Ragged as the Road

It was a battle, but I was finally able to do what I’ve always wanted to do…Attend a Texas State UIL event in Austin. The fact that it was wrestling makes it even sweeter.

I did not realize how much I enjoy wrestling.

I.had.no.idea.

To enjoy wrestling a person needs to get past the singlets and general positioning of the sport.

If they can’t, then maybe it’s more of a personal issue rather than the sport.

Just sayin’…

When I was a sophomore in high school I was able to help work the Clearwater Classic wrestling tournament hosted by Lewiston High School in Booth Hall. It felt like there were 20 mats on the floor. I am pretty sure there were only six mats though. There were wrestlers and parents and coaches EVERYWHERE. It was a lot of activity for our little gymnasium. The University of Idaho Sports Medicine Program sent their students down to help with athletic training coverage and I was able to hang with the “college kids”.

I loved it!

There was a point where I realized how cool the human body actually is. Some young man had his arm bent in such a way I was sure it was going to pop out of place.

It didn’t.

I don’t remember if he won or lost the match, but I do remember telling the “college kid” next to me how awesome it was that he was in a weird position and did not sustain an injury. At 15 it was incredible to me.

It still is.

Since I am a woman and athletic trainer in Texas it’s often hard for people to believe I know anything about the sport. It’s not their fault. Pretty girls with nice smiles are a rarity. I have the resume to back up my knowledge of the sport.

I enjoy the culture. It takes guts for a high school kid to put his/herself in the middle of the room in a skimpy uniform and go one-on-one with another human being. There is not another sport like it. Football has padding, in lacrosse there are sticks, in basketball there are five guys on the court.

Wrestling is personal.

A loss hurts a little more.

A win feels that much greater.

I went to Austin to represent my entire school district as the athletic trainer for the State tournament. I think it’s a big deal. I worked my tail off for the kids and coaches and earned my place at the meet. It turned out Jersey Village sent their trainer too, which was great. She is awesome and it was nice to get to know a fellow district trainer.

The “tournament athletic trainers” were not my favorite. I called them Ninjas. They stayed in the “training area” and only came out for an injury. The problem with that is by the time they saw a problem and came out a trainer from one of the schools had already taken care of it. I use the term “they” liberally. I only saw one man the entire weekend. I am told there were three athletic trainers. I was not a fan.

The wrestling was great. Two athletes, one boy one girl, earned their fourth State title this weekend. She finished her high school career undefeated…as in never beaten…as in four years and countless matches with a win.

Very cool.

After the tournament I could have come home, but stayed and went out with a few of the referees on Sixth St. Austin is a great place to just be. Transvestites were hobnobbing with students and parents of students. It happened to be Dad’s weekend, so there were daughters with fathers up and down the streets. I actually ran into some of my old students and couldn’t believe they are now old enough to be in the same establishments.

The guys were great to hang with and treated me very well. They even lent me some clothes and a bed to sleep in that night. By the time we got back to the hotel all I wanted was sleep.  

Austin was a successful trip. Totally worth all the struggles I had getting there.

Inspiration song…Ragged as the Road by Reckless Kelly

Bigfoot

That’s right, we are talking about Bigfoot.

I know a certain young lady in Montana who is a member of the Bigfoot Club. The club is a group of girls from her school who believe in Bigfoot. My friend’s daughter she is the funniest little girl with the best imagination, so a Bigfoot Club isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Jack Links jerky "messes with Sasquatch" constantly.

My buddy BShaw received a Bigfoot statue to take out the night before his wedding. It’s the one from Sky Mall magazine and AWESOME.

The student section for my school’s basketball team tries to make the Sasquatch call during games to raise the noise level.

Why oh why am I talking about a being that in all likelihood does not exist??

It's really a student’s fault. An ex-student I should say. As a professional we are not supposed to choose favorites, but he's definitely in my top ten. Anyhow, SamIAm made a comment on his Facebook page one day stating “Unless you castrated a Bigfoot with a pair of scissors, no one cares what you did for your workout”

I took a little offense to that, but realized “why?” He’s right. Unless your workout was so freakin’ huge that it involved loping off an appendage of a fictional being with kitchen shears it was probably just a workout…

…and good for you!

Depending on where you are in your routine every workout should feel like you are battling Bigfoot. It’s easy to get comfortable and go through the motions, so a challenge every now and then or every day should be what you strive for.

