My day with Mom

During my one day stay in Missouri to see my mom (in between flights to Pa) we had a good time just talking and hanging out. We saw "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey...My mom and I really like Jim Carrey especially in "Ace Ventura", which is hilarious and I think he needs to make another one...but anyway, the movie was funny.

Here are some pics of the short visit...

My Mom, Elmo (Right), Fernie (Left)

Me and Brotha Mo (Elmo)

Elmo and Me in our hats....It got a little cold.
He makes the funniest faces sometimes...

Like I've said a whole bunch of times before, Elmo is awesome...well both my Pugs are awesome but Elmo is totally awesome... we go way back. Anyway, he's my homie and his name is Elmo....Ho-mie (Ho) and El-mo (Mo)...So lately I've been calling him HoMo. Fernie is his girlfriend.

Delayed in Detroit

Well here I am, in Detroit, Michigan ...waiting for my flight which is delayed. Although not delayed nearly as bad as Mikes flight which was delayed some ridiculous amount of time...like a day or 2....Crazy. But on the bright side he was in las Vegas for his delay...Mike alone in Vegas....Thats a good idea for a movie...I cant wait to hear his story.

In just a little while I'll be back in PA....

Traveling

This past Wednesday I left the Retreat Center to begin my month of vacation. Craig went along with me as he needed to go to San Francisco which was on my way to Orange County. In total its about a 10 hour drive to Orange County...It takes 4 of those hours to get to San Francisco. It was nice to have some company along for the ride.

We left late in the afternoon and I took a few unintentional detours so I arrived a little bit later than expected...into the morning hours. I stayed with my 2 good friends Len and Natalie.

My Vegetarian, Hindu Homie Len

My grandma lives in Orange County so I was able to drop in and see her. Its always nice to see my grandma. She's a very wise, good-hearted person with a great sense of humor. Its very uplifting to be around her.

My sister, who is enrolled in law school in Indiana, happened to be in Orange County for a Summer job offer. So as I was visiting my grandma I got to see my sister too. I was very happy to see her and catch up on all that we've both been up to.

My Sis

Yesterday Len drove me to Ontario Airport where I flew out to visit my mom in Missouri. For now I'm only staying here one day as I'm flying to Pennsylvania tomorrow to visit my dad and friends. I'll be in Pennsylvania for 10 days and then I'll fly right back here to visit my mom for another week. Its nice to see her and my 2 pug dogs Elmo and Fernie...which also happen to be the greatest dogs in the world! (...Xiao Hu your still awesome and when I get done training you, you'll also be one of the greatest dogs in the World.)

Well I have some more Chinese to study and then it's off to get some sleep...tomorrow is another long day at the airport.

Semester Is Over...1 of 20

This past weekend we had our finals in which we tested almost everything that we had been training since the start of the semester; Running up the mountain, Jumping, bridge hands reaction training, horizontal and vertical rope climbing, throwing cinderblocks, staff, pull ups, dips, TaiJi Quan form and applications, Jing and Chinese language. Its amazing, the progress we’ve all made since the start of the semester. Although I see areas where I can improve. Chinese is the greatest area for me that needs improvement.

During this semester I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve become more aware of my personal strengths and weaknesses. Areas that I hadn’t been aware of before coming to the mountain. Shifu has also done a lot to point out and remind me of what these weaknesses are. Meditation has been perhaps the most valuable in helping me to see myself as I am. I’ve become more aware of thoughts and emotions and the affect they have on my state of mind. Change is difficult…the first step is building awareness.
In light of my experiences here at the Retreat Center, I better understand the way in which the traditional arts help in building and refining character. Although I think the traditional martial arts are fundamentally for self defense…through proper training they have the power to transform people. That to me is spiritual and perhaps the greatest value of the traditional arts.