Spanked By The State

Just when we thought it was safe to open the mail... the state got back to us and told me that I was deficient (I knew this) in certain areas. More specifically, in terms of one or two subjects. Truth be told, the damage was minimal, and I just need to revise one section for each child, but it would have been nicer if they'd just accepted it as it was. Wishful thinking, I know.

I'm not knocking the people at the state offices, they're very helpful and very nice, it's just that sometimes these little details seem superfluous. Either way, complaining ain't gonna change the fact that I have to deal with this, so back I go to the drawing board, or in this instance, the chalkboard.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Brandon Blinkenberg for the pic.

Blogging Perks

As I've mentioned in the past, I've been able to reap a few benefits from my blogging, and one of them involves reviewing products. As an incentive, I was able to procure a back hyper-extension bench, which is fortuitous in light of the fact that I have been having some back problems.

When I used to work out religiously, I used to always work my lower back, but the bench is rather specialized and not something you find lying around the house. Even R mentioned that she'd like to do the exercises.

Say no more. The bench came with free shipping, too. How can you beat that? Now all I have to do is put the thing together. It has about 1 million bolts, so naturally I've put it off, thereby giving R fodder to comment about how I waste money on things that never get used, even if it was free.

Oh well, can't win them all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my socket wrench. Until then, thanks for reading.

Ordering Karate Gear

A is getting more serious about karate, and of course she needed sparring equipment to continue her training to be a lethal weapon. Naturally, we turned to Karate Depot for our needs. There is a martial arts store at the dojo in West Leb, but it's hard to beat the selection you get online. Plus, their shipping prices can't be beat. A did indicate that she didn't want any gear that had the word "Macho" on it, and I completely understand.

Since A already had her gi, next up were gloves and headgear. The sets they sell seemed to be the best way to go, so we also got her foot protection and a mouth guard. Not that she's ready for it, but competitions require mouth protection, and from my own personal experience, protecting those feet during sparring is not a bad idea. The kids don't kick that hard, but I've sparred with people in my class and always manage to nail an elbow or knee, and man does it hurt.

Anyway, A can't wait to get her stuff. I'm excited for her, too. It adds to the fun having your own gear, and a great way for her to really enjoy herself while she learns.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to jason hulme for the pic.

Helping Out the Kids

I was scrambling a bit to record a bunch of CDs for the kids Christmas show, complaining about all I had to do and, dare I say, whining a bit, when R asked me, "Whose idea was this, anyway?"

I had to shut up at that point, because it was my idea. You make your bed and sleep in it, right?

First, some background. The Arts council is doing a Christmas show like they do every year, and for the record, it is top-notch. It's really incredible, because they put on this wonderful show and it is free to the community. The performers are amazing, some of them professionals, and they dedicate the time and energy all out of the desire to do something for the community. I love this town.

Either way, they also do a kid's show, and it's a great time for the children. The kids, however, benefit from hearing the carols and then emulating them. Now the easiest way to do this would have been to choose a bunch of common and familiar carols, the kind that everyone has on a Christmas CD at home, and then the kids could simply sing to the discs. Or, choose popular songs like Jingle Bells or Santa Claus is coming to town, which everyone knows.

Instead, they had to include some pretty eclectic pieces, some of which I had never heard of. They ran into some problems with kids knowing how to sing the songs, so they decided to have one of the soloists, CH (amazing singer), from the adult choir sing them into a recorder and give them to the kids.

Next problem, how to record and distribute. Their plan was to record on a tape player, then give them out. This, of course, brought up two new problems. First off, who the heck still has a tape player in the modern world? Second problem, how do you duplicate 15 cassette tapes in the span of a few days?

Naturally, being the big sucker that I am, I offered to help. There is a recording program standard on all Macs that is simply amazing. I have no clue how to use it, but it's amazing, as told to me by my friend, KN, a recording engineer. I told CK that we could simply record on the computer, burn to CD, and easily make digital copies. She thought it was a great idea, I just had to figure out the program.

It actually wasn't that bad, and I'm sure I wasn't doing it optimally, or for that matter, getting the most out of the program, but we aren't at Carnegie Hall. They just needed something they could listen and practice to.

So we met one weekend and recorded. It went well, I thought, and the kids came along and it was kind of fun. Sure, I was bummed that my Saturday was shot, but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices for the kids and the community. Besides, it was only a few hours.

