hugme

yesterday was the Christmas party for my martial arts group. we had a pot luck dinner and then the asst. instructors (including me) did demo breaks.

For the pot luck we made dirt!! it's a flower pot with crushed oreo's and icecream in it and a flower on top. then I dropped a gummy worm in each one. it was a real hit!

after that was the demo breaks. I was supposed to do one but Jim was sick so I did his as well. The first of my breaks we failed at miserably. I say 'we' because it was 1/2 me and 1/2 the holders. I was supposed to do 4 breaks, all speed breaks which means only the top part of the board is held and if you don't go through it fast it will just fly out of their hand instead of breaking. the breaks were a round kick and then 3 360-degree round kicks. (meaning jump in the air, spin all the way around break the board and land) there were two problems, first I wasn't kicking fast enough for the first break, the next one I was but the 2 people holding the boards couldn't get them ready fast enough. for it to work all 4 breaks happen in about 2 seconds. eh, oh well, we will have to practice for next year.

the next break was the one Jim was supposed to do. Jim is a 3ed degree black belt and the owner of the school. he was going to break 9 bricks with a punch. I however have never broken a brick before so we reduced it to 5. Bricks are interesting, it's more knowing HOW to break them than anything, the direction of your force has to be just right. I went through all 5 on the first shot but today my wrist is swollen... and it's my mousing hand!!! damnit!! I think I am going to run out and get an ace bandage later and wrap it. it's quite sore.

I FINALLY got Christmas cards mailed out!! Holy crap that took a long time! everything is printed from blank paper, the card, the pictures, the envelope... everything... and each card is unique... I learned quite a bit from the cards this year (which is why I wanted to print everything). I had to buy the special 60 cent stamps for them, I think the card paper I used was a bit heavy.

I am considering sponsoring a contest on my website... I am working out the details in my head now, I think I will post the information just before Christmas and start the competition on Jan 1... we will see... but you will need to put on your artistic hat for it.. and there will be prizes.... possibly even cash type prizes...

speaking of Jan 1, it's almost time to start looking to see how you did on last years resolutions and start making some for this year...