Amy "Susie Packwrecker" Duclose - is mom, derby referee, and wife.

     Just off Idlewild Road sits a warehouse which appears to be nothing more than an old airline manufacturing plant, however, inside you may be surprised to find taped lines in the form of an oval, benches, and roller skates.

     For many Mississippi girls, this is their go-to spot; this is where the dirt hits the fan… literally.

     For Amy Duclos, roller derby has become an obsession. On any given night you may find her at the Starkville Roller Skating Rink, or perhaps in the more official roller derby rink, located in the heart of Columbus, Miss.

     Here you will find 10 or more, tough, possibly tattooed, tight wearing, trash-talking derby girls - ready to brawl.

     Duclos said skating is her life. That is, outside of her three kids and her husband Martin, “The Canadian”, as she affectionately refers to him. According to Duclos, he is the most supportive husband around.

     “After starting derby, I was the happiest freakin’ person on the planet,” Duclos said. “I would wake up, and that is all I could think about was going to skate. Even though it was just four hours a week, it was like those two days were fabulous. Nobody could get under my skin, nobody could make me mad, it didn’t matter if the house was a mess or the kids fought all day, I didn’t care, I got to skate.”

     After losing her brother to a cocaine overdose in December 2008, the world seemed to close in on her. Between her brother’s death, and more recently, two miscarriages; Duclos felt trapped and bogged down, which ultimately led to depression.

     As a child, Duclos lived in skates. Hanging out at the local skating rink on weekends and during the summer had helped fine-tune her skills. This love continued after having three children of her own, and she would often take her own kids down to the rink.

     One particular evening after skating with her kids, a couple of girls with tattoos, face piercings, and crazy clothes came over to her and told her that she should play derby. Duclos had no idea what derby was.

     As a result of her second, but still raw miscarriage, Duclos found herself in a very low place. Happiness was difficult to come by during this time, and she found herself feeling extremely bitter and cynical. So, two nights a week of roller derby seemed like the thing to do.

     “Slowly those two days started to seep into the rest of the week, and I really do think it pulled me out of depression,” Duclos said. “It’s now been two years since I’ve felt affected by it.”

     Even her mother, Martha Ward, commented to her about the effects skating had on her daughter.

     “I’m really glad you’re doing roller derby,” Ward said, “You’re a lot happier because of it.”

     Derby has become a part of everyday life in the Duclos household. Not only does Amy “Susie Packwrecker” Duclos referee every Thursday night for the Mississippi Brawl Stars, but she also travels with the team, holds fundraiser’s, and has a derby wife who has helped her through her journey.

     According to Duclos, each new derby girl gets a derby wife, who not only shows her the ropes, but essentially becomes her second mom. Packwrecker’s derby wife is not just someone she associates with for derby, but she is one of her bestfriends.

     For the Mississippi Brawl Stars, roller derby is more than just elbows, “jams”, and blocks; its family. There is not time to worry about girls who irritate you, Duclos said. Even if one of them is a “heifer”, you get over it, because everyone is needed, and because it’s roller derby.

----

     As we headed into the scrimmage game Thursday night, Duclos warned me that the other girls would try to convince me to become one of them.

     “They’ll want you to be a jammer for sure, they’re the fastest; they’re the ones who score the points,” Duclos said. “Just tell them you’re here to observe.”

     As we entered the old warehouse, it was like walking into another world. The musty smell penetrated your nose, the fluorescent lights hung low below the exposed rafters, and the heaviness of the air enveloped you. Elbow pads, knee pads, fish-net tights (some with skeleton prints on them), boy-shorts, and purple helmets, gave the feeling of padding up for a skateboarding event or a football game. As girls tightened laces, fastened helmet’s, and padded up, you could tell this was no school-girl brawl, this was serious business.

     As Packwrecker blew the first whistle, which signaled to the pack to start, the girls took off. The grace and speed at which Packwrecker skated around the track was awe-inspiring, if not intimidating. It was not difficult to see the joy and fulfillment that skating allows Amy “Susie Packwrecker” Duclos.

     “I get a thrill when I’m the fastest on the track, I’ve got big-girl thighs and they push me good,” Duclos said. “I’d rather be on skates than my own feet, I feel so comfortable and good in my skin - when I’m on skates.”

-30-

Chic on the Cheap - New Favorite Find!

As a method for coping with midterm stress, I find that shopping has a way of sending "happy" endorphin's to the brain; relaxing and soothing the over-tired, over-stressed, puffy-eyed, maniac who at times resembles yours truly.

Well as it just so happened, last night while attending MSU's PRSSA monthly meeting, I had the opportunity to hear Jason Stoker speak.  Jason Stoker is a local pastor and part owner in a locally owned clothing boutique here in Starkville! Deep South Pout is the result of two couples joining ventures and making something amazing happen.  I was so impressed with what Jason and his partners (one of which is his wife) have accomplished in such a short time, that I decided to drop in today after class. Although I had previously heard of DSP since moving to the small town of Starkville, Mississipp in August of 2012, I hadn't yet made it in to check it out.  I'd heard good things about this boutique, so I was intrigued with what was to come.

My first thought as I pulled up was "that's a charming cyan bench" which was located just aside their front door.  I thought "I like their taste already"!  Immediately upon entering I was taken in by the soft and subtle hues of color.  Mint, beige, peach, corals, reds, turquoise, blacks, cremes, stripes, and polk-a-dots.  Styles ranged from southern country, classic, rustic, and things that make you wish you were walking on the beach with the sand between your toes.

