gratitude….

i got this really new-agey email about how gratitude can change my life. i am sure this is true. sometimes things like that smack of truth and meaning and sometimes they just seem cheesy. bring on the cheese. i have always loved cheese =)

anyway, the end of last week and most of the weekend was pretty busy, but a good kind of busy…

last wednesday was dance class and as always, it was great. i briefly toyed with the thought of going to this big dance competition with the girls i dance with on wednesdays, but in the end, if i have any hope of going to new york in march, which i already have plans for, then i need to not worry about this competition. i also hardly think that my first public dance performance should be at a major competition. i’d rather do something really fun and more free for the first time. i told nahlah straight up i couldn’t go though and she seemed to understand. perhaps another time…i think it’s definately something i want to experience at some point.

then, thursday night ended up being a really cool trip down memory lane, but also brought a piece of the playa home to me. i had gotten a message early in the week to provide perimeter support for a fire performance being done at the museum of art here for our local group called "controlled burn". i got there and paid $10 to get in, got a free beer coupon i didn’t use, and stood around for about an hour, then went outside, talked to some playa friends, and then we began to start enforcement. it wasn’t nearly so grandiose as a permeter at the event, but it was a pretty good little crowd by the time the thing happened. the show was amazing and i got to share it with my daughter and her new boyfriend, they were both duly impressed, which made me happy =) i got to wear the playa wear that saved my life on the playa this year…a long dress-type thing that is made from some wool material that was gifted to me this year by a friend before going out to the playa. it was ALMOST like being home, but not enough dust =) after we were done there, i could have gone to party with my friends at a bar, but instead, i decided to take the kids for pizza…mom and d met me there and a good time was had by all.

friday was a day that i was looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. i had decided at some point that i was going to sign up for both dance classes that are held on friday nights. i had talked to my friend v about doing the advanced class and she had said she was up for it, but now that she works in the very building that the class is in, she decided she wanted to do the beginning class again. i didn’t want to miss class with her and my other friend, but i definately think i am ready for the intermediate/advanced class. well, i made it through and i was really proud of myself because i managed to keep up the entire time!! that was almost three solid hours of dance, and i managed to not be very winded. i was tired at the end, but it was muscle fatigue, not like, "i’m going to die" ,  chest-tightening stuff. just feeling good and weary. and the intermediate class is going to be a ton of fun. i am seriously considering dropping the wednesday class for awhile so i can be in a show that this teacher is helping to choreograph. if i can manage the rehearsals, i am going to seriously consider it.

saturday during the day was pretty relaxed and lazy. i got some VERY rare time by myself in my house. saturday night was a bellydancing open floor night that was a lot of fun. i got to see more people that i know, see some amazing dancing, and some new people i hadn’t seen before, which was cool. there was someone there that i do not care for, but i think i need to think on that and let it go. it’s the sister of someone who i used to be friends with that never liked me, but that’s sort of her problem and not mine. i still shook my groove thang and had a good time.

sunday during the day was my magickal study group, which was faboo. i don’t really want to get too in to that here, but suffice to say it was really good. we lost one member of our group, but i think it was ultimately a good thing for her to step back. it must be very hard to step into an established group and i think she just felt the straing too acutely.

after that was a super bowl party that was okay. i got to spend time with a friend, which was good. my husband arrived before me so he was already lit up like a christmas tree when i got there. he contined to be so and was not very nice to me, so i was rather annoyed by the time we got home. his team lost. i couldn’t have cared less either way. there is so much more to life than football, but whatever.

that’s about it. i think i am caught up now =)

it’s almost time to go home now. better end this and take one more look around and make sure i haven’t forgotten to do something important.

peace.