Ramblings and the weekend in review...

It was another one of those unreal weekends...

For some unknown reason I had the brilliant plan of going to the dentist and then calling a dance on Friday. But it all worked out - no icky needles required - and I called the dance Friday night with no lingering dental after-affects. And it was Jacqueline Schwab playing for us! How lucky can you get to call a dance with a musician like that. Making the right dance choices for solo piano is still a challenge for me, but I'd welcome the opportunity to get better at it if I could work with a musician of that caliber more often!

Saturday was off once more to Amherst for the Pleasures of the Town dance, greatly aided by the loan of Peter and Rachel's car. It's still an idyll every time I go up there. Maybe because it's so far away, in a different dance community. I go. I have a few hours to catch up with friends, eat, call the dance, sleep, and get in the car and drive home. Unreal, but lovely. The dancers are fun and not used to/tired of my calling, the music is great, and there was a lovely waltz at the end of the night.

Sunday, birthday. Also unreal because I didn't make it intensely celebratory, using the dances Friday and Saturday as the birthday parties in my head. I drove homeward. I went to the pool party, not bringing a contribution. But best of all, just as I got home, lugging the bags and the groceries from the car, a neighbor invited me over for cake - leftovers from her husband's birthday just days ago. So there was my third party of the weekend. This time I told folks it was my birthday. It was the perfect end to the day.

Now the time will fly until I leave for camp...

So I'm 35, and I think fine with that. It's a year of change, perhaps moreso than I anticipated with the need for a new car, but all in all, I'm happy with it. I love the house. I look forward to achieving a work shift. I'm excited and a bit scared about the teaching opportunities at camps this summer, but what calling this weekend reminded me is that teaching dancing is fun - and I already know how to do it. Yes, I have to take care and plan my classes well, but it's not something that I can't do. I can and have. I just hope I make good!

Another decision - I think I need to hire Paul's brother Brian for just half a day some time soon-ish. There are a bunch of small things in the house I need done and I'm just not having time for them. Maybe in mid-July after Mendocino. I'll have him hang some shelves and whatever else I can amass - maybe put up a new kitchen light fixture. It'll be wonderful and I won't halt my unpacking progress (or I won't have that excuse any more).

But for now the next project is planning for camp. A week and a half. Ack!