Hello dear blog readers – I apologize for my long absence but between starting work again (back at Lake Area Discovery Center doing marketing again after 10 years away) and single parenting while Nick’s in Baghdad, I just couldn’t seem to find any leftover time to do all the extra things like blogging. It embarrasses me to say that because I pride myself on efficiency, but lately the days seem to slip by with oh-so-many things going undone. Alas. Such is life right now, I guess. Perhaps my husband did more than I gave him credit for! :)
Speaking of husbands . . . mine is back after 95 days apart and wow does it feel good to be reunited as a family. Don’t get me wrong–Nia and I think we’ve been faring pretty well on our own all things considered. But everything just feels all-the-more-right to have all three of us together. We are making the most of our month together by celebrating Thanksgiving, early Christmas and early birthday for Nick! Here’s a picture of us with a container of baklava that Nick’s Iraqi staff member sent home with him. It was delicious! We found it amusing that the branding on the package was this chubby white kid chowing down on baklava! :)
Things have been a bit busier than Nick prefers (Nia and I have done a VERY good job of crafting a full schedule of activities for ourselves!), but he’s being a good sport about it as we drag him to choir practice, square dancing, and gliding lessons. That reminds me . . . Nia and I achieved a special milestone this week—we successfully learned 80 different dance calls (movement sequences) and graduated from square-dancing lessons. This means we can now attend regular square dances! In fact, we are headed to our first one tonight.
I’m a bit jealous at how easily Nia picked up square dancing. I wouldn’t say that I suck at it, I just have to concentrate WAY HARDER than her not to miss steps and throw off the other seven people in my square. Our Thursday graduation was a trial dance with other seasoned square dancers and a new caller. The guy called so fast my brain (and feet!) could hardly keep up. At one point my partner reminded me to breathe because I was concentrating so hard that I was holding my breath! :) I’m told it will become automatic over time but I’m a long way from that at the moment.
We already signed up to attend the state-wide square-dancing festival in Albany, Oregon in January where I’m told there can be up to 500 people dancing at the same time. I’m nervous that we’re not going to be up to snuff for the big festival so Nia and I are planning to do at least one dance or practice a week to build up our skills. Nia’s also been building up quite the square-dancing wardrobe thanks to some birthday items she scored. I am planning to reward my hard work with a few new dresses, a crinoline, and some dancing shoes!
Nia and I also ventured out to our first Contra Dance last weekend. Contra dancing uses many of the same calls as square dancing but is done in pairs instead of groups of 8’s. The other major difference is that there is typically live music at a Contra Dance. The crowd seemed to skew younger as well. Here’s a sweet video of Nia contra dancing!
Contra dance had way too much twirling for my taste. In fact, I think I spent half of the dance nauseous or stumbling! Nia, on the other hand, was in her element and didn’t take a single break in the 2.5 hours of dancing! I will definitely be back though because the vibe was amazing and live fiddle music is such a treat. We’re hoping to convince some of our Bend friends to join us at future dances!
If I’ve piqued your curiosity, do a little google research for square dancing or contra dancing near you. I’m told there are even a lot of dance groups internationally! Since I have a lot of MN readers, here are the biggest ones I’ve found in the Twin Cities:
If you end up trying one or both, be sure and tell me what your experience was like–I think it’d make a great date-night activity! But just know that there’s no requirement to show up with a partner–singles are most welcome–in fact, you’ll end up dancing with everyone of the opposite gender by the end of the night anyways!
