Let's Dance

I grew up dancing. My mom said I danced before I walked. My dad was a musician and played in bands and music was always playing so I chalk it up to that. I was in tap and jazz classes from when I was 3. I was in drillteam all through high school and first 2 years of college on scholarship. When I transferred to a different university , I took dance classes for credits. I was always going to dance clubs even when not old enough to get in. I got a fake id and I wasn't interested in drinking, I just wanted to dance.   Then life got busier and busier and I dance less and less.
Sometimes I forget how much I love (d) to dance.  Every so often, my hubs will dance with me in the kitchen because he knows that will cheer me up.
I will ALWAYS have dance in my heart and soul!

Keep dancing yall!!

LIVE and Counting Crows

So last night, Todd and I attended the 25th anniversary of Counting Crows and Live tour at the Toyota Pavilion in Irving. Its a new venue in DFW and was our first time there.  It has a covered section with seats and a lawn section that's more outdoors and you have to sit on the grass and bring a blanket.  Our backs are bad so I try not to get lawn seats even though they're cheaper.  Live is truly one of my favorite bands.  I loved every cd they released and saw them when they toured a few times.
I actually just saw Counting Crows last year with Rob Thomas and it was wonderful!!!
My main goal was to see Live.  A little history on them, as a band , they split up and it was kinda ugly for many years.  The lead singer Ed Kowalcyk went on to have his own solo career and I also saw him in concert.  They recently after 20 + years reunited which was huge and so nice to see them back together.
Live opened up first before the Crows. My area we sat in had a bunch of duds who were either not familiar with Live , don't care to dance and sing, or too tired after a work day.  Once Live came out, I was on my feet and I danced and sang the whole time.  There was a girl next to me and a girl in front of me that also stood which was fun.  The man next to Todd even commented once the Counting Crows came on and said " Live must be HER band! She knows every word to every song!! We have been watching her."   LOL.   I love music so much and I love hearing the bands sing my favorite songs. That's why I go to concerts a lot.
We actually had to leave the concert after 7 songs of the Crows because it was already after 10pm and I had to train all day today and had to be on my A game.  Ironically, I didn't sleep very well at all so I should have just stayed for the whole concert.  If I had not recently seen the Crows last year, I wouldn't even considered leaving early.  Adam Duritz told a lot of stories and history about his songs that he wrote and I really enjoyed that aspect.  Such a great night!! To top things off, we only had 100 degrees with a slight breeze and it wasn't miserably hot like 109 over the weekend.

U- Unbelievable

Dang! Who knew that today would be harder to blog than it is on Saturdays.

It's been a Monday for sure.  Hey better late than never.  The first thing that comes to mind for the letter U is a song. Unbelievable.

Back in the early 90's, I was in college and  was all about dancing every night that I could. Dallas had some great night clubs to go dancing with my friends. I was not really into drinking , I just wanted to dance and yes - flirt with the boys.  I was not quite 21 but the bouncers and doormen knew me and would let me in as long as they didn't see a drink in my hand.  I would periodically look over and I'd spy them looking at me making sure I was "being good".  Good times!

This song was super popular and there was an extended dance version. My girlfriends and i would all squeal and run to the dance floor when we heard it come on.  I even bought the tape but honestly I didn't like any of the other songs.  Every so often , I'll hear it now played on the radio and it still brings back fond memories of some fun times. 

Its by the band EMF and song is Unbelievable

 

Just Dance- National Dance Day- Saturday July 25

One of my most favorite shows on television is So You Think You Can Dance.  I am glued to the TV watching these young people blow me away by their dancing routines.  I DVR the show so that i can rewind and watch over and over.  I started dancing when i was 3.  My mom had me in dance classes learning tap and ballet until i was around 10.
 Dancing came naturally to me because i was surrounded by music.  They go hand in hand in my opinion.  Daddy was a musician in a rock band playing guitar and piano. Mom played her albums nonstop.  Do you remember the record machines where you could stack your albums up to 5 i think and they would play in that order?  Yep we had one of those.  I remember owning several of the childrens carry record players that were in a box and would close up and buckle like a suitcase.  Totally got off track just then- anyway- music was a constant for me.  Then soon after dancing became a constant for me.  I loved dance and having my dance recitals. I learned early on about listening to instructors and team work with my fellow class mates.  I left dancing for a while when i was 10 and got into gymnastics for a few years.  Truth is that was still every bit dancing.  My favorite was the tumbling and the floor routines so i was still dancing to music. The gymnastics years improved dancing by leaps and bounds.  When i was 12, i was a cheerleader at my junior high. It was mostly all dancing and we didnt do any of the crazy stunts and flips that a real cheerleading team does today.  I joined the drill team in high school and danced all 4 years then joined the college drillteam and did that my freshman and sophomore years in college.  When i transferred to a large university, i enrolled in dance classes there.  I took a few semesters but by then i was working much more and my focus was on affording school and making grades in my "real classes".
Eventually life just happened and i gave up dancing as an active hobby.  I never thought i wouldnt be a dancer in some ways. I wanted to be a Rockette but i was too short.  Dancing was my life for so long growing up!!  I dont even take a Zumba class which i totally should.
I dance around the house when i'm home. I dance in the car when a good song comes on. I love going dancing at bars with live music. I love country dancing too at the country bars. I dance at church during worship time.  I guess i will always have Dance in me.
 This Saturday is National Dance Day!  The producer of SYTYCD show and a few of the dancers are going to be in Washington, NYC, LA and a few other places to have a big dance off. There are a few routines we can watch and learn or you can do your own thing.  I will most likely not record myself dancing and upload it to the website like they're asking for all of us to do. I will dance though!  One of my favorite things about the show Ellen is that she always dances.
Do you like to dance? What is your favorite style of dancing?  Do you watch SYTYCD?
Have a great weekend y'all!!!!

Date nights and ALS ice bucket challenge

I had crazy sinus headache yesterday and I just didn't get around to posting on this ol blog. I worked from home in case I my headaches caused another big dizzy spells.  I'm back at the office today but still a little lingering headache is still there. Boo!  
I had a great weekend and while it was fun playing matchmaker with two of our friends, Todd and I had a wonderful date night ourselves.  We had dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants and then went to another one of my favorite places that is called The Balcony Club. Its really small and quaint and they have good bands every time i'm there.  The crowd is a much older mature crowd and I think that's what made it even more fun.  Almost everyone would get up and dance with no care in the world.  Todd and I danced and it just made my heart skip a beat.  I love to dance.  I think the last time we danced was at our wedding a year ago (minus 13 days).  The band played older songs from the 60's but great hits.   I told Todd how much that meant to me , to take me in his arms on the dance floor and it was very sexy!  He said that we would be doing a lot more of that.  Woohoo!! 
Date nights are so important for married couples.  We always go to dinner at least one night during the weekend but that's it. We rarely go out afterward to listen to a band or dance anymore.  It really re-charged me and i'm excited to that again.   If you're married- do you and your spouse have fun date nights? What do yall do to add spice?

Now if yall are on Facebook, Instagram, etc then you've all seen the thousands of people doing the ALS ice bucket challenge.  I cant even begin to say how I excited I am that ALS is getting this much exposure and donations through all this.   ALS took my most favorite person in the world and my hero- Poppy. I've mentioned him numerous times on my blog.  My Poppy was the most outgoing and spunky man I knew.  To see him trapped on the porch sitting in wheelchair while looking at his Harley brings tears to my face. I can barely type this now without flashing back to all the sadness and pain he and my family endured.  Your body deceives you and withers while your mind is still sharp as a tack.  Ok, I cant go on about this because I am crying at my desk.  Anyway, the challenge is to donate 10$ and pour ice bucket over your head or donate 100$.  I pray that everyone is truly donating and not just pouring the bucket.  Yesterday my brother texted me and told me to look up Charlie Sheen's challenge. I went to the internet and it came up immediately after typing his name.  Instead of pouring the ice water- he dumped a bucket of money over his head. He donated 10,000 dollars and then challenged a few more celebrities.  Charlie kinda went crazy in years past and has certainly had his share in the tabloids but man did he ever redeem himself in my book!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qat9gR5nrpM&feature=player_embedded

Hopefully this link works for yall!   I have made donations every year to ALS and receive several pamphlets in the mail from ALS organizations in the states. I wont be needing to dump ice water on myself. 

Have a great day!