Black Belt!

This was amazing. It's like childbirth; all the griping and moaning I've done over the last 3+ years disappeared and I wanted to do it again. C'mon Mae, take TKD! It was a fabulous night. Ted was incredible. He was strong, confident, serious, respectful and full of JOY. Awesome.

He and Daniel did Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who got to be High Rank (the first in line). Ted won and for only the 3rd time EVER, bowed the whole school in. His voice was strong and confident "All students stand and face the flag!" (Yes, Sir!) "Chareut!" (attention) "Kyung nae" (bow). "Songham Spirit of TaeKwonDo! See jut!" (Begin). And then they all said the opening creed. It was so neat to hear his voice so strong - no wavering!

Then they all sat down in ranks and then he and Daniel had to pop up again to come out to the floor to do Songham 1. At our (small) school, the classes go through a rotation, since there aren't enough students to offer a class for each of the 10 belts. So the 3 lower ranks (white through yellow) all learned Songham 2 this rotation. Ted and Daniel tested out of Songham 1,2, and 3 and chose Songham 1 to perform for testing, to show their mastery of their low rank material. They were almost totally in sync, which looked cool. Ted's kiyaps (yells) were so strong (sometimes he is rather half-hearted about them) and he was very precise in his movements. So cool.

Then they sat for a LOOOOONG time while the color belts tested. Finally it was their turn and they did their form. They both did such a great job- so confident and sharp. Then they did their self-defense (scary, how quickly a 7 year old can bring a grown man to the floor!) Mr. D. asked Ted, "How old are you, Sir?" and Ted replied (in a very good yell, military style) "Seven, Sir!" "When is your birthday, Sir?" "March 5th, Sir!" Hee hee. Daniel just turned 8 a week or so ago, and they've been together since they were just 5 (thus the cute pic above.)

Then all the high ranks (Purple and up) broke their boards. Ted and Daniel had both a hand and foot break, first the palm heel and then a spin into a front kick. POW! Broke them the first time, no problem. Phew!

Next came sparring. Color belts spar without contact, meaning you can connect with your opponent but you're not meant to use any force - it's more for show. At Black Belt you move to contact sparring (i.e. let 'em have it!) The boys were so good! They both used lots of combinations and both had some great jump side kicks to the head. I was glad that they had all the gear on - it got rather rowdy!

Next the color belts received their belts and then everyone did the clap while Ted and then Daniel got their black belts tied. Ted yelled "I'm going to be a 2nd degree!" (you are supposed to yell "I'm a black belt" but he was inspired. Hee.) Then everyone backed up and he and Daniel had their candle ceremony. I've been to many and they are long, but this one was magical, as I'm sure it is to each black belt when it's their time. They receive their candle, bow to each of the judges (standing in for masters) and walk around the mat (slowly! fire!) while a tape of Master Lee, the founder of the American TaeKwonDo Association (ATA) plays, describing the beginning of Songham TKD and how it all evolved into what it is now. It's so neat.

Then we had a party! Laura (Daniel's mother) and I wanted to have a cake and we got a great one and lots of people stayed to chat and munch. It was a fabulous, wonderful night that I hope Ted will never forget. I hope the pride and confidence that came with this night will be with him for the rest of his life. Pics to come (courtesy of our dear friend Josh - it was sooo nice to not have to worry about taking pictures!).

Congratulations, Ted. We are SO proud of you!

Moving on to more intensity

No, not the house (for once) but triathlon training. I've had a lovely winter, leisurely running when and if I chose, without any real effort - just enjoying myself. Today was a bright sunny day, and much warmer than usual. It jump started me a bit and I'm moving on to a more intense routine, though still not the craziness that ensues in early summer. Here's my plan:

Monday: 30-60min swim (on my own)
Tuesday: 40min run - 60min swim class (Anna at Flatiron)
Wednesday: 60min spin class (6am at Flatirons - oy)
Thursday: 40 min run
Friday: off or 30-60min swim (on my own)
Saturday: 60min spin class (8am - hooray!)
Sunday: 60+ min long run

I had a great run today and (*yawn*) already signed up for the 6am spin class tomorrow. So I guess I'm committed. Here's to late Feb- early March for getting more tuned up for the season!

