Wanting

The first time I seriously looked at the test requirements for 1st-kyu, I had a mini panic attack. Blends, attacks, and techniques came together in a dyslexic blur of words on the page—why were there so many? There were those requirements that touched upon my weaknesses: koshinage and high falls and all these ushiro-waza that I was certain to brain-freeze on. More henka-waza with three technique requirements from different attacks, and I couldn’t even think of a single way to make it work. All those things that I was forgiven for at a lower rank, and all those I avoided practicing because I thought I had time to push them aside. The mere thought of what I couldn’t do won over all that I had already accomplished, stripping away my courage like a coat of old paint, exposing the ugly fear underneath. How could I have gone so far and feel like I know so little? Why does every step toward Shodan from this point on feel like a backtracked step away? Confused and discouraged, I tucked away the test sheet, ratty and worn from my notes and studies for previous ranks. I always carried it with me but opted not to think about it much as life took me on its customary ebb and sway of social events and busy schedules. But the time to test is upon me; Sensei doesn’t remind you three times without expecting some progress.

Recently, there was a health fair at my company, and I opted to take the usual assessment tests such as BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol-screening, and lung-capacity measurements. I was the picture of good health, even after over five years of being sedentary at a computer for 8-10 hours a day, and I realized it’s because I took time after work to practice aikido and keep my body running strong. I must not give up and deviate from this path that has proven to be so good for me. At the health fair, they also raffled off some fun prizes such as first-aid kits, car-emergency road kits, and—among the grand prizes—a Kindle e-reader. It was the only prize I wanted. The Kindle I bought for myself had been stolen not too long ago, and as I dropped my raffle ticket into the fishbowl, I had the feeling that it would be the prize I would win. It was there just to be claimed by me, one out of the hundreds of other employees who entered. Funny how intuition works, because at the end of the work day when they sent out the list of winners, my name showed up next to the Amazon Kindle.

As winter approaches, the days grow shorter, and it feels like you have less time. When I step out of the dojo after the hour of regular training, the moon shines brightly, and the sky is peppered with stars. I spent a summer forgetting, neglecting, enjoying the warm rays of the sun without thinking ahead, without preparing. The long journey lies ahead with me working through techniques on the test sheet, sweating through the night long past regular class, shivering through the cold months as the dojo loses its noontime heat, getting ready. Even now, writing about it is hard; it makes me commit for it to happen, making it real. But sometimes, despite the odds, you throw in your ticket, and you enter. Sometimes, the test is not about the knowledge of techniques, but the ability for you to surpass your insecurities, conquer your fears, and better yourself in the process. Sometimes, you’ve just plain got to want it badly enough. So I make myself look at all my Sempai, the ones who wear the brown belt with the black stripe. And I know that it will soon be mine.

TeleNav Picnic at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Every year, my company hosts a company picnic, and this year brought us to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Here are the highlights.

Beach view

Boardwalk

Live band and hula to be enjoyed over a BBQ lunch

Unlimited Rides wristband

The Loof Carousel was built in 1911. This year marks its 100th anniversary.

Having fun on the carousel. There is a place where you can grab rings as your horse swings past. You can try and toss the metal rings into the clown's mouth as you come around.

View from the Ferris wheel

A soak in the ocean

Interesting to see how these sea lions use high tide to find a sleeping spot.

Dinner at The Dolphin

Tung's ready to wash that lunch BBQ down with a seafood dinner.

Tung's clam chowder

My crab sandwich

Tung's Fish & Chips

 

Mmm, can't resist garlic fries on the menu!

Bed Upgrade and New Dining Table

Over a year after we've tolerated squeezing onto a Full-sized bed for the sake of saving up for house repairs, Tung and I finally decided to upgrade to a bigger bed. We spent a while debating on the best size to move up to. Both our parents, being relatively normal and petite Asian size, are sleeping on Queen beds, which in reality is only 6 inches bigger than a Full. That means each of us gets 3 extra inches after the upgrade. Hmm, that doesn't sound like that great of a deal. Buying into the American mentality, "The more you buy, the more you save," we decided that if we're going to upgrade, might as well aim big. After all, a King doesn't cost that much more than a Queen, but you get a whopping 18-22 inches more space than a Full.

Then came the debate, California or Eastern King? The choice seemed obvious to us in our ignorance--we'd prefer the width over the length, both being not very tall people, and besides, due to the shape of our room and the furniture we already have in it, having more space at the foot of the bed for the sake of heavy traffic seemed like a good idea.

