2.29.2012

Volleyball, 0-3

It was the first match of the new season and we were manhandled pretty well. Overall, our team's skill level has dropped off from last season so I don't expect us to win many, if any, games. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we do.

The foot caused a little bit of pain, but I didn't try for many spikes.

2.27.2012

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at Tookie's. About 1 hr 20 min roundtrip with meal.
Aikido

Saturday:

Blueberry muffins
Artfire
Nap
Aikido
Dinner at Jake's Grill
Charity Poker night for Friendswood Animal Advocates. The cards were dead for me in the Texas Hold 'Em tournament.

Sunday:

Artfire
Worked on matting some artwork
Off to Texas Art Supply for matting supplies
Dinner at Durango's with K. , K., Sean, and Becca.
Oscar's - I did horribly on predicting winners, but considering that I'd only seen 3 of the nominated films it wasn't too bad.

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 2/25/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Kim, Roderick, Marvin, and Steve

Ukemi:

Worked with Steve on his front roll-outs.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

Releases:

Worked with Marvin on his releases. He did pretty well.

Techniques:

Did some work with Marvin on 1, 2, 3, and 5. He's getting pretty close on getting the basics down. We just need to clean up his inclination to use muscle.

Aftermath:

Right foot is still a bit of a hindrance.

Aikido Friday Night - 2/24/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Roderick, Reese, and Steve

Ukemi:

Worked with Steve on his front roll-outs.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

Releases:

Worked with Steve on the first two releases. He did pretty well.

Techniques:

Did some work with Steve on Shomen-ate.

Aftermath:

Right foot is still a bit of a hindrance.

2.24.2012

Aikido Thursday Night - 2/23/2011

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

None

The Walk:

Not tonight

Releases:

It went pretty well tonight. Minor delays at the usual spots.

Techniques:

We managed to work on 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 from Ju Nana Hon Kata. We struggled a bit on number 2 and 5 slowed us down a little. Otherwise, it went pretty well.

Aftermath:

The injured toe is better, but still limits me.

2.20.2012

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch with K. and the in-laws at Joe's
Aikido
Started working on some French bread

Saturday:

Went in to work for a bit
Blueberry muffins
Artfire work
LSC3 website work
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K.
More work on the French bread

Sunday:

Grocery shopping
LSC3 website work
Artfire
French bread baking which was a disaster
Grilled out Salmon for dinner with the in-laws

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 2/18/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Dan, Marvin, Gale, Reese, and Steve

Ukemi:

Partial set. I helped Gale and Steve with their roll-outs.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

Releases:

We spent a lot of the afternoon working on the principles behind the Kogure double-hand grabs. We had everyone work with one of the higher grades to try to develop the off-balances that are inherent in these exercises.

Techniques:

I did a little work with Reese on Shomen-ate.

Aftermath:

Foot is still causing issues.

Aikido Friday Night - 2/17/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Kim, Reese, and Steve

Ukemi:

Partial set.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

Releases:

I helped Kim work with Steve on the Releases

Techniques:

I did some work with Reese on Shomen-ate.

Aftermath:

Right foot is still a bit of a hindrance. Maybe another week or two.

2.17.2012

Aikido Thursday Night - 2/16/2011

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

Just a couple

The Walk:

Not tonight

Releases:

It went pretty well tonight.

Techniques:

I wanted to try and get through all 10 of Sal's next demonstration, but we didn't make it. We spent a lot of time on left-sided Aigamae-ate, we skipped Gedan-ate, and ended on Ushiro-ate. I ended up stepping on Sal's foot with my tender toe and that ended the night for me. Too much pain.

Aftermath:

The injured toe from last Saturday is painful. I have to be careful with it and may end up going to see my GP or orthopedist about it.

2.13.2012

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at Abe's after attempting to eat at Chris' Grill and Roll'n Pin Bakery (neither of which exist)
Aikido

Saturday:

Blueberry muffins
Artfire
Worked on matting some artwork
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K. and K.

Sunday:

Artfire
Worked on matting some artwork
Off to Texas Art Supply for matting supplies
Propped my foot up on the couch to try to reduce the swelling from an injury on Saturday

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 2/11/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Brad, Dan, Marvin, Roderick, Reese, and Steve.

Ukemi:

Full set

The Walk:

Twice, as usual. I also spent some time working with Roderick, Reese, and Steve on it in addition.

Releases:

I worked with Marvin and he did pretty well.

Techniques:

I did some work with Brad and Marvin. We went over 1-4 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. Brad worked at 3-step distance and Marvin worked at 1-step. I took a couple of rough falls from Marvin on Gedan-ate on the left side.

Aftermath:

Sprained foot, I think. I spent Sunday on the couch with my foot propped up.

2.11.2012

Aikido Friday Night - 2/10/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Dan, Marvin, Gale, Roderick, Reese, and Steve

Ukemi:

Full set.

The Walk:

Twice as usual. And then I spent the evening working with Steve on the Walk.

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

I did a little work with Steve and Gale on the footwork for Shomen-ate.

Aftermath:

None of note.

2.10.2012

Jury Duty

I received a summons for jury duty for the Galveston County Courts last week. So, I went down to the island on Monday, sat around a while, and then was dismissed for the day. We were all told to call in the usual number to see if we were needed the next day or not.

When I called in Monday night, my name was not listed.

When I called in on Tuesday night, it was. So, Wednesday morning I packed up and drove to the island, pulled into the Justice Center, and went up to County Court No. 3.

I was possible juror number 15. We sat through voir dire and found out that only 6 jurors would be used. I thought I was home free! There was no way there would be 9 folks excused in front of me.

I was wrong.

I was the second juror chosen.

