I took my test last

I took my test last night for the purple belt. I don’t technically know if I passed, but Master Shinn told everyone \”Congratulations,\” so I’m just not sure. I guess we’ll find out on Tuesday. But they really threw me. I guess I had no idea what to expect. I knew all the answers to the questions for this test in the handbook. And I learned my poomse. We did do the poomse, but they didn’t ask any questions. And there was an endurance test, and I sucked at it, because I’m getting (yet another) cold. Then they had us do sparring excersizes, and then free sparring. It was supposed to be light contact so we weren’t any protective gear. I’ve NEVER EVER sparred. I was really really sick when they were sparring in class, so I just haven’t been there when they’ve done it. I don’t even know the rules. What’s my target? What’s allowed? Can I go for the head/face? Can I go for the legs? Afterwards, teacher’s pet that I am, told Instructor Abel that I had never sparred, because I didn’t want to have it held against me. He replied, \”I know,\” in a voice that said that he knew, and threw me into the deep end on purpose. We also had to break a board, thicker than one we’ve ever done before, 1/2 inch. Which I did, no problem, I just wasn’t expecting it. It was supposed to be light contact on the sparring, but I managed to get myself slightly injured. I blocked a blow, and it hit the meaty under part of my forearm. My hand went numb, and the muscle went into spasm. I used our heating pad when I got home and a couple hours later, the muscle unclenched thank goodness. I’ve got a very slight bruise there (which is amazing since I bruise so easilly) and the muscle underneath is extraordinarilly tender, but at least it’s not in spasm anymore. Frankly, I’m not sure I deserve that purple belt, but then again, I’m not the one in the position to make that decision – Master Shinn is. We’ll see what happens on Tuesday. Jay has his first interview for a freelance job. Very cool. I can’t talk about it due to a confidentiality agreement. But Jay is very excited, and he interviews tomorrow. The kids are all sick again, with some pretty nasty colds. Unfortunately, Logan has a Synergis shot on Tuesday. I’m hoping that either his cold is better, or that they’ll do the shot anyway, because it’s supposed to help prevent RSV, and it’s sort of now or never.