September 19, 2014
So, this is the first Friday I have had to myself since.... May? Anyhow, the kids are in school, Jeremy is a work, and I am at the coffee shop. So here's a post (using a Chromebook that I am borrowing/ will be buying from a friend, kind of for the purpose of being able to post to my livejournal from the coffeeshop, among other things. Yay real keyboards!)
So here's what's has been going on:
In July, we took a trip to PA to meet with some of my family from Maine. My cousin, her daughter who is the same age as my daughter, and her husband. My dad's cousin also came. (Yes, she that makes her my 1st cousin, once removed, and she's much younger than my dad.) We went to Hershey Park and Gettysburg and had a really good time connecting. I hope we can go to Maine and have a longer visit.
I joined a running class that is basically a couch to 5k training program. I ran 2.9 miles one night, then was basically crippled for a week. I tried running another 2 miles, and was done in. My knees just aren't up to it. Jeremy says I need to build up the strength in my quads, hamstrings, and calves more so they can support my knees, and that running doesn't really build leg strength by itself. I actually went for a run today for the first time in a few weeks, and it went pretty well. I probably ran for a total of a mile, with a walking break in the middle.
I took the summer off from yoga (with one exception) because I have so much less free time over the summer (and by free time, I mean time without the kids. With the kids, I have tons of time over the summer, yet it is never enough.) Today I signed up for my regular Friday class which starts next week.
My first yoga teacher (Tom) isn't teaching in the fall session. I'm not sure why, or whether he will be teach in the winter, but if I had to guess, I would suspect he isn't. He will have the meditation class and Zen community on Sundays though. (I hope) So last Thursday I went to his class for what may be the last time. Thursday nights eneded up not being great for me to take yoga, but I try to go to at least one of his classes a session. Especially since he is one of the few teachers that teaches inversions. So last week, I got to do a handstand away from the wall (with a spotter. I'm not 11 anymore!)
Speaking of yoga and meditation, my summer got all pear-shaped in that regard. Tom was away the first two weeks of the summer session, so I volunteered to teach the first two "Foundatations of Meditation" classes for him. I worked really hard at learning his notes and reading them out loud. The classes went well, but not enough people signed up for the class to run, which was rough and disappointing. Then, Tom also decided to take the summer off from the Zen Community because not enough people had committed to attending over the summer. It makes sense, and I understand, but man, it has been hard not seeing everyone on a regular basis. Our first day back is the 28th, and I can't wait.
I was also supposed to go to the Zen Mountain Monastery inbetween the two classes I taught. I was going to take a shakuhachi workshop where we would get to make a bamboo flute and learn how to play it in a traditional way. The day before I was supposed to go, the monastery called to tell me the class had been cancelled because of, again, low enrollment. I was crushed. It was something I had been looking forward to for 2 years. Also, I was going to go with a friend, and I was looking forward to the road trip.
There was one good thing that came out of the class cancellation, but it was bittersweet. My friend's mom had passed away, and since I wasn't going to New York, I was able to go to the funeral. I'm glad I went, because it was important, but it's hard to feel good about going to a funeral.
On a happier note, Jeremy and I went to Atlanta for Dragon Con. Dragon Con is much, much bigger than Katsucon. The events are spread out over 5 hotels. However, it is still a lot smaller than San Diego Comic Con, so it does not have the same corporate presence. Jeremy and I got to go to a lot of cool panels (Firefly, Agents of Sheild, Doctor Who, MST3K, and even Buckaroo Bonzai) and I got to meet and get autographs from Colin Baker (the 5th Doctor, he was a very sweet man) and Amy Acker, who has been in Angel, Dollhouse, and Agents of Shield as a celling. (she doesn't play the cello in real life, but I found out at one of the panels that she did play viola briefly. Woo-hoo!)
Another positive was that I ran into my friend Robin at Ocean City this summer, and we managed to have dinner together one night. A short time after that, she posted on Facebook that her Martial Arts school was having a "bring a friend" week. Martial arts are something I have always been interested in, but have not really explored, beyond a self-defense class in college that I liked a lot. The class in in Odenton, which is about 25 minutes away, depending on traffic. All 4 of us went, since Jeremy was suddenly available. It was fun, and the kids loved it, so I signed myslef and the kids up. We are white belts until we can test in November, but we may go to a tournament next month. I'm hoping that I can do some more strength training than I would do on my own. I have certainly done more push ups this month than the whole year previous, which is not saying much. :) The school is affiliated with the International Tang Soo Do Federation. Tang Soo Do is similar to Tae Kwon Do. I think there were politics involved, but wikipedia does not explain it very well.
In other news, school is going well, for me and the kids. I have a ton of students signed up, 20% more than usual, and not enough instruments to loan out to the kids who need them. Christopher is in the upper level math group, which is great, but his spelling continues to be uniquely his own. Samantha is playing the french horn in band and is being kept busy with her school work and social life.
