General ramblings

Today's a pretty laid back day. Yesterday, while the kids and I were out at the tournament, Tony rented a carpet steamer and cleaned up the carpet. It now looks wonderful! He also cleared out that huge box of books that was in the living room, waiting to go to Half Price. They're gone. He and Amanda just took them up there and are going to the comic book store after that. Aidan and I stayed here. He didn't want to go out. We walked to the mailbox and back. That was the extent of our journey "out". He just wants to hang around the house today and I'm not going to discourage that.

Tomorrow is the start of another three days of filling in for my manager while he's out on vacation. He sent out an email to the guys, telling them to help me and be cooperative. Hooray. Whether or not they listen is up to them. I am anticipating a good three days. It doesn't have to be all bad just because he's not there.

I have CIT tomorrow as well as the regular class for the kids. We'll see how that works out. I haven't really given much thought to how the day will go. I'm going to go armed with a bottle of water for each of the kids and myself. I'm going to get my gear together tonight, plus I need to take V's sparring gear back to her. I still need to do something nice for her since she was so sweet and let Aidan borrow it.

Tuesday, my young man will make his first foray to the public swimming pool with his school. He'll enjoy that, I know. He always does.
I really ought to look into swimming lessons for both kids. I think it would be worth it. I think I'll poke around on the City of Allen website and see if they have any classes listed. I want them to be able to swim better than me, which is to say anything is better than me. I can swim but not the best. I want these two to be comfortable in the water.

If you think about it, please keep a good thought for me--I applied for a job with the school district and hope to hear from them. I haven't told my manager that I applied yet. I need to tell my director that I'm using him as a reference. I also have a reference letter from the president's secretary. That'll help, I hope. I want to get out of my current job because it's a very stressful job and there's no chance that I'll ever be promoted. I'm realistic enough to know that it's just NOT going to happen. I've been there for nearly 20 years. September 1st will be 19. I actually started as a temporary worker on June 1, 1989, but went permanent on September 1, 1989, so that's my anniversary date. I'm tired. I've had a long run with this company. I've gone through multiple layoffs, including one where I was actually laid off but "transitioned". That meant that I was supposed to be gone after they made good with the transition phase of the layoff. Then they extended it by three months, then another three. Finally they just said, "You're staying on, sign these papers." That was in 1994-95 (before my daughter was born). Not a whole lot has changed, other than the department has dwindled from having many people to having few. We are currently a department of 6. Our new guy isn't quite ready to get on the phone solo, but as of tomorrow, he's up. We just need all the help we can get. Needless to say, he's primarily there as the network guy, so he'll get the network calls and the rest of us will get everything else. We'll see how that goes. I'm not going to predict anything. He IS a person with a lot of networking/computer experience. It'll ease MY load and D's a bit, I know. I think if he takes the majority of the network calls (and Al too!), that'll make the other four of us breathe a huge sigh of relief and we'll be a lot more productive.

Saturday

Today was Aidan's first tournament since he joined the Competition Team. He did pretty well. It wasn't as crisp and wonderful as some of the other kids, but you know what? The little guy deserves a gold medal in my opinion because he put himself out there. We had little communication from his coach and no idea of what we were supposed to do other than sit and wait. And wait. And wait some more.
We were directed to the wrong ring to start out with, sat there for a while, then asked questions and were told, "oh you're in the wrong place". He did not get to compete in "Traditional forms", but instead was able to do his "a-okay kata". I sat there and fumed because not one person from his "team" showed up to cheer him on or see that he was in the right place. It was "meet at the convention center at 9:00 am sharp". When I FINALLY got Amanda and I paid for and our bands on our wrists, I didn't know where my groups was. I had no idea where my son was in this hall. I found him. Found the owner of USMA. Found the coach. Found a couple of other people from his team. They're all teenagers, so they were off in their own rings, waiting to perform.

After wasting a LOT of time at the wrong ring, we got to the correct ring and waited some more. We found out by accident that he'd been entered incorrectly as an Intermediate when they called him up and then told him he wasn't able to do his form with that group. Poor guy! We had to go to the front desk, where they had a computer and re-register him as an advanced belt. Apparently a brown/black belt qualifies as an Advanced belt. Okay.

So, after registering him *correctly*, it was a race to the men's room so he could use it (he was patiently waiting until they told him he wasn't going to perform at that time), then back to our ring. Then we waited for the Advanced group to go up. He did a great job of performing his form, even though he boo-booed. He stopped because he realized he'd forgotten something. Ah well. It was a great start. He earned a 9.2, 9.2 and an 8.0 from the three judges. For a first effort, I'm pretty proud of him.

They also entered him in sparring, so we had to borrow some sparring gear from one of the black belts. (Note to self...do something nice for her, she's really sweet for letting him borrow it!) He did fair--he scored one point. His opponent scored 4 on him. We need to work on sparring with him I think. Of course, I also need to get him the rest of his sparring gear IF we're going to continue this. It all hinges on whether or not the school manages to stay around after the summer. I'm still skeptical about that. I keep hearing things...

Little boy hated the sparring because his mouth guard is too big for him and it hurt, but he was a trooper and did his best. I'm proud of him.

After they released him, we took off and headed home. We nearly got run over by a rude woman in a shiny new car who thought that either I was driving too slowly or that she had the right of way to pass me *on the left* on a single lane entrance ramp. Then another oh so charming driver cut me off and tried to push me onto the shoulder as I tried to enter the highway. Is it any wonder I freak out?? My poor kids had their ears blistered because I was so stressed and angry. I'd best hope they don't repeat that stuff because people will KNOW it came from their parent!!! I didn't check out with the coach, nor did I say goodbye to anyone. It was an awkward experience but now I know that if we go again, I need to make sure I don't bring Amanda and I am prepared to be a pack mule to carry stuff everywhere--there isn't a place to put your stuff that's safe there.

Update

I've decided to attend class tonight. I want to go and get in a workout this week, PLUS I want to see if the other black belts are sticking it out...

Reconnaissance, day two...

I have been in touch with another school and will meander over that way to see what they're all about. It's actually somewhat interesting to do research on the different schools in the area. The one I'm considering looking into answered an email I sent them, so that made me feel pretty good. They didn't seem to have an issue with me being a Cho Dan in a different school. Good, because I feel that something's going to happen this summer. I don't know if my contract is going to be sold yet, but I know that people are abandoning ship. My friend, J, may have found another school. He visited them yesterday. The good thing there is that they'll keep him at the same rank he's at now. This is always a good thing.

I've been asking if my belt will transfer over. I can't imagine giving up my belt because it was in one trad. Master Fox said that she would run a test to see what the level of training was. She said she wasn't interested in changing a person, but rather, molding them into a black belt in *her* school. That's a good thing to think about. I don't want someone to look at me and decide that since I'm a large person, I'm obviously not serious, therefore I have to start all over.


I am halfway decided that I'll attend the black belt class at 6:15 tonight. If I do, it'll be from 6:15 until 7:00. I'm curious about the size of the class, who is there, etc. I also wonder if Mr. M is going to teach or if it'll be one of his senior instructors. I really hope it's him. I haven't taken a class that he's taught in a while. Fridays are going to be interesting if I take classes. That means that for an hour, I'm not going to be home with the kids. It's a GREAT way to get past the stress of the work week though.

Reconnaissance

Tonight I went to International Martial Arts to look at the place and talk to Master Fox. She teaches Taekwondo, Jujitsu and something else. I'm not sure what it was off the top of my head. I have her card in my purse. She was a very nice person. She's strict too. When I walked into the dojang, she was in the middle of a class. She was watching a group of students doing blocks. I was impressed that she was involved in the class herself. She was able to monitor all the kids who were working on their technique. She was at one end of the room and I watched her walk down to the other end of the room, correct a couple of kids, then go back to her original position.

When I spoke to her, she said that she was willing to take a black belt on, but she'd have to retest the kids to make sure they knew what they were supposed to know to be at the belt level they are in at this point. Another thing is that her belt ranks are a little different from where the kids are right now. Amanda might be a green black, but Aidan wouldn't be brown/black. Plus, she did say that it would take 4-6 years to earn a black belt in her school. Interesting.
I'm going to see if DB would take a class with me. She's invited me to come take a class and see if it's something I'd feel comfortable going into.
She did say that Taekwondo is a lot of kicking, so that's something else to consider. I could always get great leg strength! LOL!

My friend, J called me up and told me about a great school he found today. He went over and looked at it. There's no commitment in a huge lump sum, so that's a good thing. I may go look into that too.
I'm definitely investigating my options...

Day one in the "new home"

Day one in the new place and it felt WEIRD!! The studios are small---there's only one that was big enough to handle a lot of people and the competition team got that. The MMA class got the next large room and the LT class got the smallest one. It was not a comfortable fit. NB was teaching that class. I'm not overly excited by him. I didn't take that class either because I got busy talking to a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while. Their sons are instructors and are also training for their third Dan. They'll be testing in November (insert cynical IF we still have a studio!). I'm supposed to be testing in November as well. I'm not sure I'll even know what I'm supposed to know by the time that rolls around.

I was talking to DB today and told him I was going to look at a couple of other places. Master Fox has a studio down the road from me, so I'm going to go over there and talk to her. I've heard that everyone in her school is required to compete, but I want to hear from her about that. It'll be good to see what other people are teaching. She's a Tang Soo Do instructor. From what I hear, she doesn't have a Leadership Team or even an instructor program. This is all what Mr. M said to me on Saturday. He also said that he's looking into trying to sell our contracts to other martial arts schools. I would seriously hope that he would stay in the business, but I think I'm seeing the writing on the walls. It really looks to me like he's not going to stay with it. That's just my personal feeling and doesn't necessarily reflect the management's opinions.

