Category Archives: Jiu Jitsu

Apr28

Deadline Dithering? (IDK. I just like alliteration.)

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

First, thanks to those who offered their editing opinions in response to my last post. Most significantly, I amended that troublesome sentence to: “One way or another, we would’ve wound up The Crazy Freshmen, aka Space Cadet, me, and Beaker Brain, Isaac.” That takes care of that, yes?

I had combined short paragraphs, as instructed by the editor, but most of you agreed they were better separate. Later, I went back and looked at the combined sentences, and it just didn’t feel right. So, I separated them back a little more.

The comma after “Hopefully” will come over my cold, dead body!!! Okay, fine, maybe not, but what about here: “Hopefully Ben could avoid being named publicly.” I need a comma after that one? Really? I might point out that my blog editor friend didn’t flag either of these on his read… I might point that out, but I won’t because that would be rude.

I have until August 16 to turn in my final draft of Wish YOU Were Here. Shouldn’t be a problem. But do you know what I AM seeing as a problem?

Friggin’ Book 3!

I sent this to HRH, commenting that these were the only appropriate socks to wear while writing. They were a birthday gift from her. Laptop in foreground if you’re struggling to work out that brain teaser.

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Apr21

More editing brouhaha!

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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Book 2, Wish YOU Were Here (Not to be confused with book 1, Wish *I* Was Here), came back with edits for the first 20 pages. Remember when I went through this last time? You writers came out of the woodwork to offer your expertise.

I loved it. So let’s do it again, shall we?

The main thing this editor said was that I had too many one-sentence paragraphs, which weakens the impact when I want those quick grafs to really stand out. I get that. The challenge then was finding which short paragraphs to combine. For instance:

“How much money is it?”

“Seven thousand five hundred and eighty dollars.”

My mouth fell open.

“It’s a start anyway.” He jogged across the parking lot.

I stared after him, dumbfounded.

He gestured for me to follow. “Ana, come on.”

I shook the bewilderment off and joined him. “Keep a look out, will you?” He dropped to his knees and opened another compartment of his bag.

Everything after “How much money is it?” could be combined into one paragraph, really. But should it? I combined a few in the middle. What would you do?

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Mar25

Where my mojo at? And some book stuff.

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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I’ve been back at Jiu-Jitsu for three months but am still discouraged by the slow climb to where I was before my foot broke.

Sometimes I wonder if I should stay home, watch TV, and eat garbage with Hubby instead of go to class.

Sometimes I’m just tired and not feeling it.

Sometimes I go anyway.

Then I find myself smiling and fist bumping the friendly students who greet me and ask how I’m doing.

Class begins and Her Royal Highness and I get the giggles over our inability to properly execute the moves. I’m grateful that, rather than be annoyed, Instructor laughs with us. I consider whether he’d be so amiable if it had been me with someone other than his wife.

I had somehow managed to throw her on her back while flipping myself over on my head rather than over my shoulder. It’s a wonder I didn’t hurt my neck, but since that’s not a lower extremity, it was fine. Later squashing my toe and needing to ice it after class is par for the course, however.

Bruises on upper extremities are still fair game.

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Mar7

“Want me to shoot you?” “Yes, please.”

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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A title like that can only mean one thing: more weird Jiu-Jitu sh*t. (Sorry.)

A recent class was front attack defenses: guns, knives, and, I guess realistically it would be a baseball bat? Whatever. Rubber guns, knives, and big sticks were tossed in the center of the mat for us to practice with.

HRH and I got turns with the knives and sticks, but the guns were in short supply. When class ended, I lamented not getting much gun defense practice, so HRH, face full of compassion, asked, “Want me to shoot you?”

Naturally, “Yes, please,” was the response because #OnlyInJiuJitsu.

At one point earlier, I was looking at a 45 degree angle, talking to Instructor when HRH tried to overhand stab me with the fake knife. With zero hesitation, I stepped in and forearm blocked without looking.

Instructor said, “Daaaangg. That was instinct!” and walked over to fist bump me.

I didn’t want to tell him that was the first Taekwondo defense you learn as a white belt. I’ve done it a million times and have been teaching it to my son and others at his school as part of an after school TKD program.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to discover it had become instinctual.

And now for something literary!

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Feb22

Her Royal Highness’s Birthday

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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As Her Royal Highness wishes.

HRH and I had already made a coffee date for her birthday when we learned Pink’s birthday was only two days away. We last-minute traded our coffee plans for dinner with the three of us.