Thus, we started to shop around at various furniture stores (and really should have gotten the hint when all the salespeople kept re-questioning our decision to get an Eastern vs. a California King). Amazingly, after nit-picking over various bed frame styles, we both honed in on the Martini Suite collection by Ashley at Ramos Furniture. That's how you immediately know it's "the one." It was a bit over our budget, as was the Simmons Beautyrest mattress we bought at a different store, Payless Furniture, where we actually got extreme hookups on the price. But we figure this would be a keeper over the years and therefore a logical investment.

Here's a picture of my old, Full-sized bed frame. Tung's friend took the mattress off our hands for his children to use, and we ended up donating the frame to Salvation Army to make space in the rooms.

We finished shopping for both bed and frame by early July and eagerly anticipated the delivery. Enter the beginning of a nightmare. After having to call Ramos once and coming back to the store to sign for an "Easter King" (yes, literally, that's how the salesgirl spelled it) instead of a Cal-King like she had originally written us down for, we thought that the Eastern King was what we would get delivered to us. Well, we did get an Eastern King--but also about 3/4 of a Cal-King. Two parts of the bed--the right side rail and the slat roll--were the wrong size for our spanking-new, Eastern King mattress, which wouldn't fit in the frame.

Anyway, long and frustrating story short, which included several phone calls, several threats to throttle people, several rounds of re-delivery, and several communication issues with the sales and delivery people, we finally got the correct bed parts delivered and assembled. You don't know irritation until you paid buck-loads for a huge piece of furniture that comes in the wrong size, and you can't use it until 2 months later.

Notice that in the "Before" picture above (which features Tung's box-frame bed that we used after mine was hauled away), Tung was still living with my ghetto-rigged moving box/night stand on the left. We also bought matching night stands from the Martini collection. It took me a while to get over the size-shock of this bad boy in our Master bedroom after having slept on a Full for so long. I kept on having to tell myself that it would be much like when I upgraded to the Full from my old Twin bed. It feels like there's no open space left in the room, but once you lie on all that luxury, you never want to go back to the smaller size!

So the lesson here, folks, is that if you live in California and want to upgrade to a King-sized bed, for the love of Pete, if you could at all fit it in your room, buy a Cal-King instead of an Eastern King! Wasn't the regular (Eastern) King size once the norm? Now, it's almost impossible to find linens in EK! Like our mattress and bed frame, it's like you've got to special-order EK linens. But, major problem hurdled. I can't wait to sleep on my new bed with fresh linens tonight.

And while furniture shopping, we also bought a replacement for the small dining set the previous house owners left us, affectionately dubbed by us as "the bitch table." From a work surface for home-improvement projects to a place where we could toss junk of any kind, that table with its several chairs of ripped-up leather served us for a year-and-a-half. Getting rid of it was a bigger ordeal than we thought, as no charity would take it with 4 passable chairs left that weren't ripped.

Nothing like newness. Notice that we covered the microfiber seats with a vinyl layer, in anticipation of the messiness of our future kids, and also because we're cheap that way and aren't looking to replace this set anytime soon.

Furniture bundle deals are great, even if we did go a bit above budget. After all, "Bigger is better," and "The more you buy, the more you save!"

Engagement Pictures, Session 1

Under the Arbor

Gentle Touch

Entwined

A Flower for Daisy

Playtime

Among the Flowers

Rustic

Sun and Shade

Serenity

Lavender Fields

Pixie Love

A Moment in the Garden

Depths of Love

Locked

Cuz Love Hurts So Good

Illumination

"Git Over Here!"

Hushed

With This Ring...

...I Thee Wed!

Peek-a-Boo

Standing Tall

Reminiscing

Papers-Scissors-Rocks!

Di Xi's Bridal Shower

On July 23rd, I threw a bridal shower for Tung's aunt, who will get married this September. Here's the gift table with the party favors and some note cards for guests to write down some advice for the bride.

Setting up the food table . . .


Di Xi (front) goofs off with one of her guests.


The day starts off with some games, such as "Pass the Bouquet."


Everyone gathers around the table to snack on strawberries and play written games.


Phew, competing for gift cards by playing games is hard work. Time for a break! Here's a toast with Chandon champagne and guava cake.


Di Xi slices the cake as practice for the big day.


Gift time! Posing with one of her bridesmaids.


What party would be complete without ending with some Dance Central? The bride-to-be boogies:


And finally, the group shot: