Today, I was fortunate enough to play in a friendly lacrosse game, a scrimmage played with whomever showed up. It was hosted by the Northwest Houston lacrosse club, and it was a lazy, fun way to spend a Saturday morning. I mean, if running around, hitting each other with sticks, and fighting over the ball can be considered lazy. In any case, it was a blast.
I've been staying in shape (round is a shape, right?), but admittedly, I haven't been doing the kind of conditioning that I really need to play midfield effectively. Namely, running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, all at top speed. Right now, it's more like back.....and forth......and rest....and back........and forth.................and so on. Still, I had a ton of fun. My new lacrosse-style sprint workouts will be starting up next week. Lacrosse season's just around the corner, and I want to be ready! Happily, most of the other guys out there were also moaning and groaning, so I wasn't alone. But when the season starts...it's on like Donkey Kong.
So the remainder of today is just a lazy family day. There are videogames to be played, naps to take, and movies to watch. Oh, I might get a burst of energy and clean up the garage, but don't hold your breath.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thinking, cleaning, scooting.
Starting at Halloween (my birthday), I tend to get very introspective around the holidays. Thanksgiving is here, and the Christmas holidays (Yule, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, etc.) aren't far behind. I have a ton for which I'm thankful...a fabulous family, a wonderful life, fantastic friends...the list goes on. My thoughts tend to wander towards what has happened throughout the year, and what we can make of the one that's rapidly approaching.
As my readers know, I lost my father this year. He and I were close, in our own way. Weeks would go by in which we didn't even talk on the phone, but when we did, it was always great. I've been thinking a lot about him, and what his life and death mean to me. Since he passed, I've been generally more productive in most of the important areas of my life. I've trained more consistently, followed up on more annoying little chores and tasks than usual, and I've found myself adding just a wee bit more effort to everything I do. I've said that I want to live a life that would make him proud, but in retrospect, I've already been doing that. Still, I suppose that I feel that there's always been room for improvement, and that Dad's pleased with the way I've picked up my pace on the everyday things around here.
I'm driving his scooter around here and there. It's got an inspection sticker now, and I'm anxiously awaiting papers from the dealer so I can get license plates. It's funny, but I'm pretty sure that it's always going to be 'Dad's scooter', rather than mine. And I plan to take damn good care of the thing, too.
This morning, one of Christina's cousins had suggested that we work out together, and I offered to open up my school so that we'd have a good place to train. 7am comes pretty darned early during the Thanksgiving break, but I'm sooooo glad I let Lee talk me into it. We had a fabulous little Crossfit workout, and it started my day off with a BANG. Upon arriving at home, I hustled out to the shed (the one that my father, Uncle Robert, and I built) and started cleaning it out...I knew I had less than an hour before the trash guys would show up, and I needed to make space for the scooter. It's amazing what a person can do when they're motivated! I had my way-cool Bluetooth headphones on (and yes, Cathy Dennis, Kelly Clarkson, and Olivia Newton-John were helping me clean the shed), a bandanna over my mouth and nose, and I was dragging stuff out of there like it was on fire. I had to finish at around 9am so I'd still have time to get ready for a family event today, and the trash guys came right on schedule. By the time they pulled the garbage truck around the corner, there was a decent pile of junk on the curb for them to take away. Mission accomplished: the scooter is now happily sheltered in the shed that Dad built.
In the middle of this process, I stumbled across something that I had thought lost forever. I moved a box of old books, and saw a shiny, orange sphere nestled in the space behind the box...it was Dad's old helmet. Many of you may recall that my father built and flew an experimental motorized hang-glider back in the early 80's, and this was the helmet he picked out to protect his noggin.
