The Week In Review

1. I watched Miracle and was reminded of why I love hockey so much. "Do you believe in miracles?!" Why yes, yes I do. I also love the hearing the Boston accent that the BU players have. I do realize that it sounds strange and rather uneducated, but it's home.
2. I purchased a new winter purse. With the weather changing, it was time to put away the adorable canvas tote dotted with summertime tulips. I opted for this simple, classic hobo bag with individual compartments to make finding the cell phone, lip gloss, keys, etc...easier. Well, the organizational efforts of this purse doesn't do a thing in helping me reach my cell phone before it goes to voicemail. I think it's just my personal curse. I will never answer my cell phone in time. So the two call rule still applies. If I don't answer the first time, call again. I'll still be rummaging around my purse.
3. It is warmer outside than in my house. For some reason the heater will not turn on. I did check that panel thingy on my, uhm....furnace? Is that what it's called? Yeah, that thing. I'm not really sure what I was looking for but the landlord said to check. So I checked. Looks normal to me. So then my landlord said he was going to send a maintenance man over to check it out. I left work early on Friday to be here when he arrived. Never showed. I talked to the landlord again and he said that he was going to come over on Saturday morning and see what the problem was. I went to the gym for a few hours and was anticipating coming home to a nice warm house. Nope. No such luck. I don't think he ever came. So I'm sitting here wrapped in my Batman blanket with just my fingers poking out, typing this blog. Some of the effects of having a freezing house are... A) not being able to get out of bed in the morning. The temperature of the air inside of the covers is 800 times more appealing that the temperature outside of the covers. I just lay there thinking about how the bathroom is something like 5 miles away and how I'm going to have to stand there shivering for a couple minutes waiting for the water in the shower to heat up. I am constantly late to work because it's impossible to face the cold. I know it's there waiting for me like a kick in the chucks and I just can't handle it. B) When I have a minute to myself to get things done around my house, nothing gets done because I tell myself that I'm just going to warm up under my covers for 5 minutes and then I'll be ready to be productive. Who am I kidding?! Seriously, I do this to myself almost everyday. And everyday I think that this is the day that I have enough willpower to not stay in bed when the 5 minutes is up. So my dishes are still dirty, my laundry still sits in heaping mounds on the floor, and I'm starting a dust farm. But I have read alot of books. C) The length of my shower has increased significantly. I do understand the importance of conserving water, but I just can't seem to bring myself to get out of the steamy confines of my shower. If I finally get over one obstacle, I will inevitably face another one. One that is larger than the first. But once I'm out of the shower it's all business from there. There is no dinking around my house wondering what I should wear. The first thing in my hand is the item that will drape my body for the rest of the day.
4. I know you all were waiting for me to give you an update on what I've been learning at Absolute MMA. I put it a little farther down on the list to tease you. This week was awesome. For some reason the turnout at the gym was really low. Only about 4 or 5 people were showing up for the workouts. It was great because I got a ton of personal attention. I did Thai Boxing 5 times this week. My kicks are getting better. My high kick is looking alright. I'm having alot of trouble with the slight differences between the rib kick and the kick to the diaphragm. I stopped anchoring my lead foot and have really learned where my balance should be when I'm kicking and getting back into my fight stance. I also had trouble leading with my hips and I'm finally getting that somewhat down. It's amazing how much more power you have when you incorporate all the little things and do it right. I did Jiu Jitsu 4 times this week. I jacked up my arm a little bit on Friday night, so I just watched and learned on Saturday morning. This week we did a progression of moves. It went from you having someone in your guard to mission control, zombie, chill dog, kung fu move, jiu claw, and then the submission move where you can break their arm. But I forgot the name of that one. It sounded foreign and I can't ever remember those ones. I kind of wonder if those names are made up by our gym. They don't seem like names that the Brazilians would have thought up. I also learned a pretty awesome sweep and another arm bar for when your opponent counters your sweep attempt. I can't tell you how sweet this stuff is. I just wish I could do it when I'm rolling with someone. I feel like I'm just spastic and am just trying to counter the other persons attempts to submit me. I can't wait for the day when I can really recognize opportunities to use what I've learned when I'm rolling. It's only been a couple of weeks so I just need to be more patient. My instructor really believes in me, so I'm just going to have to go and get more mat time.
5. I love October! I love the MLB playoffs. I love an exciting series. It's nail-biting when it involves your favorite team, but still awesome. The Red Sox have come from behind to push a game 7 in the ALCS. I'm convinced that the reason they have been winning is because I've been watching the games. I watched last Friday night when they won, and then wasn't able to watch the next 3 games. Mainly because my commitment to my training is intense and I don't own a TV. But I watched game 5 and 6. I didn't get in front of a TV until the bottom on the 1st inning of game 6. It was when the bases were loaded and there were two outs. I saw J.D. Drew get up to the plate and groaned internally. I was cursing his name all during the regular season. He certainly wasn't a clutch player in my book. But I said a prayer in my heart that he would please just get one person in. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving all those men stranded on base. I was channeling my Jedi powers into him and he belted that ball right out of the park! GRAND SLAM!!! All because I was watching the game. And using my Jedi powers.
6. I think I'm finally kicking my Diet Coke habit. I don't feel the desperate need to have that explosion of carbonation down my throat. I only had one can of the sweet nectar this week. Who knew it would be that easy? I amaze myself sometimes.
7. Move over blue shirt! Boss came into work wearing a textured khaki dress shirt and tie this week. So blasted hot! I don't know when it happened, but he has become the most attractive man that I have ever met. Sometimes I want to put him in one of those choke holds I've been learning, but 99% of the time he is just wicked cool. I wish that I knew him better. When we're at work we talk about work stuff. When we're outside of work we talk about our business. I wish we could have time to just talk about nothing. I love the stories he tells me occasionally. It makes my day when he opens up a little. I know he's an incredible person. I don't want to force him to open up, but he won't volunteer information either. I hope someday that changes. It's hard to commit to liking him because I don't know him on a personal level. But then I get scared about not liking him because I'm afraid that I'd be letting this amazing person slip away from me. I can't explain it. I doesn't even make sense to me.
8. I received some interesting bruises this week. One looks like a boxing glove. Fitting. Another looks like the profile of a toilet. I have a kitten, a flip flop, and a summer squash on my left arm. My right arm has a pancake syrup bottle and a star.
9. I've been listening to The Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack this whole week and now want to watch it again. I saw it with my older brother Mark, on Thanksgiving of 2002. We both loved it and immediately went out and bought the soundtrack. I miss Mark. I kind of want to cry thinking about how much I miss him. Christmas can't come soon enough.
10. I'm so excited about the snow! Seeing the mountains tops covered makes me itch to get on my board. Sweet Action needs to see some action! She's been hidden in the basement all summer. Seabiscuit was loaned out last year and hasn't been returned. I need to get him back.
11. I got hit on at Chili's last night. It's amazing how well I can come up with excuses not to give someone my number. And it sounds real, even though I'm lying my guts out. I don't believe in dishonesty, but in these cases I think it's alright. But I thought about how easy it has become to shake a guy. I don't hesitate at all anymore to tell a guy that I'm taken. Oh! The guy last night persisted in asking for my number even though I told him that I was seeing someone! What, did he think I was lying or something?

Ok, I think that's all I got for now. I need to rush over to my brother's house to catch Game 7! Thanks for your time.