I don't always wash my hands (or use sanitizer).
First of all, why bother if there's no soap in the dispenser or paper towels? A good scrub will get off most of the dirt and germs without any soap. But if my hands are actually dirty, I want the super dirt-removing powers of GoJo or LavaSoap.
What if my hands aren't dirty?
Why spend four minutes at the line at the sink, the paper towels or air dryer, and then have all the associated trash?
My hands aren't dirty.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Holy Cosmic Upheaval
Okay! Since January, I have been busy, but not with much of great importance. I did get some important things settled, such as:
I'm really excited about the weights I'm lifting. Tomorrow's squat weight is set for 100 lbs. That means the first ever time I squat triple digits. I will be taking on either 135 or 145 on my deadlift. I have to check my notebook. I've doubled my most serious weight at the OHP. I used to hit 40 once in a while, and now I can lift 60. Tomorrow's workout ups the ante to 65, and I might end up repeating the weight, but I have confidence I'll be putting that weight up easily in two weeks. My bench press (never even used to do it, except with small dumbbells) is at 70 lbs this week. My weakest lift is the power clean right now, but that is partly because I'm new to it and partly because I was cheating on the rows with form.
How You Can Tell I'm Serious About Lifting:
1. Only sheer exhaustion keeps me from working out (I hated range week).
2. I have no grip assists, extra gear, or lifting shoes.
3. My workout notebook has KITTENS on it. KITTENS.
I'm totally serious, guys.
- Chris and I have found and deposited for our apartment, and we're getting ready to move in.
- The wedding is settled!
- My wedding leave is approved!
- I shot expert on the range (one reason I haven't been blogging)
- I have been switched from days to nights at work.
- I've been doing a lot of leisure reading.
- I lost my Internet when my last roommate moved out.
- We even have a couple pieces of furniture for our apartment thanks to bridal shower cash!
I'm really excited about the weights I'm lifting. Tomorrow's squat weight is set for 100 lbs. That means the first ever time I squat triple digits. I will be taking on either 135 or 145 on my deadlift. I have to check my notebook. I've doubled my most serious weight at the OHP. I used to hit 40 once in a while, and now I can lift 60. Tomorrow's workout ups the ante to 65, and I might end up repeating the weight, but I have confidence I'll be putting that weight up easily in two weeks. My bench press (never even used to do it, except with small dumbbells) is at 70 lbs this week. My weakest lift is the power clean right now, but that is partly because I'm new to it and partly because I was cheating on the rows with form.
How You Can Tell I'm Serious About Lifting:
1. Only sheer exhaustion keeps me from working out (I hated range week).
2. I have no grip assists, extra gear, or lifting shoes.
3. My workout notebook has KITTENS on it. KITTENS.
I'm totally serious, guys.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Katana VS Broadsword
I have two weapons at my disposal in the dojo. One is Chinese broadsword, a wushu-style curved sword. The other is a katana, the Japanese samurai sword. They are so different.
I picked up the katana as something my fiance and I could do together (now we barely spend our free time apart) and as something that was on sale, too good to pass up. The original plan was to take the katana form to tournament, but life happened and I didn't get the form down, much less tournament-ready. I had picked up broadsword for demo team, and was pretty much a natural with it. You have to make that sword sing. I would say steel, but the ones we use at tournament are aluminum alloy and unsharpened. They're not "real" swords, in a sense.
Broadsword is a very circular weapon. Shaolin monks train with it. It's kind of flashy and designed for close-quarters fighting. It's a very flowing weapon. It's also designed to sneak around shields and pluck out eyeballs and such.
Katana is a very linear weapon. It can be used in a circular fashion, but it's much more a slicing weapon. It's kind of a brutal style. It can slice through armor, for pete's sake. However, the style is graceful and powerful.
I'm much more a broadsword than a katana. It's making katana very challenging for me. It's slow, and I've gotten better technically with the katana but the form is just not clicking yet. I picked up the opponents of Dragon Set 1 for broadsword very quickly compared to how I am just not for katana form (I think it's Way of the Little Dragon).
In the future, I want melon hammers. It's two heavy hammers (35 lbs each or so) with round heads and it's a weapon that carries you. It's deadly. I'll wait for a few belts before I pick up those, though. Katana is enough of a challenge!
I picked up the katana as something my fiance and I could do together (now we barely spend our free time apart) and as something that was on sale, too good to pass up. The original plan was to take the katana form to tournament, but life happened and I didn't get the form down, much less tournament-ready. I had picked up broadsword for demo team, and was pretty much a natural with it. You have to make that sword sing. I would say steel, but the ones we use at tournament are aluminum alloy and unsharpened. They're not "real" swords, in a sense.
Broadsword is a very circular weapon. Shaolin monks train with it. It's kind of flashy and designed for close-quarters fighting. It's a very flowing weapon. It's also designed to sneak around shields and pluck out eyeballs and such.
Katana is a very linear weapon. It can be used in a circular fashion, but it's much more a slicing weapon. It's kind of a brutal style. It can slice through armor, for pete's sake. However, the style is graceful and powerful.
I'm much more a broadsword than a katana. It's making katana very challenging for me. It's slow, and I've gotten better technically with the katana but the form is just not clicking yet. I picked up the opponents of Dragon Set 1 for broadsword very quickly compared to how I am just not for katana form (I think it's Way of the Little Dragon).
In the future, I want melon hammers. It's two heavy hammers (35 lbs each or so) with round heads and it's a weapon that carries you. It's deadly. I'll wait for a few belts before I pick up those, though. Katana is enough of a challenge!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Ho, Hey
Tournament was awesome this year!