Another fun thing I planned out today were my races. My "A" race this year is the Boulder Peak Tri, which is an Olympic distance (1.5K swim, 42K bike, 10K run). According to the powers that be, I should have a B and a C race this season, 4 and 8 weeks previous to the A race. My B race, 4 weeks out, is a tough call because there isn't much going on that particular weekend, so I think I will do a mock tri on the weekend of June 13. We did this twice last summer with good success, plus we did it on the course of the race, which helped a lot on race day. The C race, 8 weeks out, could be in Fort Collins, on May 16. I've never done an indoor swim race before - should be interesting. I'm waiting to hear if my friend Tawnya will do it too - if so I'm in!

After my exciting A race, I can chill til Sept. 19, the Boulder Half Marathon, which I really enjoyed last year and the CF Ride, Sept. 11 (45 miles this year!). I plan to volunteer at the Outdoor Divas Sprint Tri on Aug. 22 (my good deed of the season) and perhaps at the Summer Open on May 23 (brr!). All in all, I am glad to be readying myself for another season. (Yes, too many Girl Scout cookies may have helped me with my decision!)

entering into our first weekend

It's been a great week here at the house. Well, I wouldn't really know since we haven't been home, but we've had a ton of showings and lots of good feedback. Let's just hope we get an offer soon!

On Wednesday I helped at the Indoor Bike place with Ted's class. It was fun for most of the kids but we did have 3 injuries including a broken arm. I don't think they should let the kids "choose" the MB course they do - I think they should start them all on the easy one and work them up. It was fun anyway.

Thursday I helped with the K ice skating day. That was a hoot. This was their 4th week and they were all really good! Lots of spinning and skidding to a stop. Impressive!

Friday was baby Aylah's naming. The service was fantastic (why oh why don't I go to services more often?!) but the oneg was a zoo so we snuck out fairly early.

Last night I made up my 4th batch of homemade kombucha, which I then flavor with ginger before bottling. I am getting really into this - it is sooo yummy and the store bought is upwards of $3.50 per bottle. LOVE IT. Now that 'the mother' has produced 'a daughter' that is strong enough, I can start using her too, and have 2 batches going at the same time, a few days apart. Or I can give the daughter away, if any of you want to try. It's pretty darn fool proof, in my opinion.

Today we have some showings so we are getting ready to head out for the day. Tomorrow we have an Open House, so we'll probably try and farm Ole out to someone and head to the Science Museum in Denver (it's supposed to snow - bummer.) No school on Monday, so hopefully we can meet up with some friends and have a fun day.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

It's been too long

I think it's pretty clear that I just can't handle posting when I'm stressed out. It's been a good week, full of last minute touch ups and paperwork. The house officially went on the market today, which means tomorrow begins the showings (and the cleanings!). Cross all fingers and toes please.

I'll start from last week and work my way through the week, though not much went on other than preparation. On Tuesday I wrote my guest post for the Dark Days Challenge. You can read it here. That was stressful, but a good memory of working well under pressure, just like the good 'ole college days.

I don't have much memory of the rest of the week (besides more cleaning) although I did sub on Friday, which is always fun. We spent Saturday with the chavurah and Sunday at home. I think I've come down with some odd bug - I spent most of Sunday napping and am feeling yucky again today.

Monday night a few bookclub friends met up at Centro for $2 apps ($2 drinks!) That was fun - I've been so house-focused that I feel like I've abandoned my friends for my floors. Hopefully I can reconnect now that we're in a routine. Tomorrow Ted and the 2/3s have their biking day for Outdoor Ed and then Thursday is Sam's ice skating for K. Somehow I managed to volunteer for both of these - not like me, but there it is. Friday is Aylah's baby naming at services - our last chavurah baby! Saturday should be mellow and then Sunday we'll have an open house (which means we'll leave - perhaps for the museum if it's this miserable out.)

I'm sure there are much more interesting tidbits to share but I can't think of any. It will be a real treat to post that our house is under contract! :-)