So, yesterday when we went, he came out and told us to come in the unlocked door. That was pretty much all he said to me, other than asking me why I didn't attend class. When I told him I didn't want to take up a lot of room (I'm a large person, after all), he shrugged and walked away. Or rolled his eyes. I'm not sure which. He never did talk to me about anything else.

I'm alternating between intense sadness and irritation that things have changed. I am a creature of habit and I do NOT like changes, especially when the changes are constantly happening. I consider myself adaptable and try to roll with the punches, but when the changes happen on a weekly or daily basis, it gets frustrating. It also helps when there's a little thing called COMMUNICATION involved too! If you don't have communication, how are you going to explain the changes????

There isn't a class tonight. We're only there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now. I have to get the kids to the Monday 6:15-7:00 class and then they'll be there an extra hour while I attend the CIT class. That is, of course, assuming I'm still an assistant instructor. I haven't heard whether or not that's the case.

I'm looking at the bright side though. As Potato Fist reminded me, there is always a plus side. We might do really well in this location and turn out some fabulous martial artists. Need to really give it a chance. There's another plus side in my personal life...I'll be able to start going back to WW on Saturday mornings. This will help out immensely and I'll get my weight loss going again!!

All's quiet on the home front...

After multiple appointments, we are home for the afternoon/evening. I have been taxi-ing the kids to multiple appointments today. This was the teenager's day for catching up. I had her to her GP's office, to the oral surgeon's office and to the dermatologist's office. Now we're home and the kids are in my room, playing on the Wii. They're playing "Catz" which Aidan got for her for her birthday. Me? I'm playing on my computer, surfing Myspace, etc. I really need to think about making dinner as Tony will be home soon, but I'm relaxing with the computer.

Tonight I don't have Martial Arts since our school has moved. I have to figure out the best possible time to get the kids to class. He doesn't make it easy for me. I also see that I'll need to be at class on Mondays for CIT, Wednesday for my 'normal' class and Friday for a black belt class. That will get me my twice a week plus CIT. Beyond that, I don't know what's going to happen.

I do know that I haven't received any of the emails about the class schedule changing. What I have, I got from DB this morning because HE keeps me in the loop! I'm beginning to wonder if my loyalty is misplaced? I try very hard to be available and yet, I don't seem to get the communication I need. I know others have mentioned communication too. Is it any wonder I get frustrated?! I don't know how tenuous my position (or lack thereof) is over at the school. Yes, I found out Saturday morning that we were leaving immediately, but I didn't even get an email saying "here's the schedule. We're doing this..." It makes me wonder if it's an intentional or unintentional exclusion????

New schedule

Basic
Monday 4:45 - 5:30
Wednesday 6:15 -7:00
Friday 7:00 -7:45

Leadership/BBC
Level 1 & 2
Monday 5:30 - 6:15
Wednesday 7:00 - 7:45
Friday 4:45 - 5:30

Leadership/BBC
Level 3 & Black Belt
Monday 6:15 - 7:00
Wednesday 4:45 - 5:30
Friday 5:30 - 6:15

Black Belt and Above
Monday 6:15 -7:00
Wednesday 5:30 - 6:15
Friday 6:15 -7:00

Specialty Classes
Instructor Classes Mondays 7:00 - 8:00
Competition Team Wednesday 7:00 to 8:00
\
These are the new times for me and the kids. I'll have to get to Black Belt class on Fridays and I'll have to go on Mondays. I don't see a convenient time for anything else right now.

101 on Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, including my "younger brother". You're wished a wonderful day and I hope your family spoiled you rotten!!

It reached the century mark here at home today. 101. Yuck. I hate temps this high. Air conditioning is going to be my best friend for the longest amount of time this summer! I think we're going to have a heat wave of 100+ degree temps for the next two months.

Last night we went to see the Frisco Rough Riders for Boy Scout Night. It was a lot of fun. The Rough Riders were playing the Corpus Christi Hooks last night. How funny and ironic that we were in Corpus last weekend and the Hooks were playing at home. I wonder who they were playing?! (Just checked and it was the Midland Rockhounds.) I'll have to download the picture of Aidan with Deuce, the mascot of the RR's. It was too cute. He got Deuce's autograph, the Bennigan's Leprechaun's autograph and all the "Diamonds" (the 'cheer team') on his hat. The Boy Scouts got a hat and a patch for attending. Aidan was the only one from his pack who participated in the parade of Boy Scouts before the National Anthem played. They all lined up on the infield perimeter. It was an impressive sight. Aidan was in with a "foreign" pack because our pack wasn't in sight. Turns out that the only leader who was in uniform wasn't there until the second or third inning. Ah well.

Saturday news

Aidan didn't go running with the competition team this morning. He and one other little guy were there and ready to go but...the other little guy has a broken arm and is out of commission. One of the young ladies of the group doesn't like to run and they were worried that with MY guy being so small, they'd lose him, so they sent him inside with the other little guy to work with the young lady on their form. They have a competition next weekend, so that's a good thing.

I took Amanda to have a facial this morning as a birthday present. This was her first facial. She enjoyed it immensely. She was asking to do it again. hee hee. I've corrupted the silly girl. We went to Target after the facial and spent some time walking around together. I was very glad to be out with her. Some days she and I are at each other's throats, but today was different. She was relaxed and calm. It was worth it to me. I'd love to do it again some time.


I had a nice long talk with Mr. M this morning. We're closing the doors to our school and are taking up temporary residence in a different location while he searches for a way to make things work out. It's a little questionable as to whether or not we're going to keep things going on past this summer. I haven't told DB yet. He's going to find out by surprise if he reads the blog!! I've been trying to text him and call him but he's doing stuff with his family (they've got a couple of soccer players in the family). I'm going to wait and see what he says a little bit later.

A car saga

I spent the day "All stressed out and no one to choke" today. I got to work and tried to turn the car off and remove the key from the ignition. It would not budge. Not a all. I couldn't even turn the car off. I finally gave up and popped the clutch, which of course, stops the engine. It's certainly NOT good for the transmission, I'm sure.
My director showed up at one point and I asked him if he knew anything about cars. He looked at the car, climbed in and proceeded to do exactly everything I'd done (minus raising and lowering the steering wheel). It still wouldn't stop or anything. We wound up locking the car and going back inside. Everyone who came in after me came up to me and warned me that my lights were on. (the Saturn Ion has the lights on automatically when you're running it that way. I choose to run it in "auto" because I don't have to fuss with "did I remember to turn off the lights?")

So, after all was said and done, one of the guys managed to get into the trunk of the car and pulled one of the battery cables off the car. The battery's in the trunk on the Saturn as an engineering design. I found that out the hard way. We couldn't get into the car after he pulled the cable off. That took all the power off. We wound up running out to the apartment and getting the spare keys, then running back to work. I spent another 2 hours at work, fuming and wondering if I was going to get my car worked on and adamantly telling anyone who would listen to me that I was NOT going to pay for the repair on my car as it's *just* past warranty. I was a month out and felt that it was most unfair for me to have to pay $350-700.00 (quoted by the dealership) for repairs.

By the time I got to the dealership and talked to them, they referred me off to Saturn Customer Assistance who put me through a modified form of 20 Questions. They then told me that they'd call me tomorrow (NO!!!!!) and tell me IF I'd get assistance. I grudgingly agreed. They had me over a barrel!
Sooo...I got back to work and fumed and mumbled and took calls. About an hour and a half after we dropped the car off, they called me up and told me that they were going to cover the repairs as a courtesy to me. HOORAY FOR SATURN!!
I am most pleased, to say the very least!! I didn't pay for the replacement of the steering column housing, cylinder or the actuator inside which was broken. It could have set me back quite a bit, so I'm not going to complain about it at all.

I got home late because I had to go to the dealership and pick up my car. I haven't been to the dojang at all tonight. I was considering going to a class today but that was sidelined by the car. I'm not going tomorrow because we're closed on Friday. Saturday is Competition Team for the little guy (they're running 3 miles! He's not going to make that, I'm sure, but he could surprise me!). I was invited to run with them and I laughed at the instructor. Yeah...getting ME to run anywhere is a major miracle. I ran inside the training room last night because I was told to, but that's a huge difference from running 3 miles outside. We shall see what happens!

Back from Corpus Christi...

HI there!! We are back!!! Back online as well! Tony says the Internet went down on Friday afternoon. It wasn't online when I got home yesterday. We didn't get it online until this afternoon! :( Boo hiss! This is what happens when you think it's going to be better to upgrade your DSL...unfortunately, the lovely sales rep didn't bother to tell me that they were going to disable my internet. I was in total "freak out mode" last night. Oh well...I was too tired to do much last night anyway! Aidan and I were up at 6:45 yesterday and on the road for 8+ hours.

Speaking of being on the road, let's see...we had a blast in Corpus Christi! It was a lot of fun. We met at the school at 6:00 am on Friday, left by 6:30 and were in the Waco area by 8:00 for the first of several stops. We herded all our boys out the door and to the rest rooms. It took us about 25 minutes to get all the boys through the line and back into the cars. From there, we took off and headed South, towards Austin. We got to Austin by eleven o'clock and let me tell you this...I DESPISE Austin traffic!! We were in stop and go traffic for 30-40 minutes or so. ICK!! We stopped in Austin for gas and spent $42.00 for a half a tank!! It was $42.00 on the way back as well, then another $24.00 to top off.

We stopped at a Chik Fil A for lunch at some place just off of 35, near Bergstrom AFB. We saw a few military people who came over for lunch. Our guys weren't really all that interested in the military guys at that point. We finished our lunches and then jumped out to our cars and left again. From there, it was a hop, skip and a jump (not literally) to get down to Corpus. Our route, if you're interested, was Highway 75 South to I-35 South through Waco and then down to Austin and San Antonio. We took 410 S to I-37 South and went all the way in to Corpus Christi. Our destination was JUST over the Corpus Christi Harbor/Nueces Bay bridge. Yeah, my favorite...a bridge!!

