Michael Jordan, I ain't.

Today, the basketball house league that my youngest daughter plays in had their end-of-season parents vs. kids game, and because I am a sport (and a bit of a masochist, it seems) I took the opportunity to face on a group of 10-12 year olds with more athletic ability in their pinkie fingers than I have in my, well, everything.

I played for three periods, then had to quit, because having your mother quit halfway through a bonding experience HAS to be less traumatic than watching your mother drop dead of a coronary in the middle of a gymnasium.  I also developed one hell of a cramp in my right leg, as my calf decided it was going on strike for the rest of the day.

But overall it was a fun experience and I learned a few things:

- I am not as bad at basketball as I imagined myself to be. Oh, I'm not even close to being good, but I did manage one basket (was I stoked? Mister, you better believe I was STOKED) and not once did I find myself curled up in the fetal position or running with my arms covering my head.

I used to have what is referred to elementary school phys. Ed. circles as an intense "FEAR OF THE BALL".  I credit three years of kick-boxing for helping me get over that.  Once you've taken a round-house kick to the face, a mere basketball is a nuzzle from a kitten.

- my kid is fast.  Like, I knew theoretically that she was fast, but after being tasked with actually having to keep up with her, she is FAST.  Holy crap.

- I am old, fat and out of shape.  The old part, I am totally cool with. The fat part, well, I'm still unlearning a lot of toxic shit, but am gradually becoming at peace with my shape and size.  The out of shape part is not effing cool.  Not cool at all.

So I'm going to get on a new workout plan. I've been swimming lanes three times a week, but I think I'm going to hit some Boxing Day sales and find myself an MP3 player and dedicate myself to walking again, as well as joining kickboxing again, once a week at first.  Hopefully if my schedule can handle it I can move up to twice.

My goal is to get back to a similar fitness level as I was before the whole Cancer thing.  Wish me luck.

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In other news, the original title to this post was going to be "Michael Jordan, I ain't (Hal Jordan, maybe)" as I was thinking Hal Jordan played the old guy on Evening Shade, but turns out that's Hal Holbrook, I think, and Hal Jordan is the secret alias of the Green Lantern.  So, I figured that comparing myself to a superhero rather than a professional athlete wasn't so much self-deprecating (which is what I was going for) as just kind of arrogant, and that I needed another option.

I considered changing it to Tracy Jordan, but worried that may have been appropriation, and in light of recent events, pretty fucking insensitive.

So I toddled off to the Goògle to search "Famous people with the last name Jordan" and you know what? There are way too many porn stars with that name, which is something I never needed or wanted to know, but now I do and you do too.

You're welcome.

This day was nothing short of ass-kicking awesome.

Okay.. one or two things could have made it better.. aside from the obvious improvement that ending the day with some dirty-hot yet wholly monogamous monkey sex would have made, it could have been better if I was able to get my mom the gift I wanted to get for her birthday tomorrow.. I have a contingency, but well.. you can't win em all, I guess.

Otherwise, this days' been pretty flippin' fantastic.  First, I just felt ridiculously cute all day.  I looked hot, okay?  It's not everyday that I can honestly say I look at myself and go 'Damn, you're SMOKIN' HOT today!'.  Today was one of those days.

On my travels to try and track down my mom's birthday present, I picked up a movie I have been wanting to see for some time now, Slap Shot with Paul Newman, for the ridiculously low price of a lousy six bucks.  Suh-Weet!  My dad's been telling me about this one for years.  Despite not being much of a sports fan, aside from hockey which I still only watch sporadically, I love sports movies with a passion on level with the passion with which I hate talking-animal movies.  The whole sport-movie genre is essentially a genre of underdog stories, and if there is one thing I love, it's a good underdog.  

I got the call that Wal-Hell tracked down some winter tires that will fit my car and they should be here for Friday, which is just in time, since I have an impromptu road trip for Tuesday now...

I got an email that I won tickets to see Finger Eleven in Kitchener next week through CHARTAttack.  Oh, and a complete discography (oooha oooha!) After figuring out that I was NOT out of the country that day, I messaged a friend of mine and invited her, which turned out to be a more fantastic idea than I could have possibly imagined as a) she's never been to a concert and B) she was planning to see these guys in the spring so I was all like "WELL LET'S FUCKIN' GOOOOOO THEN!" which made said friend uber-happy, thus in turn making ME uber-happy because shit, man, who doesn't love a road trip and a concert? A FREE concert, no less?

Even better, when I asked the ex-hub and the new-wife about taking the girls overnight that night, they were all 'Oh, we were hoping to keep them one night next week.  Tuesday sounds good.'  How easy was THAT?

So yeah, next Tuesday I'm going to get off work, drive 2.5 hours to Kitchener, attend a concert, come home and work the next day.  Because I am THAT effin' Hardcore.

Lastly, I got included in a Johnny Cash themed Etsy Treasury.  See that one down in the bottom right hand corner?  Those are my Johnny Cash coasters.  You bet your arse they are.  I feel like I've arrived in the crafting world.

Oh and since I haven't mentioned it in a bit, in a little over a week I will be out of this cold damp Canadian winter and basking in the all-inclusive glow of the Playa Dorada in Puerto Plata with two of my other best friends.  That in and of itself kicks a whole lot of ass.

Now I'm sitting here facebooking and blogging, and my hair is purple and I am nice and sore from getting my ass kicked at kick-boxing tonight, sore in the good way as it was a hell of a workout.  Got to use my Comic Life program for the first time in the four-someodd years I've had this computer, and oh yeah.. sleep is good too.  night night, y'all.

WWWednesday - In Sickness and In Health plus "Thwarted"

Weighed in today, down 3.5 lbs, which was pretty encouraging, however I think some of this could be sick-loss, as I've been feeling pretty craptacular this week.

I tracked for the first three days this week, Wednesday, Thursday and part of friday.  Even though I didn't track all of Friday I think I still managed to stay within my point limit.  Tracking for the rest of the week fell apart but obviously it wasn't a total loss. 

Saturday I walked for nearly three hours during the Zombie walk.  Sammi's mom had taken us out for lunch at a Sushi restaurant.  I ate until I was satisfied.  The platter we got was mostly sashimi (I think) so once all the rolls were gone, there wasn't much I was tempted to pick at.  We hit a McD's after the Zombie walk, and I ordered a burger.  It's pretty amazing to think that a few years ago I'd still be hungry after a combo, and now I'm good with a double burger and a coffee.  Crazy.

Sunday we went for Lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.  I was still feeling shitty (the cold I've been bitching about this week).  I had ordered A triple decker grilled cheese with fries, and I guess this could have proved disastrous, but I ended up having maybe half the fries, and half the sandwich.  The second half of the sandwich ended up going home and becoming my dinner.

The next couple of days I was on my ass with this cold, so I was basically subsisting on toast and soup, and more toast.  I loves me some toast.  I bought this friggin' "Just Peanuts" peanut butter a while ago, and all I have to say is Peanut butter just ain't peanut butter without a crap-ton of hydrogenated palm oil and other chemicals.  Just peanut Peanut butter seems oddly unnatural. 

In light of today's good fortune, I'm taking another crack at tracking this week.  Of course with Halloween coming up, that's gonna be a challenge.  One joy of being a single parent is that by taking my kids out, I don't have to shell out. Because I don't have to shell out, I don't have to buy candy.  So that's one obstacle out.  Because the ex-hubster is in the picture, parentally-speaking, I may be able to send the girl's halloween haul to HIS house (although their stepmom, having similar weight-loss goals, may object!), but at any rate, that potentially gets rid of another road-block.  I also have a party to attend, but if I decide to come home, I'll be DD-ing, which means my 'liquid points' will be minimal.

Ugh.  Speaking of road-blocks, I got bag-blocked this week.  No, it's not as dirty as it sounds.  Since July, my exercise regimen (although I use regimen loosely.. ) has included twice-weekly one-hour kick-boxing classes.  I was surprised at how enthusiastically I've taken to this sport, and within weeks I was making plans to clean out my shed (partly done) and install a punching bag.  Uncle Bucks had one in their front window, originally priced at $80.  With my summer bonus, I hemmed and hawed and ended up buying a bike instead, since at that point the shed was still a disaster, and I didn't even own gloves.

Some time went by and I decided when the next quarter's bonus came in I was definitely going to do it.  I went in last week and inquired about the weight and confirmed the price.  I had seen others on Kajiji for around $50 so my plan was to haggle with them, as it had been in the window for quite some time.  They told me it had been marked down to $45.

So a day or two later got the cash out of the bank and after work I ran, panting into the store as the young guy I'd spoken to previously was putting the second-hand bikes back inside the store in preparation for closing time and declared "I've come for the bag!"  to which he informs me that he just sold it earlier that day.

"ARE YOU FRIGGIN' KIDDING ME?" I yelled in the middle of the street.  Yes'm right there on the sidewalk.  Damn thing had been in the front window for no less than three months, and someone buys it out from under me the day I finally decide to suck it up and shell out the cash. This is what I get for being cheap.

So back to Kajiji I go, while I can still kind of afford it.  Barring that, there's always Christmas.  *wink, nudge*

My quick recap and thoughts on tonights UFC

So my attempt to go see some local live music with a friend tonight went kind of kaput as a result of some poor planning on my part.. finding out when the show started for instance.

In an attempt to kill some time we ended up at a pub where they were playing the UFC thing.  I've only watched once or twice before but I have a few thoughts.

That fight with the black dude in the white shorts and the white dude in the black shorts, well, I think that decision was a pity vote that stemmed as a result of that particularily nasty kick to the junk that white-shorts dude took. Plus he didn't keep his hands up.  You need to keep your hands UP, white-shorts guy.

Even I know that.