Oktoberfest Part Two

Post Performance Celebrations:

ie How to Enjoy Oktoberfest After You've Sweat Five Pounds Off

What better way to celebrate a fun performance than to get your German on, and drink some beer and have some good times at Oktoberfest. Ok, so I'm not technically German and I wasn't in a dirndl, but, I was in spirit!! Meghan and I felt the need to show our German-ness posing next to the beer stein. It's a bit kitchsy, I know, but, that dude on there is rockin' his leiderhosen like no other. How could we resist?


There are a lot, and I mean a lot of smiles after a performance. Especially, when you get to hang out with your friends to eat, laugh, and celebrate. Susan and Meghan so graciously posed in front of the tent we performed in to show how many good vibes were going on. Oh and yes, beer, there was plenty of beer to help with that; for the adults of course! I know what you all were thinking ;-)

Even the little ones joined in the good mood vibe. That's what I like about Oktoberfest, everyone seems to just be having fun. Sitting down, eating, drinking, watching the entertainment, or in some cases joining the entertainment (ie The Chicken Dance), and just enjoying the atmosphere.

How could I not put this picture up? I ask you... how?!?

The food at Oktoberfest is AWESOME! This strudel is heaven in a box. I never knew heaven came in a box, well other than one that contains decadent chocolate pieces, until Jon and I bought this strudel from one of the vendors. Oh.My.GAWD. It is soooooooooo delicious. The only thing that would be better than this is eating it in Bavaria. But, hey I'll take what I can get.

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I would say my only complaint about Oktoberfest is the fact we only get plastic, disposable, cups to drink our beer from. While we do get to keep the pitchers (sorry, don't know how I missed taking a picture of that- oh wait yes, I do... I was drinking beer from it) I do wish we had the actual mondo steins being carried around by servers like the original Oktoberfest. Because of the puny servings I did have to two fist it at one point.

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Which btw, do you know what kind of looks one gets when one is wearing a private school-esque skirt carrying around beer in each hand?? Too bad I didn't have an extra hand or I would show you what kind of looks you get when you're walking around in that get up beer hand in hand.

Love these people.

"Hey sweetie, what do you think of Oktoberfest?"

"Must have bigger beer containers!"

See even the young ones are on board with me here!

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Ok, ok I kid I kid!! Please no angry emails alright?

Irish dance instructor + Post performance high + Beer = Hilarious modern dance interpertation. I nearly peed my pants I laughed so hard.

You can only imagine the bladder induced stress I had when she struck this pose.

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Really, what more could one ask for? Great times, good laughs, tasty food and drink, wonderful friends, all at a fantastic festival. Now that's a way to spend your time after a performance.

Oktoberfest Part One

The Performance

Tulsa's Oktoberfest is a big deal around this area. It is run by the German American Society of Tulsa (GAST) and is in fact considered one of the best Oktoberfest's in America (somewhere in top 10... something like that). It lasts five days, it is extremely well attended by Tulsans and people from all around, there's loads of entertainment for children and adults, good food, bands and entertainers from Germany, as well as local groups (like my Irish dance school), and from other states. Like I said it is a well-run big deal and I think Tulsans are rather proud of this little fest. Follow the links for ore info about the origins of Oktoberfest via Wikipedia, and the Tulsa Oktoberfest.

Okay so after that little info filled paragraph onto the dancing! Or as I preferred to call it, 'Dear God we have to dance for an hour???' time. We danced in one of the smaller, 'family friendly' tents (yes, I know, but, it is America after all folks). Sunday is a pretty tame, 'low-key' day for the fest, but, still the tent was packed and the same went for most of the other tents I saw.
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GAST took very good care of us and even provided water and beer (woot!) for us! That said, the man in the above picture totally felt me up. Yeah... old man, in German garb, feeling me up pre-performance equals eww, but, it also means I have a funny story.


Jon was kind enough to tag along and take LOADS of pictures. These are some of the good ones of the performance. I will write up another post about the after performance fun. Oh and there was fun, but, I promise not TOO much fun. ;-) So sit back and enjoy the pictures and my random commentary about what we did.

This is why Irish dancers wear bloomers aka kick pants under their skirts. If we didn't have those there would be quite a bit of errrmmm... yeah.

You wanna know what I was saying during this break? 'Omg I am soooooo sweaty- ha! I need a towel!!' I was dripping!! And this was after just one dance. To be fair, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Scottish Games, but, it was hot enough.

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Better than too cold I guess. At least the warmth keeps your muscles warm which does help keep your legs limber. Can you tell I'm trying to keep positive here? Good, just wanted to make sure.

