Ok, so, Lara and I are officially dating, as of monday night/tuesday morning last week when I asked and she said yes. It has made things interesting, as we work past misunderstandings and discover more reasons to love each other, like walking through a river, occasionally slipping on rocks, holding each other up, making progress. And, speaking of making progress, I'm moving forward with my life. At the end of July, I'm moving to Sarasota, Florida. I'm going to line up a job for when I get there (any help will be appreciated), but I'm going to use Lara's condo as a base for finding an apartment the first week I'm there, which will be the end of July so that she can help me before school starts and she gets really busy. It's sort of funny that I'm moving out when I am, because Ian will be heading off to school a couple weeks later, and my parents will have the house to themselves finally. I guess I'll need to get better at writing and/or calling mom, so her empty-nest syndrome doesn't hit too hard. [laughs] Someone at work commented on how strange it is that I'm "leaving it all behind to follow her to Florida", and the thing is, I'm not leaving it all behind. I'll be dancing there, taking tango and salsa lessons with Lara as a serious partner. I'll be in a creative atmosphere, as all of Lara's friends there are dancers or artists, and I'll make more quickly, while getting writing done. I'm moving forward in my career path, as voluntarily changing jobs generally does. And, I'm still going to be participating at church, though there may not be any sort of LifeTeen program there. Really, I'm only leaving behind friends and family, geographically, which everyone expected of me eventually anyway. [smiles and shrugs] I know I'm terrible about keeping in touch, but I'll still be using the same email, same blog, same facebook and myspace, etc. [grins]

Anyway, I'm going to talk about my weekend vacation now. I went tubing on the Guadalupe River with Drew, his sister Sarah, and Lara. We couldn't find anyone else that had planned to be there...because the special group deal that Drew had been connected with via a friend (and verified earlier in the week) did not exist when we arrived. So we were not directed to a particular campsite area, and we were left to look through the massive hordes of drunkards for people we knew. Sarah saw one friend, but not a close one, so they talked a bit but didn't hang out after that tubing trip. But from the start, this trip was going to be interesting. Sarah smokes; Lara is allergic to cigarette smoke. Lara and Drew are both very politically opinionated people. I had newly started dating Lara, so our relationship was having small growing pains. Drew and Sarah, being siblings, are good at finding things to fight about. Sarah and Lara both manage to attract random guys that they generally find distasteful. And Lara and I have issues with boredom, i.e. we spend a lot of energy avoiding it, and tubing the entire time wasn't our idea of fun, but it was the only activity that anyone else was doing, besides drinking or eating.

So, the trip started late, as they always do, the car (Drew's dad's explorer-sized suv) packed to the brim (with three empty coolers strapped to the roof). We got to Austin, bought $150 of groceries and $300 of alcohol and stayed in Jason's house overnight, hitting up a bar that sells purple Everclear Margaritas because it's semi-famous. Lara and I took a break to dance in the back of the kareoke area, making things up to whatever people were singing. We got off after mid-day breakfast and arrived at the campsite friday afternoon...only to find out that it was per person and not per carful, because Drew's deal hadn't come through. Luckily, we had money and the guy "only saw 3 people in the car". So, having compromised smoking breaks and meals (Sarah refused to give up meat if we were at restaurants and not actually camping yet), and Lara and Drew being open to each other's opinions, the car ride went well and ended well. In picking a camping spot, we were going to camp in a nice flat area, but Drew decided against it because of a neighboring wash gully, and I pointed to the top of the hill beside the wash gully, which after investigation, proved to be an excellent spot without space for neighbors to comfortably fit except on one side, which didn't have a parking spot except ours. We had a clear view of an "ant farm", i.e. about 9 guys camping below us that the girls found amusing to watch, and no close neighbors invading our space until the last day, when a preacher with wife and daughter arrived. We don't know what they did while they were gone, but they sat in their chairs around the fire doing absolutely nothing all evening. We were bored just watching them.

Anyway, so the first day (friday evening we had enough time to tube the river once before the sun went down) was nice and cool and the water was chilly and numbed Lara's behind, and everyone had a little to drink but only to tipsy. We had our 4 tubes tied together, and Lara was uncomfortable, and I was a little bored and distracted, not able to focus on nature around as much as I would have preferred because I was the only one anal enough to paddle a lot for preventative measures. For dinner, we had a delicious meatless chili, which we scooped onto plates (we forgot bowls or more than 3 plastic spoons) and saved the broth. Drew and Sarah crashed early, while Lara and I went for a walk, looking at people's campfires, exploring the camp and the nearby town. We found a house being built and laid in it, looking at the stars and talking for quite some time. It was at this point that I realized that I was sure I wanted not only to keep up this relationship, but to move to Sarasota to be with Lara during the school year.

Drew, and Sarah to some degree, are morning people. Lara, and I to some degree, are not. Lara hates waking up early, and hates you if you wake her up early. Drew wakes up with the first noises after the sun comes up, and Sarah can't sleep through other people getting up. This was our greatest contention, actually. Lara hated, and I mean hated visciously, Drew, for waking her up at Jason's house several hours before we had to leave. He was better warned not to wake her up saturday morning, so he and Sarah spent the morning chilling, waiting for us to wake up. They'd made farmer's omelettes, which we had to reheat when we woke up 2-3 hours later. We also had toast made with my spiced butter, and snack food. We went for a quick short tubing trip. By that I mean there is a long route and a short route. The short route involves a 10 minute walk to the beginning, 2 hours-ish of tubing, and drops us back off at camp. The long route involves 4-6 hours of tubing starting at camp, and taking a bus back costing $8. So we took the short tubing trip, and Lara's growing disgust with the hedonistic substance abuse, plus her acceptance of Drew's socialist belief that it was vacation time and we should each do what we want, caused her to untie herself and paddle away. Sarah, being a good friend, untied me before I got a chance to ask, and I caught up with Lara. I was still drinking, but not much. Sarah, being a bartender, had mixed several half-gallon jugs about a 1/3 full with different juice and alcohol concoctions, based on what we said we liked. I had one with me, but I didn't drink as much as anyone else on the river, most of whom were getting trashed on beer as quickly as they could. We regrouped after the short trip and went back to camp for lunch. Apparently there was a misunderstanding, because Lara thought I was going to be writing with her while she was drawing and taking pictures, while I thought she wanted to do that alone. Drew and Sarah were going to take the long trip, and so I was going to go as well, by myself to get inspiration for things to write, and experience the better rapids further down the river. This was a mistake, which I realized by how upset Lara was with me. But she headed off on her own before I could get around to stopping her, so I went with Drew and Sarah. Luckily, we were too late to start the long run and catch the last bus back, so we took the short trip, and I got a lot of inspiration, while paddling to hurry myself along to get back to camp. I had a couple gulps of alcohol and gave it back to Drew and Sarah (at the beginning), so that it wouldn't interfere with my writing/thinking. It was a successful trip for that purpose.

