on my shoulders. And it shouldn't be, for anyone. You get a rhythm, a solid routine, and you mould your life to fit your childs needs. And if you do it good enough, you make plans for yourself to still have new experiences and have fun doing it. Is this to say it's easy? Not so much. You live your life with less money, and have new priorities, with all the old ones being completely flipped around. But you make it work. So when I want to go out, I take her with me. When I go to Roller Derby practice, she comes with me. And last week when I spent 6 hours in Calgary getting tattooed, the longest I've ever been away from her with no contact whatsoever, she got to have a great day in the city with her Dad.

In the end, we decided that either she'll be babysat by my other sister for the week we'll be gone, or at 7 months old by the time the cup rolls around, she hits the road with us and gets to experience this incredible opportunity too. Am I still a bit nervous about driving on the highway from Alberta to Ontario in prime winter weather? Yeah. But life is all about overcoming hesitations and going ahead with a "do it all" mentality. I can't wait.

For more information on the Roller Derby World Cup, go here:

http://bloodandthundermag.com/WorldCup2011.htm

To donate to Team Canada, helping them get to Toronto, go here:

http://www.teamcanadarollerderby.ca/