OK, no Airstream philosophy or house angst or travel news today. This blog entry is strictly for those who are interested in our life “off the road.”

Emma has graduated to her yellow belt in karate class. Needless to say, it’s a very exciting day for her, and we’re happy she’s having fun and progressing. The test was comprised of an oral question (“Who is the founder of our karate school?”) which she answered correctly, a basic exercise involving all the moves the white belts have learned so far, and a ritual board-breaking.

The school has boards of various difficulty for the students, which allows even the beginners to break a board the first time they test.   The broken board makes an interesting souvenir for the day and, according to one father, pretty decent firewood too.

Being stationary means we can do this sort of thing, but I have to admit I am chafing under the restriction of a three-times-a-week schedule.   To go anywhere means we’d have to miss classes, which we haven’t wanted to do.   In a week the sessions we paid for will run out, and since we are so close now to our departure date (I hope), we aren’t going to renew right now.

We’ll start again in the fall, when we’re back in town.   Emma now seems to be completely hooked on karate. Fair warning to Uncle Steve, Gunny, and others who would cross her path — this girl is ready on defense!

On the house front, we are a few steps closer.   The couch arrived today (large and comfortable) and also our mattresses.   We now have two fully functioning bedrooms and a living room to our credit.   A number of smaller “punch list” items got dealt with as well, including drywall repairs, electrical connections for the kitchen appliances, and the last few pieces of   baseboard.   A lot of minor items are still on the list, but the big projects include installing kitchen countertops & appliances, fixing the leaking shower plumbing, and installing the sinks.   Anything else that needs doing is not worth delaying our travels for, so we won’t sweat the small stuff.