Unfortunately, dancing has been limited lately, what with all the Christmas lists, work, and social activities going on. I did make it to the Christmas Ballroom Dance although I had a hard time leaving my warm, cozy home to brave the cold, icy roads, but finally I forced myself to get going. Got there a little late, but it turned out better than I thought it might be. I actually got to dance pretty much all evening and had a good time. Looks like Ras#1 may have had an even better time though, more men, new moves, etc. I have to say though,that I did get to practice some steps and dance styles I have not had a lot of experience with, so, all in all, that was good. That’s always good when your dance partner is willing to work with you on new things…..and they all were.

So here it is……..the after Christmas let-down…….which follows all  the frantic hullabaloo (not sure that’s really a word, but I’m sure you get the gist). I then made the really big mistake of going to the mall yesterday. Only hit Macy’s which was really no problem……………….until, I tried to leave the parking lot! It was a 7-minute drive to the mall, 3-4 minutes to park, 20 minutes in the store and……………………………45 minutes to get out of the parking lot! And…………..to make matters worse, my back seat driving, know-it-all, shopping hater, 17-year old son, is in the car with me! Any of you who now have or have had teenagers in the past, understand the dire situation I was in. Holey Maloley…..not sure how either of us made it out of there without killing each other……..but we did nonetheless.

Earlier that same day, I had been contemplating whether or not to go dancing and…..after that whole scene…….contemplation was gone………………..I was going to go dancing! Unfortunately, the only venue going on where I knew dancers would be was at Shorty’s (another county honky-tonk) where they were teaching line-dancing at 6:30. Not my favorite, but….hey it was something……so I went. Once again, dancers were limited, particularly with regards to the male persuasion, so I tried to learn a couple of line-dances and then Roger, one of our fave dance partners, showed up, and since I was sitting closest to him  ( I actually moved) I was luck enough to get to dance with him the most! A couple of women left for greener pastures, which made it even better. Once again, got to learn some new moves…………….lucky me! Tonight I’m actually staying in (sort of) but stopping in at a party down the street. Tomorrow……. dancing with the swing dance club and Monday………….off to the Palm Springs Dance Festival where Ras#1 and I can dance and dance and dance! Yahoo………….. you should all join us for a New Years celebration and 4 days of workshops and all night dancing!

Posted for Robert:

While not a Luddite, I am thick when it comes to computers and sites. So, I decided to write the paragraph in this form and hope that you folks will post it on your blog site.

It was Friday night and I was in town for the upcoming Mario Robau workshop. Shorty’s had been recommended to me as a local dance option. Not knowing what to expect, I sat down at the bar and took in the lay of the land. The band had yet to start and the local WCS dancers had the run of the floor. I was pleasantly surprised at the skill level. Mario’s presence as one of the dancers might have influenced this. Not knowing anyone I wondered who was available for dancing? Unable to resist the urge, I steeled myself with the belief that dancers love to dance and asked Ras #1. The dance went every bit as well as I had hoped. The rest of the evening went even better in that both Ras #1 and #2 turned out to be wonderful people in every sense of the word. They also attended the weekend workshop and made the whole experience so much richer for me in the warmth of the connection. I attended the workshop hoping simply to improve my dancing. I think this objective was met. Meeting two wonderful people was icing on the cake and every bit as rewarding as the dancing.