I’ve been looking forward to Friday night all week because we were having ladies’ night at the skating rink.

That’s right. Roller skating.

When I was 9, I had a birthday party at the skating rink. I won the limbo contest, which turned out to be a great birthday gift.

I had my own skates and would spend hours rolling around the neighborhood back in Illinois—where there were mad hills!

I’ve since graduated to blades, which I love. I busted them out a couple of weeks ago, and I managed to break them.

One of the straps broke off, and unfortunately it made me too wobbly to skate.

So the ladies and I headed over to United Skates of America.

It’s home to the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins.

When I arrived, I realized that I had forgotten that school is out for the summer.

There was a line to get in before the rink even opened up.

Once we made it inside to mingle among the kids, ‘tweens and teens, I knew I’d get my groove back.

I put on my quads, which I haven’t used in years, and felt unsteady. But after a few laps around the rink, I felt pretty confident.

Perhaps a little too confident.

After about 50 laps around the rink, I was doing great. Until this girl cut in front of me and clipped my skates.

My feet came flying out from under me, and I landed squarely on my right butt cheek. I jammed my right wrist as I put my hand on the ground to help break the fall.

Good times.

We’ll have to see if my bum bruises.