I got back to camp to write, expecting Lara to be off doing her own creative pursuits, but instead, she was back and extremely upset by some drunkards that had followed her and wouldn't leave her alone, thinking me to be a drunken lout like the rest of them, seriously thinking that she would need to call her mom to come pick her up. I explained what had happened and resolved the situation, getting forgiveness for being a stupidhead [laughs]. We talked until Drew and Sarah got back, then we went and swam for a little while, where I scraped myself up, and we used the waterguns for the first and only time. Drew and Sarah had dinner ready when we got home. Dinner was going to be beans and veggies in tortillas, but drew flipped his plate, then accidentally knocked over the pan. We shared from our plates to make another for him, and I made quesadillas to top them off. Drinks were no problem, as we had about 5 kinds of juice, milk, and lots of bottled water. As a Joke, Lara and I wore each other's shirts, me in a baby T that said "obey me!" in pink, and she in my thin black button-up. Then Lara and I left Drew and Sarah to socialize or whatever, and before it got dark, hiked up the mountain behind the campsite. By mountain, I mean hill, because Lara is from Colorado, but it was still steep, and rocky, with a great view of the surrounding area. We found some great clearings, piles of wood chips as though trees had been put through a mulcher, frequent piles of blue slate and limestone and pink limestone that seemed the ruins of ancient (tiny) civilizations, saw some deer running on a distant slope, some caves that, upon exploration, were too small to enter, and I found an awesome dagger-sized stick, and she an eagle feather with a V-cut in the tip. We found some cement tubes used for drains and ditches, and we sat on them talking and kissing a little until it had become very late, enjoying the sunset and the night sky, which somehow was easier to see out there than at camp, a short walk east. While I knew the direction to camp, we had left the path so often that we thought it would be easier to head downslope to another path I thought I had seen, rather than struggle upslope in the dark. We ended up finding and following a dry riverbed, unable to reach the highway because of a barbed wire fence. We managed to climb up at a bridge, and we were treated rudely at the front gate for not having our identifying bracelets (really, who expects flimsy plastic bracelets to last all weekend?), and we got to bed around midnight.

So, proof that this trip was not meant to suck: when we went to bed, we thought Drew and Sarah were both asleep. Sarah was, in fact, downhill in the ant farm hanging out and getting drunk with the guys. Well, there was lightning on the horizon when we went to sleep. Drew had removed the rainfly because it was so hot. I was woken sometime in the night by someone stumbling against the tent, who had a cohort standing nearby. My first instinct was to stop the theives, grabbing my large mag-light flashlight in case I had to hit someone (which I hoped was not the case). I emerged to find Sarah and one of our downslope neighbors discussing whether or not the rainfly was necessary (mainly because they were both too drunk to put it on). The lightning was very red and very right above us. I agreed that it felt like heat lightning not rain lighting, but when I went back inside, Drew was awake, and I told him that we weren't sure about the rainfly. He saw one crash of lightning and started to get up to put on the rainfly. I helped. We tossed it over the tent, and the wind helped carry it over to cover the tent, and before we had strapped down a single part, it started to rain. We quickly secured it and put in the pieces to hold it out over the window and door, I rescued Sarah's phone, cigarettes and lighters, and a couple other things, tossing them into the tent. And we, happy that God was with us, went to sleep to the sound of rain hitting the rainfly with thick heavy drops. Lara might have woken up once [laughs].

In the morning, Drew and Sarah were ready to go on the long trip, but stayed through breakfast with us. We had more reheated farmer's omelettes, and I made a fruit (cantalope and avacado and orange) and cheese (havarti and edam) tray. Drew and Sarah ran off with the car to go on the long trip, while Lara and I went swimming some more, with some talking and people watching. We went upstream to find a place to swim that wasn't full of tubers, and found a gorgeous little artificial waterfall with rapids, and a little deep area to swim. We got home in time to make dinner, which was tortillas stuffed with cheese spread, avacado, tomato, bell pepper, and more cheese slices. We had ours, and then sat reading to each other until Drew and Sarah returned. We made more for them, and Drew was so drunk he was entertaining, and we decided that dressing David in girl's clothes was fun, so they put me in Lara's jeans, in one of Drew's tight shirts, and in Sarah's glittery aloe (for my splotchy sunburns; don't trust spray-on sunblock), and we headed off in the car to the dam to watch the sunset. We passed a Catholic church, and I realized it was Sunday and that I had missed going to mass and felt a little sheepish, but it's ok. God forgives missing his party now and then. And besides, I did invite him to my partying; I had a cross on my hat. [grins] It was a beatiful lake, with lots of photo ops. Lara and I talked a lot, but she didn't want to swim without me (and I was in her pants, not in a swimsuit), so we just took pictures and talked. We wanted to take Drew and Sarah the next day, but when we got back to camp, Sarah was napping and Drew explained that it would be best to leave that night, because the other option was first thing in the morning, and as previously mentioned, Lara doesn't wake up early [laughs]. So we packed up and were on the road by 10:45. I drove the first half, Drew the second, and we got home around 2am, I stayed the night with Lara, and that reminds me, I need to call Drew and make sure he got home safely [laughs]. And we spent the day hanging out with her mom and dad, then I came home, slept, and today had work.

So [lets out a deep breath], that was my weekend. And now I'm getting back into my regular schedule, and it'll be weird. Lara moves away on monday to Atlanta, and then I'll have a month and a half of my "normal schedule", working and spending time with friends and dancing, and saying goodbye. I'll let you go blogger, though my life, and it's updates, for the near future, will be moving forward without end.

