So while reading my husband's blog last week and he was tagged and did one of those "the six things you didn't know about me". So being the tool I am I decided to follow since I haven't managed to get my other posting done that I was going to put up.
1.I did Ninpo Taijutsu for 5 years.
Yes for 5 years of my teenage life I spent anywhere between 4 and 5 nights a week in the dojo. I got started partially because a guy I was dating at the time was about to go back and partially because i was bored playing softball. I got in the door and was hooked. I started in the kids class and the first week was pretty banged up due to my first experience in shinai (bamboo swords) fighting but I loved it. I started out slow but quickly progressed. During the time in the dojo I gained a lot of self confidence and the feeling that I could actually defend myself if needed. For a short time we even had a demo team and did demonstrations in the area of self defense techniques. It was so much fun and there are many times I do miss it a lot.
2. During my undergrad degree my grades sucked.
Yeah I was the typical person that barely studies in high school, managed to get good grades. I studied a little but didn't have good study habits by the time I moved to Huntsville. It really showed when I hit calculus and my harder mechanical and aerospace engineering classes. I finally figured it out around the beginning of my last year but by that time the GPA damage was done. Now that I am working on my master's I know what to do to study and what not to do. I actually have and have maintained a 3.0 GPA for 3 years now!
3. I can't cook except from a box.
Yes unlike my wonderful husband W over at gamingwithbaby.com I do not cook! My version of cooking is getting a frozen pizza or making some box mix. I honestly just don't have the patience to really learn. I do like to cook when I have the house to myself and a pretty detailed recipe, but other than that I would just prefer to do heat and eat stuff from the freezer. W loves it when I do try and cook one thing in particular; hash brown casserole.
4. I play hockey but do not play golf. Unless you count putt-putt. the game has never really appealed to me. I keep getting told that I need to start playing but have never had the interest. Maybe one day I'll get a bug and go learn to play. Hey maybe it will help be able to actually shoot the puck! I have never thought that hitting a little white ball then going to get it just to hit it again ever appealed to me. Putt putt was always just more fun.
5. I do have my exhibitionist tendencies.
Like my favorite mommy blogger “The Redneck Mommy” at times I do have my wild tendencies. W can attest to what happens when I have one or two drinks. Also as much as I loath my weight and body image there are times I don't mind it. When I was sitting in a hot tub in San Diego with 5 guys (one Canadian Air force pilot who of course played hockey) and two other women and while I didn't look the best in my bikini (reference the one W showed on his post a few weeks ago) at the same time I didn’t look horrible. For having the 25 lbs weight fluctuations before I got pregnant then the 30lbs I gained when I was pregnant it wasn’t too bad. So basically give me a couple of drinks and if the mood is right I’m damn near up for anything.
6. I have a irrational fear of dentist.
As a kid I have very bad memories of every single trip to the dentist. I remember very well having fillings done and not being numb correctly and it hurt pretty bad. When I would say something about it the dentist just said not to worry about it. So for years I just sucked up the pain and dealt with it. When I moved out of the house I slowly stopped going. Then after a botched root canal I didn’t go again for many years. Earlier this year I consulted a dentist and they quoted me something I just couldn’t afford. So after a filling falling out of a chipped tooth I finally found a dentist close to my place that I like. The bad thing is that due to the severity of it she recommended the tooth be removed and I have an implant put in its place. So next week I start the long process of getting my teeth finally fixed after many years.
So that’s about it for now. Right now W, Butters and I are gearing up for the home opener of UAH hockey vs UT. We are so glad that UAH hockey is about to kick off here. Its been far too long or so it seems!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Date Night
As most people know date night takes on a whole new meaning when kids get introduced into the equation. W and I are lucky some times just to go out by ourselves once every few months.
Now to me date night has a new meaning as well. Now about once a month Butters and I have a “date” night of sorts. This normally doesn’t involve too much and isn’t expensive. Luckily a local mom and baby store in town A Nurturing Moment does monthly meet ups for all members of the family. Since W doesn’t really like to go to these things it’s a perfect time for just Butters and I to just go and do fun stuff. These meetings are either on Saturday mornings or Thursday evenings. Thursday nights are at 6pm and this is perfect for us. Generally I get home around 3 and change clothes then pack up the car and Butters and I go to a large play ground for about an hour or so. Then it’s off to grab dinner. Lately Chik-Fil-A is the place of choice due to not being too expensive but also not horrible health wise either. After a dinner of chicken nuggets, fruit and milk we head over to the store. Normally there are other little ones there as well so while I get to talk to other moms Butters gets to see other little people and play with the toys in the area. This goes on for about an hour then its time to go home. Since his bed time is normally around 7pm he is pretty tired and getting cranky after a very full afternoon. The Saturday meetings are similar but instead of Chick-Fil-A we go to a local bagel place and have mommy/son breakfast then head to the meeting and the park.
