Twelfth Night breakfast

The breakfast was delicious!



aome, we used your gingerbread scones:





(If you're wondering where Rob is, he protested that he was "non-camera ready" and refused to have his photo taken.)

( Fiona and Delia show off the little wind up Santas they got in their stockings )

Working around a knee injury

I'm limping today. I Did Something Bad to my knee about a month ago during a class when we were doing spin kicks. I do not like spin kicks, I do not do them well, and apparently I did not do them properly, because I've been getting a low-grade "there's something wrong here" warning every time I squatted. A pain on the left side of the right knee joint.

I have been not pleased with the weight gain of the past several months, which I attribute to eating too much due to stress, stopping bicycling because of the weather and not attending as many karate classes due to scheduling problems and depression. I had dropped pretty much all weight-lifting and stopped the 100 pushup challenge, too. I thought about it hard over the past month and decided to refocus and kick it back up a notch after the new year. I joined a boot camp team on Sparkpeople.com (5 - 30 minute cardio workouts a week and 7 - 10 minute videos working various body parts with weights), and I went back to sparring class on Saturday for the first time in quite awhile.

The sparring class went quite badly. Very, very badly, in fact. The sensei's object was for us to fight without breaks, to practice coping with exhaustion. Periodically, he'd tell us to do something like drop and do fifty pushups and fifty crunches and then get up and start fighting again. I couldn't do it without continually hyperventilating. I'd do a bout, then lose my breath, sit the next fight out, go in and start fighting again and then hyperventilate again, and sit out the next one. It was so frustrating. I knew exactly why I was doing it, too; I was tensing up and using too much energy and exhausting myself, even though I was telling myself, breathe, relax, breathe. The rounds just kept going ON and ON and ON. "Drop and do another set of pushups." Halfway through class, I started to cry, which only infuriated myself further. I hate, hate, hate it when I cry during sparring class. I wasn't crying because I was getting hit (although I was) but because of my utter frustration with the breathing problems.

But I was stubborn. It really embarrasses me and I usually quit when I get to the point I start crying, but this time I tried to push through it. I HAVE to learn how to pace myself through sparring, I HAVE to be able to increase my stamina. I HAVE to learn not to quit when it gets hard if I want to get my black belt. Everyone else was soldiering on, and I didn't want to be the one to quit. I took breaks to gulp water, wipe the tears from my face, and then would put the helmet back on and get back in. After half an hour of fighting, I turned to face yet another opponent, and my body just gave up. I swayed, overcome with dizziness, and landed down on the floor. Sensei hauled me out into the lobby and gave me water. Dammit, dammit, dammit. I tried to console myself by reflecting that I had tried very hard and was really, really stubborn to have fought as long as I had, but I was still mad and embarrassed as hell. Great. Once again, the only one in my class who apparently can't cut it.

Needless to say, I didn't stay for the kickboxing class afterwards.

On Sunday, I did about forty-five minutes of cardio, low impact aerobics, using a video I've done before. I did stretch before and after.

Today, I can barely walk. I've been icing the back of the right hamstring, but it's clear that I'm going to have to start doing the rehabilitative exercises that cloudscudding gave me again.

What am I going to do for cardio until this heals? I've been dinking around with this injury for a month, and now it's so bad I can't even walk at a cardio level. I went down into the office gym this afternoon doing my break and tried various options. I wondered if I stood on the injured leg and kicked with the good leg, whether I could get my heartbeat elevated enough, but even that hurt the injured leg too much. I tried practicing with my bo (stickfighting form), but that aggravated the knee, too. Finally, I resorted to boxing combinations (jab, punch, hook, uppercut) and horseback riding punches. Those are going to get really really old if it's the only option I've got for cardio.

I had promised myself that I'd be diligent about going back to karate with the new year, and I want to, but I don't think I'd better try sparring tonight. Am mad at/with myself for missing karate again, and very frustrated. The boot camp video for today is lower body, annoyingly, and I don't think I can do that, either.

Other suggestions for cardio with a knee injury? I can't even walk at an aerobic pace. No access to a swimming pool, so that's out, too.

Gingerbread Scones

Since people asked, here is aome's recipe for Gingerbread Scones. Taken from Simply Scones: Quick and Easy Recipes for More than 70 Delicious Scones and Spreads (which I've added to my Amazon wish list).

Ingredients:

2 C flour
1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C butter
1 egg
3 TB molasses
3 TB milk
1 tsp vanilla


1. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and spices (including salt). Cut butter into 1/2" cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or your fingers cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (note: at this point, I stopped and put the mixture into the refrigerator overnight, and then I just had to add the wet ingredients in the morning). In a small bowl combine egg, molasses, milk and vanilla. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine. (I find using my hands is more efficient after the initial stir. The dough will be sticky.)

2. Butter or Pam-spray a 10" diameter in the center of a baking sheet. With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into an 8" - diameter circle on the prepared baking sheet. With a sharp knife (helps to flour the blade), cut into 8 wedges. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375° until toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least 5 minutes on a wire rack.

I've dragged the cane out of the basement

Haven't used it since Delia was in utero. Hope I'll be able to put it back before long.

This sucks.

Previously on Alternity: Year One, Trimester One

Our awesome alt_moderator has done a summary of the game so far, September 1 to January 1 in one synopsis post, with links. ("Trimester" here just refers to the period of time which is being summarized. These periodic trimesters updates will cover the periods September 1 to December 31, January 1 to April 30, and May 1 to August 31.)

Of course, you'll get more out of it if you read the actual posts (ETA as well as if you've read the Harry Potter books in the first place!), but this would be an excellent introduction for people who'd like to get into the game but aren't sure of where to start. Yay!

(So . . . have we gotten you hooked yet??? For those who have heard me talk about it but have never checked it out before, take a look at this post? Please? Yes, I'm begging. I have no pride.)