It was cold, and it rained a little, but most of the rain came after we left, so all in all it worked out pretty well. I suspect the variable weather kept people away, so the crowds were pretty thin.
The five of us started by having a nice brunch at Il Fornaio (mmmm french toast with mascarpone!), then A's husband headed home and it was just the four of us for the ice skating. Our abilities ranged from "skated as a kid" to "never ice- or roller skated before," but we all managed to have some fun! During the hour and a half we were there, we all managed to improve greatly over our first couple turns around the rink... but after 90 minutes of it we were all pretty cold and ready to call it a day. We had some falls among us, but no injuries!
Planning the Plan
I'm experimenting with different ways of getting the ball rolling. With this outing, I arranged one cohort in person, and then sent out a mass email to gather more folks. I got very few responses from the email, so I think my approach needs some tuning. With just a mass email, I think each recipient feels like they would be the first person joining the outing crew, and no one wants to be the first. It's like dancing at a party: no one wants to be first, but once someone starts, the dance floor fills up on no time. For the next outing, I'll try gathering a cadre of folks before sending out the email and maybe mention who's in the core group. Maybe that will make it easier to join up.
