Sensei keeps giving me zucchini from his garden. I’m out of oranges in exchange, so I have to dig into my chocolate stash to make up for it. (I think that’s all part of his diabolical plan.)
Several weeks ago, Neighbor texted several of us in the ‘hood, yo!
To which I responded…
From my BBBB (Beloved Birthday Blog Buddy) Ju-Lyn: Can’t wait to see what Birthday shenanigans you get up to this year😆🤩
Me: Oh, I will shenanigan like the wind, Ju-Lyn!
First of all, remember Snowball Man, whom I ran into another night The Band played? We exchanged emails, so I was able to invite him to BBBB. (This time, Betsy’s Birthday Band Bash. Keep up.) He wrote back:
You just made my day! Will make sure that day is clear and will wear body amour. I tore the muscle in my throwing arm unloading a 300 lb tub so I’ll have to throw left handed……………which should make it fair this time.
Then three days before the big night, he wrote:
I got rescheduled to work Saturday. Was going to go shopping all day for your present but now I’ll have to rush into Pic and Save and hope something is left on the blue light special table. Hopefully I’ll get there while there are still some tables (within throwing distance). Don’t want to miss you……….. with a snowball of course.
And he really did get me a gift. I was surprised and impressed.
Then I saw the envelope:
Recapping again: I got off track with my Tae Kwon Do belts when I busted my foot, ankle, and (later discovered) tibia at the end of September. Pretty much recovered, I got another belt (then only one behind my daughters) and was going to be fully caught up at the beginning of May except for tearing two ligaments and bruising two bone plates in my knee two days beforehand. (When I texted Sensei from urgent care telling him no belt testing for me, he didn’t believe me until I sent him a pic of my braced-up knee in a wheelchair.)
So, last week, when I finally FINALLY tested for red/black belt, it was kind of a big deal.
Some of you may recall that the pressure of testing tends to get to me a wee bit. For instance, Sensei has said not to do the forms too quickly because I want to show off that I know each move.
Yeah, so much for that. I moved like I was being chased by a ravenous lion and the only way to keep from being eaten was to distract him by my weird, confusing, albeit somewhat impressive he’s thinking, movements.
Another fun part was, though my girls were doing the forms with me, I knew full well I was the only one being watched, as I was the only one being tested. Normally, two people test at a time, and whenever I’ve messed up, I can tell myself, “Sensei was watching the other person at that particular moment.”
I’m not above lying to myself to get through these things.
My starting position was such that I wound up moving to mere feet from Sensei as I made my one and only major flub–probably because I was aware that he was Right. There.
Groan.
I seriously considered
In a post from March 2022, I wrote that “doing bicycle crunches with five-pound weights strapped to each ankle is no joke.” Since then, I’ve added two pound weights on top of that and have gotten to the point of yawning my way through my exercises. (I know that sounds horribly braggy. Just stick with me here.)
So I figure, if I can do seven pounds with no problem, I’m ready to jump to ten pounds.
I carried the box inside, cut it open, and thought, Holy cow! What is this? Military grade, Kevlar-infused, SWAT-Team-ready ankle weights?
Physical therapy for my knee injury went well. It was helpful, but I ran out of sessions before getting to complete mobility. I’m on my own now.
I said my thanks and goodbyes, as I genuinely liked the people at this place. They were amiable and fun to chat with, to the point where I felt we were truly becoming friends.
And I enjoy being friendly and nice to people. I also enjoy the thought of beating someone up.
Humans are complicated beings.
The person I’d most like to show-what-for is, of course, Sensei. Because he’s always got it coming.
Here she is again, further demonstrating her coolness.
I also mentioned Coral is going to med school because she wants to be a doctor in Africa. Awesome, right?
Here’s the thing. Med school is insanely expensive. She’ll be paying off loans for yeeeeaaarrrssss when she finishes, meaning, she can’t fulfill her dream of helping impoverished African youth for, you know, a long long time, which is, in medical terminology: super sucky.
So, she’s asking for help. It’s my pleasure to share her Go Fund Me page because this is a young woman going places (literally). She was inspired by a book she read as a kid, Kisses from Katie, about a young woman who moved to Africa and wound up adopting a bunch of girls. Y’all like books. I thought you’d appreciate that.
Please check out her page to read her full story and maybe consider tossing in a buck or two. It would mean a lot to her, and me, and Sensei (though we care about him less) if you helped Coral out with her noble mission.
Thanks, Beloved Blog Buddies! Please go here. 🙂
A few weeks back, we did bar trivia with another couple and won first place. We nearly didn’t, though. A tie breaker question was required. “What is the name of the company I work for?” the woman running the show asked.
Silence.
Then I thought, it must be on the screen somewhere. Of everyone in the room, I was seated closest, so I could easily read the small URL at the top, which included the words: Trivia Goat. Thus, I yelled it with gusto.
I kind of felt bad for the other would-be winners. Their table was much farther away.
Ah well.
Bolstered by the win and the $20 brewery gift card that could only be used on a subsequent visit, we returned a few weeks later with this same couple and wound up tying again!
For 8th/9th place. There was no tie-breaker to determine which of our two teams was the greater loser, but at least our beer was covered by our prior-won gift card.
Our foursome realized that being all of the same age-range was a detriment. We didn’t know 80s music or modern pop culture. What was required for maximum win-potential was a smattering of ages on our team. So whom did I reach out to for my Master Plan of Bar Trivia Domination?
Here’s a little recap in case you need it: If all had gone according to plan, I would have gotten my red belt in Taekwondo with my three daughters at the beginning of April. Instead, thanks to that Jiu-Jitsu injury that kept me from walking for 3.5 months, I got behind and was only able to test for brown in April.
Then, because of my “expert” negotiation skills, I “convinced” Sensei to let me test early for red and get caught back up to my girls. All would be right in the world again. I was fully back on my feet, slated to test for my red belt May 1. But on April 29, exactly nine months after my foot/ankle injury, I busted my knee.
Some of those who saw me on crutches YET AGAIN so soon said, “Man, maybe it’s time for Betsy to quit martial arts.”
I did not consider that an option.
Though I wasn’t able to catch up, I was at last(!) able to test for red this past week, which included some board breaks.
Wynne Leon and I had been talking about me visiting her for years. Then in May, inspiration struck while doing the most meditative, higher-plane of all tasks: laundry. The first week of July–no Taekwondo, off work for the holiday, relatives in town to keep an eye on our kids… Could we make it happen in two months? I spoke with all the affected parties, and we could!
Hubs and I booked our tickets.
I let Wynne know we were officially on our way with this picture. She and I had been counting down the days, somewhat incredulous that this was ACTUALLY happening.
We took the two hour, 41-minute flight (just long enough for me to cry my way through A Man Called Otto, highly recommend) up the coast on July 4. From Sea/Tac airport we took the light rail train. I once again let Wynne know of our progress.
And then, because every new experience is a delight for me, I got permission to take a picture of our Lyft driver. It was my first Lyft, okay?!
Where I live, microbreweries are more ubiquitous than Starbucks. So, when checking a map for a fun new place to try, I was drawn to one called Battle Mage.
I mean. It’s CALLED Battle Mage!!! Need I say more?
My friend sort of gets it.
I looked at pictures on-line and saw a similar picture to this, adding to my illusion that a battle mage was a Viking or Medieval weapon:
It wasn’t until shortly before our visit that it occurred to me, “Wait. Is this actually a Dungeons and Dragons thing?”
Oh, my friends, it was. It so very, very much was.
