Ordinary Days . . . Extraordinary Moments

First Monday Dream Group

After I wrote about "dependable rituals" in relationships,  I started thinking about the personal habits and disciplines that I find meaningful, my own dependable rituals.  One of the important things on my list is Dreamwork.  I make it a habit to write down any dreams I have as soon as I wake up each morning.

A number of years ago I did the two-year Dream Leader Training program of the Haden Institute.  I had not done any dream groups I was asked to lead a six-week dream group at St. James in Hendersonville.  The women who attended wanted to continue the group when the six weeks were done and I agreed to continue to meet with them monthly.

The snow kept us from meeting at the first of this month, but most of us were able to reschedule for yesterday. I believe deeply in the  power and creativity of dreams in our lives when we pay attention to them.  I never cease to be amazed by what the dreamwork process yields in a small group.

"Dependable Rituals"

"Dependable rituals" is a phrase I learned in seminary when I was taking a course in marriage enrichment.  It refers to those small habits that couples develop that help them stay connected. It could be one person bringing the other coffee each morning, or always kissing before bed each night, or having a regular date night.

I thought about the term today when we were in dance class. Sunday afternoon ballroom dance class in Asheville has become one of our dependable rituals in retirement.  But, today was our first time in class in almost a month.  We missed several weeks for different reasons.  We missed one week because of the snow, another because I was taking an all-day class, and last week because we were traveling to Virginia. 

I love dance class even though I'm always so tired by the end of the two-hours.  I started thinking about "dependable rituals" today when I realized on our way to dance class how happy I was to be back in our regular pattern. 

I'm grateful for our dependable rituals and even more grateful to have such a wonderful partner in dancing and in life to share them with.

Heritage Danceport Classic 2009

We look forward to the first week of March each year when the Heritage Classic Dancesport Championships are held at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.  Amateur and pro ballroom dancers compete during all week. The competition finals i are held on Friday and Saturday nights.   The picture above shows a few of the many judges for the event.

The Theater Arts finals are held on Friday night along with the he amateur and pro American Standard smooth and rhythm championships.   The International Standard smooth and rhythm championships are held on Saturday night.  There is always a pro couple  for the weekend who perform during both the Friday and Saturday evening events.  We've been going to this event for a number of years.  This year for the first time we decided to get tickets for both nights. We were so glad we did. 

I forgot to take my camera on Friday night and I did not get but one  picture of any of the smooth dances that was not blurred because they move so very rapidly around the floor.

There is debate in the ballroom dancing community around the issue of whether dancing should or should not be a part of the Olympics.  Some fear it will lose some of the artistic elements if it becomes an official Olympic sport.  Whether it ever becomes an Olympic sport or not, these dancers are amazing athletes.

 

 

Watching the amateurs who get to the finals, you would think they must be the pros.  Then, when the pro heats begin, it is so incredible to watch. 

In addition to the skill of the dancers, there is the drama and beauty of the costume from elegant beautiful dresses for the smooth competitions to racy and revealing rhythm competitions. It is always fun to walk through the halls on the ballroom floor of the Grove Park Inn when the Heritage is in session and see what the vendors have brought.  There are a number of designers there with so many gorgeous dress and amazing costumes. There are always several ballroom shoe vendors and many jewelry vendors. Can you say "BLING" Before my first time at the Heritage, I could never have guessed that there were as many Swarovski crystals in the world as those on the tables during the competition week.  I even saw false eyelashes with two dozen small Swarovski crystals on the eyelashes for each eye.

I decided early on when we began ballroom dancing that I had no aspirations to do competition dancing, but would to dance well enough to compete. I'm still working on it and plan to keep on as long as Bob and I can.

I've already got the dates on the calendar for next yea's Heritage Classic.

The Oscars

Like many other Americans, (and, I guess people all over the world tonight), I am watching the Academy Awards. 

I was very touched by the tribute to those who have died this year, especially when the tribute ended with Paul Newman. There were a lot of beautiful romantic gowns this year and I enjoyed seeing those.

I grew up loving the movies. My paternal grandfather also loved movies and would often take us.  I have fond memories of playing movie stars with the other neighborhood girls, but I can't remember exactly what we did after we decided who would be who. I always thought I should get to choose Elizabeth Taylor since Elizabeth is also my name.

My husband and I both enjoy movies, but somehow we rarely get to a movie theater anymore.  When we do, we like to go to the Flat Rock theater where they have comfortable swivel chairs and small tables. It is like being in a oversized living room with a really big screen.

We had not seen a majority of the films which got Oscar nominations this year.  We will eventually see some of them even though it will probably be at home via Netflix. Every year it seems there are so many younger actors and actresses that we do not even recognize.  I still would not miss watching this once a year event.

Dinner with Friends

Bob and I had a lovely evening tonight sharing dinner with good friends at Rezaz restaurant in Biltmore Village in Asheville. It is a restaurant we always enjoy, but we don't manage to get there often. 

