This Week in Milestones

This is a week of tiny, little milestones.

First off, my Jiu-Jitsu instructor is determined to complete the first of 6 recordings that are needed to complete his next level of curriculum certification. I've been training with him, and he'll certainly be ready. Considering the sizes of the various test components, he'll be about 25% finished.

Also in Jiu-Jitsu, and on a more personal note, I will have completed the requirements for a third stripe promotion for my Blue Belt. This doesn't mean I'll be instantly promoted, but it will become possible at the discretion of my instructor. This will have taken me ten months to complete, since my last promotion early in 2014.

I have been on a bit of a weight-loss kick. My weight had snuck up during our numerous, fabulous trips over the past year. My goal had me shedding a total of 17 pounds. I've been keeping track of my progress using a high-tech scale, phone app calorie and activity counters, a heart-rate monitor, and computer software. This junk says that I should be done by about Friday. I'll be a svelte 173 pounds.

This is also the start of my wife's official retirement. Her last day was during the Christmas Holiday on December 31^st. She's been on a leave for a while to see if she likes living a life of leisure. It turns out that she does. We did all the annoying paperwork a month or two ago, but now it's all kicking in. Since starting at age 20, she's put in a 35-year teaching career.

So is anything coming up that isn't exactly a milestone, but is that hasn't happened in a long time.

Well, we're going into Vancouver for no real reason at all. We haven't done that in a while. Technically, we're getting a routine servicing done on our Prius at a dealership. We could do that nearer to home, but sometimes we go to the source. We'll be visiting with a dear friend, and shopping, and eating fancy. We like going to the City, and I wonder why we don't do it more often.

I think that's it. Shawn's testing, my rank qualification, weight goal reached, Helen's retirement, and we're going to the Big City.

A fine week indeed.