Today was technically a working day in my office, but I took a day’s leave.  And I’m glad I did.

I had a nice lazy start to the day, then went to the climbing centre.  Did some top roping and then some lead roping.  I love top roping because I can do silly things (like jump to grab a hold) knowing that if I miss, nothing bad will happen.  I love lead roping because it scares me and I know I need to be scared every now and again.

Then I got a haircut.  There’s something nice about shiny coiffed hair, and something about the way they dry it which is irrepeatable,  so for one day only I get that “just stepped out of a salon” look.

Then I met my brother and his wife for dinner.  Its always fun to catch up with them, and they were on good form.

Then I went to the church ceilidh.  There were a lot of people there that I knew, and a lot of international students that I’d never met before.  And I was REALLY impressed with the international students for their willingness to give it a go and learn new dances.

And then there was a strange game which gave me the opportunity to do a handstand.  And starting the year upside down is probably exactly right somehow.

Bring on 2009!

I went to a capoeira class. Its a martial art which has intrigued me for years. I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to dedicate to getting really good at it, but it was fascinating to get an insight. Things I liked about it:

- its a martial art

- its about music

- its about community

- the words are Portugese and Portugese is cool

- fighting isn’t aggressive; its a game

- it has an acrobatic element (new opportunities to be upside-down!)