With Visions of Ninja Dancers in my head.
Mar. 19th, 2007 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threadwalkerWhat a weekend!!
Friday - I took a day-long seminar at Rakkassah.
The 9am - 12:15 with Jamila and Suhaila Salimpour was awesome. I was run through a bellydance gauntlet by one of the originators of dance in the bay area (and her energetic and much louder daughter...)..hahaha! I spent almost the whole time covered in sweat. And I learned at least 4 new things, which is my personal rule for "was the class worth my time based on how much I paid". Actually, Suhaila did most of the drilling and she's a great teacher. Her mom was easily over 70? someone said she was 80... I'm still impressed. And she was totally adorable!!! I just wanted to hug her.
I was so tired at the end, I went to my car for lunch and fell asleep. whew! Totally worth it.
The afternoon teacher was injured and cancelled. Instead I got 2 short classes.
Class 2a.: This teacher didn't speak much english. She spent 4 weeks a year for 4 years living with gypsies in Turkey and that's what she taught us.. gypsy stye. I think I was too tired to get into the vibe of pretending to make eye-contact so I could suggestively flirt with non-existent audience or do exagerated shoulder shrugs. But it was a good work out and we got to hop around a lot and I got into some of the bits; I may use some of it. I think we were trying to cram too much stuff into the time block she had. And it's too bad she didn't speak much english. Despite the language barrier, I thought she was a pretty good teacher with a great vibe and was a lot of fun. I'd take more classes from her.
Class 2b: Caberet. And totally NOT how I shimmy. I viewed it as a "work out" until about 3:30. By then I realized that more than anything, I wanted a nap and a hot shower more than I wanted to practice hair-flips and "cute as pie" moves. (her actual words were 'cute as pie'. she cracked me up). She was an okay teacher... she spoke english... and she was doing these snap shimmies at half speed. When she kicked it up to full speed, I kept up. Just not challenging and not my style and she spent a lot of bandwidth talking about her credentials. Shower and nap were more alluring at 3:30 pm.
Saturday: Took Evie to Tribal Throwdown and we had dinner at family place.
Tribal Throwdown When we got there, we saw the coolest duet doing a pirate dance. Apparently this is the current fad: belly dancing pirates. They looked really cool and had great arms. Of the day, that was one of the best groups. And the fad for "bloomers" and slashed yoga pants is kind of weird... not something I'd wear (well, to belly dance in). But it's all eye-candy. We shopped, watched dancers and Evie got a set of hot pink dance fans. She loves them.
Saturday night: dinner at MILs. I made some of the food, she made her wonderful pot roast. God - I could just wallow in that!!! And the chocolate bread pudding was a hit. My MIL snaked the recipe, which I got from the internet. So not like a big secret.
And I met her BF. Totally adorable. And his little dog, named Muffin, was a hit with the kids. Nicholas made up a song about Muffin that day and then sang it to her. Then, since Evie had these new dance fans and we brought them (of course, mommy, they are new and I'm going to show nanny...), they danced with the fans. Nicholas informed us he was dancing the "ninja dance", which involves chopping, leaping, and falling plus sound effects. I just crossed my fingers that it didn't become the "how to poke out your eye while doing a ninja dance" evening. Evie was on board with her big brother and Ninja-leaped with her fan, too. We couldn't stop laughing. And no one put an eye out. (whew!)
We got home and I was so tired. What a full day! I fell asleep putting the kids to bed. When did I get so old? lol. Or maybe I'm just slowing down to "normal" as some of my friends my suggest...
I started my Sunday out right. After an evening of guinness-fondue, pot roast and bread pudding, I went to the gym for a good hour. I did 30 min of cardio and then did a full circuit (upper and lower body). (and today my hamstrings are sore.. I did maximum effort and since I was only doing 1 set, did each rep really slow).
I went shopping right after the gym. I have no summer clothes that fit and got some shorts and a spring dress for work. I have a rant building up about women's clothing sizes and the liars that market this stuff. But I'll save it for another time.
After that, it was family yard day and house cleaning day.