As much as I love date nights with W just watching hockey or the occasional movie, the nights with Butters are just as good in ways I never expected.
Now to me date night has a new meaning as well. Now about once a month Butters and I have a “date” night of sorts. This normally doesn’t involve too much and isn’t expensive. Luckily a local mom and baby store in town A Nurturing Moment does monthly meet ups for all members of the family. Since W doesn’t really like to go to these things it’s a perfect time for just Butters and I to just go and do fun stuff. These meetings are either on Saturday mornings or Thursday evenings. Thursday nights are at 6pm and this is perfect for us. Generally I get home around 3 and change clothes then pack up the car and Butters and I go to a large play ground for about an hour or so. Then it’s off to grab dinner. Lately Chik-Fil-A is the place of choice due to not being too expensive but also not horrible health wise either. After a dinner of chicken nuggets, fruit and milk we head over to the store. Normally there are other little ones there as well so while I get to talk to other moms Butters gets to see other little people and play with the toys in the area. This goes on for about an hour then its time to go home. Since his bed time is normally around 7pm he is pretty tired and getting cranky after a very full afternoon. The Saturday meetings are similar but instead of Chick-Fil-A we go to a local bagel place and have mommy/son breakfast then head to the meeting and the park.
As much as I love date nights with W just watching hockey or the occasional movie, the nights with Butters are just as good in ways I never expected.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
obsession
You know you have a problem with being a hockey addict when you get up early to go watch a 7am start time practice of your collegiate hockey team. Yeah that's how we started our day. Butters went absolutely nuts and could barely contain himself! So yeah its begun and we couldn't be happier. Only a few more weeks until the home opener at the VBC vs TN!
Friday, September 26, 2008
My furball Hornet
Many of my old friends from AC may remember Hornet the kitten that followed me in. He was a very sweet and loving cat but needed a ton of attention. So after much debate I found him a good home. He's left us tonight to go to a new home out in the country to play with other cats and have plenty of outside time. I love him dearly and had to do what's best for him. I'll always miss him and he'll always be my baby fur ball. Oh and looks like Sgt. Major never got his tail!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Rooptober Weekend recap
So its taken me a couple of days to recover and gather my thoughts concerning this weekend’s hockey tournament.
First off the drive to Columbus took about 8 hours as predicted. Not too bad and plenty of scenery to look at as we passed through the mountains and onto the plains. Overall the drive was long but wasn’t too bad. The only place we ran into traffic was merging onto I71 North.
We got to our hotel around 8:30 that night, went to grab something to eat then turned in for the night. The next day was going to be rough and we all knew it.
The morning of the tournament brought eating a good breakfast with the team then heading over to the rink to watch the first game. The teams were competitive but we thought we would be ok. Time to gear up for the first game came quickly and as we got ready we listened to very up beat music on a small stereo our coach had just bought. This got us all very excited and soon we hit the ice for the first of 3 games. The warm up was good but as the first period started you could tell there were a lot of nerves. As the game went on things got better and we ended up winning 4-0. This was a huge confidence booster going into the gladiator tournament and game against the Columbus bandits.
The gladiator was an event in itself. It was comprised of 4 events and we thought we had an ok shot at it but were surprised at how well everyone did. We easily won the speed round and accuracy and ended up winning the entire event.
Next was our game against the Columbus Bandits. This was the same team we played in the Nashville tournament and we were all excited to see how we would fare. Let me also say that I have a lot of respect for this team. Not only did they organize the entire Rooptober event but when we played them in Nashville they were very nice. They helped us even during the game and did not try and run the score up which was nice of them. So anyway we played them in a very hard fought battle and ended up winning 5-2. They were shocked and we got many comments afterwards saying that they were amazed at how much we had all improved.
After the game we headed over to Champs for dinner with all the teams then headed back to the hotel. We were only going to get a few hours of sleep before it was time to get up and get back to the rink for an 8:50 game time. Upon arriving to the arena we had a huge surprise. We found out at that point we won the gladiator competition and were going to the championship game even if we lost the last game.
Sunday’s games proved to be the hardest. We were drained from the day before and still had 2 games to play. First we had to play the Dayton fangs then in the championship game. The game against Dayton was tough and we pulled out a 4-3 win. Then with only a 30 minute break it was time for the game against BOB. We fought with all we had but in the end came up short and lost 4-1.
Overall the weekend was not a loss. I am extremely proud of how our team faired in the games. One of the biggest thrills for me was to see how far we have come in only 4 months. The women I skate with are great and I am so happy to be able to play on a hockey team with them.
