Weekend update

I had such a great weekend!

I was very happy with the meeting on Friday. More people showed up than last year, and we found some brave  new board members after two years with the exact same group. It was also a generally nice evening with inspiring discussions. And beer is always good.

On Saturday I attended the moving out/good bye- party of a couple who are leaving Turku for Vasa. I was more than a bit tired after work, and showed up late, but still almost managed to act social. Among the large group of guests were both old friends to catch up with (some I hadn't seen in years!) and nice new people to get to know. Lots of good things to eat, and a good deal of dancing, too. Brought my camera, and carried it around for most of the evening, but hardly remembered to use it. I'm obviously still not used to owning it.

To finish the weekend, I finally got my ass over to Sunday practice, which was really good! I got some very needed and constructive feedback, as well as got a chance to train with the person whose instructing I've been assisting, so we could go through things a bit more thoroughly and had the time to test ideas. I now feel quite confident about the last couple of sessions of this period. Back at home, I tried to remember my personal points and write them down, as I hope to get the chance to work on them during the course. (After which, it turns out, it's my turn to take over the instructing. I had completely forgotten about that!)

Now, if I could just stop procrastinating... Pretending to prepare a presentation here.

What I do

Lots of karate-related things going on right now.
Tonight, we'll be holding our annual members' meeting with my local club, where hopefully we'll find a good group of new board members for this year. There will be a lot of things to discuss, no less with the course coming up in almost no time.

What course? In two weeks, my club will be hosting an international karate course, held over the weekend here in Turku. This will be the first Finnish "All grades" course for five months and I'm looking forward to it like a kid to Christmas. I'm taking part in the administration of the whole thing again, which is fun, although planning is just a bit more of a hassle than earlier, as two of the places we've normally used for accommodating our guests are not available this time. But still, nothing that can't be fixed.

In between this, I've this month been allowed to help another person out with instructing. This has been very rewarding, and a good chance to practice both communication and being in front of the group (bit of a weakness for me) without having all of the responsibility put only on me while doing so. The only downside of this is that as I haven't been training that much myself, I now worry about my own shape - again, with the course coming up. Still excited, though.

One jar of awesome

I first saw this idea over at facebook, and immediately thought I should try it myself!

So, in short, the idea is: Every time something good happens, big or small, write it on a little note and save it in your jar of awesome! Next New year's eve, open the jar and look at all the good things that have happened to you all through the year!

So I found a big jar I used to store beans in...

...and pimped it up a bit...

Why, yes, that is a cat hair on the lid.

...and chose some nice papers for writing the notes...

...and slowly started adding them to the jar.

This also makes the jar nice to look at. I keep it in my kitchen, as the old bean jar it is. I've already realised the jar might be too small, as this is one of those projects that really helps you notice the small positive things in a day!

The things you find

Last night I decided it was time to clean out the drain under my tub.

Nevermind the dirt. Move along people - nothing to see here...

The only way to do this is through a small opening in the tiles (behind the metal lid in the picture. This turned out to be the best hiding place EVER for a little cat - this is why miss cat is in the picture). For some reason, this time I stretched my arm in to also feel around under the tub, only to find a hard object that said "klonk!"...

Chateau du Bathroom

...and turned out to be an age-old, empty bottle of Bordeaux! Cork still inside.

"Taatusti alkuperäistä Bordeaux-viiniä/ Garanterat äkta Bordeaux"

I wonder how old it could be, and what made it end up under the tub. (student hiding his drinking habit from conservative parents?)

Also, I'm considering writing a message to put in the bottle before returning it to its home under my tub. You know, just in case someone else was to find it years from now.

Still alive

I'm still alive. Have thought of writing, but not of anything worth mentioning. My training motivation (karate) seems to be back again, at least. I'll try to think of something to post soon enough. Have been writing (personal diary), but nothing I've felt like posting here. I'll be back soon enough.