The musings of a weary mind. Conversations on aikido, gardening, cooking, travel and, maybe, woodworking.
Friday:
Lunch at Zydeco's
Worked til 8:30
Home at 9:30
Work on sourdough
Picked K up from work at 10:30
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Work on sourdough
Football
Dinner at El Centinela with K.
Slept with the windows open
Sunday:
Sourdough
Mowed Back 40 and edged the side 40
Showed Uncle Leo his table
Looked at dojo property
Mowed the rental
Sunday night Football
Baseball
Slept with the windows open
Aikido players:
Dan
Ukemi:
Dan did some simple backfalls as warm-up
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
Dan with Me
Techniques:
Dan worked on Shihonage
Commentary:
Mats got damp due to humidity fairly early on.
Opponent: Cervaces, 7 p.m.
We lost all 3. None of the games were close. They weren't aggressively blocking me, so I got a couple of spikes down.
Friday:
Lunch at Andiamo's
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Banking
Dinner at El Centinela with K.
Poker with K, C, and D
Sunday:
Peach Coffee cake
Football, Baseball
Peach cobbler
Steaks grilled out
Sunday night Football
Aikido players:
Dan, and Marvin
Ukemi:
Dan did some simple backfalls as warm-up
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
Dan with Marvin
Techniques:
Dan and Marvin worked on Tenkai Kote Hineri and Shihonage
Commentary:
None of note
Friday:
Flight to Birmingham, Al for an aikido seminar
Late lunch at Applebee's
Seminar in Bessemer, Al
Dinner at Waffle House
Saturday:
Breakfast at the hotel
Seminar
Lunch provided by Frankie's Dad - chili
Seminar
Dinner at Boateng's Cajun Creations
Sunday:
Breakfast at Waffle House
Flight home
Opponent: I'd Hit That, 6 p.m.
We lost all 3. I don't recall the scores, but we were down 11-0 in the first game. Ugly.
Friday:
Lunch at Treebeards
Saturday:
Banking
Looked at two possible dojo properties in Texas City
Aggie game on TV
Attempted dinner at Mexican restaurant, but K's knee gave her fits, so we picked up pizza
Sunday:
Blueberry muffins
Texans game
Homemade chicken fried steak and cream gravy
Sunday night Football
Aikido players:
Dan
Ukemi:
Dan did some simple backfalls as warm-up
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
Dan with me
Techniques:
Dan and I worked on Shomen-ate, Aigamae-ate and Ushiro-ate
Commentary:
We're
going to try to have classes at the houses of black belts while we try
to find a new, permanent home. I bet we're going to attract some
attention from the neighbors. Lighting gets a bit iffy. May see if I can clear enough space in the shop.
Opponent: Passing Out, 7 p.m.
We lost all 3. 17-21, 9-21, and I can't recall the third. They only had 4 players while we had the full complement of 6.
Friday:
Lunch at Main Kitchen (J. W. Marriott)
Dinner at La Forchetta (Aikido Swear Jar Dinner)
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Oil change for Flex
Router bit for work on Uncle L.'s table
Aggie game on TV
Dinner with K. at Trios Fresh Mex. we won't be going back anytime soon
Sunday:
SleepTexans game
Looked at a property in Texas City
Worked on Uncle L.'s table
Sunday night Football
Aikido players:
Mario, and Marvin. Kim was watching from the bed of the pickup
Ukemi:
None while we work on the driveway
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
Mario with me
Techniques:
Mario and I worked on Shomen-ate
Mario and Marvin worked on Shomen-ate, Aigamae-ate and Ushiro-ate
Commentary:
We're going to try to have classes at the houses of black belts while we try to find a new, permanent home. I bet we're going to attract some attention from the neighbors.
Opponent: Deep Corners, 8 p.m.
We got trounced in the first 2 games. We managed to win the third 17-15, I believe.
Friday:
Lunch at Table 7 Bistro, lightly raining so I didn't want to walk too far
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Worked on Uncle L.'s table
Aggie game on TV
Poker with K, D, and C.
Sunday:
Blueberry pancakes
Sleep
Texans game
Looked at a property in Texas City
Worked on Uncle L.'s table
U. S. Open
Sunday night Football
Friday:
Lunch at Market Street Bar and Grill
Dinner at El Centinela with K
Poker with K, D, and C.
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Over to Skeeter's to pick up a table Uncle L. wants me to work on
Over to Sugarland to see a Skeeter's game
Sunday:
Sleep
Watched the taped Aggie game
U. S. Open
Monday:
Sleep
Worked on a jig for Uncle L's table
Mowed the Rental
Watched some of the Ohio State game
Friday:
Lunch at Hubcap
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Close up the dojo
Mow the rental
Dinner at El Centinela
Texas Hold 'Em with D, C, and K
Sunday:
Lots of sleep catching up from Sasquan
Baseball
Football
Re-arrange some paintings
Aikido players:
Tim, Phillip, Dan, and John
The Walk:
Once.
Releases:
Not today
Techniques:
Not today.
Commentary:
We had to clean out the dojo space as the building had been sold. The owner, Curtis, had been losing money for a while and put the building on the market without letting us know. We probably could have come up with the money to purchase it, had we known. Whether we would have wanted to is a good question as it had all sorts of water issues.
Where we go from here is an open questions. We're looking for space to lease or buy. I'm not certain a lease is financially viable. With a purchase, at least we'd have something of our own at the end. Got to figure out finances.
Our first date at this location was 12/14/07, so we spent a total of 7 years, 8 months and 15 days at the Bonin Dojo. My first day of aikido was 1/17/2006. I thought I'd spent more time at the League City dojo.
