Flying Colors

I passed! Yeah! What did I pass, you ask? My orange belt test, of course. I have to admit, I was a little bit anxious going into it, but once I got there, it wasn't so bad. I won't say it was easy because I was dripping sweat at the end...due to running 25 laps and going mock 90 through all the techniques--all 500 of them. Okay, 500 may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but it felt like 500. Amazingly enough, I did remember them all. Aidan said he thought it was cool to watch, but he is a little bit nervous to do his orange belt test in a few weeks. Up until this point, testing is done in class with just one teacher watching. At orange belt, everything changes. You have to come in on a separate day, for starters. Then, you have to perform all your techniques in front of a board of instructors--who are mostly black belts--and your family or whomever else is watching. No pressure. It was a big relief for me for it to be people that I knew that I was testing in front of. My biggest problem was cotton mouth. After running the laps, I could barely talk because it was so bad. I don't know if it was just out of breath-ness, or my sjogren's syndrome, but it was terrible! I had to explain a technique while having no moisture in my mouth! Ick! Anyway, everything considered, it was not too bad. I now look forward to watching ALL of the rest of my family go through it. By the way, my favorite part was the very end of the technique section, before the question and answer time... and by favorite, I mean not so much. However, I am not going to spoil the surprise for those of you that are just about to start karate. I will let you stew on it and wonder...

Finger Wrapping

I often kid about Breanna having her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. I don't often get such a clear example of it, however. This last Friday we had a little check up for Breanna. Usually, at the end of said appointment, she gets a new toothbrush. Great. Not a problem. Wonderful, in fact. THIS time she got stickers...princess stickers that she picked out, to be exact. As we proceed to the car at the end of our appointment, she asked about the apparently forgotten toothbrush. I pointed out that she got stickers instead and that we would get a toothbrush at the next appointment to which she promptly responded with a yelling temper tantrum and refused to be buckled into her seat. We don't move until kids are buckled, so I patiently waited for a minute or two. When the tantrum appeared to not subside at all, I ever so kindly smooshed her into her booster seat, buckled her in, and went on down the road. It was so much fun to listen to her scream at the top of her lungs all the way home about a toothbrush. This is the part where the daddiness comes in. I told her along the way that she would get a spanking when we got home for her poor choice in attitude. She did not agree with the prescribed antidote to her behavior, so she decided to not hold still. I then picked her up and carried her to Daddy to administer the alleged injustice. Seriously, Daddy tapped her on the rear end with the spoon. I just glared at him. Daddy is supposed to back me up. He usually does a good job, but oh my goodness... that little, blond girl has him completely wrapped around her little finger. He just smiled and we all walked away...

"The offending angel"