My life is in a bit of a whirl. I'm trying to plan a vacation, while thinking about the future in terms of the recent past, all while unable to focus on anything except the here and now, and all the ripples it causes across the face of the world. My heart is clamoring with joy, finally scoring a victory over my brain, and a sound victory, not merely an "everyone wins" compromise. My brain still isn't sure how it won, and, being a brain, is trying to figure it out, while my heart races ahead, enjoying a greater and greater lead. But my brain, being my brain, is good at the game of catch-up, so I'm not worried. [grins] I'm loving my BarlowGirl cd, and I've been delving a little into past cds for dancing purposes. With Tango's freedom of step and Lindy-hop's power of interpretation, almost anything can be turned into a partner dance, as long as it is beautiful and moving. But, I have no real time to blog. I'm packing for the trip, and trying to take care of business, under the deadline of evening plans, tango that I wouldn't give up for anything, and I may have increased our vacation party. Someone on Myspace, a friend of a friend that I've met a couple times and added, was looking for something to do for a friend's birthday that involved getting her away from a bad fiancé for a little fun before they get married and the friend is lost forever. I suggested they try and come up to our vacation spot (which will be a big party spot for this memorial day weekend), and if they're seriously interested, I'm going to need to get all the details from Drew. [laughs and shrugs]. Blogger, be well and safe, and take all the happiness you can from every moment. If you're lacking, I've got some to spare, and freely give you all you can take. Au revoir.

So, I have news for you blogger. Significant news. Grace and I have decided to let each other go. Our relationship was seriously discussed over the course of the afternoon, and in between catching up and reminiscing, we agreed that what we share is a friendship and not a relationship. We hope for each other the best, love each other still and always, as is the nature of true Love, but from now on, when we write or call or visit, we will no longer have between us the faded committment that was strained awkwardly, and instead only the concommitance of two people who know each other well and share the desire to interact in pursuit of interests, emotional supports and personal achievements. It will take some getting used to, but that is life. Change is life, as much as we fear it.

Another bit of significant news. I'm in Love. I don't mean I just love someone new, but that I have found a grand Passion that consumes me. It makes me giddy and afraid, but it fills me with so much happiness that I can hardly bear it. I've met Lara Young, and she causes everything in my life to sparkle, and everyone else in my life to stand half in shadow. We were instantly understood by the other, our inner barriers completely destroyed or overpassed in each other's gazes. We loved each other from the moment we met, and it was never a secret between us, but we believed we could remain merely friends, having respect for my relationship and my love for Grace. I am like a boy who has stared too long into the sun, bright white spots blurring my vision, making me see the sun everywhere I look. It was not she who caused the end of my relationship with Grace, but that in light of this Love, I was forced to see everything in my life, all of me, and reexamine it. I realized instantly that it would be one of the greatest mistakes of my life to not reach out both of my hands to take hers. We have already taken a walk in the woods, where I saw my first firefly, sat in a boat reading poetry loudly, and danced alone until almost dawn. She taught me to paint with oil paints, and I made her play the piano parts to songs I wrote for cello and piano. She's not my girlfriend, and we're not dating, at least not yet. Nothing is formal except the overpowering love and the certainty, the one hundred percent certainty that this is right and good. If you desire that I should be happy, then smile, for I am happier than I could have believed, and each day it just grows and grows and grows.

So life is more sleeplessness and lots of tango. On Friday, I was going to go to a bible reading group with Ernie, Natalie's fiancé, but I couldn't reach them until it was too late to get there until it was halfway over. So, I had invited Miranda, it being her birthday and all, but we just met at midnight rodeo instead...only to find that a band was playing and we would have to pay $12 each at the door, only to stay for an hour. We passed, went home so she could drop off her car and let me be the DD, went to a bar and got her some shots (the same bar that Drew and I used to taste-test for the upcoming river rafting trip). We then went to tango and had a blast. She's a pretty good dancer, especially for having never done tango. I made a couple of new friends, and got email addresses for a couple people interested in what tango events were happening that weekend; I emailed them when I got home before I went to bed. Several of us (Me, Miranda, Chad, Rachell, and Lara) stayed late hanging out and talking and dancing salsa). Lara took some photos of us, both dancing and in dip poses, and in scandalous poses following a joke line involving sex with chairs. [grins] I know, we're crazy. There was also a little bit of poetry reading, as I wanted to share a particularly awesome Lawrence poem, and I and Miranda read some random things. I can't remember the final timeline, but I got to sleep around 4:45 I believe.

Saturday morning I had work until 5:15, when I ran off (changing into coat and tie) to Ian's Baccalaureate Mass. I saw several of my old teachers and had good chats, as well as running into someone who golfs at my country club. Raph, Mr. Roman and Mrs. Dragoset say hello and congrats. Mrs. Dragoset said, "I knew he was a smart boy," when I said that you had stopped ineffective dating practices and married your best friend. [grins] Anyway, that was nice, but then it was around 8, and I didn't have to be at dancing (a 10 minute max drive away) for another 2 hours. I called a couple people, but Lara answered, so I hung out with her parents while she got ready. We went to tango, and her parents came and watched us dance a little and took photos and left after about 15 minutes. Since Lara only started tango at Christmas when I introduced her to it, and has been at school up until a couple weeks ago, they hadn't seen her dance tango before. Highlights of the 10-2 dance were socializing with Eric, my favorite houston tango teacher, dancing with his partner and fiancé Karen, demo shows by both Argentine teachers in town for the weekend, Ney Melo (with a local partner, Mercy Chen, with his very elegant walking technique that I hear is heavenly to follow), and Pampa and Veloria Cortez (performance artists with lots of crazily flashy moves), and meeting people who dance Valentino Tango, which is something in between argentine tango, american cha-cha, and club salsa. However, neither Lara nor myself felt we had danced enough, so we went back to her house, rearranged the poolhouse, and danced tango to techno remixes and improv piano until about 5:30, at which point we talked until breakfast, then I went home to get ready for work.