Did I mention I love the fact we have a guy dancing with us now? He's so uber cool, from Canada, and a talented dancer. Guys get some really cool moves in Irish dance. Makes me wanna be a guy sometimes... well, at least when dancing. On top of the cool moves, they don't have to worry about the need for kick pants and tights. Almost makes it worth it right there.

One thing I love about our performance was the diversity in ages and abilities. That little one above is only six years old and she is so talented! She was the youngest and the oldest is over fifty. Very cool and motivating to share a passion for something with so many people from different backgrounds.

Hey look!! My turnout is getting better. Woot, woot!! I've been working hard on the building up my technique. While I certainly didn't dance my absolute best yesterday, I can see signs of improvement in places. Always nice to see some progress!

My instructor K.t and my good friend on stage together. They are extremely talented and downright lovely people. Side note: I want my K.t's legs. They are gorgeous!!

One of our younger dancers injured their toe, but, still wanted to be part of our Oktoberfest performance. So, instead of dancing she played some fiddle music with her sister. SO cute! Even though the sound wasn't always on (there were a lot of sound issues actually) the audience was very generous with their applause. And we dancers were grateful for a bit of a break too! It was a win win for everyone!

There were moments during the performance I got to dance and kinda be in charge of the younger dancers. Go me! You see that look on my face above? Yeah, that's me thinking. I had to call out what to do to the other dancers while dancing!! That was almost too much multi-tasking for my brain, but, hey a challenge is a good thing right? We stayed together really well and that's all that mattered.

The hazards of dancing with little ones though? They forget sometimes! It's cute though and in fact they could probably just stand there on stage and the audience would still eat it up. So while it can be a bit stressful to make sure a kid knows what to do on stage (and worry about them not doing it), it never ends up being a real ordeal as they are cute and up there trying their best. That's what really matters!

This is just a cool pic. That's all I have to say about that!

We ended our performance well despite a mondo big mistake, but, hey when it's onstage it's not a mistake right? So I rolled with it and I don't think the audience could tell anything went wrong. Performances can be hard, especially since we never get enough rehearsal time due to the fact we don't have our own space/studio yet. It takes a lot of focus to remember what is coming up next, it requires telling the younger dancers what's coming up next, etc, etc. However I find dancing up on stage is a good experience for me personally to work on getting over my stage fright and use it as a constructive way to improve my dancing.

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All in all yesterday was fun. Even with little mistakes and issues like the sound cutting out during a dance (and coming back on in the middle of my dancing which was 'fun') I think the crowd enjoyed it and we were happy to have been able to have a bit of fun onstage.

Tee Hee

Ok so I dance for an hour at Oktoberfest today and it was tiring, hot, and sometimes really long. That said, it was really fun and the good times had after the dancing were fantastic and made the hard work worth it. More to come tomorrow!

Post-Script

I was going to find a picture of a person running with joy out of a building as that is what I felt like when I began my fall break yesterday. As I was searching Google images I remembered what annelise put on her blog the other day, the image above. Then I got to thinking (dangerous sometimes I know)... Despite how I am, at times, overwhelmed at what I see and feel due to my job and everyday life, it's good to be reminded of what I have. To pause, and think, and simply be grateful for all the wonderful things I take for granted sometimes.

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With that in mind, the image above, just seemed like the better picture to post.

Thanks go to Anna Walker who filled me in how to post this image in such a way it all shows up!

Exhale...

Crud, I can't upload some goofy and appropriate picture for how I feel right now. Darn you Blogger and your need to maintain your website!! Okay so onto why I wanna upload some funny picture I would've found on Google: Today at 2:30pm Central time I began my three day fall break (it'll be like a five day weekend with how things lay out). This week, a three day work week essentially, has felt like the longest week I have worked at school since I began my job. I went into this last day of work thinking that it would be a successful day if I and the faculty/staff made it out alive and the kids didn't burn the school down it would be a successful day.

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Thank God, we made it.

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While this week was agonizingly long, the previous two weeks didn't make it any easier. We've had a kid bring a BB gun to school (yeah, don't even get me started on the drama that ordeal entailed), particular students hitting other students and staff on a regular basis, a few getting suspended, a pre-k student, yes I said pre-k meaning the kiddo was no more than 4 years old, was expelled for screaming obscenities to the teacher while wielding a pair of scissors, in-house suspensions, regular fights on the playground, the usual daily quibbles and issues that come up day after day, and so on and so forth. All the teachers, administrators, and staff- all of us have been completely fried. Of course, the students just pick up on the mania and it feeds and continues the craziness. It's a vicious cycle. And I'm breathing a serious sigh of relief knowing it has been broken thanks to the Powers That Be putting in a fall break that I don't get paid for on the schedule.

