Love is...

Snuggling up with your favorite auntie.



Happy Love Thursday!

More Aikido

Last night, went to the dojo again to train. Before I went, I was talking on the phone to my mom.
Mom: 'How's your leg?'
Me: 'It's fine, I can walk.'
Mom: 'Are you sure?'
Me: 'Oh yeah, I have even started training again.'
Mom: 'WHAT??????????!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so bad! You should not do that!'
Me, playing my trump: 'The doctor said I could!', conveniently not mentioning that the doctor just recognized the futility of forbidding me to do so.
Mom: 'Well, I think it's a very bad idea. I mean, I don't think you should stop training. Just skip it for another few months or so...', implying that maybe then I would forget about all that martial arts nonsense.
Me: 'It's ok, the leg is fine.'
Mom: 'Well, I still think it is a horrible idea.'

Time to distract her with some other subject, successfully so :)

Being on the mat felt soooooooooooo good! My leg was a bit sore but not too bad. And frankly, I don't care, I desperately needed the grounding which I can find in aikido. The weird thing was that the leg was mostly fine during the training, but I stepped out of the dojo and suddenly it started hurting pretty badly. I guess I was so focused on other things that the leg wasn't a big deal. Walking out, it suddenly became a lot more noticeable. Interesting. Decided to skip my planned grocery shopping after class, and did go problems instead ^^

I have decided, if the leg still wants me to take it easy, I'll take it easy at home. Just so I can train harder in class.

Today, the carpenters came and stripped the whole front of the garage. There were some construction problems and water had been rotting a lot of the wood. They got it all fixed up and will put siding up tomorrow. The garage will look awesome when that is done! It has been looking pretty bad for quite a while now.

Quote of the Day

Overheard when Sylvia is playing with some lego people.
'Can I pee in my pants?'
'NO!!! Those are not your pants!'

When I am a grownup...

Kate this morning: 'When I am a grownup, I am going to have seven kids. I hope I will get three boys, and four girls. I will name them Cees, Tim, Tara, Jane, Kate, Erik, and Sylvia. No! I am going to have nine kids, and hope it will be four boys and five girls. Then I will name the last two after you and daddy.'
Me: 'Wouldn't it be confusing to have two Kates in the house?'
Kate: 'I'll just call her Katie.'
OK :)



Spent the morning at the dentist with Kate, finally the last one of our two hundred dentist visits for this year. Sylvia insisted on going with us. 'You are going to the dentist? Can I come????' This was yesterday, I told her she could come if she woke up in time. I would leave her home if she was still asleep.

This morning she woke up, all happily. 'Now I can come to the dentist with Kate!'

Now time to do some go studying, and maybe should find myself some breakfast ^^

Back on the Mat!

Tonight, I finally was back on the mat! Exactly six weeks after I broke my leg. My ankle got a bit sore, but I was mostly fine. Had to skip a few parts of the class, but I didn't care. So good to be back!

Now just need to finish up the healing, and I'll be back to normal. Or whatever counts for normal in my universe.

When I saw the doctor today, he looked at me, my lack of crutches, and asked 'I don't think you want me to write you a prescription for physical therapy, do you?' That was after I had asked him whether I could start aikido again ^^. I smiled and said 'No, thank you, I'll be fine.'

Say Goodbye to the Splint!

I saw the doctor today and my ankle is healing very well. I have official permission to ditch the splint and just resume my normal activities (yes, this does include aiki budoin ^^) The foot is still swollen a bit, and I have to take it easy, but hey! I'll take it.



Tonight, I'll be back on the mat!

Sweet Little Package

Last week, I received a surprise gift in the mail from Adagio Teas. Beautiful blooming tea, the kind you put in your pot and it will unfold and blossom into a jasmine flower. I love watching it unfold. It is good tea too, I have really been enjoying using it and sharing them with friends.



Naturally, this must give you some idea of how much money I must have spent on tea over the last years ^^. I have been giving Adagio's Ingeniutea teapot to quite a lot of friends, it is such a fun and useful gadget.

One afternoon, a good friend was over, and we made the tea, staring at the unfolding process. We sat together on the couch and ate freshly baked bread, sipping the beautiful jasmine tea. Life is good!

No More Nakedness!

Happy to announce that the days of naked serving are over:



Well, apart from the fact that we need a little more fabric to cover more of him. But hey, it's a start, right? Tara put this together for our dear friend Roomba. Maybe we can call it a loin cloth for now.

All I want for Christmas...

... are my two front teeth



Yes, Erik lost another tooth! Very exciting :) I immediately wanted to make a pic, but had to explain that we didn't really need to see what he had for breakfast ^^



They are growing up so fast!

Love is...

An early morning game of cards with your little sister.



In case you wonder about the fork... This was a game over breakfast :)

I really like the way the light plays in this pictures and the snow outside. Happy Love Thursday!