Throwback Thursday

Going through old cards and memories, I found these treasures:

Anyone who knew me, knew how much I loved ballroom dancing.

I miss the good ol' days when every thought in my head vanished 

the moment I walked onto the dance floor.

I was fortunate enough to find a passion where I could lose myself. 

Have you ever had such a passion? 

If so, do you still hold onto it? 

Question of the hour: 

Where does that passion go? 

How can we rekindle it? 

Personally, I may dig a little deeper into my photographs, memories and videos to rekindle the joy.

Oh, to feel joyful, hopeful and passionate again.

Two Months

Winter recently arrived in our neck of the woods after a long-lasting and lingering fall. We went from a skiff of snow on the ground which melted, just before we were hit with (what felt like) a winter's worth of snow within a week. 

To add insult to injury, our temperatures took a nose dive into the near -30 degree (Celsius) range and 'feeling like' -38 degrees last weekend.

Last Saturday after work, I took advantage of the fact the car was already warmed up and I ran every conceivable errand and stocked up on enough groceries to get us through the cold snap. I shovelled the last of the snow and took out the garbage and recycling. 

I did every single thing that had to be done outside Saturday night so I would not have to even open the door on Sunday.

And I didn't.

The temperatures have slowly crept upwards all week. It is still no chinook outside but the extreme cold and snow conditions have backed off for the time being.

As I was out running my pre-weekend-errands last night, our brief encounter with winter was fresh in my mind.

I stocked up in every conceivable way I could imagine.

Our cats have enough of their special dietary brands of cat food to last two months. Also enough medication for Senior Cat to get us through until mid-February. I even picked up a two month supply of glucosamine treats for Senior to (hopefully) ease his crickety old joints through the cold days ahead.

Anything that was threatening to break down has a back-up replacement in stock, within our home. I have a spare toilet seat (yes! our toilet seat is not going to last much longer) and a Magic Bullet (can you imagine my dismay when I almost could not make my morning smoothie a few days ago?!).

Then there is the revolving supply of regular maintenance supplies: furnace filters; hair color (my hair has gone on a growth spurt and I simply cannot afford to run out and 'touch up my roots' every two months); socks (I just bought nine pairs of socks two months ago and I am blasting through a sock-a-day now that they have reached their maximum mileage capability); printer ink (hopefully enough to get through the Christmas gift and letter season); lotion and cat litter.

I stocked up on every item I could think of. Some people are spending their hard, earned cash on Christmas this time of year. Me? I'm just trying to get through until February (it seems like almost everything I have named has a two-month duration).

I am almost looking forward to (who am I kidding? I am looking forward to this) the part where I get to hunker down and simply exist within this well-stocked oasis I call home. The idea of gazing out the windows and watching the weather happen outside while we are warm and snuggled up inside makes my heart feel like a warm, inviting fireplace.

I am almost (no, I am!) looking forward to the weekends where my off-site employment is cancelled due to weather. Great things happened during the deep freeze of 2014. I am anticipating 'more of the same' this upcoming winter.

All I have to do is get through the next two months. I'm almost all stocked up and ready. Because ... (here it comes ... wait for it! ... wait for it!!!) ...

Two months from tomorrow, I will be headed off to Vegas for the weekend with my sister to see Dancing With the Stars - Live!

Two months seems like the magical number to me right now. I'm stocking up my inventory so all I have to do is settle in and enjoy the wait for my mid-winter ultra-extravagant and utterly frivolous holiday excursion.

It is a little bit crazy to plan something so impulsive (that sounds wrong - how can you plan something impulsive??), but this little holiday is mostly funded by gift money I have received and (ironically enough) selling a ball gown because I have 'hung up' my own ballroom dance shoes.

I am not sure what the next twelve months have in store but I'm actually eagerly anticipating the next two. Who knows where life will take me after that?!

Makes Me Crazy

In my quest to make getting ready for The Big Day as stress free as possible, I have gone off the deep end.

The things that 'matter' when it comes to a dance competition are crazy. The idea is to be noticed. From 25 feet away. So everything has to be done in extremes.

Hair with earth tone highlights? Blase. Let's go for carrot orange! Natural skin tones? You look pale and washed out. Tan is in! Eyes? You must notice the eyes! Nails? Hands must match the feet and grooming must be impeccable! Costumes? Glittery and showy (no more black for me)! Jewellery? 'Bling' (an adornment (as a bracelet or ring or necklace) made of precious metals and set with gems or imitation gems) is in!

Bright! Big! Showy! Otherwise, you blend in with the woodwork (I'm wondering what is wrong with that).

So ... I have gone crazy. From spray tanning, to fake nails, to fake eyelashes and fake orange highlights in my hair. I should be able to act like an entirely different person when I get out on the dance floor ... because there is nothing 'real' about me.

The past few days have been all about taking care of all of the primping. The girly stuff that is simply not me. It's sort of fun ... but oh, so time consuming (and expensive)! I've been running around the city, beautifying myself.

It's enough to make you go crazy:

A Peek at 'Showcase'!

I had hoped to be able to post my dance routines here after today's showcase. But due to a few technical difficulties, all I have is a few clips of each of my dances.
As it turns out, I made mistakes either just before or just after most of these clips. The editing was by chance ... but it turned out for the best!

Too Tired to Dance

What's with that?! I'm never too tired to dance! But last night by the end of the 2-group-dance-class-marathon that I endured, I was weary.