Oh and before I forget; UAH vs TN rivalry will be renewed on October 24th. Everyone come out and support the Chargers and they kick off their season opener vs the University of Tennessee club hockey team. Then Saturday night Tennessee takes on Alabama in a club hockey match up in the VBC. Both should be very good high intensity games and I am looking forward to it all!
First off the drive to Columbus took about 8 hours as predicted. Not too bad and plenty of scenery to look at as we passed through the mountains and onto the plains. Overall the drive was long but wasn’t too bad. The only place we ran into traffic was merging onto I71 North.
We got to our hotel around 8:30 that night, went to grab something to eat then turned in for the night. The next day was going to be rough and we all knew it.
The morning of the tournament brought eating a good breakfast with the team then heading over to the rink to watch the first game. The teams were competitive but we thought we would be ok. Time to gear up for the first game came quickly and as we got ready we listened to very up beat music on a small stereo our coach had just bought. This got us all very excited and soon we hit the ice for the first of 3 games. The warm up was good but as the first period started you could tell there were a lot of nerves. As the game went on things got better and we ended up winning 4-0. This was a huge confidence booster going into the gladiator tournament and game against the Columbus bandits.
The gladiator was an event in itself. It was comprised of 4 events and we thought we had an ok shot at it but were surprised at how well everyone did. We easily won the speed round and accuracy and ended up winning the entire event.
Next was our game against the Columbus Bandits. This was the same team we played in the Nashville tournament and we were all excited to see how we would fare. Let me also say that I have a lot of respect for this team. Not only did they organize the entire Rooptober event but when we played them in Nashville they were very nice. They helped us even during the game and did not try and run the score up which was nice of them. So anyway we played them in a very hard fought battle and ended up winning 5-2. They were shocked and we got many comments afterwards saying that they were amazed at how much we had all improved.
After the game we headed over to Champs for dinner with all the teams then headed back to the hotel. We were only going to get a few hours of sleep before it was time to get up and get back to the rink for an 8:50 game time. Upon arriving to the arena we had a huge surprise. We found out at that point we won the gladiator competition and were going to the championship game even if we lost the last game.
Sunday’s games proved to be the hardest. We were drained from the day before and still had 2 games to play. First we had to play the Dayton fangs then in the championship game. The game against Dayton was tough and we pulled out a 4-3 win. Then with only a 30 minute break it was time for the game against BOB. We fought with all we had but in the end came up short and lost 4-1.
Overall the weekend was not a loss. I am extremely proud of how our team faired in the games. One of the biggest thrills for me was to see how far we have come in only 4 months. The women I skate with are great and I am so happy to be able to play on a hockey team with them.
Oh and before I forget; UAH vs TN rivalry will be renewed on October 24th. Everyone come out and support the Chargers and they kick off their season opener vs the University of Tennessee club hockey team. Then Saturday night Tennessee takes on Alabama in a club hockey match up in the VBC. Both should be very good high intensity games and I am looking forward to it all!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Columbus update
So a quick recap of today. We won the first game 4-0 then the second 5-2 against a team we played in the Nashville tourney. Now all we need to do is win tomorrow mornings game and we make it to the championship game! We did really well today and a lot of the beginners stepped up. I need to get some rest but I just had to post about such a great day because we didn't expect it at all!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
San Diego trip
So I just concluded another week long trip. This time to San Diego California. The training course as a whole was really good but there were a few things that I would definitely change.
The first thing that I whole heartedly advise is don't fly to an airframe structures design and analysis class. I found myself getting on the plane to come back and looking at the wings and fuselage in a different way. Granted ever since completeing my undergraduate classes in aerospace engineering flying wasn't exactly the fun thing it used to be but after this class I became even more aware of the underlying structure in the wings, fuselage and tail sections. It also didn't help that on Friday we watched a short video of a MD80 ( the same plane I was flying out of SAN the next day) falling apart on landing. The pilot miscalculated the maximum descent rate and was coming in about 80knts too fast and when he landed the gear completely disintegrated under him and the tail literally fell off. Granted this is one of those landings where you think ouch because you know the pilot realized it as soon as it happened but still didn't make me feel any better.
The class as a whole was very informative. The problem was it focused solely on fixed wing aircraft and never ventured in to the world of rotor-wing. The nice thing about it though was there were about 10 people in their early to late 20's that I was able to go and do stuff with outside of the class. The problem became once again that I was the only woman in the class. And flight especially still being a good old boys club made it hard to fit in at times. Most of the guys at first look seemed to think that there was no way I knew about any of this kind of thing. On the first day we had to go around the room and introduce ourselves including where we worked and back ground. Well most everyone's jaw dropped when I said that I did airframe design and analysis and was getting a master's in rotorcraft systems. later in the week I didn't have very many questions but I was able to add some input into how Army aviation handles things such as anaysis and repair of basic structures.
