Weekly challenge

Somehow I managed to copy my blog from my personal blog spot to the group site but didn't actually post it here... so here is Sundays blog.

So the challenge this week for the I Ho Chuan team is to blog our acts of kindness. So here are mine for the last couple of days.

-stayed late at work to help the other girls catch up

-Pitch in project in Stony Plain

- spent extra time with a recovering patient at work

-let someone in on the drive home

-held the door

-made dinner for my mom in law

-sent flowers to my mom 

-took the kids out for a tea date

-let someone in my lane in traffic

-bought the neighbor beer (he let me use his rototiller for my garden)

-picked up litter on walk with the dog. 

I'm not sure if I'll just try to blog more often this week or do a big list at the end of the week. I have so much on my mind right now and I haven't figured out any of it yet so I can't put it down in writing. I feel like this is a pretty lame posting but that's all I can relate right now. 

Veggie month

Today is the last day of my vegetarian challenge! It was a good month and as always forces me out of my food ruts and gets me and my family trying new things. It gave us an excuse to talk to the kids about why we think cutting down on meat is a good thing- for our bodies and for the environment. Now that they are getting older it's cool to hear their opinions on the state of affairs in our environment. Going vegetarian sparked some good conversations and some good food.
 I think the favorites this month were stir fry with teryaki tofu, veggie won tons, and my personal favorite- a grilled veggie sandwich with goat cheese and pesto on ciabatta bread... sooo good. I know this might sound silly, but the better I eat the worse I feel when I indulge in something not so good for me. It may sound like there is no down side to this problem, but there are times you have to eat not so awesome, maybe eating at a friends or on a road trip etc. or even getting popcorn at the theater. My stomach and my love of food that isn't always good for me are constantly at war.
I'm glad I did this challenge but I'm also really looking forward to eating a turkey burger tomorrow. Anyone else doing the veggie challenge this month find any new favorites?

Big things and little things

One of my goals this year was to get to know the core curriculum better- really try to focus on one technique at a time and understand why I was making certain movements and why or why not things work. I've had a few big light bulbs go off about a couple of techniques, which was awesome, but then the realization that I'm a good year into black belt and I'm just figuring this stuff out. Feels like white belt again sometimes, and it feels good. I know that training this way is improving my eye for detail and makes me a better martial artist in the making. I actually laughed out loud during black belt class and then couldn't keep a silly grin off my face once I realized how a simple adjustment made to one of the knife defenses made all the difference in the world. 

I am considering what life would be like working in Westlock- my practicum placement wants me to stay. I can't say enough good things about the clinic there and the people in it, but a big change. For now it's just something to think about- but it's made me think about the fact that often we make sacrifices in our quality of life mentally for convenience and/or money.

See you all Friday!

a little perspective

Saturdays meeting was the first I was able to attend and it was nice to be a part of the group. It's easy to get caught up in our own lives and the things that directly affect us- Saturday helped me reset my perspective. Thanks to the team members who share their struggles, it can't be easy and I know it helped me.
Getting excited about demo season- I'm going to try to re create a very cool cane fight scene- probably not for this time around but maybe the next.

Before I die

There is a sign on the wall at the kwoon that says "Before I die I want to change a life". I know I often walk past it and it's part of the background but with Pandamonium on my mind I've been thinking a lot about how relevant that sign is to what we are trying to accomplish.

When we talk to students and maybe family and friends about the charities we support it is easy for them to end up with this amorphous hazy idea of neediness that want our help by way of money. People tend to phase out when you give them your rundown of who we support. I feel that the answer to this problem is by making people realize that they themselves can change a life. It can be hard to feel a connection when we don't come face to face with those we help, but it is possible. The kids at the kwoon especially need to know that they CAN change the life of a girl who lives halfway around the world- they have that power. They can save a dog from death and starvation, they can feed a homeless hungry man, they can change another child's life! They need to know THAT is what Pandamonium is, and I think most of them don't. When you are dreading trying to find people to donate or dreading the conversation, please try to remember what you're doing. Please lets try to put other people in those shoes. It's easy to say no to that faceless group who wants money- It's impossible to walk away from an individual in need. How cool is it that the students of Silent River are feeding the hungry, helping the discriminated- we are CHANGING LIVES!

Good/Bad Week

I've had a really great week career wise, pretty terrible week kung fu wise. My temporary commute eats up a lot of my spare time so I need to re think my schedule. I'm trying to "do" my old schedule, really need to come up with a different plan of action to get things done for this next month or so. I did manage to come up with a vegetarian meal plan for the next week and make a few meals ahead today for crazy nights. The kids and Adrien are on board for a month of no meat. We did this last year and this time around is not as intimidating, we've incorporated a lot of the new meatless meals we tried last time around into our weekly plan. The kids actually get excited to have teriyaki tofu- I never thought I'd see the day!

I am absolutely loving my practicum site! It's a huge practice with both large and small animal services. I know this sounds terrible but I really like blood and guts surgeries and procedures and in large animal there is a lot of both. Awesome. Just can't talk about my day at the dinner table! Last week I saw the smallest/ youngest animal I've seen under anesthetic. A 2 week old Karelian Bear dog was under to correct a birth defect, my first ever neonatal surgery, really neat. SCARS brings a lot of their rescues to the clinic as well, there were 6 in this week, makes me so glad that we are supporting them with our Pandamonium. Hopefully I will make it home in time this week to see you all on the mats.

Mlong Kuen

I have to admit something. It's been over a year since I've been a black belt and I still don't know Mlong Kuen. I'm embarrassed by this and it's even made me dread going to black belt class in case we go through it. I will learn most of it and then I wouldn't practice it and it would be gone. Now that I'm spending more time thinking about it I'm finding it so hard to retain the moves in my head, almost like the first time I learned a form. I hope that it was a case of there just wasn't enough room in my head at the present moment for more information! Publicly admitting this is also supposed to be a kick in the pants to learn it already! 

Cane is coming along alright. So far I'm trying to learn the block/strike set and get comfortable with the cane. I'm struggling with coming up with my own original form, I'm hoping learning more about the cane as a weapon and some practical uses will help get the ideas going. 

I graduated yesterday! It's hard to believe it's over, just one exam this summer to become certified and that's it! I was awarded a scholarship from the Edmonton Association of Small Animal Veterinarians for academic performance and aptitude in practical labs. I know that I would have put the effort in no matter what so this is really free money, so I'm happy to donate this $500 to our Pandamonium fund. I'm really excited about the team effort going into it this year and that I will be able to be there this year.