We arrived at the USS Lexington at 2:30. Our caravan parked underneath the bridge, as a matter of fact. We had to haul our belongings up the ramp and into the ship. We were ushered into a VERY hot ship! It was not air conditioned at all. The boys were sent to stand in a taped off area where they got their briefing. They always had to say "Yes sir!" or "No sir!". They were to keep their shirts tucked in and their hands OUT of their pockets! (Pockets are for your junk not your hands!). They were also told NOT to open closed doors. No going out of the berthing area without an adult. Absolutely NO RUNNING on the ship. The boys had to attend General Muster in full uniform. They were required to be in uniform for Evening Colors as well.

They took the boys down to their berthing area, then led us to ours. Our beds were called "racks". We were allowed a "rack" and a locker. After we got settled, rolled out our sleeping bags and put away our valuables (locked up, of course!), then the ship was ours to explore until 4:45. We did some of the self guided tours, then sent the boys down to change, we got freshened up and got back upstairs to get ourselves to Hangar Bay 2. They held General Muster there, explained the rules, warned us that IF there was a fire on the ship, we needed to get above decks as quickly as possible. We were also to put on shoes as we didn't need burned feet (the decks are metal and did melt "heat resistant" boots during the last fire). He also requested that we put on clothing before going upstairs. If we weren't, he'd send us back below to put it on! LOL!!

After Muster, he sent us downstairs to the Mess Hall. That was a nightmare! Down a flight of (NARROW) stairs, to the right, through a hall and through a plastic curtain. The people who were not fortunate enough to get into the hallway through the plastic curtain were not lucky at all. Our den leader came in soaked through. It wasn't a pretty sight, let me tell you!

We ate off metal trays (called "kids" because Cabin boys used to serve the officers on these trays). Friday's dinner was...ummm, what WAS it?? OH, yeah...Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and a roll. There was lemonade in the eating area if you wanted it. I don't think there was a single bit of greenery on that plate!

After dinner, we went back up to Hangar Bay 2. We milled around until 6:30, then attended a movie in the theater. It was called "Fighter Pilot-Red Flag". GREAT movie! I had to focus on the pilot's helmet or I'd have been ill as it was an Imax movie and it was dizzying. The screen was 66 feet tall, just so you have an idea of the scale of the thing! Noisy and LOUD!!! Most impressive and enjoyable too.

After the movie, most of us migrated up to the flight deck. We'd been up earlier in the afternoon, looking around and admiring all the old planes. We say Corsairs, an F-18 (??) Tomcat, an F-14, a Cobra (really cool!) and several of the planes used as trainers. I don't remember all the trainer planes' names. They were impressive. On that flight deck, also, there was a patch of wood from the original decking. It was in poor condition, but it was still there. Teak. Impressive!!

We met down in Hangar Bay 2 for a flag ceremony and Evening Colors. Our Cub Scouts were honored to take down the flag and fold it up after the flag ceremony. We learned about all the different flags our country has had flying over its shores. The "Don't Tread on Me" flag, the "Betsey Ross" flag, then the one we use today. PLUS, there were the flags of each of the 5 branches of the military as well as the POW flag. After that, they retired the colors for the night and our boys got to hep with that. Everyone said the Pledge of Allegiance and I swear, none of the Scouts' parents had a dry eye after that! I know *I* didn't!
I was also kind of teary eyed when the soldier who instructed the boys in the flag folding, saluted Aidan a little longer.

We roamed around the ship some more, then everyone went up to the flight deck to try to catch the fireworks that were supposed to go off at the conclusion of the Corpus Christi Cats' game. That didn't happen, so everyone went downstairs to the berthing area, got showered and went to bed. It was good that we did because they played Tattoo (the precursor to Taps) and warned us that we needed to get ourselves to bed soon. Then they played Taps and the lights went out.

The lights went back on and they played Revillie (sp?) at 6:45 am on the nose! We had 30 minutes to get ourselves up, showered if necessary and on the deck in time for Morning Colors and then breakfast. They were kind enough to give us coffee, which made for several happy adults (and some kids too!). They raised the flag, then we headed down for breakfast, which wasn't 100% ready. Breakfast was French toast, sausage, gross eggs, (they were NASTY!) and cereal and fruit. Plus OJ. LOL! The sausage and FT was okay. The eggs...ewww! I tossed mine!

After breakfast, we all gathered, got our lunches for the day and a token for escaping the parking lot, then we went off to our Saturday destination. We all went to the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. We took a tour of Columbus' ships. The Spanish government had created replicas of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The Nina was undergoing deck renovations, so we just looked at it. Here's a little bit of blurb about it:

The ships are reproductions built by Spain to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the New World. They took five years to build and cost $6.5 million. The three ships embarked on a tour of the Mediterranean and Atlantic ports of Europe in 1990 and 1991. After a successful tour of 18 United States ports, they arrived at their permanent home in Corpus Christi in 1993. The Pinta and Santa Maria are located at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. There are no guided tours of the Nina, moored at the Corpus Christi Marina, but can be viewed from the dock.



This is the museum with the Lexington in the background.

After the tour, we all dispersed for an unplanned afternoon. Most of our party went to the beach. The guys I rode down with drove us up and down Shoreline Boulevard in Corpus, looking at houses. We also managed to find ourselves a CVS, where I got Aidan some shampoo (bad mommy forgot to pack it!). He and I got back up on the ship and changed ourselves. Then we went down to the beach and walked around a little. I tell you, my sandals were NOT meant for walking in the sand. Neither were bare feet! That sand was hard! It was mainly gravel and shells with some sand. I think it'd have been better if we'd gone to Padre, but I have an issue with bridges, so, um, NO.

Saturday night there were in excess of 300 Scouts on board. That was a combination of Boys, Cubs and Girl Scouts. One troop came from as far away as Arkansas. They had to do our meals in shifts. Half the group went in one shift at 5:30, the other half went at 6:00. Then we had movies again (same movie for 6:30 and 7:00 showings, darn! I wanted to see Lewis and Clark!). Our group went up to the flight deck for Evening Colors. The nice gentleman who saluted Aidan the night before opened up the Cobra (helicopter) and let all the boys sit in it. Then we did our flag ceremony and he put it away. There was a wedding reception being held in Hangar Bay 2, so we were closed off from that. We had to get to the Mess Hall via the Quartermaster's office.

They held a scavenger hunt. It was so hot and so humid that our team gave up after covering the flight deck and the escalator. We were tired of the heat, humidity and wind! Man! That flight deck was just horrible for wind!!
They were telling the Saturday rendition of Ghost Stories (they were some way cool stories, I tell you!), so some of us just lingered at the fast food place called "the Mess Deck", bought cold water (MMMMM!) and/or ice cream. Then we decided that since there was a huge crowd, we ought to go down to our racks and get ready for bed. Some of us showered that night so we'd not have to fight the crowd the next day. It was good that we did!!

The group of Girl Scouts we were bunking with just would NOT shut up when they called Lights Out. The lights didn't go out automatically this night, so I went over and shut them off. Told all the girls to shut up and go to sleep. Someone decided to be a butt, and got up with their flash lights. I went back over with mine, told them "lights OUT! GO. TO. SLEEP!" They still kept giggling and talking, even after that (and I was spazzing out, laughing into my pillow for being such a beyotch!!), that I finally went back over (sans glasses) and told them, "you are NOT being respectful to us. WE are being respectful to YOU. Now. GO TO SLEEP!! DO NOT MAKE ME COME OVER HERE AGAIN!!" They kept the whispering to a dull roar then.
Our ladies (the moms of our Cubs) did the high five thing (quietly) and cheered. The girls just weren't listening to their troop leaders so I stepped in and put on my mean voice. hahaha!!

Came home yesterday morning. Got home at 4:00. Tony cooked dinner, Aidan and I just chilled. I fell asleep at 9:00 and went to bed. I didn't get up until 6:30 this morning. Time to get back into a "normal" routine tomorrow.

Today, Amanda had oral surgery to remove her implant that was supposed to anchor her teeth. She's doing fine but needs another dose of meds to keep up with the doctor's orders. She has a follow up appointment next Monday. It's a good thing I'm off that day!

I probably won't get to comment to everyone for a while. I'm still on vacation time. I'll try to start getting caught up tomorrow.

Monday again

Today has been a great day and the end to my long weekend. However, I only go to work for two days, then I'm off again for another four day weekend...no, I take that back! The next weekend will be a five day weekend! LOL!!
I'm going to Corpus Christi with Aidan this coming weekend. We leave at 5:00 am and will get to Corpus by 1-2 in the afternoon. We are going to visit the USS Lexington next weekend with Den 2 of our Cub Scout Pack. They didn't have enough people to make up the requirement, so they opened it up to others in the Pack. I, of course, jumped up and down and begged to go (not literally), so we're going. I'm looking forward to it more than Aidan is!! hee hee!!

I went to class tonight and actually got in a workout! I felt it tonight. I worked on one of my second dan forms and some of the older forms that I need to practice. I can tell I haven't been working on them since I had an issue remembering the moves. Nahainchi Ee Dan starts out with a step with your left foot in front of your right. At the same time, you bring your hands up in front of your body and then pull them apart, elbowing an attacker in the sternum at either side. Then you kick with your right foot in front of your left (to the shin), step down and with your right hand and left hands, block in a modified "C". (That's a middle block with the right hand and a punch simultaneously with the left hand to the sternum. I know that some of you are thinking "why is she telling me this", so I'll leave it at that for now. It's really cool to see at full speed. Of course, I had to fiddle with it until I got it back in my head. Mr. Laabs wanted to work on Jin Do but I don't remember that one at all. I haven't worked on it nearly as much as I have on Nahainch Ee Dan. I've got to get the arm movement at the end, the one that looks like "Dark Wing Duck" (that was DB's name for it, not mine!) down. I really need to get it set in my mind so that I can keep working on it. I need to bring out my books and study up.

