Coffee, Cake, Saucers and Grading

Had a lovely morning with the very beautiful FosterMummy in our very favourite Community Cafe.

Nice latte

and a lovely piece of lemon cake.

Oops, it's not looking good for weigh in again tomorrow, but I absolutely promise it has been my only treat this week.

My lovely latte, led me on to a very vocal discussion (aren't all discussions vocal?, but you know what I mean!), this afternoon about that age old dilemma whether to Saucer or Not Saucer?

Now I'm firmly in the NOT to saucer camp and I'll tell you, for why:-

Ben Terrett summed it up beautifully for me, when he said, it's because William Morris famously said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. The modern day Useless Saucer is neither useful nor beautiful.

Here's the worst modern day offender, the Conference Useless Saucer.

Ever tried to stand chatting, at a conference, holding a cup of coffee in one hand, a saucer in another, an agenda and then trying to drink the coffee? It's hard isn't it? Especially when the point of a conference break is to stand chatting!

Another one that annoys me is the Table Too Small Useless Saucer. This is especially annoying when you've got kids. Waiters have a habit of putting the most dangerous part of eating right in front of the kids, boiling hot coffee, sharp knifes or open bottles of wine. This problem is exasperated by the fact that the table is short of space. This problem is exasperated by the bloomin' useless saucers. Look I found an infographic!

I just don't see the point of these saucers.

The point isn't to hold the tea bag, you should take that out beforehand. Obviously! And the point isn't to look good either. If I went round my Gran's house I would expect a cup and saucer like this.

But in yer modern day coffee houses you get this hideous hybrid.

Or worse, one where the base of the cup doesn't fit in the dip of the saucer, but wobbles about precariously.

It's like they've used a trendy coffee glass and then thought, "Bloomin' 'eck! We forgot the saucers! The Englishmen will be revolting!"
But no one cares anymore. David Cameron doesn't wear a tie. Traditions change. And anyway, my Gran doesn't go to Costalotta Coffee.
I also know that saucers used to have a point. People used to pour tea into the saucer and drink it from there. That way it was cooler, quicker and you could slurp at it which aerated it and made it taste better. My Mum told me.

Until then. Unless you're a Grandparent ditch the Useless Saucers. 

As you can see from the glass at the top, my favourite Cafe does not "do" saucers, unless by special request and I like it that way.

Grading was also a thorny issue for me today. This is grading for my next Taekwondo belt. As I am worse than useless at this lovely Martial Art, I am but a mere White Belt, the lowest of the low, but my Instructor has been pushing me for the last two months to do my first grading for my next belt. She had another go for 20 minutes tonight aswell. However, there are two reasons why this will not be happening in the near future, well three actually, well actually four.

Number One - I can't do Press-Ups. No matter how hard I try, I just do not have the upper body strength to lower my sizeable lump to the ground, without smashing my face into the floor. To pass my first grading I must do 10 full Press-ups. Hahahahahahahaha, don't make me wet myself!!

Number Two - For Training sessions I am allowed to wear a black training kit. Below - me in my Blacks.

Blacks - Back

Blacks - Front

However, for grading sessions you have to wear your "proper" set of Whites, the Dobok! Here are my Whites.

Whites - Front

Whites - Back

There's a reason my Whites are still on the hangar. The largest size trousers in the Whites (which is the one I own) is not as large a size, as the Black trousers I own. I can just about fit in them, as long as I don't breathe out, not great if you need to jump around doing the "moves". I just don't have the skills to make them bigger.

Number 3 - No. 2 Son, being only 8, has to do all the Little Puma grades, which means 3 extra belts between his White and Yellow. He has done 2 of these, but not the 3rd. That means if we both grade at the next session, I will go from White to Yellow, he will go from White with an Orange Stripe to White with a Yellow Stripe and then Yellow at his next grading. Effectively, therefore, I jump ahead of him in one fell swoop. Now we first started going to Taekwondo for him, not me, and he likes being effectively 2 belts ahead of me at the moment. He likes to "teach" me things and it's good for him. I think he should stay ahead of me!!

Number 4 - It's very SCARY!! You have to stand in front of a panel of 9 Black Belts, the main examiner is a Master Black Belt and there are very few adults who do it in amongst the youngsters in each grade. To be honest, I've watched No. 2 Son's last two grading sessions, and the 5 year olds are wiping the floor with the few low grade adults, let alone the 10 - 15 year olds, who make it all look so easy. To make matters worse all the Mums and Dads of all those youngsters, are sat around the edge, watching the one lone adult trying to get their kick above waist height, while the kids are at shoulder height. It's humiliating.

I'm quite happy to give it a miss for quite a while to come, if it's all the same to you, Ma'am.

Hope you had a good day.

Lots of Love Arwedd xx

Hi-Yah! Who Moi?

Welcome to my new Followers, Honey, Jackie, Kristen, Christine, Emma, Becky & Rachel, thanks for joining.

 

I'm not sure whether it's just me that remembers the lovely Miss Piggy, going around Karate chopping everyone, whilst shouting Hi-Yah in a most unlady like way? However, I know that this is exactly what I look like on a Friday night!!

Many months ago No. 2 Son declared that he would only continue going to his Taekwondo class, if I joined in too, rather than sitting at the side watching him. Well I knew I wanted him to continue, it's been brilliant for his co-ordination, confidence and discipline, so what's a Mommy to do, but become the class Hefalump?

So every Friday night, I provide the entertainment for all the other parents sitting at the side, as I feebly attempt to jump, kick, spar, run, punch and block with a group of mainly children, more than half my age. One of whom I might add, is the Under 16 World Champion. The sight of a very inflexible, unfit, overweight, 41 year old mother of two is probably more tragic than amusing, to be honest. Thankfully I am only a White Belt so for a lot of the time I get to stand at the back of the class and on nights like tonight, when I haven't been for two weeks, it's just aswell. 

My view from the back of the class.

I think I might need an ice bath tonight, just to be able to move tomorrow!!!!

In Other News

Partial success today with the Chocolate Chip cookies, as recommended by Scarlet, from Tales Beyond the Nook on Lucy's Blog - http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2009/02/chocolate-chip-cookies.html. Thank you Scarlet.

I didn't have the brown sugar the recipe called for, so I used Caster Sugar instead, but they weren't half bad.

Both Sons liked them, but DH, felt they hadn't set, as they were very soft in the middle. I did try and tell him they were meant to be like that, but what can I tell you, the man's a heathen, sometimes! 

Whilst on mt teabreak this morning I also started Crochet Blanket Project No. 2. I'll show you a picture when there's a bit more to see, as it's just a long chain at the moment. I am in slight danger of just starting lots of different things and not finishing them. I seem to already have a lot of Cross Stitch pieces like that. Hmm, best watch out as there is no more space in my dining room for more WIP's.

Til Tomorrow.

Lots of Love Arwedd xx