Waiting

"Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!

With a click, with a shock,
Phone'll jingle, door'll knock,
Open the latch!
Something's coming, don't know when, but it's soon;
Catch the moon,
One-handed catch!

Around the corner,
Or whistling down the river,
Come on, deliver
To me!
Will it be? Yes, it will.
Maybe just by holding still,
It'll be there!"
Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

I am really not very good at waiting for most things, its so hard to do! I want to jump in a car, jump on a plane, do it now! Conversely, I have yet to get out of my house today at all. Did the shower, got dressed, did some work online but still I had plans to be out. Didn't happen. Unfortunately life does not stop just because I seem to.
Did some things I was planning do around here. Took apart the convection oven and ran the pieces through the dishwasher. Rebent the underwires and put them back into the bra I made at the workshop last weekend. Tried it on again, well... it fits but underwires are still evil!!! I can feel their hardness, I have been told if they fit, you can't even feel them, HA! Without underwires the pressure is on my shoulders and the center section doesn't lie flat against my chest, seems to be a weight issue.

Looks like my sailor may possibly be traversing his way back, not sure. Not sure what happens...

Another quiz

You fit in with: Humanism Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world a better place for themselves and future generations. 20% scientific. 80% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You know you're from Minnesota when...

The weather is usually 80% of your conversation.

When you say "down south" you're referring to Iowa.

You call highways "freeways."

Snow tires came standard on your car.

You've never taken public transportation.

75% of your graduating high school class went to the University of Minnesota.

"Perkins" was the only hangout option in high school.

You assume when you say "The Cities" people know where you're talking about.

You can list all the "-dales."

People from other states love to hear you say words with "o"s in them.

In a conversation you've heard someone say "yah sure, you betcha" and
you didn't laugh.

You could pinpoint exactly where each scene in the movie "Untamed
Heart" was filmed.

You hate the movie "Fargo" but realize you and your entire family have
that same accent.

You get mad at people who think Fargo is in Minnesota.

You know what Mille Lacs is and how to spell it.

You have fish boiled in lye for Christmas.

You know what "uff-da" means and how to use it properly.

You know the 2 sports-related reasons why we hate Dallas.

Nothing gets you madder than seeing a Green Bay sticker on a MN car.

The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks.

You're a loyal Target shopper.

You've frozen your tongue on a metal handrail before.

You own an ice house, a snowmobile, and a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

You wear shorts when it's 50 degrees outside in March, but you bundle
up and complain in August when it goes below 60.

You have gone trick-or-treating in 3 feet of snow.

You've not only walked across a lake, you've driven across one.

Everyone you know has a cabin or, at least, access to one.

You know that Lake Wobegon isn't real and you know who made it up,
where they live, and exactly what you want to do about it.

You have friends who schedule their wedding in the middle of January
without a thought about weather conditions.

You consider a six inch snowfall a blessing for "the cities" because
it provides instant urban renewal.

You keep the snow tires on your truck all year because it ain't worth
taking them off for only two months.

Your local Dairy Queen is closed from December through February.

You believe the only REAL vehicles have skis in front and a loud motor
under your seat.

You consider snow banks to be "just another rough" on the golf course.

You have worn shorts and a parka at the same time.

You were delighted to get a miniature snow shovel for your 3rd birthday.

Your town isn't trying to be ironic when it plans a "winter carnival."

The temperature in March is above freezing for three days in a row,
and you think it's summer.

You laugh out loud every time you see a news report about a blizzard
shutting down the entire East Coast.

You think happiness is owning a "piece of lakeshore."

You never meet any celebrities except The "BODY"

You know what and where "Dinkytown" is.

When you talk about "opener" you are not talking bout cans.

You have refused to buy something because it's too "spendy."

You believe that the Vikings would have won four Super Bowls by now if
they were still playing in Metropolitan Stadium.

You are convinced the Twins will never win the pennant because the
owners are too cheap to pay the good players, so they all leave.

Your town has an equal number of bars and churches.

You grew up thinking rice was only for dessert. You think that ketchup
is a little too spicy.

Your gas station thinks "full service" means filling your gas tank,
washing the windshield, checking the oil and being friendly to the
customers.

You (or your parents) voted for Mondale.

You've seen "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in Uptown.

You know that everyone has a city preference -- Minneapolis or St. Paul.

You can honestly claim Germanic / Scandinavian ancestors, and have
been known to say "ya" instead of "yes"

Upon seeing an ocean for the first time, you say, "Hey! That looks
like Lake Superior!"

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Minnesota.
(Thanks Bill!)

##########

Okay, I got this list from a Floridian and I am not actually FROM Minnesota but I understand most of it having been here almost 20 yrs.
I will just list the things that are true for me:
I use highway and freeway interchangeably. My car cute UTE has all weather tires, I know uff-da, I like Target, i wear sandals until its hits freezing, we in Saint Paul have THE best winter carnival south of the border ;-) I do laugh about blizzards, I know "Dinkytown."

Laura made this comment,
I'm not from MN-nor have ai been there-BUT, I was born in upstate New York and grew up in Southern California and they are called Freeways. I know Uff-da, LOVE Target, have worn sandals in the rain, laugh about blizzards (went to high school in the Rockies), know Lake Wobegon isn't real, and have worn a parka and shorts at the same time (in a rainstorm, in a convertible with no top.) And I got most of those jokes. (I have an in-law from MN and an uncle from MN...)


Susan made this comment,
Come and visit, you would fit right in ;-) Come for winter carnival!!!

Haven't seen any other Tiki dolls yet, but everyone asks about it and wants one, all non-natives of course...

Random wanderings on belly dancing

Something strange happened to me last night.

I went to my first belly dance class of the semester, its was actually the second class as I missed the one last week for another class. The class was huge! Almost too big for the room, certainly too big to do lots of floor work, which is fine by me, I don't like floor work that much. I always have to do some alternative thing because they choose a position that happens to have us pivoting on one of the bones I have broken or muscle I have ripped.

In my class we warm up for an hour and then do dance stuff for about 1/2 hr. Because the class was so large, it started late. By large I think it was maybe 30 people of various abilities, attitudes. The room was cold, it dropped to freezing last night, so we were warming up by walking in a huge circle, semi Egyptian walking. There were so many people that you had to take baby steps. So we walked to warm up, then did floor, where my feet froze and got all stiff and hard again, then we did standing stuff and my left ankle was not bending well. I didn't warm up my neck enough and ended pulling the muscle that goes from behind my ear to my shoulder, but it was okay, I kept it from spasming. When I got home I stood under a hot shower forever, took orrudis & flexeril and had no problems when I woke up this morning (ie I could move my neck!)

They didn't do zils (finger cymbals) either because there were too many people and we should wear earplugs if that many people are doing zils in a confined space. we did a no zil, just finger, practice. This is also fine with me, I have a very hard time doing zils, hand injuries, the noise, music is one rhythm, body is another, zils yet another, and I get overwhelm and everything stops for me. I get sensory overload.

My belly dancing buddy was there and now her mom is taking class on Saturdays at another studio, same school. She asked if I wanted to going with them. Even though it was a pretty horrid class last night, some I hope will drop out or something, I found myself saying yeah if I don't have to teaching lingerie 2 this Sat, I will. Somehow, something happened last night that changed me from a once a week class to twice a week.

I used to take classes early Saturday morning at the main studio which is your typical dance studio, top floor, hot in the summer, drafty in the winter, no easy parking, etc... I started belly dancing at the suggestion of my ortho to cross train my ankles after a bad break. I was still using a cane to walk when I started, and the hardest thing was the 4 stories of stairs I had to go up and down. I walk perfectly now, without a limp, I can't really run though, I tried to run the other day and it was disastrous, you need more dorsi flexion that I have in my left ankle, but hopefully someday...

For the last year or so I have been taking class on Thurs nights at a new community rec building, ac in the summer, heat in the winter (except last night!), so very nice. The studio I will go to for tomorrow's class is an Arthur Murray one, so I imagine there will be heat. It will be a new teacher, I have had 2 main ones so far, and a few subs. I like different teachers because they give you a variety of ways to tackle something, like snake arms. The movement has to eventually be the same, but the way of thinking, of getting your muscles to do it varies.

I am wondering where this will lead, the teachers at my school, who are all dancers with the company my school is part of, tell me this is what happened to them, first twice a week, then more until they were doing classes almost everyday. I know this summer when I was traveling, I missed it. In May, when I was driving, listening to Al Stewart's "Beach full of shells" repeatedly, from Chicago to St Paul, I found myself practicing shoulder punches (which I hate- they are boring, a bit hard because of injuries ) to "Rain Barrel", and neck moves/slides to "Immelman Turn." Since then I have noticed that I practice rib circles, hip lifts and occasional attempt stomach rolls at stop lights if the music is feels right.

I find it very strange that I don't feel anything but joy when I do this, not self conscious at all, and yet I rarely dance in public or for people I know. Its like dancing in the rain for me, its for me, a private thing I guess, and I want to protect that part of me??? Not sure. I have had so much loss of people and things that have brought me joy, so maybe...

In Vegas when I was trying out this amazing green coined hip scarf, I had to hear it as I moved! I was with a friend, but I was so comfortable with him that I was in my own space, not sure he even noticed. Unfortunately the amazing hip scarf had an amazing price to go with it, but I really liked it.

I like how belly dancing feels, I like using all these muscles I worked so hard to regain control of, I like that I can walk many different ways, I like that I get more and more flexible, I like the positive effect it has on other aspects of my life and I like the music. Someday I want to be able to dance so slow and controlled, my body moving like a snake slithering over shifting sands...

So it looks like tomorrow, I start doing class twice a week...

Laurie made this comment,
Whoa! While I wasn't looking, you were blogging up a storm. Sounds like I need to look into this belly dancing thing. I'm not self conscious about dancing at all so this might be dangerous.

Susan made this comment,
Yep, I am tricky. You go away... Belly dancing has other advantages too.

You learn quickly not to be dangerous, I could tell tales ;-)

Teachers and performers in Texas http://www.shira.net/dir-us-t.htm#Texas