Minute by Minute with BB

7:53am

I've set the alarm for 8am since I need to see the chiropractor today, and 7:53 is when my eyes pop open.

Life can be cruel sometimes.

***

11:00am

I'm in THEBOY's room, watching a Superman video with THEGIRL (hey, she picked it).

I'm doing this because THEBOY is watching Batman vs. Dracula in the living room, and it's just too scary for us to let her see.

***

11:15am

I make an early lunch, a favorite noodle/veggie/chicken concoction I often eat before a workout.

Today it's going to be a belt test, which promises to be hours of grueling exertion. I'm five days removed from a stomach bug that had me talkin' to Jesus, but I feel I'm up to the test.

***

12:47pm

I walk into the Addison school, where the belt test for all three Krav Maga schools will be held today. Maybe half a dozen Bedford school folks are there, and I'm glad. There are a couple good candidates for partners for this thing.

***

1:00pm

It's pretty packed in the school. I counted 18 people on the mat. We warm up with shadow boxing, and the sweat begins to flow.

***

1:11pm

I'm separated from my Bedford boys--damn. We're told to find a partner, and everyone I know has picked someone else.

A stranger approaches, asks if I need a partner. He is almost exactly my height, weight and build.

God is good.

So I go through the review with this gentleman, whose name is John. He's a little older than I, but nice. We beat each other up pretty well. The "360" defenses are repetetive clashes of bony forearms against bony forearms. Clang clang clang. He hits a nerve in my left arm that feels like electricity.

Until 3:13pm we work out together. During that time we drip buckets of sweat. I accidentally knee him in the balls, hit him upside his head with an elbow, and perfectly nail that nerve in the side of the thigh that gets caught between two muscles when you kick it right.

***

3:16pm

I'm called into the owner's office and told I passed.

Not everyone did.

***

3:45pm

I'm driving home, listening to Size Matters by Helmet for the third time in a row. "Your aaaaaaaim is off... just boys in here, and they're soft."

***

5:30pm

I'm in the bathtub, counting seconds as I hold my breath underwater. I do what I figure is a minute, and that's good enough.

***

6:30pm

I'm at the Vietnamese noodle place, getting some takeout. I've always had difficulty with server's accent.

Two days ago she got braces, and now she's trying to tell me that when she was pregnant she looked like a character from Shrek.

I'm doing a fine job of simply nodding and smiling during the extended stretches when I have no idea what the hell she's saying. Finally the food comes.

***

9:00pm

I'm watching X-Men with MOBB. Hugh Jackman is shirtless in about 92% of the film. MOBB is not complaining.

We're watching it but listening to an audio commentary recorded by Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame. He's got this new gig at a place called Rifftrax. It's similar to MST3K, and quite damn funny.

***

11-something pm

I'm on the phone with Whit, and he puts me on speakerphone so I can share details of the belt test with him and Larry. Those two have forgotten more about martial arts than I'll ever know.

My bruises are starting to show up in nice shades of dark pink and purple.

Tonight THEBOY, who has been under the weather, was granted a rare opportunity: we let him fall asleep in his room watching a movie.

We discovered that when his movie ended he turned off the TV, turned on a Beatles CD, and went to sleep.

That's a neat little guy.

***

It was a pretty good day. Hope you had a good one too.