Ups and Downs, and Dancing

It's kind of funny how things go.  I started this week with my debit card number being stolen (how does that even work?), so I had to have my card canceled for the first time since I got it, about twelve years ago.  And of course, since banks are open only during business hours, I had to go to a branch with Saturday hours, which meant a week without my card.  That, of course, wouldn't have been too much of a problem, as long as I was careful to make sure I had extra cash on hand at all times, except that I opened my door to head to work on Friday and discovered a wasp building a nest less than a foot from my front door.  I was leaving for work early, which meant that I had the time to make some phone calls and find a company that would take care of them (because if there's one, there's more) for a reasonable cost and no later than Saturday.

I was getting to work early, however, because I was going to a dance that night and wanted to have time to get dressed.  Still, I left work at a reasonable time.  And then, naturally, someone parked a beaten-up car in front of my driveway.  I can park on the street in my neighborhood, fortunately, so I waited to call the police to find out what could be done until I got home from the dance (which resulted in being on hold for half an hour with the department of transportation at 10:30-11:00 at night).

Everything finally got sorted out, though, and the dance was awesome.  I really enjoy this dance club I found.  It feels a bit odd, at first, being one of the only people at their events who's under 50, but that seems to be a bit of how ballroom dancing is viewed - something for older people.  Most of their events are informal, with a bit of a lesson before opening up the floor to general dancing, but this one was semi-formal, with a fancy dinner at a fancy hotel.  So everyone was dressed up fancy, and even when I wasn't dancing, it was fun to watch them.  Plus, some of the dancers there were really good, and they're amazing to watch.

One of the most difficult pieces when learning how to dance is that the instructors keep telling people to go to dances, even if they're still beginners, and this group is very friendly for that.  At the dance last night, they had men there specifically to dance with women (there's always more women then men, no matter what the age of a group is), and they were all very good teachers.  I learned quite a bit.  And I won a door prize (I never win those!) for a private lesson, which'll actually end up covering the cost of attending the dance.

It's also why my post is late, as, after wearing myself out dancing, I woke up early to deal with the wasps, and then went dancing again this afternoon at my usual lessons.  So I'm beat. :)

Weekly Report: Dancing

It occurred to me that last week I had neglected to mention something that's become one of my staple weekly activities: dancing.

So apparently finding a dance studio that teaches classic ballroom is kind of hard to find - in Los Angeles, anyway.  Wonder if it's different in other places?  On top of that, my main interest is waltz, which is even harder to find.  Still, I managed to find a studio a couple of months ago.  They also teach tango and foxtrot during the 'American Smooth Ballroom' classes on Saturday afternoons, which are fun to do, even if they're not my favorite.

What with the complications with my knees and feet and all, even though my knees were healed, finding cute dance shoes can be difficult.  I don't generally wear heels, and when I do, they're orthotic (which is the best invention we've come up, ever, regarding shoes).  But when I went to lessons, the pretty shoes I liked best were heeled.  Also, orthotic dance shoes aren't a thing, apparently.  So I hunted around, and discovered that the style of heel I preferred is called Cuban (no clue why.  Research project waiting to happen, I suppose).  Generally speaking, I also have a preference for shoes that aren't very pointy at the toes, but when I saw these on Amazon, I couldn't resist.

 

 

Aren't they cute?  The purple part is velvety, as is the inside, which makes them more comfortable.  The colors of the purple and red are customizable, as is the type of heel and the height of the heel.  Of course, I got the shortest height available, which was two inches.  You can check them out here: http://amzn.to/2merHoL

Before I got these, I'd been using flat jazz shoes, which, as an aside, work just fine.  But since I want to dance socially at some point, knowing how to dance in something fancy comes in handy.