Good Morning

Good morning from hot and steamy Oklahoma!  The temps this week are predicted to hit hundred to a hundred plus starting today through Friday.  Can we all say, "UGH!".  If the summer  temperatures end up anything like last year's, Jon and I may consider emigrating to another, cooler location. I still haven't won my argument to live in Europe, but, I have broken him down to Canada.  One step at a time, eh?

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So, as I enjoy the last bit of my coffee on our front porch, I'm going to just have an all out brain dump if you don't mind.  So much has been happening, and I feel the need to clear out my head.  Brace yourselves, this could get messy.

 Pride and Prejudice, in French.  I flip back to the English version when I'm lost... I'm not that good!

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First thing on my mind are my, still, incredibly sore arm and upper body muscles!  I started working out with a trainer in February, every Friday, as I was having a persistent psoas strain.  I couldn't figure out what in the world I was doing wrong in dance to cause this issue.  I'm happy to report that, the strain has gone away, I've gotten stronger, fitter, and am learning how to train and take care of my body better than before.  My Irish dance teacher has noticed a difference too, so double win.  I love the intensity of my workouts, but, dear Lord I do not like the soreness.  It's so bad this weekend that I still can't fully extend my arm and lock in my elbows?  How sad is that?

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My muscles did not benefit from the extensive yard/garden work Jon and I did yesterday.  Did I mention we have been working out tails off to elevate our yard and garden from a neglected/abandoned state to work in progress?  We started a little late, May, but, we are nearly done with the beds and we hope, that we can make a patio happen in the backyard before summer's end, so we can enjoy some outdoor living.  I have had romantic notions of sitting outside, enjoying dinner, and some wine, looking at a lovely the backyard or front yard (as you can tell from the picture above) and just enjoying slowing down and taking in the world around me.  Is that silly?  I will be posting pictures soon to give you an idea of what we've been up to out there.  I feel kind of, well, odd that I've gone all gung ho for gardening.  I used to hate it as a child, even though I adore flowers of all varieties.  After two years of looking at the depressing landscape that was our yard I decided it wasn't going to look pretty unless we did something about it, or struck it mondo big, and pay for someone to exorcise the weeds and shabby bushes from our neglected beds.  And, yeah... that last one, wasn't going to happen anytime soon.  I should be grateful for my trainer, though, I don't think I would've been able to do half of what I have done if it weren't for the strength I've developed.  I guess, in that way, it's worth the pain, huh?

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Also on my mind, is the road trip to Chicago Jon and I will embark on this Saturday.  That's six days and counting folks!  I'm super excited about this trip because, not only is it the first time Jon and I will go on a legit vacation (don't get me started how sad it is that it took seven years to do it!), it will be a week full of Irish dance mania as the Nationals are being held there that week.  Oh, did I mention it's in CHICAGO??  I did?  Can you tell I'm excited by that?  

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This trip has been fun to plan as I've never really planned out one like this before.  We had to book a hotel room WAY in advanced, figure out driving, had to find a place to park our car cheaply once in Chicago (mega challenge btw), we will be getting public transit passes which I haven't done since living in Japan.  Being foodies and watching tons of travel and food shows, we've looked up places to eat and we are overwhelmed by all of the options.  We also plan on going by the Navy Pier near our hotel and we have more than one option to do something on the 4th of July.  I'll also be hanging with my awesome Irish dance peeps, get some dance shopping in, seeing some AMAZING dancing, but, at the same time I'll get to enjoy Jon's company, and then go out with him in between all of that.  Oh, yes, and doing all of those fun things within a reasonable budget. The only hitches left are getting the house sorted, getting the key to our cat sitter, making sure we get enough supplies for the trip, getting the dogs situated,  and figuring out what to do with Leo.  His health scare has put a bit of a delay on partnering, which was planned on happening very soon.  I'd love to take him with me, but, I need to check with Therapetics to see if they're comfortable with that idea.  I can't blame them for not wanting him to be out of state, even though he is getting healthier by the day.  So, some things have to get figured out and more manic work will be done in the following days to get ready for this trip, but, I think it will be worth it.

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Oh, quick mention.  I'll be getting another puppy to start training with Therapetics.  It'll be so sad to see Leo go, but, you know he's such an amazing service dog and he genuinely loves to work.  It'd be a shame for him not to be partnered.  So, I must let go so he can be happy and fulfill his 'destiny' (gawd I watch way to much Sci Fi/Fantasy stuff lol).

