Northeastern bound, blogging will be light for a week or two...

Morning all! I'm traveling to Maine today to visit my sister, brother-in-law and new twin nephews. :) Their baptism is this weekend, and I'm Godmother to Twin A, Andrew. :) I'm very excited. I am, however, a very nervous traveler by air, so would you all wing up a prayer for me today? I'm armed with my Kindle, a boatload of yarn and my knitting needles (yes, these are allowed in your carry-on, I already checked; if the TSA tried to take my beautiful wood needles away from me somebody WOULD PAY) and my iPod. I should be fine. But I'm antsy all the same. I'm also going by myself. Mike and I didn't feel like Anne would be a good traveler just yet, so he and the kids are staying behind. I'll only be gone for 3 days, but I'm still very unsettled about leaving them. :( But I know it'll be fine.

I'm staying home on Monday to just be with Anne, but I'll check in with you all on Tuesday. After that, with Thanksgiving, I'll also take a short blogging hiatus for family time. Following Thanksgiving weekend I'll be back to my usual schedule.

I'll regale you all with baptism stories and traveling details next Tuesday. Until then!

Stop the madness!

When I had a lull at the reference desk this morning, I flipped over to MSNBC to glance at the news. I don't know why, because I got all depressed seeing the majority of the headlines. Seems like all news is BAD news these days, kwim?

At any rate, I spied an article about Black Friday, so I read it. The article was about Target employees protesting that the store is opening for Black Friday, on, well, *Thursday*. Thanksgiving day, to be precise. 9 pm on Thanksgiving.

And apparently this is the new thing this year. A handful of other popular retailers are opening at 8 pm Thanksgiving. I knew, I just KNEW that the midnight thing last year was a bad step on a slippery slope. For as long as I can remember, Black Friday doorbusters began somewhere in the realm of 4-6 am Friday morning. Suddenly, last year it was midnight. I heard lots of complaints from people that that was too early and interfered with Thanksgiving dinner, since people wanted to go wait in line. (I think such people are absolutely out of their minds, but I suppose that is neither here nor there).

And I KNEW that this year it would be earlier. Once that step was taken to push the opening time back to midnight, the floodgates were opened. 8-9 pm Thanksgiving evening.

Here are the two positions:

Con - This is an outrageous infringement on a family holiday about GIVING THANKS that is now being run amuck by corporate greed. Employees are being given no choice but to work, and despite being paid more than usual, this is unconscionable. Nobody needs a jump start that early. What is so different 8 pm Thanksgiving night that wouldn't be the same early Friday morning? The store will still make a lot of money.

Pro - Target will lose a ton of business if they don't open at the same time as their competitors. Employees are well compensated for working a holiday, in addition to extra bonuses. People should be grateful that they even have a job in this economy, and have the opportunity to make more than usual to boot. If they don't like it, they can find another job.

So. I'm sure you'll be unsurprised to learn that I side with the Con position. :) I mean, it's a free society, the store's management can open whenever the heck they want. But the point is I don't think we want to be going down this road. Are they really going to be making MORE money by opening on Thanksgiving, or will it just spread the same sales out over a longer period of time? I think it'll just be the same, but obviously they disagree. I just think that some things should be sacred. Black Friday will always be Black Friday, but Thanksgiving is about family. Why take away the joy of that day? There's just no need.

In Christmas preparations generally, we've lost that sense of joyful anticipation. Everything is so hectic and *rushed* anymore. It feels like we as a society don't sit back and simply enjoy things enough. I've noticed in Children's Liturgy of the Word (when I'm excitedly lecturing them about the liturgical calendar, because that's what I *do*) every time I ask the children what season is next in our Church calendar they say: "Christmas!"

And of course, it's not. :) It's *Advent*. Nobody remembers Advent anymore. Before the excitement of Christmas morning comes the quiet expectation of the nativity.

It's a shame that Black Friday (still pre-Advent, but the spirit is the same) has become a crazy fest, but it is what it is. I wish the stores wouldn't open until Friday morning, but they didn't consult me, so there you have it.

We'll see what the reports are after this year, but I fear that the opening time will creep sooner and sooner until Thursday morning will commence "Black Friday." I just find it all very sad.

Anne's world: nearly 18 months

She's very into the toga look these days.

