When I Grow Up I Wanna Be a Pussycat Doll

(* Disclaimer: I am not endorsing this group.)

This will be a fairly short post, as I am busy watching reruns of SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) of which I am going to see on tour in a couple weeks (and yes, I know what a nerd I am) But speaking of dance, I have recently discovered that I actually like dancing. Although that doesn't mean I'm very good at it, at least in my opinion. In college, I did a lot of swing dancing and really enjoyed it. But since then I haven't done much of any kind of dancing, not even at weddings. But I've been slightly addicted to watching dancing on TV.

A few months ago, a friend and I decided to do a class together at the gym. Part of the class was aerobic dancing. I liked it but it took a while to learn and there are parts that I still haven't quite gotten. But 2 weeks ago the teacher decided to try something new, which was an hour of dance in the style of the Pussycat Dolls. This is definitely NOT the kind of dance I would typically attempt or think I could ever pull off. Sexy, is not an adjective I would use about myself. So I go to class and the first thing I realize is that most of the people who are usually in the class have decided not to come this week. And for the next hour we all struggle through learning the steps.

This Thursday, I show up and there are only 3 of us from the previous week (this isn't looking good) So the teacher has us vote on what we want to do. We end up doing the dance again. One by one people keep dropping out. By the end of class there are only 5 of us left. This probably means that next week we will go back the regularly scheduled program, which I am a little bit saddened by. See, I was actually pretty good at this. One of the other women in the class even told me I was good. I don't know why this actually comes easier to me then the other dance. Perhaps because it's because it's more musical and I can sense and anticipate the rythym better. Or perhaps my perfectionism kicked in and I'm determined to learn it and not look like an idiot. Or a combination of both. But it looks like my pussycat dolls days may be numbered.

Now only if I could figure out those silly yoga poses!

If we all could love the Wicked Witch

Over the summer I watched 2 little girls and I thought I'd introduce them to you. They fulfill the (very) brief need I have to do some girl-y things like tea parties and dressup.

Ali "underwear" is a little spitfire in a tiny package. She loves to put on lots of layers and then shed them as the evening progresses. She knows all the words to the Camp Rock songs at the age of 5 and is fiercely independent. In fact, she reminds me of myself as a kid. Oh... if only I could warn her about what's ahead. And oh..... her poor mom!

Hannah is a caring and precious. She likes to be close and will snuggle in and hug you much more readily than Ali.

You would have thought I took the kids to Disneyworld for how excited they were to play in the backseat of my car.

I brought the movie Enchanted over for them to watch. Little girls love princesses, don't they? I was a little concerned about them being scared by the wicked witch. Instead, all they kept asking throughout the whole movie "When is the witch going to be on again." We actually fast forwarded to the end to see the witch's big scene. When the witch appeared as the old woman, Ali was afraid and turned her eyes. I asked if she wanted me to turn it off because it could get scarier. She said, "No, I just won't look." But then both girls just came and sat on my lap. When the witch turned into the dragon, Ali says to me, "Is that all that happens. This isn't scary."

So much for the princess, these girls love the Wicked Witch. I started to think about this. Shouldn't we all find a way to love the wicked witches just as much as the princesses? Even better, we could just view everyone in the story life as a character that has a place and a part, each equally important and valuable. I hope no one tells the girls they aren't supposed to like the witch.

Can't Turn Down a Good Deal

Yesterday morning I drove in the yucky rain to check out the guitar. It was in beautiful condition, I still can't believe he was selling it for only $75. (Either could his wife) I played on it a bit, while his little girl shyly kept looking at me and smiling. After a few minutes, the mom realized that the kids had only ever seen men playing guitar and never a girl. The husband and I talked guitars for a little while. He has (had) 12. He really liked the guitar he was selling but had to get rid of it to make room for children's toys.

It didn't take me long to decide to go ahead and buy it. Basically, i had already decided before I even got there. Then a shocker, he said, "ok. I'll go get the case." An amazing guitar and a case for less than $100 -unheard of! He comes back up with two cases. He puts the 12-string in the case for me and pulls out a Taylor 6-string - just for me to play on and hear the sound of while I'm there. It was so nice of him to do that. It did sound beautiful, but it didn't change my mind.

I like it, but it still doesn't feel like "mine" yet. It doesn't quite fit the space right yet but I think it will in time.

happy strumming....

Dueling Guitars

Last month I went on a little bit of a theater rampage and decided I needed to buy tickets to three different upcoming shows (plus that little weekend getaway to Toronto). And I am very excited to see said shows, but not so excited to see my credit card bills. It actually looks worse than it is, since other people are paying me back. For someone who tries very hard not to carry a credit card balance it's a little disconcerting.