I was just a kid back then, and I remember Dad laughing with Mom about what to call his fledgling company (which was nothing more than an excuse to buy and build a glider and write if off his taxes. Genius!), and he suggested "Buzzard Aircraft". Mom had a fit, and wouldn't allow it, so he settled on "Mac's Aviation" instead. He placed an ad in the local phone book, and I still remember the business phone number that he had installed in the kitchen: 409 849 3840. As a present, I painstakingly used pieces of masking tape to write the word BUZZARD on one side of that helmet. And he actually left it on there. I later used that same helmet to ride in motocross races with my brother, so I took the tape off.
This morning, so many years later, I picked up the helmet and was sad to see how the interior had nearly fallen apart. It looked like an old car's headliner that droops. The outside was just as solid as ever, though. I ran my fingers over its smooth surface, and suddenly found a rough spot. Upon closer inspection, I could still see the B..U..Z..Z.. in tape residue on that one side. And somehow, I knew that Dad's laughing with me, wherever he is.
Anyway, I'm off to start organizing the garage. Or maybe I'll take the scooter out to the video store...I'm still not quite sure what I want to do, but I know that I want to do something. In either case, I'm feeling extremely grateful for all of my many blessings, and I'm looking forward to a happy holiday season.
By the way, there's a lacrosse scrimmage tomorrow...wish me luck!!!
As my readers know, I lost my father this year. He and I were close, in our own way. Weeks would go by in which we didn't even talk on the phone, but when we did, it was always great. I've been thinking a lot about him, and what his life and death mean to me. Since he passed, I've been generally more productive in most of the important areas of my life. I've trained more consistently, followed up on more annoying little chores and tasks than usual, and I've found myself adding just a wee bit more effort to everything I do. I've said that I want to live a life that would make him proud, but in retrospect, I've already been doing that. Still, I suppose that I feel that there's always been room for improvement, and that Dad's pleased with the way I've picked up my pace on the everyday things around here.
I'm driving his scooter around here and there. It's got an inspection sticker now, and I'm anxiously awaiting papers from the dealer so I can get license plates. It's funny, but I'm pretty sure that it's always going to be 'Dad's scooter', rather than mine. And I plan to take damn good care of the thing, too.
This morning, one of Christina's cousins had suggested that we work out together, and I offered to open up my school so that we'd have a good place to train. 7am comes pretty darned early during the Thanksgiving break, but I'm sooooo glad I let Lee talk me into it. We had a fabulous little Crossfit workout, and it started my day off with a BANG. Upon arriving at home, I hustled out to the shed (the one that my father, Uncle Robert, and I built) and started cleaning it out...I knew I had less than an hour before the trash guys would show up, and I needed to make space for the scooter. It's amazing what a person can do when they're motivated! I had my way-cool Bluetooth headphones on (and yes, Cathy Dennis, Kelly Clarkson, and Olivia Newton-John were helping me clean the shed), a bandanna over my mouth and nose, and I was dragging stuff out of there like it was on fire. I had to finish at around 9am so I'd still have time to get ready for a family event today, and the trash guys came right on schedule. By the time they pulled the garbage truck around the corner, there was a decent pile of junk on the curb for them to take away. Mission accomplished: the scooter is now happily sheltered in the shed that Dad built.
In the middle of this process, I stumbled across something that I had thought lost forever. I moved a box of old books, and saw a shiny, orange sphere nestled in the space behind the box...it was Dad's old helmet. Many of you may recall that my father built and flew an experimental motorized hang-glider back in the early 80's, and this was the helmet he picked out to protect his noggin.
I was just a kid back then, and I remember Dad laughing with Mom about what to call his fledgling company (which was nothing more than an excuse to buy and build a glider and write if off his taxes. Genius!), and he suggested "Buzzard Aircraft". Mom had a fit, and wouldn't allow it, so he settled on "Mac's Aviation" instead. He placed an ad in the local phone book, and I still remember the business phone number that he had installed in the kitchen: 409 849 3840. As a present, I painstakingly used pieces of masking tape to write the word BUZZARD on one side of that helmet. And he actually left it on there. I later used that same helmet to ride in motocross races with my brother, so I took the tape off.