So, Anne is suddenly talking. She really says a lot of words, much more so than Henry at this same age. Let's take a quick tour, shall we?

When Anne says the following, the possibilities for what she means are:

(1) Shoes

     (a) She wants to go outside
     (b) She has taken her shoe off in the backseat and has flung it to the other side of the car.

(2) Socks

     (a) She is now barefoot and has hidden her socks.

(3) Gee  

     (a) Jesus
     (b) Cheese

(4) Ma-me

     (a) Grandma
     (b) Mailman (who she has quite a love affair with)
     (c) Magnet

(5) Da-da

     (a) Da-da
     (b) Random guy we see in the mall.

(6) Nice

     (a) She has thrown a toy on the floor with zero remorse

(7) Uh oh

     (a) She has deliberately thrown food on the ground
     (b) She has deliberately ripped something

(8) Woof woof

     (a) Dog
     (b) Any other animal

(9) Baby!

     (a) A baby
     (b) Any child under the age of 16

Never a dull moment in our house.

Do these pictures look familiar to you?

Because it seems like every time I dance, I do so the exact same way, lol. I obviously have favored arm positions and poses. 

Anyway, Saturday night went GREAT. My solo was very early on in the program, and I really liked it's placement. Our guest dancer danced, Claire danced, and then I was up. I felt honored to be included in such a group. :)

Our venue was a church hall this year, and it wasn't very large, so it got crowded quickly. I don't like to start out on the stage, so I waited in the next room until my music started, and then was faced with discreetly elbowing people aside ("excuse me, pardon me") to get out to the stage area. Which put my opening shimmy section right when I was still smack in the middle of transversing the table area. Happily, improvisation is on my side, so I just shoulder shimmied and kept walking out.

And even though I was still nervous, this is the *least* nervous I've ever been when I've danced solo. I actually felt *excited* to be doing what I love, and to be lucky enough to have an audience to share that with. That's the first time I've ever felt that way about dancing before, ever.

It was good. I hit all my accents, including a (for me) very dramatic pause in the middle. I watched Secrets of the Stage: Volume 1, a performance course for belly dancers recently. One of the featured dancers mentioned how it's a beginners mistake to think that you need to be "busy" all the time when you're performing. My favorite quote was:

"When you're on stage and the audience is staring at you expectantly, waiting for you to do something, and you choose to do nothing, that is a very bold choice."

Yes, indeed it is a bold choice! I just loved that. But you know, she's right, it makes your dance more interesting, and your audience more engaged, to pause at appropriate points in the music.

"Oh. What's she going to do next?!"

Obviously, you're not standing there nonchalantly. You're in a strong dancers pose, confidence oozing from your sparkly costume. :) And when you move again, suddenly everybody is very interested in what you're about to do. There was a very dramatic beat in my music following a drum crescendo, so I flung my hair forward and dropped down to a bent position toward the floor. I waited until the next strong beat (maybe 4-5 seconds) before flinging my hair back and shoulder rolling up. Believe me, that's a LONG 4-5 seconds when you know everybody is staring at you wondering if you're going to move again or if you've lost your will to dance. :) And when I came up, all eyes were firmly on me. :) I loved it!

This was also the first time, after I finished a solo, that I didn't feel really needy, hoping that people gave me compliments. I knew that I did my best, and that it went great. That's a damn good feeling. Am I the next Fifi Abdou? Good God, no. :) But for the girl voted shyest in her senior class, I've come a long way, baby. I'm improving every time that I perform, and that's all I could ever hope for.

Our group numbers went very well too. I'm happy to report that my gold costume stayed on my body. :)

I'm farthest on the left there, in the front.Yay for no costume malfunctions.

Mostly. :) Mine were fine, although I was paranoid. Other costume malfunctions did abound. But the nice thing about belly dance (in my experience) is the Belly Dance Sisterhood that surrounds you like a silk veil. Come off stage panic stricken that your underwear was showing? A group surrounds you to reassure you that everything was in place and that you looked beautiful. Struggle with your sword? A quick conversation circle gathers to relate other sympathetic sword stories (mine included in this one :)) and assure you that you covered up the sword tumblings like a pro. A random woman you've never seen before enters your dressing room full of only partially clothed belly dancers? Everyone greets her warmly and asks if she needs help putting on her costume or needs any pins.

I left that night feeling very happy and content. I'm a very lucky belly dancer.

My mind, sometimes I miss it...

My mind has been on the drum song that I picked for my belly dance solo on Saturday. So much so that when I went for a quick walk the other day during lunch, I stopped off on the wrong floor. My office is on the 4th floor, and the library is a bit crazy (it was designed in the 60's, sigh) in that the main entrance is on the 2nd floor. I'm listening to Max (my friendly iPod) and I exit the stairwell. Something doesn't seem right.

First thought: "Wait, they moved the bound periodicals down to the main floor right in front of the entrance?!"

Because that just makes SO much more sense than me spacing out and not going down enough stairs.

ANYWAY, I'm improvising, so no choreography to memorize, but I still like to know my music really, really well before I perform to it. The hafla is nice in that it's very informal and I can pick whatever music I want. I don't have to worry about balancing out my set or conforming to length requirements. I wanted to choose a style just for the joy of dancing to it, so I chose my original love, a drum solo. I also thought about performing with my sword, because I love my sword and we get along well, plus it's a real crowd pleaser. But for pure dancing, I love drums, so that's what I'm doing.

I chose a song called "Shimmabulous" and unsurprisingly, it's going to involve a lot of shimmying. I think that I like to improvise so much because it allows the dancer to just interact with her music. The music "speaks" to you, and there is no pressure to remember a planned choreography. I *know* that I'm a better dancer when I improvise, I'm not nearly so stiff. So, this song is saying "SHIMMY, GIRLFRIEND!" to me a lot, but what I like about it is that it changes rhythms several times which makes the performance much more interesting. There are lots of quick percussive accents and dedicated shimmy sections, but also slower segments and dramatic pauses. I really like it.

There is one section to me that screams "choo choo!" which is actually a real dance step, and although it isn't complicated it can be hard to pull off. I'm struggling with my choo choos a bit and have been working on them a lot in the evenings after the kids go to bed. They're right before a "DRAMATIC PAUSE!" which I don't want to screw up, so the choo choos better cooperate if they know what's good for them.

So, overall I'm much less stressed than I used to be before a performance. Improvisation has done that for me, and for that I am very grateful. I'm looking forward to it and will post pictures on Monday. :)

A trip to Target...

Mike: "Hank did you pick something out for Cameron's party?"

Henry: "Yeah."

Mike: "Oh, Battleship. Do you think this is something he would like?"

Henry: "Yeah. I mean, I guess so. I mean, I don't know."

Mike: "Where are Mommy and Anne?"

Henry: "In the GIRL aisle." *shudder*

Mike: "Ok, well..."

*Anne runs by the end of the aisle, me in hot pursuit*

Mike: "Right. I think it's time to leave."

I see London, I see France...PLEASE GOD NO!

Ok, so I relayed the troubles my belly dance troupe is having with our new costumes last week. Since I don't know how to sew (aside from attaching buttons) my generous mother-in-law graciously agreed to do some major alterations for me. As well, my teacher, Claire, sewed a new panel and belt section into my skirt since the existing belt was at least 4 inches too small and there is no stretch to it at all.

On Friday, Claire gave me back my skirt and she did a *beautiful* job. The new panel is copper to coordinate with the copper and gold beads and it looks like the skirt was meant to be that way. :) I was thrilled. In the mean time, my MIL had worked on my top and fixed the "side nipple" problem. I now look like I'm *extremely* well endowed due to some gel inserts, but everything is very covered and modest. I feel a bit like I'm wearing a suit of armor on the top, but as long as there is no risk of a boob popping out, I'm happy.

So the skirt. It looks gorgeous, but as is typical with these costumes, it didn't come with any hooks attached. My MIL set to work on these. As soon as we started our sewing session, I started to get nervous. The belt portion is *heavy* and it's *attached* to the skirt (which is NOT a natural belly dance costume design). If it doesn't fit exactly perfect, there will be weird gaps at my hips and it could fall down.

*sweats*

We get it nice and tight and she determines where to put the hooks and snaps we picked out. The whole shebang is heavily beaded, so she has a hard time fitting the implements in. She puts on one snap and has me try the skirt on, to make sure the placement is correct before she sews on the rest.

