As promised before Sunday at midnight

Although I have not been blogging I am still engaged in the performance and all the stuff for the chinese new year celebration.  Thanks to sifu masterson and the bootcamp that I have been attending my numbers on pushups are better. I believe that my priorities have changed and my focus has been pulled to our retirement & business plans.  Not that I have abandoned Kung Fu by any means still love training.  Still working on perfecting the tai chi straight sword form, one year was NOT enough time to get it where it needs to be.  As I am a planner type I have my goals for next year, many of which still include fitness and martial arts, now in addition there are plans for selling our home in alberta, developing the property in BC and implementing our (my husband and I) plans for setting up our business so we can manage it remotely.  Not sure about the predictions for the year of the dog but feeling positive and excited.

Performances

I just wanted to say that the festival of the trees performance in Stony Plain went really well.  This team always seems to be on their A game when needed.  Everyone's attitude was positive and pumped and we pulled off a pretty great looking lion dance, I Ho Chuan performance and dragon dance with limited preparation time.  It really shows that there are a lot of truly exceptional people involved in the I Ho Chuan (no matter that sometimes we disappoint ourselves) who are working hard and committed.  So when we are beating ourselves up about not meeting all our requirements just remember all the great moments we have had this year as a team and be proud of the synergy and skill set that this team has shown.

Very Bad Month

I haven't blogged in like a month, thanks to everyone who did blog, it kept me sane.  We had an incident at a job site on Oct 2.  An environmental consultant we hired came on site and collapsed after entering our containment, CPR was performed, ambulance called, rushed to hospital. Unfortunately a very nice 33 year old man died 4 days later in hospital.  Everyone on the project was traumatized including me ... we are getting trauma counseling which will help.  Of course there is an OH&S investigation that will go on for months and no quick answers as no one knows for sure what caused the collapse.  It could be 6 months to a year before the medical examiners report is completed.  Lots of questions and requests for paperwork still to come.   To say this knocked me off my game would be an understatement, as the safety coordinator I take the responsibility of making sure everyone is safe on our job sites very seriously.   So no I haven't been thinking I Ho Chuan and requirements very often in the last month.  Its kind of hard to be positive right now, but I will be blogging and working on my requirements again ... it makes me feel better.

Finally some progress

Added the 'exciting part' to my Tai Chi Sword Form and it is really a lovely sequence.  Now that work has settled to a steady hum instead of an out of control speed boat and the wedding has been successfully pulled off I have a few brain cells left for Kung Fu!   Despite my inability to add anything to the form this last while,  my practicing what I could remember has allowed me to move into the perfecting aspect rather than just struggling through the sequence mode.  Which for me is progress and the more enjoyable part of mastering a form.  I have neglected my hand form and am reapplying myself ... as I know the sequence ... to the perfecting aspect.  Still struggling with some transitions, the stances are narrow and deep ... I know I am doing SOMETHING incorrectly as I am not centered/balanced its frustrating and Sifu Beckett has gone over it with me yet again.  

Wanted to say thanks to everyone that contributed to the wedding day, and say also how wonderful it was to share with you all.  For anyone missing bowls or serving utensils they are the kwoon, top shelf in the store room.

Family Trees

I am not sure what to write about that is relevant to my Kung Fu journey ... right now its all about Melanie getting married.  Usually I would think this is a family thing, however Silent River Kung Fu and many people there have been part of our lives for a long time and as a result they have become another branch of the family tree.  So I am really looking forward to Sunday and us all getting together to celebrate.


I am excited for Melanie and Dan and yet a little bit sad because my youngest is getting on with her life and will not need 'Mommy' so much now that she has that special person in her life.    Its a weird place to be emotionally and I know I have a lot of leftover anxiety from when she got sick, so I am over protective and have become somewhat of a 'hover mother' (a dreaded condition for a parent that really annoys independently minded children).  I am working on it.

The no plastic challenge

This has been a very interesting challenge ... thank god I have a garden otherwise this would be even more difficult. Taking containers and where you shop seem to be the 2 key items.  Farmers markets & the bulk barn allow you to bring your own containers. Melanie has found a butcher in Spruce Grove called Grove City Meats that will wrap meat in paper, otherwise we would be eating vegetarian by now.  We are using the bread maker and making bread, so that's solved.   I personally have filled my cart with produce, not in plastic bags and although they look at you funny sometimes so far they have weighed and charged me and put all my stuff in my cloth grocery bags. The other night Dan made homemade tortilla's  (gluten free) and they turned out awesome, better than we get at the store wrapped in plastic.  This type of lifestyle choice definitely has you making things from scratch and buying locally - two great side benefits actually.  My husband Dean who often does the grocery shopping (and will do pretty much anything for Melanie, or Brandi for that matter) has been participating as well and the challenge has come up in many conversations at home and when visiting family.   For sure this will be on our minds every time we purchase anything for a long time to come.

Trying a new thing

So I decided to try a new way of learning & retaining the sequence for part two of the tai chi sword form.  Its a focused meditation where I go through the sequence in my head visualizing the new moves in the form and reviewing this while meditating.  No this does not count for form reps as I am perfectly capable of physically doing them.  I started this process last evening and will keep reviewing and adding moves in addition to actually physically practicing the form.  Wish me luck :)