A Year of Blogging

There have been slow months and blog-intensive months. Months when I had a lot to say and those where I didn't. Weeks when I wanted to blog and the time just got away from me. Weeks when I couldn't think of two sentences to string together.

Still, I can't believe that it's been a whole year already. Time does fly by.

My First Aikido Seminar

I know, it sounds a little strange: an aikido seminar. No, there are no Powerpoint presentations or chairs in a room. There's usually a visiting instructor, the dojo and a whole bunch of enthusiastic people who take time out of their weekends and cough up some cash to learn something new. Sometimes it's something old that shows up in a new guise or is presented from a different angle.

I had been to a bunch of seminars when I was training in karate and arnis but this was my very first aikido seminar. I was excited. Not to mention the weird coincidence that the visiting Sensei was a high school buddy of one of my good friends - the same one that got me into aikido in the first place.

Basic blending. Keeping the connection. Not being hard but just blending and flowing into a throw. Maybe not always a throw.

It was a great chance to train with a whole new set of people, many of them yudansha (black belt rank). All of them very kind and helpful. A community of learners. I like to learn.

Fend For Yourself

Ever had a dinner that was totally miscellaneous? Well, that's what happened here tonight. I didn't feel like cooking - I can always make that chicken stir fry that was going to happen tonight tomorrow night. We looked in the fridge and decided that we could make do with what was waiting in there.

The result:

M: string cheese, mixed nuts, glass of red wine, leftover pork tenderloin and boiled potatoes
D: left over mac and cheese, pretzels, pear
P: yogurt and Cheerios, milk
me: left over beef lo mein, 8 left over tortellinis, three small slices of three day old bread (toasted, one with butter, one with honey and one with Nutella), milk

Not your Martha Stewart dinner but it was a family dinner that we all enjoyed. That's pretty much all that counts.

Still No Swimming

I haven't been swimming since we got back the the US from our Philippine vacation. After days of swimming either in the ocean or in a nice pool where the outside temperatures were in the 80s, I just haven't been able to bring myself to change into a bathing suit when it's 50 degrees outside.

Brrrrrrrrr.

I keep telling myself, maybe next week.

Maybe I need to find myself a triathlon to train for so that I can force myself to get back in.

Maybe next week.

I am still running though. That counts, doesn't it?

4th Kyu

Want to hear about my test? Funny story. I got to the parking lot, bought the parking ticket, placed it on on the dashboard and then headed to the changing rooms. Then I realized that I'd left the jo in the car. Ran back to the car. I opened the trunk and couldn't get the weapon out. It just wouldn't come out. So there I was thinking:

I got it in, why can't I get it out? Did it expand on a rainy day? What am I going to do if I can't get it out? What if it snaps while I'm trying to get it out?

I'm doomed.

I took a deep breath and tried again - and got it out. I still had to get changed. Undressed. Put on gi bottom. Put on gi top. Realized that I was not wearing a sports bra. Took off gi top lest I really give the testing board something to talk about. Got dressed again and made it to class.

I bowed onto the mat and took a couple of test strikes with the jo. They felt ok. I was about as ready as I was ever going to be.

Four people were testing: Immovable Rock for 5th kyu, me for 4th kyu, Dancer for 3rd kyu and Role Model for 1st kyu. Rock is just that, young fellow, strong, likes to resist. He's fun to throw. Dancer is tiny but she can throw someone twice her size. I love to watch Role Model practice aikido. She's got such beautiful posture and projects calm, strength and confidence when she moves. I want to be like her.

Rock's test was over in about 5 minutes. Yipes. That meant that I was up next.

Did I mention that my uke bailed on me about 5 minutes before the test? Her knee had been feeling wonky and, though she thought she'd be better, she wasn't feeling up to taking ukemi that day. Thank goodness Role Model came to the rescue. Whew.

Suddenly, it was my turn. This is what it was like:

bow in

a bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrr

bow out

Somewhere in between the bowing, techniques were called out, I did them, I stepped the wrong way, did sitting pins when I should have done standing ones, kiai-ed in the wrong spots, but I didn't lose grip of the jo! I guess I remember all the things I didn't do quite the way I wanted. Tonight, I watched the video from the test and was surprised to see myself looking semi-competent.

80 training days to 3rd kyu. One down today, 79 to go.

Test Tomorrow

The day has finally come. It's time to test for the next rank - 4th kyu. It has been just over a year since my last test and, I must admit, I'm a little bit nervous. I mean, I know the techniques but there's the whole thing about getting up in front of the whole class and having to perform. It's so much easier to blend into a crowd (even when that crowd is just four or five other people). Oh well, ready or not, here I go. I figure, as long as I don't launch the jo into the testing committee, I should be ok.

I hope.

Learning the Alphabet

This morning, P is snuggled up beside me and we're going through the alphabet. I shall transcribe the highlights:

A: apes aim
B: birds poop
C: cats purr
D: dogs bark
E: eagles sweat
F: frogs hop
G: giraffes eat mangoes

He has an imagination, that kid. It's either that or the books they're reading in preschool are more goofy than I anticipated.