Summer is Here!

Yup, today it finally hit the 90s at lunchtime. Time to start running earlier in the day. I can't believe there was a time that I'd go our running in the full sun at noon when it was 95 degrees outside. It's a miracle I didn't collapse of heat stroke along the way.

Summer camp time is here, no more homework, no more school books! Hurrah! Sometimes I don't know who dreads homework more, the kids or the parents. It's certainly nice to have a break for the next 10 weeks. Part of me wants to give D a break from all things school related and part of me wants him not to lose what he learned in third grade. His teachers told me at the end of the school year, "Expectations in fourth grade are very high." Good grief! How could they get higher than in third grade? What are they going to be doing, calculus?

We have grand notions of a daily journal and a half hour of math here and a half hour of reading there but I don't think I'm going to push it any time soon.

Sometimes, summer vacation is meant to be just that: V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Outdoor Art

Here are a couple of pictures I couldn't resist taking or sharing. With a few hours to wander around Berlin during the conference, we zipped by the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Unter Den Linden and Checkpoint Charlie. There are lots of pictures all over the 'net of these sights. Then we turned a corner and came upon this:







It was like something out of a fairy tale. like someone had rolled up a house and everything in it and tied it up with twine. If you can see the umbrella on one side, you can guess at the size of this ball.

Pretty cool. Kind of hidden. Not your typical sight.

A Sunday Flower

Just recently, I was in Berlin for a conference. Aside from attending the meeting sessions, there was a little time to sightsee. The Botanical Garden was my favorite spot and this little flower in the huge greenhouse is my favorite picture out of all those I took at the garden.

Enjoy!

My Test on Tape

I came back from a week away at a conference to find a CD with my 3rd kyu test in my mailbox at work. I eyed it with a hint of apprehension. Later that night, I popped it into my disc drive and had a look.

Impressions:

1. "Man, this was longer than I remember it!" The footage lasts about 20 minutes. No wonder I was pretty winded by the jiyuwaza at the end. In my mind, there was no time. There was just the test.

2. I skipped through most of the jo techniques because I still can't face looking at them. I did see the last couple of techniques and they don't look as bad as I feared.

3. I do kind of look like I know what I'm doing. Kind of.

4. More practice.

5. I look like I'm having fun.

Thanks to one of my friends who always brings her camcorder for tests, I now have copies of my 5th, 4th and 3rd kyu tests. Something to look back on in the future. Something to learn from.

3rd Kyu

Whew! All done.

I tested at the beginning of last month and, just like the last test, it pretty much was a blur. What do I remember? I remember my jo hitting the mat during the 20 jo suburi, doing tsuki kotegaeshi instead of the called out tsuki iriminage. I remember the mistakes. I suppose it's the perfectionist in me that chooses to dwell on what I missed rather than on what I got right. (Why does this sound just like my third grader? Augh! He must get it from me, poor kid!)

I also remember the first day I stepped on the mat, in jeans, no less, and joined in class. I remember the welcome I felt from the teacher and the students. I remember the confusion about what to do with my feet and my arms.

It's been three years and though I've come along, I still think a whole lot about what I'm doing when I'm doing it. The techniques are more natural than they were before but I still find myself struggling with them. I suppose that is the way it will always be - there is a constant process of learning and improvement.

But there's also a heck of a lot of fun.

Last Thursday's class brought a whole bunch on newcomers to the mat. We warmed up as usual with the basic blending exercises, slowly progressing through some very slow throws into back sit falls and then deconstructing katate dori shihonage, the four-directional throw. At one point while we were practicing, our instructor came up to me and asked, "Can you take a high fall from this?" I grinned and said, "Can we do a practice one first?" We did and then he called for a break and called me up as uke.

"Now we shall work on the fall," he said, and proceeded to throw me into a high fall right smack onto the mat. I landed with a resounding thud.

Cue: bug-eyed newbies.

"No, not really."

Aw shucks. Well, we do want them to come back so maybe next time.

New Look

OK, so it's one of the 10 or so defaults that Blogger provides but I thought it was time for a new look on this blog. Maybe it will inspire me to write more often.

So while I'm here, here's a silly haiku:

Cookie dough to sell.
No trans fat I do proclaim.
Little League does well.

Spring is Coming

Conversation last night:

Papa: "See the tree outside? There are two flowers that have already bloomed. In a few days, that tree is going to explode with flowers."

thirty second pause

P: "Mama, I want to see the flowers go BOOM!"