December 10th, 2007 at 11:30 am
(Bath, Damien, NaBloPoMo, Olya, Sergey)
As you may have noticed I took about a week off from posting after NaBloPoMo.
My SPAM rating dropped to 4.2, what a wakeup call, I try to get it up to double digits.
My Aikido test Saturday went well, except that I tore the skin on the bottom of my big toe, and started to bleed on the mat, which is a big no no in Aikido. I was told to just put some socks on, which I did by running to the locker room, in the back, only to learn that I had left my socks with my shoes today, so I had to run back out and across the mat to the front of the building. My Sensei said not to worry, because the other three people testing with me were glad for the break {some of them even thanked me afterwards, and asked if I could do it again for the next test}.
Originally I had wanted to hold off on testing until spring, and then try to double test. However, my sensei said she thought I was ready to do the first test now, and that I have already not tested long enough.
I made several mistakes on my test {other than bleeding, which is not considered a mistake}. Mostly forgetting to Atemi {a fake attack to the attackers face}. However as she said the first test it to see if the student gets the basic idea of Aikido, {which I do}, and has the basic movements down, {double check, though my technique still needs lots of work}.
Olya missed all of my testing because the kids started to freak out, just before my test began. We were there at 9 AM, and my test did not start until 10 AM, or later. The kids were OK initially, but the just got so bad at the end, that Olya had to take them out of the room and into the building entrance.
To make up for all the hard work she put in, I bought Olya lots of chocolate.
Then we went to the [work] Christmas party. Where Sergey was afraid of Santa, and Damien, was brave enough to approach him on his own. Sergey got a truck with tools on it, which Damien tried to commandeer initially. Damien’s name was called almost last, and he was starting to fall asleep on the floor. No surprise, because both boys kept us up LOTS last night.
When Damien’s name was called, he walked up on his own, and sat on Santa’s lap by himself.
Damien got a red dragon, with flapping wings, and biting action. Both the boys fought for control of the dragon for most of the weekend.
Then home and a nap for Dad, then dinner, then a bath for the two of them, changed into their PJ’s, and off to another party.
Surprisingly the boys did not want to leave the living room, once at great grandma’s house. This wasn’t because they didn’t have the energy, or weren’t hyper. So they stayed in the room, and rolled around on the floor, and made several sorties at the Christmas tree. This just goes to reinforce the idea that our tree will again be up on a table, where it is not so easy to get at.
2 Comments
December 4th, 2007 at 10:32 am
(NaBloPoMo, New, Olya)
The rumor of our divorce is exaggerated. {Gotcha} 
Sorry for going to long without posting. I was sick yesterday, and didn’t feel like posting. And with NaBloPoMo over, I felt like taking the weekend off.
Olya and I resumed work on baby #3, we have not conceived yet, but I have vowed to keep trying.
For Christmas we used to do a name exchange, but this year we have decided to forgo presents for all adults, so no name exchange. This year Christmas will be about getting together and having a good time, and spoiling the little kids rotten.
I am still waiting for my brother Dan to tell me when he will be in town so I can ask off for those days. Presently he has certified that he will be in town around Christmas. I am sure for lawyers such as himself, this is a risky statement with laser pinpoint accuracy, but for me it is still to vague.
One thing Olya and I would like to do is visit our friends more, we are going to shoot for visiting someone somewhere once a week. With Olya’s parents coming next week, this won’t start until late January.
9 Comments
November 30th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
(NaBloPoMo, New)
had a bad fight with Olya this morning, so not much fun stuff to post just now, I am sure it will work out.
4 Comments
November 29th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
(NaBloPoMo, New)
I have been going to Aikido off and on for over twenty years now.
8 years or so ago I finally decided that I was going to test for my first rank.
After all there was a test coming up, and while I was still relearning the move, I knew all of the moves for the first test.
Mamura, Sensei had been my teacher since the beginning.
When he found out I wanted to finally test, he pulled me aside and asked me not to.
He told me that while I know the moves better than any of the others testing for their first rank, I had been with the school so long that I needed to show my experience, and should be ready to double test for my first and second rank at the same time if asked, because the sensei giving the test knew me on sight as an old student. My form was not what it should be so please don’t test, he repeated.
Later during that same class he honored me by recognizing me as an older student, even though I had never tested.
I stopped going to Aikido for a while, mostly because I was annoyed that I was asked not to test, even though I could easily have completed the test, and confused because he had recognized me as an older student to the rest of the class, I left because I fell shame, I left because I was not ready for the responsibility of being a senior student.
This was the last time I saw Mamura, Sensei, because shortly after that he died.
I am back in Aikido again, and Mamura, Sensei’s daughter is now the head sensei.
She has asking me if I was going to test, for rank one, and I have been declining.
Declining because I wanted to full fill Mamura, Sensei’s last request of me, which was to be ready to test for the first two ranks, in Aikido at the same time, and I do not feel that I am ready.
Then she asked me to test, this is very different than asking me if I want to test.
I told her I am not ready, but she said I am ready.
Earlier this week, I talked to her after class and told her about what her father said to me, and how I am trying to complete that request to be ready to test for the first two ranks at the same time.