Speaking of Mr Leo, here's a cute shot of him and the other dogs chillin' with me on the porch.  I don't think I've introduced you all to the little beagle in the corner.  That is Miss Penelope, Penny for short.  Jon and I saw her, in April, walking along side a busy street as we were pulling out of a our parking spot.  Jon got out of the car and literally scooped her off the street and the poor baby was just so stressed out.  We had no luck finding her owners in any ads, and she doesn't have a microchip, despite being a purebred beagle.  The biggest stressor was that, at first, it appeared that she was preggers!  However, a vet's visit later we found out she was actually going through a false pregnancy; probably due to being very stressed out while she was in heat.  How wild is that?  She has since been spayed and she has steadily learned to relax and enjoy being a dog.  You can tell, she was probably left outside and neglected for quite some time; for example, it took us nearly a month just to get her to accept treats from our hand without cowering.  How sad is that?  I'm glad Penny has joined our small zoo as she has a very laid back temperament and doesn't take up too much space.  She's so sweet,  and I like to think she is glad she's here too.

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Alrighty, that's it for my little brain dump.  Sorry if this post has no cohesiveness whatsoever, but, some days are just like that.  I've gotta get to some errands and more yard work.  Can you hear my aching muscles scream with delight?  You can't?  Hmmm... funny thing is, neither can I. ;-)  I hope you, my dear friends, are having a lovely weekend and I wish you a pleasant start to the week.  Bisous tout le monde!

Irish Dance Speed Bump

I've been hitting my practice floor a lot lately, in preparation for an upcoming feis.  I kid you not, every time I set down to get my shoes on, Leo comes in and lays on my dance floor.  

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I'll admit it, sometimes it's really hard to tell him to get off.

Usually I Don't Ask These Things...But....

Hey all! My little Irish dance school has a new website and has a Facebook like icon on it. If you are cool with it, please click on that so we can finally get on the top of the Google search for Irish dance schools in Tulsa. Pretty please? Also, I took a bunch of the pictures on this site, so you'd be liking me too in a way. ;-) Thanks a million!!

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The Goode Academy of Irish Dance Site

Hard Work

Dancers practicing in Nashville during the Irish dance Nationals earlier this July. I love this shot. This is what working hard looks like. I saw so much of that during my five days in Tennessee, it really blew my mind. The dedication, the discipline, the amazing dancing... that's what goes into one's few meager minutes on stage at a major competition like this.

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And that is why I've begun practicing until my feet can't take it anymore! More pictures to come!

Irish Dancers Kick- Even on The Fourth

Okay so technically speaking these pictures were taken yesterday, but, there's a lot of dancing going on today, and the kick and 4th title seemed fun, so I rolled with it. Yesterday I, along with my dance friends, [pictured above] helped to break a world record. 652 dancers in all lined up in a big room, held hands, and did a jig for five minutes. I showed up at the last minute, thinking it was over, and managed to get there just in time! Dancing that long on concrete really stinks, especially in bare feet, but, it was to break a record and now I have that as a bragging right. Go me!

I don't know who the guy next to me was, but, look at his kick! I did get a spray tan by the way; it's impossible for me to look like that without chemicals and space age technology. I figured it would be better for all if I had a tan when I wear my swimsuit here. I don't want to blind everyone! It's vain, I know, but, don't judge me. Us pale people gotta do something to blend in with the general population. Especially, when the majority of that population are spray tanned as well, bouncing around in wigs. It's an Irish dance thing.
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Hope everyone is having a fun and safe Fourth of July!!

St. Patty's Day Blues

Well, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day... and I'm sad. Why? I'm an Irish dancer who has been [medically] unable to dance! Already, there have been two performances my dance school has done and where was I? Stuck at a home with a bum eye and a weak ankle. Sorry for the pity party, but, this has really bummed me out. To top it off, I won't be going out tomorrow hitting the pubs or anything fantastically St. Patty's Day-esque. I won't be in a parade, or seeing a parade, won't go to the new 3-D Lord of the Dance premiere (something to do with only seeing with one eye is nauseating enough at times, add 3-D and I'll be a mess!) and so on.

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So, if you are going to have some St. Patrick's Day fun, think of me. Have a drink, holler louder, and have a little bit more fun (not about to get in jail fun though!) for me okay? Just don't do anything that would cause you or someone else great harm alright? Not like I think you will, just wanted to put that disclaimer out there. ;-)

Loosing Sight... Literally

This is one of those entries where I don't know how or where to begin. Forgive me if this entry seems a bit all over the place and long.