So Sunday I'm exhausted and sleep deprived, but I ran into Raph at home in the process of returning from Hawaii and setting forth on the road back to Kansas. I showered and was late to work, but it was ok. Apparently my awesome night of dancing was at the expense of a terrible terrible party in which almost everything went wrong at work. Joe was in a terrible mood, feeling like an axe was over his head for not having prevented it. I left at noon to make it to dance workshops with Pampa and Veloria Cortez. I like Ney Melo a lot, and wanted to learn his style, but I've been getting really wild lately, and I need something to work on that isn't strictly technique. Plus, Lara needed a partner (Ney's rotated around the circle of follows, but Pampa's were partner-recommended classes), and since she'd like to be a tango performer/teacher at some point, this class was the obvious choice. We did learn some nifty moves, like where you lock the girl's feet, lean back with her leaning against you, and then walk around her like the pencil of a compass; also some choreography that uses some foot sweeps I learned a while back but couldn't incorporate properly; also we learned milonga (dance) styling and basic, i.e. that it Isn't just regular tango to a faster beat with sharper and more regular steps. Blah blah, I ran off to church for LifeTeen. Ok, so our group was supposed to plan something to do for kareoke. I thought of a skit at work, but didn't have time to write it, involving "Your mom" jokes that are corny or sweet instead of inappropriate (inspired because a coworker Darrin's dad recently died, and he's very close to his mom, and you can't even make jokes without offending him). When I was telling my group about the plot, they thought of doing Catholic Pickup Lines, so we made up a bunch really quickly, and it went well. The night as a kareoke was a pretty spectacular failure, but it went well enough anyway. I had had two glasses of mountain dew at work to stay awake, and they were wearing off, so I had a couple cups of starbucks coffee (the theme was Coffeehouse Kareoke). I hate caffeine, and considered myself "on drugs" for the next couple hours. I ran off to swing dancing, which I did for about an hour, then Lara drove us to tango. We got there at 11:15, and it supposedly ends at midnight, but the crowd was so good that Mikas kept up the music until almost 12:45. We proceeded to pick up my car from Melody Club and I crashed at Lara's (5 minutes from Melody Club, vs. my house that would have been a 20-25 minute drive). I slept from about 2:30 to 6:30, but it didn't feel like much at all, so I've been totally exhausted at work all day today, and I'm going to crash very shortly for the evening. After all, I want energy for salsa tomorrow and tango wednesday and the guadalupe river trip starting thursday. [grins] I'm having a lot of fun, blogger, more than usual. It's nice to be exhausted from dancing so much. I miss ballroom parties, my freshman and sophomore year, where we would sit around having wine and cheese to ballroom music, getting up now and then to a compelling song. Now, I go dancing where almost everyone has a regular day shift at a job and doesn't break their normal schedule to stay out all night. [laughs and shrugs] I can forgive them, but come on, people! Can't I get some crazy late parties now and then that involve dancing more than alcohol? I have to create them myself, and when Lara moves at the beginning of next month, I'll be left without even having a convenient space for it. [grins] Anyway, my vision is a little fuzzy, so I'm going to stop typing now.

So my life has been busy (a post about my life, for those of you who don't care). When did I last post? I can't even remember if it was before or after my brother got married on saturday. Oh yah, I remember whining about the unreality of it [laughs]. So, sunday was mother's day. I bought 9 roses at church and gave them to random mothers (and a couple of friends to give to their mothers), including Lara's mom, when I picked her up for dancing, and my mom at the end of the night. I didn't have LifeTeen, so it was possible to drive with people, but I couldn't go with Amy or Michelle because they've both been skipping sunday night tango. [shrugs] I find it to be good fun, but then I'm more of a dance whore than anyone I know [laughs]. Anyway, Grace called, so I got to talk to her for a while, which is always a treat. Granted, it took time out of swing dancing; I would rather talk to Grace than whatever I'm doing, in almost all circumstances, but I'm terrible about interrupting things to call her myself. [sighs and hits himself for being a bad boyfriend]. But, so I talked to Grace, then got in some good swing dancing, then went to tango and had some good tango dancing, and then Ron, Diana, Dana, Lara and I went out for Greek food (oh so good), and then Lara and I hung out talking all night, at which point I ran home to give dad his car, then get ready and go to work.

Work on monday was Fun, as it always is after having not slept the night before. People always think I'm an insomniac because I run around so much and get so little sleep on a crazy schedule, but I honestly do get sleep every night. So no sleep at all is a bit much. Work was long and tiring, since I was already exhausted and dragging, but I managed to get through it, get home, eat dinner with Ian and mom (I can't remember what it was now, but it was good), then crash from about 6pm until Tuesday morning at 7ish, where, not having work, I promptly went back to sleep and dreamed until 9:30. I think I posted that dream on my LJ. It wasn't anything special, but dreaming is better than not. Always [laughs].

Tuesday, I got up late. Lara had talked about either wall climbing or teaching me to paint, but I lazed around, messing with email and mail, and getting some reading done, and writing a poem that I'll post when I finish this. Then I had XLT at church, which is always fun. I don't know, christian rock plus time spent talking to Jesus with him Right There in front of me is really powerful. It was funny, at least to me: I told him that Raph and Kat had gotten married, and he rolled his eyes and said, "I know!" [laughs] I'm such a dork. Anyway, we talked about my life a little bit, and he says that my problem with dancing isn't because dancing is a bad thing, but that I'm not finding ways to include Him. I keep forgetting to invite him along. And it's true, I'm bad about that. I generally just assume people will be there, and I guess it applies to Him as well; if he's not there, as I do for any friend that doesn't show, I shrug and say to myself, "I'll see him/her later" or next week or whatever. I bowed to him, asking for forgiveness for my not treating him like a friend, and he laughed and said that it's ok, because he's the servant after all, and then he pantomimed washing my feet. [laughs] It was amusing, the way he did it. ...Thinking back on it now, maybe his pretending to wash my feet in such a way that I'd remember was giving me something to help me remember Him while dancing, by remembering that the use of my feet is a blessing from Him. [smiles and shrugs]. Anyway, Lara came up to XLT with me, to see what the whole deal was about. She's a heathen, completely unaffiliated with any religion, and yet she has always had a sense of God anyway. She's pretty strong willed. I mean, she became a vegetarian at age 3, and moved out of the house (even with loving supportive parents) at age 16 because she wanted to travel. [shrugs] We went afterwards to check out a salsa club Tropicana that I've been meaning to check out for a while. It was pretty cool; it even has a side dance floor for practicing or teaching! Unfortunately, it was a very different atmosphere. They played a single salsa song for 25 minutes, and being me, I kept waiting for the end of the song to stop dancing. [laughs] But, I saw a friend from Midnight Rodeo, and made a friend named Amy who taught me Bachatta (or anyway, let me practice with her, since I'd learned it at the tango milonga saturday night, which was a small party instead of a big dance), and we left early because Lara is allergic to cigarette smoke, and it was getting too heavy to stand. We then hung out all night again, including reading aloud, she a story from Irish Horror Stories that I love, me some random poems by Keats, a favorite of us both. It's so nice to find friends with whom you're never bored. Anyway, I ran home again in time to get ready for work.