This morning, so many years later, I picked up the helmet and was sad to see how the interior had nearly fallen apart. It looked like an old car's headliner that droops. The outside was just as solid as ever, though. I ran my fingers over its smooth surface, and suddenly found a rough spot. Upon closer inspection, I could still see the B..U..Z..Z.. in tape residue on that one side. And somehow, I knew that Dad's laughing with me, wherever he is.
Anyway, I'm off to start organizing the garage. Or maybe I'll take the scooter out to the video store...I'm still not quite sure what I want to do, but I know that I want to do something. In either case, I'm feeling extremely grateful for all of my many blessings, and I'm looking forward to a happy holiday season.
By the way, there's a lacrosse scrimmage tomorrow...wish me luck!!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Scooter is Here!!!
I got the call last Saturday night. The driver said that they were nearing Texas, and would roll through Katy at around 4am, and my scooter was safe and sound. I was pretty excited, so I didn't sleep much as I waited for them to arrive. After an extremely long night, they finally called at around 7:30am. Groggy as I was, I was totally pumped to finally take possession of Dad's scooter. At last!
In the few days I've had it, I've driven it several times...around the subdivision, to the soccer fields, to the video store on the corner, that sort of thing. It's already listed on our insurance, and I got it inspected today, so it's practically street legal. I'm awaiting the certificate of origin and other papers that should come in the mail so that I can get it registered here in Texas and get some license plates on it.
Mom seems pleased that it finally showed up, and says that Dad's probably smiling and chuckling at me every time I ride it. That makes me happy...thinking that Dad would enjoy me riding on 'his' scooter. I'm planning to take care of it and ride it for as long as it'll keep on rolling.
My Dad was a kart racer back in his day. He once told me that he finally quit when the race officials started making rules about the karts being a certain weight. "We had been doing everything we could think of to make those things lighter, and then they go and tell us to make 'em heavier...that's just stupid!" I'm sure there was a lot more to it than that, but that's all he told me me back then. He had at least 20 trophies from races he'd won. Oddly, I never thought about that fact when he finally bought me a go-kart from Sears when I was a kid. In my hometown of Angleton, we had a massive back yard, and I had an oval track back there...I drove the crap out of that orange and white kart. If I recall correctly, I named it "The Spider", and I painted the name on its front. He used to sit in his lawn chair out there and just watch me go around and around that track. Sometimes, I'd go the other way...just for the fun of it. And he just watched. I never thought about how cool that must have been for him.
Well...I'm hoping he's getting a good laugh out of this whole scooter saga. I'm kind of a stout guy, so I kind of spill over the sides of that little thing. Even so, it uses very little gas, and will get me most places around town, so I'm really excited to start using it as often as possible.
Thanks for the scooter, Dad. It's pretty darned cool. And the Monkey loves it too.
In the few days I've had it, I've driven it several times...around the subdivision, to the soccer fields, to the video store on the corner, that sort of thing. It's already listed on our insurance, and I got it inspected today, so it's practically street legal. I'm awaiting the certificate of origin and other papers that should come in the mail so that I can get it registered here in Texas and get some license plates on it.
Mom seems pleased that it finally showed up, and says that Dad's probably smiling and chuckling at me every time I ride it. That makes me happy...thinking that Dad would enjoy me riding on 'his' scooter. I'm planning to take care of it and ride it for as long as it'll keep on rolling.
My Dad was a kart racer back in his day. He once told me that he finally quit when the race officials started making rules about the karts being a certain weight. "We had been doing everything we could think of to make those things lighter, and then they go and tell us to make 'em heavier...that's just stupid!" I'm sure there was a lot more to it than that, but that's all he told me me back then. He had at least 20 trophies from races he'd won. Oddly, I never thought about that fact when he finally bought me a go-kart from Sears when I was a kid. In my hometown of Angleton, we had a massive back yard, and I had an oval track back there...I drove the crap out of that orange and white kart. If I recall correctly, I named it "The Spider", and I painted the name on its front. He used to sit in his lawn chair out there and just watch me go around and around that track. Sometimes, I'd go the other way...just for the fun of it. And he just watched. I never thought about how cool that must have been for him.
