Lazy, rainy, cozy Sunday.

Closed it out with some dancing at Elks.

It was a wild night.

My mom wanted to check out this whole dancing thing of mine. I really wanted to show her good dancers and live big band music but none was to be found. So, we went to Loafers for some Carolina Shag to the tune of a live band. Needless to say, I learned tonight that Caorlina Shag isn't the most energetic of dances and the crowd, also a bit less energetic.

My mom, young at heart, said "I'm not dead yet! Get me out of here."

So, we found some friends and live music at the Wild Wing Cafe and danced to the tunes of Sugar, the band.

My mom.


And then everyone started kissing each other. It was a wild night.

Longest Road. Mine.

Happy Thanksgiving.

And, here are videos from Thanksgiving 2006, with Princess in Seattle. Featuring my favorite cranberry sauces.

copyright Ellen Steinberg.

Much fun for a mini birthday.

Celebrated a carbalicious birthday for Colin at 518 in Raleigh. Colin is into mini versions of larger things so Diane had us bring mini gifts.

Here is Colin, whispering something to his mini artic village.

My favorite part of the evening. Adam, not you. Sorry. Diane's cake. So delicious. To hell with the theme of the evening, I did not have a mini piece.
One month until Christmas. Ho, ho, ho.

I love Catherine Keener. But not this movie.

The ill felt better, so let's go dancing.

I had such a good time dancing in Denver earlier this week, so I decided to meander down to Greensboro for some dancing with the Piedmont Swing Dance Society at the Oriental Shrine Club on Saturday night.

I was keen to dance because I missed Loafers on Thursday because I was caring for the ill. The ill felt better, so let's go dancing.

Of about 10 photos of me outside the dance venue, this was the best one. Alarming. I'm getting a strange look from the guy leaving the dance. Based on the expression on my face, I deserved it.

Look at my neck. That's a scarf. Not a decorative scarf. It's a "I'm cold, please keep me warm" scarf. It was too too cold for North Carolina for late November. I moved down South for a reason, damnit. Leave the chilly weather to the Connecticut-ers, thank you.

Here's a shot of folks on the inside, doing the shim sham.

Tea.

Attend student shows at DSI featuring two pals. In a game of "You're Outta There" a friend gets eliminated not because he broke any rules of the game but because, allegedly, he made an error about the origin of tea. That's BS. But, it's all for fun, right?

After the show meander through the Harris Teeter. Get pizza. Rent "August Rush" at Blockbuster. Cheeeeeeesy. Teri's idea.

Heat up some soup.

Catch up with Barb at Symposium. That girl is a pal.

Care for the ill. Heat up some soup. DVR.

A haunting day.

Wow.

22nd and California.

Work stuff done. Free night in Denver. I muster up my courage and head to the Mercury Cafe, on 22nd and California for a lesson and some dancing. I don't know a soul, so I'm kinda terrified. But, the anonymity is also a relief. In the end, I have fun.


It's unseasonably warm in Denver. Earlier that day I got a text from NC. Flurries. Oh, I love the irony. Love it.

Hands on my hips.

So, in Denver. Out on Monday night with Clients. At Maggianos. Clients have brought in salsa dance instructors. Everyone thinks I have something to do with this. And that I'm going to be good at it. Yeah, not really the case.

Look at me with my hands on my hips.

There is a homeless guy on Pearl Street singing John Denver. That's not very original.

In May of 2008 Wendy and Cliff deserted us for Boulder, CO. The upside was my Clients are in Denver so I thought "Cool! They will bring joy to work trips." And then of course, all of my work related travel is not to Denver. Boo. Until now. So, I see them. And it's great. I feel comfortable in their house, among their stuff, drinking their fine wine.

Wendy takes me to a funky place called Kitchen for dinner. Cliff is home not feeling so well.

I miss them. They are working very hard in Boulder. The job kind of owns them, though.

Boulder is a neat place. The mountains. Dramatic. Burning red in the sunset. There is a homeless guy on Pearl Street singing John Denver. That's not very original.

Putting on thos arm bracelets.

