Quote of the Weekend

Back in the summertime, we taught/performed at a charity event. This was a small, grass-roots cause, but one we believe in, so we donated our time & talents, as did the band, the homeowner who hosted, etc. We all bonded over the experience & so, we were excited to get an invitation to the homeowner's Christmas party for last night.

My dance partner wasn't going to be able to come for the evening as his family Christmas get-together was last night, but since his cousin's house is only a mile or so away, he stopped in for a little while to say hello. When the band broke into a fun song, he and I decided to dance to it. For us, this was very low-key, nothing special about it dancing, but since most ppl in attendance didn't know us & most ppl don't actually dance with a partner (as opposed to in the same general area as another person), it was noticed.

I was highly amused when one woman came up to me later in the evening and told me:

It was like watching Dancing with the Stars...except you were wearing clothes.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

A Winter Wonderland

We were let off of work at 2:00 pm today. While quite nice, it presented a small logistical problem since the bus I take to get from the metro station to home doesn't start running in the evenings until 4:00 pm. Not wanting to just sit around waiting, I decided to take advantage of having my office near the National Mall and catch the holiday display at the US Botanical Gardens.

It was phenomenal!! The main atrium is filled with pointsettias in bloom. Nestled in among them are replicas of the major DC landmarks like the Supreme Court bldg, the US Capitol, the Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials, the White House etc., all crafted from natural botanic materials. After my recent photo shoot of the Capitol and the Supreme Court bldgs, I can say they did a great job recreating these landmarks!! Unfortunately, I didn't know I would be doing this today, so I didn't have a camera with me. The pictures above are courtesy of the US Botanical Gardens website.

Off the main atrium is the "Winter Wonderland" display which is an amazing area filled with different tableaux and 4 or 5 toy trains that crisscross thru them. There was "Castle Mountain" and "Fairytale Forest" just to name a few areas. By design, this display is viewable both from inside and thru the large picture windows, so it was fun to see little kids with their faces pressed up against the windows trying to get a peek.

It was the perfect way to start the long holiday weekend!!

Now, I'm off to wrap a few final presents and then head off for our traditional Christmas Eve activities. Merry Christmas Eve to one and all!

How to Beat a Speed Camera at Its Own Game

We Clean Up OK

This was taken at our dance gig a week ago.
That marble floor was a killer on the feet/joints, but the atmosphere was stunning!

Dancin' Granny

A friend sent me this video. She's my type of dame!! I hope to have her spunk when I'm 50, much less at 90+.

Enjoy.

As long as we're on the subject...

...of charitable giving, I wanted to make mention of iGive. For those who aren't familiar with it, iGive is another way to donate to charity, but this time, it won't cost you a single dime!!

iGive has partnered with more than 700 (and counting) online sites. When you make a purchase at one of these partners' sites, a percentage of that purchase is donated to your designated charity. You don't spend anything extra, you don't have to buy anything you weren't already going to buy, and yet, your favorite cause gets a little bit of much-needed funds. Not only that, iGive will keep track of it & provide you with a year-end summary for tax purposes. How cool is that?!

The participating online retailers run the gamut from high end (Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms) to lower (Kohls, Target) and everything inbetween. There are clothes (Ann Taylor, Aeropostale, Old Navy, the Gap), books (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon),electronics (Best Buy, Abes of Maine, Dell, Apple), hotels (Wyndham, Hilton, hotels.com), gifts (iTunes, 1-800-flowers),etc. The list is really quite impressive!!

To have your purchases recognized, you can sign in at the iGive website & then click on the link to the vendor's regular website or you can download the iGive toolbar. If you choose the toolbar, it will recognize when you are on a participating site & will automatically register your purchase amount & direct the correct donation amount to your chosen charity. That means that you don't have to do anything different at all and yet you donate money. Again, I say, how cool is that?!

