Yeah, so I got canned today.

Such is my life, no?

In response to GT - I don't have vacation yet. And apparently the "floating holidays" that I have can't be applied (even though we are supposed to choose when we can use them.)

No bereavement leave since he is not immediate family. Which means if, God forbid, something happened to one of my nephews, nieces, my stepdad, or even HammieLove (since we are not married and therefore he is not immediate family), I wouldn't be allowed to take time off. Because we can't "just take off whenever we want."

Like I am going boozing in Tijuana, for God's sake. It's a FUNERAL. I wish with all my heart that I didn't need the time off because that would mean my uncle was still alive.

*sigh*

My boss has given me the choice of:

Keep my job and miss my uncle's funeral (at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors)

OR

Go to the funeral and find another job.

I can't have ONE day in August to fly out for the internment since he is not immediate family.

What do I do now?

Happenings

On Sunday in Vegas, I competed in Point Sparring, Traditional Forms, and Weapons. We had to wait a LONG time for our divisions to get called but when they did get called, I took third in both point sprring and forms and fourth place in weapons. I didn't win a World Title like I wanted to, but my teammate, Sara, took the title in point sparring -- which made me happier than if I had won it myself. She has worked really hard and I love the fact that she won -- and she beat the girl that beat me both and Nationals and Worlds to get first. Sara ROCKS!

I did end up placing in all my divisions, which makes me consider Worlds a success considering I could hardly walk after Nationals. The guys at Project Athlete (www.projectathleteinc.com) helped me tremendously and I couldn't have done any of it without the support of my friends and team.

I had to drive back on Sunday night since I had to go to work on Monday morning. Well, HammieLove had to drive me back. Without getting much sleep in the car and getting home at 3am, I went to work on Monday an absolute zombie. We started scuba lessons on Monday night, which meant I went to work a zombie on Tuesday too!

Thursday was probably one of the worst days of my life. My mom called me around 10am on my cell to tell me that my Uncle Anthony had succumbed to his cancer on Wednesday morning. And my grandmother had passed away from complications from Alzheimers on Wednesday night. Double whammy. I completely lost it. My boss was so wonderful and supportive. He sent me home and gave me Friday off so I could come up to my mom's house and be with my family.

My Uncle Anthony was my hero. I fought in his honor at Worlds, with "In Honor of Bandit 251 - Fight Hard -Live Strong" inscribed on the back of my headgear. I had taken pictures of it and sent it to my parents, who were in Virginia at his bedside. He was a little delirious from the medication and asked my mom for a pen and paper. He wrote (illegibly) a "press release" commending me for my performance and recommending my promotion to black belt. Uncle Tony was a general in the Air Force before he retired (Bandit 251 was his fighter pilot call sign) and I guess was used to writing and releasing press releases. He told my mom," No matter what people say, Phil (that's my dad) is proud of his daughter. We all are."

I was so lucky to have him in my life as long as I did. Tony lived his life to the fullest, usually in complete amazement that he got paid to fly. He was 6'4" and barely fit in his cockpit. When I hit 5'10" when I was 12, he told me," Always stand straight. Never be ashamed of who you are." I have carried that with me everywhere. I honestly think that advice has helped shape me into the person that I am. He revamped my resume for me and that resume was the one that I got hired at Chicago Title with, which has led to my awesome job that I have now. I owe him a lot.

I will miss you Uncle Tony. Say Hi to Nan and Jason. I know you will be keeping the skies safe once again.

I guess God needed a fighter pilot. I love you.

IMAC World Championships

Thursday was a super busy morning. The caravan was leaving at noon and I had a ton of things to do in the morning – namely going to the dentist and having my abcessed tooth taken care of (let me tell you – not fun!!). The dentist was great though and got me out of her office in enough time for me to get a pedicure that matched my (and all of the other girls at the studio) nails. We all got French manicures with black tips with a red line underneath. Like this:




On the way up to Vegas, I was in a van with most of the older girls that were going – all three Ashleys, Megas, Yvonne, Sara, Trish. One of the dads drove (poor him). We rocked out to boy bands and disco, took goofy pictures (I still have to get those developed), and made signs to communicate with other cars. The six hour drive went by so fast! It had to be one of the most fun road trips that I have ever been on.

We checked into the Riviera, had dinner and hit the Strip. The lesson I learned that night – high heels + Strip = BAD IDEA. Why? Because big blister on the bottom of my feet + karate tournament = OUCH! I had to keep my feet taped for the rest of the weekend. The older students got to drop off the younger kids and actually go out and have fun later. I got to hang out with Travis, which was nice because we haven’t hung out much since he started dating his girlfriend. We had a fun night in New York, New York and the Luxor.

Friday morning we had off so we all hit the pool and then the girls went shopping. I scored some super cute shoes from Abercrombie. We all stayed too long and Judy had to drive like a bat out of hell to get us back to the hotel in time for the start of the tournament. She is normally a calm and reserved person so it was fun to see her get all road raged out at the slow people.

Breaking, self defense, and team sparring divisions were on Friday night. We took two firsts and a second in breaking, a second in self defense, and the teen boys won first in team sparring. It was a good start to the tournament!

Black belt divisions and continuous sparring divisions were on Saturday. Almost every girl that fought placed and a few of them got the World Title. This is what I love about our Black Belt Beauties. We get our nails done, wear ribbons in our hair when we fight, wear makeup when we do our forms. We are definitely the girliest girls of any of the other studios and we get a TON of dirty looks and snickers from the girls that think it is stupid to get dolled up at a tournament.

We usually step in the ring and beat the crap out of those girls.
Without breaking our nails.

Anyway, I fought that night in continuous full contact fighting. I won my first round and watched as my teammate, Sara, got brutalized by this Kung Fu chick. She got hit really hard in the eye twice in a row ( yes it is full contact, no you are not supposed to hit in the face. They don’t want people bleeding everywhere.) The girl didn’t get disqualified, which she probably should have, but whatever. I went into my second match and about a minute in the girl I was fighting – a teammate of the girl that beat Sara—nailed me in the face with a back fist. She got me straight in the nose and mouth. I heard the crowd’s reaction before I really felt the pain. Luckily I didn’t get a bloody nose. My sensei checked me out and sent me back in the ring. The ref asked me if I was okay to fight and I started to jump up and down screaming, " Bring it on! Come on! Let’s go!" My whole studio started cheering.

Outbursts like that are very unlike me in fighting. I am usually kind of a wimp about getting hit in the face.

HammieLove said the girl looked terrified when I started doing that.

We started to fight again and every shot I had on her head I took. I didn’t hit her in the face but I was bitch slapping her upside the head every time I could. *WHAM* Back fist *WHAM* Ridge hand.

Like this:



That's me in the red head gear, not falling down. I bet she felt that the next day.

I had to fight her teammate for first place. By this time, my leg is pretty much done with and the other girl was practically fresh because she only had one fight. She was also a really good fighter and I lost by a split decision.

Still second place is not bad considering I have been in physical therapy for the last six weeks and I haven’t trained for continuous fighting. I am pretty proud of myself. Sensei that top 4 at World Championships is considered the top tier – we all get declared World Champions. I just don’t have the title. Next year, baby.

To be continued…

Hi, my name is Hammie, and I am a lagger. I haven't posted in SO long! Hectic life and all (plus not having internet access at my desk at work!)

World Championships are in TWO DAYS. We leave for Vegas on Thursday and I compete on Saturday and Sunday. I am ready -- ready to beat some ass. I have never been an enthusuastic fighter but something has changed in me. I want to kick the crap out of someone. I want to beat the first girl I fight so bad that the second girl won't want to step in the ring with me. I am PUMPED to fight. I can't wait for Friday.

Today is my 90 day review at my job. Wish me luck on that one. I hate reviews.

HammieLove and I start SCUBA lessons on Monday. That is going to be an exciting activity to add to our repertoire. With my new skills, I will be well on my way to becoming a super spy like Sydney Bristow. :)

That's my life in a nutshell. What about yours?