5, 6, 7, 8..........

I woke up this morning with the strong desire to do something just for me. I've been working a lot, have had an excessive amount of school work, and just haven't had a lot of time for myself. I've wanted to check out a dance studio in Bethesda, Maryland (Joy of Motion) for awhile now but haven't had the chance. I think I've also been avoiding it because I've been afraid it will be bad (like the others I've tried) and this is sort of my last hope at finding a studio. I decided to try a jazz class today anyway.

The class was 2 hours long, which is a fairly long class. It's a lot longer when you've been out of dance for about 8 years. :) I was hurting after the first hour. The class was great though. We did a dance combination at the end that I would label more as contemporary style than jazz, but it was still pretty good. I'm excited to have found a place with a good instructor and good choreography. Finally! There are several other instructors that I'd like to try out at some point too. And I'm happy to say that I kept up. It seriously took every ounce of strength in my body, but I kept up and held my own in the class. I still have a lot of work to do to be able to dance the way I once could though.

Every muscle in my body aches. Literally. I have never experienced any other form of exercise that can work out every muscle the way dance can. I love it! And dance is so much more fun and personally rewarding for me than going to the gym. I'm hoping I can manage to keep up and continue going to class. It's a good day.

Jimmy Buffett Concert

Finally- I got tickets! Michael and I went to the Buffett concert tonight. I've been to a bunch of Buffett concerts but I think the last one was probably in 2000. It's been awhile.

My very first concert experience (other than little things with my mom as a kid) was Buffett when I was 15. I went in Ohio when I was visiting after the move to Arizona. All but 2 of the people I went with were arrested for underage drinking (I was not drinking). Apparently at concerts, they don't really take you anywhere after being arrested, but instead processed the kids there, called parents, and then we were still all able to attend the concert. Go figure. Anyway, we spent the day in the field where we parked, hanging out with other parrotheads. It was crazy. It rained (ok poured) and there was a huge natural mudslide that people were sliding down. The whole experience was craziness, as every good Buffett concert should be. :)

I've also seen Buffett in Phoenix several times and in Virginia Beach with my mom. Can't remember if I saw him in Indiana......... I tried to get tickets this year for Buffett but they sold out within minutes. A coworker knew someone with extra tickets so I literally walked into work today and found out I was going to Buffett tonight. The concert was great, although it rained the entire time. In some ways, I think it was better in the rain because otherwise it would have been about 100 degrees. There were kids trying to slide down the hill (nothing like my Ohio experience) but it definitely brought back some memories. The Buffett concerts have come full circle. :)

The culture of Buffett is much different in Northern Virginia than in other places I've been. Other places are more into the whole parrothead theme. I didn't feel like I had the same experience as at other venues. Maybe it's because other places let you party all day before the concert and Nissan Pavilion is very strict about not allowing that. Maybe it's because we arrived shortly before the concert and it rained the whole time. Or maybe this area just has a different culture in general. I swear, DC is an anomaly in so many regards.

Things I learned at the Buffett concert:
1. The rain jacket I've been using for several years is apparently water resistant and not water proof. A very important distinction when standing in pouring rain for hours. I had a rain jacket but was soaked to the bone. :)
2. Nissan Pavilion parking sucks. The concert venue only has 2 exits from the parking lot. We arrived shortly before the concert started and were near the back of the lot. When we left, we just sat in line (literally not moving) for over an hour.
3. Buffett has changed. A lot of his music is more country now than it used to be. I guess I'm a bigger fan of his older music. Still a great concert.

Best Friends

When we first got Izzie, Georgie wasn't quite sure what was happening. He was friendly and would play and share his toys, but cuddling was off limits. So much for that............. It's so cute watching them together now. Cuddling is normal. They just love each other.

Photo Contest- 2nd Place!

My company does an annual photography contest. The themes this year were family (including pets) and nature/outdoors. I submitted a couple of photos and won 2nd place for my bamboo forest picture that I took in Japan.

I'd like to thank my family and friends (tears here) for always supporting me in my photo endeavors............... totally just kidding. :)

Knocked Up

No, not me- the movie! I spent the evening with Dan (college buddy). We did sushi and a movie- Knocked Up, by the same people as 40 Year Old Virgin. It was FUNNY. But I think you need to have experienced some life and relationships to really get it. A definite addition to the movie collection.

CMMI Decision

This week the decision of how to move forward with our CMMI appraisal at work finally came to a head. It's been a major stresser for me at work. Even though my primary function is supposed to be getting our company to CMMI Level 3 this year, I've been pulled into so many other things (which I enjoy) that I haven't had the time to properly focus on it. So I've been promised no more work on proposal efforts until after the CMMI appraisal which should help a bit. Plus, I've just realized I'm going to have to put in a lot more time outside of the office to just get it done. With that decision made, I actually somehow have less stress, even though there is a major deadline to meet and a TON of work to be done to get there (hence my shortage of posts recently). Time to plug away...........

Baby Proof

I just finished the book "Baby Proof" by Emily Giffin. Since I'm not taking the summer off from school, I'm reading "lighter" books right now. ;) It dealt with the topic of a couple who had agreed they didn't want kids and then once married, one decides that they do. It's interesting to me because I've never been 100% sure of whether I want kids so I enjoyed reading the story of someone with similar ideas (even if it is fiction). I've always thought it odd that people don't explore whether they want kids but just assume they will have them because it's what is expected at a certain point in life. No one takes the time to think of whether it's really what they want. And by "want", I don't mean wanting to just "have" kids, but wanting to raise and nurture another human being into a productive member of society. People forget that part all too often. And I think many people have kids for all the wrong reasons. It's always been important to me to think through these things so that if I decide I want kids, I'll do it right, not just have them to check the box on the checklist of life. The book explores the depths people will go for relationships and to have kids- some good, some bad. Good summer reading.

Toby Day

Tonight I hung out with Toby, sorta for her b-day, but mainly just to get together. We got some dinner and ended up across from an Ann Taylor Loft store. Soooo dangerous. She's been making me shop too much lately. :) Yes, I blame you, Toby. Then we went back to her house and were planning to watch a movie until I noticed that they have a Wii. So we played some games on the wii, which was a lot of fun- bowling, tennis, and even Mario Kart (my favorite). We ended up playing and talking, so much better than a movie.