It seemed like a long way off a long time ago ...

Tonight I get my ninth yellow stripe at my taekwondo dojang.

Throughout the color belt system and the deputy black belt sequence we are required to earn stripes to qualify for the next belt testing. At some levels it is 8 stripes, then it is 16 stripes, eventually it is 24 stripes ... but once we become deputy black belts it is 12 stripes to earn one yellow stripe and ten yellow stripes equals qualification for black belt testing. (I know this sounds as complicated as the old pounds and pence British monetary system, but it actually is quite simple in practice.)

So tonight, I go through poomse practice and get stripe number nine. Me and Ringo test in just over a month for our National Level Black Belts ... it seems like so long ago we started. He was in 1st grade, I was still married, my hair was long, I worked nights for Safeco, and I couldn't dance to save my life ...

... and now we are almost there ...