Getting ready

With snow flurries possible for Saturday, I brought in my poinsettia and placed it in the small bath where I hope it will get 12 hours of sunlight, and 12 hours of darkness and will bloom. I grabbed a small orange begonia and set it on the windowsill. A small spot of color during the winter months and a reminder of spring.

Wise words

Yesterday was a fine day at work until one of the designers went on a rampage. She couldn't do "three things at once"-- called in the manager on her day off. One of the drivers couldn't come in (bereavement) and our normally laid back delivery manager was stressed. The short of it is that a day that started out happy ended on a very sour note. I didn't notice much improvement today either. When I told a coworker that this particular designer was driving me crazy, she said, "Me too, but I won't let her." Wise words. I feel stupid that I let her ruin both my afternoon yesterday and today. No more. While I can't control HER response to events at work, I can control my response to her. I thrive when the store is busy, while apparently she becomes unglued. It helps that I have this afternoon and tomorrow off, and then work the branch store, so perhaps by the time I see her again, I won't resent her as much. The woman needs a long vacation or to be relieved of some responsibility since she can't handle it efficiently.

A repeat

The sun is shining, the leaves are blowing in the wind...a perfect day to jog around the field. I find I can jog the distance if I set small goals. I'll run to the cone, softball field, bleachers, end of the shrubs, to the stop sign. The small easily reached goals help me run 1/2 mile. Who knows, perhaps an iron goddess triathlon awaits. (LOL) 1/2 mile swim, 10.7 mile bike. 3 mile run My coworker's mom did it this year!

Fall sunshine on our new porch rail

Sigh...

It takes forever to run 1/2 mile.
My HKD fists bend at the wrist.
In sparring, my kicks are too linear.
I need to put a bow's wrist in the hoi jeon.
I am going only 1/3 of the way down on that push up.

As I complained to my husband about HKD today, he retorted, "That's the trouble with you! You..." I suppose I should add to the above list, "You are too sensitive and take criticism the wrong way." I wish, just once, someone would say something positive. "You're here. With a smile. You like nice in your uniform. You are patient with the other students. Hey! That kick was high!"

Is instruction only a list of everything I can't remember and can't do correctly?

At work, I filled the daisies and gerbs and cleaned the pollen off the lilies. A coworker and I filled the red and color roses.

I found some $$$ at work, and am hoping the person that lost it will inquire about it tomorrow. I want to give it back to the owner. As you know, that didn't happen to me, when $55 slipped out of my jeans pocket.

The wife of a fellow HKD student heard me talking about the young man who died from injuries in the car accident. She went to school with his brother.

A first since forever

After work, I stopped at the sports store to check out interval timers. The store didn't have any and my stress fracture is twinging, so I decided to refrain from buying one for now. Once at home, I got ready and headed out the door to jog. I warmed up by walking up the long school drive, about 5 minutes worth and then began to jog. "I'll jog to the orange cone... Okay, I'm at the cone, now I'll jog to the baseball field." Got to the baseball field and thought I'd jog to my friend's backyard. I reached my goal and thought, "why not, jog home." So for the first time since 8th grade, I jogged 1/2 mile or 10 minutes or so. Happy with a sense of accomplishment.

My boss understood the need to see my son, and cleared the way for me to take a small vacation. I bought the bus tickets, so early next month, I head to Chicago.

Zumba at the rec center tonight! So much fun! On Thanksgiving Day, my teacher is leading a zumba class. Cost of entry is a personal care item for a local shelter.

16 low blocks

I had my first introduction to the low block form last night. There are 16 low blocks and we went through them so fast that my head is whirling. We worked with a partner and tried to implement them. Besides the 16 low blocks, I have 10 techniques to learn. One master told me that I need to speed up my kicks and the other told me to vary the kicks, remember to keep my guard up. Yes, it takes me a long time to understand a technique and do it well. No, I am not very speedy. I remember my daughter riding home with me from taekwondo, tears streaming down her face, lamenting, "I am not very good." Now I understand, and question "why am I doing this?" I enjoy the forms, I like that the HKD improves my bone density. I like that the techniques challenge my mind and except for the masters and one tough die-hard old-school classmate, the others work well with me. They don't make me feel stupid and uncoordinated. In the four years that I have been taking HKD, I have received few positive comments.