It was the first sunny day in a while and the lawn dried out, which is what inspired "Yard Day". Also, we were having the family to our place for dinner and the yard was in desparate straights. The mowing happened on Saturday while Evie and I were out. But Sunday we trimmed, hedged, weeded and chipped. Turns out the kids are big enough to (1) pull weeds and (2) carry laundry up stairs. They spent the day working around the house as hard as we did. I was tackling the weeds at one point with the kids, and looked up to see Farin. He had the cutest smile on his face. He looked so content... and I know exactly what he was thinking. The whole family was doing something together and there is a spiritual wellness in feeling that level of contentment and "oneness". Plus, the yard looks so much better for it. We had to quit when we filled our fourth yard bin because we were out of bins. (They go out Tuesday night... I've got a scheme to go into work early on Wednesday and then tear through some more weeding after work... muh-ha-ha)
Then we cleaned the house. I got the insane urge to reorganize my closet, too. But that's an ongoing project of cupboard/closet cleaning. Anyway, the house was in pretty good shape in time for MIL and her BF and Jeff and my mom, who were coming over for dinner. My mom was so late, we were putting dinner on the table when she arrived. (roll eyes. some things never change.. and why would they?)
I did dinner myself. (If you knew me 7 years ago.. and knew that I couldn't cook at all, you would understand why this has become a source of pride for me). I served: home made split pea soup. brussel spouts with soaked and salted pecans. green beans with slivered/browned almonds and lemon. creamy mashed potatoes (aghh. I could roll in those they were so yummmy - I used buttermilk), corned beef, and fresh made orange custard w/ whipped cream for dessert.
The new BF gave me oranges from his tree, which is what gave me the idea for the custard. It was all good and some were very good. I'd make them all again, only I'd double the amount of custard because the "single" portion the recipe creates ...yeah, that ain't enough. LOL.
Today I feel like I spent the whole weekend eating. Which I think I did. And my kitchen is scary. Unfortunately, Heroes is not on tonight.. boo! So I'll hit the gym, pick up weaving supplies from Da apprentice, clean my kitchen and get cracking on that german dress for Ysa. And as soon as I finish hers, I know what I want to make for me. muh-ha-ha.
Friday - I took a day-long seminar at Rakkassah.
The 9am - 12:15 with Jamila and Suhaila Salimpour was awesome. I was run through a bellydance gauntlet by one of the originators of dance in the bay area (and her energetic and much louder daughter...)..hahaha! I spent almost the whole time covered in sweat. And I learned at least 4 new things, which is my personal rule for "was the class worth my time based on how much I paid". Actually, Suhaila did most of the drilling and she's a great teacher. Her mom was easily over 70? someone said she was 80... I'm still impressed. And she was totally adorable!!! I just wanted to hug her.
I was so tired at the end, I went to my car for lunch and fell asleep. whew! Totally worth it.
The afternoon teacher was injured and cancelled. Instead I got 2 short classes.
Class 2a.: This teacher didn't speak much english. She spent 4 weeks a year for 4 years living with gypsies in Turkey and that's what she taught us.. gypsy stye. I think I was too tired to get into the vibe of pretending to make eye-contact so I could suggestively flirt with non-existent audience or do exagerated shoulder shrugs. But it was a good work out and we got to hop around a lot and I got into some of the bits; I may use some of it. I think we were trying to cram too much stuff into the time block she had. And it's too bad she didn't speak much english. Despite the language barrier, I thought she was a pretty good teacher with a great vibe and was a lot of fun. I'd take more classes from her.
Class 2b: Caberet. And totally NOT how I shimmy. I viewed it as a "work out" until about 3:30. By then I realized that more than anything, I wanted a nap and a hot shower more than I wanted to practice hair-flips and "cute as pie" moves. (her actual words were 'cute as pie'. she cracked me up). She was an okay teacher... she spoke english... and she was doing these snap shimmies at half speed. When she kicked it up to full speed, I kept up. Just not challenging and not my style and she spent a lot of bandwidth talking about her credentials. Shower and nap were more alluring at 3:30 pm.
Saturday: Took Evie to Tribal Throwdown and we had dinner at family place.