I hope future posts are more frequent, and shorter!
So here's what's has been going on:
In July, we took a trip to PA to meet with some of my family from Maine. My cousin, her daughter who is the same age as my daughter, and her husband. My dad's cousin also came. (Yes, she that makes her my 1st cousin, once removed, and she's much younger than my dad.) We went to Hershey Park and Gettysburg and had a really good time connecting. I hope we can go to Maine and have a longer visit.
I joined a running class that is basically a couch to 5k training program. I ran 2.9 miles one night, then was basically crippled for a week. I tried running another 2 miles, and was done in. My knees just aren't up to it. Jeremy says I need to build up the strength in my quads, hamstrings, and calves more so they can support my knees, and that running doesn't really build leg strength by itself. I actually went for a run today for the first time in a few weeks, and it went pretty well. I probably ran for a total of a mile, with a walking break in the middle.
I took the summer off from yoga (with one exception) because I have so much less free time over the summer (and by free time, I mean time without the kids. With the kids, I have tons of time over the summer, yet it is never enough.) Today I signed up for my regular Friday class which starts next week.
My first yoga teacher (Tom) isn't teaching in the fall session. I'm not sure why, or whether he will be teach in the winter, but if I had to guess, I would suspect he isn't. He will have the meditation class and Zen community on Sundays though. (I hope) So last Thursday I went to his class for what may be the last time. Thursday nights eneded up not being great for me to take yoga, but I try to go to at least one of his classes a session. Especially since he is one of the few teachers that teaches inversions. So last week, I got to do a handstand away from the wall (with a spotter. I'm not 11 anymore!)
Speaking of yoga and meditation, my summer got all pear-shaped in that regard. Tom was away the first two weeks of the summer session, so I volunteered to teach the first two "Foundatations of Meditation" classes for him. I worked really hard at learning his notes and reading them out loud. The classes went well, but not enough people signed up for the class to run, which was rough and disappointing. Then, Tom also decided to take the summer off from the Zen Community because not enough people had committed to attending over the summer. It makes sense, and I understand, but man, it has been hard not seeing everyone on a regular basis. Our first day back is the 28th, and I can't wait.
I was also supposed to go to the Zen Mountain Monastery inbetween the two classes I taught. I was going to take a shakuhachi workshop where we would get to make a bamboo flute and learn how to play it in a traditional way. The day before I was supposed to go, the monastery called to tell me the class had been cancelled because of, again, low enrollment. I was crushed. It was something I had been looking forward to for 2 years. Also, I was going to go with a friend, and I was looking forward to the road trip.
There was one good thing that came out of the class cancellation, but it was bittersweet. My friend's mom had passed away, and since I wasn't going to New York, I was able to go to the funeral. I'm glad I went, because it was important, but it's hard to feel good about going to a funeral.
On a happier note, Jeremy and I went to Atlanta for Dragon Con. Dragon Con is much, much bigger than Katsucon. The events are spread out over 5 hotels. However, it is still a lot smaller than San Diego Comic Con, so it does not have the same corporate presence. Jeremy and I got to go to a lot of cool panels (Firefly, Agents of Sheild, Doctor Who, MST3K, and even Buckaroo Bonzai) and I got to meet and get autographs from Colin Baker (the 5th Doctor, he was a very sweet man) and Amy Acker, who has been in Angel, Dollhouse, and Agents of Shield as a celling. (she doesn't play the cello in real life, but I found out at one of the panels that she did play viola briefly. Woo-hoo!)
Another positive was that I ran into my friend Robin at Ocean City this summer, and we managed to have dinner together one night. A short time after that, she posted on Facebook that her Martial Arts school was having a "bring a friend" week. Martial arts are something I have always been interested in, but have not really explored, beyond a self-defense class in college that I liked a lot. The class in in Odenton, which is about 25 minutes away, depending on traffic. All 4 of us went, since Jeremy was suddenly available. It was fun, and the kids loved it, so I signed myslef and the kids up. We are white belts until we can test in November, but we may go to a tournament next month. I'm hoping that I can do some more strength training than I would do on my own. I have certainly done more push ups this month than the whole year previous, which is not saying much. :) The school is affiliated with the International Tang Soo Do Federation. Tang Soo Do is similar to Tae Kwon Do. I think there were politics involved, but wikipedia does not explain it very well.
In other news, school is going well, for me and the kids. I have a ton of students signed up, 20% more than usual, and not enough instruments to loan out to the kids who need them. Christopher is in the upper level math group, which is great, but his spelling continues to be uniquely his own. Samantha is playing the french horn in band and is being kept busy with her school work and social life.
I hope future posts are more frequent, and shorter!