To see the list of participating sites and perhaps to sign up, click here.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the dog rescue group I volunteer with is my chosen charity and they will get a bonus for anyone who signs up via this link. It won't cost you anything and you don't have to keep that organization as your chosen charity, so I hope no one minds helping us out while heading on their way to helping their chosen charity. thanks!)

Charitable Gift Cards

Tiburon's post about receiving a goat for Xmas reminded me that I was going to post about an organization called Network for Good. Have you ever wanted to make a donation as a gift for someone or in someone's honor, but not known what charity they would most like it to go to? Network for Good allows you to make a donation and get a "Good Card" (aka a gift card) that allows the recipient to decide which charity or charities s/he wants that donation to go to.

Regular readers to this blog (all 3 of you!) know that my SO has been battling lymphoma. Even before he got sick, he hated clutter and having too much schtuff around bugged him. It's gotten even worse since getting sick and having to contemplate possibly figuring out what to do with his things should he get a bad outcome. In support of that, I decided that this year, all of the "little things" I gave him would be consumable or something that he could pass on when he finished with it & his big gift would be a charitable donation.

He has multiple charities to which he regularly donates. At first, I decided to find some new ones for him. He and I both like finding smaller, little-known charities that support causes we believe in/do good work, and where even small amounts can really matter. I did some research and found some new ones that I thought he'd like, but then started second guessing the whole thing. Afterall, it seems kinda presumptuous to just assume he'd like these new (to us) ones I found, or even if he did like them, perhaps he'd still prefer to donate more to some of the ones with which he's already associated.

Network for Good makes either option possible. I've done the research, so he'll get information on the new-to-us charities I discovered & perhaps he'll choose to donate the funds or part of the funds to them. Or maybe he'll send it to one or more of his already-favorite causes. Or maybe he'll find something else entirely....No matter which option(s) he chooses, he'll get to send the funds to where it means the most to him & afterall, what I really want is for him to be able to give to something that makes his heart sing!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again -- time to take a moment to focus on gratitude and the things for which I'm thankful. This week, I'm thankful for:

• Getting the chance to get out with the camera and get creative for a bit. It felt good to rekindle my joy in photography and I'm very happy with some of the shots I took. Thanks, too, go to Will, a professional photographer from Colorado who I met as we were both shooting pics near the Capitol. He was kind enough to offer suggestions and pass on bits of his knowledge.
  


• Getting to see my nephews this upcoming weekend. The older of the 2 boys is 4 years old, so Christmas is pretty magical to him this year. I love getting to be part of that.



• Getting to spread a little holiday joy. Each year, we take a group of dancers to the Armed Forces Retirement Home's holiday party. It's a chance to dance with and for the veterans, spend some time talking to them, and in general, just spreading a little goodwill. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions & will take place tomorrow evening.



• The wonderful massage I got last weekend. As a dancer, I beat my body up on a pretty consistent basis. Last weekend was no exception since our gig on Sat night was 7 hrs long and we were dancing on a marble floor. I was most definitely sore after that!! But, since this wasn't the first time we'd done this event, I knew to expect being sore & scheduled a massage for Sunday. My last 3 massages really didn't do much to help; they were nice, but my muscles fight back/require a bit of convincing that they need to release & the past couple of massages I had never reached that point. This time, however, was different -- I went to a new place & this new massage therapist was fantastic!! I'm still feeling the benefits!! And, since this place was considerably less expensive than the other places I'd tried, not to mention more conveniently located, you can bet I'll be going back!!
  
  
• The adorable ornaments I got from Mindi. There's a music clef that represents my dancing and a beautiful bird that can either be hung conventionally or can be clipped onto a tree branch as if it's perching. Pics will be coming as soon as I change the batteries in my camera. Thanks, Mindi -- They are perfect!!
  
  
• Hearing that the package I shipped for my neices and nephews in Vancouver, BC arrived yesterday. Last year, it didn't get there until the 2nd week of January, even tho I shipped it around the same time. There's a strike going on in some of the Canadian postal system, so I was worried this year would be the same, despite being told 5-10 days when I shipped it. Glad to know it made it!!

