A Fool's Manual

Lesson 1. When they say, "Don't try this at home", listen. Lesson 2. Always remember your age, or at least remember you are not the same age as your child. Lesson 3. Taking ones shirt off while laying flat on ones back may cause neck injury. Lesson 4. Sometimes it's mighty nice to spend quality time with your TV, enjoy while you can. Last Saturday Henry got his purple belt in Tae Kwon Do. The child has been practicing for the last year and half and making great progress. His instructor wishes there are more students like Henry. Later in the day we went back to the studio to watch a black belt testing. One of the new black belt holders is in his 30s. In the audience there were couple of ladies from the adult class, one of them being someone I work with. We chatted after the test and I mightily admired their courage and persistence. Sunday morning I did my usual yoga stretches, then tried Kicking Combination Number One that Henry had showed me before -- front kick, sliding front kick, jump front kick and pop up front kick. All was well until my neck decided to go a different direction than my body. It was a slight strain, not bad, I could feel it whenever my neck had to move, but it didn't stop me from walking to the farmers market with my friend and then hang out at the mall. Or maybe the mall made me forget about the pain the neck. Monday the neck was a bit stiff, and I had to move my head with my hands, still not too bad. Monday night I tried to take my shirt off while laying flat on my back. My neck decided that was too much to ask for. The pain shot though my head and down the spine. I couldn't sleep half of the night. The rest of the week was a blur. There were lots of painkillers, lots of time in front of the TV, and unfortunately, lots of pressure to show up at work. My beloved gave me nightly massages, brought dinners home, along with two bunches of daffodils. They are all blooming now, bright yellow, and beautiful.