Martial arts Saturday

This has been a sleepless Saturday. I slept very little Thursday night to Friday morning. Then, last night I woke up at 1:00 am. Miss A was due in around 2:00 am from Longview and I guess I didn't want to miss getting there to pick her up.
She called around 1:20 and told me they were in, so I went out to pick her up. THAT was a huge parking lot!! All of the parents were out to get their kids. I parked, got out and walked up to the band hall. Got her and her gear, then went back to the car. She had to go back in to get a hair ribbon someone gave her. It has her name and graduation year on it. That was neat. She's going to wear it every game.

After getting Ms. Sleepy (she tried to sleep on the 3 hour trip home but one of the obnoxious boys who I suspect likes her but won't admit to it, woke her up) home, we all crashed out at 2:30. I had to get up this morning to get ready to go out to the dojang. I was helping at the Gup (colored belt) test today and needed to be there at 10:00. My young shadow came in and climbed on me, which ensured that I got up. I didn't have time to get myself any coffee. I grabbed a diet coke and ran out the door. That is not my recommendation of morning caffeine, believe me!

I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, except writing letters. I've decided that I am going to work on letters for a little while so that my daughter can research French recipes. She's got a homework assignment for French class. She has to introduce something from French culture to the class. She has to have food, watch a movie and review it for class or something else. I'm a bit fuzzy on what she needs to do. I'll review that tomorrow.

I am thinking that I'm going to drag out my kicking shield tomorrow and work on my own kicking with my husband. I need him to at least hold it. That way, I'm not going back to class in a complete funk. I'll be working on things I need to work on. I told Master G today that I can see the standard we're holding the gups to. I can do my best to work myself to that standard and then some. I've got to improve my overall technique, etc.

I did get to spar today with a young lady who was testing for her first Gup. I was part of a "two on one" sparring round. I had fun with it and actually remembered NOT to lean in to my opponent! I thanked Master A for allowing me to spar. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I learned a lot about the grading system of the gups. I sat as a trainee at Mr. B's side, listening, observing and learning. I need to temper my assessments with understanding. Testing isn't all about "you showed up, here's your belt." It is a test of the candidate's physical and mental abilities. I watched one young man get extremely frustrated during his sparring session. I could see him thinking "what the heck am I doing?!" I noticed that he started out his testing by looking down, but by the end of that test, he was looking more confident, as if he was relaxing. The young lady involved in the testing looked up at the examiners, but it was very hard to hear her. Her kihaps were very quiet...but she got the job done!!

I'm finding myself thinking about a lot again. I deliberately didn't think on the way home tonight, only turned my radio up and sang, loudly (and off key but who cares, right? I was in my car, alone!). I am sure my sub-conscious will sort out all I have learned today and will put it to good use. I learned some sneaky things for working on abs which makes me want to race out tomorrow and buy a medicine ball. I have more things in my head than I know what to do with right ow. First of all, I need to sleep, so that's number one on the agenda.

Football Friday

Today kicks off the start of Football season in Texas. It's the first game for many of the schools. Allen is playing Longview, IN Longview. The band is going to be going too. I am proud of all the kids for the hours of hard work they put in. I really would like to be going there with them, but this is probably for the best. I can now just hope that everything works out for everyone and that there are no obvious blunders, no lost uniforms, no drama.

If you live in the state of Texas, High School football is a big deal. We're talking HUGE! For example: My daughter's high school won the State 5A Championship last year, so this year, season tickets are sold out. SOLD. OUT. I found this out a week before school started!!! I was stunned. I don't know why, but I was kind of expecting to have the opportunity to get tickets and see the games. You have to get an early start if you want your season tickets. A friend in another school district has the same issue. She couldn't get season tickets either.

It's going to be an exciting several weeks. We have a game tonight, a game next Thursday (that I am going to TRY to get to!) and on and on....the calendar is packed. It will be a lot of fun this year!!!

Fly-by

I am around. Really, I'm not just a figment of anyone's imagination. I've been kind of busy with band. I was trying to insert a picture here but can't seem to get it to load. Nice.

From Marching Band

From Marching Band

Work, of course, has been busy as well. This is a good thing, especially in a "down economy". I'm fortunate that I'm not a victim of the economy. I may have many grumbles to make about things, but not that.

I've also been working on my attitude and my training. I kind of slacked off again in the exercise department. I can't work out in the morning anymore unless I get up at 4:30 am to exercise. I'm having to take my daughter to school by 6:55. I'm now at work a little after 7:00. Makes for a VERY long day, especially when I work from 9:30-6:30 one day a week. I can't work that shift this next week because we have a "meet the teacher" thing going on. I want to attend that because it's good to get to know your student's teachers.

I fixed it!!

I work in Technical Support for a fax machine manufacturer. I am one of the "Digital Support Specialists". All this means is that I can troubleshoot problems and fix them (mostly).
Today, I took my laptop to work in the hopes of fixing the problem with it locking up. I think I can say that I was successful. I ran a number of things, including "scan disk", "Windows cleaner" and "disk check". I also asked one of the guys in the repair center to blow out the exhaust fans on the underside of the laptop. He did and dislodged a feral dust bunny herd. However, the computer has been on *all day* since the removal of the bunnies and it's working beautifully. It's COOL to the touch! The keyboard hasn't gotten warm. The back of the laptop is cool. I'm impressed! I managed to fix a problem and I wasn't even considering that as a problem!! Makes me feel pretty good, all things considered.