That started 3 days of testimony that boiled down to "he said, she said" in a child custody case. The dad was trying to get primary conservatorship of his kids, while the mom was trying to keep primary conservatorship.

The witnesses were mom, dad, stepmom, stepdad, and a former teacher of the kids. The mom and stepmom were relatively decent witnesses. The dad was okay, but seemed to be following the letter of the visitation rules and not the spirit. So, I can't really blame him, but it didn't come off very well.

The stepdad. I despised him. He always had a smug grin on his face and his body posture indicated that he thought nothing could touch him.

Some of the things that came up in the trial, briefly, were: a CPS investigation that did not find any problems, an RV trip headed by stepdad and mom with spankings/punishments for the 7 kids (3 involved in the custody and 4 who were stepdad's kids), angry emails/texts, yelling and screaming at a door, attempting to get kids moved off of various soccer teams, and a kid being "pulled off stage" before a choir performance.

When we first started to deliberate, four folks were set in their opinion. Two others were wishy-washy. After a little more discussion, the two wishy-washy ones agreed with the rest and we were able to come up with a unanimous decision. We asked the judge if our decision had to be unanimous and he said no, but we thought it would be better if it could be unanimous.

We decided the mom should keep primary conservatorship.

I'm tempted to go to some of the spots mentioned in the trial to try and watch the family interaction and see what it's really like.

Lunching out: Mi Abuelita's

I was down in Galveston last week for jury duty. I spent most of four days on the island, so I had a number of opportunities to dine down there. On the last day, I went for Mexican at Mi Abuelita's.

It's a nice, simple place that does a brisk lunch business. I chose the Enchiladas Verde (I think, it may have been Suiza). The chips they brought out were good and the salsa, although cooked and not fresh, had a nice flavor. I must have been in a hurry because I don't remember much of the details about the meal. It was nice that I had the option to get charro instead of refried beans.



Overall, a thumbs up for the meal. It might make it into my top ten Mexican restaurants, but I'd have to try it again to see.

Mi Abuelita's Homestyle Mexican on Urbanspoon

Lunching out: DiBella's

I was down in Galveston last week for jury duty. I spent most of four days on the island, so I had a number of opportunities to dine down there. On Thursday, I chose to go to DiBella's Italian restaurant during the hour-long lunch break we were allowed. K. and I ate there a long time ago when we spent a weekend on the island at a B&B and I wanted to see how it was doing.

One of their specials for the day was a new menu item: Chicken and Vegetable Lasagna in a cream sauce. It was nicely prepared, but the cream sauce was very heavy. I wonder if it would work better with a wine based sauce? I could not manage to eat all of what they gave me, so I had them box that up to go. While they were boxing that, I had them add a slice of Italian Cream Cake.

When I managed to get to the Cream Cake, it was fabulous. K. fell in love with it as well.

Overall, a thumbs up for the meal.

Dibella's Italian on Urbanspoon

Lunching out: Black Pearl Oyster Bar

I was down in Galveston last week for jury duty. I spent most of four days on the island, so I had a number of opportunities to dine down there. On the first day, after I was released for the day, I went down near the Strand for lunch at the Black Pearl Oyster Bar.

They do specialize in oysters but, iirc, they did not have any that day. I, instead, chose their fish tacos. You can choose to have the fish grilled, fired, or blackened. I chose blackened. The tacos were nicely prepared with a good chipotle sauce to add to them, if you so chose. The sauce did make a nice addition to the meal.

I added a slice of cheesecake that was nicely done but, I suspect, not made at the restaurant.

Overall, a thumbs up for the meal.

Black Pearl Oyster Bar & Grille on Urbanspoon

Aikido Thursday Night - 2/9/2011

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

Most of a set of falls

The Walk:

We did a little work on some of the footwork. I like to get completely out of my previous body space on each step of the first 3 moves.

Releases:

It went pretty well tonight.

Techniques:

We then spent some time on 3-step versions of Wagi-gatame. He was pretty consistent by the end of the evening. I think we'll start running through all ten in a row in preparation for the demonstration from here on out.

Aftermath:

None of note.

2.06.2012

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at Mi Abuelita's in Galveston
Rendered a decision as part of a jury in Galveston
Aikido

Saturday:

Started working on sourdough for Sunday
Up early to get to the Citrus and Fruit tree sale in LaMarque
Artfire
Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Grocery store and Spec's for flour and beer, respectively
Dinner and cards with the in-laws

Sunday:

More work on sourdough
Artfire
Brownies
Walked the dogs
Guacamole
Worked on a returned pen to correct a minor malfunction
Super Bowl

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 2/4/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Brad, Dan, Marvin, Roderick, Steve and Reese.

Ukemi:

Full set

The Walk:

Twice, as usual. I also spent some time working with Dan and Steve on the last 4 steps of the Walk. Dan did not need the work, but he wandered over and joined in anyway.

Releases:

Not today.

Techniques:

We did some work with punch the dummy with Steve, Roderick and Reese.

Trey and I worked on the 1 and 3 of the kneeling portion of San Kata. We did a lot of tweaking and cleaning up on both techniques. We had some discussions on the 2nd technique, but did no reps.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Aikido Friday Night - 2/3/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Sal, and Steve

Ukemi:

Full set.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

Releases:

I ran through the releases with Sal as both uke and tori.

Techniques:

I worked with Sal on 3 step Ude-hineri. I essentially spent all night taking front roll-outs. He was doing pretty well. We did have an incident where he twisted my arm and some fingers went numb. We started working on Waki-gatame at that point.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Aikido Thursday Night - 2/2/2011

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

Half set of falls

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

It went pretty well tonight.

Techniques:

We then spent some time on 3-step versions of Hiki-taoshi. He got pretty good at the arm bar by he end of the evening.

Aftermath:

None of note.