Luckily, work on Wednesday was really easy. Tuesday had been pretty heavy, including 3 parties, one of which had 45 people that ordered off the menu all at once, so I had a lot of prep work, but the regular business was light. I went home afterwards and slept for about 3 hours, during which time I missed calls from several people that never call: Natalie (the one who picked me up through the taco bell drive through nearly 3 years ago, who drifted away because she would rather smoke pot than do anything real; she had a lifechange, is now drug free, christian, and engaged, and found the x-acto knives she'd borrowed and lost so long ago), Charles (who was on my side of town for a little while, having recently gotten back from his job as executive chef on an oil rig), and Mindy (Matt's girlfriend). So after I woke up, I ate dinner (spagetti and salad, yum), then did TangoHouston business emails while returning calls to Natalie (to make plans to visit her at her mom's house this evening), Amy (to make plans to pick her up for tango), Charles (just got his answering machine, and left a very tired message [laughs]), and I haven't called Mindy yet, while talking to Grace on aim. It was too late to get Amy by the time I left, but I got out to tango for the last 45-50 minutes of dancing, almost missing Lara, who left about 10 minutes after I arrived to get some painting done. Michelle wasn't there because she was sick, Amy said. I still haven't been available to call except while driving, which I don't like to do unless I have to because of plans. I hope you're feeling better! Apparently, I need to give Lara Ashley's phone number, because Ashley wants to photograph her, and finding out I knew her, asked me to connect them. [laughs and shrugs] I don't think I'll ever be enough of an artist to ask someone to be a model for anything. If I'm using someone as the basis of a character, I just casually observe and make more mental notes than usual. I don't think having them in any kind of special setting would reveal more character than normal life [laughs]. Anyway, I stayed about half an hour late talking to people, because they didn't kick us out immediately for once [laughs]. I then headed over to Lara's, because she wanted to sketch someone, but her mom never lets her, especially not late when she's trying to sleep. But when I got there, she was painting, so I just watched through the window for a while, not wanting to break whatever vision she had going (yah, I guess I'm a stalker, but not a good one, because she either heard me or the cat outside anyway). She was too tired to sketch by the time I finally let her know I was there; she was waiting for a phone call, but since Ian had the phone, I had to knock on the window [laughs], so I (being awake) read from Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence until bedtime (sometime before dawn at least), and she made me sleep in her room while she slept in the guest bedroom. [sighs and rolls his eyes] I tell people I'm not comfortable sleeping in their beds, but still they insist, so I slept on the floor.

I didn't have work, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed over. I woke around 10:45 and drowsed till 11:15, then got up and read for a couple hours, then headed downstairs to chat with her mom, who was working on the computer. We started breakfast around 1, and Lara's mom woke her up. Lara's mom made spanish eggs, scrambled with halved baby tomatos and cheese and salsa verde. I made a sort-of stewed vegetables, using two cans of mixed veggies, extra diced carrots and celery, some basil and ginger from jars in the fridge, salsa verde, a little jalapeno jelly, salt and pepper (they turned out really good but spicy). Lara made bagels with cream cheese and the jalapeno jelly, which somehow made them good (I don't like cream cheese plain on bagels). We then went swimming in her backyard pool, with a prelude sitting in a blow-up raft reading D.H. Lawrence poetry in a clear, declaratory voice (as one must do, when reading poetry in a boat...at least so I'm told [laughs]). He has a section in which he writes poems based on animals. Mosquito pits a man against a mosquito, in which the man blows the mosquito up into a grand adversary, much like a Don Quixote tilting at a windmill. And Elephant talks about a visitor to India observing a grand procession involving royalty and celebration and barbarism and hedonism and being first greatly moved by it all, but then afterward left disappointed with everything except the elephants. Englishman talks about how englishman make themselves to be the greatest things in the world, but the female narrative voice deflates them as a general group swiftly and easily. [laughs] Anyway, then the three of us swam a little, and I probably got a little bit of a sunburn, which is good, because it will give my skin a little bit of a warm-up for next weekend. Then we went in and, Drew canceling afternoon plans, had time to paint, and Lara taught me how to use oil paints. I was painting a fake rose on a brown nightstand table. It was really hard, the whole idea of squinting to remove the details and only see the lights and darks, shadows and illuminated surfaces, and adding the lights over the darks, working not merely from general to specific but also from light to dark. I was defeated in my attempt at realism by the black edges to the red petals, but the painting was pretty nonetheless. [laughs] When Lara asked if I wanted to learn the best way or the fastest way, I said, "Teach me how to paint something that I won't hate afterward." Whichever way she taught me, it worked. I'm not going to be buying art supplies anytime soon, but perhaps she'll teach me some sketching techniques, since those I might actually use. Anyway, we had dinner and watched a little Ann of Green Gables (her dad is in Atlanta right now, so she and her mom have been watching the series during dinner), then I ran off home, picked up the fryer I've been borrowing for so long and took it to work to give back to Josh. Then I met Natalie at her mom's house, and was neatly followed in by her friend Sarah. We caught up on things, and the x-acto knives were returned (I put them on my shoes so I wouldn't forget them), and then Natalie's fiancé Ernie showed up, and we chatted even more, and I'm going to go to a Bible Study tomorrow with him (Natalie won't be joining us because she'll be at her mom's jewelry party, and Eleasha canceled our Friday plans; we need to figure out something else because we keep having to cancel fridays). The four of us went for Starbucks (the strawberry and cream frappachino was dull, not worth buying, if you were wondering), and now I'm home to blog, listening to Andrés Segovia, and get sleep [laughs].

