I BROKE A BOARD!!! Okay, it was a practice board (plastic and made to come apart). But it wasn't easy. We were taught how to do an elbow strike. The guys were able to break on second try, the females (young, thin teens) were not as successful. I was last. I have a little more mass then the other females :) and I was determined to succeed!! I did it on the second try. I felt powerful and triumphant (and bruised). If you don't have enough body mass to power through the board you technique has to be more precise--that is why the younger girls had trouble. So my weight was a positive for once! I want to do it again--who cares about bruises--I can break boards! Woo-hoo!!

Learning--it just happens

Okay, this is an excuse to tell you all of the funny thing I found today. We were raking our front yard, and I discovered a fallen bird's nest. The funny part is what the bird had incorporated into the construction---a dryer sheet. Who knew that birds would use them, but apparently at least one did!! I didn't take a picture, because the nest was falling apart and nothing to look at.

Today, we had our test at martial arts for our first brown stripe. We passed, Sam read a book and played gameboy because the kids weren't testing. Afterwards, we are both limping around like we're 90 years old. But it feels good to have our rank rise again. Sparring is now a requirement for our promotion. This is where most of my bumps and bruises come from. I both like and strongly dislike sparring and I can't even tell you why.

I invited one of our fellow artists to join us for Thanksgiving and she said she'd love to. Her birth country is not America, so she is looking forward to the family traditional part of Thanksgiving. My dear friend Yannick is coming and bringing his whole family. So we're having a bit of a mishmash instead of the usual blood relatives. I think it is going to be great fun. Time to buy fruitcake ingredients.