Flexibility Rollercoaster and A Few Surprises

Talk about a whirlwind!

This year I got my front splits!
And then illness hit and I lost flexibility and learned to deal with it.
Then I got my splits again!
But had to boycott them.

I stuck with what I am best at, backbends, of course.

As much as I love my splits, wherever they may be hiding, losing them twice was worth it. Yep, even worth not having pictures of splits in front of the tree after two years of trying for Xmas splits. That reason is sleeping as I type these words.

Meet my flexy little baby, here at one week of age and already too big for this newborn outfit. This was taken around November 19th and he's already a month and a half!

2013 was a chance for me to be inspired by some of the most amazing, strong women I have had the privilege to know (and a few awesome men too). In the Pole Dancing Bloggers Association we share ideas, critiques, frustrations and all together support and inspire one another. This blog post is part of our many #PDBloggers blog hops and our way of bridging the pole world and making it stronger--you can check out everyone's "Best of" posts at the bottom of this. Some of my best Weekend Crushes were my fellow bloggers for this very reason. The best surprise was that despite how awe-inspiring these ladies are they are also expremely helpful and humble.

Speaking of blog posts, one of my most popular posts surprised me--who knew so many people would find my little corner of flexibility and pole dance bliss searching "dog peed on yoga mat?" Err... good to know. A lot of people were also curious about pole dance.

As a site you may have noticed a few small adjustments but there has been so much percolating in the background, ideas that I hope to fully develop in the coming new year... but that is a post for tomorrow ;)

Weekend Crush: Ronda Rousey

Last night was one of those nights. I am the odd one out on betting days--in my family we bet imaginary money on boxing and MMA matches and yell at the screen--but last night was a little different. I actually got into the action because I wanted to see if pretty Ronda Rousey could kick butt. And I hoped for it.

I know nothing, absolutely nothing, about mixed martial arts but I love to see women follow their dreams, even if it means going outside traditional gender roles. You know those little face shots they show with the competitor stats? I loved seeing a lovely shot of Ronda Rousey vs. the aptly nicknamed "Girlrilla" Meisa Tate. Okay, so I was immediately biased against Tate for being... alardosa... One of those people that just has to call attention to herself and "act big."

Tate did, for her credit, start out well. But just look at how it ended.... my arm hurts just looking at that! I don't care how flexible your shoulders are, there is no surviving this kind of arm ripping fury. I'll let you guess who won this match.

Weekend Crush: Yuzuru Hanyu

Before last Wednesday I had no clue who Yuzuru Hanyu was. And I would not have cared. Typically, typically male figure skaters hold little interest for me. Oh there are some I love--especially the sort that skate on wet ice or that push the limits of sexy. Maybe it's the difference in body type but there is definitely a distinct flavor, something about the faster jumps and the silhoutte they create in spins. Yuzuru? Still difffent, but clearly his own brand of amazing amongst figure skaters.

He turns BBQ eating music into magic.