Anniversary at the Roller Rink

My handsome cowboy and I celebrated fourteen years of marriage this week.  We went out to dinner at The Market Grill which is a a yummy 'ole cowboy restaurant right next to the livestock auction. Yep. Their meat is very fresh.  Ryan took me there the same night he proposed. It may not sound like the most romantic place, but we love the food and we sit in these big wood booths that make you feel like you're almost in your own room....except for the view of your dinner cooking nearby :)

Then we went off to check out the new roller rink in town. Yes. Our small town of Cedar City has a roller rink....Old School Skate.  My handsome cowboy and I are a bit unconventional, I suppose. I gather this from people's responses upon hearing this is where we went on our anniversary.

But we had so much fun! At first, I felt a bit awkward since it's been a few years since I've skated (we went to a roller rink up north on another anniversary but that was about five years ago). I shuffled around trying to regain my skate legs.

Then after awhile, I had gotten it down. Oh, yeah. You should have seen me. The song Dynamite came on. And I was in the zone. I was whipping around that rink like a pro. Those teenagers lounging around the place had nothing on me. 

Hmmmmm, what's that saying? Pride comes before the fall? 

Ack! I was going down! How did my feet get crossed? Maybe I could stop myself. I groped around trying to find someway to regain my balance and stay upright. This attempt was then rudely interrupted by my knees crashing into the hard floor and my face's abrupt introduction to the carpeted wall surrounding the roller rink. 

Ouch.

A young college-looking guy who I'd noticed skating earlier (I was envying the way he could cross one foot over the other as he curved around the rink) came to a quick stop, crouched down and said with concern, "Are you alright?" 

I  managed to sit up a bit. But I couldn't really talk. All the air had left my lungs. I managed a thumbs up, a head nod and, what I hope was a small smile. 

"Are you sure? That was a really bad fall. You hit the wall." 

Yes. I'm aware. Thank you.  

Or

Oh, I see! That was that hard thing I found so close to my face. Interesting.  

Okay, he was just trying to be nice, I know.  

So, I squeaked out a, "Yeah," followed by another thumbs up. By this point, my handsome cowboy had noticed the unusual spot I'd decided to take a rest and managed to turn himself around and skate over. The nice young man skated on. Ryan helped me up and asked what happened. I told him in brief sentences while clinging to my nemesis, the carpeted wall, the story of my crumble from skating glory. 

Ryan asked if I was alright.  

"Yeah," I reassured him. I had carpet burn on my chin and arm. I felt like falling over in a heap.

"You don't look alright," he said. 

Thank you, my love.

Well, it took me awhile to go very fast after that. I was a wee bit embarrassed and cruised around the rink on tentative skates. But eventually I found my groove again and continued to stay upright.  Although when Ryan said, "Crash into the wall and then push off backwards. It's fun!" I declined. The carpeted wall and I prefer to keep our distance, thank you very much.

Earlier in the night, the owner played a couple country love songs, announced it was our anniversary and proclaimed it a Couples Skate where we had to hold hands. Ryan smiled at me and said, "Now, this is fun."   I had mentioned to the owner in passing it was our anniversary and he was quick to jump into action.  My handsome cowboy loved it, especially since they'd been playing the Boom Boom Boom kind of music up until then. And he's not a fan.

It was a really great night full of lots and lots of laughing. I'm so grateful for that handsome cowboy of mine. He is my very best friend and we have the best times together. I can't quite figure out how I managed to win the Marriage Lottery. But I'm glad I did!

The up side of my skating injury, is it's a good reminder of what my kids go through when they fall and skin their knees or elbows. It's been awhile since I had a crash like that. I think we forget how bad those owies actually hurt. Wow. They really sting.  

I found myself thinking, "Yeah, this DOES hurt," and also, "I DO need a band-aid."