YUM.

First of all, the weather is fan-effing-tabulous... downright chilly (okay, 65 degrees means I've gone soft from my Chicago days) and windy (breezy) and wet (sprinkling) and grey (yes, clouded over). Makes me want a sweater! So I'm curled up in bed in my Relson Gracie sweatshirt and some pj pants, with the window open and the ceiling fan on to keep from overheating. LOL-- at least I can pretend we have fall, before it gets back up to 90 or something tomorrow! Been drinking Earl Grey with cream and generally fantasizing about weather cold enough to cuddle in... leek pie with Jarlsburg cheese... butternut squash soup...roast pork loin...mmmm!

Second-- had a great day. Didn't start so well, what with sleeping through Prof. Donald Park's morning class by accident, but I forgive myself for skipping a class. Was my friend Christina's birthday so bought her some flowers and an Italian creme cake. Spent the day productively, reading a transcript and chatting with law enforcement... had some good constructive guardpass criticism from Christy, our 3 stripe brown, at lunch... then after working pretty late, I threw myself and some extra endorphins into the night class's sparring session.

Only actively sparring for about 20 min, but I was happy with how I did. I was thinking about hip movement, grips and grip fighting, and doing a different side escape (needling through and getting to the knees.) Head position was a big plus for me too, enabling me to drive forward and resist reversals. I even got swept but did some kind of hip-switchy thing before I landed and apparently did it well enough to get some kudoes from the peanut gallery sitting on the heavy bags along the wall. Ultimately I succeeded in getting to knee on belly, went for a choke (poorly) but they defended-- actually first they put their far hand on my knee and like a yutz, I said in an ominous voice "sure, put that hand on my knee" so I scared them out of my armbar-- but they defended the choke with the near hand so I yanked it up and got the armbar for a tap [cue chorus of angels singing]. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Granted, he was a whitebelt, but he's been training longer than me AND has about 50 lbs on me. And to his credit he was very sweet afterwards, told me I'm tough, etc etc. I was so happy, I had to text Donald on my way home and wax poetic about how much I loved him for teaching me that series.

I can't explain why but I am really happy and excited about life right now. It's a combination of enjoying my work, being healthy, having fun interactions with friends, my husband loving on me, and of course as always, jiu jitsu. Maybe I'm just grateful to be alive and soaking up every precious minute.

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