Spoiled!

It's getting colder these days. I really shouldn't be surprised, after all, it is November. Living in California, though, I must admit to being thoroughly spoiled. As one of my running buddies said to me today "I hear there are other seasons but I haven't really experienced them except on vacation."

Today started out chilly, misty, foggy and gray. It did not bode well for the rest of the day. Out came my trenchcoat from the closet. The air was heavy with moisture as I drove to the office, but it didn't rain. I sat down at my desk and quickly got absorbed in work.

When I came up for air and looked away from my computer and out the window, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was absolutely perfect weather for a run. Sunny but not hot, breezy but not cold.

Not bad for a November day.

Focus on the Elbow

During Tuesday's class with Doran Sensei, we spent the whole time on aihanmi katatedori ikkyo. Here's what I came away with:

1. Don't focus on the wrist that is being grabbed.
2. Focus on dropping your elbow, not lifting your hand.
3. Get off the line of attack.
4. Blend!
5. Don't try to yank your partner around. Redirect.
6. Use your whole body, not just your arms.
7. Move from your center.

Why do almost all these things sound so familiar? Because I hear them all the time. It is sinking in. Come to think of it, many of these things apply off the mat as well.

Aikido is a way of life.

The Letter of the Day is F

F is for

• Flu shot: This morning, we drove out to the clinic to get our annual flu shot. P is pretty stalwart about getting a vaccination but D, my sweet, sensitive D, is beset by a deep...
  


• Fear of anything remotely resembling pain. So there we were, in the room where all the nurses were set up, and D just tried to shrink into invisibility. Clutching his little stuffed puppy, which I thought might give him some sense of security, he looked at me with this really scared expression on his face and tears started to roll down his cheeks. What kind of a heartless mommy am I? Sigh. The kind that doesn't want her kid to get the flu. So I sat down with him in my lap, while two nurses helped to hold him still and a third one administered the shot. It was over in an instant.
  


• Feast, which was our breakfast after the clinic outing. We went to The Original Pancake House (not the original one, of course, since we didn't go drive to Oregon) and got a ridiculous amount of food for ourselves. Most of mine came home with me. See the Apple Pancake on their website? That's what I had. Mmmmm, I'm thinking of it right now. Good thing I've brushed my teeth already or else I'd have dropped this laptop and headed straight to the fridge for a little snack about two minutes ago.
  


• Fence: 'Tis finally finished. A weekend project that stretched well over a month because of (a) industrious little boys 'helping', (b) M getting sick, and (c) me being at a conference last weekend has been completed! Hurrah! It is a sturdy fence and, if the Big One does hit, it will definitely still be standing.
  


• Football: Was there a big game on this afternoon? He, he, he. Yes, we did catch some of it and it was good. However, I didn't see all of it because I was busy feeling...



• Fast. The last time I had timed myself on a 2.5 mi run, I did it in 23 minutes and I really was pushing it. Today, I set out with the good intentions of running 5 mi but just couldn't go through with it and fell back into my old, familiar 2.5 mi loop. Felt slow and then the music picked up and so did I. 23:33 with a brief stop to retie my shoelaces. Didn't feel like I had gone all out though.



• Finished.
  

Halloween Aftershocks

Left-over candies and chocolates that lie in wait for me in the cupboard, tempting me to eat them.

Two little boys who can't wait to go trick-or-treating again, today.

Two very well worn costumes - Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

One carved pumpkin, carved in record time.

One bowlful of drying pumpkin seeds, will they ever get roasted?

Two sparkly orange pencils. (Pencils! Who gives out pencils?)

Left-over candies and chocolates that lie in wait for me in the cupboard, tempting me to eat them.

Get behind me, candies!

Turn Back The Clock

I don't like the daylight hours shrinking. Where I grew up, the hours of daylight are pretty much constant throughout the year. You can count to the sun coming up at around 6 am and setting at around 5:45 pm - every single day of the year. On Sunday morning, we'll turn back the clocks here in the US and it will start getting dark at just after 5 pm.

Yuck.

I don't like picking up the kids in the dark.

Could be worse, I suppose.

Could be raining.

Things That Went Bump Tonight

• My seven-year old, D, on the floor, bemoaning his grounding after his latest 'responsibility slip.'
  
• My three-year old, P, on the floor, bemoaning his
  
  
  
  • being hit by his brother with a bat ('twas a glancing blow and he's ok).
    
  • not being the first one to wash his hands before dinner.
    
  • not carving the pumpkin the exact second he wanted to.
    
  
  
• The house itself, after the 5.6 earthquake that struck about 14 miles from here.
  
• Not me, because I was oblivious to above earthquake, doing laundry in the garage. Hmmmm, guess the garage is a good place to be. But I could get buried. Hmmmmm.
  

Then, we're watching the Nova show about Marathon Training and, at the very end, when all of Team Nova completes the Boston Marathon, I have tears rolling down my face and am all choked up about their determination and I want to do a marathon now.

What a night. And it's not even Halloween yet. Speaking of which, I should probably go back to the garage and dig out the kids' costumes for tomorrow.

A Gorgeous Morning Ride

Rushing to meet up at 7:30 am
Suppressing the guilt at having to wake up and drop off the kids early
Sitting in the morning traffic
Waiting, waiting for the lights to change
Don't want to be late, hate to be late

Pull up in the parking lot
Load up bikes
Drive to start of ride

Breathe

Brisk morning air
Leaves turning color, here and there
Sunshine peeking through the trees
Wind blowing
Hills rising and then falling
Heart rate rising and then falling
Losing my breath and catching it
Following and leading
Zooming down a hill, without a brake or a care in the world

A smile as wide as the sky
A charge to last the rest of the day