I came home from class and Tony and the kids surprised me with a cake. They spelled out 43 on it in candles (not literally 43 candles, just a 4 and a 3). I made a wish and blew out the candles. They went out on the first blow. YAY! Hopefully my wish will come true! I won't say what it was because that'll mean that it won't come true!!

I'm going back to work tomorrow. Oh how fun. I'm not looking forward to that, but at the same time, I only have to get through 2 days of it. I think we'll be short handed tomorrow. One of the guys is going to drive to Lubbock tomorrow to see his son graduate from Texas Tech. I think that's what he said. I'm pretty sure he won't be there. I'll be surprised if he is. I'll just have to wait and see.

Random thoughts

What do I want out of life?? Beyond the usual, work, eat, sleep, be mom, etc, what do I want??

I want to feel useful. Especially, I want to be useful at the dojang. I want to be respected for the fact that I worked hard to earn my black belt. I don't want to be seen as the "poster child" for "look! A fat person CAN become a black belt!" Sometimes I feel like that. I was told that this coming week at the dojang is going to be a "showcase for black belts to demonstrate their abilities" for the various classes. That doesn't include me, apparently, because I've not been asked to demonstrate anything. Nor have I been told anything about Friday night, other than I must be there. (Friday's the gup test.) I'm not sitting on the "Board"...I'm not anywhere close to that. I will just be there, roaming the room, helping keep kids in line, making sure everyone is ready for sparring.

In a lot of ways, I'm frustrated. In my usual classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, we're not working on any of the higher forms. I haven't worked on Jin Do or Nahainchi Ee Dan for well over a month, not since Mr. M met with the MHK gurus and became the Southwestern Franchise/coordinator for them. I haven't done anything to advance myself toward my second Dan. I don't know any new one steps. It's been pretty much sparring and technique. There's only so much technique you can practice before you get frustrated with it. I would like to get a chance to practice my material too, before we change the curriculum. They're going to make it a TKD oriented class from here on out. Starting in June, we'll be switching to the curriculum MHK is teaching. We're already working on "practice records". I'm a bit miffed about that because I can't get my kids to work on practicing. I need to be a hard nose about forcing them to practice. They will have to present two of these practice records in order to be allowed to test in July. That means that if they don't turn them in due to lack of practice, I will have failed as a parent and as an instructor. I can't keep them motivated outside of class to practice more.

We've got The Today Show coming in on Tuesday to film a segment for their show (on Autism) on one of our students. He's one of our Young Warriors. I'm not needed for that--I asked yesterday. I was told that more than enough instructors are going to be there. Okay, fine. No problem. I'll stay home and watch Gene Simmons.

Tony is afraid that I'm being overlooked. He told me that yesterday. I'm just a face in the crowd. Nobody really knows who I am. At this point, I'm not even teaching classes. I haven't been bumped up to full instructor. That's not likely to happen anyway. Six of the other instructors left and he's not replacing them. He's got Mr. B, Mr. B (yes, their last names both begin with "B") And there's my friend, DB, and Mr. T. Mr. M the younger also teaches at the school. No, they don't need me. I'll learn how to teach. I'll be able to lead warm ups and work with little kids, if needed. I'm not ever going to make full instructor and I'm fully aware of that.

I need to re-focus myself on working hard and doing more than just proving that an overweight old woman can earn a black belt. I want to earn my second Dan. I CAN and WILL do it. I'm going to make sure that they see me for who I really am, not just as "Hey, look! If you want to see a success story, look here! We have succeeded in molding this into a black belt."
No, that's not who I am. That's not what I want.

I don't have superior kicks and punches. I don't look spectacular when I'm sparring. I HATE sparring, but that's a different story. What I want is to prove to myself that I'm strong enough to pick up and earn my second Dan. I want to prove that I've got what it takes to continue on and get my belt. I deserve that belt and I'm going to prove it to myself!

Bassai form

Who turned on Summer and Martial Arts babbling

Please tell me WHO decided that 99 degrees was a good temperature for May 19th?? Can we say "wicked HOT"?? Yep, it was that kind of a day!! Hotter than Hades (almost) and certainly NOT comfortable!! Very much a "stay inside in the air conditioning" type of day. My office is already at super freeze mode, which means I wear a sweater most of the day, but going out at night, I don't need it. I also won't run the a/c in my car because 1. Gas prices are outrageous and 2. I don't need air until I pick up Aidan from school. HE needs the a/c. Since I'm "old" (2 weeks and I'll be "older still") and get chilled easily, I don't run the air.

Aidan and I went to class tonight. I got Mr. T to work with him on forms and technique. We really worked on his front stances. Since he was in Young Warriors and was bumped up when he reached black belt in there, he's never had the opportunity to correct his stances. Tonight we worked very hard on correcting his stances. He's a brown belt and is just now getting the stance correct. Fortunately, the older Mr. B (he's a third Dan, working toward fourth) was very patient and worked hard with him tonight to help him correct his stances.

I worked on forms during class. I really like doing forms better than I like sparring or some of the other things. The joint locks are fun, the weapons are fun, but I prefer the forms myself. It's somehow soothing and helps me refocus. It's somehow meditative as well as thought provoking. I can turn off my mind and just put myself into the matter at hand, that of doing the forms.
We ran through Kee Cho Hyung Il Bu, Kee Cho Hyung Ee Bu and Kee Cho Hyung Sam Bu, then Pyung Ahn Cho Dan. After that, we worked on Pyung Ahn Ee Dan, then Sam Dan, Sah Dan and then Oh Dan. We didn't work on any of the higher forms, but that's fine by me. I was able to refocus and get my head wrapped around the forms properly. I always mess up and confuse Sam Dan and Sah Dan. I call Sam Dan "Superman". I call Sah Dan "Splat!" I call them so for the way they look when you're doing them. Sam Dan has a move that looks like Superman puffing out his chest. Sah Dan starts out with a "Splat!" to the left, then a "splat" (two open hands, palms outward, one in a high block, one in a low block). I really like those forms. I like Pyung Ahn Oh Dan best though. That one's a fun one.

Next month we're starting a new curriculum at the dojang. We'll be working on Tae Kwan Do instead of Tang Soo Do. I'll still be a black belt, but my forms are now going to change. As it's standing, it'll be interesting to see how things work out for the black belt test in November. I'm supposed to be learning Jin Do, but nobody's worked on that form in several weeks. For my second Dan, I have to know Jin Do and Nahainchi Ee Dan. I just have to start working on them. I'm debating on whether or not I should attend the black belt class tomorrow. If I go, I'm not sure they'll be working on forms or if they'll be working on sparring. I'll have to play that one by ear. I don't know if I want to skip out and stay home or not yet. It all depends on how my day goes tomorrow.

Technique Saturday

I went to CIT this morning. We worked on technique and how to teach it. It was a very intense class. We worked on power during the warm up--he had us bunny hopping up on and over our mats that we roll out for falls and throws. (the mats were folded up) The course was the four sets of folded mats, then a set of cones with a bar between them. There were 14 of us, in class, so it was a bit crowded. He also had us do push ups, then walk over on our hands and feet (in push up position) to the next pad/cone-bar combo and do push ups. It was not my favorite part of class but...since we only did 2 push ups at a time, it wasn't all that bad. I have to work on those push ups. I do "girlie" push ups--me on my knees. Even those are not the best as I have a tendency to "sink" at the hips. I will have to strive for better. I have to make sure that I'm up to working really hard for the next several months. I couldn't do some of the warm ups because Mr. M didn't want me to. I to re-injure my knee. It's really not my knee as much as it's my hip that is bothering me these days. It's been bothering me a lot and I just ignore it. Some days it's better than others.

We worked on how to do a good front stance and how to teach the front stance to our classes. We discussed the center of gravity and where it is in the execution of a front stance and a boxing stance. That was a good learning experience. We all worked on front stances, then we worked on horse riding stances. Afterwards, he demonstrated how to teach a good low block and how to teach high blocks. Then we paired up with a partner and worked on throwing kicks and blocking them--from a horse riding stance. We did round kicks first, then we moved into knees and elbows and blocking shots when our opponent was hitting us with knees and elbows. You don't have time to think, only to react.


I didn't go to WW since I had to be at class at 8:00. I DID lose a half pound from last week, which wasn't too horribly bad, all things considered. I know I didn't drink enough water, nor did I eat right. I also didn't do any exercise this week, so I get what I get. Next week? We'll see what happens.

Friday at last!!!

I swear, I have seriously felt like breaking not only one, but SEVERAL boards this week. Not individually either. I need to break multiple boards at once. I am THAT stressed!!
I've pretty well mangled my workout schedule this week. I spent 2 hours talking to Mr. M about my resume and finding a new job on Monday. I didn't go to class on either Wednesday or Thursday. Today, we're not having class. Tomorrow I have CIT and then *I* am going home. I am not staying around for the class right after because I am supposed to be going to Scarborough Faire with one of my daughter's friends and her family. We're all going.

Well, heck. I just found out that we're not going. They've got something to do instead of us going. We're now talking about hitting up one of the local state parks. We'll have to see how that works out.

I just spent some time with my daughter, trying to explain her form to her. She didn't have the interest in it that I'd like to see from her. Her form is Sam Dan and she has absolutely no interest in doing the form. I am not going to be hyper critical of her performance of the form, but I'd like to know that the form she's learning to advance a belt IS going to be performed correctly.

One of the changes they've made to our dojang is to have the students fill out a "practice record" and have their parents sign it. Then they get an instructor to sign off on the record. One record per month, two for each test. I've got to figure out how to get that record thing filled out by my kids. I have to convince them to get more motivated. My son more or less HAS to attend the classes because he's on the competition team. My daughter, on the other hand, I have to figure out.