Another thing is what is so surprising about me playing hockey. I got almost as many stares about that as I did my major. Tuesday night a local ice rink had a 16 and up adult skate so I brought my skates and planned to go. On the way out of the hotel I got stopped by at least 4 people regarding why I had skates. I even ran into a couple of guys Friday night when I was headed up to my room after grabbing my skates from the trunk of my car. The looks were just of amazement and I just can't help but laugh at it all.
the hotel arrangements were just annoying and I left a long complaint card in my room about all the issues I had. First off they charged you $10 a day for internet. The problem was it never would work in my room. So if I wanted to access the internet I paid for I had to go downstairs to the lobby. The other problem was one of the people in the gift shop. I went in there one day twice during the training to get a drink each time and with company policy paid with a credit card. The second time I was there she asked me why I refused to pay with cash. Well it was really none of her damn buisness so i ended up filing a complaint with the front desk. It was just ridiculous that why i paid with a credit card was any of her concern.
I did get to do a couple of things that were fun though.
1.Go to in and out burger for the first time. W was right that place was the shiznit.
2.Skate in a different rink. Of course I now know to bring shin guards after bruising both my knees really well.
3.play a game of beach soccer with the guys and then going for drinks afterwards
4.meeting another woman that plays hockey and works for the same parent company.
But in the end its best to just get back home. I've missed my boys and am now not looking forward to the hockey tournament next weekend. I've been gone long enough. I'm ready to be home for a few months before I travel again! Now onto playing catchup with homework and spending time with the family.
The first thing that I whole heartedly advise is don't fly to an airframe structures design and analysis class. I found myself getting on the plane to come back and looking at the wings and fuselage in a different way. Granted ever since completeing my undergraduate classes in aerospace engineering flying wasn't exactly the fun thing it used to be but after this class I became even more aware of the underlying structure in the wings, fuselage and tail sections. It also didn't help that on Friday we watched a short video of a MD80 ( the same plane I was flying out of SAN the next day) falling apart on landing. The pilot miscalculated the maximum descent rate and was coming in about 80knts too fast and when he landed the gear completely disintegrated under him and the tail literally fell off. Granted this is one of those landings where you think ouch because you know the pilot realized it as soon as it happened but still didn't make me feel any better.
The class as a whole was very informative. The problem was it focused solely on fixed wing aircraft and never ventured in to the world of rotor-wing. The nice thing about it though was there were about 10 people in their early to late 20's that I was able to go and do stuff with outside of the class. The problem became once again that I was the only woman in the class. And flight especially still being a good old boys club made it hard to fit in at times. Most of the guys at first look seemed to think that there was no way I knew about any of this kind of thing. On the first day we had to go around the room and introduce ourselves including where we worked and back ground. Well most everyone's jaw dropped when I said that I did airframe design and analysis and was getting a master's in rotorcraft systems. later in the week I didn't have very many questions but I was able to add some input into how Army aviation handles things such as anaysis and repair of basic structures.
Another thing is what is so surprising about me playing hockey. I got almost as many stares about that as I did my major. Tuesday night a local ice rink had a 16 and up adult skate so I brought my skates and planned to go. On the way out of the hotel I got stopped by at least 4 people regarding why I had skates. I even ran into a couple of guys Friday night when I was headed up to my room after grabbing my skates from the trunk of my car. The looks were just of amazement and I just can't help but laugh at it all.
the hotel arrangements were just annoying and I left a long complaint card in my room about all the issues I had. First off they charged you $10 a day for internet. The problem was it never would work in my room. So if I wanted to access the internet I paid for I had to go downstairs to the lobby. The other problem was one of the people in the gift shop. I went in there one day twice during the training to get a drink each time and with company policy paid with a credit card. The second time I was there she asked me why I refused to pay with cash. Well it was really none of her damn buisness so i ended up filing a complaint with the front desk. It was just ridiculous that why i paid with a credit card was any of her concern.
I did get to do a couple of things that were fun though.
1.Go to in and out burger for the first time. W was right that place was the shiznit.
2.Skate in a different rink. Of course I now know to bring shin guards after bruising both my knees really well.
3.play a game of beach soccer with the guys and then going for drinks afterwards
4.meeting another woman that plays hockey and works for the same parent company.
But in the end its best to just get back home. I've missed my boys and am now not looking forward to the hockey tournament next weekend. I've been gone long enough. I'm ready to be home for a few months before I travel again! Now onto playing catchup with homework and spending time with the family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)