Well...I'm hoping he's getting a good laugh out of this whole scooter saga. I'm kind of a stout guy, so I kind of spill over the sides of that little thing. Even so, it uses very little gas, and will get me most places around town, so I'm really excited to start using it as often as possible.
Thanks for the scooter, Dad. It's pretty darned cool. And the Monkey loves it too.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Weekend Happenings
It was a busy weekend around here...Saturday, we held our first Jade Mountain Juniors Tournament, where our junior students competed in Hand Forms, Weapons, Sword Sparring, and Sparring. Then yesterday, we had a little "Welcome and Congratulations!" party for Larry Escher. It was more or less a surprise.
Saturday, we had all hands on deck as we set up chairs, readied our scorecards, and double-checked the competitor lists. A minor snag...the fantastic certificates had the wrong wording, and Larry hustled off to get that fixed. When he returned, the certificates were even better than before! We set up the judges table on one side of the mat and placed the four judges chairs in a square so that the kids would have plenty of room to perform. The school filled up quickly, and things got underway more or less on time.
All of us were really pleased with the way that every single student showed a significant improvement on their technique in every event. Wow! Many were very nervous about their first tournament, and most were really excited! Everyone did well, and we had a blast.
The sparring was quite thrilling...nothing like watching a couple of 8-year-olds kick the crap out of each other! As usual, the littlest students were the most aggressive, and even my nephew (who is the least combative person I've ever met in my life) bravely stood his ground against a larger opponent, and gave a good account of himself. He proudly showed off his scrapes and bruises later as badges of courage. In fact, I think they may the the first scrapes and bruises that he's ever had! Now, he's looking forward to sparring with a lot more enthusiasm, and we're all proud of him.
One of our policies at JMMA is that you actually do need to show that you know, and can perform, your skills. We think that it's important to challenge our students, and let them know when they are doing well, and also when they need to apply themselves and get serious about their training. There were some students who surprised themselves (and others) by winning their divisions, while others were astonished to find that they did not. Such reality checks are necessary, and help the students grow. Attitude is everything, and we hope that some of our slackers will pick up the pace now that they know what slacking gets them.
Overall, the tournament was a ton of fun, and we're already looking forward to the next one, which will most likely be in February. I must thank all of our folks who came in to help us pull this thing off...they were fantastic!!
Afterwards, we all went to Wild Wings (or Wild Things, as some of us call it) for dinner, and I informed Larry that he was to be at my house the next day at 11:30am. He asked why, and I told him "Because I said so." He started to protest, and I Dog-Whispered him into silence. You see, I'm no good at setting up a pretense. I had no idea what I could have said to get him to come to his own surprise party. So I didn't say anything...I just insisted that he show up with no explanation whatsoever. Amazingly, it worked.
So we all met at Amy's house on Sunday, and I managed to get Larry there as well. SURPRISE! I hope he enjoyed it. There were even cupcakes that said "CONGRATULATIONS SIFU LARRY JMMA" I ate 4 of them. Did I mention that Renee made her mushrooms? I had 4 of those, too. We all ate, had fun, and laughed a lot as we officially welcomed Larry to Jade Mountain, and congratulated him for being one of only 3 people in the United States to complete the first IKMF Civilian Instructor Course under the fabulous Eyal Yanilov.
So...that was the weekend. I'm finally about 90% over my cold/snot/cough thingy, so I'm getting back to training today. Christina's still feeling crappy, so I'm sending her to the the doctor today. And the Monkey is back at school. His birthday is this week...how in the world did 7 years go by this fast? Wow.
Have a great day, folks. Hug someone you love...and maybe pat them on the behind if you're in that kind of mood.