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At least for now.

The Name Game

Too cute for words sometimes.

First off thank you all for the support! Louie is fine, he had some seriously bad bacteria in his GI tract (don't ask what had to be done to find that out), but, we have meds and he's practically back to his old self. Leo doesn't seem to be having any issues, so, knock on wood all is well around here. Phew!

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So here are some recent pics of Newbie, mostly taken from my phone, hence the lower quality. I love, love this stinkin' cute putty cat. However, I cannot for the life of me decide on a name. I was going to go for Gambit, but, when I started calling him that it didn't 'feel' right. I've tried the ones you all suggested, but, again not feelin' it. Sooooooo back to square one I go.

What cat chills out in the waiting room at the vet's office surround by large dogs who are curious about him? Newbie, that's who.

I have issues about making decisions. I will sometimes send a waiter back back two or three times before I decide on something to eat. It's sad actually. Though, I have been lucky with pet names recently... My friend named Mina, Louie came with his name and it fit so nicely I couldn't call him anything else. Leo was named by a foundation who donates money to Therapetics. The last time I had to name a cat it took me four to five names to finally settle on Skittles. She was a good cat... I miss that cat.

Louie loves to play with Newbie. Leo hasn't quite learned to be as gentle as LouLou though. I'm sure he'll figure it out at some point.
Anywho, back to Newbie's 'nameless' status. I think part of the problem is when I was born my parents took two weeks to name me. That's right two weeks. They were arguing about the name order actually, as they settled on two names they liked, but, couldn't agree what order was best. See, they expected me to come out a boy, so they were a wee bit unprepared. Finally they flipped a coin to decide on the order- my mother won. The reason why they resorted to a coin toss was because the hospital called them to let them know if they didn't pick out my name asap my legal name would've become Baby Girl (my last name) on my birth certificate.
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I'm convinced I'm doomed to be indecisive about names thanks to this situation in the very early days of my existence.
Chillaxin' in the back of Jon's Prius. Forgive the mess, we were running a lot of errands that day.
I do not look forward to having to name a baby btw. I mean I can't even figure out a good name for this fantastic kitten. He didn't hiss or yowl in the car or at the vet's, just found places to chill out and purred when he was petted.* Ahmazing. He's playing with Louie and Mina like they've been best buds forever. It's so sad I can't think of a fine name for such a great kitten. Oh and Jon's no help at all, as he 'doesn't really care' what I name him. Gee honey, thanks.
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*sigh* This may take awhile.

Overload

My gawd, it has been ten days since my last post! Egads (I've always wanted to use that word in a blog post) that's too long. I'm sorry my awesome blog friends I promise I haven't forgotten you. I also promise that there has been MORE than enough stories for me to blog about. So what's my deal you ask? Exhaustion. Pure and simple

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I don't know how children manage to collectively go nuts, but, they do it and at my school they do it with a dash extra crazy topped with loony. Yes, I realize they all mean virtually the same thing, but, that is the best description my fried brain can conjure up right now. Last night I went to bed around 9pm. The extra sleep did me a world of good as today I've had one child throw a fit for a solid twenty minutes during lunch, I had to break up two near fights in another class, watch another employee show off a students teeth marks on his arm, and at the end of the day I discover that my friend and co-worker has to have a brain scan to rule out an aneurysm. To top it all off Leo was hyper and Louie's having explosive diarrhea all over the house and I must get him to the vet pronto. Oh not to mention there's the concern that what Louie has Leo may get so I gotta keep an eye on both of them and keep Therapetics informed of what my vet says Louie has.

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Aren't you jealous?

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That's just today people and there's still over eight hours left until the end. And just to let you know today is a pretty good example of what's been going on since last week. One thing after another. It's just nuts and I'm very run down by it all.

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So, I have to miss Leo's training, but, I'm hoping to get my dance class in as I just need something to take my mind off of all this craziness. In exactly one week I'll get to be on fall break and I'm hoping to recoop some of my energy and sanity for that matter.

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In the meanwhile, I'm working to get back into the blogging groove. I have pictures of the new kitten (yes, I kept him), Leo at the fair (no mullet pics though boo!!), stories about this that and the other all ready to be posted. Just bare with me, I'm getting there!

Little Surprises

You see this guy? Yup, that's a kitten. And yup, he's sitting in the little kitty cube of fun that I own. So, yup, SURPRISE! I've adopted a kitten. I found him Saturday night. He was outside a friends basement apartment and didn't run when I picked him up. In fact, he purred. And it was pretty much all over at that point. My friend thought there was a chance that a neighbor was taking care of him (along with a gob of other neighborhood outdoor cat), but, I couldn't just throw him outside and check in the morning if he'd back. I took him home and my friend hasn't informed me that he belongs to someone else.