Life is funny sometimes. We run into people we haven't seen in forever, that we didn't expect to ever see again. We meet people that become super close friends rapidly and then disappear, their own lives taking them away. I didn't expect to see Natalie again. I run into random people from high school now and then. Sometimes these people have large impacts, and sometimes they're just reminders of the past, something which we ought not forget. And then Lara, whom I met back at Christmas break when she moved to Houston. She was here for two weeks, and we danced a lot, and became close friends and made plans to practice our instruments and play together during the summer (she piano, I cello). Now she's been here about a week and a half, and she has about 2 weeks before she moves to Atlanta, Georgia, still going to school in Florida next semester. So when she leaves, I have no idea if I'll ever see her again, rationally. Yet, like Delphine in Paris, I know I will. Like Kristin when LifeTeen was still in the planning stages, like Irina when my tango addiction was still but a tiny budding branch and I felt crippled, like Vanessa when we found out we lived so close together and shared a spirituality that both of us wanted to nourish, like Stefan when I was floundering in lindy hop unable to grasp it and therefore unable to make it a part of me, like Anna when I lacked a direction in my dancing that asserted myself. All of them part of my life, having been internalized, an integral part of my past, and in some way my future, but not my present. Lara is part of my present, and will continue to be important because of this now, because of the changes inside me because of her, and she will go her way, living her life as she must, no longer a formative present. She could be, but she won't be, because that is not my path or her path. It's a terrible thing to let go of something or someone that makes you happy because you know your paths to diverge. It is why I do not let go of Grace, because she makes me happy, and I know that while our paths do not run together right now, it feels right that they should converge again. Not to cross, but to run together again. [laughs] Oh what a romantic I make. To sleep I go, before my mind runs away with me. Au revoir, Senor Segovia. Au revoir, Mr. Lawrence. Au revoir, blogger.

So, my brother is married, and I now have a sister (officially). It's a bit frightening, and a bit unreal. I feel like it's not going to change anything, and to some degree it won't. They'll be living up in Kansas. I suppose at holidays, Kat will come to family functions, but half the time, friends and significant others are welcome anyway, so it's not like the wedding was the first time she met extended family. Grace and I are still going strongly, and by that I mean our feelings are still strong and the relationship is still suffering from the distance. The daunting task of getting my life in gear, even one step at a time, is far more real to me than my brother's life changes. It felt like a couple extra (mandatory) parties to me, first the bachelor party, then the rehearshal dinner, then the wedding, then back to my own dance schedule. I'm happy for them, of course, and it was nice because it gave me a reason to get into my tux, and I got a bunch of pictures out of it (or will, when they all start trickling in). But otherwise, the only things I'm thinking about are dance workshops next weekend, memorial day trip to the guadalupe river, cleaning my room, getting a job, not wasting so much of my time, etc. Running in circles, or running in place, are not moving forward, not even vicariously. Good luck, bro. My little brother graduates next weekend, and then to college in the fall, so I'm sure I'll post another post like this eventually. But next time, I need to be moving forward myself. Life can't wait much longer.

(I invented this an hour ago, when mom asked me to do something with the vegetables she had to pull out of the fridge to rescue from bad carrot leakage. The veggies were aging, but not bad; the juice only got on their bags. The cilantro, as it has to be, was fresh.)

Recipe: Sautéed Lemon Vegetables

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large red onion
5 stalks of celery
4 garlic cloves (pieces, not whole clusters)
2 lemons
1 bundle of cilantro
2 avacados
1/2 cup of mild salsa
1 Tbsp ground ginger
sugar to taste

Cooking Instructions:
Slice red onion into long pieces. Put into sautée pan with olive oil, set on medium/medium-high, stirring occasionally and stirring in each ingredient as added (yes, this will bleed the red onion). Slice celery on bias (diagonally, so you get longer pieces) and add to pan. Slice garlic finely (not dice) and add to pan. Quarter lemons and lightly squeeze out some of the juice. Then, cut out the seeds and cut off the skin, then slice thinly and add to pan. Large dice 3/4 of the cilantro and add to pan. Slice fine both avacados, but only add one to the pan. Add salsa and ginger and make sure they are stirred in well. Turn heat down to low until served.

Serving instructions:
Finely dice the remaining cilantro. Spoon vegetables onto small plates (not too high). Sprinkle sugar lightly over the plate. Spread the remaining avacado (put it in one hand, and push across it perpendicular to the cuts with your other hand to make the pieces lie down and spread out) and divide it evenly among the plates, placing it directly on top keeping the avacado slices together. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Servings: 6

(The sugar is necessary to counteract the lemons' sourness, so if you want a stronger lemon flavor, don't squeeze out any lemon juice. If the dish tastes too sour, sprinkle a little more sugar, but don't go overboard. I found out both the hard way (grins)).

So, I look around my room, and I look at my myriad unread emails, and I look at my friendships, and I look at the plethora of unfinished stories, and I look at my prayer life, and I look at my collection of books, and I look at my hands typing, and all I feel is dissatisfaction. Sometimes I feel amusement, a little joy, a little sadness, a little anger, a little hope. But most of the time, when I stop for a second, it's dissatisfaction. I feel like I'm being stretched thin, like a chicken breast pounded with a hammer on a cutting board until it has doubled in size and tenderized to be wrapped around some other piece of meat. Is that what life does to us? It pounds us until we can be stretched around whatever crap they want to stuff us with? Now I know why the chicken always tries to leap to a bacterial and dirty end on the floor, rather then go through the fire and become food for someone who the chances are good won't even appreciate the work put into the dish or enjoy the flavor to finish it. But jumping isn't my only option, is it? (that was rhetorical) I know my other options: quit my current job and travel, stop dancing and get my writing done, stop trying to write and take dance classes, move to ohio, get a house with Drew, and the list goes on beyond what I feel like writing. I just need to not be here, doing this.

So the donut-making LifeNight was a success. I saved the day by saying to myself, "Ok, enough procrastination. It's too late to collaborate, so plan the night, and then ask for help getting it done." I put my brain to the grindstone and came up with a good LifeNight using two templates. I then asked for help getting it done, and Debbie saved the day by, almost by herself, getting it done. I proceeded to do hours of working and dancing, and then fitting lots of research into working a speech outline and understanding what I was talking about. Debbie, on the other hand, called and emailed everyone that needed to be contacted, made 175 donuts sunday morning (which is a pain in the behind, if you have never made a donut), brought pretty much the entire decoration scheme, including organizing the other core team to paint the signs I needed. I made the (very simple) slideshow. Then, in front of the teens, while failing utterly (in my opinion) to use the speech that I literally had right in front of me, I cooked three donuts for the first time in my life. And they were good. And I was funny, if not as much of a teacher as I had planned to be. And the video that we chose to use but had never seen Actually worked, covering what we were talking about, despite being on a different topic. And then my small group got mad at me, because they were told to get into groups of 10, instead of to find their normal small group leader, so I was clumped by a bunch of teens near me, and couldn't make it to the other side of the room where they had turned down other core members because they were waiting for me. [sighs] You can't win them all.

That's the primary thing in life on my mind. I've gotten an average of 3.5 hours of sleep a night for the last 4 nights, and I feel great. [laughs] Work is going well, as everyone gets into the hang of things. I was worried that Josh would decide he didn't want to keep working with us, but since I've put particular emphasis on making sure he gets prep work and line work and not just dishes, he's a good part of the team. Darrin is bad about slowing down in his work when talking, when he feels that he has time to do so. Joe's brain bounces around so much that he forgets simple things, like putting plastic wrap on Everything (you can literally follow the trail of non-wrapped pans to know what he's been doing) and prep work that is unrelated to whatever party he's focused on at the time. Even so, he's never sitting around doing nothing. And, we got a new snack shop girl today, apparently. Courtney will be happy, because now she won't have to work 60 hour weeks. From the initial interaction I've had with the new girl, she seems competant. That generally worries me more than anything else about new snack shop workers. [laughs]

Dancing is happening again. I can't swing very well right now, due to my injured left hand (swing tends to involve scramble grabs now and then, and I would either end up missing because of my thumb, or screaming in pain when someone grabbed or bumped my thumb hard). I went to Sonia's on friday and made some new friends, and the dancing was good. Someone described me as one of the best tango dancers in Houston. Really, I can see where they're coming from, because I'm fun to dance with and I suppose fun to watch, but I'm very quick to correct that mistake whenever it comes up, because I'm very much Not one of the best Tango dancers, since I'm still in the process of learning tango myself. There are some fundamentals that I've been fudging and haven't really learned into my muscles yet. I also went to Helios after church (with my car full of crap including my quarterstaff (used for the game as a curtain rod), a fryer with oil (cooled), a bowl of dough, a bowl of glaze, a backpack with books and shoes, my work uniform jacket, my dance shoes, and a few cds). It was a good number of people, so that I got to dance with everyone I know before running out of time. Lara showed up (she got into town yesterday) just in time to dance the last 4 songs. [laughs and shrugs] She has improved a lot. We managed to find a connection by the end of the first song, and the last 3 were great. I'm also super impressed with Dana, who is either practicing a lot or taking lessons, because her ability to follow is advancing in leaps and bounds. There were some other advanced dancers I know tangentially (don't argue my word choice) who were harder to dance with because they're used to dancing a certain way and like to dance a certain way, and I'm...just something different. Still fun, but it's like we spent half the time trying to figure out what we were saying to each other, rather than simply understanding across the non-verbal language barrier. [shrugs]

Anyway, this week is: hang out with Kat tonight, because Raph comes into town tomorrow, and then I won't see her much. work tomorrow, then something which I've forgotten. Wednesday hang out with Lara during the day (so we're not seeing the world in black and white), then tango dancing. Thursday work, then bachelor/bachelorette combined party (Yes, I know, it sounds strange, but they're not crazy hedonists trying to get out a little immorality before the wedding, but to have a party where all their friends can see them before they run off to Hawaii for a week and then back to Kansas where we won't see them often or conveniently.) I'm not sure about friday evening, but hopefully I can follow my normal schedule. Saturday afternoon is the wedding, and maybe I can make it to Eric's tango workshop afterward, and then maybe the crazy birthday bash at Havok, since I've got a great (and easy) costume idea. Sunday is mother's day, so I'll be working all day (6am until we're done). And then it starts over [laughs]. See you, blogger. I'll talk about something worth reading next time.

So after a long day at work, I had a long night of working, researching into the Catholic Catechism for a talk today. Interestingly enough, Catholic doctrine is that everyone who was baptized and has faith in Christ is Catholic, but has just fallen away from the true teachings (or never learned them to start with). I'm sure my Protestant friends would love that. No, the Episcopals and Pagans and Atheists would get a kick out of it, but the other Protestants would probably just kick me. Also, holiness is not something we attain on our own, but something that we all achieve through the church. So, the most morally upright, loving-like-a-christian person you know, if they had no ties to a religious organization, they would not technically be "holy". While sinners, if faithful members of the church (a church), are holy by the grace of the Holy Spirit working in that church. Interesting. Anyway, it's totally breakfast time, even before shower time, and that doesn't happen often. Laters, blogger.

So this is not a "everything in my life" update. I just wanted to blog on a few particulars.

First, I discovered a new purpose for fingernails. To give enough resistance to a knife so that you can stop yourself from cutting off the tip of your finger. I got my left thumb with a serrated knife (luckily cutting expendable food), and it took off a little bit of the end of the thumbnail, as well as a chunk of skin below and in front of the nail. It didn't hurt when it happened. It hurt like a big dog when I rinsed it, and I was worried I'd run out of hand strength squeezing it with the paper towel to get it to stop bleeding. I was still happy-go-lucky as always. I'm just in a lot of pain. Especially when I accidentally bump it against something, like my leg, or a steering wheel, or the bandaid stretched too far. And, just my luck, it'll probably take a good part of a week to heal, so I'll have to wear gloves constantly at work. Which is really inconvenient. But working with only one hand is even more inconvenient.

Second, I did not run over the bunny rabbit the other night. I think it was thursday night, coming home late. I was driving about the speedlimit, which is slow for me, since I generally aim for about 5-8 over, and a rabbit darted out in front of me crossing the road, barely making it. In the time it took the rabbit to dart out and disappear again, I had time to move my foot to the break but not push it at all. It just made me realize how callous we are as a species. I almost committed "manslaughter", and yet, the first thought to cross my mind was, "It was only a rabbit, and besides, how else would I get around?" We create these massive things, cars, to take us all over the place, and yet there is nothing stopping them from killing trees, animals, other people, even ourselves. We consider it a big innovation to invent a car that keeps us safe even when hitting something at killing speeds, but why can't we work on preventing cars from needing those safety features, because cars would not longer be deadly weapons?