Saturday, we had all hands on deck as we set up chairs, readied our scorecards, and double-checked the competitor lists. A minor snag...the fantastic certificates had the wrong wording, and Larry hustled off to get that fixed. When he returned, the certificates were even better than before! We set up the judges table on one side of the mat and placed the four judges chairs in a square so that the kids would have plenty of room to perform. The school filled up quickly, and things got underway more or less on time.
All of us were really pleased with the way that every single student showed a significant improvement on their technique in every event. Wow! Many were very nervous about their first tournament, and most were really excited! Everyone did well, and we had a blast.
The sparring was quite thrilling...nothing like watching a couple of 8-year-olds kick the crap out of each other! As usual, the littlest students were the most aggressive, and even my nephew (who is the least combative person I've ever met in my life) bravely stood his ground against a larger opponent, and gave a good account of himself. He proudly showed off his scrapes and bruises later as badges of courage. In fact, I think they may the the first scrapes and bruises that he's ever had! Now, he's looking forward to sparring with a lot more enthusiasm, and we're all proud of him.
One of our policies at JMMA is that you actually do need to show that you know, and can perform, your skills. We think that it's important to challenge our students, and let them know when they are doing well, and also when they need to apply themselves and get serious about their training. There were some students who surprised themselves (and others) by winning their divisions, while others were astonished to find that they did not. Such reality checks are necessary, and help the students grow. Attitude is everything, and we hope that some of our slackers will pick up the pace now that they know what slacking gets them.
Overall, the tournament was a ton of fun, and we're already looking forward to the next one, which will most likely be in February. I must thank all of our folks who came in to help us pull this thing off...they were fantastic!!
Afterwards, we all went to Wild Wings (or Wild Things, as some of us call it) for dinner, and I informed Larry that he was to be at my house the next day at 11:30am. He asked why, and I told him "Because I said so." He started to protest, and I Dog-Whispered him into silence. You see, I'm no good at setting up a pretense. I had no idea what I could have said to get him to come to his own surprise party. So I didn't say anything...I just insisted that he show up with no explanation whatsoever. Amazingly, it worked.
So we all met at Amy's house on Sunday, and I managed to get Larry there as well. SURPRISE! I hope he enjoyed it. There were even cupcakes that said "CONGRATULATIONS SIFU LARRY JMMA" I ate 4 of them. Did I mention that Renee made her mushrooms? I had 4 of those, too. We all ate, had fun, and laughed a lot as we officially welcomed Larry to Jade Mountain, and congratulated him for being one of only 3 people in the United States to complete the first IKMF Civilian Instructor Course under the fabulous Eyal Yanilov.
So...that was the weekend. I'm finally about 90% over my cold/snot/cough thingy, so I'm getting back to training today. Christina's still feeling crappy, so I'm sending her to the the doctor today. And the Monkey is back at school. His birthday is this week...how in the world did 7 years go by this fast? Wow.
Have a great day, folks. Hug someone you love...and maybe pat them on the behind if you're in that kind of mood.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Just a Quick Update...(cough! ack! sniff!)
Today's going to be busy, in spite of the fact that everyone's sick around here. I'm still sounding like I've had too much whiskey (it's actually snot that I've got too much of), Christina's also full of snot, and Monkey...well, he's more or less fine, but he was puking his guts out yesterday. I feel pretty well, but I'll be thrilled to finally have my voice back, and not have to cough up gunk every few minutes.
Monkey's Grandma in Indiana sent him some way cool Star Wars stuff for his birthday, and he's sitting in there right now, playing a Star Wars videogame with his Clone Trooper Helmet on. That's just how he rolls. He's much better today.
Mom was also kind enough to include a ton of Dad's old badges and licenses in Monkey's birthday package. Some of them stretch back many years, and it was great to see Dad's face on each and every one...with the same, goofy expression on each. I love you Dad, but you never were good at taking pictures.
Today is our first Jade Mountain Junior Tournament. Everyone is competing, and we're looking forward to it. There are 20 juniors competing, and so we'll be hosting them and their families at our school for a few hours while they compete in hand forms, weapons forms, and sparring. It should be a hoot!