I had a gift for HRH–some random goofball items only she could [pretend] to appreciate, including the most obnoxious children’s card I could find, one that sang loud, boisterous music when opened–but not a gift for Pink. I hoped I’d be able to sneak the gift to HRH without Pink seeing.

Pink wound up parking right next to me at the restaurant, but HRH was farther down the street. After dinner, I said to HRH, “Let me drive you to your car.”

“It’s not that far. I can walk.”

I tried to catch her eye, “HRH! Let me DRIVE you to your CAR.” But she wasn’t picking up what I was putting down. And I wasn’t actually being that obvious.

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Jan31

Will she or won’t she?

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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I had had two short nights of sleep in a row, finally falling into bed late Friday night after this cool candlelight concert of 90s music performed by a string quartet.

They took the candlelight thing very seriously. This isn’t even half of them. They were everywhere.

You can sort of see the chairs where the four musicians sat. The show was great. I’ll never hear “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana or “Enter Sandman” by Metallica quite the same again.

So back to crashing into bed Friday night: Hubby asked if he should wake me for 8:30 Jiu-Jitsu class the next morning.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe my body needs sleep. If I don’t wake up in time, leave me be.”

Did I wake up in time?

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Jan17

“Your armpit needs to eat my toes.”

Posted on January 17, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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It’s been a while since I’ve heard a great #OnlyInJiuJitsu line, and that one certainly qualifies. HRH was reminding me how to do a footlock, not remotely hiding her disbelief that I couldn’t remember.

It’s really depressing, though not surprising, how much I’ve forgotten. Feeling like a brand new student to Master Cycle rather than a bonafide kick butt warrior blue belt* like I once was, is a bummer. *Quiet, HRH. It’s how I felt, okay!?!

When I woke up Saturday morning for the 8:30 class and noted that HRH had messaged me at 12:03 am, I was concerned that she wouldn’t be making it to class with me. Sure enough, she had no babysitter. I would have to brave the boys class solo.

When it was time to partner up that morning, I hung back, letting the dudes do their duding. Instructor, being conscientious of the situation, paired me with Crockett. I was relieved. I did at least know him from before I left, though he was still in the class below mine then. Otherwise, partnering for the first time with a stranger is always a little awkward. Remember that Li’l Trejo incident?

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Jan13

The good, the bad, the writing

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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I know. I know. Writing’s not as much fun as Jiu-Jitsu, but this is important, not to mention half my blog’s name.

My mom is friends with a librarian in charge of ordering new books, so she sent her a copy of mine for consideration. I believe the woman has been a librarian for decades. Therefore, her feedback, which was great to “uh-oh”, is valuable.

Here’s what she said, the great part:

Wish I Was Here is fantastic! I loved the story and pacing and characters! Love Ilsa’s style! An absolutely thrilling, suspenseful, engaging novel!

I read it in two nights. Loved every vowel, every syllable. My only complaint is it kept me up past my bedtime!

We cannot let this title go unnoticed. Two thumbs up, five stars, and fireworks! I’ve not been this excited about a teen book for quite some time!

Not bad, right? Now the uh-oh part:

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Jan7

About my first class back

Posted on January 7, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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Going back to New Year’s Eve when the decision was made for me to return to Jiu-Jitsu, Hubby said, “I hope you’ll be able to sleep tonight.” I laughed.

But he was right.

It was the same the next night, too. The night after that was the one before my first class. I drugged myself, and Hubby volunteered to sleep on the couch to give me the best chance at restful sleep.

What a guy!

When I woke up for the 8:30 class, coffee and some leftover Christmas limoncello Panettone were ready for me. (Again, what a guy!)

Eyes baggy and looking like a trash can that had been knocked over, rained on overnight, and even passed over by a hungry raccoon, I was on my way!

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Jan3

I’m back, baby!

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

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One of the first things Janis at Retirementally Challenged said to me when we finally met up (we’re in the same county for goodness sake!) was, “Why have you lost your blogging mojo?”

Janis and me at a Chili’s halfway between us.

Funny she should ask. On the drive down, Hubby and I had been discussing the issue: namely, I was ashamed to admit that I hadn’t returned to Jiu-Jitsu after breaking my foot in May. How could I tell you all? How would I explain? Did I really want to publicly admit the dream was over?

It didn’t help that Andrea commented on one of my posts, essentially, “Yeah, yeah, great about the book stuff, but where are the Jiu-Jitsu stories?!” I’m paraphrasing slightly.

I also felt guilt-ridden when I came across Jacqui’s comment about me to someone else on her blog: