July 5, 2006

Striped and looking ahead

Tonight I finally got striped/promoted. It was supposed to happen last week; but I would have needed a boat to get to class after the flooding that happened in this area. It’s not that I didn’t try, which meant that Big I and I sat in traffic for a good two hours before off-roading it through a grassy median and heading home because I couldn’t take listening to Big I saying "This is the worst day of my life," and "Why are we still sitting in line?". Class was canceled anyway and my instructor had to wade through 4 feet of water to even get home, but that’s a different story. . .

4th kyu. It feels good. Now it’s time to get serious. The next test will be for 3rd kyu, brown belt. Once a brown belt, it’s time to sit down and make an action plan for when I’ll test for black belt. It’s looking like it will be December 2007 if everything goes as planned. But, before I get there, I need to get to 3rd kyu and here is what’s required:

Basics:

Ten step blocking drill moving in nai hanchi with stationary shift and punch (not a problem)

Kicks:

Yoko Geri-side kick (I’m pretty good with these already.)
Standing
Step Behind

Self Defense:

Rear double wrist grab (not a problem)
Full Nelson (Are you kidding me? Please! Isn’t this a total junior high guy thing?)
Held against the wall (Should be fun.)
Pinned on ground (Oh fun. I am not looking forward to learning that. Actually, knowing it will be great. Practicing it will probably not be so great.)

Waza 7: This shouldn’t be too bad. Waza’s as they go are short, and therefore easy to commit to memory.

Kata:

Pinan Sandan
Nai Hanchi Sandan

Um, wait a second. . . is that two? Two open hand kata’s? We did both of these tonight. Neither are that hard. They’ll just take practice. Actually, nai hanchi sandan is really cool. It’s all punches, grabs, and strikes. No kicks. My hip bones are liking that part of it.

Weapons:

Kyan No Sai

I don’t know this one at all. I do know how to handle the sai which will be a good starting point. Now I just have to wait until my sai come in. I ordered a pair last week that look like this: Black octagonal chrome with wrapped leather handles.

Cool, huh?

I also ordered one of these for Lil C:

What? I couldn’t resist. In case you’re wondering, it says "Future Little Dragon." Lil C took first steps last week, which is entirely TOO EARLY if you ask me, especially considering she only turned 9 months old yesterday. SLOW DOWN ALREADY! But, if she’s going to be walking, then she might as well be learning kata right?

And speaking of which, I better get learning mine too. . .

Before I go though, some minor housekeeping issues:

PSU Mommy’s baby has arrived! He is an absolute doll; and she had another completely natural, drug free labor. Go on over there and congratulate her. You know you want to!

RockStar SuperNova started tonight! I loved this show last summer when INXS was searching for a lead singer. Marty was ROBBED by the way. Deep breath, deep breath. . . Anyway, I think I’m going with Mr. Australia, Toby, from this early preliminary viewing of the potential rockers. If you haven’t seen this show and like to hear good music, you need to tune in. It rocks, literally.

Also, if you’re interested in reading some great writing about family life, check out the latest Carnival of Family Life. Yours truly is listed there as well. Anyone can participate and you might win a box of chocolates for your efforts.

I again want to express my sincere thank you to all of you who commented and emailed with condolences and kind words regarding the loss of our friend Sheree. To be honest, I feel silly accepting such condolences though. For me and my family it’s sad; for Sheree’s family it’s been devastating. Please direct your prayers and positive thoughts towards her family. They are the ones who need it the most. Once again I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Who would have thought that friends made through the blogging world could be such wonderful people and such great friends.

Posted by Black Belt Mama on July 5, 2006 in Tales from the dojo | 10 Comments

July 1, 2006

The post that will make my Mom strongly recommend that I delete my blog

I am understandably in a little bit of a funk here. My sister-in-law told me that there are five stages of grieving: DABDA. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and finally Acceptance. I’m stuck in Denial and Anger. I’m becoming more angry about my friend’s death every minute. I just don’t understand why . . .

So, in an attempt to break out of this funk and try to let all my loyal readers (all seven of you) have a chuckle or two, I present to you the post that I’ve been saving for such an occasion: THE SEARCHES THAT HAVE LANDED ON THIS SITE, courtesy of technorati, Google, yahoo, etc. For those of you non-bloggers who read here, there are site meters that show you which sites bring readers to your web page and what they typed into the search engine in order to land on your site. Below are some of the best ones that I’ve been accumulating for months now, along with a little message to those who have landed here and continue to under these criteria. Enjoy; I know I have.

go-cart clothes for boys that are black– O.k. are we looking for black go-kart clothing and if so what the heck is that because there is certainly none of that here. Sorry to disappoint.
how do i know when my boyfriend will propose to me-If this is my sister who landed here on this search. . . knowing your boyfriend, who the hell knows? Certainly not me. If this is anyone else, I would strongly advise asking your boyfriend what his plans are for your future, because you most certainly aren’t going to find clues to that on the Internet, unless of course your boyfriend has a blog. That, however, is doubtful.
food poisoning blog vomit OR toilet OR explosion OR diarrhea OR puke OR barf– All I can say is that someone happened to find my site on the day of the food poisoning post and just HAD. TO. FIND. THAT. ENTRY. AGAIN. AND. NOW. I seriously doubt there is another search that so eloquently sums up my experience with that very badly behaved scallop. Glad you found what you were looking for.
Phone Sex Karate– I don’t know what this could possibly be; but I most certainly do not participate in any such activity, nor will you find any discussion of that here. Please try different search criteria. Frankly, this one just freaks me out.
Muscular rude gym girls– Hmmm, where to begin on this one. Muscular? Not so much. Rude? To rude people? Certainly. Gym? Not likely from this gal. Hope you found what you were looking for, but once again, probably not here.
Strippers ass shaking– Yeah, not here.
Women with junk in the trunk– I have never been accused of having junk in my trunk. Actually that’s not true. In my trunk you may find: a stroller, tennis racket, tennis balls, karate weapons, diaper bag, baby wrap, backpack carrier, grocery bags. . . I could go on, but you get the idea. Once again, probably not what you had in mind.
Black Mama sex (or Fat Black Mama Sex)-This search lands someone on my site at least six times a day. No, seriously. AT LEAST six times a day. I’m thinking this is what happened: some dude out there decided that he was looking for some of that. My site popped up because "Black" and "Mama" appear in my name. "Sex" appears only when I speak about sex offenders. So, this person searching for "black mama sex" shows up on my site and is HIGHLY disappointed to find that the "Black Belt Mama" is indeed white, and she most certainly is not talking about or doing anything even slightly sexy. Still, the site is compelling enough to spend some time on, but not exciting enough for this guy to write down or bookmark the site. So, everyday, when he wants to take a break from online pornography and cash in on some "Black Belt Mama" reading, he types in the search criteria above and knows he will find this site. It’s really the only logical thing, right?
Mature women squatting-I’m not touching this one with a 10-foot pole. I will say, however, that I am extremely disgruntled that the word "mature" brought up my site.
Making mama fit: the ultimate game plan- Are you hoping to get your post-partum wife into shape? Or are you concerned about your mama’s physical fitness? Either way, no info for you here. Oh, but if you find the "Ultimate Game Plan" please let me know what it is, especially if it doesn’t involve much work.
Female black belt pole dancer– Is there such a thing? Somehow I find it hard to believe that a black belt female would want to pole dance. You know, that whole respect for yourself thing. Then again, I guess she wouldn’t really need bouncers. . . who knows? None here. Trust me.
Extremely sore belly button-Please see your doctor. I’m no expert, but it’s probably a fungus. How the hell did this search land on my site? (Scratching head. . . or belly button.)
How to make a flip flop cake-I can tell you how to avoid doing a flip flop chain letter. It’s simple. Don’t mail out the letter. Just say no. I also have advice on saying no to home parties. I have no advice for you on the cake though, other than: consult a professional.
what to do if tick head is still in-There was great debate about this in my comments section on my bug post. I will tell you what the doctors told me. Vaseline, matches, nail polish on the tick? They can all make the tick regurgitate back into your body, thus increasing the chances that you will get sick. Use a tweezers and gently pull. Even though we didn’t have the best results with this, I’ll take that over tick puke any day.

Well, my visitor stats should soar through the roof now. I’m going to sit back and watch the fireworks, literally. Have a Happy 4th of July weekend everyone. Thank you to all who commented and emailed to send me condolences and positive thoughts regarding the loss of my friend. I truly appreciate your friendship.

Posted by Black Belt Mama on July 1, 2006 in 100 Things and Other Stuff | 10 Comments

June 28, 2006

The Game of Life

When I was younger, I loved to play the game Life. It was so cool to pick a car and load it up with kids while collecting money. I’d name my little pink and blue pegs and travel along. At the end of the game, you would count your money and retire. There was never any talk of death. It was one of my favorite games.

In Junior High, we used to pass around things called "slam books." They had page headers/categories in them like: what kind of car you want, who you’ll marry, what you want to be when you grow up, where you’ll live, what kind of house, etc. etc. You would fill them in and pass them to the next person. My responses usually went something like this:

Car: Porsche or Lamborghini

Marry: I don’t remember but I think I probably said the guy from Growing Pains, Rick Springfield, or Vanilla Ice (depending on the year).

Want to be: Rich

Where to live: Beach

Kind of house: Mansion

I was firmly rooted in reality, don’t you think? My responses were always so practical. Kidding aside, I honestly believed when I was younger, that if you wanted to be rich. . . you would be rich. If you wanted to live in a mansion. . . someone would just give you one. I grew up middle class, so I’m not sure where I came up with these ideas. I watched my parents work hard for what we had. I also thought that bad things, like car accidents and illnesses, happened to other people.

My Great-Grandfather was the first person I knew who died. I went to his viewing and funeral and remember having nightmares for a while afterwards. His death was like such a smack in the face to me. It made me realize that death could and would happen to people I knew. Later my instrument teacher passed away. He was elderly as well, so in my mind, death only happened to older people. It put the worry to rest for a while.

When my aunt died who was in her 40’s, I was devastated. She died after being sick on and off throughout her life. She was young though, compared to the other people I knew who passed before her and it really upset and scared me. Still the 40’s seemed so far away from where I was at the time. A chronic illness and death still seemed like something that happened to other people, older people.

Then I got a terrible phone call. It was last May 2005. I was pregnant and knew that our friend Sheree was due in June with her second baby as well. Sheree’s husband, Conrad, was my husband’s best friend from high school and our mutual friend in college. He was the best man in our wedding. The call was from Shelley, a high school friend of my husband and Conrad. Sheree had been complaining about not feeling able to breathe. She went to see her doctor. They told her it was just the baby pushing up on her lungs, and that the baby was fine. Later that week, she went to the ER when things didn’t get better. From there, they transferred her to a special Mom/Baby hospital. Her lung had collapsed. After a CAT scan and other tests, it was determined that something was very wrong. They delivered the baby a month early. (The baby would later endure open heart surgery for problems that he had.) They sent Sheree to yet another hospital. The diagnosis, after her doctors obtained a second opinion. . .cancer.

Synovial sarcoma is what they determined it to be. It’s a rare cancer with a poor prognosis. Usually, tumors appear in joints, knees, elbows, shoulders, etc. Hers appeared in the lining of her lung and was already stage IV. After chemo shrunk the tumors a bit, they removed her lung. We were all thinking she would get better. None of us knew what stage her cancer was. She endured radiation, more chemo, experimental treatments several states away. . . and nothing worked. The cancer continued to spread; she continued to get sicker and sicker. This past Friday, June 23rd, she passed away.

Their children are ages 6 and 1, practically the same ages as my girls. She was 29 years old. She died exactly five days before she would turn 30. Yesterday we buried her; today is her birthday. She won’t see her children grow up. She wasn’t even been able to be a mother to her 1-year old during this past year of barbaric cancer treatments. She had been too sick and too weak, her mother tells me, to do anything other than watch him grow and play, knowing she wouldn’t be able to for much longer.

I can not imagine having been in her shoes. I can not imagine being faced with not being able to watch my children grow up. Clearly, you can not choose how long your life will be or how it will end. What you can choose is how you can live your life while you’re here. Knowing what Sheree went through and what her family is going through now makes me so thankful for my healthy family; It makes me sick to think of what they have yet to endure. I only wish that the game of Life would have had a very different ending for Sheree and her family.

I am so sad about Sheree as many others are as well. She was a vibrant young mother who loved her children and husband so much. I have some great memories of being at weddings with her and her husband, and spending a week at the beach with them as well. She was always so focused on having "family time." My husband and I were talking about her the other night and about how it’s almost like she knew she wasn’t going to have all the time in the world with her family. She wanted every second to be time spent together. She was so focused on her family that a month before she died, she planned her daughter’s birthday party. Because she didn’t know if she’d be there or not, she made sure everything was taken care of. Her family had nothing to do other than show up. Her birthday party was Saturday, the day after she died and it went on as scheduled. She also made a list that she gave to her husband. It’s a list of things that she wants him to do with their children as they grow up. The first thing on the list was to buy their daughter a bike and teach her how to ride. He took their daughter to the store on Saturday morning and bought her that bike.

I have so many regrets. Sheree and I had been friends and we lost touch over the past few years. We always sent Christmas cards and wrote each other a letter each year, but her email address changed after our beach vacation and our communication went downhill from there. Sheree and I were a lot alike when it comes to our children and families which is what has made this hit particularly close to home for me. I sent her flowers when she was in the hospital. I sent her cards telling her I was praying for her. I sent her a letter telling her I was thinking about her and telling her some information that had been passed along to me about energy healing. I sent her a hair wrap when chemo robbed her of her beautiful long hair. I sent her daughter a jewelry making kit so that she could make her Mommy a bracelet; I sent her baby an outfit. But all I can think about is that I wish I would have called her. I called and spoke to her Mom; we spoke to her husband. I should have asked to speak to her. Honestly, I was so afraid to call her in the beginning. I didn’t know what to say to her. She had just been diagnosed with a rare cancer. Her baby was sick as well. I didn’t want her to think I was only calling because she was sick. I was feeling guilty that I made it through my pregnancy with only gestational diabetes, and that we had a healthy baby. So, I didn’t call. When I said my final goodbye to her yesterday, I closed my eyes and said that I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend, but that I was going to make it up to her by watching over her husband and children, and trying to help them get through this however I can.

I’m going to pray that Sheree now has peace. I’m going to pray that her family gets through this. On the night she died, her husband said that all of the things he once thought were important, aren’t really important, that the small things do matter. He is so right about that.

I hope that wherever Sheree is, she knows how much she was loved, how much she’ll be missed, and how very sorry I am.

Posted by Black Belt Mama on June 28, 2006 in Growing Pains | 17 Comments

June 22, 2006

4th kyu

I will officially be "striped" next week, but I have passed my 4th kyu test. My belt will look like this next week:

Oh yeah! This is the last of the green belts. Next time I test it will be for brown belt with one black stripe, then two stripes, then three, and then black belt. This testing felt GREAT! I did everything without a mistake. It was a welcome change from the last time I tested.

I should have remembered that the week following testing is sparring week. I completely forgot; so I showed up at class all excited to start learning my new open hand kata and sai kata. I was sorely disappointed to hear that we were supposed to gear up. In two weeks, our dojo will have six brown belts testing for black belt and two black belts testing for the next dan. This is the most we’ve had in a long time.

Before the official IKKF testing, all brown belts test internally at our dojo. For our IKKF test, sparring is not required. For internal testing, it is (silently sobs while thinking about my future.) Tonight sort of reminded me of fraternity hell week. All brown belts were required to be there for both the early and late class. They sparred, three minute rounds, for two hours straight. Because this was their testing, me and the other lower ranks were put into the sparring rings intermittently with them.

I tested at the beginning of class and was sort of whining about having to spar. My instructor said he was "very interested to see how I would do." After all, the last time I sparred it was with him and he was trying to teach me some tricks and help me with technique. As soon as he said that, my first thought was, "I’m going to disappoint him." My next thought was, "I am going to walk into this ring with confidence (real or make-believe, whatever I have to do.) and try my best."

So I did. My instructor put me opposite a young teenage boy who is very good at sparring. He’s good at watching you and picking you apart. He’s good at waiting for you to make a mistake. Before it was my turn, I watched the other brown belts and took notes as to what worked and what didn’t. I was prepared to try new things, so I did.

Instead of using my back leg for front snap kicks, I instead turned to the side when facing my opponent, cutting off possible strike areas. Instead of snap kicks, I used round house kicks. They seemed to work much better for me. At one point, I followed a round house kick with a punch and a backfist to the head. It probably looked pretty sloppy, but it worked. Of course, I apologized to my sparring partner for hitting him in the head. I’m silly like that. If someone hits me, I have to bite my tongue in order not to apologize for being hit. My instructor interrupted the match to tell me that it was a good strike and that I had nothing to apologize for. I can’t tell you how good that made me feel. So what if the kid is like 13 years old.

I got a bit of a break and then was put in a ring with a 10-year old. He’s a little guy but he’s a feisty one. Here’s the dilemma. With the teenager, I can mentally deal with it. He’s a teenager after all and he looks older. With a 10-year old? Not so much. It’s hard for a Mommy to hit or kick a little boy, even if he’s testing for black belt in two weeks. Also, his Mom was in the dojo watching. I’m sure she just loved watching a 30-something year old woman kicking her kid.

So, there I am feeling all silly fighting this little guy, when he throws a high round house kick at me that NAILS me right in the chest. This chest is currently functioning to provide sustenance to my baby daughter so it did not feel good. Not at all. The next time he nailed me I walked right into yet another round house kick, but to the gut this time. It hurt. He hit my floating ribs and I decided I wasn’t getting kicked anymore. I blocked the majority of the rest of the kicks he threw at me. At one point, I came up under his kick (by accident, but still people, this is good) and sort of moved my arm around so that he was thrown off balance. If I would have kept going, he would have been on the floor. I didn’t continue with the rotation. I probably should have.

I am happy to report that he was unable to make contact with my head. This could be because I had him by almost two feet; but I’m going with the whole I did a good job blocking thing. I made some controlled contact with him, and that felt really good. I think he saw this tall woman coming out and just decided that he could use whatever force he wanted to. I mean, really, what grown person is going to complain about a 10-year old using too much force? Not me! At least not in the dojo anyway. I save it for here.

I think I made some good progress with my sparring and demonstrated it tonight. It wasn’t perfect. I have a long way to go. Even though I am one step closer to black belt tonight, it couldn’t seem further away with all that I know I need to accomplish before I am even able to test for it. Tonight, I suggested to my husband that we buy sparring gear and spend some time each night after the girls go to bed beating the crap out of each other. It would be great exercise and good practice for me. He was sort of receptive to the idea; but to be honest. . . I think he’s scared. I fight dirty after all.

Posted by Black Belt Mama on June 22, 2006 in Tales from the dojo | 14 Comments

June 21, 2006

This post brought to you by BBB

The gauntlet has been thrown down by Mrs. Misfortune. My alter ego has been tagged/summoned to inform you nice people who were probably expecting a nice post, 20 things that I don’t like. Even though BBM is quite the spit-fire, BBB (last part rhymes with witch. . . I won’t say it because my Mom reads this blog and alter-ego or not, she doesn’t appreciate swearing from either of us. In fact she doesn’t even like the word "suck", but enough of that.) So, since BBM had her 4th kyu test tonight and also had to spar with two brown belts who are testing for black in two weeks who had something to prove, she’s going to go rest (sissy) and I’m going to rant. . .

Twenty (that’s it???) Things I DON’T LIKE

1. Sparring with a 10-year old who is testing for black belt in two weeks, who decides that since you are an adult, to hell with control. Who needs control? Oh, and since when are the mammaries the new solar plexus. When people? I didn’t get the memo. Neither did my girls.

2. The fact that when sparring with said 10-year old, BBM decides to back off, because he is 10 after all, and is about 4 feet tall, and oh, his mother is in the dojo. When I say back off, I mean complete with smiling while sparring and being all "I’m sorry" even when she got a good shot off. I, for one, am not sorry. Stuff it BBM.

3. People who think that being a Stay-at-Home Mom deprives my child of social interaction since I didn’t put her in pre-pre-pre school at age 5 weeks of age. Guess what people? 15-20 years ago, day care was not the norm. SAHM’s were much more common. Their children all turned out perfectly fine. I happen to be one of them. If you’ve got guilt for going to work, deal with it on your own time. Don’t put me down to make yourself feel better. I don’t do it to you.

4. People who have boundary issues, as in "Don’t water my freaking flowers unless I ask you to. I know you’re trying to be nice and all; but you’re going to kill them because I just freaking watered them." (Deep breath, deep breath.)

5. The show ER. (I’m kind of stealing this one from Mrs. MisFortune but for different reasons.) I used to love it. Now, it’s so political, and not done in a smart way at all.

Scene: 6 year old comes in with a broken finger. Dr. Pratt treats his broken finger, and then goes into the meds room and pounds his fist on the wall while saying, "Damn you George Bush. We should be worried about kids with broken fingers, not Iraq." It’s so transparent and so annoying. I used to watch the show to be entertained; I don’t watch it for unintelligent political banter. I don’t really give a crap what your producers think about politics. AND, if you’re going to make a political connection, try to make it at least a little bit realistic. A soldier dying. . . o.k. I see your point. Kid in ER with no connection to war. . . you lost me. Seriously, it got so ridiculous during one of the last episodes that we watched that my husband and I started blaming everything on George Bush, ER- style, to make fun of the show. BBM stubs toe and says, "Damn you George Bush." Mr. BBM bites his tongue while eating, (shakes fist to the sky) "Damn you George Bush; This is ALL YOUR FAULT."

6. When good people die young. BBM is upset about this; I am just plain pissed about it. More on this in a later post from BBM.

7. The fact that it takes a grown man a good 20 minutes minimum to empty their bowels. Dude, if I have 20 seconds and a smidgen of privacy I feel lucky. Push guys, freaking PUSH!

8. I don’t like when people litter and treat the world as a personal ash tray. BBM gets her gi all in a bunch about that too.

9. I don’t like when people don’t use the "to be" verb. Example: The car needs washed. The car most certainly does not "need washed." It needs TO BE washed, damn it. Man, that’s annoying.

10. I don’t like when people slurp soup or cereal. CAN. NOT. STAND. Got that husband?

11. While on the topic of food. . . I don’t like bad dip manners as in: super scooping, finger dipping/licking, and double dipping. It’s so GROSS!

12. I don’t like it when people don’t keep their dogs on leashes. These are the people who seem to think that the world is their dog’s personal playground. Guess what? It’s not. Not now, not ever. These are the people who let their dog pee or poop wherever they deem appropriate which is inevitably nowhere near an appropriate place. These are the same people who leave the poop where it lands and think nothing of the fact that someone else will be inconvenienced by it. These are the people who let their dogs run through your freshly grass-seeded yard and then casually collect their dog, WITHOUT AN APOLOGY, after the dog has jumped all over your white gi pants when you’re on your way to karate testing. Bitter much? No, not me.

13. While on the topic of dogs, I don’t like it when people ask you about your kids, and then compare your kids to their dog. My kids. . . your dog. . . not on the same level here.

14. I don’t like it when T.O. and other athletes complain about multi-million dollar salaries, especially those who appear on TV interviews whining about how they need to support their family, and on and on and on. I have some advice for you: Take out the 10 carat earrings from each ear. Buy a freaking normal watch like the rest of us. Live in a home that doesn’t have 20 bedrooms. Drive a car that you didn’t have to special order from Italy, and be smart about your millions. Then I wouldn’t have to watch your interview and laugh at how pathetically stupid you are.

15. I don’t like anonymous mean, rude commenters, especially ones who then email me to complain about me not posting their comments and calling my blog "censored," etc. See my about page. Too lazy to go? I’ll sum it up for you: If you don’t like what you’re reading, get lost. No one is making you read this. This is a blog, not a newspaper, and BBM (and her alter ego) serve as the judge, jury and executioner. We will axe your comments without a second thought, and possibly write a post about how stupid you are too.

16. I don’t like it when people think that because I take karate, then logically I must be some kind of person who goes out and tries to start fights. If you think that, I encourage you to read up on the martial arts. Any good martial artist only uses their skills when absolutely necessary, and most certainly not to show off.

17. I don’t like that BBM can’t say NO when it comes to home parties.

18. I don’t like when people get all bleeding heart about sexual predators/child molesters and act like they can be rehabilitated. They can’t.

19. I don’t like whatever made that scallop decide it was going to declare war on my digestive system.

20. I don’t like that BBM is totally bugging me to finish this up so she can write her post about kyu testing and sparring because I’ve already told you pretty much all there is to know with #1 of this list.

Now, who to ~~possess~~ tag. . . Izzy, Wayward Goddess, Mat, Sesame, Amateur Shutterbug, and Maniacal. I’m also going to tag Amalah because BBM did it before and it was fun. I’m not even doing it for a jump in visitor stats like what happened last time because I removed Blog Top Sites from my site because it was just too depressing, addicting, and annoying AND it never worked. But this time, I’m not going to tell her I tagged her because I’m all alter-ego mean like that. We’ll find out if she ever stops by (not), and then BBM will get all sad, and I’ll be all like "suck it up girlfriend," etc. etc. I figure with all her freelance writing lately, maybe she’s hurting for some topics and I can probably guess that one of the things she hates is deadlines.

If anyone is feeling sorry because BBB didn’t tag you. . . deal with it. I picked those who I know have to have an evil side, just lurking below the surface. Anyone else who wants to give it a go? Be my guest. Just be sure to come back here and let BBM know; she likes to be thorough like that. And if you don’t do it. . . you’ll have to deal with me.

Black Belt Bizitch Out.