I then had to go home and format the CD, then burn it. This turned out to be a little trickier, because again, I didn't use the program properly. However, I did use it adequately, and I was able to compile a CD and burn 15 copies.

In retrospect, I was glad I could help, because one of the reasons why this is such a great community to live in is because people are able to get past their own self-interest and lend a helping hand to make things happen. I rather like being a part of that.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to stef ~ for the pic.

Fall Fun... Sort Of

Raking leaves is not my favorite thing to do, but when the kids come out and help, it sure makes it more enjoyable, and dare I say, fun? We get a fair number of leaves in the Fall, and if you can believe this, I'd like to increase the number of "leaf" trees on the property. I just like them, and love the colors in the Fall. It's the raking I could do without.

A&N love raking, however, and are always asking me to come and join them. Sometimes they are fine by themselves, but generally it's more enjoyable with all three of us. I just have to suck it up and jump in. Either way, we do have fun, and it's a great way to spend time with the kids while being outside. Plus, it's a good way to deal with things I don't like to deal with and to just stop whining.

The pile of leaves is growing, as well. Last year we seemed to have a bigger pile, it was really massive, but this one is becoming respectable. Plus, all the leaves haven't fallen, yet. We still have some time, so stay tuned for updates.

Until then, thanks for reading.

raking leaves, new rakes, pile getting big

Brown Belt and Proud Parent

We had our test the other night in karate class, and it was a great night, if not a little grueling. Five of us were testing, and we were thinking letting A test, but truth be told, she's only been to three or four classes, and the other people testing have been preparing for months.

However, that is not to say that she isn't ready. She is a good learner (when she wants to be), and has really picked up on the katas and one-step spars. She needs work a little on her technique, but for the most part, she does a good job. She could definitely pass the test, but we decided to wait and give her more time. I think it's for the best.

In the meantime, she did want to be the one to recite the koan, which is usually something most people shy away from. Not A. She was hoping to be chosen last week and gave me grief when she wasn't the one. I spoke to Chip and mentioned she wanted to go, and sure enough she got to go.

She did a wonderful job, and afterward both CH and Master H commented on what a nice job she did, especially how she held her head up high and spoke with confidence. They could have been simply humoring me, but I think she was great.

The test was a bit of a marathon because I had to go last and they ran me through from start to finish. Most people get a break between basics, spars, and katas, but not me. They threw me to the lions. I didn't mind, it's better to just get it all over with, but I was tired, and my mouth was so dry that I was beginning to choke on my tongue. Then I thought about Kwai Chang Kane from Kung Fu and how he could sit naked in the snow for years and eat bugs, and told myself to be a man and deal with it.

Of course, after it was all done, I had to spar, but such is the life of a karate man. A got to spar her two buddies, and I have to say, she is pretty good, especially when you consider that she's only been doing this for a few weeks. She holds her own, and takes instructions really well. She knows how to defend herself when she's under attack, which is the most important thing. Also, she looks too cute for words in her gi and her protective gear. Speaking of which, we need to get her gloves and a helmet so she can complete her training to be a walking lethal weapon.

It was a nice test, I made a few missteps, but all in all, it went fine. I even got a little trophy (pictured above) for having a strong test. You can't beat that.

After the test, we had a little snack of cookies made by PC's wife, JK. She makes these legendary brownies, but since the class has gotten so big, she brought killer cookies instead. Everyone wins in the end.

I told A how proud I was of her, and am secretly hoping that at some point N will join in, too, but no pressure.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Manageable Halloween

Our Halloween ended up being manageable and if anything, fairly mellow. We also managed to escape a trip to the Woodstock Inn, which in past years has always been heavy on the Waldorf contingency.

We headed out to our usual haunt, Woodstock, and the streets were fairly lively, though they seemed to fizzle out fairly quickly. Also, there didn't seem to be as many houses taking part. Either that, or we were late and they were closing shop.

What I seemed to notice was that as we headed down the fairway, the kids hit all the houses and got candy, but on the way back, many of the houses were closed up and dark. It seems as if we just squeaked in.

Either way, we ended up heading home and the kids got to take stock of their bounty, and even sample a piece or two. We were glad it was a fairly early evening, even if the kids did want to hit the Inn. It just wasn't in the stars for that night.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.