Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

This morning, we practiced more chokes, and I discovered that my--ah, unassertive--chin was actually an advantage. Once I put my chin down, my partner had a really difficult time working her arm under it enough to get a chokehold. Finally, the Wiebe Yoder chin* is useful!

* This is why all my men on my father's side have big, bushy beards. Well, that and because they're Mennonite.

I've started attending 2 straight hours of martial arts classes, the beginners class and the advanced class. This is so 1) I can get in better shape, and 2) I can actively review my material and get corrections when needed. All in service of me testing for my black belt naturally. That's a looong workout, but so far it's been doable. Eventually, I hope to get up to 3 straight hours of classes by staying and going to the boxing/bagwork class after regular martial arts training. I like that class--that's when I get to really go full-out. Though I was swaying on my feet at the end on Tuesday (the first day I tried this), and my work/busing schedule made today a little insane.

( work ridiculousness )

I arrive home with about 1/2 hour to unpack work bag and pack up martial arts bag and shower and grab something to eat. I shower and pack bag and eat bagel as I walk to bus stop. I braid my hair and take out my earrings at the dojang. I have two hours of classes and then I hitch a ride home and collapse on the couch with what I have decided is the perfect post-workout snack: a piece of pita bread and a jar of hummus. Yum. Savory and delicious.

Class was interesting today--Inst. kind of just kept the beginner's class going, letting the advanced belts bow in and beginners leave if they needed to. It was neat. I got to work a lot on techniques, which I'd like more of. My beginner partner bowed out at the halfway point, leaving me the only girl in the class. So I got to rotate in with the guys grappling. Good for variety--and interesting being up against opponents who (mostly) had more upper body strength than me. I'm still lousy at grappling, though I've figured out that some of my positioning problems really are because of the knee brace, and not just because I'm not good at that. Really can't wait to be rid of that metal-and-velcro contraption.

After arriving home--
Me: Hey, hon. I had good classes. In the 2nd one, I was the only girl, so I ended up grappling with the guys.
Phil: [makes growling, hissing noises like a cat defending his territory]
Me: It's okay. I assure you, I'm not sexy after an hour or so of class. I am sweaty and stinky and my hair's all messed up.
Phil: Doesn't matter. Wife is always sexy. [growl, hiss]
Me: Awwwww.

I know that New Year's Resolutions are supposed to be a one-year process or things that can be accomplished in one year, but some of mine seem to be more...ongoing. I've copied over all my resolutions from 2007 (2008, I didn't make resolutions. I had knee surgery coming up and didn't know what I'd be able to do--answer: not much.) and added some new ones for 2009. The ones that have a line through them have been achieved or rendered irrelevent. The ones in bold have been added. Oh, and there are also the "Ongoing Struggle" resolutions, things I've been pretty good about but still need to work on.


Writing
* Get at least halfway into the next novel. I say halfway, because I do not want to start writing another novel until I know which project I should go for. (Not halfway, but I know what I'm working on, novel-wise. The next goal has priority, though, and I'm slipping in some short story writing around the edges.)
* Edit and rewrite Vicesteed. Ongoing struggle. (I failed at this so badly, mostly because it took me forever to get started. But! I actually started the process.)
* Submit Vicesteed to A- and B-list agents.
* Get one short story written a month, even when I'm working on the next novel - Ongoing Struggle.
* Get the rejection/resubmission turnaround time down to one week. Ongoing Struggle.
* Expand into nonfiction articles.
* Write freewriting every day, come Hell or high water (It's become a part of my routine now. I don't need to keep it as a goal.)
* Write at least 100 words a day
* Always have one piece in line for critique at Critters
* Become a member of SFWA (OK, this kind of doesn't belong here, because it's not something I can control. But it's still a goal)
* get writing side of website set up

Photography
* Organize and file backlog of photography (This is a project for a rainy--er--month. Not a needed goal, though.)
* Continue with photography walks - Ongoing Struggle
* Obtain good scanner
* Research stock photography options
* Submit photographs for publication
* Create portfolio, plus prints large enough for display
* Set up photography business, now that I have an adequate camera. Research, website, practice photo shoots, goals, etc.

Martial Arts
* get black belt in Tae Soo Do (the whole knee injury thing really bollixed this up)
* begin doing grappling
* figure out scheduling for training at home
* train faithfully outside the dojang (I haz a schedule and a routine!)
* compete in a tournament

Other
* work on socializing skills (I'm not sure what this even means, but I've done a ton of socializing-with-strangers this year, so I figure that counts.)
* see people more often outside of massive parties--dinner, movies, lunch, coffee, expeditions--stuff like that - Ongoing Struggle
* keep the house in a fit state for drop-in company (Yay, Flylady! Yay, Roomba!)
* Begin actual decoration of the house. Painting, hanging art, etc.
* Tend to chance and whimsy.
* Tend to my sanity
* finding a middle ground in my personality, and seeing if I can preserve it in the company of others
* Balancing my schedule (probably the biggest challenge I have for the next year)
* Learn to speak Spanish (learned it well enough for a trip, don't really have it still on my to-do list)
* Lose 25-30 lbs
* Get a different job.
* Commence reproduction sequence (but not until mid-July).


And this is now my browser home page.