Wednesday

I'm feeling a bit 'blah' tonight. I've decided that I'm skipping class tonight since I really don't feel good. I hate that I'm doing it. I have to figure out how to attend a black belt class tomorrow night. Shouldn't be TOO much of an issue. I'll attend the 6:15-7:00 class. I can pretty much attend any class I want to anyway. Need to work on that.

I've about decided that I'm going to start meditating again. I haven't been meditating lately and that's something I've got to start back up on again. I know that it'll help soothe me and help me focus on my work, both at work and at the dojang. I am calmer and more grounded, better able to focus, so I have to start doing that. I also need to start walking in the morning (weather permitting) and get myself more active outside of the dojang. I'm GOING to get myself more physically fit.

We have had some pretty drastic changes at the dojang. We've had several of the instructors leave. My friend, S is about to leave to go back to school. She'll be "Professor S" within a few months to a few years, I believe. She'll be teaching and going to school at the same time. I'll miss her, but I am very happy for her at the same time!! She has been our lead instructor for the Little Ninjas and the Young Warriors, so that's going to be a major change. The class times for the Little Ninjas and Young Warriors was changed to incorporate the Young Warriors into the Basic class. The Little Ninjas are at 4:00, so I'm not able to be there for that anymore. It was a bit funny to hear one of my little girls from Young Warriors ask me on Saturday night why I wasn't at Martial Arts anymore. I had to tell her that I was not able to make the Basic class or the Young Warriors class because my 'real' job keeps me there until after her class is over. I'm still around...I'm just not in the earlier classes. I WILL be at the belt test on the 30th though. My kids are testing, so I definitely want to be there!!

I finally got serious about a new job...

I finally got serious and got out my resume tonight. I've updated it, but was told that I need to do some SERIOUS reworking on it *in a hurry*. Okay, I'm game.
I have to get my experience (18+ years with ONE COMPANY) out there and downplay my lack of education (high school grad with SOME college but no degree). I need to play up my experience in Customer Service and play up my contributions to helping my company make money. This is what I was advised tonight.

Hmmm. Need to work on it. I'm planning on taking it with me to work tomorrow.
I apparently also have to beard the lion in its den and get copies of my last performance reviews. I was told tonight that I need that. Here's my dilemma--they don't give you any copies of your reviews at my company. I asked for it last year and was told I couldn't get a copy. I will go talk to HR to handle that.

I'll be looking seriously over the next several months. I WILL find something better.

Oh, by the way...this all came about because I was told to reschedule *MY* appointments to accommodate one of the men in the department. I understand the bit about the being short staffed, and not allowing people off when someone's out (not that we'll have a full staff anyway--I'm sure we'll have someone calling in sick while this other guy's out!) on vacation, but...what I don't understand is why my daughter's orthodontic appointment must be rescheduled to make way for someone's appointment with a mortgage broker. I realize he's buying a house and that it IS important, but please...let two people take the time off for a short time on one day. Would it kill the other 4 people to pull their weight around there for a change?????

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there...and the Dads who fill in when Mom's not available.

Geez, two weeks without a post??

Well, I don't know where I've been, mentally. Actually, I do. I've had a rough couple of days recently. Last Friday, I had to put my old cat to sleep and ever since then, I've fought with being depressed over that decision. He was 13 years old (just turned 13) and had some mental issues. I feel bad that I made the decision, but at the same time, I know he's much better off. It doesn't mean I have to LIKE the choice! I do miss him though. He had some idiosyncrasies that were fun--like beating on my arm with his paw when he thought I'd had enough sleep! Waking up that way was always a trip. I miss that. I miss his loud "roaring" purr in the middle of the night as he slept on my pillow. I miss his cheerful "purrrsonality". He was a great cat.

I totally skipped out of CIT and all martial arts classes this week. I haven't been to WW in over a month either. That's all going to change. I'm sick and tired of being tired. I'm tired of feeling down. I am re-starting a lot of things as of Saturday. I know, don't put things off. I weighed myself this morning and got good and disgusted with myself. Well, no more. I WILL be healthier and happier. It's all in my hands to make the changes. I'm going to attack it with a healthier attitude come Monday.

I covered for my boss today at work; that's always a fun experience. We had the other woman in the department retire last week, so things have been a bit difficult. We've all had to make huge adjustments to compensate for her not being there. I took almost 40 calls even with doing his work. Pretty busy...I had installations to set up, calls to close, updates to gather, etc. Plus approving defective consumable requests, service exchanges, etc. I was busy!

So, tomorrow's Friday. The boss will be back. I'll be ready to go to work and be productive. Saturday I'm taking the fat cat (Skeeter, my "youngster") to the vet to get HIS checkup. We know he's healthy. I'll be traumatizing him so he'll be hateful to me. He already doesn't like me (He's my hubby's cat...he just avoids me like the plague, but will sleep at my feet at night. Go figure!). May as well make him even more unhappy with me!

Aidan is writing a story about a T-Rex named "Aidan". He had hair, which made him different from the other dinosaurs. It's a project for school. He made a leaf dinosaur to go with the story.

Wednesday

I taught class again tonight. This time, Mr. M was in the building. He held a mandatory meeting with the other instructors. I was left out because he needed me to run the class. Okay...I can handle it. I'm feeling pretty good about it, all things considered.

When I got to the dojang, I got locked out by one of the instructors--she said it was my "rite of passage". I got revenge--she left her belt on the front desk and went back to the locker room. She told me to watch her belt. When she came back, it wasn't there. At my suggestion, we hid it (Ms. L, Mr. B and I, that is). haha! Okay, so it's kind of silly, but you know what? I felt like I belonged. I got a seriously good giggle out of it. She got her belt back and forgave me. I took the blame for it anyway.

Anyway, they all had a meeting and I got the class. Wahoo! I enjoyed that. I got Mrs. W tonight. Last Wednesday, it was her hubby who took the class. She's my friend Jason's neighbor. Mr. M grabbed me and told me I was teaching tonight's class, then ran everyone else into the little room. Lucky me! I had the big room (and the loudmouthed younger brother of the one guy I have issues with--it's in the family because I don't like his brother either!) all to myself, with my class. There were three black belts--one's a loud kid (teenager!!) and the other two, while they're also teens, they're more respectful, but goofier. They like to play all sorts of tricks on each other. They were goofing off together.

I ran the class through a not overly strenuous warm up, then we did some stretches. After that, I ran them through some quick techniques (kicking and punching), then we did forms, then played with a Wavemaster to practice kicks. I enjoyed that. Then we sparred. I like being able to make it different. They don't know what I'm going to do. I enjoyed it. I didn't freak out---just went in and said to myself, "Okay, I'm expected to run this class, run it I shall! I OWN the class!" I did. *I* think I did, anyway!

Hopefully Mr. M will be told by the attendees what they thought of me teaching. I'd like them to feel free to tell him that either I totally suck or I'm a good teacher.

If it's the second Saturday, it's CIT...

It's the second Saturday of the month, so you know that means CIT class.
Today's class was very informative. One of the changes Mr. M has implemented involved one of the lead instructors flying out to visit another studio. It was pretty neat to hear how excited he was this morning when he came back. We talked about the culture we're developing in our school, what we want our students to get from us when they walk in the door. We talked about presentation--your presentation is going to make a difference in whether your students are interested or not interested.
He led us through a warm up that was quick and very high-tempo. We did 20 jumping jacks and counted them out loud. We jogged in place, then did front falls, did pushups (10), got back up, jogged in place, turned and did a back fall, then did crunches with no count until he told us to get back up, then we did more jogging in place. Then he had us turn to the left into a good guarding stance and do left jabs. We had to repeat that multiple times as we were entirely too slow in several instances. Then he decided that we'd have a little competition and try to outdo Mr. Todd and Ms. Jackson. The point was to be a faster and better than either of them.

After that, he had a couple of instructors lead us in techniques and kicking drills so that we could get used to his teaching style. He then pointed out where the individuals could have made improvements. Our MMA teacher was also there and he led us in jab and cross combinations. I enjoyed that part of it because that's something I know I need work on.

We did an old Tae Kwan Do form today. It's an ITF form and we learned it in the CIT class. Transitioning from TSD to TKD is a bit of a challenge if you're used to doing things one way. I learned TSD to begin with, so this is a little bit of a change. My best friend was an old TKD person, so this form will be nothing new to him. He remembers his TKD training.

I made sure Mr. M knew that the instructor who led the Black Belt class on Thursday did a great job. I told her that she did a great job too. I have since found my butt, which I didn't realize was missing until yesterday, when it showed up again. That was as a result of her lunge drills.

Black belt class

I attended the black belt class last night. I normally do not attend these classes just because I'm up at the dojang almost every night and like to spend a *little* time with my family, but since it was Mrs. T's birthday, I decided to stay around after the Little Ninja/Young Warriors class. I had brought her some brownies and ate 2 of them, so I HAD to work out!

Ms. F taught the class last night. She's a pretty tough teacher. I liked the warm ups. She's a soccer player and she had us doing some of the warm ups they use in soccer--alternating lunges, squats and then "I'm a stars". An "I'm a star" is where you get into a squat position, burst up in the air, spread your arms and legs out and say "I'm a star!!" loudly. I skipped those because I was feeling my leg.
I did the three sprints, to the end of the room and back. I don't usually run, or at least, not fast. I was trying to keep up with an 11 year old and that's not a good idea for a 42 year old. LOL!!

Wednesday night class

I taught my class last night. I just made up my mind that I was NOT going to let the fact that I train with these people intimidate me. I went in with the feeling that I was going to do well in class and that I was going to make it fun, but a good workout and I think I accomplished that goal.
We started out with the basics--bowing in, etc. Then I had everyone move to the end of the room and we started our warm up drills. They ran from one end to the other, then they bunny hopped back. I had them do lunges with a front snap kick, then they did crunches and push ups. I also had them revisit some of our *old* material--the combinations I first learned when I was starting out three years ago. Those were fun. I found myself demonstrating the combinations and when I did, I noticed that my front stance was a bit better. Yippee!