My nephew Jacob will be competing for the first time. He's not exactly the most aggressive character I've ever seen, and we were all wondering how he'd react to sparring for the first time. I must say that we were thrilled to see that he stood right in there and took those punches like a little warrior. Now we'll see if we can teach him to fight back more effectively. ;-)
Well, I'd better get dressed. It's going to be a long, interesting day!
Monkey's Grandma in Indiana sent him some way cool Star Wars stuff for his birthday, and he's sitting in there right now, playing a Star Wars videogame with his Clone Trooper Helmet on. That's just how he rolls. He's much better today.
Mom was also kind enough to include a ton of Dad's old badges and licenses in Monkey's birthday package. Some of them stretch back many years, and it was great to see Dad's face on each and every one...with the same, goofy expression on each. I love you Dad, but you never were good at taking pictures.
Today is our first Jade Mountain Junior Tournament. Everyone is competing, and we're looking forward to it. There are 20 juniors competing, and so we'll be hosting them and their families at our school for a few hours while they compete in hand forms, weapons forms, and sparring. It should be a hoot!
My nephew Jacob will be competing for the first time. He's not exactly the most aggressive character I've ever seen, and we were all wondering how he'd react to sparring for the first time. I must say that we were thrilled to see that he stood right in there and took those punches like a little warrior. Now we'll see if we can teach him to fight back more effectively. ;-)
Well, I'd better get dressed. It's going to be a long, interesting day!
Monday, November 03, 2008
It's Definitely a Monday...
I've been fighting with various drainage and sinus issues all weekend, and last night was definitely not a good night. I think I slept about 2 hours or so...just could not get to sleep with all this snot rattling around in my upper chest. I took some time off today to rest and medicate myself, and I'm planning on sucking it up for evening classes tonight. It's not like I've got a fever and major illness, but I still feel like crap.
I've picked someone to bring my scooter out here from Maryland. We still need to finalize some details, but hopefully, this will end up with my tooling around the neighborhood on my stylin' red machine. Fingers crossed.
My dear friend Larry is finishing up his final certification session in California today, and I'm thrilled for him. It's been no easy task, that's for sure. In addition to bum ankle he picked up along the way, he's also received several contusions and abrasions, scratches on his face, a tweaked wrist, and a pulled calf muscle. Man, talk about the red badge of courage! It'll be great to have him back, and he's bringing Eyal Yanilov with him! Wednesday night, we'll be hosting a Krav Maga seminar at Jade Mountain taught by the man himself!! I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation. Let's hope that I don't cough my junk all over everyone in attendance.
After that, there's not much to report. I've enjoyed reading the books Christina got me for my berfday, and I've eaten amazingly little candy this year. Really. So I'm just looking forward to ridding myself of this cough-and-spit routine so I can get back to working out like a crazy man.
Have a great Monday, folks.
I've picked someone to bring my scooter out here from Maryland. We still need to finalize some details, but hopefully, this will end up with my tooling around the neighborhood on my stylin' red machine. Fingers crossed.
My dear friend Larry is finishing up his final certification session in California today, and I'm thrilled for him. It's been no easy task, that's for sure. In addition to bum ankle he picked up along the way, he's also received several contusions and abrasions, scratches on his face, a tweaked wrist, and a pulled calf muscle. Man, talk about the red badge of courage! It'll be great to have him back, and he's bringing Eyal Yanilov with him! Wednesday night, we'll be hosting a Krav Maga seminar at Jade Mountain taught by the man himself!! I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation. Let's hope that I don't cough my junk all over everyone in attendance.
After that, there's not much to report. I've enjoyed reading the books Christina got me for my berfday, and I've eaten amazingly little candy this year. Really. So I'm just looking forward to ridding myself of this cough-and-spit routine so I can get back to working out like a crazy man.
Have a great Monday, folks.
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