Thatgirljj adds some polish

[thatgirljj]

Hi there!  So, my last challenge kind of died off.  Right after the beginning of the challenge I found out my mom had cancer and things really kinda went downhill from there.  I had two major infections then I had to help my mom through surgery and life was just... it wasn't happening.  Once I got to feeling better I was able to get back to training, but the whole situation with challenge goals totally fell by the wayside.  That's life.  The good news is, things are looking up!  First of all, my mom is in pretty good shape!  (YAY!!!)  She's got some follow up stuff to deal with that she'll need my help with but the big scary part of it is done, and prognosis still looks positive.  

 

The other good thing is that my circus school is having a recital!  So I have something fun and exciting to plan for.  Recitals are great because they're lower pressure than our showcases (which are pretty much a full 1-ring circus show performed by amateurs), but still a chance to practice putting together an act to show our friends, family & classmates.   This is really nice for me because it gives me a great incentive to dive back in, while not having to be so stressed about my mom or my own health.  PLUS, today actually marks 5 years since I started training in aerial, so I've got that to celebrate too.  

 

So... onto goals!

 

Goal 1: Develop a 1.5-2 minute straps piece focusing on things I can do with my feet in the straps.  Work on really polishing up what I can do, within my current skill level.  I've been really holding back on working on performance stuff until I have more straps tricks... but I realized it would be good to refine what I have, so I have some grace and polish to bring to the table when I start to add more advanced work.

• Subgoal: Follow training schedule with extra act development workshops.
• Subgoal: Spend some time on reviewing music and getting ideas from friends & youtube.
• Subgoal: Use mental rehearsal techniques.

 

 

Goal 2: Stretch my splits 4-5 times a week.  The performance piece is going to need to use my left split.  So I need to work on my left side oversplit and on regaining my right side flat split.  (For whatever reason I woke up one morning in February with a cramp in my right glute and haven't been able to get my split back on that side ever since.)

 

Goal 3: Work on my foot extension & expression 3 times a week.  

 

Goal 4: Get busy on my gardening goals.  Planting time is coming up in late September and all the chaos so far this summer has really hamstrung me from getting stuff done.  (I will post some pictures from last challenge soon.)  

• I need to finish turning the wire mesh in my garage into deer protection cages for my plants.
• I need to work with our landscape guy to put in our retaining wall and finish clearing last year's storm debris.
• Once a week I need to prune the seed heads off the feathergrass.
• I need to start some preliminaries on the parts of the hillside that are going to be planted with wildflower seed.  (I.E. water it to sprout the weed seeds and then remove weeds).

Only one thing... I'm going to be away from my computer all next week, so hopefully I'll have a chance to keep up with the forum from my phone... otherwise, I'll check in again on Sunday August 3rd.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Welcome back. So happy to hear your mum's treatments are working! Yay!

 

And yay for 5 years of aerial!

 

Looking forward to this challenge, lots of great goals.

[Nymeria]

I'm so glad that your mom's prognosis is good!    I hope you're eventually going to post a video of your recital piece.

[sylph]

Hey, welcome back! Glad you're mom's doing alright.

 

Congrats on your aerial anniversary and have fun with your recital piece. I'm sure it'll be awesome.

[arwenavery]

Hey hope you are doing well! how goes life / challenge etc! glad to hear your mum is looking up

 

I'd love to see some pics of the circus stuff

[thatgirljj]

Hello hello... update... I am back in the land of having a laptop!  I'm no good at phone posting to NF.  Just doesn't work.

 

While I was out of town I....

 

Watched a couple youtube videos (crappy wifi, so it wasn't too great to browse videos on my phone).  Reviewed some of my old training videos.  Listened to the music I thought I was going to use (but now might change).

 

Stretched my splits 4 times as well as I could (it's hard with no yoga blocks) & worked on my foot exercises 2 times.

 

In the couple of days since I've been home, I took a performance workshop, while jetlagged and had my normal straps class.  I ripped one of my fingers open in the workshop, so I didn't work on my piece at all in class.... I was just happy I could train at all with my finger taped.  I don't have any more time scheduled on the straps until Saturday so hopefully the skin will heal up.

 

The workshop instructor wants me to add in a drop to what I was working with, and I'm struggling over it.  It's something I can do on fabric, but I haven't actually be able to do it even once on the straps because it's been so hot and humid and they grip against each other and I can't work out how to get into the position once the straps are stuck.  So... that's annoying... especially since I know it's something I can do, but it's just three times harder on the straps.  

 

Today I'm going to do some work on my deer cages and possibly trimming back the feathergrass... it got soooooo many more seeds while we were out of town.  Grrr....

[sylph]

 

The workshop instructor wants me to add in a drop to what I was working with, and I'm struggling over it.  It's something I can do on fabric, but I haven't actually be able to do it even once on the straps because it's been so hot and humid and they grip against each other and I can't work out how to get into the position once the straps are stuck.  So... that's annoying... especially since I know it's something I can do, but it's just three times harder on the straps.  

 

Is there generally a lot of crossover between the two? It seems like it mentally, but I've never tried straps.