Thursday, August 26, 2010

This is my 99th post!!

Wow, who would have thought I'd have 99 mundane things to post about! Anyway, I have decided to celebrate my 100th post in style, by having a contest. Not sure what, or when, but stay tuned. The prize will be some assorted cross stitch crap, oops I mean treasured cross stitch supplies from my stash. ;-)

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Monday, August 23, 2010

A lot can happen in a fortnight

Has it really been just a fortnight since we returned from the nationals in Sydney? The weekend after DS had another tournament, this time a combined club one. (Our club has several branches). We thought we should support it so DS entered kata and kumite, winning both! There were about 7 kids in kata and 4 in kumite. On the same day I had a calisthenics competition. We did well, all things considered, and would have gained 2nd in march if we'd had 8. We will have a full team in all items except one for the rest of the comps so fingers crossed we can work hard and improve in all items.

Then last Monday I learnt that a little girl who was 6 months older than my youngest DS passed away. She had been fighting cancer for half her short life. She had just turned 9. I feel for her parents, as they have now lost 2 children. So sad!! I decided to go to the funeral even though I didn't know them well and it was a lovely tribute to her, with a pink coffin, pink balloons and bubbles to blow as the hearse passed afterwards.

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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

National Karate Results

DS managed a bye in the first round, one kid didn't turn up and I think he was meant to be against him. He was all kitted out in red, but when his name was called he was meant to be blue, so it meant a quick change of belt. He also seemed to wait forever until it was his turn so I think he must have gotten into the second round by default. There were meant to be 14 kids, but only 13 turned up on the day, not sure why. We all thought he had this round, but lost out 1 flag to 2. The kid who beat him ended up in the final, so that meant he had a chance to come back for a 3rd medal, as they give a 3rd for each half of the draw. 


He then went up against a NSW boy and won 3-0, and I thought he had the 3rd medal, but apparently that was only the first round of the repecharge. He then had to go against a second NSW boy, who he beat in the Australian Open. He was doing well until he made a mistake (which he again covered beautifully - if you didn't know the kata, you wouldn't know he'd made a mistake at all). Unfortunately that seemed to have cost him the medal, although he did get 1 flag out of 3. He was obviously disappointed, but not devastated like I thought he might.

He enjoyed the experience and made some new friends and had a great time. We even managed to go ice skating, and head into the centre of Sydney (nightmare city!) to see the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge. All up it was a good experience, and he is in the same age group next year so won't be up against a lot of the kids as they will move on to the 10-11 year age group. He will be one of the older, more experienced boys, and might gain a medal, provided he makes the team again! Considering this was his first full year of competing (and being eligible) he has done a fantastic job. He can add Victorian Champion, State team member, and 4th place getter at the National Championships to his resume!

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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Australian Karate Federation - National Championships, here we come!!

Image Hosting by PictureTrail.comWe fly out for Sydney in the morning, and DS competes first thing Friday morning. That's probably a good thing, I'm not sure I could handle the stress if his event was near the end:-) Win, lose or draw (OK, so a draw is not technically possible) at least the pressure will be off and he can enjoy the experience with his friends. If you can spare a thought for him (or time to post an encouraging comment) that would be great. Go Victoria!!!!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Finally, A Craft Finish!

The black, burgundy and pink scarf is finally finished, and actually looks like a scarf should! And, I've even worn it in public without getting strange looks ;-) Here it is:

















I actually finished it a few weeks ago but have been pretty flat out so haven't posted pics. After I finished the scarf, I started back up on my Christmas WIP, but haven't done a great deal.  Here's the latest pic:
I've also been madly taking up DS's new karate gi. I had to buy a new one after the last one was incorrectly taken up (by a professional) and I was told he may be disqualified. I have taken it up and adjusted it so many times, I barely have any skin left on my fingers. I have been hand sewing through 3 layers of 14oz fabric, one of which was a chunky cuff. If I ever have to take another gi up, I'll scream!! We fly out for the Nationals in 3 days time, fingers crossed DS performs well and is happy with his efforts.

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