As I waded through the beautiful pieces, my little boy fell in love with the fabulous jewelry they had displayed in baskets, pinned on boards, and laying across tables.  Large beads, small beads, turquoise, coral, gold, cuffs, rings, earrings, simple yet chic, Deep South Pout had something for everyone!

A few of my favorites ended up tossed across my arm as I browsed the displays.  A black and white polk-a-dotted blouse made of a silk-polyester blend, a sleeveless sheer mint polyester blend blouse, a beautiful, delicate red/coral viscosa cardigan, and few infinity scarves to name a few.

Their fitting rooms were welcoming and quaint, with ruffled curtains as dressing room doors and gold leafed full length mirrors to aid in your shopping experience.  The staff was friendly and helpful making the boutique feel warm and inviting.  As you walked through the store you could see the personal touch, the love and time that has given this store the reputation it has and deserves, drawing in names like Jen Brown, a top ESPN sportscaster.

I walked away with some fabulous additions to my wardrobe, that polk-a-dot blouse I mentioned, the pleated mint blouse, and the red/coral cardigan + a linen infinity scarf and a cotton infinity scarf for my daughter.  I was quite please with my purchases and excited to share with you what I consider "the best finds of the day"!

As fabulous as this southern boutique is, one of the things that impressed me the most is this, Deep South Pout believes in giving back!  They give to the community, they give to the local university (MSU), they are involved in reclaimedproject.org, and they are continually looking for ways to not only give back, but to improve their town and those around them.  If your interested in learning more about reclaimed project and the 1:27 initiative, click the link, or you can access it through their website by clicking on the "about us" link.

DEEP SOUTH POUT!
You can shop them online, or in-store.
Store locations: Starkville, MS and Columbus  MS

So go, shop, concur the woes of your everyday life! (I'm not advocating addictive shopping behavior by any means; I am saying, shopping is one hell of a anecdote for a bad/stressful day ;)

These are a few of my FAVORITE things ;) 

Live life, play hard, and shop!

Who done it?

So about two weeks ago I was getting ready to go on a 11 mile run.  Yes, I'm one of those crazy runners out there. One of the ones you either get (because your a crazy runner too) or don't get because who in their right mind would pound pavement for 11 miles unless someone paid you to do it.  Never say never... I was just like you, and then I started running!

Well nonetheless, as I was getting ready to run I realized I had my correction lens on... yes, my glasses.  I hate running in glasses because once you start sweating you just have to keep pushing them back in place every fives seconds.  Its' enough to drive even a mad women crazy.  So, I opened my car door and put them on my seat, shut the door and locked it.

I then decided that I didn't want to wear the florescent yellow shirt that was tied around my waste being that it was already a hot and humid morning.  So, again I opened my car door and placed the shirt on top of my glasses, of this I'm sure, shut the door and again, locked it!

Well my run was one for the record books, after living here in Starkville, MS for only two months and not being very familiar with it, I somehow managed to miss my turn off.  How in the hell did I do this you ask? Well I have no freaking clue, and still I can't figure it out; except to say that the road I was running on was full of cars, and being that Starkville has no shoulders to their skinny roads, I was in fear for my life.  I do remember this and after backtracking just to see what the heck went wrong I realized that, the exact spot where the turnoff was carried a string of lunatic tailgaters making there way through the streets of Starkville, MS.

Needless to say, I ended up running almost a half marathon that day, and to make matters worse, my calve spasmed and a tight knot found it's way into my right calf muscle sending shearing pain through my entire calf muscle, immediately stopping any thoughts I had about running the last mile.  So mile 12 I walked.  It was a mile from hell as any runner can appreciate.  For crying out loud, I had already run 11.5 miles, what is one more measly mile.  I tried two different times to run only for my calf to scream out in pain.  The result a pathetic and lowly girl walking on the side of a crappy road listening to her only saving grace, her iphone.  Thank heaven that baby didn't die on me or I may have gone all awoll right there on Oktoc road.

Best run ever!

So back to the original part of the story.  I finally make it back to my car, ornery  pathetic, and wanting a diet coke so bad I was about to go into withdrawals.  So I get in, throw my shirt on the ground; the one that I had set on top of my glasses, and... nothing.  No glasses.  Anywhere!  I think I was stunned; and as I looked around my car, I thought to myself, you're not losing your mind (I can't knowingly admit that to myself, that would result in a complete and utter meltdown, kind of like a SUPER MELTDOWN.  I've already had a partial meltdown... refer to post #2) the glasses have to be here somewhere I thought.  I slowly drove off and before I could get a mile down the road my instincts and panic got the best of me.  I pulled over, got out, went over to the passenger side door where I had previously put my glasses and shirt and searched.  My glasses were NOWHERE to be found.  I got in turned around and drove back to the spot where I parked.

I was tempted to get down on my hands & knees, however for risk of complete and utter humiliation I settled with pacing back and forth on the side of the road, in front of someone's house and next to someone elses car.  (Because in no way does this appear bizarre or lunatic like.)  And still, nothing... no glasses!

I drove home aloof and thwarted at what could have possibly occurred.   Glasses were there and then they weren't.  When I finally told my husband what had happened that night (Because somehow it didn't seem extraordinary that I had been wearing my prescription sunglasses all day long... indoors, watching t.v.)  The first thing that came out was "I swear a freaking troll got in and stole them!" I know, even now it is the only thing that makes sense.  I mean how in the hell do glasses just get up and walk away.

A 20 minute ordeal of vacuuming out my Journey, and still no glasses to be found.  I'm at a loss.  And to make it worse, I know the second I break down and go get my eyes checked, fork out the money for new glasses; that is the day my glasses will magically appear.

Damn you corrective lens stealing troll!

This is how I see these days, prescription sunglasses, even where the sun don't shine ;)