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During the nasty blizzard and snow storms we had two weeks ago I noticed something strange going on in the inside of my right eye. It looked like my glasses were somehow 'in the way' like around my nose. I didn't pay much attention at first, but, after a couple of days I took my glasses off and that dark 'spot' was still there. I then thought maybe congestion and pressure were causing this blackish-ness to happen. However, after a few more days and decongestants that dark spot still remained.

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Keep in mind I had no other symptoms going with this, so a trip to the ER didn't seem warranted and I couldn't even get my car out of the bottom of the driveway as the street was covered with snow so high it would've caused problems with my old tank, so, no trip to the doctor. When school began I was so busy getting back into the groove and ready for a weekend of Irish dance competition I put off calling my optometrist.

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The feises were difficult to say the least because of extreme fatigue and my depth perception being so wonky because of this eye thing. I managed good placements, but, not great dancing. In fact, at the second feis last Sunday, I sprained my ankle when I slipped on stage before I went into a turn. I managed to finish,and placed first, but, understandably I had to drop out of the rest of my competitions. I took the following Tuesday off of work due to the swelling in my ankle and since I had a moment to breathe I called my optometrist to arrange an appointment and get some drops or something so I could regain my full field of vision in my right eye.

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Well, no appointment with the eye doc was made. They told me I had to go to an opthamologist as it could be a variety of issues that only an opthamologist could test for. Oh and vision insurance doesn't cover this type of deal, I have to use my medical insurance. Great. Of course, that means I had to go through my PCP to get a referral as I have an HMO. Keep in mind, I am beyond grateful to have insurance! That said, I am beyond over this whole referral approval business. It took my doctors office 24 hours to get my referral approved and that was being listed as an urgent case. The opthamologist wants to do a vision screen as well and that has to get approved. Any tests outside his office will probably have to get approved as well. I hate the thought that finding answers to this problem may drag on and on waiting for approval.

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My PCP believes I have lost about half the vision in my right eye. Nothing looks wrong on the surface which means something funky monkey is going on behind it. It maybe optic nerve damage (bad, bad stuff), it could be a retinal issues, etc. I will need tests, maybe a MRI, and surgery maybe an option. Of course, this all depends on what the opthamologist finds tomorrow.

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To be honest, I'm freaked out. I'm trying very, very hard not to look anything up online and not to obsess over the what ifs going through my brain. The sprained ankle doesn't bother me that much because I KNOW what to do with it. I KNOW the prognosis is good as long I do such and such. I don't know anything about this eye issue and the thought of it being permanent freaks me out. It's hard to type on my phone, stare at comp screens (hence the major slow down in blog posts) for a period of time, music, text in a book, etc. I don't want to live my life not seeing correctly- I get a little nauseated sometimes, pressure headaches, and tired from having to constantly adjust my focus and perception. I just can't imagine going on in this manner. I'm hoping for a diagnosis and solution(s) tomorrow. I just need to know this can be dealt with.

Why I Do What I Do

A 90 minute feature documentary about Irish dancers competing in the 2010 World Championships is on the market. It's already going to be shown in the UK and Ireland and there are rumors the rights have been bought to show it in the US and Canada. My fellow dancers and I are practically frothing at the mouth to see this. Why? Because it shows what we do and why we do it. I may never dance on the world stage, but, I dance for the love, the challenge, the hardwork, and those fleeting minutes I'm on stage trying to obtain perfection.

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Jig

Contented Sigh

Today was one of those days. One of those good days that is. I have nearly caught up on the lost sleep I sustained at the beginning of the week and am beginning to settle back into the daily grind. Today I had energy and more mental clarity and kids seemed to respond to me well. Even Leo seemed more settled in, willing to take naps when I didn't need him to do anything. And when I did need him he didn't fail to perform. When I asked him to lay down with the pre-schoolers during an assembly not only did he lay there until I needed him to move, he tolerated frantic four year old pets, kids in his face, and his ears being pulled in all sorts of giggles. Much to the delight of the little ones, of course!

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Then, we had the first class at Therapetics of 2011, and thing there went very well. No, Leo is not perfect, but, I'm able to correct and redirect him well and he gets to what he needs to be doing after that. It is so nice to not have him dig in his heels and refuse to do things now. Today, he [mostly] did what he was told, was walking around with a loose leash, laid quietly for long periods of time (hard for him, he likes to do things and whines when he's bored), and just in general listened well. It seems he is FINALLY getting past the obnoxious teenager phase! YAYNESS!

