Tonight was Financial Peace University Week 10, and a whole lot of being lazy.  That’s about all there is to know tonight, coming in just before midnight so I have to keep this one a quick post.

Last night’s karate workout was a good one.  It was a small group (only four of us and Sensei Tarrant), and we worked primarily on jab/reverse punch footwork.  We started out in sparring stance in both cases, but the first combination was pushing off the rear leg and lunging forward with the jab without stepping forward.  Then we were allowed to shuffle up half-way for the reverse punch.  I found this more difficult because I feel like I have very little power on that jab, but it did cover marginally more distance.  I recognize that not only am I less comfortable with this type of jabbing, but this is the jab that Sensei Quinn mystifies pretty much everyone with.  It’s strong, it gets your body moving forward quickly, and its intimidating.

The other combination we worked on was a half step up with the rear leg into the jab, followed by the reverse punch.  This was a lot more natural and I felt like I had more hip action propelling the jab forward.  This is the jab I tend to use when sparring, but I understand that it is less “convincing” and is more for a speed fake.  Yes, it may work if I happened to connect with it, but its not a stopping technique.

The rest of the workout was spent on kata.  We did Tekki Shodan, then each person took the class through their personal kata (we got to do Sochin twice because both me and another guy in the club is working on it) and then we split into two groups for more kata.  I was with a Shodan named Jeff, and we worked on a variety of black belt katas… Jitte, Sochin, Nijushiho, and Empi.

It made for a fun night, and it was nice to have some personal instruction from Sensei Tarrant.  More soon!

Yesterday, we hit the gym.  I wasn’t particularly feeling like it, but I made myself run 1.5 miles prior to our weights workout.  I worked hard on my pace, making sure to slow down my earlier laps so I wasn’t roasted by the halfway point.  I opted for a 5/1 negative split, meaning I ran five laps, then walked one.  I got through it in 18 minutes, which wasn’t that bad considering I was actively trying to keep a slower pace at the beginning of the run.

For the rest of the workout, I upped many of my weights (especially the arms) and was feeling it this morning.  It is partially my own fault, I opted for a cheeseburger instead of my protein shake and I think that the protein shake helps my muscle recovery much better.  But cheeseburgers taste good.

That’s all for today, you’ll get my karate update tomorrow morning since I somehow got one day behind.

Today was one of those fairly rare days for me where every task I attempted either got interrupted, or was in that magical state where it was the absolute last thing on Earth that I wanted to work on.

Part of this problem was exacerbated by the fact that 2/3 of my tasks were in a state where I was forced to wait on input or action from someone else, which led to broad stretches of today where I was waiting around.

In an effort to fill this time with something valuable, I started working on revisions to a few documents.  Documentation is one of those things that I will do if there is a reason for it, but I don’t particularly enjoy.  Despite these documents being fairly important, in the context of today they felt to me like busy-work (ironically forced on me by ME) and it was exceedingly hard to get focused enough to make any real headway.

So in a nutshell, I am my own worst enemy today.

Did I get work done?
Yes.

Did I work as furiously hard as I normally do?
Not by a long-shot.

Is that really a problem?
Oh, probably not but that won’t stop me from feeling bad about it anyway.

Am I talking to myself AND answering myself?
Yes.  Which means it is time to go!

Today was a lazy day!  Tasha and I slept in, then lounged around the house all day doing our own various hobbies… she played a lot of Dragon Age and I played a lot of guitar today.

I worked on Barenaked Ladies new song “You Run Away” and Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” which has a very difficult picking pattern that will take some time to get natural.

We also watched most of the Oscars, which is always entertaining.  I was expecting Avatar to do better, but I guess the handful of awards it walked away with was respectable.

That’s all for me tonight!

Today we had a chiropractor’s appointment, followed by D&D, and now a Rock Band night that is about to start!  We’re ordering Papa Johns and having Paul, Kara, Dirk, and Danielle over for some jammin’ out!

The guests just arrived, so I am off to entertain now!

Happy Birthday, Tasha!  Today is her actual birthday, so at her request we’re spending a lazy night around the house watching TV and playing video games.

But before the birthday laziness, we went to the gym!  I ran a mile in around 10 minutes (closer to 10:30) and then lifted weights.  Tasha did 2.25 miles in 10 minutes on the exercise bike and she lifted weights too!

Time to go relax!

Tonight, Tasha and I are heading down to Denver to see the Mary Poppins musical.  She specifically requested this and dinner at the Limelight restaurant as her birthday present, so we’re off to make her birthday wish come true!  Last year we had a good time at Phantom of the Opera, so hopefully we’ll have a repeat good time this year.

More later!

Tasha just told me that The Eagles are going to be here in May and I’m GOING.  Also, James Taylor and Carole King are stopping here in July and I’m going to that too!  Let the concert season begin!

For the record: yes, I have the musical taste of a 65 year old.  Deal with it.

Paul, Kanika and I are going to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club tonight in Englewood!  I’ve never heard of these guys much before this, so it should be fun to experience some new music.  To the gig!