blog (Page 15)

I think a lot of people get excited about long weekends, but I really dislike them. I would so much rather be performing and this week has been a bummer due to a series of sleet/ice storms that blew through the St. Louis area. All my shows from Thursday and Friday were cancelled due to weather and I’ve been sitting around trying to find stuff to do…ok, not really, but I still would have rather been jumping. I’m actually taking this time to get some work done on the Double Dutch video! I’ve cut together all the of the Chinese Wheel segments and am aimingRead More →

Today I performed in a city that holds a special place in the hearts of many, yet I didn’t even know it existed. I performed in Chester, IL which is the home of Popeye. Traveling as much as I do certainly brings you to a lot of cities and it’s amazing how many surprises come up when you travel. I honestly had no idea that Popeye had a hometown, much less one that really pulled out all the stops to let the world know. There were statues throughout town of Popeye, Olive Oyl (with Swee’ Pea and Eugene), along with Swee’ Peas restaurant (where weRead More →

After quite a few weeks of nothing but snow, we have headed south and it’s nice to finally see the ground (though everything is dead and ugly). I love the look of snow and I love being in it, the tough part has been…driving. Driving in the snow is definitely not the safest of things to do and we’ve had our share of close calls due to some icy roads and the fact that we’re pulling a trailer. We are currently in central Illinois and we’ll be here for another week (the lone exception being Monday where we’ll be performing in Kenosha, WI to makeRead More →

I have one show left before the end of this week. This is probably one of the rarest weeks that I’ve had because I was scheduled to perform in the same city 4 days in a row. Of course due to weather (plenty of snow and ice) 3 shows were cancelled yesterday and I got another unexpected day off. Today I’m in Niles, MI where I had a program this morning for grades 3-5 and will have one after lunch for K-2. I got to enjoy a rather fantastic school lunch (it was an italian wrap that was quite tasty) and am sitting around waitingRead More →

I just woke up and found that for a second day this week all my school shows have been canceled due to weather. I have to admit that it snowed quite a bit yesterday and they’re understandable closings, but it’s always lame when I don’t get to perform because a lot of times I’m so busy that I just can’t reschedule the dates. I’m one of those strange people that actually loves their job, but hey, what can you do? I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, sleep in a little bit.Do you ever notice that when the weather turns bad all the crazyRead More →

After a rather cold week in upper Minnesota and Wisconsin (temperatures got all the way up to -5 one day), I’m staying just north of Chicago with an old friend of mine, Alex Rothacker. You may have heard of him because he has an amazing trick dog that’s been seen on almost every tv show (and will finally be on Oprah Jan. 31st if you want to see what his dog can do). We were talking last night about how as a performer you meet some unique characters and boy isn’t that the truth. I’m a jump roper so I’m sure a lot of peopleRead More →

I performed a rare show for me today, a college. Des Moines Area Community College had me come out and do 2 programs. They were fun as college students are always an interesting group to perform for. After finishing that up we headed to Wellsburg, IA where the snow is coming down in pretty decent amounts. It’s supposed to snow 4-6 inches tonight and there’s the possibility that my schools tomorrow may be delayed or cancelled due to the weather. I have to admit that I’m a big fan of the snow and always look forward to seeing it. That may change as time goesRead More →

After spending 2 weeks in Alaska, it’s time to return home, my car. Alicia and I head back to Oklahoma to pick up our car, our dog and our stuff. We then head up to Kansas City to start a week in the area before heading north for shows in the nice cold states. I went skiing for the first time in 14 years this week, it was interesting and I’m just as awful as I remember. It was a little embarrassing to see a 7 year old skiing hills that I wouldn’t dream of doing, but that’s why I jump rope for a living.IRead More →

I’m on my Christmas break and I spent last night lifting weights for an hour. Ah, the joys of vacation! Even when I get a break I have to take time to work out so that when I start up on my mad schedule I don’t wear myself out because I’m out of shape. This is a great time of year to hang out with friends and family and eat loads of food, but don’t forget to take some time to do a little workout. Even if you only take 20-30 minutes to do some bit of exercise, or even play on a Nintendo WiiRead More →

Yesterday was officially the final day of the fall tour for me. I ended up doing 2 shows in the beautiful state of Colorado in an area I’ve never visited before. I started the morning in Durango where I was greeted by a very fun (though admittedly tired) crowd. I performed on a carpeted stage (which isn’t the best jump rope surface), but everything still went great. Alicia and I had a little trouble turning Double Dutch for some volunteers, but it worked out in the end. As soon as we finished up there we packed up everything as quick as possible and drove 3.5Read More →