Since Wednesday is a sparring night, I had everyone work on front leg front snap kicks, round house kicks, side kicks and hook kicks. We worked with a Wavemaster and had fun knocking it down. After that, we went to actual sparring. I tried to make sure the sparring was fun but worked well so that everyone felt that they accomplished something.

I decided to go in with the attitude that I was going to take charge of that class and own it last night, which I think I did. I am still pretty pleased about how it went. I feel like I can do this again. I would like to think that Mr. M will give me the responsibility of doing this whenever he's out of the office and when other people are busy. That way it's a good use of me and allows me to get in more teaching time. Now I need to go look at my calendar and see if that qualifies as a credit toward my teaching certificate...

Golf

Hubby's watching golf and talking about what the pro golfers take home for second place. I said "Can I go learn to play golf and turn pro?" He said "sure, but you'll have to play in the Seniors." GEE, Dear!! Thank you for that!! I'm not a senior citizen yet!!

Looking ahead

My best friend usually teaches the adult classes on Mondays and Wednesdays but he broke his wrist last Saturday so he can't do it. Our instructor is going to a meeting in Colorado this week and is taking the other two lead instructors, so there won't be anyone to teach the adult class. There ME!!
I'm not teaching tomorrow but I DO need to have a workable game plan put together for my class on Wednesday. This means that I have to watch 3 videos (which I haven't looked at YET) and then write out what I'm planning. I really want to do the best job I can possibly do because I don't want the students to hate the class. I also don't want to get off the curriculum. I'm really looking forward to it. I won't have anyone to back me up. This should be interesting. I can do it. I know I can. Just need to make sure I plan appropriately. I have to get an adequate warm up. With adults, it's a lot easier to keep their interest than it is with the Little Ninjas and Young Warriors. The kids are anywhere from 4-6 and it's hard to keep their attention span longer than 1-2 minutes up to 5-6 minutes at a time. The adults are putting the effort in because they see the results faster and it means a lot to them.

Wednesday is a sparring day. I have to teach sparring and do drills. I need to incorporate that into my warm up, I think. I do not want to spend the entire class sparring. Sparring isn't my personal favorite thing, but it'll be good to teach it just because. Hopefully it'll be a good class. I'm not overly nervous about it, amazingly. I know I can teach it. I just have to be prepared. I'll be meeting with Mr. M tomorrow to go over the lesson plan.

CIT

Our instructor moved our CIT classes to every other Saturday at 8:00 am. It's actually pretty cool to be up there for two hours, working on our materials and learning HOW to teach. You can show someone what to do, but if you don't actually learn how to present it, you'll inevitably wind up boring someone.
Mr. M had us work on a phone script after talking to us about some of the changes he's making to the school. Inevitably everyone will wind up answering the phone at some point or another. It helps to have everyone on the same page, literally, when it comes to answering the phone.
We also worked on our presentation of the materials we're teaching. Instead of showing the kids what we want them to do, we are supposed to show them and then if we see someone who is doing the technique exactly as we want them to be doing it, he recommended that we pull them out of the group and have them demonstrate the technique. Then you ask the kids "who can do this better?" and have a mini-competition. It really gets the energy levels up and makes everyone think that they CAN do better than the person who's been called up. Makes sense. Of course, the person who got called out is pretty well pleased because they're being used as an example and they know that they did well.

Another thing he was recommending to watch out for was the parents' reactions to your teaching. If you have a parent who is sitting there with his or her arms crossed, looking irritated, you know you're not teaching the way they expect their kids to be taught. Mr. M says that if the parents are sitting there, talking to each other, laughing and having a good time together while their children are learning, then you're teaching correctly. If they're watching you and glowering, you're doing something wrong. We want parent involvement. That's what makes our school work. If we have unhappy parents, they're likely to pull their kids out of the school.
He demonstrated to us the way he wants to see us addressing the kids and their parents. After doing techniques and forms, then he wants to have us call the kids over to him--he stood on the red mat and faced where the parents would have been sitting if we'd been in a regular class. He talked to us, explained why we're facing that way--he asks a question or tells what he wants done and then emphasizes that to the parent by saying "You need to practice your back falls 20 times this week. Is that a problem, Mr. Smith?" At this point, he's looking at the parent and getting the parent's involvement as well. This is something we'll all need to work on. In a lot of ways, I think it's actually easier to work with an adult class rather than a children's class because you don't have parents to talk to.

Another Tuesday

Last night's class was most interesting. We started out with an obstacle/endurance/?? course. I don't like some of the things we did but I did them anyway. We had 5 cones set out in a box pattern--one on each corner, one in the middle. Started out running from one cone down the side, then run *backwards* to the middle, forwards to the next cone, backwards up the long side, forwards to the middle again (but don't go AROUND it, just go up TO it!), then backwards to the beginning. I don't run fast backwards, so I got caught up in the crowd.
The next step of the obstacle course was to do a bear crawl to the one cone, flip around ("on the fly"), crab walk to the middle, bear crawl to the next one and so forth. Then we had to lunge, then an "alligator walk" and "Inch worm" and finally bunny hops and hopping on one leg. It was an interesting series of exercises. The black belt who ran this warm up told all of us that we should be able to change from a bear crawl to a crab walk without stopping. He was going to make us practice it at the end of the evening, but we got out of that because Mr. B came in and took over the class.

Mrs. T and I worked with the S brothers on our Pyung Ahn forms. It was good to review and refresh our memories on the older forms. I truly miss practicing forms. I feel like I need a lot of work to refine the forms I know.
I did have fun before I headed out to class yesterday. I talked to my son and asked him if he really was enjoying classes. He says yes, so he's staying in. My daughter is another story. She earned her green belt, but she's telling me she's "disinterested". I'm afraid she'll just stop trying. Need to talk to Sa Bu Nim and see what he says. Her heart just isn't in it and I don't want her to feel like she's being forced. Tony and I need to talk about it with her and tell her WHY she should stay in (self esteem, focus) and see if she's interested in it at all. If not, we need to talk to Sa Bu Nim about getting her off the contract. At least one of the kids enjoys it, so that's fine.

New day, new week

We went to Shreveport yesterday to meet some friends. It was fun! We were under cloudy skies until just before we crossed the border into Louisiana. Then the sun came out. We met our friends at what used to be the Isle of Capri but has since been changed to "Diamond Jacks". Interesting place. Very loud, very crowded, but fun. B and I played the one armed bandits (which, incidentally, still have one arm but are now computerized!) while our hubbies played table games upstairs. We looked for the penny slots. That was interesting, to say the least. I did fairly well...had an amount given to me by my hubby and I managed to double it. I wasn't complaining at all.
When we got tired of the games, we went to dinner, then found our way to another casino, the Horseshoe. Very ritzy, very big, also noisy. I think they all are! Anyway, when we walked in, we saw a BMW in the hotel lobby. They were having a drawing for it at 10:00, so we registered for it. Of course, you had to be present to win. We left early, so we knew we weren't going to win. LOL!!
That casino wasn't friendly to any of us--we lost money, so we left. On our way out, we talked about the fact that the casinos are all on boats. There's some weird law that Louisiana has that says their casinos have to be off land. Don't know why, but that's it. When we walked into Diamond Jacks, we walked up a ramp and then onto the boat itself. You could feel it move a little when we got in there. Of course, the boats are permanently docked and aren't anything more than for show. It's how they get around the 'can't be on on land' thing.

Coming home, we saw a lot of lightning in the sky to the southwest. We first thought it was just heat lightning, but it kept getting more and more pronounced. We didn't have any way to check radar, so we winged it and just watched the sky. At about Marshall, the skies simply opened up and a LOT of torrential rain poured out. There was a lot of hail and it was too hard to see for the combination of lightning, rain and hail. There wasn't a lot we could do--we went from driving 85 miles an hour down to 30. Anyone on the highway last night was taking cover under whatever overpasses they could find. We got off the road and found ourselves under a garage awning...sat there for about 30 minutes, just talking, until we thought we'd be able to make it out again. The rain was still pelting the cars, but it wasn't as bad as it had been. We didn't get up to 80 again until just before we got to Dallas.

When we got to our friends' house (their kids, who are teenagers, watched number one son. Number one daughter was at HER friend's house last night!), it was 11:00. Number one son was STILL awake although the assorted parents were exhausted! We packed him up (had to collect video games, memory card and book and clean up his mess--games and game systems all over the living room floor!) and came on home. Got in around midnight. The storm decided to follow us and found us around 1-2 am. Good thing we weren't driving!! I know I didn't like that at all! I'm glad I wasn't behind the wheel.

We're going to have to plan on going out there again sometime soon. I truly enjoyed myself.

Saturday catch up

Real quick "fly by" catch up.
Last night was the gup test at the dojang. It was a pretty good test. We've got two new Cho Dan Bo's and a couple of kids who are moving up in the ranks toward that goal.
My kids also tested last night. My son needs a lot of work on his forms--he had some issues with Pyung Ahn Oh Dan...I could see that and I wasn't on the board!!
He needs to learn the co-ordination between his hands and feet. I'll work with him on that. I think he'll be learning Pyung Ahn Sah Dan for his next form. I'll have to really work with him. If he won't work with me, he'll have to work with another one of the black belts because I want him to be as good as he can possibly be. He's trying out for the competition team next weekend (that was his idea, not mine!), so I have to help him get ready for that.
I didn't see Miss A's test as she was hidden in the crowd, but hubby says she did pretty well. I did see her do Pyung Ahn Cho Dan. Other than a habit of doing a backfist that is WAY higher than I think it should have been, it looked good.

