deleted

yes, that's the title for this month.

because there are no pictures to go along with this blog. but, i do have a funny story for you.

i've been wanting to do something adventurous, maybe even a little daring, for my "12 things". as i was searching the web, i found the perfect activity.

for this month, i decided to surprise my boyfriend, michael, and bring him along.

the date was set for saturday, april 10th.

on friday night, i gave him the following clues:

1. it's something little boys dream of doing.

2. wear loose clothing.

his guess: "we're going to be firemen?"

i smiled and said, "we'll see".

on saturday morning he picked me up and i told him to head down hwy 31 into vestavia. as we were turning into the parking lot, he saw, birmingham dance theatre.

"we're going to learn to dance?"

"no, keep driving," i replied.

then he saw the sign. birmingham fencing club. the expression on his face was priceless.

one saturday a month, the birmingham fencing club has a morning where you can go and learn how to fence for free. so here we were...with a bunch of 10 and 12 year old kids and their parents. so funny.

our instructor, david, began by telling us about how fencing is a summer olympic sport (who knew?). i'm guessing fencing is shown on tv during the off-peak hours...say midnight or 1 am. only a guess though...

david went through all the equipment and what we must wear to protect ourselves. he also introduced us to the 3 different kinds of weapons for fencing. they include: foil, epee, & sabre. for our class, we did the sabre which is much more lightweight than foil and epee. the area we were taught to aim the weapon is from the hips up (including the head).

we were then instructed to get changed into a "fitted" white jacket, helmet, and gloves. i could have fit another person in my jacket and i almost asked if they made these in more flattering sizes, but i resisted. michael made the comment we looked like marshmellows; i couldn't have said it better myself.

david went through each of the steps we would be taking and did a practice round with each of us. you know, sword fighting looks so easy in the movies, but it's definitely a workout.

we were then instructed to choose a partner and practice for 5 minutes. michael and i did our first round together....it was so much fun.

david then asked us to switch partners. michael was paired up with a 16 year old ninja and i was paired with another girl. i don't think i've laughed that hard in a long time. as michael was trying to defend himself against "the ninja" i was laughing and clearly making my partner mad because i was too intent on watching him. to this day, michael still insists the 16 year old was trying to kill him. ha!

i glanced at the clock on the wall and realized we needed to head out. i had promised a friend i would do her makeup for a wedding that evening so i had to get home.

michael and i took a few pictures before getting out of our fencing gear and then thanked david for the opportunity to come and learn about fencing.

as we were driving home, michael asked if i would put the card from my camera into his laptop so he could have the pictures. pictures of my trip to tokyo and my trip to texas began to come up on his laptop screen and then it froze. hmmm....

"michael, the pictures aren't loading. that's weird."

he asked me to turn off the computer and take the card out and put it back into my camera.

that's when i got the bad news. "file corrupted". all of the pictures were gone.

luckily all of my pictures were backed up on my computer...except the fencing pictures ...hence, the title "deleted".

poor guy, he felt so bad.

we had fun and i definitely have a good memory of fencing...even without the pictures.

love,
alison