No class on antibiotics

I really want to go to martial arts tonight.  I missed a bunch for the kids’ schedules and then caught Middle’s cold.  Last week was a little nutty as I was on call and it was a little busy with one partner out of town.  I have been fending off a sinus infection for 6 days but today will start on an antibiotic.  I cannot go to class tomorrow because I work too late.  I cannot go Wednesday because I need to go to an orientation at the high school for incoming freshman parents.  I really want to go.

But the rule I have had to make for myself is: No class on antibiotics.

If you are sick enough to be on antibiotics, you are sick enough that working out will make you worse.  So I won’t go tonight.  The harder question is always when the antibiotics are working how long do I have to stay away.  For me, if I feel I need an inhaler to breathe when I am not even working out, I should not take class.

Monday is organization day

Once I get the kids off to school, the to-do list for Monday usually includes:

1-Eat
2-Grocery List
3-Grocery Shopping
4-Calendar review and print
5-Household organization and emails
6-Food prep

1 – because you cannot do 2 or 3 properly without having done 1

2 – when I write my grocery list, I write the headings Breakfast, Snacks, Lunches, Dinners and sometimes add Beverages.  Breakfast in our house is always supposed to include fruit and some form of protein (as well as toast, cereal or whatever which I consider primarily tasty empty calories).  I make sure there is something from each of these categories for both the adults and the kids in the house.  I make sure there are appropriate morning and afternoon snacks for everyone, lunch fixins for those of us who take lunch.  Dinner is always a challenge for me, so I list at least three meals that can be put together during the week based on our upcoming schedule.

3 – I like to go early because it’s faster when it’s empty.

4 – I review the upcoming week and print it.  I look ahead 2-3 weeks and see if there are babysitters I need to organize, or need to make sure my husband will be around for things.

5 – I review kids’/school papers that need to be reviewed, pay for activities and bills and sent emails to setup for babysitting or other activities.

6 – I like to do simple food prep on my days off.  Today, I packed containers with my breakfast cereal for the week.  I eat GoLean which is fairly low in calories and fat but high in fiber and protein.  I add 1/4 cup of nuts for more fat and protein in my little setup.  In the mornings, all I have to add for my breakfast is fresh berries and milk.  Middle and I take lunch, so I prepack veggies for the week, chopping if necessary.    This week’s veg is edamame which I love because it provides vitamins, fiber and protein.  Just have to watch the salt content.  Sometimes I chop for dishes I will be making later in the week.  (I do love crock pot cooking).

Checklist

Today I revised Little’s checklist.

We have been using these for years to help the kids remember what their tasks are.  Before Little could read, I inserted little graphics that reminded him what his tasks were next to the words.  We create a reward they want to work for and if they meet a certain percentage over a set time, they can collect.  In general, we try not to make it food based so that we don’t use food as reward but better an activity that we share and enjoy together.  My friend Kathy had a great idea to make a number of rewards and put them in a jar or bag and reach in to choose one when the challenge had been met.

Little helped to create the tasks on this one.  We decided to take out “Wake up” since he would have to be up to interact with his checklist! :>

I once had a babysitter who loved the checklist.  She exclaimed, “Oh, Man!  I need a checklist like this!”  Don’t we all?

2014.10littleschedule

2011.9Little list

 

Our Creed – Today I cried for #3

1. Be loyal to your country
2. Obey your parents
3. Respect elders and teachers
4. Trust in friends
5. Preserve life, do not destroy it
6. Be courageous, uphold justice
7. Never give up
8. Be ambitious
9. Discipline yourself
10. Love and respect each other
11. Study harder
12. Be the best of the best
13. I am following my creed

 

Of Grandmaster Yu’s martial arts creed, the one I like to say loudly from behind my children is “#2, Obey your parents!” But today I cried for #3 Respect elders and teachers.  I attended the Zen Buddhist robing ceremony for another of my master teachers, June Ryushin Kaililani Tanoue.  She now not only holds the title of Kumu (master in Hawaiian) Hula but Sensei as well.  I cried as I watched Kumu June dance today a solo to a Hawaiian version of “Have you ever seen the rain?”  She spoke of her inspiration for choreographing and how she interprets the song.  Then she laid herself bare unabashedly in front of others, with the evidence of not only the physical excellence of thousands of hours of training but also the searching for and presenting of the beauty and soul that infuses nature, so that we might share it.  I was astounded by her courage and generosity and so I cried.

 

The last time I cried like this was at a performance by Jake Shimabukuro last Fall and before that at a performance by Keali’i Reichel in Oregon years ago. Jake has ventured where no one has gone before on the wings of the four stringed ukulele.  Keali’i Reichel has helped to galvanize excellence in Hawaiian music creating and performance and paid homage to one of my masters who has passed, Kumu Hula Palani Kahala.  Grandmaster Yu is clearly one of my masters as well.  As, truthfully, were my parents.  Do I dare to invest myself, to find passion, to share vision and bare my soul?  Am I brave enough to forego some opportunities in order embrace others?  My elders and teachers have shown the way and the path as well as the peak.  And so I strive to honor their gifts to me by meeting their courage and their patience by quelling my bleating and instead performing and living with integrity and soul.