Tonight, we did katas. As usual, I messed up on parts where I never seem to mess up. And, also as usual, I am a bit bummed about that. But, again with this usual stuff, I didn’t put extra time and effort into practicing the katas, so that’s what I get. Granted, it isn’t like I did terribly or anything. I likely still got the second-highest score for all of them, which is great, considering how strict our instructor is with kata. So, it isn’t terrible or anything, but I know it could have been better, and I’m a touch bummed that I didn’t work on them more and sooner, you know?
I really like them, though, and I know that one of the ways I learn best is by teaching. So, I likely will teach my man how to do them, and also ask if I can teach them when we’re in class. That way, I can continue to improve with them and use them regularly. Even for my personal katas that I created…
Anyway, seeing as how we had to go ridiculously far for testing tonight at a certain location for karate classes, I didn’t get home until after 11pm. Yikes.
Tonight, we did the timed sit-ups and push-ups and various kicks, all timed, as well as all of our karate techniques, not timed. Only a few of the group didn’t meet the requirement – we have to get maximum points available for this test, versus just meeting a minimum points on the lower belt level tests – and so have to re-do the push-ups tomorrow (and continuing each night until they get enough).
I barely met my max points for the sit-ups, and it was the first time I’d ever done it. I got over 76 sit-ups in two minutes, and it was tough. I genuinely don’t understand how others can get more than that, because I never stopped and I didn’t go slowly at all. Guess I’m just so out of touch with what youth bodies can do, I can’t even fathom it! 😛
Granted, I think they only had to do 78 in those two minutes, possibly 80. So, only four more sit-ups. The push-ups, however, the boys had to get 71, I believe, in the two minutes. But my gender and age only requires 40. That’s 40 push-ups in two minutes! I still took my time and rested and shook out my arms throughout it tonight, and I got around 53 or so. (I knew I was going to get the forty, so paced myself and didn’t push it. It was the first thing of the night, after all, and I didn’t need to drain myself right off the bat.) Push-ups are clearly a non-issue for me. But that sit-up speed… whoo… someone mis-judged what women over 22 can do on that scoring system! Only 40 push-ups compared to 71 for the boys, but 76 sit-ups compared to their 80? That just doesn’t balance out.
Anyway… it went mostly well tonight, I believe.
Afterward, we practiced our little presentation we’re doing for the black belt ceremony, and it went really well.
Now, I’m ready to pass out. Goodnight, all! Thank you, God. Amen.
A new girlfriend of mine invited me to come watch a live pigeon shoot today. I went, and it was really cool and I wasn’t scared almost at all, though there were shot guns out the wazoo. Also, real pigeons were being thrown into the air and nailed with shot gun shot constantly. Though, plenty of them got away unscathed (for the most part). It was like nothing I’d ever seen. And, though it was killing a bunch of creatures for sport, I, somehow, didn’t really mind it. I was most bothered by the fact that they pull out the tail feathers when they take them out of the boxes, then by the fact that they then catapult them into the air with a discus throw and then shoot at the birds. As my girlfriend said, in a way, they are doing a service to nature. Pigeons reproduce and overpopulate quite easily, causing infestation problems in different areas. Those areas have groups come in to deal with the infestation. Those groups capture them live, instead of poisoning them all, and then sell the birds to pigeon shoot venues. It’s still kind of nuts, but pigeons very much are rats of the air, so I understand what my girlfriend meant about its being a public service.
This friend is great at shooting live birds, and I had a blast finally getting to see her shoot. She didn’t have a great day in terms of her usual, but it was still really good, and I was properly impressed, nonetheless!
After she finished shooting, she had me try out shooting some pigeons (clay for me, not the real thing!) with a couple shot guns, and I actually managed to hit a handful of those! That was especially fun to do, though I definitely had the initial terror of how loud the bang would be and how much the gun would kick. After the first couple shots, though, I was ready for it all and actually enjoyed it, though it still took a lot out of me emotionally and physically.
Later, she and their gunsmith had me try shooting a few pistols they had there that people often use for concealed carry. I cried after the first shot of the 9mm, but then was clear and good to go for all the rest – no more tears! And I did hit the small plate target on most of my shots! I only missed them for the Hellcat, which felt really weird to shoot and which I did not like. But I got the target even with that one after a few rounds.
One really positive part of shooting the pistols was that I got to see the importance of keeping a gun clean – trouble chambering the bullets and clearing the casings – and the value of high-quality magazines. If the gun is great and the magazine is cheap, the gun is cheap, possibly worthless. We could only load one billet at a time with a certain gun, because the magazine was so cheap it wouldn’t work beyond chambering a single bullet, at which point it promptly fell out of the gun and spilled bullets and parts all over the ground. That was silly and nuts.
So, I got to experience a new shotgun and how still it can be to open and close, compared to a well-used shotgun of s out the same size, easily snapping closed and open. I got to see magazines go wrong. I got to see bullets struggling to chamber. I got to see cases struggling to eject…
Oh(!), and I got to see my man fly over several times in a airplane. That was extra awesome. Just saying. ;P
I finally got him to walk me through the seemingly fifty-million places he lived and with whom throughout his life tonight. I’ve only been trying to figure it out from the random pieces he mentions here and there, but so much of it has contradicted with other things he’s said, I’ve been at such a loss as to when on earth actually went down in his life before I met him.
So, tonight after dinner, he lay on the sofa, digesting, and slowly thought through it all, relaying it to me slowly, but in order for once. There were vague bits here and there, but I finally have a reasonable picture of his moving about and why for each one.
