shanmonster | The Good News and the Bad

When I woke up this morning, for the first time in over a month, I felt good. I mean, my stomach still hurt a little, and I still had a bit of a headache, but my energy levels were back up, and I was thrumming. I practically skipped my way to school, breathing in the cool autumn air and staring all around at the sky, the brilliant orange and red leaves, and interminable traffic.

The good feeling wasn't to last, alas. I had my assessments today in metals class, and they weren't pretty. Basically, I have an excellent work ethic, but not a whole hell of a lot of talent. At one point, both of my instructors said they were very surprised I managed to get all my work done, and they were surprised I made it this far.

Ouch.

On the upside, I had one of the highest marks in the class for my quiz, and I keep an excellent notebook. So essentially, I'm good at all the nonmetal bits of my metals class. Joy. Then again, I'm one of the most-improved students in the class, and have gone from being abysmal at soldering to being not so terrible (but not so great, either). And, I was also told that if marks were based on effort, that I'd get an A+. Unfortunately, hard work does not guarantee good results.

I do want to keep learning, but I realize I'm not cut out for this, professionally speaking. My vision and my fine motor skills just aren't up to par. I'm going to purchase a nifty visor which should help a whole lot with my vision problems. I tried one on today, and it brought things at arms-reach into focus just like they were right at the tip of my nose (yes, I'm extraordinarily myopic). This will hopefully prevent me from breathing in carcinogenic flux fumes, and will also let me actually see what I'm doing while I'm hammering and such. Maybe it will make all the difference. We shall see....

The day got much better, though.

Tonight, at long, long last, I made it back to kung fu! I was so excited to be there that I was hopping all over the place. And when we were told to get into horse stance, I surprised myself at just how darned low I went. Jackie Chan, eat your heart out! Those quads were absolutely, totally, irrevocably level! Oh yeah!

And after a brutal series of exercises which left my left leg and hip quivering and loose, I got to work on my sword form with Colleen (my erstwhile kung fu partner, who greeted me with two hugs, no less!). I felt quite lost, considering its been a while since I last worked on the form, but I got a bit further. There is a jump that boggles me, unfortunately. I'll have to go over that move a few hundred times before I get the footing right, I think.

I want to start training on the weekends. Schoolwork is wringing me dry, and dessicating my body and mind. I need to get back into shape and start taking good care of myself again. Getting beaten up on a regular basis seems like just the remedy I need! Heh... Well, before I start sparring again, I want to get all my muscles and stamina back. So it's back to the gym tomorrow afternoon, and then maybe training on the weekend with some of the guys from kung fu. Whee!