Monday, sweet Monday...

With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sundays aren't really all that in my little world. After four eight-hour days and two twelve-hour days, by the time Sunday rolls around, my brain is pretty fried. Sunday evening rehearsals are the hardest for everyone - it's hard to keep focus and energy in the room. More lines are dropped, more blocking and props forgotten and timing and energy are more off than on any other day. And then you get to come home to a dirty house, since you haven't had the time or energy to clean up during the week. Ugh. We do, however, have the entire show up on its feet. Publicity photos are up on the PCPA website. They're at the bottom of the page. The actual show shots aren't taken until Final Dress, but these turned out pretty well. And my apartment is pretty much clean now, just a few dishes to do and laundry. Always laundry!

I'm to the second short-row sequence for the front of SRSP. Once I finish this post, I'm going to make lunch, start some laundry, and work on SRSP for the rest of the evening. (Except for class and dinner, of course!) I'd really love to finish the front tonight, but I'll be really happy if I can get through this final short-row sequence to the neck shaping!

Some tkd ponderings after the cut (it's windy and a bit rambling, sorry)
Class tonight! Hopefully I will break the board and not my hand this time. I'm feeling good about it now. Kind of like, well, I know what will happen if I don't do it right and I lived through it, so now it can only be better, if that makes any sense. Testing is this weekend again, so class tonight will be intense, I'm sure. I am eligible, but I don't know if I will or not. I'm comfortable with the form and one-steps, but am terrible with the self-defense moves and would really like to do the board break a few more times. Plus, I'd have to schedule a different testing time again, since I have rehearsal Saturday. Last week I said something along the lines of "Wow, they test fast here, don't they?" to CGB and Blue Belt and both of them responded "Not fast enough!" But then, both of these guys have previous experience with other forms of martial arts as well, and they also go at least four times a week whenever possible. I wish I could. I have the sneaking suspicion that my studio, and maybe the entire ATA program, is what Amanda would call a black belt factory. I'm also wondering if I've found a flaw in their rotation method - what happens if someone doesn't pass a test or can't test for some reason? Do they continue to work on whatever form they've been working on or do they have to start learning a new form? It seems like the latter would be detrimental to them passing the next test. I really like the people at this studio, and I really like the way the class is structured and how everything is taught - I feel like I'm both being challenged and that they know I haven't done this for years like the majority of my classmates and I need to be taught and to learn. I also want my belts to be something I work at and earn, rather than "Eight weeks are up, line up for your new belts!" Not that I'm not working for my belt, but you know what I mean? And to be completely honest, if I choose not to test and come next week and all these new white belts have orange belts, I'm going to feel more than a little jacked. For now, I will treat it like an activity that I truly enjoy, with people I like being around, and maybe I won't test this time. I will, however, ask if there is a possibility of getting a pickup lesson in once or twice a week, just because I like to be there and doing it, and it's hard to do some drills and self-defense on your own. Or they can just start having some adult classes in the mornings =)