Bear Gets His Kicks

Bear participated in his taekwondo school's tournament today. We were there for about an hour and walked out with two awards. Pretty big accomplishment, I'd say! (I, personally, didn't win any awards, you understand, but I did get to carry the trophy to the car.)

The thing is, it is a miracle that we got there. The owner and master instructor owns schools in two locations. He told me that the tournament was going to take place in the other location than the one we usually attend. We've never been to that school and have only a vague idea of its location. I went to the school's website prior to leaving the house in order to get the address. Imagine my surprise when I saw our school's address given as the tournament location!

I asked the Bear about this change of plans. Our conversation went something like this (please read the "Me" parts in an incredulous tone and the "Bear" parts in your best "Well, duh, Mom" voice):

Me: Didn't Master G tell us that the tournament was going to be at the other school?

Bear: Yeah.

Me: It says here that it is going to be at your school. Did you know about this?

Bear: Yeah.

Me: When did all of this change?

Bear: I don't know. He told you it was going to be at the other location a long time ago. (Meaning that I should've just assumed that things had changed. I guess I should brush up on my clairvoyance skills. After all, how could it possibly be anyone's fault but my own that I didn't know about the change of plans?)

But once we got where we were supposed to be, and on time, too, everything went okaay. By that I mean that when the Bear did his form he was doing great until he slipped and fell. The Bear is so good at forms, though, that he still came in second place! Incredible!

Forms were followed by sparring. This is the event that always has my heart in my throat. Before the event the students stand around in little groups talking amongst themselves while watching other competitions. These kids are friends, or at least friendly, with each other. In a matter of minutes they will become warrior opponents kicking and punching each other for all they're worth. Understand now why I'm always such a basket case during the proceedings? I am the Bear's mama and everyone knows you don't mess with a Mama Bear! And I don't care how much I like you or your mama either!

I took several videos of the 2 round match but I watched them and found things in each that I don't want to share. The background noise is deafening at intervals, including places where I am yelling at my child telling him to get in there and be aggressive, not some of my finer moments if taken out of context.

But "get in there" he did and you can see the video of him being awarded first place. The reason it was taken from behind is because there was another contest mat in front of him and in order for me to get a decent picture I would've had to have been standing on that mat with other teen-aged gladiators who were about to be unleashed. They had protective gear whereas I had none. Besides, I had a new camera to protect. :)

Here is a photo of the Bear, the first place trophy, and his proud instructor (with school emblem removed). Ah, Grasshopper! You have learned well! Notice the red targets where his opponents are to punch or kick in order to score points.

In my own defense I would like to explain our reasoning for allowing our children to take a martial arts class.

• Master G is a wonderful Christian man who does not teach our children anything that contradicts the Bible. His motto could be "real men read the Bible."
• Taekwondo is a self-defense course and is only to be used for such except in controlled tournaments such as today. The only way to get practice is to be aggressive with each other in a non-threatening environment (which doesn't exist when there are Mama Bears on the premises).
• It teaches discipline, flexibility, and strength. (I personally think it is important to have your child under your own discipline before somebody teaches him moves he can use to beat you up every time he disagrees with you! I've met a few little kids in class that I wouldn't want to take home because their parents think it the coach's job to restore discipline to their family. Honey, if you can't do it, some other adult isn't going to be able to do it either.)
• It is the Clark Kents of the world (such as our Bear), and not the Lex Luthors, who make the best Superman-types!
• It makes you a babe magnet! Or that's what I heard today (from a man who has a black belt, a wife and four small daughters). I'm hoping this won't be the case for many years yet. Still, having a young man with a black belt courting your daughter might make some dad feel safer sending his daughter out into the world with said young man. I'll let you know how this works out in about 20 years or so.

The Camera Doesn't Lie

I'm so thankful to have a camera of my own again so that I capture the moment. But I'm not too fond of anyone capturing my moments because I've never liked pictures of myself. I'm sure this is something that all of us feel at some time or other. Suffice it to say that this is not something new to me. I have camera phobia. Some reasons are legitimate, and some obviously are not. But there it is and I won't elaborate further.

Today we had our Puppy Play-date as announced in yesterday's post. Yes, it went well. Yes, the dogs were happy to see each other. Yes, Pepper is tired now (hooray!). And yes, I had two shadows following me everywhere again. It was great!

I took pictures to document the day. At one point I forgot myself entirely and asked Pastor Dad to get my camera to take a picture of the dogs and me. Once the pictures were uploaded I watched the slide show results. Mistake!

There were a couple of pictures of me lying on the couch with the dogs fussing nearby. THAT'S WHAT I LOOK LIKE?!!! Good grief!

Okay, first, I've got a cold. That accounts for the red nose and the fact that I was lying down to begin with. Second, like I said, I was lying down. That accounts for my hair and clothes being all mussed up. Third, I was looking downward toward the dogs because they were fighting over who got the honor of napping on my legs. Does looking downward account for the sagging cheeks and double chins? No, probably the 20 extra pounds that I've been unable to lose would account for that. Again, good grief! We're at the beginning of the holiday season, not the end! I shudder to think what the shutter will reveal once the holidays are over and all the fudge is gone! (For most people the holidays are about gifts. For me they are about goodies.)

All of this made me think of the verses in James about the man who sees his face in the mirror and then goes his way forgetting what he really looks like (cf. James 1:23-25). He's a hearer and not a doer. Cameras are a lot like mirrors. They don't lie about how you look at a certain moment. Only if you are (un)fortunate enough to be "caught" will you have visual proof of reality because unlike mirrors, photos tend to hang around awhile for all to see. Just go to any Cracker Barrel restaurant and look at all of the old ones on the walls! Photographs never go away. They are just sold at auctions!

The Lord reminded me of some things that He'd pointed out recently in His Word. In His quiet voice He asked me, "Did you forget about what I showed you that you look like spiritually? I KNOW you heard me when I told you about your blemish (I think He actually said "sin") marring your spiritual appearance! Are you going to do anything about it?"

Well, I've got two options facing me physically. I can either break all the mirrors and cameras in the hopes of never seeing myself again or I can start back exercising. The first option won't change me, it will only change my perception of me. I'd have to put blinders over the eyes of everyone else to keep them from seeing the real me though. The exercise option would actually work to fix the problem whereas the first one would just pretend no problem exists.

I've got the same options facing me spiritually. I can either ignore the Lord's convicting Holy Spirit or I can repent and allow Him to help me make necessary changes in my life.

I'll catch you later. There's work to be done!

And no, I won't show you the picture!

That Was Then. This Is Now

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Pooh Revisited

When we last viewed pictures of the Princess and the Bear frolicking among the Winnie the Pooh characters in the Hundred Acre Wood, they were 7 years and approximately 1 month old respectively. Someone alerted me to the fact that another member of the family is connected with Pooh these days. That would be Fergie. (You do remember Princess Fergie of Great Britain, right? Well, this is not THAT Fergie.)

Meet the Princess's Fergie, not Princess Fergie. She used to live with us until the Princess married and took her dog, Pepper's playmate, with her. (Fergie always did a wonderful job of keeping Pepper in line, even though Pepper is 10 times Fergie's weight. A "Puppy Play date" is scheduled for tomorrow to reacquaint the doggy cousins.)

Fergie used to have long hair. Said hair got unruly so she went to the beauty parlor for a bath and grooming.

She is part chihuahua and part terrier. The little scrapper once looked more like her terrier kin than her chihuahua ones. it was a bit of a shock to actually find a chihuahua body under all that hair!

Someone used to have a picture from her long-haired days on their blog, but I couldn't find it tonight. I'm not even sure who it was. Senior moment, folks. They are coming more often these days.

We used to jokingly call the puppy pair "Shaggy and Scooby."

The groomer tied a Pooh bandanna around Shaggy's, er, Fergie's neck. The Princess held her in an attempt to get a good picture of it. No such luck. Fergie was not in a Glamour Shots mood. She seemed a bit too humiliated to even have her picture taken at all.

Even Bear spent a few moments trying to get the pup to cooperate.

I finally managed to get a blurry shot of the bandanna. A bouncing Tigger seems appropriate for both dog and character.

It has gotten quite chilly here in our neck of the woods. I wonder if Fergie questions why they took her hair and gave her an inadequate blanket in its place. I also wonder if Pepper will recognize her little buddy tomorrow. Guess I'll find out then. I promise not to make this a saga. :)

We Remember

It is November 11th. It is 11 o'clock. We remember.

Two of my family's doughboys! (But just two. There were more, including my husband's grandfather.)