Tuesday, July 19, 2016

More outdoor dancing adventures, and a new member of my gadget family...

Hello to you ALL! I'm happy to be back with you again, as we navigate our way through a warm and humid July. I had a dance performance over the weekend, plus I got a new iPod, and we went to Mass as a family. I call that a fantastic weekend, right there! So, why don't we settle in and compare weekend notes...

I made a summer version of my chatting graphic!! :0 Do you like?
Saturday my troupe was dancing at a local artisan's market, and so off we trooped in our hot pink coverups onto the subway. I don't think I've ever posted a picture of my coverup, but it literally is a giant, eye-searingly pink mumu with super long bell sleeves. And while I feel conspicuous wearing it out in public if I'm going alone to a gig, I never do when we are together as a group.

"What are YOU looking at?!"

I mean, they're the ones not part of the hot pink dancing goodness, they're missing out. Pshaw.

This of course does not necessarily *translate* to our gawking and incredulous fellow subway riders:

"Ok. I'm going to ask."

That's always how the conversation is initiated, 100% of the time. This person has obviously been debating whether or not to approach us for the past several minutes, and may have been dared by their friends to do so. This happened *4 times* on Saturday:

"Are you guys...[fill in the blank with one of an assortment of eclectic groups]?"

Last month, someone asked us if we were psychics. Because psychics travel in packs and often wear loudly adorned caftans? I'm not certain, but the guesses are always interesting. This weekend we got:

"...Wiccans?"

Well. That was a new one. I'm not certain that Wiccans wear such a vast quantity of hot pink either, but it's not like a I know a heck of a lot about Wiccan fashion. We quickly assured our questioner that we were dancers, not Wiccans. I suppose one could be both, but that does not apply here. :0

"Oh."

*another blatantly sizing up gaze*

"What...KIND of dance do you do?"

I think that in our part of the world, when someone says the word "dancer," the other person pictures hair buns and black leotards, not fuchsia mumus and Saidi canes, which we were also carrying.

"Middle Eastern."

"Oh."

They usually just look somewhat confused at this point, and we quickly sidle away.

Upon our arrival at the venue, we were grateful to feel the much reduced temperature from our last outdoor foray. There was a cool breeze coming off the water, and life was grand. Until we started dancing, that is.

I mean, everything was fine, and whereas audience members were paltry before we got there, a crowd gathered to watch us dance, which was lovely. But what happened is that once dancing, I started to SWEAT, even despite the milder weather. And sweat running into my eyes brings on the allergy situation. Apparently my eyes are already all sensitive due to seasonal allergies, and so when I get sweat in them, along with the inevitable sunscreen remnants, my eyes begin to twitch and tear. I swiped at them as best I could whenever my back was to the audience, but that only endeavored to make it WORSE. So, that was unfortunate.

#NotAGoodLook ;-)

In terms of actual dancing though, I was really happy. Everything went great, including my last minute improvised solo. We had a fantastic audience, and it was easy to feed off their energy. I was super pleased.

And speaking of dancing and music, I have a new member of the family to announce.

*drum roll*

A few weeks ago, I lost my beloved iPod, Cecilia. Let us mourn her with a moment of silence.

*sniffle*

I rely heavily on having a separate mp3 player for dance music. I don't want to put it on my phone for various reasons I won't bore you with. A friend gave me her old iPod, which I am very grateful for. She is hot pink (!), fantastic, and we've named her Kateri.

*heart!*
I have all of my dance, workout and seasonal playlists on her, and I am just the happiest camper that I could possibly be. Now I am excitedly planning my solo playlist for the upcoming art festival and feeling pleased as punch.

Saturday evening, after the dancing frivolity was done, all four of us attended a vigil Mass together. Often, it's just me and the kids, so it's extra special when Mike comes with us. The church was warm from the heat, but it mattered not. The Mass was lovely. We are soldiering happily on during summer Ordinary Time.

How was YOUR weekend, dear reader? Are you praying the St. Anne novena? It started Sunday, but there's still plenty of time to join in!

8 comments:

  1. I'm also praying the St. Anne novena. This weekend my family went out to brunch to celebrate the July birthdays since we have a few of them.

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  2. Hi Melanie, glad to have you along in the novena! Do you have a St. Anne chaplet as well? I have mine, but have been forgetting to look up the prayers so I can pray it in the car. #D'oh! Yay for July birthdays! Both of my kids have saint feast days in July. ;-)

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  3. Welcome to the family, Kateri! lol Glad the performance went well, despite the sweaty situation. lol It's always nice when the whole family can go to Mass together. I love it when my husband decides to go with us. :D

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  4. Happy day, Maggi is here! :-) Yes, I do treasure the times we all go to Mass a family. It always happens on Christmas and Easter, and the feast of Mary, Mother of God (that's become a tradition of sorts), and it does happen throughout the year at other times perhaps every 6-8 weeks. I always leave it up to him, it has to be their decision. But I do love it. Anne actually seemed to not be happy about it, at 5, she's still pretty routine-oriented. ;-) "Why is daddy going with us, I want it to just be the 3 of us!"

    And I'm pleased with Kateri too. I missed being able to take my music with me SO MUCH!

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  5. Bwahahahahaha! It's amazing what kids get used to and how one change can bring it all down. lol

    Can I admit, I don't put music on anything and never have any with me? I'm not even sure why that would be, I love music! LOL I have been thinking about looking for a rosary CD. I'm also an old soul and prefer CDs to digital. That's probably my first problem. LOL If I'd give in and fully embrace ebooks, I'd save so much money...and have way more shelf space....with fewer stacks in my house. lol

    Speaking of! I watched an older Tea Time and noticed you mention the Chime Travelers. I recently got the first one for my 7 year old!

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  6. MAGGI!! OK, bunch of things. :0 First, I have a rosary CD too. I have an old car, and playing my ipod there is a nightmare, so old fashioned CD's it is. I love the one that I have, and it's this one:

    https://www.amazon.com/Rosary-Mysteries-Meditations-Music/dp/B00O34QIIW/ref=tmm_acd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1469105742&sr=8-1

    We could be twins. ;-) I find it very soothing to pray with. Anne likes it too, and asks to "pray for the nuns." By which she means listen to the CD.

    On the ebooks thing...yeah, it was an adjustment for me too. I initially started that foray as a mechanism for saving money and space (as you mention), but now my vision pretty much makes it mandatory. I NEED to be able to enlarge the font size. Humbling reality, but there you have it.

    Yay, Chime Travelers! There are new books in the series now, one about the nativity! I want to get that one for Henry for Christmas. :)

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  7. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek thank you so much for the link, that is so helpful!!! Can I admit, I'm such a nerd, I've got a wishlist on Amazon titled, "Catholic" so I can keep a list of all the books, CDs, rosaries, what have you Catholic-swag I find. LOL I WISH I had known about Chime Travelers in time for St. Kateri's feast day, that would have been a cool present. Maybe next year! lol I'll have to look for the nativity one.

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  8. Maggi, Henry has the St. Kateri one, and I read it too. Loved it!

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