Then just as the law of nature predicts something goes wrong. My guitar decides to break. I tried in earnest to fix it, but it's not going to work. It actually broke about 2 years ago and you would have thought I was losing a child or something when I thought it wasn't fixable. But I've had it 8 years, so I can't complain. It's given me great joy and I think I am ready to let it go now.

I've been looking for guitars online. I am not the plain kind-of-girl. I need something unique and "pretty" (But not pink!! .... refer to post Not so Legally Blonde) After many days of searching, I found it. It's price tag though is a whopping $600. This is much better than the first one I picked out which was $2500. (and ridiculously less than the $7000 ones someone else showed me) But $600 is still more than I can swallow for a guitar, but I love it much more than any other one I've looked at. In fact I already have a name for it and I don't even own it yet. I tried to convince myself that it's ok to have a big balance on a credit card and pay it off over several months time, but it wasn't really working. I also was having a hard time settling for something more affordable that I didn't like as much.

Today on a whim I decided to check out Craigslist. Let me stop you here before you get all excited. No it did not have my guitar for really cheap. But I did find a 12-string acoustic for $75 that I am going to check out this weekend. A brilliant plan emerged! I can afford $75 now (and it's probably equal or less than what I would be paying in interest on that credit card). I can stop playing my guitar before it really does break into more than one piece. I'll have a 12-string to play on while I pay off my current debt and then save up to buy the $600 6-string or find another one I want. In the end I get 2 guitars. If guitars were like relationships, this 12-string would be like my re-bound.

I'm so happy about this, it's like Christmas without the cold and snow!!!!!

Toronto - The Land of Very Good Looking Guys

Let me say first off, unfortunately I have no photos of said good looking guys. I was so shocked by their plentitude that I didn't even think to take pictures of them. I did try and follow one or two, except Nat pulled me back. Oh well. Plus I wouldn't want to seem like a creepy stalker.

It was a wonderful weekend. My new car (on it's first road trip) did fabulous. We made the whole round trip, over 400 miles, on about 1 tank of (really) expensive gas.

Friday: Our road trip started with a little rain, but cleared up by early afternoon. It was me and Nat, some great music and the open road. A traveler's dream. We arrived in downtown Toronto right in the middle of Friday rush hour. Good thing Nat was driving, fearless as she is. There are so many pedestrians it's a wonder any cars make it through intersections. We found the hotel, but didn't know where to park. This was our first adventure. We went in a few circles trying to navigate the one way streets to get back to a parking structure we spotted. Just when we gave up on turning left and got into the right hand lane, the next 5 streets would be "no right turn." After checking into the hotel, the clerk told us to move our car ASAP because where we parked was really expensive so after quickly changing clothes, we got back in the car. The 35 mins we were parked there cost $20.

Normally, I am good at reading a map. The map to get to another cheaper parking garage which involved only 3 turns. Somehow I got ahead of myself on the map and so we did a few more circles. Front St and Yonge St we got to know really well. We did end up in the right place (which from 5 pm Friday to 10 am Sunday only cost $29. Thank you Mr. hotel clerk!)

Then we spent an hour walking (in circles again) around the city until the conference started. This is when I really started to notice all the good looking men!

At 7:30 the convention center started rockin'. It was very hot and humid, especially with jeans on. (This is important for later.) And for the next few hours, we sang and danced and soaked it all in. For those who may not know, Hillsong is a church in Sydney, Australia. Hillsong United is made up of members of their worship team. They have a large influence in the christian market all over the world.

Saturday: We slept in as long as we could in the morning and trudged our way back to the convention center. Today I wore shorts and a t-shirt, except apparently they figured out how to turn on the AC and put it at sub-zero. It was soooooooo coooold in there. We did our best to stay warm. I was thankful for lunchtime, so I could get outside and warm up.

This is when we discovered something very interesting about Toronto. Most of the businesses, including fast food type restuarants were closed. On a Saturday afternoon. Lunch choices were basically Tim Hortons or a roach coach on the side of the road. Neither one seemed very appetizing to me. We ended up at Tim Horton's, just in case you wanted to know.

I just read thru this post and realized that it's incredibly boring. I'll try and end your misery quickly.

If you want to see christians behaving badly, just watch them in a line waiting for good seats to worship God. It was insane, people cutting in line and not caring, others getting overly frustrated by the situation wanting justice. It's like line-rage. Ok, in reality all people are like this, I just happen to think people trying to live like Christ should act differently than the rest of the people in the world. The experience was a little hard for me to shake off. At the same time, we were able to meet and laugh with the people around us in the line. That part was fun.

The trip home was beautiful and uneventful. Monday I was so worn out that I stayed on my couch like a zombie. Thus endth the boring-ness.