Bone-Tired

Ever heard that expression? Yeah, me too. I think I know what it means.

TGIF.

I keep meaning to put up some pictures of the lovely spring that has sprung around here but right now I'm just too darned tired. But I couldn't pass up a chance to post on a 29th of February.

Spring Has Sprung

While some areas of the country are getting buried in snow, right here at home, it is most definitely spring.

My daffodils:



My favorite crocus:



Finally, another sure sign of spring:



I can hang up my clothes to dry again. Whoopee!

In a few weeks, the tree in my front yard will burst into blossoms and I shall take a photo.

Diabolical Plan

My brother and his family are visiting us this weekend. His three kids and our two kids had a 'conference' on Friday night. Today, we found the minutes in the form of a list on a sheet of paper:

1. Trick parents
2. Pooh drop (many times) - I'm really hoping they're referring to Winnie the Pooh
3. gather weapons
4. gather tools

The kids range in age from 8 to 3. Should we be scared yet? :)

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?