Square Dancing in Tallahassee

Last night we visited the local square dance club, the Capital Twirlers. Brindlee Mountain Promenaders it definitely is not, but the level of dancing was better than we expected. Their caller, Elmer Sheffield, was good, the floor was just right for dancing, and the calls were challenging. The average age of the members is a bit higher than Brindlee, or so it appeared. But several members told us that many of the regulars were not there last night, so we will see. Maybe there will be a few more people closer to our age there next time.

A few of things of note …

The very first call in the very first tip we danced to was tea cup chain. Anyone who has danced with me at Brindlee knows that is my very favorite call. NOT!

The last song we danced to was "It's Only Make Believe," which is my all-time favorite. It was nice to hear it, but rather sad, too. No one can sing it as well as our favorite caller, Mr. Wayne Mahathey.

The group round dances in between the square tips, which neither Bill nor I enjoy. Not only that, but for two hours of dance time, it appears like the square dancing part only accounts for about 50 minutes. The rest of the time is round dancing and/or just visiting. The square dance tips are not our usual 15 - 25 minute sessions that Wayne put us through!

The Capital Twirlers dance the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Mondays (and 5th Mondays, if there is one), but sometimes they (for various reasons) skip one Monday and dance on the off Monday instead. Instead of an e-mail list or a website to announce these changes, it sounds like they just call around each week to see if anyone knows whether they dance that week or not! Sounds rather unorganized to me.

And they have not had new member classes in years. Which means the club will eventually die.

Next Monday is one of those nights that they normally dance but this month will not dance (I forget the reason why). So we will have to wait two weeks. But I imagine we will go back. Maybe if more of the regular members are there, the dancing time will increase. Who knows? But it sure looks like we need to stick to our plan of attending more of the specials that are on Saturday nights around the tri-state area here, if we want to really dance our feet off!

It's Friday

No time for long chatty entries today. Friday morning is always my homeschool chat. From 8 a.m. (CT) to whenever, often until afternoon.

http://www.leapingfromthebox.com/hs/chat.html

But today I will have to leave early, as we (Charles and I) are driving to Birmingham to visit friends for the afternoon. And then we have to leave by 4 so that I can get home in time to get ready for dancing. Friday night is always square dancing night.

http://www.brindleemountainsquares.com

So a hectic day! But fun.

Fish update

Well, Mr. Algae-Eater is not looking very well. Sunday he has what appeared to be open sores on his skin. I bought some stuff to put in the water that is supposed to help. Maybe it is; I don't know. The sores do not look as red, but today his tail does not stick out behind him like normal. It curls and definitely looks shorter, like he has lost some of it. But this afternoon he did scoot around quickly into the weeds when I turned the light on, which was the fastest I had seen him move in several days. Maybe there's hope?

Kat says that Miss Munchkin walked across the kitchen on her own this afternoon and then stood there longer squealing about it. I need to take some more pictures. I haven't taken any since early November and they are still on the camera. Tomorrow she will be 9 months! I'll have to remember to take the camera with us dancing Friday night and get some pictures of Miss Munchkin and I doing Cotton-Eyed Joe.

I talked with David for a short bit today. Today was a "reading / studying" day in preparations for exams, which begin tomorrow. Next Wednesday he will be ready to come home for semester break.

I continue to declutter, cleaning out more books and videos. Some I am selling; many more are just being given away to the public library or being Freecycled (new verb there, like Googling!). I do not want to have to box all these up and move them with me! The more I get rid of now, the less I have to move.

Speaking of moving, it sounds likely that we will have to soon take a trip to Tallahassee, scout the area. Kat & Shawn announced Sunday that it is 90% likely they will be moving to Pensacola by the first of March and that Shawn will be manager of a store there. We had already been looking in that direction, in addition to the Nashville area, but now being further south takes on new meaning. Plus, after the cold weather this week, Bill and I are both looking at each other and saying "and we want to move to Nashville? Further north?"

Cheese and Stuff

Charles and I have been reading "On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of The Kitchen" by Harold McGee. Yesterday we finished the section on cheese. A painful section to read, as at the end of almost every paragraph Charles would groan and say, "I want cheese!"

So, I guess we are going to explore cheeses, if we can find some! The local Kroger's had nothing new and exciting to offer, other than a solid block of Parmesan, a solid (small) block of Mozzarella, and a French Gournay cheese. Gourney is a soft cheese, this particular one blended with garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and chives, so I'm not sure that Charles will care much for it, since he's not a big garlic fan. I will have to make the drive to the Publix in Decatur and see what they offer. We'd like to try a new cheese or two every week, maybe make some new dishes with them, and track which cheeses we like and which we don't. Sounds like a yummy study!

Gosh, it's cold and damp today. Where's our sixty-degree sunshine-filled October? October is supposed to be a dry month! This week has been anything but dry!

Wednesday I finished reading "Meriwether" by David Nevin and began reading "Dream West, which is the last of Nevin's "The American Story" series that I have yet to read. The whole series has been very interesting. I love reading about Jefferson and Madison and Burr and Lewis and Clark as real people, rather than historical figures. Nevin's books bring them to life, puts conversations and thoughts and feelings to them. And it has been doubly interesting reading about the early exploration and settlement of areas west of the Appalachians. With all our recent trips to Evansville, it's been cool to pass through areas that I had just read about and picture them as they were 200 years ago.

Well, time for some lunch, laundry, bill paying and then off to dancing tonight!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Twenty-seven years ago today Bill and I tied the knot. Twenty-seven years! Wow. I'm not sure whether I'm amazed that we've made it this far or amazed at how quickly the years have flown by.

July 7, 1979 was a picture perfect day; sunny with a brilliant blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. You couldn't have asked for a more lovely July day. The day went smoothly, no major hitches in all the proceedings, and all the various branches of the families got along well for the day. Or at least, I never heard of any problems afterwards!

So, what will we do today to celebrate? Let's see … hubby went to work. I stayed home and ran my IRC homeschool chat all morning, played with Miss Munchkin, washed some dishes, boned out some chicken, the usual stuff. And tonight we will do our regular Friday night square dancing. Maybe we'll do something special tomorrow night to celebrate, like go to a movie or dinner out, or maybe we won't. The company Bill works for is having their annual summer "do" at the local water park, which includes a bar-be-que dinner and water rides. Somehow I'm underwhelmed at the thought!

Now's the time to plan something big for our 30th! If I begin saving now, a dollar a day, let's see ... that would come to $1095.00 in three years. Wow! That would certainly cover more than a movie and dinner out! Think big! We could travel to the coast and have seafood, although the south coast is a bit warm this time of year. Maybe Maine and lobster!

Miss Munchkin is 4 months old today. I took a lot of pictures of her and Kat and Shawn yesterday. Now to find the time to sort through them and get some actually printed for family members. I've not had any printed since she was a week old. She sure has changed since then!