I am a novice to this whole getting in great shape thing. I have gone through spurts of weight loss and gain like most people. I never really “got it” until recently.

When I was in college I worked out a lot, but drank more. When I was in Seattle I loved to go for runs in Ballard or around Greenlake, but again, I drank a lot and didn’t have a handle on my nutrition. When I moved to East Texas I lost a ton of weight because I was exercising twice a day AND starving myself. It’s no wonder the weight always came back.

Today I feel more confident and comfortable with how I am losing weight. I kick Bigfoot’s hind end on a regular basis and go home to a nutritious meal.

I still eat carbohydrates, just in less pasta-y form. Yes, pasta-y is a word…

I have fallen in love with green apples! Seriously, they may be the most perfect food. They are tart and sweet and filling. If I feel like I need a sugar fix I find it in a green apple or one of the delicious berries available now.

Mini carrots are a good substitute for something crunchy. After a workout the veggies on my plate are larger than the protein.

Oh, the key, protein. It’s a bit of a pain, but getting good lean protein is why I feel the success has really shown in the last two months.

I don’t claim to be an expert on any of this. Yes, I am an athletic trainer and should already know this stuff, but I slept through a lot of nutrition classes in college.

Proper nutrition and exercise are the same as anything else. Until you are ready to really listen and practice no amount of information in the world will matter.

I opened my ears and my mind.

It matters.

For my friends who are doing awesome with workouts keep it up!

I read this on Pinterest today. Oh yes, still a Pinterest blog to follow…

“It takes 4 weeks for you to notice your body changing, 8 weeks for your friends and 12 weeks for the rest of the world. Give it 12 weeks. Don’t quit”

You have one body and one life. Challenge yourself every day.

If you need to put on Facebook how hard you worked out, go ahead! I pay homage to Bigfoot in my posts, and so can you. Train hard my friends…Bigfoot is on the prowl and if you are running from him you just have to be faster than one other person. Make sure you can beat that other person!

Inspiration song…Bigfoot by Bro Smith

Train hard my friends…Bigfoot is on the prowl and if you are running from him you just have to be faster than one other person. Make sure you can beat that other person!

New Shoes

Something happened last night that has never happened before. It happened by simply changing out of one pair of shoes into two others.

If you read my last blog you will notice it was a little darker than others. The message was good, but the tone was off.

Sometimes life throw you mind f***s or as I like to say mental-effs.

The mental-effs have been getting to me lately and it all came to a head on a gloomy Wednesday.

Thank goodness two dear friends allowed me internet space to have a pity-party. There is no excuse for a pity-party, but they were sweet enough to let me have one.

Lots of stuff has been going on personally and professionally. For a few hours I lost my grip and let the emotions overwhelm me.

I left work early with what seemed like the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I was a blue buckaroo.

I was...well, you probably get the gist by now.

Here's the happy ending...

That feeling lasted until approximately 645pm. At 715pm I recognized it as gone. At 1030pm I felt at peace and ready to fight a little today for what I really want.

Why the change? What did it?

Oh come on, you HAVE to know the answer to this...

Alright I'll say it again...

The gym. My little piece of distance away from crap and other people.

It started with an exciting purchase; my own pair of heavy bag boxing gloves! These things are light and just what I need to try a different instructor for Cardio Boxing tonight. If I don’t like the instructor you can bet I will be combing Pinterest for heavy bag workouts!

Ohhh Pinterest...that is a completely separate subject for a later time...basically one of my dearest sucks and got me hooked. Love you TPyle…

Darn it Dawn, focus!

So now I have gloves and a place to hit something that doesn't get me arrested. Hooray!

When I got to the gym I tried the treadmill, but wasn't feeling it. I realized if I hurried I could make the 530pm cycle class with TBad. I have never taken one of his classes, and I have to say he rocked! Oh my gosh! Um, someone tell Doc I won't be working on Wednesdays after 530pm anymore. We did some crazy "melt your face" climbs, as JayVee would say, to awesome music. The Michael Jackson Thriller mix with all MJ's songs may have been made specifically for cycling.

After TBad I had a date with TrainerD. Now he is all guy, but his nickname for now at least will be TrainerDori, as in Finding Nemo Dori. He cannot stay focused on one thing for longer than 10 seconds!

It’s amazing! He loses focus telling a story worse than I do (didn’t know it was possible) and the slightest noise or movement causes his head to whip around. It’s a gym, there is ALWAYS a distraction.