My brain couldn't absorb any more knowledge, my feet were sore, my balance was off and I was ready to go home.

45 minutes is about the perfect amount of time to spend absorbing new information and putting it to use in the dance world.

The first 45 minute lesson was wonderful. My dance instructor (who normally leads this class) has been off with an injury the past few weeks so the owner of the studio took his place. There was a 4 female to 1 male ratio last night, so I had to be in the 'lead' position a lot of the time. This is usually enough to send my stress levels through the roof ... but not last night.

My body and brain were up to the challenge. It doesn't mean that I succeeded, but I did try.

There is a lot of 'brain work' that goes into leading, when dancing. The lead has to plan about a half of a beat ahead of where they are at. I assume that there must be an autopilot that their brain starts to go on after a while, but it certainly makes me appreciate the challenge that a new 'lead dancer' faces every time that I must dance a mile in their shoes.

Being taught by a different instructor was also an unexpectedly pleasant change. I'm comfortable with my instructor, I enjoy his rapport and humor and I learn a little along the way. I've been taught by this other instructor at different stages of my dancing and he challenges a different part of my brain. Not always the part of my brain I want to challenge when I'm geared up for fun on the dance floor. But variety is the spice of life.

By the time the second 45 minute lesson came, I was teetering on overload. But it was a new instructor, a new dance and a different part of the brain and body challenge. So it worked out okay. Until the last 15 minutes. I was pretty much spent. No brain or body power left.

I came home, watched Kurt play 'Dance Dance Dynamics' on the Wii. I took a few turns in between stuffing myself with a bag of Ruffles Potato Chips (nothing healthy about them - I pretty much ate a whole days worth of calories in the half hour I watched Kurt work out on the Wii).

I went to bed early, slept like a log and tried to act ambitious this morning. I turned on the 'Wii Fit' and spent 50 minutes going through the paces. My body just wasn't working like it is capable of working. I'm tuckering out.

The thing about energy levels is, the more you do ... the more you can do. Slow down for a while ... and watch out. It's hard to rev up the energy and ambition again.

Dancing is a little bit like that. You have to slow it down to an almost unbearable pace to absorb all the technicalities of what you need to learn to make the most of your dance lesson dollar. But ... the more you move, laugh and have fun ... the more energy you have to put onto the floor.

I'm in the 'lead' position in my life. I'm always half of a beat ahead from where I need to be and my brain is continually anticipating the next move as I direct the kids, family and work flow through my days.

As long as I keep moving, my energy remains high. If I stop too long to think, I'm too tired to 'dance' through my days.

So I'm pretty content to just 'play' and follow the leader on the dance floor. When I have to work too hard, I am simply ... too tired to dance.

Too Much Time on a Saturday Night!

My dance instructor always jokes about how much he 'spins' me during my dance lesson. So I have composed a montage of all of our spins during our lesson last night.

Dancing is (literally) a great way to unwind after a long week ... I wouldn't want it any other way!

The Editing Process

I was so excited that I managed to figure out how to edit down my dance lesson and show an abbreviated form of it last night. I woke up this morning and thought about the 'editing process'. Yes, I definately highlighted the areas where I wasn't making mistakes. But life's not like that. We don't learn without making mistakes. And I make a lot of them! (And that would be why I'm so smart, right?? Haha).

So I decided to include a blooper version as well. This is reality. You stumble before you walk ... you never stop learning (or making mistakes?).

And as you will see, this is why I love my dance lessons and think I have the best instructor out there. Listen to the laughter as we foul up along the way. If you can't laugh and learn from your mistakes ... what fun is there to learning??

The last 2 'bloopers' are from dance showcases and they aren't as obvious because we don't stop and laugh. We just carry on.

And that's the lesson of the day ... we all make mistakes, but we don't have to stop trying ... just pick yourself up and carry on (and laugh if you are able!).

Excerpts From a Dance Lesson

Here's a glimpse at my dance lesson.

What we danced: Fox Trot; Swing; Rumba; Waltz; Cha Cha; Viennese Waltz; Triple Swing and Samba ....

It was fantastic!

Dance Lesson #1

I'm back. Loving it, loving it, loving it!!!!

It felt great to walk back through the doors to the dance studio. I felt welcomed, happy and simply glad to be back.

It was like riding a bike ... we just started dancing and danced the 1/2 hour away. Fun! Fun! Fun!!

I wish I had a video editor I understood, because it would be nice to just splice little clips of my lesson together and post it here. I'll work on that...

As I rewatched my lesson (My Youngest taped us every time we danced so I literally got to relive the lesson), what stood out to me was the laughter and light-heartedness. That is exactly what I need in my life.

My Youngest and I went out for a coffee/donut after the lesson and it was simply wonderful to have the time. Not rushing to or from my lesson was great.

I was stretched and stressed to my max when I quit my lessons last February. Now ... I feel relaxed and enthusiastic. A much better recipe for success.

Cha Cha Routine from 2006 Dance Showcase

This is a revamped version of the very first routine I ever performed. The 'Cha Cha' is a favorite dance of mine - I think it is because the music is so fun and fast paced.

Viennese Waltz from 2004

The Viennese Waltz is definately my favorite dance. This particular time I danced it, hot on the heals of Kurt and Kayley's jive. I felt pure and utter joy dancing after watching Kurt on the dance floor. A tough act to follow but I didn't care!