I had a pretty full weekend. On Friday, I got some errands done. On Saturday, I cut a pumpkin with a sword and threw some axes and spears at a target. On, Sunday, I woke up thinking it was Monday and became very happy when it dawned on me that I had another day off!
Kitchen Reno
Well, I'm still trying to just fix my drawers. I thought it would be easy. I'm just changing out the bottoms and the backs for real wood that will be sturdier and not shed bits of itself into the drawers below. My plan was initially just the bottoms, but then I noticed the backs were particle board and had some water damage. So, I was going to use fiberglass for the bottoms. They'd last forever and have no water issues. Well, fiberglass sheets are hugely expensive, so I scrapped that part of the plan. I tried a thinner acrylic and it was too flimsy and broke easy. Now I'm doing wood, but it's slightly too thick, so I have to scrape the edges a little with my hand planer.
Wood, as I learned, dries slightly smaller than the size it's listed as. So a 1" x 3" board is closer to 3/4" x 2 3/4" or so. Unfortunately for me, it's not close enough to 3/4" to fit the slots in my drawers for my drawer backs. Luckily, I have a friend who has offered to help me power plane those pieces of wood.
I can't wait until I decide to change out my floor... What fun that will likely be.
French
I'm doing OK in French except for the part where I'm struggling to complete the online learning hours. The exercises don't take long enough, so I end up not accumulating enough hours. I'm not ready to move up to the next level work yet as I am having trouble with passé composé vs l'imparfait. I did succeed at reading a French children's book this week. Onto one that is slightly harder.
After doing the practice exam, I'm not sure why we need 3 hours to do it...
Iaido
I've been working hard at iaido. I am trying to fix some bad habits. I was given compliments on my technique while slicing up a pumpkin with a katana. Totally unrelated to recent events, of course.
Still, I know my troublesome areas.
My posture is always an issue and I have a bad habit of cutting small, so I'm trying to improve those as well as ensure my hips are square.
I also have lots of leg and core work ahead in the years to come as I think working those areas will help tremendously. I want to be able to explode forward and backward from tatehiza. Tatehiza is my nemesis currently.
NaNoWriMo
I'm doing NaNoWriMo, but I'm not very far along. Still, I like what's happening in my story. My brain has all sorts of ideas. If only I could write as fast as I can think...
B-Movie Club
My B-movie club met last night to watch Megaforce. I chose the movie because the theme I drew was futuristic. I thought something soldier related was a good idea given how close it was too Remembrance Day. My food was themed as rations. I considered getting actual rations, but those are quite expensive. Thus ramen, chips, juice boxes, a little chocolate, and Popeye's cigarettes (err candy sticks)... Yeah, I'm old enough to remember when they had red on the end of them. Actually, I'm old enough to remember chocolate cigarettes that were actually packaged in real cigarette papers with filters. Anyway, it was a good night.
I got to spend time with my toddler buddy and the cheeky little monkey decided that I was to read him the longest story book they had. Before that, we had a ball playing balloon soccer. I need to bottle some of that joy he has!
Writing Business
I'm enjoying meeting with folks at the library to get some writing in and to learn techniques for plotting that I hadn't used before. I'm also excited to work with some other writers who happen to be friends.
Well, I'm going to take a walk then get back to work.
Ciao,
R~