My new favorite game is changing subjects to keep him guessing.

I am starting to appreciate TrainerDori, because he lets me yell at him. Monday he told me to quit being a baby, so I told him to quit being a d-word. Today he said to do diamond push-ups and I said NO. And then I did four until he realized I was still sore from Monday. I also told him "I luuuvvv you" today. In trainer/client speak that means something very much not nice. He's big and sweet and I'm getting the feeling he’s just what I need...as long as I don't have to jump or do bear crawls...those are just stupid for anyone over the age of 23.

As I said, around 715pm I realized I was smiling for the first time all day; really smiling, not the smile I wear that just makes people think I'm holding it together. It felt great.

I have never noticed such a remarkable change after a workout before. My shoulders only felt heavy from doing bicep curls. My breathing was relaxed.

I was able to see the positives through all the dull. Such as the fact I have an amazing work friend who really does have my back and wants to help me...actually I have a couple.

Like the fact the people who are making my friend sick and upset will get theirs in the end. Ok, maybe not so much positive energy, but it makes me smile...I am human after all.

Also, I realized the fight I have today will go ok one way or the other. I know I will get to have my say. That's all I ask.

So for a little while the fog lifted. I do feel better and apologize for being a bit of a downer on my last blog.

Inspiration Song...New Shoes by Paolo Nutini

When I put on two new pair of shoes (cycle and running) I found two more men allowed to order me around this year and more importantly I lost the globe resting on my shoulders.

Heart of Courage

Courage comes with a price.

It is not easy to ask for what you want. It is not easy to ask for what you deserve.

It should be, but for me it’s not.

I go with the flow. When dealing with people not too much bothers me. I know people are going to make silly mistakes. They make choices based on their own interests and what serves them the best at any particular time.

I deal with a population of very selfish people ONLY looking out for themselves…teenagers. It isn’t their fault. It’s what they do.

The problem is when those teenagers become 30-somethingers and continue to act as teenagers. The only way they do anything is if it serves them. They do not care who they hurt as long as they get what they want.  

I had to face a demon today by asking someone for something owed to me. Based on the person and the preferred method of communication I went with email. I simply wrote in small sentences and short words what I needed.

I did not mince words; I did not draw it out.

Basically, I was a B-word…

I hate being a B-word. Even if the person on the other end completely deserves it, I have difficulty expressing myself and asking for what I need. My heart was racing when I sent the email and I felt a little out of sorts. Upon further review of the situation I feel my true anticipation is whether or not this person will follow through with what he owes me. Regardless it took courage for me to take the first step.

A friend of mine has to take a difficult first step to make a change in her life as well. Her working situation has been less than optimal. People have made it a point to make her miserable on a daily basis. Through it all she has managed to keep a smile on her face and not let it affect her performance.

Her health has suffered, but her coworkers would not know there was any problem.

I admire her immensely to go to her office, which I call the Lion’s Den, and deal every day. It is her story to tell in her own time, but she has enormous courage. She must muster every ounce of courage to deal with adults acting like teenagers.

When did this happen? When did we as people become so selfish that we hurt others to serve our own interests and make ourselves feel like better people?

I am glad there are still human beings out there who do not make every day and situation about them.

They are the ones with true courage.

Inspiration song…Heart of Courage by Two Steps from Hell

Winding Wheel

My head has been spinning these days.

There has been so much and not enough going on I feel like a yo-yo up and down.

I have not been able to concentrate on any single activity for some time. I feel like my mind is in one place and my body in another.

It is true my brain was sent into a tailspin last week. It’s not easy to hear the person you loved and wanted to spend your life with left you and married another within two months. That can mess with your head.

I let it.

I did the 10-second pity party, then a couple more. I became enraged, I sort of cried a little, I acted like it wasn’t a big deal…then I went to the gym.

The gym is the one place I feel relaxed and able to concentrate. I ran almost 11 miles yesterday. There was nothing pressing to get home to and I needed to just sweat out some negativity.

It helped…a little.

The other thing that helped was getting to spend time with a friend. We will call him WSUCougar. I work with this friend and found out he played football in Pullman, WA just 27 miles from where I grew up.

I will never forget the day I found out. He came in wearing a scarlet and gray shirt that said Washington State on it. I asked “what you know about Wazzu?”. Mind you, I had only worked with him for a few months and never had a real conversation. He asked if I was kidding him and said he played football there. I was blown away! I told him I grew up in Lewiston and HE was blown away!