Phew… finally, I feel some relief about that. As it turns out, there were actually even more moves and more convolution than I had previously understood there to be, but I now actually know about them, which makes a positive difference. (At last, I’ll be able to know what on earth his family are referencing when they talk about times passed! Woohoo!)
But it did take a long time, during which I seriously needed to potty, and even had to stand leaning over by the end of it, just to relieve pressure on my bladder. That wasn’t cool. And it was also about twenty ‘til midnight by the time he finished. I was already tired from little sleep and a busy day with teaching little kids at the karate event all midday today, so I was beyond exhausted. But it was worth it, since he was willing to take the time to think through it all, so I could understand things.
Thank you, God, for this life. Please, help us all to release the traumas that we carry. Help us to find comfort, release, and ease in your love. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Tomorrow morning, I get to take a written test on karate, and then practice a skit-type karate thing, and then teach a bunch of kids self-defense and how to use nunchucks.
Naturally, I’m nervous about the test, as I’d like to get a 100%, but don’t feel like studying, I’m so tired and sleepy already. But I’m also a touch nervous about injuries with the nunchucks. Sure, they’re foam-wrapped plastic, but they’re still weapons. And they’re still kids. I hit myself in the face (and everywhere else) when I practice. How many times are these kids going to hit themselves as they learn for the first time tomorrow?? Hmm?? I think many. 😛
Wish me luck for it all, please? Thank you, God! Amen!
I sat down at the computer tonight to get a grasp on the pricing and standards and recommendations of beginner golf clubs for women. A couple hours later, I had a Google Doc that I sent to my man with links and prices of the ones that seemed the best and lowest cost… and a whole lot of stress.
Golf clubs are expensive. Like really expensive.
However, after I sent it, I kept reading, finding further resources, and I found a couple reliable articles that mentioned some of the same sets, but then also a few sets that were even lower cost than the cheapest had been so far. In the end, I asked my golf instructor his thoughts, and he agreed that the cheapest option I’d crossed in the recommendations would be a good starter set for me. (Yippee!)
Granted, my man then let me know about a used set of a really fancy brand that we could purchase from someone in town. The fancy brand, I learned, actually makes a difference in golf. However, beginners usually can’t tell much of a difference until a certain point in improvement. Plus, the idea of cleaning those clubs and that bag is kind of starting to cause immense stress for me right now… So, despite the lower cost of the used clubs (with new grips), I find myself wanting to stick with the new affordable set I’d found.
I’ll sleep on it and see how I feel. I think I’d want to see the used ones in person and test the bag weight and all, and see how I feel about it all in person. The new ones are from Amazon and 1) are new and unused, and so clean and fresh, as well as 2) free to return. So, they have low risk to them. The used ones require setting a meeting time, showing up, and then potentially having to say no to the guy, and leave him feeling like he’s wasted his time… which I don’t like doing for people…
Hmm…
Anyway… I’m off to sleep now. Love to the world. Thank you, God, for this life and these beautiful opportunities. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Well, we made it through the last day of the interviews. Yippee! It was tough in my eyes and shoulders, sitting at the computer like that all day for four days, but it was fulfilling and invigorating to support such a great cause.
Thank you, God, for such a great opportunity and blessing! Amen!
Also, I have the chance of a new friend. She was helping with the interviews like I was, as we had fun working together this past week. I think we have a chance of becoming friends. 🙂
Tomorrow, I want to go to the gym, as I haven’t gone during the interview days. Then I have laser hair removal touch-ups in the late afternoon. (I kid you not, getting a clean and straight line on the bikini line shave is, somehow, impossible for me… I need electrical tape or something for that, because I am terrible at it!) Anyway…
With that, I am utterly exhausted, and must go finish getting ready for bed, so I can sleep, at long last.
Thank you for this day, God, including the wonderful time at the rodeo meeting this evening! Amen!
We’ve been planning the past week to call my cousin for his birthday on the 31st. As I lie in bed at 11:30pm, preparing to turn off the lights, I suddenly discover that today is January 31st.
Well… guess we messed up on that one!
I even talked with my mom multiple times today. Neither one of us had any idea of the date, it seems.
Guess we’ll just have to do it tomorrow! Or the next day, since late is still late, right? 😛 Ugh… why does this happen so often to me???
I keep feeling like it is time to move forward from this part-time job I have. Yet, every time I do the trainings and read its… actually that isn’t true. I was going to say that every time I do these trainings for the company and the job, I find myself really liking this company. Well, it is half true. I do find myself really liking that the company does certain things in certain ways. I thin they are a great company, to a degree. However, every time I do these trainings and read this company info we have to read, I also am shown more and more divide between my beliefs, morals, and goals with life and those of this company. Frankly, it is stressful, infuriating, and heartbreaking how isolated and wronged I feel simply for existing as I was born and as I aim to be my best self in this life… because of this company and the claims and stands and changes it makes. It aims to diversify and be inclusive, yet, in the process, excludes the majority… and doesn’t even seem to notice or to care. And that hurts, and not just for me.
So, perhaps it really is time to move onward from this job and company. It was exactly what I needed when I started working there. Now, I think it is time for what’s next in my life. It is time for something more, and something fulfilling, in the many ways this job no longer is.
God, grant me the grace and determination to do well with this move forward. Help me to have kindness and clarity as I communicate it effectively to those who need to know. Help me to be my best self and to pursue and fulfill your will. Thank you for this life and these beautiful opportunities, as well as your always-perfect timing. In your name, I pray. Amen.
hannah ananas 