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My head is a little foggy right now from the "skills" test I just took for a job with the Victory Garden Initiative. It was way more intense than I was expecting, and it was really a lot to ask for in an hour. She told me I would be tested on Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, and Canva; so that's what I studied. Well, instead of being tested on those things, I was asked to develop a fundraiser start to finish, including planning a budget and creating marketing material, using those programs. That is an insane amount to ask for in an hour. I got the feeling that the Executive Director is a little controlling from the phone interview and by the fact that she tried adding me on Facebook. Now, I'm almost sure of it. I know that this is her business, so she is deeply invested in who she hires and how good their work is; but this is the type of interview process I would expect from a giant company, not a small nonprofit. It's almost as bad as the 4-hour long interview...

Tonight I went to go to Krav Maga class and - surprise! - the instructor didn't show up. This is the fourth or fifth time this has happened, where I show up and either the class is cancelled or the instructor is a no-show. And I was so excited because I hadn't been able to make it to a krav class in so long! I could have gone to yoga instead. The boot camp instructor invited the krav students (me and three others) to join her class instead, and since the others were going, I said 'why not.' If they had not joined, I probably would have just left because boot camp is not something I'm interested in. There's a reason I avoid those classes. I partnered up with Carl, the person who let me know that the krav instructor wasn't coming and told me about the boot camp class. He was fun to workout with and had a good sense of humor about the whole thing. He also worked with me in the back room after class to teach me some krav stuff, which was nice of him. I came ...

Tonight I went to pole level 6 class, ran for 45 minutes, and then stretched/did conditioning for about 30-40 minutes. Then I spent a good 10 minutes rolling my body out with a tennis ball because I was so sore, and you know what? It worked. It got out all of my shin splits and calf pains. Woo hoo! I've been wanting to fit in a run all week so that I don't lose my progress (it's been over a week since I last ran), but it's been raining almost all week and I frankly have been too tired from other activities. I'm trying to make a concentrated effort to not overdo it, and my calves have been killing me all week. Anyway, I didn't post the progress from my last running experience, so I'll add that first. Both that time and this time I ran after a late night class around the neighborhood and down the path. Last time I averaged 8 minutes and maxed at 13 minutes, breaking the 1 mile mark . Both times I was averaging about a 12 minute mile, which has been consist...

I did something to my left wrist last Friday - I don't know what, because it didn't hurt at the time. I woke up Saturday with a terrible pain along the pinky edge. It was so severe, I couldn't even hold up a book in that hand, and bending it left was excruciating. My right wrist was hurting, too, but not nearly to the same extent. It all started the previous Monday when I went to my first kobudo class, followed by a very painful karate class. On Saturday I went to bed that night with my brace on and strapped it so tight, the nerves in my palm were pinched for the entire following day. It's been jacked up since, and only today does it feel a bit better. I've had to skip all my combat classes this week, which has made me feel languid and stifled; but I tried to replace them with other things like biking, pole work, and... hot yoga. Tiffany from Miss Pole recommended a place in Tosa a while back, and I've been wanting to give it a shot but just haven't b...

I had all these ideas for posts in my head, but now I can't remember any of them. But I have a quick pole update - and karate, I guess. Everyone keeps talking down the twisted grip handspring, as it apparently can cause damage to your shoulder, and talking up true grip. Well, twisted feels great to me and true wreaks something terrible on the thumb side of my wrist. I do want to learn true, though, because it requires more strength and you can do more things in it. I posted this complaint on one of the online pole communities and someone suggested using cup grip instead, which I had never considered because it feels so insecure. They argued that it's the best for doing Iron X, so I might as well learn it. Looking online, that seems to be true. So I gave it a shot last night and lo and behold, it feel super good! No pain, and I didn't have all problems falling off the pole. It definitely required a lot more strength than I currently have, but I was impressed at how far I cou...

Tonight was my first official level 6 class in pole, and it was a major success. Aside from my arms being too tired in the beginning to do either a normal pole sit climb or quality handspring, I was able to do every move we learned. What helps me more than the other girls is that: A) I dropped in on a level 6 class once before, so I've already been taught some of these things; and B) I learned a lot of these moves before I left pole dancing 2 years ago and before the classes were restructured. As I've mentioned before, the level structures are totally different now; so some of the harder things I struggled with in the upper levels before are now being taught in the lower levels and vice versa. We learned a caterpillar climb and extended butterfly in level 4 before, so I have those down pat; but we didn't learn shoulder mounts until old levels 6 or 7, so that was difficult for me to pick up in new level 3. But that means that when we do caterpillar climbs now, I already...

I've been posting a lot about exercising on this blog and little about anything else going on. Well, frankly, not a ton else positive has been going on. I've had just ridiculously terrible luck trying to get a job, and at this point it's affecting everything else in my life. Really, it should not be this difficult. Sure, there are other positive things happening: I went to Six Flags for the first time in years with a new-ish friend for my birthday, and I went kayaking down the Milwaukee River for the first time last week with same said friend. Both were very fun. Last week was also downtown dining week, and I got to try two new places (The Knick and Ale Asylum), one of which I really loved. On Saturday, I went to the drive-in with Charlotte and Jordan and saw "Solo" and "Avengers: Infinity War." Also, a few weeks ago, on a really hot day, I decided spur of the moment to go jump in a lake at 8pm. It was miraculous. So while I may have completely ...

I bought my first pair of cross training shoes last week: They're both my first pair of Nike's and first cross trainers. And they are possibly the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. It's a shame I can't use them outdoors because they're so much more comfortable than anything else I own. I bought them after seeing Naz, my krav maga instructor, wearing them, as well as a few other krav/boxing students. I figured if I was going to keep doing combat sports, I should probably get a pair; and frankly, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I freaking love them.

Lea and Maggie want me to go running with them, so I asked Lea to go out with me this weekend since Maggie is out of town with Mark. I haven't done any running in a while (2-3 weeks at least), so I figured I better do it again to make sure I don't regress too much. Lea ended up cancelling, but I decided to go out and do it anyway. I really need to get out of my headspace and make some dedicated time to just relax in nature. I literally missed all of spring this year because I couldn't get out of my own head and pay attention to what was happening around me. I remember seeing exactly 1 daffodil, 2 tulips, a few lilacs, and the magnolia trees in Whitnall park... all only during fleeting glances. I don't remember seeing any flowers, even though I know they obviously came and passed; and I never saw a single plum, cherry, or crab apple tree blooming. I apparently missed everything, and when I start thinking about it, it's really upsetting. Spring is one of my favorite...

On Tuesday I had my yellow best test in karate (very odd experience, but I honestly didn't care about testing. I think it's kind of pointless), and in preparation, I decided to pole dance in my gi. The few times I've tried doing a handspring again in class (since that one glorious Level 6 class a month ago where I got it after only a few tries) I haven't been successful, but I've always been really tired after a strenuous workout those times. So I was really hoping that, given my additional muscle training since then and the fact that I wasn't totally exhausted, I could do it for a karate photo shoot. What a surprise it was, then, that I got it on my first try and could hold it like it was nothing! I was able to move my legs around in different poses, hoping that one of them would look cool (almost none of them did from that angle), and never felt like I really needed to come back down. Hallelujah!! I think I can officially say I've got the handspring down...