I won two trophies: 4th in sparring, women's orange belt, and 1st in women's kata, orange. That's right, I WON! WON WON WON!!!
Okay, I am still excited. We're just not going to talk about weapons for me this year.
Chris won second in men's sparring, white & yellow, third in men's kata, white & yellow, and third in weapons white, yellow, orange, purple with his katana. *jealous*
My poor sensei is trying to teach me that it's okay to miss out on one class. She said yesterday that it hadn't really sunk in for her that I had won two trophies already. It didn't make sense to her that I was so disappointed by weapons!
I won two trophies: 4th in sparring, women's orange belt, and 1st in women's kata, orange. That's right, I WON! WON WON WON!!!
Okay, I am still excited. We're just not going to talk about weapons for me this year.
Chris won second in men's sparring, white & yellow, third in men's kata, white & yellow, and third in weapons white, yellow, orange, purple with his katana. *jealous*
My poor sensei is trying to teach me that it's okay to miss out on one class. She said yesterday that it hadn't really sunk in for her that I had won two trophies already. It didn't make sense to her that I was so disappointed by weapons!
Monday, January 7, 2013
New Year, New You
This phrase comes out in late December and hangs around until about the middle of February, coinciding with the rush of gym-goers for the resolution season. I am not a gym fanatic, but I do like the measurable progress that weight lifting gives me.
I don't set particular resolutions because I never keep them. I'm also not a SMART goal setter, unfortunately for me. I need to work on SMART goal setting but I have to shrink my goals down to get some solid practice.
This year, my biggest goal is to let go of the past, and to live in the present as much as possible. It might take some therapy, but 2013 is going to be a big year. Here's a list of things that are definitely going to happen this year: getting married (rather unexpected), purple belt, one year karate anniversary, new neice. Things that I am working to have happen this year are blue belt, winning at tournament, pay off two loans. It's really rather exciting.
I want to go for a walk every day, drink more water, continue not drinking pop, and be a badass.
I want to give up on work. Work is not going to be a focus for me this year, because I do not want to be my work. My work is challenging and it's pretty interesting, but I don't want to work in this field as a career. I want to be in a more active job. Instead of sitting at a desk all day, and rushing to get my physical activity up through various sessions at the end of the day, I want a job that has light to moderate activity throughout the day. I also want to work with animals. So I have plenty of options to explore this year.
At the end of this year, I want to be healthier than I am now.
I don't set particular resolutions because I never keep them. I'm also not a SMART goal setter, unfortunately for me. I need to work on SMART goal setting but I have to shrink my goals down to get some solid practice.
This year, my biggest goal is to let go of the past, and to live in the present as much as possible. It might take some therapy, but 2013 is going to be a big year. Here's a list of things that are definitely going to happen this year: getting married (rather unexpected), purple belt, one year karate anniversary, new neice. Things that I am working to have happen this year are blue belt, winning at tournament, pay off two loans. It's really rather exciting.
I want to go for a walk every day, drink more water, continue not drinking pop, and be a badass.
I want to give up on work. Work is not going to be a focus for me this year, because I do not want to be my work. My work is challenging and it's pretty interesting, but I don't want to work in this field as a career. I want to be in a more active job. Instead of sitting at a desk all day, and rushing to get my physical activity up through various sessions at the end of the day, I want a job that has light to moderate activity throughout the day. I also want to work with animals. So I have plenty of options to explore this year.
At the end of this year, I want to be healthier than I am now.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Meatloaf
I made meatloaf today, based on a recipe from PaleoPlan.com. Their recipes are usually pretty good, or at least edible.
Anyway, I left out the coconut milk and hot sauce and put in crushed red pepper instead. Next time I'm going to up the almond meal a bit and throw in an extra egg.
Christopher ate seconds and even got up to get them himself. We put green beans on the side. I particularly enjoyed them together. It was a successful experiment!
Salmon cakes are up next.
Anyway, I left out the coconut milk and hot sauce and put in crushed red pepper instead. Next time I'm going to up the almond meal a bit and throw in an extra egg.
Christopher ate seconds and even got up to get them himself. We put green beans on the side. I particularly enjoyed them together. It was a successful experiment!
Salmon cakes are up next.
Monday, December 24, 2012
2012 Lookback
2012 has been one of those years, exactly like every other year!
The biggest things that have happened to me are pretty few. It's been a whirlwind of a year, though.
I found the man I'm going to marry (and yes, he knows he's going to and has already agreed to it).
I found Paleo, and I've been waffling between it and SAD for months now.
I got hit by a triple whammy of injuries late this summer.
I joined my dojo and competed in my first tournament this summer.
I switched to a shop that granted me more independence.
This has been a good year, despite ups and downs. I've said goodbye to an adopted grandfather and one of my best friends; one was easier than the other. I took leave over Thanksgiving. I learned to make French onion soup (I'm pretty good at it).
I discovered a lot about myself. I ran two 5k races and had a blast. I'm still working on the bow and my archery skills. I can't wait for next year and all that comes with it!
The biggest things that have happened to me are pretty few. It's been a whirlwind of a year, though.
I found the man I'm going to marry (and yes, he knows he's going to and has already agreed to it).
I found Paleo, and I've been waffling between it and SAD for months now.
I got hit by a triple whammy of injuries late this summer.
I joined my dojo and competed in my first tournament this summer.
I switched to a shop that granted me more independence.
This has been a good year, despite ups and downs. I've said goodbye to an adopted grandfather and one of my best friends; one was easier than the other. I took leave over Thanksgiving. I learned to make French onion soup (I'm pretty good at it).
I discovered a lot about myself. I ran two 5k races and had a blast. I'm still working on the bow and my archery skills. I can't wait for next year and all that comes with it!
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