Ouch.

Remember how when you were a kid and you fell down, you got right back up and continued with whatever you were doing? I am now infinitely jealous of my 8 year old body.
I have discovered that in the evenings and weekends, the park and ride near our house is usually deserted. So I have been blading the 1/2 mile or so there, doing laps around the lot for awhile, and blading home. Some of the sidewalks around here are awful, but I can survive. I do have kneepads and wrist guards that I wear, but after Saturday, I'm considering a giant bubble. I know that would make JP feel better.
After many circuits around the lot (with Olympic-style commentary in my head about my movements), I was bored with simply going forward and occasionally spinning around. Backwards! There's a direction I haven't tried yet.
Surprisingly, it wasn't that difficult. I was going along just fine when i decided to go forward again. Since I can spin while going forward, why not while backwards? I set my foot and spun and suddenly, I've got this amazing gymnast spin through the air. Needless to say, I did not stick my landing. While in the air, I realized what was going to happen a split second before I hit the ground. I landed first on my shoulder, followed by my hip, and then slid a few feet. Ow. And I was still a 1/2 mile from my house, without my cell phone. Good thinking on my part.
Now, I do have to say that I heard my kneepad crash against the concrete, and my wrist guard is horribly scratched up now. I was afforded some protection from them, for which I'm grateful. PSA: No matter how dorky you look, wear pads!

So, I am now the proud owner of my first road rash of my adult life, a large collection of bruises, and a horribly pulled/torn muscle in my arm that makes just about everything painful. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in a sling, but today I need to work, so I have to use the arm. Luckily, I have helpful friends with leftover pain meds from various dental work that have been donated to me. I would normally happily spend the next few days in a haze of drug-induced comfort, but I have a big phone meeting with my boss tonight. I really hope that I'm coherent enough to deal with this.

Stupid clumsiness. I should not be allowed on wheels.