Pool Day
We are a little over a week away from Lil C’s second birthday. I have not, in any way, been pushing her to use the potty yet because I learned that lesson the hard way with Big I. She will go when she is ready to go. It’s practically my mantra. In fact, if you tell me that you think two-year olds should already be potty trained, I will probably stick my fingers in my ears and hum loudly. I’m not allowing external forces (also known as my grandmother, etc.) to pressure me; and I’m not going to pressure Lil C.
Despite my not pushing her, Lil C has taken a great interest in the potty lately. Unfortunately, this interest is usually only after I have changed her diaper. She then wants to "sit on a poppy" after the point is already moot. Then, she’ll forget that she’s supposed to be sitting on the "poppy" and start wandering around diaper-less on my white carpet, causing me an anxiety attack for a couple minutes before I finally convince her that we’d both be happier if she had a diaper on.
In addition to her little obsession with sitting on the poppy, she’s also obsessed with these little animal toys. She collected random little people characters from the zoo and the farm, her V-tech train animals, and any random figurine she’s received over the years such as Care Bears, Jungle Book characters, etc. and they go absolutely EVERYWHERE with us. At any given time, she has at least five of them in her arms. Leaving the house causes great anxiety unless I can find a bag and dump all of the animal characters in there for her. If we abandon any one of them at home, it’s cause for a complete and total meltdown. And yes, she has cataloged them all to memory. If we forget the monkey, she will cry for the monkey for a good 30 minutes. If she happens to see a random monkey image on a billboard or something, it will jog her memory enough to elicit all new "Oh NO MONKEY!" cries.
So, you take these two interests of hers: the "poppy" and the animals, combine them, and you have this:
. . . a "pool day" (her words-not mine). Did I mention she also loves the pool?
Somehow I’m thinking that true potty action isn’t going to happen with the "pool poppy;" and something tells me we’re at least a little while away from potty trained bliss. . .
A Letter to the Saints
Dear Drew Brees,
If at all possible, would you do me a favor tonight? You see, I need you to get -13 points. You can do this by throwing 13 interceptions and getting less than 25 passing yards. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
BBM (Pathetic Owner of Team Craptastic which will go to 0-3 unless Drew Brees listens. . . )
Dear Marques Colston,
I need you to get 35 points tonight. It’s not that hard to do. Kevin Curtis did it yesterday; I have faith that you can too. There’s only one thing. You have to get these 35 points without Drew Brees getting any fantasy points. If you could figure out a way to work that out, I would be very appreciative.
Sincerely,
BBM (Owner of MARMAD, which will lose its undefeated title this week unless you can come through for me. . .)
You better believe there will be some more love letters this week. . .
Happy to Hurt
I am working harder than I have ever worked. I am sore for days after each class I attend, and then pile on more soreness with each subsequent class. I am loving the hard work and the learning. I also have a feeling I’m going to love putting a swimsuit on next year.
We have one of those Tanita body fat scales at home. I personally have hated the thing for all the years we have owned it. You program in that you’re a man of my height, stand on the scale and it says your body fat percentage is about 2%. You program the same height, but now also program in that you’re a woman, and you’re suddenly a third fat. It’s not cool. I know it programs it differently for a man and a woman, but when both sexes have two feet, legs, arms, and one head, then what’s the deal with that?
You’ve seen pictures. I’m a skinny girl, so thin in fact that I was frequently accused of having an eating disorder during high school and even into adulthood. I once told my Mom that I was going to tell my aunt who is always quizzing me about my weight that "Yes, I am a bulimic. . . (wait for her shock and horror to set in). . . I just forget to throw up." I love food entirely too much to avoid it and or barf it. Plus, it’s not healthy and stuff, but this isn’t a public service announcement, so moving right along. . .
The other day as I was getting into the shower, I thought "why not?" and hopped onto that scale. I usually just kick the 5th option and have it give me my weight only. Body weight has proven to be much less depressing than body fat percentage. Anyway, a number flashed back at me that almost made me fall over (I won’t say it because I don’t want to brag or anything). I will just say that it is the lowest body fat percentage that I have EVER recorded on that scale; and I attribute it entirely to the hoards of kicks we’ve been doing (seriously-like at least an hour and a half of kicking tonight), the insane amount of jumping jacks, the push-ups, the crunches and everything that comes before, after, and in between.
I have been trying to soak up everything I can during the past few weeks. I know that in time it will sink in and be absorbed completely. Right now though, I’m just kicking this body back into shape the old fashioned way, with lots of sweat and hard work. Feels good.
It’s the Little Things
I was exhausted from dealing with a sick toddler, so when I got to karate last night I was already dragging. To top it off, last night was probably one of the toughest classes I have ever done. I thought it was just because I’m still getting back into shape, but the consensus after class seemed to be the same: we worked.
We spent a lot of time in stances: seisan, nai hanchi, fudo dachi, cat stance, etc. By the end of the two hours, my legs were feeling like lead. It was the perfect time to start another bout of "brown belt syndrome." There is just so much to know, so much to learn, and so much to prepare.
I never realized how much was involved with getting into a proper nai hanchi stance before. I didn’t realize that you were supposed to drop your weight, reach out with your foot, and then transfer your weight into nai hanchi. I also never thought about curling your hips up under your body to make a proper stance. It makes a huge difference in your stance, just doing that one thing.
So you take just those two minor things and then think about transferring them into every single thing you do. Every kata that you thought you knew you’re now adding to. This is nothing new. As you learn, you’re constantly adapting and adding new things into your kata, your stances, your overall technique. Maybe it’s the six week break, but I’m feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day to work on everything I need to work on.
It doesn’t help that my neck is feeling more sore than usual, which is just so frustrating. I don’t want to hurt; and I don’t want to take anymore time off. Yes, this is a dichotomy that makes perfect sense to me (if you recall my syndromes post). I have appointments coming up with my chiropractor and massage therapist and I’m hoping they can get me fixed up again and fast.
We also worked on self defense last night. It’s not like riding a bicycle. If you don’t do it, you start to lose it. I was fine with wrist grabs and lapel grabs. But when one black belt came up and choked me, I didn’t react, I thought about it instead. Thinking is not good when you have just seconds to get those hands off your neck. I got him off by twisting his one hand off my neck, but I had parts of all these other techniques floating around in there and just didn’t move fast enough.
When I came home last night I could barely life my legs up the stairs, but I took about 15 minutes and worked through some different self defense scenarios with Mr. BBM. I need to make it part of my routine if I want these techniques to just be there inside of me, without thought.
***A long-time reader, commenter, and internet friend Deryck is having a very rough time of it lately. His daughter Persephone has been in the hospital for quite some time and is very sick. If you’re the praying type, please remember Persephone and her family as they could use all the prayers they can get right now.
***Thanks to KarateKim for making a donation to the Humane Society. It’s not too late. If you’d like to help out too, see the left sidebar or click here.
***My other blog, Birth Story, is in desperate need of some new material. If you’re a mother, father, whatever, and you have a birth story to share, please see the submission guidelines on Birth Story and send it on in! I know I have a lot of male readers; and I’d love to have birth stories from the daddy perspective, so please get writing!!!
***Hey ladies, are you in the market for new shoes? See that ad over there on the right hand side from RYKA? Well, they really are giving away shoes, because I registered and won a pair of $70 sneakers! WOO HOO! What are you waiting for? If I can win (the person who wins nothing-evah) then you can definitely win.
Love Letters
I wanted to throw my remote through my TV, my computer out the window, and put my foot through the wall. Instead, I figured I’d vent my frustration here. To steal Sarah’s line, "To some of you, this will sound like blah, blah, blah," but for those of you who know anything about fantasy football, you will feel my pain. If you have the same players I do, you will feel it so much that it will be physical pain.
Dear Reggie Brown (Phila. WR),
How are you today? Trust me, you’re better than I am today. You see, last night you were my only hope, sort of like my Obi-Wan Kenobi. I needed seven points. SEVEN. Instead you gave me two. TWO!!! Seven is not that difficult to manage. Those points could have come in the form of one touchdown pass and ten receiving yards. Or, forget the scoring altogether. Seventy receiving yards would have been sufficient. It’s not all that difficult to do. If Larry Fitzgerald can do that with Matt Leinart throwing at him, certainly you can manage that with Donovan McNabb throwing to you, right? Of course, I do realize that it’s not all your fault. Trust me when I say that McNabb is also getting a "love letter" from me today. So, because of your abysmal performance for the last two weeks, you will be benched this weekend. Please take this as an opportunity to further rest, because if you score on my bench, you’re not even going to want to open the envelope of my next letter.
Sincere-NOT-ly,
BBM (formerly of team BBM-now renamed Team Sucks)
Dear Donovan McNabb:
You’re not even on my team, but I felt I would be remiss if I didn’t write you as well. What is up with you and your lousy passing??? Reggie can not catch the ball with his feet. He does NOT have go-go-gadget arms either. A thrown pass should be just that, a thrown pass, not a hurtling through the universe rocket. It’s back to basics for you this week McNabb. Get some practice throwing a catchable ball. Oh, and who the heck is Jason Avant??? What does a top WR have to do to get some more action from you? Take you to dinner? A movie? What? You tell me and I’ll pass it along to Reggie.
Yours in frustration,
BBM
Dear Ladainian Tomlinson (San Diego RB-5 lousy points):
Two years ago, you were on my team. You were awesome, right up until the fantasy football playoffs, where you decided to rest on the sidelines, killing my chances of winning. Thanks-not sure if I ever properly thanked you for that. Anyway, um, what’s up with the 18 carries for only 43 yards and NO scores, huh!?! You were my shoe-in, my one guarantee on a roster that otherwise sucks (like my new team name)! I am counting on you to get your running butt in gear next week. You are LT, for goodness sakes! Let’s see the LT that I know and love! I saw an ad that you’re featured in this week. It says, "Stoppable? Yes, I stop when I score." Prove it LT! PROVE IT! Do you know that I had to change my team logo from the Japanese characters that mean "Nintai" (Persevere), to this logo:
Help me take this team out of the crapper and restore some respect LT!
Yours in disgust,
BBM
Dear Maurice Jones-Drew (Jac RB-proud getter of a whopping 4 points):
Seriously. Can you please get your act together? You are KILLING me. KILLING ME!
Worst Regards,
BBM
Dear Deion Branch (Seattle WR-17 points ON MY BENCH!!!):
The week before, you did not catch a single pass. Not one. Nada. Now that you’re sitting on my bench, you give me 17 points. Do you realize that if I had played you, I would have won this week??? Instead I am sitting in the basement with Papa Bradstein. Good company and all, but I’d prefer to not be sitting on two losses. Do me a favor, will you? If you’re going to decide to show up again this week, can you please send me a memo or something?
Thanks NOT,
BBM
The good news is that I am sitting on two wins in one league, but it’s just plain embarrassing when you can’t manage a single win in your own league. As they say in fantasy football, there’s always next week. Feel free to add your "love letters" below, unless of course your players are awesome and you’ve made all the right decisions so far. In that case, keep your good news to yourself. No, seriously.
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