Last night's martial arts class

I now have 75 hours of shaolin kung fu class time logged. Although I can now look back at my first few classes with nostalgia - the ones that had me crawling home for painkillers - but am still not entirely happy with my progress.

Part of it is that I don't practice enough at home, but there simply isn't enough room to do 16-point forms indoors, and it's too effing cold outdoors to retreat to the back yard.

However, I do know:

the five basic stances
three basic blocks
three basic punches
four kicks, including the dreaded roundhouse kick
two "holds", which is getting someone to let go of your arm
the first two 16-point forms, which are drills that combine a series of kicks, blocks and punches
First "combination", which is a technique of advancing and disarming an opponent, as long as the opponent is standing still and with no intention of coming after me

Over the past couple of months, the head instructor has determined that I will be taking the next promotional exam, no matter what. After we finish our first 15 minutes of basics and warm-ups, he always pairs me up with an instructor with the comment "this student is going to be taking the promotional exam, so make sure she knows everything". Or words to that effect.

I think the head instructor is simply trying to shore up my shaky self-confidence in this area. And since he's the only black belt on the floor (except when the sifu drops into class), I think he can judge my own skill levels better than I can.

So it's a safe bet I'll be taking the next exam, as long as I can scrape up the exam fee.

Why I talk (and write) kind of weird

A few readers have noticed that I don't always talk American English. This is because: a) my first husband was English; b) I spent about 12 years overseas, including time in the UK and Australia. So I occasionally drift back into those countries' slang.

I don't do it on purpose or to be a smartass. I think it's to keep myself from becoming bored - remember, I do spend office hours cranking out financial stuff like annual reports, press releases, and the like.

Back to practicing my shaolin kung fu stances. I'm tired of crawling out of each class in a puddle of sweat. I need to bump up my fitness level some more. And my crane stance stinks, especially when I'm standing on my twice-broken left foot.

The SADness has dissipated ... at least for now

This is my least favorite time of the year, as it almost always brings on a fairly severe case of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The short, sunless days drag me down in all sorts of ways: I eat too much, become depressed, act withdrawn, can't sleep well. (Hence no recent blog entries until today.)

However, the sun has been out yesterday, and today was truly pleasant. A bit cool, sure, but at least it's not freezing. I survived my 14th hour of shaolin kung fu class and even caught up on my sleep afterwards.

A couple of years ago, my husband bought me a "SAD light" in an attempt to alleviate the symptoms. But it didn't work - instead, it made me nervous. It cost quite a bit of money so I should probably just eBay it.