I'm going to Shreveport today with my hubby. We're celebrating our anniversary a week late. Some friends of his from work invited him to go and asked if I'd go along, so we decided to make a day of it. The kids are going to friends' houses and we're gone. It'll be fun. It's just a day trip, so it'll be a quick out and back.

What a fun evening!!

Okay, color me crazy, but tonight I had one of the BEST workouts I have *ever* had since I joined martial arts in 2004! We went back to the old stuff--we did old combinations we haven't done in absolutely forever (well, since 2006!). We did a combination of stepping out with your left foot, downblock, reverse inside/outside block, front snap kick, reverse punch.
We did front snap kick, roundhouse, back kicks. Inside/outside kick, roundhouse, reverse ridge-hand...no, wait, that was just a plain ridge-hand,. I love doing the "old" things! I like it much better than the Ho Sin Sul!! I really enjoy it. I am not a spar-er. I don't like sparring and will be the first to admit to it. I know it has a purpose, so I will do it without complaint. I actually enjoy it if it's with a good partner who gives a good dialog/return on my punches, kicks, whatever. I had that on Wednesday with Mr. T. We worked very hard on sparring--every time I hit him with my right hand (I'm severely right-handed!), he blocked it easily. I know I have to work on that, so that's on the agenda. (I should also work on adding in some weight lifting to work my triceps, but that's another thing I have on the books...)

After the combinations, we moved into doing our forms. We did the Kee-cho forms one after another, then did Pyung Ahn Cho Dan (which Amanda now tells me she "remembers" finally!), then Pyung Ahn, Ee Dan, Sam Dan, Oh Dan, Sah Dan, Bassai, Nahainchi Cho Dan and then Sip Soo. I didn't work on Nahainchi Ee Dan because my memory of the form is fuzzy at best. We'll look at practicing that hopefully next class.

Friday night is the test and I'm looking forward to that. I'm working at it. I have to be there as an instructor, because I'm working with the Little Ninja and Young Warrior class with Mrs. T. It's going to be fun. My kids are both testing at that test. I hope they do well. I just want to make sure they know their material and can do it well enough to pass the test.

Morning Light

I have to admit that my favorite time of day is when the sun is just barely peeking over the horizon. It's that time just before full sunrise, when it's neither dark nor light, but kind of a "twilight" if you will. It's usually coolest at that time of day and if there's a breeze blowing, it's the softest breeze of the day. I enjoy being able to get up early and go out on the patio to watch the sunrise. We're lucky in that our apartment faces East--I see the sunrise every day that I'm home, when the sun is shining. I can take a cup of coffee (if I get it made early enough!) out on the porch and just stand at the rail, watching the colors play across the sky. It's somehow soothing and invigorating at the same time. My little garden is my companion at this time of day. I like to go out and sit out there and just enjoy the sun rise.

Tomorrow's Easter Sunday. It's also our 17th anniversary. We've been together as a couple for 19 years. We're not really planning anything. With our luck, we'll both sit on the couch and enjoy being "old" together--he'll be on his computer playing a game and I'll be surfing the Internet on mine. LOL!! The cats will probably find any available patch of sunlight to lounge around in and the kids will play Wii or something else. They like to do that. Amanda wants to go to her friend's house today and spend the night. I told her that if her friend's mother said it was okay, that's fine with me. I WILL, however, get into her room and toss out all the old clothes she's not wearing, plus pick up everything on the floor. I'm tired of looking at it (again!). She says "It's fine to me!" whenever I mention it to her. She's not quite figured out that if Mom says the room is annoying, ya better LISTEN!! hahaha!!

Thursday

Wednesday was a lot drier than Tuesday was. It was a better day, work-wise...or it was up until later in the afternoon when we were short handed (more so than normal!)
I got to martial arts and took out a LOT of frustration on a few bags. It's amazing how well you can kick a bag if you're stressed out and need the release!! I was supposed to go into the 6:00 class and work with them (helping out) but there were a lot of instructors there, so I didn't bother with it. I went in where Mr. T was instructing someone on Pyung Ahn Oh Dan and I started beating on the bags. I figured it would be good to practice kicking and work out some aggression. I actually threw some good roundhouse kicks and front snap kicks. I didn't do a lot of side kicks, but I definitely got in a few good round kicks!

In class last night we did some serious sparring. I sparred with Ms. F and Mr. T tonight as well as B and S. I couldn't spar a lot with B because she'd had some stitches in her leg and S hasn't been through enough classes to get into sparring. Plus, if we spar with her, we have to be very careful. She's super tiny. It wouldn't take much of a hit to knock her down or hurt her which we don't want to do!

I've got bruised knuckles on my right hand after the sparring. I have a tendency to throw punches with my right hand exclusively. Mr. T figured me out and kept hitting my arm with his hand. I have to learn and he's one who can teach me. I WILL learn or will be taken down if I'm not careful!

One more day of work. I'll get through it. I just have to hope like crazy that everyone shows up and that it'll be a quiet day!

How does your garden grow?

Today was my "first" gardening day. Here in Texas, temperatures have been changing and winter is no more. Officially on Friday, it'll be Spring anyway. We've seen our last frost with the snow twice in the first week of this month.
Today my hubby took me out and let me get some plants and planter boxes. I'm now the proud cultivator of patio tomatoes, peppers (yellow banana), two different kinds of basils, a catnip, two strawberries, a citronella (mosquito plant) and sugar snap pea seeds. I've been on a snow pea pod kick lately. I enjoy eating those darned things! Hopefully they'll grow for me!

Saturday morning

This morning despite not going to WW, I had a 1.6 pound loss! I'll take it!! I need to work harder on getting more water in, but I'm on the right track! I went to the doctor this week for my yearly visit and chat. He told me that I'm 15 pounds lighter than I was this time last year (great!!) and that I am healthier than ever. He said that my cholesterol levels were great and all my other lab work looked good. I did talk to him about the pain in my hip and he said that if I felt that I needed to see a specialist, he'd refer me. For now, I'm living with the pain. I don't care about it and will modify my movements in karate to compensate for it. My instructor has already reminded me this on numerous occasions.

Sunday was the black belt banquet. I'm pretty happy. I am now officially a Cho Dan, which is, for those who are unfamiliar with Tang Soo Do, a first degree black belt. I feel pretty good about it. I think I have a lot of work to do to bring myself up to a higher level to become an Ee Dan, but that will happen over the next several months.

During the black belt test, for example, I did a second Dan form that I had no business doing. I was out of sync with the Ee Dans, but I HOPE I managed to hold my own. I don't think Kwan Jang Nim St. James was looking at me, but you never know! I performed Nahainchi Ee Dan, which I had just learned a week or so before the test. I practiced it a number of times outside of class, which may have been a plus. Now I have to keep practicing.

This week is Spring Break for our school district and several others. Classes should be interesting because we don't know how many people are going to be there. I have the munchkin class on Thursday--I work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. I'm happy about that. I may get to break off with Kyoshi and help some of the adult class learn their lower forms.

Sunday morning coffee

I received a neat little surprise in the mail yesterday. I received a packet of "Jamaican Me Crazy" coffee from Joffrey's Coffee and Tea. It was GOOD! I made it yesterday and inhaled the entire pot of coffee. I think I'll have to look seriously at ordering some. Need to tell hubby that it's going to be in my head for a while.
Seriously, it was good! The house smelled great--that was a plus! Another plus was the fact that it was something warm in the middle of the afternoon. I had been outside in the wind yesterday for almost an hour and was chilled to the bone when I got home. The coffee helped me get warm again. Yay!!

Tonight's the Black Belt Banquet. It'll be held over at the dojang. After all the searching I did, I couldn't find a nice dress that I thought would be appropriate for wearing tonight. I couldn't justify buying a dress that was dressier than most, so I didn't get anything. I'm considering just wearing a nice pair of dress slacks and a red blouse I have in my closet. It'll be "business casual" but not overly casual. I don't know. I may drag hubby out for a minute or three this morning. Number one son is supposed to have company over today and number one daughter is going to a friend's house for the afternoon, so I'll have to go early.

Daylight Savings started last night/this morning. How the stupid government thinks it's saving us money, I don't know, but...I did hear on the news last night that there wasn't a huge savings. People used more energy for heating and cooling their homes. Maybe less energy was used for lights, but they still had a lot of output to heat and air conditioning. I am not a fan of DST and would like to see them just decide to leave things alone.

Post belt test/post seminar

Last night was the belt test. We held it in a church fellowship hall rather than our dojang and I think it worked out very well. It was a bit crowded, but nothing worse than what we routinely go through every time we get all the people who are testing for their next belts or re-certifying.
It was chilly last night but not too terribly bad. Since we were in a church, we could control the temperature with little to no difficulty. We did have to move a piano and some of their props out of the way, but that was done before most of the students showed up. We lined up according to belt rank order and waited for Kwan Jang Nim and Bu Sa Nim. They came in and we did the bow in. It was not that much different from the first black belt test I participated in. I found it interesting that I was less stressed and panicked over this one than I was for the first one. It may be because I was only re-certing. I wasn't actually moving up in the ranks.

After the technique (which I goofed up on multiple times), we did forms, then moved into Ho Sin Sul (self defense), then one steps and sparring. After the sparring, we did the board breaking for our Cho Dan Bo's. It was really neat to see all the family participation. Several of the kids had their parents/grand parents holding boards for them. The really neat thing was that my friend S got to test with her son, A. That was really cool! Our friend, DB was also there, working on his re-cert for his Ee Dan, getting ready for his Sam Dan. Sa Bu Nim's oldest son tested for his Sam Dan last night too. His youngest received HIS Cho Dan last night too. It was really cool! We had twin brothers and another pair of brothers testing last night too. We had a lot of families there!