It looks great. I am happy. I shimmy. My skirt falls off.

And there it is, folks. Because the thing is so heavy, in a split second, it was on the floor and I'm standing there in my underpants. With my mother-in-law standing right there. And my father-in-law in the next room. Happily, he had dozed off while watching football.

*MORTIFICATION*

We quickly deduce that the snap is malfunctioning because all the beads are causing it to not lie flat. Plus, it needs, oh I don't know, about A HUNDRED more snaps to assure it'll stay put due to the heft.

I change and give her back the skirt. She takes it home to sew aforementioned 100 snaps on. I got it back yesterday.

SUCH A RELIEF. She took off a ton of beads so that the snaps and hooks can lie flat. There are snaps at the far end of the belt, and then a snap plus 2 hooks at the near end of the overlap section. Everything goes together nicely and it's nice and tight. I danced in it extensively last night to assure that no nightmare scenario occurs in which I am up in front of a room full of people in an armor-like bra and and my underwear with a deer-in-the-headlights look of horror on my face.

If that happens, I may never dance again...

Election day!

Election day dawned beautiful here with the sun coming out for the first time in weeks. This is going to be a quick post since I'm writing between a reference shift and a class, after which I have to immediately leave to fetch Henry for an appointment with the allergist.

I don't really post on politics (in fact, I noticed that I had no previous subject tag to use with this post :)) because despite the fact that I was a political science major in college, I don't really enjoy talking about politics. I do find it interesting, however, and Mike and I have an election day tradition of, well, drinking and watching the returns come in. It's fun. He's picking up some Pumpkin Ale for us as I type. :)

At any rate, I'll be voting after Henry's appointment and I'm looking forward to a nice night. I do have dance costume updates (because, you know, that's important enough to be included in the same post as the presidential race...) but I'll save those for tomorrow. The hafla is drawing nearer! And I'm getting nervous! No matter how many times I perform, the nerves never completely cease. Which I see as ok. It means that I care. And I do, very much. So lots of dance talk to come!

Henry's 7th birthday

Henry's birthday is tomorrow (election day!) but somehow he's wound up with a week-long birthday celebration this year. Saturday, we invited all the boys from his class to our local bowling alley for a little shindig.

*hair turns gray*

I mean, they were very good. :) But being responsible for 9 rambunctious boys running around was no walk in the park. I think some people are naturally more gifted at dealing with loud herds of children. I love children, I really do, but I am not one of aforementioned gifted people. :) At any rate we survived. And stopped off at the liquor store on the way home. And the boys had a great time.

Sunday we had family over for a small pizza and cake party. More Legos were celebrated by Henry. Fun was had by all, especially Anne, who positively basks in extra attention. And so we finally unveiled Henry's big birthday gift for the year - A Fontanini nativity set, complete with the Holy Family, some sheep, an angel, the 3 kings, and a 3 kings tent.

It's *lovely*. When we plugged it in and turned on the lighted stable, Henry gasped. :) I promised him that this set was *his* and he could keep it in his room and we would add to it every year. Last year, he about keeled over from the stress of Anne messing with the Christmas decorations, including his old Fisher Price nativity set. Btw, they have a really nice combo pack now for the Fisher Price set that comes with the original nativity, the 3 kings set, and a possy of shepherds. I see a tent for the wise men in there now, along with an extra angel and a cute camel. Anyway, I digress.

Henry's new Fontanini set is beautiful. He set up the tent with the wise men lounging inside separate from the stable and the Holy Family. The next time I went into his room, the 3 kings had migrated over to the stable and were adoring the Child. :) The angel had joined them in what appeared to be a party-like atmosphere.

Precious.

In remembrance of all souls...

"Mommy, can we light a candle when church ends?"

"Yes Honey. I'm going to go write the names of our family members who have died in the Book of Remembrance by the Easter candle. I'll give you the candle money. Go into the sacristy and get the candle, put the money in the box, and bring it out, but DON'T try to light it without me. Wait til I'm done."

"I know how to light it myself, Mommy."

"Yes, I know that you *know* how, Honey, but I don't want you to."

"How come Mommy? Are you afraid that I will burn the church down?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Oh."