Imaginary Friends

When Ridge was about three years old, we went on a camping trip out to a cabin in Juneau. The hike back to the road after two days of camping was a bit tedious for our little boy. There was some snow on the ground, and Aaron had moved ahead of us carrying Holt in the backpack (we were a little worried because Holt had bitten his lip pretty badly while at the cabin and we wondered if stitches would be required. They weren't and he was fine). So, this left Ridge and myself poking our way back through the woods. At some point during this long walk (3 miles), Sally was born. This imaginary friend of Ridge's lasted on and off for a few months, never really manifesting to the full extent that some imaginary friends do. I think he always knew she as fake.

Today, Sally came back to visit. For some reason, Ridge decided to playfully re-incarnate her. Now, of course, he knows he's kidding, and so does Holt. I think. Sometimes I'm not sure exactly what Holt thinks. But, I'm pretty certain that Holt knows that Sally isn't real.

However, now Sally seems to have an evil twist. Ridge has learned how to manipulate his little brother using a figment of their imaginations.

"Sally," says Ridge, "Do you think that spot on Holt's leg where he is bleeding is gross?"

"Yeah," responds my seven-year-old, "I think so, too."

How sweet.

Coming up the stairs after we got home:

Holt: Where's Sally Ridge?
Ridge: She went to Joelle's house to play [a neighbor].
Holt: NO! That's not fair! I don't want she to go to Joelle's house!
Ridge: Yeah, well, that's where she is.
Holt: (screams and cries) NO! Make her come back! I want her to be here!!

Me: (thinking) Is this really what it looks like? My five-year-old is tantruming over the behavior of an imaginary friend? Wow. They don't write about this in the parenting books AT ALL. Not a word.

I've been reading this series of books called "Parenting with Love and Logic". They left out the chapter on how to use love and logic with a non-existent entity. Maybe I should write a letter to the authors, eh? I've tried to convince Holt to just create his own imaginary friend, but he's stuck on Sally, for some odd reason. Go figure.

Chicken Killer

Last week we woke to an upsetting sight - a dead chicken. The following morning, we found two more. We knew that Finn is too dumb and too slow to catch a chicken, so we figured we had a varmit of some kind. So, we were extra careful about locking the birds up at night and patched a hole in the chicken wire. Not good enough. The next morning, there were three dead chickens in the chicken coop. Aaron and Dad spent an hour reinforcing the wire and we began setting a live trap. After several nights of trying, we finally caught this big guy. I drove a few miles down the road and re-located him to a new, unpopulated area. I think we will set the trap for another few weeks, though, just in case there were a pair of them.

Marathon Training

Some of you may know this by now, but I've decided to run in the San Antonio Marathon in November. I began running about a year ago while still in Nishiokoppe and decided that I really enjoyed it. Well, I'm officially in training now - I've been to two practice sessions and I'm looking forward to increasing my distance. To date, I've never run more than 8 miles at a time, so I'm really excited to finally break into the double digits.

Since I knew that I needed to train with a group instead of simply going it solo, I've decided to join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. This is a huge national organization dedicated to supporting folks battling blood cancers and trying to find a cure. One of the biggest ways the LLS raises money is to train folks for endurance events. In return, we commit to raise money for them. This really seemed like the best group to train with, since my family has a personal connection to Lymphoma, through Aaron's mother, Cyndi. I love the idea of running a marathon and helping others who've had to deal with the challenge of blood cancer.

Many of you who read this will be hearing from me in the future. I'd be happy to share more information about what we are doing, and, yes, I'll be asking you to support me and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with a monetary donation. I'm still in the process of writing my letters and getting my fundraising page set up. If this blog entry alone has inspired your inner philanthropist, though, feel free to visit my page and make a donation. My personal goal is to raise $2000.

Here is the link to my fundraising page. Also, if you look at my list of links on the right side of this blog, you'll see a link to my page and a link to the San Antonio chapter of the LLS, just in case you want to learn more.

Michelle's Fundraising Page

Photos

Here's a photo of Ridge and me wearing our Ju-Jitsu uniform. Many martial arts refer to this as a "gi", pronounced "gee". However, the Brazilians seem to call this garment a "kimono". Ridge's is actually a judo-style gi. Apparently, the folks at our BJJ gym got tired of waiting for the Brazilian customs officials to stop being on strike, so they ordered a few kid sizes from somewhere else. Aaron and I have the blue gi, from Brazil.

The other picture is from Holt's pre-school graduation. They had a wonderful little ceremony, complete with fake diploma.

Lately, Holt has been testing the bounds of honesty. Sometimes I really wonder where his head is at. We went to the Texas Folklife Festival yesterday and he watched a few dance groups perform. He really seems to enjoy watching people dance. Today, when my Aunt Donna come over, she asked Holt to tell her about the dancers he saw yesterday.

"We didn't see any dancers," he replied.

"Oh? Your grandma told me you saw some people dancing yesterday." Donna questioned.

"Aw, she was just joking you. We didn't see anyboy."

Hmmm. I'm really not sure I understand the way his brain is working. Oh well. It gives us a good laugh, anyway.

Choking Fabio

Aaron, the boys, and I met up with my parents and my visiting brother for dinner tonight. I wove my way through the folks seated on the patio of our favorite Mexican joint, and as I approached my mother I declared, "I should write a blog entry about choking Fabio". So inspired, I decided to do just that.

I suppose the place to begin would be to explain just who Fabio is. Don't be fooled by his name. There's no long, luscious locks on this guy. This particular Fabio happens to be Brazilian, speaks very little English, and works at our Ju-Jitsu place. I confess, when he introduced himself to me on Monday, he had to do it three times because I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Anyway, this guy is a really patient teacher. I'm a total newbie to this Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (BJJ for short...typing Ju-Jitsu is a pain) and I need a lot more instruction than the others. We always being with a grueling 15 minute warm-up. as a class. Don't be fooled by the fifteen minutes -you try doing two sets of 50 jumping jacks, 2 sets of 50 crunches, and 20 push-ups, and that's not even the whole thing. Afterwards, Serge, the head instructor, demonstrates a new technique for everyone to practice. Guys then pair up and practice for a bit before we fight. During the practice time, it's become a bit of a pattern for Fabio to work with me. He's not too dissimilar in size to me, so we are a good match. The language barrier gets funny, occasionally. BJJ is definitely an activity where you really need to know the difference between "push" and "pull". I have found myself slipping into some of the communication patterns I adopted in Japan while we work together, and have on more than one occasion come very close to blurting something out in Japanese.

Today, we learned four new chokes. So, I grabbed hold of my friend Fabio over and over again, working on how to choke him. Then, just for fun, he showed me how to modify one of the chokes I had just learned and taught me a fifth choke. I think he was quite proud of himself, because he kept jabbering away in Portuguese to Serge and another Brazilian fighter, saying something about "five". The he would scoot himself back towards me so I could attach myself to his back ("like a backpack," Serge kept saying. "So I'm a backpack?" I asked. "Yes!" he exclaimed excitedly. "You stay close...go where he goes." Gotcha). Then Fabio would tell me, "number five!" I obediently wrapped my arm around the front of his neck, gripped his collar tightly, reached with my other hand for his pants leg, and threw myself backward. This inevitably resulted in one arm choking him while his body was being twisted sideways. With a quick tap on my arm, he signaled that I needed to release him, and he would then grin widely and say something that probably translated to, "See what I taught her? Isn't that cool?" as he rubbed his throat and coughed a little bit.

As we finished up that part of our lesson, he gestured to Aaron, telling him that Aaron had better not mess with me now. I love Ju-Jitsu!

Groovy Grad

Check out this awesome photo of Holt! He cracks me up. The other day, he and Ridge were talking about something and Ridge was arguing with him. Holt told Ridge, "You are just trapping me with words!" How poetic!