My boss and a friend from work came out to see the test. They got there in time for the sparring and the board breaking. I didn't personally break any boards last night, but that's fine with me. I wasn't feeling completely "on" last night. I DID do Nahainchi Ee Dan with the second and third Dans. I should have sat down but...I didn't. When they did JinDo, I DID sit out. We broke the bong form into three different groups. That way we could all do the form and not run the risk of hitting each other in the head!! It was also a good way to showcase the Cho Dan Bo's.

This morning we had a sword seminar with Kwan Jang Nim. It was interesting. He taught us two forms--the beginner sword for and the intermediate sword form. He told us that the Master form is 120 moves long. Everything we learned today will go toward learning the Master form. We learned strikes and blocks. Kwan Jang Nim (that means Master in Korean) taught us 8 cuts. There's a center cut, inside high, outside high, inside low, outside low, inside middle, outside middle and I've now blanked out on the last one. EEP!

Tomorrow night is the banquet where they'll hand out the belts for the new Cho Dans, Mr. M the younger is going to get his Sam Dan belt (YAY!!) and the Cho Dans who recertified will get their "official" belts with their names on them. Should be a lot of fun!!

I was asked if there would be pictures from this test. I won't have any because I didn't have anyone except for two people from work there. Hubby was working and the kids were elsewhere. I will TRY to get a copy of the group photo from someone who was there and post it when I get a chance.

Belt test

Today's the day! The black belt test starts in 4 1/2 hours. Am I ready? YOU BET!!
Am I nervous? Yeah! Am I going to work through it? Oh yes!!! When all is said and done, I'll feel like I accomplished something very major.
I'm ready for it!!

CIT class

Tonight was CIT class. The CIT class is the certified instructor training class. I'm actually honored to be considered a part of this class. It's most beneficial to me to learn more about how to teach classes. It also betters me, I think, in my quest to be a better person overall.

Sa Bu Nim made a comment about "old black belts", meaning people who have achieved their belts and have been in the school for a long time. One of the other students in the class looked over at me. Sa Bu Nim caught the look and started laughing, which made the rest of the class realize there was a joke there. That led to a discussion of age (I'm the "senior citizen" in this group as I'm 42, going on 43!). Sa Bu Nim said he meant black belts who had been in the school for a long time, NOT "aged" black belts. LOL!!! I was in stitches. I'm still laughing about it even now!!

I was talking to one of my friends tonight about practicing forms and things. We discussed the black belt camp called Kodanja that is usually held by our Federation in the summer. I would LOVE to attend a Kodanja but I can't do it this year. I told him that I'd like to save up for the Black belt general camp in Aruba. Now THAT would be nice. It's in December! I think it would be wicked cool!!

New form!

Last night's class was great! Sa Bu Nim started teaching me my next form, so I'm officially on the path to second Dan!! I'm really excited about it! I like the way it looks. I just need to get the arm movements down (the "darkwing duck" move, as one of my companions calls it!). It doesn't have a special joon be move, so it's actually easier than some of the other forms I've learned, but...you have to know how to do the arm/hand movements properly. One of the things I find the hardest is performing Naihanchi Cho Dan properly--there's a step to a horse riding stance with an inside/outside block. If it's done correctly, you're chambered and ready to actually do the block as you step down with your right foot. I want to make sure that my technique is spot on for Friday.

Friday is now 3 days away. I'm excited. I want to be cautious about it too but...I'm excited because I think it's going to be fun. I asked my friend Jason to hold my board during the firecracker break. He's a good friend and I thought it would be cool to ask him.

March 2, 2008

Happiness is having a quiet house so that you can enjoy a cup of coffee! The cats and I are the only ones up this morning. Everyone else is still in bed. This gives us time to sit in the living room and listen to the black birds cawing, and the mockingbirds yelling. They aren't singing--yet.
Today's supposed to be a gray day. The skies are overcast right now which is just fine with me. I'm an oddity down here as I LOVE gray days. I have the windows open. The cats are in the window and on the back of the love seat in front of the window. Every time a bird flutters by, they both go on alert. They're silly!

Last night I crashed completely. I guess I needed the caffeine withdrawal I had. I'm not going to do that on Friday--I'll have my morning coffee. I need to figure out what I'm going to eat during the day so that I'll have plenty of energy for the test that night. I'm open to suggestions.
Obviously it'll need to be something points friendly!

Speaking of points friendly, yesterday's weigh in was anything but friendly. Again, I didn't go up to the meeting, but weighed in at home. I did put it in my weight tracker on WW. I am seriously unhappy about it, but...I needed that wake up call. I haven't been tracking my points and I need to. I also need to drink more water--that's a huge thing for me. I drank 2 litres of water yesterday but feel like I could have drunk more. I usually have tons of excuses for not drinking water but they're just excuses. I shouldn't let work or my co-workers interfere with MY health.

A day without caffeine?

Let me tell you, starting your day off without caffeine is not the best way to go. I don't usually have coffee before I go to the Black Belt Prep classes because I don't want to be dehydrated. I've done that once in a two hour class and I decided that once was enough! I usually come home and have coffee, but that didn't happen today.

This morning's class was a true preparation for the test. We lined up, figured out where we're going to stand, taught the Cho Dan Bo's that they need to face Kwan Jang Nim, and practiced the bowing in and the standing meditation. Then he got us organized for the actual test and we were off and running.
I was in front of a kid who is 17 or 18, very tall and, ahem! LOUD!! He also doesn't realize the extent of his reach and came very darned close to kicking me in the head. (I have asked Sa Bu Nim to move me or him. I don't want to be in danger of being kicked.)

When the second class of the morning started, Sa Bu Nim told me that *I* was going to warm them up. ME?! Okay! That was a bit of a fun thing for me. I actually stayed around a little longer than I had originally intended because I was enjoying the technique and working out. I also got to see my kids do their warm ups. My daughter did her push ups very well. My son has some work to do. His push ups are worse than his "elderly" mom and mine haven't been the best. By the way, *I* did 30 push ups in one minute.

We came home after the kids' class and I've been here ever since. I managed to do laundry with my daughter's help but nothing else. I'm very tired and have been dozing off on the couch. I watched/slept through Breakfast at Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn was wonderful.
I'm going to be concentrating on forms all week and resting as much as possible. I know that Friday's going to be a great challenge. I can do it. I'm ready. I will try to have my friend Johnny take pictures.

Less than a week to go

There is less than a week left before the black belt test. It's one week from tomorrow. A LOT of things are happening, some are good, some are so-so. I'm not going to get all stressed out with nowhere to go. I'm going to try to maintain a cheerful, happy mood. I decided that I wasn't going to let my office stress me out anymore. I'm only one person and I can only do so much, you know?

Last night's class was a bit more interesting than usual. I managed to do 75 jumping jacks in a minute by NOT racing through them! That was a huge surprise to me because I *usually* get either winded or I feel like my legs are going to fall off from the fatigue of doing the jumping jacks. We also had to do a BUNCH of push ups. 30/20/15. 30 regular. 20 wide arm, 15 diamond. UGH. Not my favorite thing to do. For the entire time I've been going to class, I've been doing my push ups incorrectly. I *sagged* at the hips instead of staying board straight. Last night I did them correctly for the first time and man! I can feel the difference! My shoulders are letting me know I did them. It's a great feeling!

Tonight I'm going to Mr. A's Den meeting with him. Hubby is going to a Dallas Stars game tonight (bum! Didn't even ask me if I wanted to go!). I was SUPPOSED to go teach with Susan but that's not happening. I called her at lunch and told her. All the fun thing happen when I'm not there anyway.

This weekend is the final run-through of the belt test. I'm actually looking forward to it. I want to work on my Bong Hyung Il Bu plus the other forms I have to know for next week!

Video Share!

I want to be as wickedly awesome as these gentlemen are when I grow up!!! In my dojang, we don't work with the swords like this. Look at the precision they're exhibiting!! I admire them for this. It is really incredible to see this!! (Now you know the extent of my obsession! LOL!!)
The people in this video are Masters, which means that they're WAAAAAAAAAAAAY beyond what I am. I am only a Cho Dan, which is a first Dan. To become a Master, you've got to be a 4th Dan or higher. That's on my list of goals...
Enjoy!!

Counting down again

Yep, it's that time...countdown commences!
We've got the black belt test on March 7th. I THINK I'm okay, despite the stupid mistakes I made during the pre-test yesterday. See this...you're in a room with all the Cho Dan Bo's and the re-certs. Sa Bu Nim calls "Pyung Ahn SA Dan" and you do "Pyung Ahn SAM Dan". On top of that, he called KeeCho Hyung Sam Bu and I started out doing Ee Bu. HELLO? Where the heck was my mind????
Once we got past THAT little snafu, I got into the correct swing of things. I don't know why I didn't have the forms in my head correctly. Nerves? The fact that there's a lot of change going on? I dunno. Maybe I just wasn't thinking. I'll work on that. Cho, Ee, Sam, Sa, Oh....1, 2, 3, 4, 5
I know the Pyung Ahn forms...I really do...Pyung Ahn Cho Dan, Ee Dan, Sam Dan, Sa Dan, Oh Dan...yep, I know them. I really do know them.

I hated the warm up yesterday. I don't like falls and rolls at all. We had to roll from a standing position and I'm NOT the best at that. I also don't get up on my feet, which you're supposed to do. I don't like it at all. I'm a poor example of rolls. Possibly the problem stems from the fact that 1. I'm 60 pounds overweight and 2. I am afraid of falling. I do it all the time when I step wrong or whatever. I know that, but still...there's a huge difference between falling with style (wasn't that a line from Toy Story?) and just falling.

Next Saturday we have our run through of the test. Once we've done that, we're on track for the final show. I don't have to worry about board breaking this time. I only have to do one break and that's the firecracker break. I've got to get someone to hold a board for me but...I'm going to do an elbow break because it's my best break. I'm looking forward to that.

Should be an interesting test. Now, to get everything cemented in my head...