For a couple weeks we stared at each other and kept saying how close we felt to each other. I still feel that way, as if there is a connection somehow by knowing the Northwest.

As for this weekend, I needed to get out of the house, dress like a girl, put on makeup and heels. The problem is, and I do not want my girlfriends to take offense, but I could not go hang with another girl.

Here is the problem with girlfriends. Sometimes they make it way too easy to be sad. There would have been talking about the week’s events, there would have been bad-talking Terrible Person and men in general. Then I would have helped them deal with their own problems as a way of avoiding mine.

No, I needed to hang with a dude this weekend. I needed someone to just hang with, talk in short sentences to, and compete against.

Yes, I said compete.

WSUCougar and I played a little pool. I am terrible at pool. I can’t see angles and have zero touch. That makes the first game we played even better. There were three balls on the table; one for me, one for him, and the eight ball. I managed to hit a kiss shot off my ball and it rolled to the corner pocket! Great shot, WSUCougar was in shock. Mostly because my leave was close to the eight ball and I sunk that too! He said “No one will hear about this!” and I said “Hell ya they will! I’m blogging about it!”.

He decided maybe darts would be a better idea.

Poor guy didn’t know I threw in a league and grew up with English Mark Darts in the house. I can’t throw a ball, but I can damn sure throw a dart!

We played a game of Cricket where I beat him soundly. Being a competitive guy he wanted another shot, so another $1.50 went into the machine. I was getting creamed! I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. WSUCougar had some points on me and I needed to make a change. I went after and hit the bull a couple times and needed to get some points. I ended up hitting two triple sixteens to win the game on points. I could have stood back and let him have the win, but I know deep down in my heart if the roles were reversed he wouldn’t hold back, so why should I? He was going down. So yeah, it felt good to beat a guy. Sue me…

My focus is still a little wonky.

I find myself easily distracted or “waking up” from some thought induced state.

I get by though. It’s nothing a little time and patience won’t take care of. Since I don’t really know what it is I’m waiting for, I guess I have time to wait. After all, if you don’t know what it is you are looking for you are guaranteed NOT to find it.

Inspiration Song…Winding Wheel by Ryan Adams

Better Than

There is a war raging as we speak.

I am not making a large political statement, if I did I would be talking about this whole birth control mess and how both churches and lawmakers are getting it all wrong.

I’m not doing that.

The war I’m speaking of is this idea that “the grass is greener”.

**this is also not a follow up to yesterday’s post. That part of my life is done.
All things have been made clear to both sides and nothing shady really happened.**

I’m talking about how single people long to be married or at least in a stable relationship, and married people wonder how their life would be different if they were able to be carefree and single.

There was an entire movie devoted to this subject for goodness sake!

The truth is we just don’t know. Call it my Gemini traits, but I do see both sides of this argument.

Life is hard.

Life can at times kick you in the teeth, or gut, or…insert body part here…

Life is pretty freakin’ cool too.

As the single, I think it would be nice to have a person fight beside you when the world is trying to kick your face in. If I was married I would probably say most of those fights are because of the person.

Here is an abbreviated list of positives and negatives, as I see it:

Marriage Pluses
Not eating dinner alone
Not having to call all friends to find someone available to go watch a game with
Two incomes
Someone to make you laugh
No cold side of the bed

Single Pluses
Making plans without “checking in” with someone
An entire bed to yourself
Single control of remote
No arguments over her shows versus his shows

Marriage Minuses
Can’t make plans without checking in
Bed and cover hogs
Multiple DVR’s and receivers so you don’t argue over TV
More bills

Single Minuses
Eating dinner alone
Going to events alone
One income
Uneven mattress from sleeping only on one side

That is a completely abbreviated list and by no means all inclusive. It is just an illustration that oddly our problems are basically an issue of perspective.

The question of “soul mate” has been raised recently. Remember Anna said my soul mate ran and found another gal because he saw me with kissy-kissy boy?

What exactly IS a soul mate?

Again, this is completely MY definition…

To me, a soul mate is a person who challenges us, makes us a better person, and lets us help them be better. I don’t think it has to do entirely with common interests.

I have a friend who confided in me he met a person and felt “connected” in a way he didn’t connect with his wife. “What if she was my soul mate?” he asked. She had the same love of sushi and liked having the shower turned up to the highest temperature possible. His wife hates sushi and would prefer just a warm shower. My argument to my friend was that it isn’t about liking the same things all the time. The analogy I used was of my favorite color combination, pink and gray. Independently they are meh, but I will build a wardrobe out of them together. A soul mate is the person you make a wardrobe (life) with.

