'Can I get them in pink?'

"Are you nervous?"

"Yeah ..."

"What're you nervous about?"

"Looking like an idiot."

"Everyone looks like an idiot when they start out. The difference between guys and girls is that girls listen to what I'm telling them to do, and that's what they do. Guys think they know better than I do, and they're the ones who wind up looking like idiots. You're doing fine."

And I did do fine. It felt good to learn all those positions and what to do with them and how to get out of some of them and gain the upper hand in the end. And it felt divine to spend twenty minutes beating the crap out of a punching bag. I'm feeling muscles in my back and legs that have been long dormant. I'm sore, but in the very best way.

Potentially the best point from a girly-girl standpoint:

"Where'd you get your gloves?"

"She ordered them from us. I can get you a catalog."

"Ahh ... (shy smile) Can I get them in pink?"

Pause.

Laugh.

"Yeah. You can get them in pink. Kim just sold her pink pair, or you could've bought hers."

My dad laughed at the idea of me walking into the gym in a dress and heels, swinging my pink boxing gloves at my side. "That's a deadly combination," he said.

I think I just fell in love with boxing and ju jitsu.