bushidoka's blog

I just got back from the LCBO - one of the government owned liquor stores here in Ontario. A buddy of mine was over earlier today to pick up some stuff I had for him, and he very generously pushed 10 bucks into my hand with a stern warning that it only be spent on beer. Being unemployed with a $0 budget for beer, I was very happy to take his money, and as soon as my wife awoke from her nap I went off to oblige him!

I just overheard #2 son proclaim "I'm only scared of bears and lions. I'm made of meat, and lions eat meat!"

Those of you with 2 boys near the same age will probably know this scenario all too well. I'll just point out that these guys learn a disturbing number of off-colour words at school. A lot more than I did at age 5 or 7. Even though they've been taught the proper words, they usually prefer to use the ones their friends are using.

Overheard at bedtime:
#1: “My penis is bigger than your penis!”
#2: [pauses to mull this over] “So? My balls are bigger than yours.”

Oh

Well, I took my test tonight. OK, 2 tests. I've been training for over 3 years at this dojo (1 year at the previous one) and have not chosen to test yet. My Sensei said I'm ready for 3rd kyu, but the head instructor said we'd first do 5th and 4th, and if that went well we'd do 3rd in Feb or March. So 5th and 4th it was tonight!

Wow, what an incredible Yoga class I had this morning! Quick recap - Kundalini Yoga is not so much about stretching as it is about breathing. And from mythology perhaps completely unrelated, a Djini is an air elemental. I liked the rhyme and thought it a clever play on words :-)

Kundalini Breath of Fire is sort of like a dog panting, and it gets done in combination with just about any posture. Here are a couple of Youtube links for those interested. The first one is a good instructional video. In the 2nd one the guy is topless so you get to see how you are supposed to pump the abdomen for Breath of Fire.

Tonight I had a great Aikido class. Normally I don't go to evening class - 6am before work for me, but I was supposed to see the head instructor at least once more before my test, and he normally teaches Monday nights. He didn't show up tonight probably because of the bus strike mayhem, so class was taught by one of the 4th dans at the dojo. A lady (G.) whose class I have yet to attend - so it was a real treat for me.

On Wednesday evening I'll be testing for 5th and 4th kyu. It's been over 4 years now and I have not yet chosen to test, so I have some catching up to do. If all goes well on Wednesday, I'll be testing again in February or March for 3rd kyu. Then I'll almost be caught up.

Mom's away picking up #1 at school. I'm sick, working from home. #2 is watching a movie.

Me : "What are you doing with your hands down your pants?"
#2 : "I was feeling my penis" (OK, he's honest)
Me : "What were you feeling your penis for?"
#2 : "B'cuz I wanted to feel what it was like"
Me (holding back laughter) : "Well, what was it like"
#2 : "It's like a Tiger!!!"

No further explanation required, I guess. Hands come out of pants and he's watching his movie again!

A few weeks ago when Sensei said he was taking a break from teaching morning class, I became worried. You might even say I panicked. I'm pretty hooked on this morning thing and on Aikido in general. But worse, there is no realistic way I could possibly train so much without morning class. One of the things which made it so easy to leave the old dojo 3 years ago was the fact that even 2 evenings a week was causing some serious marital disharmony. And understandably so - Melissa is a stay-at-home mom and the last thing she needs after a day with these boys is me coming home from work, wolfing down some food, and saying "bye honey. off to the dojo. see you in a few hours". The last 3 years there has been virtually zero marital stress with regardss to my training. And I've been doing 5 classes a week!