I feel I should clarify

You take the good with the bad and make it work every day. And hopefully Palm Reader Anna is right and we live cancer free into our 90s.

I will leave you with lyrics to today’s Inspiration Song:

All you want is
What you can't have
And if you just look around man
You see you got magic
So just sit back relax
Enjoy it while you still have it
Don't look back on life man and only see tragic

Because you could be better than that
Don't let it get the better of you
What could be better than now
Life's not about what's better than
You can be better than that
Don't let it get the better of you
What could be better than now
Life's not about what's better

All the time while you're looking away
There are things you can do man
There's things you can say
To the the ones you're with
With whom you're spending your today
Get your gaze off tomorrow
And let come what may

Because you could be better than that
Don't let it get the better of you
What could be better than now
Life's not about what's better than
You can be better than that
Don't let it get the better of you
What could be better than now
Life's not about what's better

All I know is sometimes things can be hard
But you should know by now
They come and they go
So why, oh why
Do I look to the other side
'Cause I know the grass is greener but
Just as hard to mow

Inspiration Song…Better Than by John Butler Trio

Up With Montana

I am a Montana Grizzly. I love the University of Montana and of course it's football team. When I cannot get to Missoula for a game, which is NEVER, I catch it over internet radio. Mick Holien is the voice I trust the most for games and UM information. It is his voice I think of at this moment...

When the Grizzlies were on the brink of something good Mick would say "Good things happen to good people." I really truly with all of my heart and soul believe that to be true...today though, I have to say "Terrible things happen to good people."

There has been some chronicling of my ex relationship with tfTHG. As of today he is the lying, sneaking, snake, of a human being. Let's just call him what he is...a Terrible Person.

I received an email this morning via Facebook from a poor suspecting woman. We will call her Victim.

She stated very clearly "Hi Dawn, I am Terrible Person's wife. I am sure this message will likely catch you off guard, I apologize. Can you please tell me about the relationship you had with Terrible Person? Also, does he owe you any money?
 Thanks so much,
 Victim”

OH MY EFFING GOD!!!

That is right boys and girls. The snake is married. After standing in my kitchen in May telling me he would not EVER get married again.

So here's the shakedown.

 All out in the open, no secrets:

I dated Terrible Person beginning in May. We spent so much time together from May through November I never once thought there was a real possibility of him to being in a relationship with someone else.  When I started my job in August we spent even more time together as I didn’t want to drive all the way to my house every night. When I moved to my apartment in October he offered to keep things I couldn’t fit in my apartment in his garage.

We were in a relationship.

I was in love.

He was keeping a huge secret.

The relationship ended because a woman…Victim…posted “Enjoying date time!” and tagged Terrible Person.  I saw it and immediately went into information gather mode.

His response, after three days, was to send me an email…an EMAIL…stating “Sorry for being so distant, but there are some things I need you to be aware of. I am not interested in dating you.” He also went on to say “You have been a great friend and have my word you will get the money I owe in full very shortly. Please take care.”

It was over. I was hurt beyond measure. My life no longer became about him and his son. It became about my students and my gym time. I thought I won the gym in the separation…guess he moved to The Woodlands…

So there it is. He not only didn’t have the guts to face me to break off our relationship, but he did not have the intestinal fortitude to tell me the truth!

I am NOT the victim here. I thought I was for a while, but I am not. I will admit I freaked out a little and thank God for the wonderful people on this campus who listened and did not judge and offered me a hug.

The shame is there is a woman out there who really thought she was in a loving and trusting relationship. She thought she walked down the aisle to a man who was going to take care of her for the rest of her life. Now she is finding out he was with someone else.

I don’t know all the details, as she has not returned my response to the initial message.

I was honest. I told her everything about our relationship.

I have no reason not to tell the truth. I am NOT helping him save anything.

I have confided in people the situation and each person has a different way of handling it. None of those ways is how I have handled it. The way I am handling it is MY way.

 I do not need to talk to him.

He needs to talk to his wife. I am NOT his wife.

I was not the other woman. I was a woman in his life that he cared so little for he was willing to end a relationship, dating or friendship, via email.

Thank you dear friends for allowing me this time during your day to get something off my chest.

Terrible things DO happen to good people.

