Sunday and day three of the head cold with cough. We all continue to sniff and cough with hope that tomorrow, when we all must head out into the world, we will be feeling better or at least looking (and sounding) better. No one wants their food delivered by the hacking, sniffing server from hell. Of course it shouldn't matter where you work, if there is a chance you might spread the love you should stay home. Nobody respects your work ethic, they just think you are rude and inconsiderate. It sucks though when you have a job like mine, with no sick time, when you are sick you don't get paid. For a lot of folks it doesn't end there, you are sick, you can't work, you can't pay for healthcare, you die. This is not the case for me. While I don't bother my doctor, nagging her for antibiotics, for a head cold I can have her check me out if the illness lasts longer than a week. I have health insurance and for that I am truly grateful.

Tonight, despite my illness, I am still fixing a Sunday dinner, nothing really fancy though. I have a teriyaki pork loin roasting, AuGraten potatoes and broccoli. It gave me a chance to use my new food processor, I like it very much. My Darling spoiled me this Christmas with a really nice food processor, the nicest kitchen appliance I have ever owned truth be told. Next we need to invest in a really nice set of pots. I am open to suggestions, I know the big names but not how they compare or what's my best bang for the buck.

My Darling is currently watching Ste>en Stag@l demonstrate Aikido. I love Aikido. It isn't my first choice to recommend to a beginner because it is difficult to learn the stance that is so very important for making the rest of it work, but for women who have mastered stance it is an invaluable tool of self defense. Women are most frequently forced to defend themselves from men (after the hell of high school where the girls are no better then the boys in physical cruelty). Men have a physical advantage, usually height and always strength. Even wimpy guys are stronger than you think (as many an unsuspecting date rape victim found out the hard way I'm sure). Aikido goes a long way in leveling the field for it is the style of joint locks. These deceptively simple locks turn big strong manly men into babies crying for their Mamas. While this is nice for the average guy who doesn't want sand kicked in his face for a women it can mean the difference between assault and not assault. The joint locks tack advantage of the innate weaknesses of the human frame. Little physical strength is needed to control an attacker in a joint lock. With out the stance, however, the attacker might still drive the defender with bull strength. Stance grounds the defender and thus allows them to turn all the attackers attack against him.

I miss teaching. I never thought I would teach but necessity pushes us from time to time and I found myself teaching while in CA. I enjoyed it immensely. I found I learned about myself as much as my students. I found new ways of thinking about things and new ways to get where I wanted to go. And best of all I felt really alive when I was doing Karate. It's not that it isn't carried with you where ever you go but it is more a muscle memory that you aren't aware of most of the time. I think about it when I realized that non martial artist don't usually hang their torso on their legs by way of pelvic bone and abdominals, balanced on two feet comfortable enough to stand that way for hours if need be. This type of stance is discovered by those who have been forced to stand, military men and martial artists. It changes you forever, though most people never notice the difference. I can spot a martial artist by the way they stand, step and stop, with control, always control, breathing movement into their bodies rather than struggling to move about against the flow of the structure.

Yes indeed, I sure do miss it. Maybe this year I can get a couple of students to come and learn with me. The Boy will need to wait a few more years but when it's time, what a world I will give him.

Dinner is over now, the dishes are done and the house is winding down for the night. Tomorrow I hope to wake feeling a whole lot better, I hope for the same for my Darling and the Boy.

I wish you Peace

~alison~

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