So, that's my list today. What's on yours?

How Do You Gift Wrap a Bicycle?

That's actually a serious question. I'm giving my nephew a bike for Christmas and have NO idea how to present it. "Tradition" seems to be leaving the bike unwrapped, maybe with a big red bow on it, but not bringing it out until Christmas morning. If I lived in the same house as my nephew, I could do that, but that's not the case and I've got to bring it up to his house this Sunday when I go up there to spend the afternoon with my brother, sis-in-law, and nephews so we can "do" Christmas together. When he knows that I'm coming over, he is usually waiting, watching out the door for me to get there, so leaving it unwrapped would mean he'd immediately see it.

An internet search said to leave the bike in it's big flat shipping box & wrap that, but since the bike is second-hand, it's already assembled. (A charitable organization that my SO supports was selling an absolutely mint-condition kid's bike for $10 at their yard sale, so I jumped on it!! It even came with a helmet, so I couldn't resist.) I don't think I have a box big enough to put an already assembled bike in, so I don't think that's an option.

H.E.L.P!!!!!! All ideas are welcome!!

Playing Tourist in my own backyard

I'm updating our website and my boss suggested using some pics to jazz it up a bit. He was willing to buy some stock photos from a couple of professional websites, but since we're so close to some of the famous landmarks, I suggested just giving me an hour sometime with the good work camera & letting me go play a bit. When I got brain-fried yesterday, I decided that was just what would perk me up, so I grabbed the camera & headed out.

It was a perfect day for it!! It was 60-ish degrees & we had a storm front on its way here, so there were some interesting cloud formations, as you can see. (I *much* prefer shooting on cloudy days to shooting in bright sun -- the results are always much more interesting!) In addition, I decided to do this a little before 4:00 pm & since it gets dark here just before 5:00 pm nowadays, that meant I had the "golden hour" of twilight to play with. I love how the colors change so much, from one shot to the next, in such a short time frame.

The ones I'll use for work are more "standard", but I also took some more artistic shots for myself. The ones on this post are some of my favorites from around the US Capitol and the Supreme Court bldg.

Enjoy!!

He Must Be a Master at Wii Fit

I have Wii Fit. On it, there's a game where you are supposed to head soccer balls thrown at you, while dodging other things thrown at you. One of those other things are shoes. I always wondered where the game developers got that idea.

After Pres. Bush's encounter with an Iraqi journalist, now I know.

The Worst 4 Words in the English Language

I think you could ask pretty much anyone over the age of about 10 or so what are the best words in the English language & they'd pretty much agree on those. (Well, except for a former dance partner of mine who postulated that the answer is gender specific. He said that for women, it's "I love you" but for guys it'd be "you're the best", but that's a comedy routine for another day.) But, I'm not sure there'd be consensus on the worst.

For me, there's no doubt: the worst 4 words in the English language are "Are you sitting down?"

2 years ago today, I heard those words and in an instant, my world changed. My significant other had had a cough that he hadn't been able to shake. There was the standard "winter crud" going around, so at first he thought nothing of it. But then it didn't go away, and then he started getting winded when he was working out. Anyone who knows him, knows that that's not normal for him -- I was the one with severe anemia at the time, so I was used to that happening, but not him.

At first, it was dismissed as being pneumonia, but he didn't buy it. He's an M.D., so he was able to press his case & get them to look further. They ordered an MRI just to appease him. It was a good thing they did because it turned out he had a baseball-sized tumor....at the time, they thought it was in the lung, which would have been VERY bad news. Luckily, it wasn't lung cancer, but lymphoma, sitting on top of the lung/between the lung and the chest wall. It had been compressing the lung, which is why he had had trouble breathing.

