Some redemption and other happy things

You may have noticed that I’ve had fewer Jiu-Jitsu stories to share lately. I suppose my getting better at it is to blame for my lack of entertainment for you.

We all knew it was bound to happen eventually. Probably for most people, it would’ve happened months ago.

However, I did majorly screw up recently. (Let’s pretend I did it just for you.)

I was partnered with Instructor’s youngest brother, Surfer Dude 2. The last portion of class is Mount Drills, where you try to throw the other person off. I had already successfully thrown SD2 once within the 60 second allotment and was prepared to do so again with a cool new move I learned from a Jiu-Jitsu video, not from class.

Farewell, my Surfer Dude friend. You’re about to get rolled.

Suddenly, I became aware of Instructor, SD1, and another upper belt standing there cheering me on.

I had SD2 locked up and ready to roll left, yet I kept attempting to roll him to the right. In that direction, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Toward me, Betsy. Roll toward me,” came Instructor’s voice, yet I kept pushing the wrong way. Finally, I gave up and heard a collective, disappointed chorus of, “Ohhh,” from the bystanders. One lamented, “It was all set up,” before they walked away.

I was mortified. What the heck happened?! For the rest of the day, I couldn’t let it go. Several times, I asked Hubby to assure me that they’d forgotten the whole incident. (He dutifully complied.) The next day I dropped a fork or something, and he said, “Did that happen because you rolled the wrong way?” which, though funny, brought the memory of the embarrassment crashing down again.

My next class was a week later. I brought my youngest daughter with me for a trial class. It was an unusually small turnout, with only three other students. So, when Instructor needed a demo partner, he chose the most senior student there, which happened to be me.

I gave a delighted little hop skip away from the wall when he called me up. (Obviously, I was super professional and kept my cool.)

I was also, of course, nervous. He did the move on me from every angle; then it was my turn to demonstrate on him. Amazingly, despite my worry, I did the moves without having to think about them.

Thank goodness it was an easy class!

When we were done, he said, “Thank you, that was perfect.”

Redemption!

On the way home, I asked my daughter if it seemed like I knew what I was doing or if I looked awkward up there. She didn’t notice anything weird, so I’ll take that as confirmation of success. She would have, no doubt, told me if I had been lame. Also, she had a blast and wants to come to the next class too.

Now the other happy things:

This cute bunny in our yard–an unusual sighting.

Hubby put a couple of hair ties on his wrist before we left for the zoo, knowing that some female faction of his family would likely need one. How thoughtful was that?!

This incredible exotic flower I spotted at the zoo.

I don’t know what it was. It looked like lungs, but it smelled like heaven!

These mixed-color carrots we grew in our garden. They had different flavors, too. Huh, maybe now I understand the rabbit in our yard. 😉

And finally…

This gorgeous photo sent to me by blog buddy, Chatter Master. (I highly recommend clicking the link to read her brief post. You’ll understand in a moment.) I texted her back:

And now an FYI: I’m thinking of overhauling my blog with a new name, URL, and pseudonym for myself. Mark will be happy to know I’m changing the blog name; HOWEVER, it won’t be to “Chex and Balances.” Also, I’m so not techy. Not entirely sure what I’m doing, so I hope I don’t lose my blog and all of you in the process. Stay tuned. Or not, I guess, if I happen to blow up the internet…

Questions: Do you think the Upper Belts forgot my disaster for real? Which picture did you like best?

Enjoy your week! 🙂