Today I Feel Accomplished

In the Last Two Weeks I:

-Wrote the first draft of my Thesis Introduction (lots of blabbing about myself)
-Wrote three new poems
-One of those new ones I wrote was an imitation of one of Kim Addonizio's poems. It actually allowed me to write this poem I've been trying to write for like a year now, because I finally had a way to approach it. It has seen many different drafts. This was the one it was made for. It's really hard to write a poem about two people in a bar, apparently. Especially a sort of romantic one.
-Probably discovered the title of my manuscript/first book. We are still tossing around ideas, but I'm pretty sure it's the one.
-Narrowly avoided a meltdown.
-Finally got some flowers on my grandma's and Debra's graves.
-Went up a belt rank in karate.
-Also found myself with an instructor's belt.
-Went back to Kickboxing. My knee is still trying to decide how it feels about me.
-Learned some really cool moves with sticks/a knife.

So, it's now October 1st. Aria is snoring away next to me, Halloween lights are blinking on the fireplace, and my legs are aching from what feels like the first day of real use in months. I also (just a second ago) got done with a few revisions. I'd like to think they're pretty decent. Right now I'm still riding on a wave of enjoyment from my Kim Addonizio imitation poem. I really hope it's not just me and my bias that likes it. There's a contest open right now that I'd like to enter tomorrow after my phone conference with Blas, and I figure out which poems could hold their own in a contest.

Anyway, the list above really says about everything I want to. Except that I helped out with my first class tonight (White, Gold, & Orange). After it was over, I walked past a little boy that was in it. I stopped and told him he did an awesome job, and he said thanks and then spread his arms out for a hug. It pretty much made my day. It's the little things. Especially since I was really nervous about messing up and looking like an idiot in front of the kids and their parents. I survived. And will hopefully continue surviving every Monday night.

I've really enjoyed being back in karate. I'm glad I decided to go back. I think, after the emotional hurricane my life was earlier this year, it's definitely been stabilizing. There's just way too much to think about when you have too much time alone. You start to go kind of crazy. Not to say I don't still have moments of gut-clenching panic, but karate and my poems really help with that. I kind of just ended up putting it all into my poetry. It's just out there. I'm hoping, after it's done, someone finds it to be worthy chapbook material. Though there are some people I should probably never tell about its publication.

Ahem.