viking librarians

This is awesome:  librarians gone wild!

dinner

Tried to make more of a ritual out of my very-belated dinner tonight. Usually, when it's just me and it's late, I scrambled to just eat whatever. Tonight, something simple but comforting - sourdough toast with butter, halfed Bing cherries, Brie, and blueberry tea... Slicing, stirring, toasting, steeping - its nice to make an (easy) effort on yourself now and then. Not too much but satisfying altogether. A good end to a stressful day.



Last night I made chocolate-beet-cherry cupcakes. They are divine. Phew.

officially summer

Jazz on the Green started tonight - it's officially summer! OK, it's been summer for everyone else for a while now, but my summer felt delayed due to all the fun surgery stuff. It's all good now - nothing is better than drinking on a lawn...and seeing the dancing guy.

This guy is at every summer festival/outdoor event with music, and he's awesome. He cannot be contained.

No life...

Proving once again that I have no life and need to leave my house more often, I present my first video of the dog. I just got one of those Flip camcorders and have nothing better to shoot, of course...

Out of the house...

Our little family decided it needed to get out of the house and away from the TV for a little while today, after a morning of sleeping in and watching HGTV, so we ventured over to Lake Zorinsky for a walk. Wow, I forgot how long it takes to get around that thing when you're going so slow! It was hot, too, so Ryker pooped out quickly...

accepted

I received my official acceptance letter to the University of Missouri Graduate program this week, so phew, I'm in.  Not that I was worried, but...  You never know.  I generally just figure I can do anything, so one of these days, I'm sure I'll be unpleasantly surprised. :)  Hopefully not anytime soon.  Huh, I sound smug.  Oh, well.

Going a bit stir-crazy.  I've been home for 6 days now (well, 5 if you don't count the day in the hospital), and haven't done squat.  Today has been a bit more active - helped the hubby fix the gate on our fence, weeded my veggie garden, started some laundry.  Can't tell if the exhaustion I'm feeling right now is the result of exertion or lack of calories.  The DH says I've lost some weight already but I don't see it.  And I bet the scale wouldn't see it either - the weight has probably just shifted to my fat face.

I miss dancing.  I miss eating.  I miss smiling.  Not really missing work at all yet...doubt that will set in.  But still - I really dislike this break from life.  Obviously, I'm not missing whining, huh?  :P  I'll stop.  Need to clean up a room, or make something, or read, or prepare for my summer class that starts this weekend...

School's out!

I finished my first semester of library school today!  Woo-hoo!  Now a two week break before my summer class starts...  I got a letter in the mail week before last saying that I have been "recommended for admission" but that the official decision hadn't been handed down yet...  Pretty sure that means I'm in though. :) 
In other exciting news, I'm days away from being put under anesthesia and having my face sawed apart.  Fun!  My jaw surgery is Thursday, so I'm trying to wrap up as much work-wise, dance-wise, home/garden-wise and volunteer-wise as I can before then.  Tonight I'm going to set up my "command center" on the nightstand - move a power strip so I can have my laptop and cd player close by, stack my books and projects within reach, and see if we need more pillows.  I put a bunch of audio books on reserve at the library, so those will be picked up tomorrow night, including another David Sedaris... I bet my dear sweet husband will be thrilled!  (Last week before Ha Ha Tonka! I made him and my brother listed to part of "When You Are Engulfed In Flames" and I thought they were going to hurt me...but it's so funny!)
Better get moving - going to dance for a bit...while I still can.

only a belly dancer

Can clean the receipts out of her purse and find one that reads “Feather headband…$27.”

 

Go Vermont!

Wow, first Iowa and now Vermont!  Oh, to live in a state that isn’t stuck in the dark ages…

 

a belly dance month

This weekly, a few members of the Raqs Awn Belly Dance Collective (our newly formed troupe) braved the forecasted blizzard and drove to Des Moines, IA, for the 12^th annual Rainbows of the Desert workshop.  This year’s instructor was Jasmin Jahal.  It was a great workshop – we learned a 6 ½ minute choreography that works with our dance style.  Add to that some great shopping, free breakfast and a hot tub, and you’ve got the makings of a fabulous weekend.  We even had a former Diva fly in from Colorado to go with us, so there was also a reunion of sorts.

This is the first belly dance weekend of several this month.  This upcoming weekend, Calliste of Basharaat (Lincoln, NE) is teaching a drum solo workshop here in Omaha, after which ML and I will be performing in the evening show.  The weekend after that is Tribal Elevation in Golden, CO.  I’m really excited for that workshop – 3 days of classes with Rachel Brice, Ariellah and others…  It’ll be a long road trip and some even longer hours of dancing, but it’s my first Elevation and I can’t wait! 

While I’m off in CO, the rest of Raqs Awn (or as many girls as are available) will be dancing at the Earth Day Omaha festival in Elmwood Park with the Lotus Dancers as part of the Bellydance Caravan.

 

Phew…that’s a lot of dancing!