Yay for free time!

Which I finally get on Field Services.  I have to say, it's actually kind of nice to have weekends off.  Plus, I was able to go to class on Saturday AND last night!  AND I went to the gym today!  I think my body might rebel tomorrow morning though. 

Saturday women's class:
Michelle (who needed knee surgery a few months ago) was finally back in class for the first time, which was nice--it meant that women's class was more than just me and Jess!  I started us on a super-careful warm-up, and then Jess taught us the foot-in-hip guard pull, followed by a takedown from that position.  There was a lot of adjusting to make sure Michelle would be able to do it, since her leg was still pretty weak. 

Regular class:
We started with some quick takedowns, and then did a sweep series.  It starts from getting stacked while attempting an armbar from guard, and moved on from there.  We finished with some open rolling, which resulted in playing the avoid-the-n00b game.

Monday night class:
There were only six of us there, four blue belts and two white belts who were really new.  After the warm-up, we started with the knee-through pass and some new details, and then moved on to the "windshield-wiper" pass (knee-through but it's the same-side knee).  Finished with 3-minute rounds of open rolling, with everyone in the class, so I didn't really get to avoid the new guys.  Luckily, they were fairly tame, although one guy (after multiple sweeps and triangle/armbar attempts) told me at the end, "good job." In that tone.  That condescending tone, like I'm a child who he was just playing with.  Eh.  We'll see who plays with who next time. 

On another note, I've been attempting to somewhat fix my diet as well.  It's been pretty terrible lately, and consists of either me not eating real meals and making up for it with pre-packaged snacks, or the Indian version of Ramen noodles.  I've decided to start packing a salad every day for lunch, which should a)get me eating vegetables again, which sort of disappeared from my diet, and b)actually get me eating lunch and not granola bars or peanut butter sandwich crackers washed down with soda. 

Starting 2012 off the right way!

And by that, of course I mean with some good ol' BJJ.

No, I haven't vanished or died or suffered from amnesia.  I just haven't been able train lately, due in large part to school/slave labor hours (80 hours a week of overnight shifts is NOT fun, no matter what someone else may try to tell you).  Today was the first time in over a month that I was able to hit the mats, and of course I felt like ass.  Honestly though, I was just glad that our coach decided to have open mat today.

My first roll was with a very strong, solid blue belt.  I spent the entire time feeling like I was slowly getting rolled over by a boulder.  And once I got smushed enough to tap, it started all over again.  At least it was nice and slow, so I had a chance to warm up and stretch out some.  My next roll was with another very strong, but very shiny-new-blue belt who I could play with a little more.  Not that I could do anything, but just that it was a little quicker.  I was glad to finally see him and congratulate him on the belt, as our last belt testing was in early December, the same day I had to take the NAVLE (aka 7-hour-long national veterinarian board exam aka the "let's-make-you-feel-stupid" test).  After that, I had a few more rolls, which were a little quicker, but with the lack of recent rollage (and bare minimum of exercise), not to mention sleep deprivation, I was pooped pretty quick.  Plus, I didn't want to feel like complete garbage tomorrow.  I know how hard it is on my body to take weeks off of BJJ and then jump right back in, and I didn't want to deal with that.  

BJJ goals for 2012:
1) Train.
2) No really...just train.  That's it.

Life goals for 2012:
1) Find a job that fits my professional goals and will let me train BJJ. 

Which leads to my New Year's resolution for 2012:
1) Spend at least half an hour a day, and an hour on weekends, looking for a job or working on my job application skills/materials.  Speaking of which, does anyone know any vets who are hiring? 
2) Work out at least three times a week, even if it's just some tabatas at home.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work up the motivation for this after a long day at work?  I often find myself unwilling to hit the gym on days I finish at 7 because it's already so late, and on days when I finish closer to 5, I can't bear the thought of the crowds (which will be even worse with all the new year's resolutions).  I tell myself I'll just do something when I get home, and of course I just sit at my computer messing around, maybe being productive 25% of the time.