It was a crazed week, and it's only Monday. I attended a local conference (Educon) over the weekend and today, though I taught only two classes and went to only two meetings, it was nonstop work from arriving at 7:30 to leaving at 5:20. So of course I really had to think about going to fencing, but I managed to get myself out of the house.

Working straight through the weekend is not good for my mood. I was grouchy. I felt better once I got to fencing. Mary also had something for ...

Monday night I didn't feel like going to fencing but went anyway. qatet wasn't there. I fenced Mike, Tom, and Charlotte (who is back from Egypt) and, because Tom fences left-handed these days, I worked on the threat to hand with lots of success. It was only a good while later that I realized Ahren had taught me the entire lesson left-handed, which was why it worked on Tom. I am firmly right-handed, but because I have a fair amount of experience with left-handers I just plain don't notice if ...

I did some more of the half-balance ball and a little footwork, then fenced Mike for a while, then Dick Johnson.

Ahren had been thinking about something I asked him, about how to set up the touch against someone who is chasing you. He watched the video of my bout against Jude where I pulled it off a couple of times, and the first thing he said was that I had set it up with the previous actions, which of course is true.

Tonight, he first had me fix my feet. I was ...

The adult class was there, and one junior foilist. I did a little footwork and then watched some international sabre - Marti and the Chinese, Lapkes and Tarantino, etc. - while standing on the balancing ball, the half-ball thing. So even though I didn't get much fencing, I watched some fencing and I did do a workout.

The only sabre fencers to show, eventually were Frederick and Jessi1. Jess was fencing left-handed because she injured her hand fencing Frederick a couple of weeks ...

The thing I like about fencing is there's always something new. Even though there's rarely anything really new.

Tonight I was stiff from lifting yesterday, and my shoulder had been bothering me a bit, so I told qatet I didn't want to drill. After I did some footwork and stretched, I gossiped a little bit with Mary Frye and qatet and then got to bouting. We had a good number tonight - Mike, Will, Simon, Tom, qatet, and Frederick - and eventually took over three strips. I fenced ...