Aikido players:
Tim, Dan, and John
Ukemi:
None tonight
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
Dan and John worked together most of the evening
Techniques:
Dan and John worked on Shomen-ate
Commentary:
Found out our building has been sold (I wish I'd been told it was for sale, I'd probably have bought it), now we have to find a new place to practice.
Opponent: Like We Give a Hit, 9 p.m.
First game we won handily. Second by about 3 points. Lost the third by about 4
Tuesday:
Up at 3:55 a.m. for an early flight on Southwest.
1st leg to Denver, got the extra leg room seat. Second leg to Spokane, for the extra legroom seat.
In Spokane, grabbed my checked bag and hopped the city bus to the Davenport Grand Hotel. They were able to check me in around 11 a.m. I then headed over to the convention center to help the Art Show set up. All of the spines were set up, so I helped organize the control area.
Picked up my registration packet.
Dinner was at the Saranac, nice beer, good food.
Wednesday:
Breakfast at Frank's Doodle a decent walk from the hotel.
Back to the convention center
Dinner at Hill's with Tomi and Kerry
Thursday:
Breakfast at the Satellite Diner. Ben Yalow was eating there before the DH meeting.
Back to the convention center
Afternoon trip on foot to PaperPlus for some cardstock. About a 3 mi round trip.
Changed into my Steampunk Samurai outfit
Chesley awards, where I presented the Gaming Illustration. I also received a Hero award from LSC3. The award is a bronze sculpture by Vincent Villafranca. Gorgeous.
Grabbed some food at the reception
Stopped by the Texas party afterwards. Couldn't stay too long. Too bloody warm in the room.
Friday:
Breakfast at the Satellite Diner. Ben Yalow was eating there before the DH meeting.
Back to the convention center
Dinner at the Steelhead Bar with Kerry, Tomi, Gretchen, Jessica, and Dennis (Darrell? I'm not certain I ever got his non-fannish name). Did not enjoy the dessert, gave up halfway through.
Stopped by the New Orleans party. Too hot, but had a nice conversation in the hall with Debbie Hodgkinson. Found out she lived in El Lago for a while
Saturday:
Breakfast at the Grand. Satellite opened at 8 and that was too late for my schedule.
Back to the convention center
Auction Day aka Hell on Credit Cards
We managed to get out of there around 7:15 and managed to get the Bid Sheets sorted by then.
Dinner with the rest of the staff at O'Doherty's
Sunday:
Breakfast at the Grand. Satellite opened at 8 and that was too late for my schedule.
Checked out of the hotel and reserved a shuttle to the airport
Back to the convention center for more sales. Today was a steady pace, but no horrid rush.
Shuttle to the airport.
1st leg to Las Vegas, second leg home. Arrived at 1 a.m.
Home at 1:30 a.m.
Up for work at 5 a.m.
Friday:
Lunch at Andiamo
Dinner with K. at 888
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Haircut
Banking
Off to Gill's to try to get a part - fail
Aikido
Military surplus for camo pants
Meeting with person about ASH usage
Back to Gill's for part
Dinner at El Centinela with K.
Sunday:
Repair mower
Load/unload at rental
Nap
Work on kolaches
Golf
Baseball
Aikido players:
Tim, Trey, Mario, Dan, and John
The Walk:
Twice, as usual
Releases:
Not today
Techniques:
We started off with Shomen-ate. We did not get very far before we diverted into an afternoon about movement and falling instead of walking.
Commentary:
None of note.
Aikido players:
Mario, Dan, John, Mavin, and Kim
Techniques:
Shomen-ate: John/Me.
Ushiro-ate: Kim/Mario
Oshi taoshi: Marvin/Mario
Commentary:
None of note.
Aikido players:
Tim, Mario, Marvin, Dan, and John
Ukemi:
Got in my now regular set
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
Marvin and Mario, Dan and John worked together
Techniques:
Mario and Marvin worked on 6 and 4.
Dan and John worked on Shomen-ate
Commentary:
John's back from his summer in Florida.
Friday:
Lunch at Springbok
Dinner at Joe's with K.
No aikido. Changed the schedule so there was no regular class for the first time in about 6 years.
Mailed ArmadilloCon checks
Paid bills
Refreshed sourdough starter
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Retrieved riding lawnmower from Gill's
Fixed Flex's light
Sourdough bread
Pet store
Aikido
Framing
Dinner at El Centinela with K.
Sunday:
Sourdough bread
Updated aikido website
Work on John's Nikkyu video
Nap
Dinner with the in-laws
Dropped cupcakes off at Val's
Aikido players:
Tim, Mario, and Dan
Ukemi:
Took none today. Very bruised arm from Thursday
The Walk:
Not today.
Releases:
Mario and Dan worked on them for about an hour and a half
Techniques:
Mario worked on Gedan-ate
Dan worked on Ushir-ate
Commentary:
An awful long time spent on the releases..
Aikido players:
Mario, Dan, Mavin, Gale, and Kim
Techniques:
Ushiro-ate. Marvin/Me, Dan/Gale, Kim/Mario.
Switched off to Mario/Me, Gale/Marvin, Kim/Dan.
Switched off to Dan/Me, Gale/Mario, Kim/Marvin.
Commentary:
Toward the end of the evening I was having a tough time attacking. My forearm took so much abuse from everyone contacting it with their wrist bone instead of the flat of their forearm. I'm going to have some nice bruises for a while. That area is tender to the touch this morning.
Check out directly from here. Fast. Secure. Simple.