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So, as I said, it seems I've adopted a kitten, or him me... you never know with cats. ;-) He's adorable, sweet, loving, low key for a kitten, is already beginning to tolerate the dogs and knows to leave my cat Mina alone until she's full accepted his presence (she'll get over it soon enough). He perches on shoulders, curls up by my face when I'm in bed, give kisses, and purrs every time I approach. I've already made an appointment with my vet and Jon is already talking baby talk to him. I guess he's staying put! I know I can deal with it, but, I've been wanting another cat for a bit now so... kinda biased.

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The only problem is a name... what should he be named? Right now he's 'Little Guy' and that just doesn't roll off of the tongue nicely does it?

Thoughts? What does this name should this cute, loving, sweet face be called?

R&R??

Remember when you were younger, and when it was Saturday came around all you had to worry about was the what television programs to watch and/or where you were going to hang out with your friends? I know I do, though it seems like eons ago. Now that I'm working more my Saturdays have transformed into days where I am excited, yes excited, to clean house and get things in order. I have developed some kind of weird neurosis about having the house cleaned up before Monday.

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However, the past two weeks I haven't felt well at all thanks to the outrageous levels of ragweed and other allergens in there air. No kidding folks, it has been BAD. My roomie had to go to four pharmacies to find Zyrtec as so many people are desperate for relief that the stores can't keep that product stocked. Even Jon started suffering symptoms and the beginning of an infection and he rarely gets so much as the sniffles because of the pollen count. Anywho, thanks to constricted airways and a puffy face I wasn't exactly feeling up to cleaning. Now things got done here and there to keep the house from completely going to pot, but, it just hasn't been in any kind of order as I and Jon and my roomie have all felt lethargic and ill.

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Well thanks to better living through chemistry (ie antibiotics, Zyrtec D, and steroids) I'm feeling my more alive and motivated to get things done. Today my Saturday will not be spent laying on the couch, it will be spent getting this place cleaned up and even some practicing in. I'm actually very anxious to get through it all. Is that sad?

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And in the spirit of full disclosure here I will show you all what I am up against. Brace yourself folks. Please don't judge me and this house of yucky. If you are sensitive to pictures of what messiness looks like please look away now and do not return to this post. Okay you all have been warned!

Exhibit A: The laundry. Keep in mind this is before sorting and before all the laundry was moved to the basement to get washed. Laundry is one of those things that will never, ever end and I've come to accept it- to a degree. I still LOATH folding laundry though... that may never go away and I may have to come to accept it too. It a process I'm working through. They need a 12 step program for laundry I think... would help some of us out there.

Can you guess what clothing items are clean and which ones are dirty on the washer and dryer? I can't. Seriously, I have no clue on that one. If you have any thoughts do share!

Exhibit B: The Kitchen. This will be Jon's project for today. Lucky him!! I am really spoiled though. Jon cooks most of the meals and cleans up the kitchen. Though, he can take awhile to get to the dishes. It drives me nuts!! He has gotten better about it so I can't complain too much. Oh and before you click on this picture (I don't recommend it though) do know that all those black specs around the sink are coffee grinds. We won't go into the incident that caused them to be everywhere. Just understand that there is a legit reason for it and that is not little mold spores you're looking at.

Exhibit C: The Floors and The Dogs. My boys, ohhh how I love my doggy boys. They are so sweet, fun to be around, cute, loving, etc, etc. They are also the main culprits in creating a never ending trail of fur and destruction of toilet paper and toy remains on the floor (see picture below). I used to vacuum more than once a week, then I got a bit lazy these past couple of weeks and boy was the floor showing signs of neglect! Absolutely disgraceful, no excuse really. Cleaning the floor will be a major part of today.

Why did SpongeBob deserve to die?? SpongeBob lovers, I apologize for the graphic display of his tattered corpse. But scenes such as this (fur balls, toilet paper, shredded toys) are all too common around here. It's almost like the laundry in that fur balls are almost always on the floor. It's almost enough to make me give up keeping up with it, but, since my slight tendency towards OCD cannot tolerate looking at dust and fuzz tumbleweed I will take care of it! Just waiting for the medicine to open up my air passages for me to fully commit to cleaning and breathing while cleaning. It's the little things.

Well, at least some of us around here will get to lay around. Hope you all are having or had (for my friends in Oz and Asia) a Happy Saturday! I know mine will be happy once all this is DONE!