She said she would take a look at my technique and let me know if I am ready.
Which is great, even though I know I am not ready to double test, right now, I was hoping to make a try for it in Spring.
What is bothering me is that I think I explained the situation in a bad way, because I was very nervous, and that I came across as demanding to double test because I have so many years of experience, and am so much better than the other students, blah, blah, blah, ego, ego, ego.
Hopefully I will be able to explain myself better next week.
On the plus side when I asked if I could continue to sit in the lowest ranked position in the room even after I gain a Rank, she said if I want to sure. Which is good because I enjoy helping the new students, and that is the best place to help them.
3 Comments
November 28th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
(Damien, Damien Walk, NaBloPoMo, New, Uncategorized)
24. Pumpkin Walk
Damien walks around with a jack-o-lantern on each foot. I should probably mention that they were plastic trick-or-treat buckets that were only made to look like jack-o-lanterns.
Not sure how he managed to maintain his balance.
This is only second-hand knowledge, but supposedly there is digital evidence.
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November 27th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
(Damien, NaBloPoMo, New, Sergey, Uncategorized)
$350 {we spare no expense} for a new dryer and we get a bonus box.
I think the kids have gotten as much use out of the box as we have the dryer. {royal we, I don’t actually use the dryer, but I do enjoy the benefits of dried cloths}.
It is about four feet high, and can serve many purposes:
1. Spy house with secret window {there is a hole in one side}.
2. Child powered tumble weed {where in the children try to roll over things as a giant ball that rolls over things, except they don’t usually agree on a direction}.
3. Hiding place {great for ambushing the kids, I mean great for them playing hid and seek, yeah, that’s what I meant}.
4. Climbing obstacle {it’s smooth sides and ever changing shape offer a challenge even for the mighty climber of things, known as Damien}.
5. Giant venus fly {Sergey} trap {in cardboard form, powered by Damien}.
6. Mega pack-n-play from which there is no escape {ideal for relocating the children to a different part of the house against their will, not that I would ever do such a thing}.
4 Comments
November 26th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
(Animals, NaBloPoMo, New)
This morning while getting the kids ready for school we spotted a hawk outside our window. At first I thought that it was injured and was just fluffing up its feathers to stay warm, later it moved and I saw that it had either a large mouse or a small squirrel, in its talons.
This picture does not do it justice but it is the best that I could do before the bird flew off with its kill.
{well I had planned to show you but the file is too big to upload, grrrr.}
I was holding Sergey up so he could see out the window, which is why I do not have more photos.
coincidentally I am holding him now and typing with one hand, which is why this post is so short.
The little guy has a 103 fever, lucky for us Grandma can watch him tomorrow, so we can go to work.
2 Comments
November 25th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
(Bed Time, NaBloPoMo, New, Sergey)
Yesterday we took Sergey’s Crib down, and put the matress on the floor.
This is to get him ready for the toddler bed, my idea is that he is going to fall off the bed now that there is no fence to stop him.
With the mattress being only a few inches off the floor the impact shouldn’t be that bad {floor is carpeted and I have a folded quilt there as well}.
With nothing to stop him Sergey got up off he mattress several times, but finally did fall asleep.
He still got up at night as often, but we were able to pet him and snuggle with him on the mattress which we couldn’t do when he was in the crib, this meant that Sergey didn’t sleep with us for the first time in a week, and we were able to get some real sleep instead of having to keep one eye {or arm} open watching after Sergey, so he didn’t roll or climb out of our bed.
The big bonus was that when the boys woke up this morning, they played with each other letting us sleep until almost 8:30, about two hours longer than we were used to.
this night Damien took an interest in sleeping on just the mattress but he fell asleep in the chair while being read to to usurp Sergey from his mattress..
1 Comment
November 24th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
(Damien, NaBloPoMo, New, Sergey)
Swim class ended last week, and it has taken me this long to write about it, or did I already write about it and just now forgot that I did already write about it. I could check my previous posts but I am too lazy.
Damien did rather well, even swimming on his own with a water noodle tied around him.
Sergey on the other hand had one of his worst days, but he is usually so good that he was bound to have a bad day.
They each got a certificate and some candy {the instructor wanted to make sure they all got some sugar, and she smiled as she said it}.
Most of the other kids in the class have taken it before so we will be back with our kids for round two, when the class is offered again next year.
On lesson that I took away from the class was to just tell Damien to stop crying, this is something that that the teacher did to him one time when she was helping me teach him about doing the doggy paddle.
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November 23rd, 2007 at 9:53 pm
(Damien, Damien Walk, NaBloPoMo, New, Sergey)
15. Drag The Foot Walk
Damien still does this one where he walks normal with one foot then drags the other foot behind him like he is doing the Electric Slid, across the kitchen. This is one of the walks that Damien will do to slow himself down. He wanted a cracker and I was handing out crackers, so he was racing over to me, but Sergey was already right in front of me begging for another cracker, though he already had one in his moth and another one in his hand. So Damien knew he had to wait before he could get a cracker, so he did the drag the foot walk around in a circle while waiting his turn.
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