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After class I went down the street to the new studio space our dance school is going to be using. Now that we're our own school my teacher found a place for us to dance in and has put in a dance floor. My shins are rejoicing! It's not a huge space, but, it will meet our needs. I don't know why this excites me, but, it does. I came home and practiced more and had a couple of moments where I saw progress. That gave me some serious encouragement.

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I guess, in a nutshell, today is one of those days where I saw and felt progress in areas I often get worried I'm not improving in. Work, Leo, and dance all had little signs that told me, "Hey, you're getting somewhere and doing okay!" It's nice to get days like that isn't it?

A Little Shout Out

To these two gorgeous people.

To this crazy nice guy.

To this precocious and sweet child.

To this amazingly strong young lady.

Four dancers, one teacher. They all went to DC this weekend for the Southern Region Oireachtas (o-rock-tahs, a major Irish dancing competition). Lots of competitors and even more pressure. If you score high enough there not only to you get bragging rights, but, a chance to go to the National competition, even the World stage.

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Every one of these dancers not only did well enough to make it to the third round (roughly half of the competition), but, they all scored high enough to qualify for the National competition to go. I couldn't be prouder of all of them. The young lady broke her elbow two and a half weeks ago and competed in a cast- she's going to Nationals. The crazy sweet guy has had to make major changes in his technique- he's going to Nationals. The precocious, sweet kiddo has learned hard lessons about motivation and worked even harder to improve- she's going. My gorgeous friend has worked her tail off and pushed through many doubts and moved up thirty places from last year- she too is going.

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Then there's my gorgeous teacher who has worked so incredibly hard this year, not only with us dancers, but, also in hopes of passing the difficult TCRG examination.

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Not only did she bring dancers up to be able to go to Nationals, but, also passed the TCRG (only 30% do at a time!). Now we are about to become our own school and we're so excited. So, I had to give a shout out to my friends who have worked incredibly hard and long for this. They are so deserving of a little bit of attention!

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!

And We're Back

Ohh last week, how you took it out of me. My apologies for my blogging absence! I got a bit sick, the kids all took crazy pills at school, and yesterday I had three places to be and Leo had hot spots on his paw so bad he hardly moved for a day (he's a lot better now). My energy is coming back and now I'm back to blogging.

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So here's the long overdue post about the Scottish Games in Tulsa. I danced there a week ago and wow was I rusty- and HOT!

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The Scottish Games mean that there are multitudes of men wearing kilts. Young and old.

I wanted to hug this old man. He was decked out and didn't seem to be bothered by the hot weather. Though I wonder if his legs itched in those stockings that day.

Thank you Lord for men who dress in kilts and do us the favor of wearing shorts underneath. From what I understand most, if not all kilts, are all wool. For their sake I hope they were wearing their light weight summer kilts. I have my doubts.

Did I mention it was hot out there last week? Like almost mid-summer hot. Summer decided to make one last stand and of course it was on the day we had to dance. As you can tell I was less than enthused about having to be there. I wanted to dance, but, I knew it was going to be rough as I had just started practicing again after a six week break. Add the heat in there and I just wanted to run. But, alas, the show must go on!

Photographic evidence that I love, love to jump. And my form isn't nearly as good as it was! The beginning of the performance wasn't bad. But, after about 10 minutes I thought I was melting.

We have a new addition to our little dance school and his name is James. I don't think I have to point out where he is in that picture. He's really cool,talented, from Canada, and one tough cookie for having to dance in that heat in black slacks and a long sleeve shirt. I felt bad about my complaints. At least I had a t-shirt on.

We danced two 15 minute segments. I was told that my face looked about as red as my skirt towards the end. Darn pale skin and my tendency to overheat! I think we all lost five pounds dancing out there. Apparently Irish Dance has about the same cardio impact of full on running- while I am no scientist nor doctor I would like to throw in my, 'YA THINK?!' in there. It was fun though, the crowd was delightful and forgiving of our rusty performance (first time the 'band' was back together and we rehearsed just an hour plus-ish before we arrived at the games). Thanks to Sarah's kids and hubby who showed up and watched my face nearly explode! lol And of course we must give Jon some major credit for taking pictures of the dancing and for taking me to get a cold beverage at QuikTrip after. We wanted to stay longer, but, the heat was making us both very tired so we headed out and sought relief in cool drinks and air conditioning. That said, the Tulsa Scottish Games were fun, bagpipes and kilts everywhere, games, dancing, and good food. What's not to love and enjoy?

Picture du Jour

Wheee!! I believe I can fly!

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If you'll forgive me, I'm really drained and tired from today's performance at the Scottish Games . The temperature and humidity were both up today. I swear I lost five pounds due to excessive sweating!! So, no long blog entry with all the pictures taken at today's event. Just one photo, taken by Jon, which really captures the motion and momentum of dance. Enjoy! I'll be back soon with more great shots.

Two Days,14 Hours of Rehearsal, One Hour of Performace, One Camera, Tons of Pictures

It's official, if I'm in a room full of mirrors I will make a load of goofy faces while photo punking my friends.

Saturday rehearsal was intense. By 3pm my head was spinning with moves to practice at home. I could barely think, barely dance, as I was so spent!

As with any show that's about to be put on there are lots, and I mean LOTS of last minute changes. Sometimes due to practicality, sometimes due to drama. We had both of those happen this weekend. I won't go into details, but, if you're dying to know you can email me (addy in my blogger profile) and I'll tell ya. The above picture is of the dancers and my instructor, K.t, working on cheorography at rehearsal. The next day this amazing cheography, along with other cheography, was thrown out. I was really, really bummed about this- but, as they say the show must go on.

As I mentioned in previous posts wigs get involved in Irish dance. We didn't wear the wigs the entire performance, but, we did for two dances! In fact we all got our wigs and dresses on in a matter of minutes- two for me! K.t's trying to show us how she's going to make this old, and I mean old, pony tail wig work as a bun wig. Believe it or not she pulled it off (thanks to a little help from Dawn).

But before the fun with the wigs we had to look glamorous with our real hair so K.t, being the multi-talented instuctor that she is, did our hair. We all had teased, 'boofed' hair as Dawn called it. K.t also helped with make-up. I wear make-up but it's never very thick, so naturally getting dolled up for the stage was a little out of my range.

All smiles.

See? Buffed hair all around! And great eye make-up for the stage. This is before I put on the red lipstick. I NEVER put on red lipstick as it just doesn't fit my pasty white state. However, add a spray tan, some eyeliner and look out I can rock red lipstick!

K.t and her hubby who graciously stood on stage to play the part of a British soldier.

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The performance went pretty well considering we had only two rehearsals! One of those rehearsals btw was the dress rehearsal. Oh and when you throw together three music groups, narrators, a story teller, three 'soldiers', and three dance groups you need more rehearsal time! Little things! The story teller came in too early and thus there wasn't enough time for some of our dancers to get their hardshoes on. So only three out of seven dancers were able to get on stage! Ah well, c'est la vie as they say. The audience didn't really notice and at least the second half of the show went on without a hitch.

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I didn't dance too bad during the performance which was very exciting for me, not to mention a HUGE relief! Rehearsal didn't go well with me as I was confused and mixing up all of my steps. Oh did I mention this is the first time I've had to dance through hardshoe steps- one of those hardshoe steps I learned in a day!?! Despite all the drama and confusion performing in a real theater (though a small one) at a performing arts center was amazing. Something I will always remember!

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Okay and now for what you all have been waiting for..........

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Wait for it.......

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.........

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ME IN A WIG!!!!

Not as burnette as I thought I would be. Turns out this wig is the wrong color for my friend. It is pretty light for her hair color, so,she was happy to lend it to me. In case you were wondering, she wore one of K.t's old wigs as their hair color is very similiar. So here I am ladies and gents, I threw on an older style solo dress and donned a wig (yes done in two minutes) all in the name of a performance. Not going to lie, I was really hot in all that. Apparently the newer solo dresses are lighter and cooler a fact I hope to experience personally one day...but I digress.

That wig was really fun to bounce [jump] around in! Though to be honest, I think I may get a bun wig for competitions, tends to give a more 'mature' elegant look to most. What do you think?

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That my dear friends, in a choppy nutshell, was my entire weekend. Nearly fourteen hours of dance, rehearsal, and preparations. I am still tired today and still utilizing the ice pack for some sore spots. However it was fun and we were rewarded with a fantastic post-performance party at a friends house. I really feel lucky to be able to have had such an amazing opportunity and to have it with some amazing dancers and friends!