It took almost 3 weeks to get the diagnosis. Those were some of the longest days I've ever experienced -- I was lucky to get 1.5-2 hrs of sleep a night and the stress definitely took a toll; I started going to the gym in order to physically exhaust myself, hoping that that would force my body to sleep at least a bit more. In many ways, the uncertainty and the not-knowing were the most difficult part; at least once we knew what he was dealing with, we knew what treatment protocol should be followed and more importantly, he could get started with that treatment. Patience has never been my strong suit & it was tough to have to sit around, waiting, not being able to do anything & not being able to do anything to hurry it along.

Unfortunately, we are back in that same uncertainty. He had another PET scan a few weeks ago & it wasn't clear. He has 2 small spots that showed up. The good news is they aren't lighting up (which would indicate definite cancerous activity). The bad news is they are there. They could possibly be the tumor returning, but not yet reaching the threshold to be detected by the scan. Or, the better option is that it could be indication of tissue damage from the intense chemo & radiation treatment. (Who would have ever thought we'd be wishing for tissue damage!) We won't know anything until the next PET scan in 3 or 4 months. All we can do is wait & hope... No one ever tells you that might be a possibility -- it should be like being 'a little bit pregnant', y'know: either you have a tumor or you don't. This uncertainty totally sucks!!

If anyone out there reading this can light a candle, send a prayer, or otherwise keep a good thought for the next PET scan to be clean and for him to continue being cancer-free, we would both greatly appreciate it.

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've gotten one of these written and it's long overdue. This week, I'm thankful for:

• Holiday goodies. They are starting to appear around my office & since I haven't gotten around to making any myself, that's a good thing!!
  


• Finally kicking the sinus infection that sidelined me for a bit. Good riddance!
  


• Cyber Monday. I was home sick that day & managed to pick up most of the remaining items on my Christmas list. Got some good deals on 'em too!!
  


• My job. It's rough out there. I know lots of people are out of work or facing potential layoffs. So far, things are stable here & I am profoundly grateful for that!
  


• The holiday specials. I admit it; I'm just a big ol' little kid when it comes to holiday specials. Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Heat Meiser/Cold Meiser, etc. all make me smile.
  


• Getting a break from teaching weekly dance classes. The place we teach isn't heated, so we take the winter off from our classes. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy teaching or I wouldn't do it, and especially with the last group of students we had as they were a lot of fun. However, I do also enjoy getting a break from it sometimes. We've still got events to perform at and other non-weekly-classes to do, but due to the economy, those are also lighter than usual this year, so it's the first real break we've gotten in quite a while and I'm greatly enjoying it.
  

How bout you? What are you thankful for today? Thanks to Tiburon for the new graphic.

Christmas Cactus

This has been brightening up my office. It started blooming back around Veteran's Day and is still going strong.

Late to the Party

I've got a confession to make. Up until a couple of months ago, I didn't have cable tv. (Yes, it is possible to live without it in this day and age.) I wasn't home enough to justify the cost (& it had gotten pretty darn expensive). But then, I switched internet carriers & got a bundled package back in the summertime & thus, I've slowly been catching up on all of those things I missed.

Like this:

Saturday night was the perfect storm -- my SO was in class all weekend (so I was on my own); we didn't have any dance gigs to do; and it was snowing (so who wants to go out in that). Sounded like a good night for a movie. I was about to pop a dvd into the player when I discovered that Disney was running not only HSM, but also HSM2 back-to-back. To top it off, these were the "What's What" versions, meaning they had little pop-up bubbles that contained fun facts, pointed out continuity mistakes or other movie quirks, etc throughout the movies. (The running tally of "who wore more hats" contest between Ryan and Kelsi for HSM2 was my personal favorite.)

Well, get me a plate of crackers & bring on the cheese!!!

And cheesy it was!!! However, I've already confessed to having been in musicals and occasionally rockin' a show tune or 2, so I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy the movies. I will just say that it's a good thing that I'm not lactose intolerant or it would have been a rough night!!