In reality this situation does not really affect me. I am done with that relationship and moving on in my life. In fact, I told a student 10 minutes before I received the message “Confidence is up. Dating is down.” I have worked my body into something to be proud of. The person I am inside matches. This one person who has been so awful to so many cannot and will not put an end to any of that.

As the words of the Montana fight song ring in my head…Up with Montana boys, down with the foe.  Good things are waiting for me and I would not want to be Terrible Person when he gets home tonight…

Inspiration Song...Up With Montana...U of M Fight Song.

The Boxer

I took a class last night that had SOOO much potential. It was about 20% cool and 80% odd.

Odd as in we ran six laps around the room for a warm-up odd. Really? The instructor couldn't be more creative than that? How about, well ANYTHING else? And everytime she said "Good Job" it sounded like "Woodstock"...I was confused.

That being said I will focus on the 20% cool.

It was a boxing cardio class offered at my gym.

I was so excited when I left the house. I've always wanted to box! However, I'm definitely NOT a fighter.

The most "fighting" I've done is thumb wrestling...I have long thumbs...I'm virtually unbeatable.

I usually find the path of least resistance and know I could not take a punch to my moneymaker...

...or babymaker for that matter!

I love boxing though. From head to toe it is a great workout. Mentally it can be used to get any aggression out from the day. Physically it is about getting your arms up and using your body to deliver a blow.

I can't explain how great it felt to feel the bag give a little when I delivered a left hook. I'm stronger on that side for some reason. It's really cool to look at my left hand right now and see a bruise too!

Mi Padre, Mighty, had his fascination start with my Grandad, his father. Grandpa Leo was a Gold Glove boxer way back in the day. I think it is super cool, I only wish we could find the gloves. They actually had GOLD gloves.

In turn Mighty started my fascination when I was not more than four-years old. I have vivid memories of him making FreightTrain and I keep our hands up and our elbows in. We would "bob and weave" all over the house giggling. To this day when Mighty walks by I instinctively get my hands up ready to go. Then one of us throws a dummy punch and says "boom!". And the other laughs. I love me some Mighty!

I realized a certain wrestling coach has moved into the "one of the family" category when I did the same to him a couple weeks ago. He's a good man, so welcome to the family brotha.

Some of you may remember birthdays 31 and 32.

Moonwalk Boxing Ring in the back yard!!!!!!

That sucker was awesome!

My favorite pic of the night is during my "match" with Uno. She was moving around me and I had my hands up...just as I was taught...ready to deliver a blow. I think I walloped her seconds later. Of course she kept throwing punches at my "babymaker". No idea why she doesn't want me to have those three boys! **Where is that sarcasm font when I need it?!

I sent the pic to Sandpile and she showed Mighty...he looked at it, simply said "that's my girl", and walked away beaming. Funny how simple things can make a pappa proud of his daughter...

I highly recommend the MBR for most adult parties. Not for children. In June the gloves are hot and the headgear is smelly, but it's a blast to bounce and knock your friends on their rears! I strayed this year from MBR and my attendance suffered.

So, back to class. I loved hitting the bag! It was such a release of energy and SO cool hearing the "pop".

Now JayVee (stolen nickname from TMAM) holds a class at the Houston Racquet Club I love! It's called Strike. It is a combination of boxing, self-defense, and TaeBo. Everyone wears 2.5 lb weighted gloves and carries a 6 lb stick. There is 60 fun filled minutes of constant movement of punches, kicks, and whacking at the air with a stick.

Gawd I miss that class!!!!

I was in her first class and there may have been six women. Each week brought another soul, and I understand the room is full now! JayVee is so amazing she deserves it.

I am definitely not a violent person. I may bonk a kid on the dome every once in a while, but not out of anger. Or if you are standing on my right side during a sporting event there is a good chance you will be slugged or grabbed in the arm during big plays.

Other than that, not violent.

I LOVED hitting that bag though. I will be trying another class to see if it’s a clash of expectations for my instructor or the class as a whole.

The bar HAS been set high by Ms. JayVee afterall.

If the class doesn't work out I think an iPod and a pair of cheap gloves will do the trick. When the instructor actually uses the words..."go ahead and do what you want" it can’t be that hard!

Inspiration Song..."The Boxer" by Carbon Leaf AND Simon and Garfunkel

Yes, two songs today. I have had Simon and Garfunkel in my head since I started writing this blog.

Remember my friends...keep your hands up and your elbows in!