Leslie F. was in town visiting so we grabbed a class on the Pier. It felt like old IFW times along the Hudson! I spent the day tweaking my layout and made some great progress with my drive (i.e., hips up to the sky with force after my break)
And here is another practice layout in which Jonathon described me as "lofting the most perfect layout"...
I totally choked our first catch attempt. Oftentimes, you practice, practice, practice to an empty catch trap and when it comes time to throw to a catch, spotting your catcher psyches the flyer out. As flyers, we must learn to focus on just our trick and let the catcher focus on his catch. In the end, we may or may not come together.
In these next videos, you'll hear Jonathon reminding me to just "fly my trick"...
We're getting closer and even clap hands on this one...
A huge thank you to Leslie & Lynne for cheering me on and taking the video!!!
Despite my early release, we finally made our catch. Our timing still needs work but we came together and took a moment in the air before letting go...
Effe is heading East tomorrow to run Trapeze in CT. Here's a parting shot of Beth, Effe & me after our class...
Tonight, I took my first jumps at TSNY on the Santa Monica Pier. Jonathon actually pulled it off! It was so great to see Beth & Effe (from Club GetAway) and meet new friends like Tracy and PopTart. (Yes, that's really her name...must be an LA thing.) Here's a photo of the rig on the Pier with the yellow "rolly coaster" in the background, that's Jonathon pulling lines, Effe working Board and newbie flyer in the Bar...
And here's the office...
I learned my layout with Richie during our last class and decided to try it here. Here's a video...Jonathon and I are still working our timing. He called "DRIVE", I wasn't expecting it, thought he call "HEP" and released early...
Here's another layout, this one I held on till Jonathon called me off but hollowed way early in my force out and lost a lot of height...
This video is funny...me in the net after my trick...I call it "ALL LEGS"...
Best part of the night...dear friends Jeff & Elena (and Baby Maddie) stopped by to visit. Funny story, Jeff & Elena were walking the pier but couldn't find the rig. They kept asking but nobody knew of Trapeze. Then they looked up. I happened to be flying but from their vantage point all they could see were legs but Jeff said "There she is! That's Jen! I can tell by those pointed toes. That's Jen!"
It was so great to hang with Jeff at a Trapeze Rig again. He was so proud of my progress - just 4 classes since we flew together last October, finds me a stronger and more confident flyer.
Made all my catches! I threw my Split to Effe and the newbie on the Board had trouble timing the return bar. Jeff asked Jonathon if he could climb the ladder and throw my bar. It felt like home being back on board with Jeff (and yes, he yelled at me for ALL the things I was doing wrong) but I threw my split, Effe caught me, Jeff threw my bar and I made my return. And in those brief moments...all is right in my world!
A BMW 335i hard top convertible; Space Gray Metallic; Gray Dakota leather interior and brushed aluminum trim. She sports a 3.0-liter dual overhead cam (DOHC), 24-valve in-line turbocharged 300-horsepower 6-cylinder engine with twin-turbo technology and Double-VANOS steplessly variable valve timing.
Buying a car is a boy's job. I couldn't have done this without Jeff & Nordine. Many thanks to Jeff for all the research, advice on what and how to buy a car, patient responses to my never ending questions and helping me build confidence. And Nordine, how many girls get to say "Mr. Universe bought them their first car?"
A huge thank you to him for negotiating me a sweet deal and standing behind me as I finalized all the paperwork. They didn't dare try to scam the skinny, blonde girl while Nordine had my back. Here we are at BMW Tucson picking her up.
To thine own need for POWER...BE TRUE! (Thanks Clyde!)
Later that night, we picked up Nordine's family - Keri, Armand and Isabella - for dinner and a drive around Tucson with the top down. We even cruised Miraval's parking lot.
Armand, Isabella & Keri
It was wonderful to spend this milestone day with such dear friends.
The next morning, I took off on my (abbreviated) "Jen Across America Tour"...Tucson to Santa Monica!