The structure of the menu had changed since we were there last, probably reflecting the current concerns in the economy.  The menu was broken down into starters and the into items under Small, Medium and Large. There were wonderful selections in each section. I frequently do not want as much food as I am served in the typical restaurant so I was excited that I had the choice of smaller portions.

Bob and I both started with the Arugula Salad with red wine poached pear, cashews, goat cheese with Balsamico dressing.  Bob's main dish was a lamb kebab over cous cous.  It was so good that I asked for a second taste. I ordered from the small menu section and had the Rezaz Mezze which includes baba ganouj, hummus with kalamata olives, and muhamara with feta, all served with warm pita triangles.
Bob had a rioja and I tried a pinot noir I had never tasted before, Angeline, Sonoma County, 2005. It was so good that I wrote it down to see if I can find it. Bob had the dessert special, a chocolate and banana torte served with banana ice cream with chocolate chips.  I chose the simpler, but delicious, chocolate, pot de creme. 

The food, wine and service were all excellent, but the most important part of the evening was just the pleasure of time spent with good friends.

"Because you are my sunshine . . ."

Bob is not only generous, he was very sweet to me on Valentines Day this year. 

Bob would usually rather plant me a plant than buy me flowers, but this year he surprised me with a dozen yellow roses.  When he gave me the roses, he said:  I bought yellow because you are my sunshine>"  

He also gave me a heart-shaped container of fresh cherries.  YUM.

After taking a class together all day Saturday, on Valentines evening, we went to Valentines Ballroom Dance at Asheville Ballroom.

I always loved Valentines Day as a child, but I think this year was my favorite Valentines Day ever.   I cannot imagine a more perfect one.

My Generous Husband

 

With all the computer problems we were having, I gave up trying to get any blog posts up for the past few days, but I'm ready to go now.

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I am typing this from my brand new MAC laptop on which I downloaded the picture Bob just took of me starting to type this blog post. After almost three weeks of my computer being in and out of the shop along with our wireless and backup system also being in and out of the shop, I am so excited for everything to be working again.  Luckily everything was still under warranty because the wireless/back-up device had to be replaced and my laptop needed a new logic board.

Bob has needed a new computer for a while.  I've been encouraging him to get one.  What he decided to do was to get me a brand new laptop and take my old one which is far faster than his old one. 

My new computer's name is Sophie!

THANKS BOB! 

P.S. I think Bob is very patriotic since he is supporting the economy on my behalf.

Snow Moon

I enjoy keeping track of the phases of the moon each month.  The Native Americans call February's full moon the Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, or Opening Buds Moon.  Yesterday was the actual date of the full moon, but it was still full and beautiful tonight.

On our way home from Asheville on Sunday, around 6:30 p.m., we saw the Snow Moon rising as we got off I-26 at Saluda.

Shag Dancing

A friend asked me tonight, after reading something I wrote on Facebook, what shag dancing was.  I started trying to write an explanation and then did a Google Search. 

I found some amazing videos. They are all short, only two to three minutes, but delightful.  Watch those feet!  You'll be amazed.  A picture is indeed worth a thousand words

YouTube - Shag Dancing with Charlie Womble & Jackie McGee

YouTube - Carolina shag dance Ducks Competition

YouTube - Strictly Shag - 2007 US Open Swing Dance Championships

YouTube - Carolina Shag with Doug Silton & Ginger Pickeral

YouTube - My first carolina shag comp

Bob and I started taking ballroom dance lessons in 2001 and have continued to take weekly lessons since then.  A couple of years ago, we also started taking Shag lessons.  It is such a fun and happy dance and is one of the few things in life that always makes me feel young. 

The Carolina Shag site gives a better description than I could write:

The Character of Shag:

In proper character, shag is a smooth, graceful dance with an emphasis on footwork rather than on turns. Unlike the jitterbug, shag does not have bounce. Instead, it’s smooth and grounded. The old saying is that shag is danced from the waist down. Shag emphasizes footwork patterns and in particular, patterns that are matched between the two partners. These matched steps are called mirror steps. The partners are typically connected with one hand only, rarely with two hands as is common in jitterbug. Historically, shag tended to spotlight the male dancer, but this is starting to change.

Shag music:

The Carolina shag may be danced to classic “beach music” tunes such as “Carolina Girls,” “Under the Boardwalk,” and “I Love Beach Music,” or the Carolina shag may be danced to Motown and blues. Most shag music is interchangeable with west coast swing music. The music is normally blues style, written in 4/4 time.

"Princess"

We spent the night with friends in South Carolina last night. We usually spend our time together out on their large screened porch overlooking Lake Murray, but even with plastic enclosing the porch,  it was too cold last night.  We did go out on the porch briefly when we heard a noise.

Our friends have two outdoor cats that access the porch though a cat door. Recently, a possum they have named, "Princess," has learned how to use the cat door.  If you look closely, in the picture above, you can see Princess near the gargoyles in the far left corner of the bar. She allowed me to get close enough to take the picture below and then went and hid behind the gargoyle.

Our friends say the cats don't seem to mind Princess and they haven't quite figured out what to do about her other than to try to remember to put the cat food up at night.