Election Night for the Triangle Swing Dance Society. Potluck dinner, elections, live band, dancing and returns. I'm actually kind of "working" this event. I never realized how stressful it is to put an arm bracelet on someone. You want to make sure it's on the proper hand for dancing, not too tight, try not to grab arm hairs, my goodness. For some reason I wasn't quite feeling the dancing so much this night. I've really been trying to focus on improving so I was bummed that whatever is supposed to click wasn't clicking. Oh well.

I didn't take any pictures, so here's a neat dance shot I found.

The "Q" Pin.

Wasn't really blown away by this one. Ha. Ha. Ha. No pun intended.

Was somewhat amused by the likeness of the logo of the evil secret organization that's taking over the world to another logo that is near and dear to my heart.

Bizet Has His Day

I'm awake at 4:00am. I feel Blue. My DJ plays "Bizet Has His Day" and my spirits are immediately lifted. If Bizet has his day, I can too. I listen to this song repeatedly throughout the day. And request that it's played at Loafers tonight. Google this song and listen to it. Those first few bars will make you smile. I promise.

And (drumroll) - Pizza Night is back. Worlds collide and I have pizza at my favorite restaurant ever - Bella Monica. It took so much restraint not to order the chicken parm. I did order pizza. And I didn't like it that much. Maybe that's just because this was Pizza Night #13.

And then Loafers. Dancing has been a source of frustration lately. I don't feel like I'm getting any better and some days, I feel like I'm regressing. I've given it some thought and I realize that part of the problem is that as much as I go out to dance, I'm not actually dancing as much as I should be. I'm socializing. Because I'm a much better at socializing than dancing. I danced more when I knew less people. I dance more this night.

A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.

In the most delightful way.

Not a good day. I go to the mall for retail therapy and Five Guys burger and fries. And then to trivia in Raleigh. Frankfurt, not Lexington, is the capital of Kentucky.

Adios Miguelito

Hosted a send off for Mathis (actually, he prefers "Miguelito" - it's more affectionate). He's moving to NYC. It'something he always wanted to do.

I get it.

Here's some laughter from the gathering.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I'm feeling better today. Have a walk in the Sarah P Duke Gardens. It's a lovely fall afternoon. Lazy Sunday.

But out, anyway.

Not feeling well enough to go out.


But out, anyway.

Worse

Fever is worse today. I had planned to go to Ellen's art opening in Hillsborough but I can barely make it from bed to couch so I stay home. Rent "The Kite Runner" - excellent movie, but more like a Sunday afternoon flick, instead of a Friday night. In other news, a day at home on the couch and I'm now up to speed on the Top 100 Celebrity Beach Bobies and 15 worst moments in pageant history. Thanks, E! channel.

Fever

Not feeling so good today. Fever. On Fire.

I actually have quarts of chicken soup in the fridge and freezer but don't touch it.

This movie was so cheesy. I loved it.

Yes we can

I have to give props to McKinney. They gave Election Day off to anyone who wanted to go volunteer to get out the vote. And get out the vote I did. I canvassed in Durham. I did the afternoon shift and was pleased to find that most of the people I spot with had already voted. And for Obama.

At 3:15 I encountered a woman who had not voted. She had just moved and her voting station was on the other side of Durham. Her daughter was coming home at 4:00.

I zoomed her across town. She voted and made it home with time to spare. She would not have voted otherwise. This was a close race. Votes like that won this thing.

Yes. We. Can.

Before the election I had been listening to a Norah Jones song called "Election Day" - she wrote it in 2004. It's chilling. "But the day after is darker." Not this Wednesday, Norah.

I am proud again.

Dark

It got dark at like 5:45 today. Boo.

Womb

Amy's gonna have a baby. So, on Sunday, we showered her. And possibly insulted her. We played a game where we had to guess the circumference of her baby bump. We all totally overshot it. I used the ribbon to put my hair in a bow. Like Alice in Wonderland.

I was quite fascinated one of Amy's presents. It was sort of a white noise machine to help the baby sleep. One of the noises was womb.

DSI take two, with clothes.

Back to DSI for "DSI High." A pal from work is performing. This time, I'm more fully clothed.