Rae Roy

I had much of this week off because I had some big things planned. Things that were a bit stressful. Monday was Victoria Day, which is a holiday where I am, so it was a time for me to do some admin things like update the tags on the pages on this blog/website. A bunch of things didn't make sense, so I didn't make use of them. The system may automatically configure some things later, I think? This stuff really isn't my forté, but I'm not hiring some rando from the internet, so I ignore all of the emails of that ilk that I get. Unless I get a referral from a friend or I've met you in person, it's not going to happen. Anyway, Monday also brought some stress as I had an important appointment on the horizon for mid-week. Softball practice was a welcome distraction from the anxiety. I felt better after that. I got my team last minute because of some admin stuff and someone being unable to play suddenly. I guess I almost didn't get a team. But everyone who wants to

The Week Monday was a very productive day at work . I was able to hand some things off to our new team member. I've been covering multiple roles for awhile now and burn out was looming menacingly. The day may have been extra productive because I forgot my phone at home by the door... Sometimes I don't know how I blogged at all during this heavy period at work. But it was often the only writing I could manage. I think it helped to get me through it. Curling did as well though I didn't have a lot of social energy during it. Not that I'm a social butterfly anyway. My Enneagram type is 4w5, The Bohemian. I went to events all that time though I wasn't at my best and often just drank through it. Not a healthy way to navigate my social anxiety, for sure. My performance review happened on Tuesday and that went very well. I dropped by Sephora finally to get some better quality makeup in the right colour for my face. Apparently, it's half a shade, so I'm almost a va

Image by duradie1999 from Pixabay The second class was just as difficult though I felt like I had the tiniest bit more muscle strength than the week before. Crab walk was slightly less bad. Crocodile walk is still evil. I'm going to study  this video on how to do it because it doesn't make sense in my brain. And because I'm only moving forward about 6 inches at a time, which is completely ridiculous.  We started forms. I'm also a bit confused on those, but I know that will come in time. Part of that is the mirroring thing where I will try to do what I see Sifu do, but will get my left and right mixed up when trying to do it myself and get all turned around. We also started swords and I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was much more intense than iaido . It involved us drawing, blocking, and cutting on both sides of the body. This felt weird since iaido was always the same, which was draw with the right, the left does the lever action, and the right is like your rudder and bo

This week began quite terribly. I started it hungover and quite broken from kung fu. For the record, I don't recommend having the two types of pain at the same time.  I'm drastically reducing how often I drink alcohol going forward. More on the reasons for that in a future blog post. And no its not due to having a bad hangover or regrets. It's not a passing fancy. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm joining the Sober Curious movement. Anyway, the week next brought dizziness. My seasonal allergies came in with fluid in my ears instead of a helpful warning like a sneezing fit. So I spent much of Monday feeling dizzy while also being still sore from kung fu. This isn't unusual. It either often happens like this or with an ear infection. I marked May 1 on my Google Calendar as a likely good day to start taking my allergy meds for next year in the hopes I can avoid both crappy options altogether. Thankfully, the allergy meds made the dizziness

Image by Rafael Javier from Pixabay My first class taught me some new things and reminded me of old things I know. I've had a number of martial arts instructors over the years and I really like Sonia's style. Even despite the fact that crocodile walking and crab walking were like torture for me. And I can't fathom how I ever played crab soccer in my childhood. There were a lot of techniques that I knew the fundamentals of from karate, but they have a twist on them in kung fu that makes me think of aikido. For example, karate blocks were quite firm, hard, and wasteful in terms of energy usage. With kung fu, we only use as much force as is absolutely necessary and we hook our hand instead of leaving it as a fist. This will let us grab if necessary, but we might not always want to, strategically. Grabbing means the opponent can pull you depending on the circumstances. But the basic positions were the same.  There was enough that was similar to karate in terms of the stances. H

Fixing things around my house and health wise became a theme for me in April.  DIY & CRAFTS I finally got around to installing the quarter round trim at the floor level in my kitchen . It looks much better! I shortened several pairs of  pants . Yeah, I know it's shocking that someone under 5 foot tall would need to shorten their pants. I did a nice hem on my newest pair of jeans. For my overalls, I just shortened them and am going to let them fray since they have frayed holes on them anyway.  CAR My car was unhappy. The engine light was on and the automatic shifter felt like it was going to seize. The stabilizers and rear brake lights were replaced and now it shifts like butter. I'm so happy it wasn't the transmission! On that day, I learned working from a cafe is entirely overrated. But I did get to see my young buddy on his 10th birthday, and that was nice. HEALTH & FITNESS I needed 3 fillings in my teeth and a new nightguard. The dentist took a scan of my mouth