Admonished and Popped

Kathy shadowboxes shortly after her and I sparred.  She has shown vast improvement.  I was moving my head, and I managed to duck under some of her punches.  But I couldn't avoid all of the punches, however.  Kathy popped me straight in my nose and left me stunned.  If there had been just a fraction more of power behind that punch, comedian Chris Tucker would have been standing over me yelling, "Hillari, you just got knocked the 'eff out!"

Professor got a blast in on David in this photo.  But David is improving.

David was whopping on Ralphie as this photo was being shot.

Over the weekend, I met up with my oldest friend, Clintonia, whom I've known since Kindergarten.  Once again, she admonished me when I told her I had been sparring with the kids at my gym.  "Hillari, no!  Just no!  You don't need to end up with brain damage!  You could get a better job than being a boxing coach," she said.  I keep trying to explain the world of boxing to her, but she's not convinced that any of it is good.  She keeps trying to convince me to go back to substitute teaching.  I like working with kids in the boxing gym.  I gave up being a sub because I didn't like working with kids in regular classrooms.  Too much stress, frustration and unnecessary drama.  I respect teachers, but I don't ever want to do their job again.

"But you're not making money there," she said.  I admit that if I was working full-time at the hourly rate I get at the field house, I would be a little better off financially.  But it's not always about money.  Sometimes it's about enjoying doing what you like and being satisfied with that.