Third, next time you see me, I will probably know how to hand-make donuts. However, I am borrowing the fryer, so I won't be able to make them for you on demand.

Ok, bedtime.

CASTING CROWNS - "If We Are The Body"

It's crowded in worship today
as she slips in
trying to fade into the faces
the girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
farther than they know

But if we are the body
why arent his arms reaching
why arent his hands healing
why arent his words teaching
and if we are the body
why arent his feet going
why is his love not showing them there is a way
there is a way

A traveler is far away from home
he sheds his coat
and quietly sinks into the back row
the weight of their judgemental glances tell him that his chances
are better out on the road

But if we are the body
why arent his arms reaching
why arent his hands healing
why arent his words teaching
if we are the body
why arent his feet going
why is his love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much to high a price
for us to pick and choose who should come
and we are the body of christ

But if we are the body
why arent his arms reaching
why arent his hands healing
why arent his words teaching
if we are the body
why arent his feet going
why is his love not showing them their is a way

But if we are the body
why arent his arms reaching
why arent his hands healing
why arent his words teaching
if we are the body
why arent his feet going
why is his love not showing them their is a way

there is a way

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD - "Unwritten"

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, yeah, yeah

So, if you've never read D.H. Lawrence, you should. I'm absolutely loving his use of language in Sons and Lovers, and I'm planning on looking for more of his works after I finish it. (He's more famous for his poetry, apparently). Everything in my life since I started it on thursday has merely been interruption of my reading. [laughs] as fun as it all has been.

Friday, I worked, and then went to Ian's band concert (he had a really awesome drum solo), then cut some fruit for mom's fruit tray saturday morning while watching the taped episode of Smallville (Lana is dating Lex Luthor now, and Clark just found out. Not that I have any idea; I haven't watched any of this season except the first two episodes). And then I went out to Havok, live bands including Deconstructed, and I actually got up the nerve to chat with the girl whose dancing inspired me the first time I ever went to Havok. I'm not sure if I came across as friendly or creepy, but whatever. Whenever I see dancing above a certain caliber, I want to compliment them, and so I was able to, and so it's all good. I got to sleep by 4.

Saturday, I worked, and then Dina canceled on me for ballet, so I went by myself and got there significantly early (as I didn't have the extra 45 minutes of driving, waiting for Dina, and more driving). It was the Houston Repertoire Ballet, and they're mostly high schoolers, so good but not professional quality. They performed the wedding scene from Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovsky), as well as three numbers for the first act to Dvorak, Rachmaninoff and someone I didn't like. Dina, being a ballet snob, would not have liked it, but I liked it a lot, and afterward asked the male lead how to do a particular dip. Unfortunately, it involves a pose for the girl, since it makes her look like she's diving into the floor, so I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it non-choreographed. [laughs and shrugs] But Kristin and Rebecca from church ended up coming, so I wasn't alone, and since the last time I saw the friend who had invited us (Evelyn...good name [laughs]) was 2 weeks ago and I didn't know my work schedule, she didn't know I was coming. Her mom is cool, and reminds me somewhat of Carmen's mom. She's even a nurse too. But much nicer, since Carmen's mom was always super critical. I guess it makes a difference too that I'm not dating or going to date her daughter. [laughs] Anyway, I went from there to Amy's anti-prom party, which was a big success. There was card-playing, dancing (swing and funk and silliness), eating (ribs, greenbean casserole, and potatoes au gratin), a walk around the lake in her neighborhood, and the movie Bulletproof with Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans (a good and funny movie, though it wouldn't have pleased those of you who are movie snobs). And we all rolled out of there around 3am. I took Troy home to his dad's house, and what do you know, he lives a couple streets away from Kristin, further out in nowhere than me. [laughs].

Sunday, I worked, and Josh, the dishwasher kid, didn't show up. He hadn't come in on Saturday night either, though he called to say he was having car troubles. Whatever the car troubles were, he didn't get back from a lake-trip with his girlfriend's family until sunday mid-day, so whatever. We didn't need him desperately, and Joe is going easy on him this time, but he needs to not do it again. I ended up getting grease, oil, and food stains on my pants between the little bit of work I did before and after changing clothes into my work uniform. It gets better. I picked up Kat on the way to church (and her dog with dirty paws jumped on me), and then I helped paint signs...and got a big black glob of tempera paint on my thigh. [sighs] Near the end of church, someone had an asthma attack and had to be taken away by ambulence. There was a prayer line for her, but it looked like she'd be ok. LifeTeen finally started, and the game involved eggs, which I think I got on my pants [rolls his eyes]. It was Theology of the Body day, so they split up the guys and girls into different rooms. I don't think it was hugely successful, but that's because it's such a large topic, and they tried to cover it all, and ended up not focusing on any of the points enough. [sighs and shrugs] Then on to swing dancing. I called Dina, but she wasn't going to tango, so we chatted a sec, and I didn't get inside until 10 (half an hour until the end). So I ended up dancing non-stop until the end, without repeating partners except one, and missing one of my friends who wasn't free when I was free. And, I had my pen out, and someone bumped my arm, and I got a big blue line down my pantleg. [laughs] But it was fun. Then we skipped dinner and went to tango for the last hour of tango. It was also a big success in terms of my dancing. I connected with everyone really well, and danced with someone new that didn't know my lead and so helped remind me to lead with my shoulders. I leaned on a table and got my hands wet, and thinking it was water, wiped my hands on my lower pant legs...but it was red wine and left pink marks [laughs]. I think blood and grass were the only stains I managed to avoid. I took Troy home again (Michelle brought him, but took Kat home), and we talked late, so I didn't get to bed until after 3.

And I slept until after 2pm today. Kat called to get a ride home, since she took the dog for a walk, and the dog started limping, and it was a good walk home, but mom was not in fact getting Ian from school and coming home, but was running errands before and getting groceries after, so Kat ended up walking home anyway because Trouble got impatient. They didn't get heat stroke, so that's a good thing. And I have been reading most of the day I wasn't on the phone with Drew or Kat, and I got a little writing done, and a little napping with the cat, and now I'm going to read or write some more, after dinner. Laters, blogger.