The girls are off at camp

We drove the girls to a one week music camp this past Saturday. They will spend the week working on orchestral pieces and bell choir pieces and putting together a musical, and we'll get to see it when we go pick them up next Saturday. They've been to this camp before and enjoy it enormously, and they've really been looking forward to going again this year.

The house sure seems dreadfully quiet without them. And it makes me a little sad that Delia's not there to greet me when I ride my bike into the garage at the end of the day.

On the other hand, I'm not finding half-empty glasses of milk all over the place, either.

Sparring last night

I felt pretty whipped when I got up today. I clocked over two hours of exercise yesterday: biked all the way both to and from work, walk on the Stone Arch Bridge during both my midmorning break and lunch, sparring class, and then I helped Rob clean the dojo after sparring. Sparring was fun. I was rather worried about how it would feel, what with all the trouble I've been having with breathing this week. I did okay--didn't hyperventilate during any of my bouts. I kept with it until the end of the class fighting rings were set up, and at that point I stopped, not wanting to push myself too far. As it was, I probably got in about six or seven fights. I got one really hard clout to the head, rather annoying since sensei said we were supposed to be doing only light contact. She was a second degree black belt (I think) and should have known better.

But mostly it was fun, and I fought well. I managed to land a few pretty spin hook kicks. I thought about it, as I took off my gear, dripping with sweat, and started doing my stretches. I remember back when I was a white belt and then a gold belt, long before I started sparring. When my class ended, I would watch the brown and belt black belts arriving for the class after me, kitting up in their sparring gear, so casual and comfortable, casually chewing on their mouthguards as they strapped their hand pads and shin guards into place. They looked so cool, so dangerous. And now I'm getting to be one of those people that the white belts look up to--I can land a hard side kick to the ribs, and I can follow up with a back fist punch blitz, and I can jam my opponent and then duck under and throw a fast spin kick. I feel like an athlete. I am an athlete. I'm tough and I can protect and defend myself, and I'm keeping myself healthy, and serving as a great example to my girls. I can really kick butt. Literally.

It feels great.

Beauty and Beijing opening ceremonies

I really enjoyed the Olympic opening ceremonies and was quite impressed. This followup story, however, has turned that into a rather sour impression.

Remember that adorable little girl who sang the song "Ode to the Motherland"? What a sweet little voice. So cute!

Apparently, that wasn't her sweet little voice after all.

It has now been revealed that it wasn't Lin Miaoke singing at all. The real singer, Yang Peiyi, a seven-year old girl, wasn't deemed "cute enough" to have the honor of representing China before a world audience. Perhaps it was her crooked teeth. So they had Lin Miaoke lip-synch the words that Yang Peiyi sang.

As the mother of two hopeful little girls, I'll admit this story really gets under my skin and makes me sad. I personally think my daughters are beautiful, and I'm aware that this does give them certain advantages. At the same time, I fiercely want them to be valued for aspects of their talents and character other than their beauty, that will last throughout their entire lifetime when their beauty will begin to fade (as a woman smack dab in the middle of middle age who, let's face it, doesn't turn heads much anymore, this is something I've given a lot of thought).

Well, congratulations anyway, Yang Peiyi. You did a beautiful job, even if China didn't consider your face worthy to represent the nation. Silly China. I hope that from here on out, you will always get the recognition you truly deserve.

100 Pushups

We always start karate classes with "30-20-10" which means 30 jumping jacks, 20 crunches, and 10 pushups.

I hate pushups.

I mean, I really, really HATE pushups. Having my gall bladder out was a great excuse to drop them from my workout routine, and I've been awful about re-incorporating them back in. But I know they're important. A lot of karate requires a great deal of core strength, and pushups are great for that.

So I've decided to start the 100 Pushups Challenge on line. I did the beginning assessment, determined to do the tough type, on the toes, and I managed . . . 8 pushups. I blush to confess it. How damnably embarrassing.

Okay, okay. I accept the challenge. I will do the six week program and (hopefully) will be able to do 100 pushups when I'm done. Thanks to jbru and minnehaha K. for pointing out the site and leading by example.

The girls' camp has a blog this year

Here it is. It's nice to hear what they are doing every day.