Tribal Throwdown When we got there, we saw the coolest duet doing a pirate dance. Apparently this is the current fad: belly dancing pirates. They looked really cool and had great arms. Of the day, that was one of the best groups. And the fad for "bloomers" and slashed yoga pants is kind of weird... not something I'd wear (well, to belly dance in). But it's all eye-candy. We shopped, watched dancers and Evie got a set of hot pink dance fans. She loves them.
Saturday night: dinner at MILs. I made some of the food, she made her wonderful pot roast. God - I could just wallow in that!!! And the chocolate bread pudding was a hit. My MIL snaked the recipe, which I got from the internet. So not like a big secret.
And I met her BF. Totally adorable. And his little dog, named Muffin, was a hit with the kids. Nicholas made up a song about Muffin that day and then sang it to her. Then, since Evie had these new dance fans and we brought them (of course, mommy, they are new and I'm going to show nanny...), they danced with the fans. Nicholas informed us he was dancing the "ninja dance", which involves chopping, leaping, and falling plus sound effects. I just crossed my fingers that it didn't become the "how to poke out your eye while doing a ninja dance" evening. Evie was on board with her big brother and Ninja-leaped with her fan, too. We couldn't stop laughing. And no one put an eye out. (whew!)
We got home and I was so tired. What a full day! I fell asleep putting the kids to bed. When did I get so old? lol. Or maybe I'm just slowing down to "normal" as some of my friends my suggest...
I started my Sunday out right. After an evening of guinness-fondue, pot roast and bread pudding, I went to the gym for a good hour. I did 30 min of cardio and then did a full circuit (upper and lower body). (and today my hamstrings are sore.. I did maximum effort and since I was only doing 1 set, did each rep really slow).
I went shopping right after the gym. I have no summer clothes that fit and got some shorts and a spring dress for work. I have a rant building up about women's clothing sizes and the liars that market this stuff. But I'll save it for another time.
After that, it was family yard day and house cleaning day.
It was the first sunny day in a while and the lawn dried out, which is what inspired "Yard Day". Also, we were having the family to our place for dinner and the yard was in desparate straights. The mowing happened on Saturday while Evie and I were out. But Sunday we trimmed, hedged, weeded and chipped. Turns out the kids are big enough to (1) pull weeds and (2) carry laundry up stairs. They spent the day working around the house as hard as we did. I was tackling the weeds at one point with the kids, and looked up to see Farin. He had the cutest smile on his face. He looked so content... and I know exactly what he was thinking. The whole family was doing something together and there is a spiritual wellness in feeling that level of contentment and "oneness". Plus, the yard looks so much better for it. We had to quit when we filled our fourth yard bin because we were out of bins. (They go out Tuesday night... I've got a scheme to go into work early on Wednesday and then tear through some more weeding after work... muh-ha-ha)
Then we cleaned the house. I got the insane urge to reorganize my closet, too. But that's an ongoing project of cupboard/closet cleaning. Anyway, the house was in pretty good shape in time for MIL and her BF and Jeff and my mom, who were coming over for dinner. My mom was so late, we were putting dinner on the table when she arrived. (roll eyes. some things never change.. and why would they?)
I did dinner myself. (If you knew me 7 years ago.. and knew that I couldn't cook at all, you would understand why this has become a source of pride for me). I served: home made split pea soup. brussel spouts with soaked and salted pecans. green beans with slivered/browned almonds and lemon. creamy mashed potatoes (aghh. I could roll in those they were so yummmy - I used buttermilk), corned beef, and fresh made orange custard w/ whipped cream for dessert.
The new BF gave me oranges from his tree, which is what gave me the idea for the custard. It was all good and some were very good. I'd make them all again, only I'd double the amount of custard because the "single" portion the recipe creates ...yeah, that ain't enough. LOL.
Today I feel like I spent the whole weekend eating. Which I think I did. And my kitchen is scary. Unfortunately, Heroes is not on tonight.. boo! So I'll hit the gym, pick up weaving supplies from Da apprentice, clean my kitchen and get cracking on that german dress for Ysa. And as soon as I finish hers, I know what I want to make for me. muh-ha-ha.
