Well probably time for an update as the whole Christmas and New Year celebrations are now officially over and 2010 is up and running.
I seem to do battle with Christmas every year in a quest to not get run down with work and keep my morale up, and on the whole it has been pretty enjoyable. I worked right up until Christmas eve where we closed the shop at one and then headed off for a quick pint with the rest of the guys from work before heading off to friends and family. Christmas day was a very lazy affair and I didn’t really do more than eat an extremely large meal (the only day of the year my Mum has the chance to completely over feed me), drink a moderate amount of alcohol and play my x-box in my PJ’s. Boxing day was spent at my other half’s house and the following day was a return to the x-box again, damn you Assassins Creed!!!
After going back to work for a duration of three days it was onto the new year celebrations. New years eve didn’t exactly start off well as I was already suffering from a hangover and was extremely tired. Fortunately after a couple of beers I was ok again and myself and my fighting comrades proceeded to the Corn Exchange possibly for the last time (under that name at least) where we enjoyed lots of dancing and booze, plus destroying my hand on a punch bag game. I went to hit it as hard as I could and went through the bag and beyond, slamming my fist into the back of the machine which means most of my right hand went very blue and swollen.
It has been nice to have a little break from training (albeit a relatively short one) to recover from the niggling little injuries (and gain a couple more), but I am absolutely fired up to get going again. It feels like I have been away for months and I feel very lethargic and weak and cant wait to be kicked back into shape. I did manage to get an hour of training in before the normal classes started up again which was nice as I can never normally attend due to work. It was the annual ‘Blow out the Cobwebs’ beach training hosted by a friendly Taekwondo club. It involves a very cold hour training on the beach in full uniform before a dip in the sea (still in uniform), usually involving press-ups below sea level which we all did. It was absolutely freezing and I lost all feeling in my feet and was very relieved to get back in the warm car afterwards! I did feel very out of practice all being said, and have been going through my relevant forms, etc so I am not completely out of practice. We did manage to start training again last Wednesday but then the snow hit.
It has really come in strong this year and cost me a day off work which was nice but since I have been commuting via train which is a massive hassle as I cant stand public transport and I just want it to go now. My car has been parked on my drive since today and the only three people who I have witnessed trying to get their car down our hill, round the corner and back up the other side have failed miserably, so mine has been left firmly on the driveway until today when I successfully piloted a voyage to Tesco. My mum also suffered on the first day of the snow as she got about a minute up the road when the blizzards came and she slid her car into a hedge which was where it resided for about four days. The snow wasn’t all bad though as I built a very large snowman which unfortunately collapsed right at the end and I had to re-build it due to my stubbornness and reluctance to lose to someone made of snow. The same evening a couple of us decided to hit the icy slopes of Camborne skate park for some snow-body boarding where I was very pleased to nail a drop knee spin and also suffer a very bruised ankle. It does actually have to be done though unfortunately.
It wasn’t the best end to 2009 and to be honest I am glad to see the back of it, but this year is already looking action packed with the return of Seni, plus another Martial Arts expo on the same week, the European Championships, and lots more surprises I’m sure. After what seemed like a harmless bit of fun I have now been with my current girlfriend for almost two months now and we are becoming very close. I have made it my new year resolution to make a lot more effort with my friends by spending more time being sociable rather than being sat at home on my own. I feel some people just deserve a little more from me so I will try and be a lot more committed with my training and give back to the people who give me so much of their time. Hopefully I have started to make progress here already.
Here’s to a great new year!
