Intermediate Tap...

kicked my butt tonight! It was the first class and there were four continuing students there plus me and three of my friends who are moving on from the beginner class w/me. The teacher is nice and she put us through a slightly harder warm-up than our previous class. We also learned some triplets (open and closed) and a new combo done to the song "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." Very fun, very good workout. It was not as fun in a relaxing way as the previous class was but it is more challenging and that is fun, too.

TGFT! (thank goodness for tap!)

Munchkin is so musically diverse...

She knows the words to all these cool jazz tunes like "Straighten Up and Fly Right" and "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" and and she can hum the tunes of "Paper Moon" and "Flyin' Home"...but then I tell her we're going to the symphony (last weekend's symphony for tots program) and she says, "Symphony of Destruction"? That is, of course, the Megadeth song she also knows how to hum!

Adoption ramblings...

Ah...the frustrations of the non-fertile. As the waiting period for China lengthens and lengthens I am now second-guessing our decision to adopt from there. Is the wait going to be two years? Three? Four or (gasp!) even more? Should we proceed as we are planning or should we jump ship now and switch to another country (which will mean switching placement agencies, too, since our agency only does China adoptions)? Is it ethical to apply to two countries at the same time, knowing that we only want one more child and would pull one application as soon as a referral from the other country came through?

All along we have hoped for two daughters...just because I have never been around baby boys, little boys, boys at all--other than boy friends once I was in high school and college. China would allow us to request a girl. Vietnam has many more boys available for adoption than girls...I know I would love any child who joined our family but when I picture our family complete it has never included a boy--it's odd to even consider it (but also a little fun to consider it, I must admit). Maybe it stems from having been raised by a widowed mom and that I had no brothers (or sisters!). I don't know what it is (and I certainly don't mean to offend anyone with precious boys--I still love 'em!!!) but it makes me sad to think that we couldn't request a girl through most agencies which work with Vietnam. And some agencies aren't even taking new families now because they have such long waitlists.

Then I wonder if a boy and a girl would be as close as two of the same sex could potentially be? Again, not having any siblings I have no idea how I would've felt about a brother or a sister. I never really longed for either. Munchkin knows we are trying to adopt from China and has been excited about a future sister...will she feel the same if sister ends up being brother?!

Crap. What to do, what to do. Meanwhile, the paperchase continues...just not sure who/where we're paperchasing and if it's all for naught in the end...

My friend, Chrisbo

Oh, just thinking about him tonight. This is a very belated post...he died on May 17th. He was a wonderful guy who was only 41 and he leaves behind a fantastic wife and two kids and my heart aches for them.

Chris had an astrocytoma brain tumor, diagnosed in 2003. He seemed to be fighting it so well for the first 2-3 yrs then it started winning. I was hoping he would get a miracle like Lance Armstrong but it was not to be, I guess.

Some words to describe Chris: kind, soft-spoken, smiling eyes, funny, intelligent, handsome, great skiier, great athlete, great friend, better dad/husband/son, excellent Euchre partner!, successful, a fighter (against the tumor). Just an all-around great person and one who will be tremendously missed by all who knew him.

Monday there is a celebration of his life in Michigan...BikeBoy is going but Munchkin and I are not. I wish we could be there but we will be in spirit. Godspeed, Chrisbo...I love you, my friend.

National Tap Dance Day!

I went to Nat'l Tap Dance Day at a studio in "the big city" and it was the coolest thing! I brought Munchkin and we both watched the 90 min show. Mostly young adults (I'm guessing about 20-25 yo but a few older high schoolers and a couple of older-than-me gals about 60ish)...several different styles from the torn jeans-no music-stomp-like stuff to the jazzier-girls-in-black-skirts stuff. Very cool. They had a surprise guest, this guy Mark Mendonca...he will be teaching some masters classes there in July. My teacher was in 4 numbers and she was just a joy to watch---so smooth and with a huge smile on her face like she was just having the time of her life! Watching tap dancers tap or participating in tap itself is just so uplifting--you can't help but smile listening to the rhythms and seeing the blur of those dancing feet!

Then...as if all that wasn't enough...at the end of the show we pushed all the chairs out of the way and the whole audience joined the performers for the Shim Sham (which I just learned for my own "recital")!!! I had to do it holding Munchkin since the music was loud and she was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of people dancing but it was fantastic! I can't wait until my next class!!