We're Dancing – I Swear

It doesn't look like it, but we are dancing . . . a lot. Only problem is that we can't easily take pictures of us dancing. I will make a good effort to get pictures of us at formal night. Maybe even performing. Yikes!

This vacation is so far out of our element. Not only because we are not on two wheels most of the day, but also because I have to dress nice, do my hair and put on make-up - yuck. I can't remember the last vacation we took where I didn't eat dinner in my Keen sandals and a fleece. Oh wait, that was probably our honeymoon!

Gotta go. Eventually I'll get a picture of dancing, but right now, it's time to take pictures of the mountain in the sunshine.

Ballroom Boot Camp Day 3

Yesterday went pretty well. We started off the day in the gym and then had a big breakfast, followed by 3 straight hours of dance lessons. The morning lessons covered Foxtrot and Swing. After lunch we tackled Tango, Rumba, and Waltz. Do you have any idea how confusing it is that most of these dances use the same darn steps in nearly the same order? uuuugh.

Unlike the night before where everybody was dumped into the same big ballroom, tonight they had a separate ballroom for the beginners. It was great. As soon as a song came on an instructor would yell out which type of dance we were supposed to do. This is a huge help. Half the battle is knowing which style of dance is appropriate for each song. So we had 30 minutes of 'dancing with training wheels.' It was non-intimidating because most of the dancers were at our level.

But after our little beginners session, we were corralled into the big ballroom with the expert dancers. I got good seats in the front room of the dance floor and sat down to rest my tired feet and watch the terrific show – the good dancers gliding across the floor. This was my favorite part of the day. Karlo made a comment like, "We better get out of here before somebody asks us to dance." That's ridiculous" I told him, "Why would anybody want to dance with us?"

No sooner do I say this . . . when the very the next song started the best dancers on the floor came over and proceeded to ask us to dance. My eyes bugged straight out of my head and I sat in shock. The gentleman was holding out his hand to me and I just sat there shaking my head. And I thought I was terrified the first night. They insisted that 'we could do it.' Karlo was game to dance with the woman (but of course, nothing seems to phase him) so I got up and reluctantly got on the floor with this guy. It was AMAZING! For one minute I WAS A DANCER. It was like a "Dancing With the Stars" dream come true. I wish this was on video because nobody would believe me gliding across the floor. I did it, I did it. I don't even know WHAT I did, nor how I did it. It was like magic. That alone made my week.

This is What We Learned So Far . . .

Karlo is the center of the universe! OK, I should rephrase that . . . when we are dancing, Karlo is the center of the universe. Needless to say, he's enjoying this dance camp more than I thought he would. I think it's already gone to his head.

So far we have spent 6 hours in lessons and an additional hour practicing at a social dance. Here was the scene at the social dance . . . the minute the first song comes on Karlo jumps up and says, "Let's dance." I sat on my chair terrified, overwhelmed, and unable to move. Was he crazy? We barely learned anything yet. Everybody out on the dance floor were real dancers. No way! I had to deal with the, "Why did we bother coming here if you don't want to dance?" Good grief. I was hoping to ease into this, but Karlo doesn't understand the concept of easing into anything. If you wanna swim you need to just jump in and get it over with! Painful.

Hopefully we will get more synced as the days go on. Karlo has already decided that we are going to participate in the group choreographed routine on formal night. What has gotten in to him? I better stop typing and start dancing.

Not My Idea of a Vacation . . . So Far

We are not getting off to a very good start with this 'vacation' concept. I was delusional in thinking that when we left work on Friday our vacation would start. Wrong! I can't even seem to remember last night, but all I know is that no fun was had. I think Karlo worked outside while I paid bills and did laundry. How exciting.

This morning Karlo insisted on getting all the newly chopped wood stacked into the shed. Since we will be gone for a week he wanted it drying instead of rotting. I, of course, was not pleased to waste any of our weekend with this task so when he told me that me helping him would make it go quicker, I agreed. That was stupid.

For some strange reason I felt the need to do my indoor work out before heading outside . . . for the biggest workout of the year. I can NOT believe how much work it is to use this so called 'free fuel.' We spent hours in the woods just loading the trailer with wood, bringing it to the shed and stacking it. It didn't help that we started with the biggest and heaviest maple tree. Six trailer loads later my back was killing me (and, might I add, my back is super strong after P90X). I was so beat that the thought of biking made me want to cry. Instead we went for a leisurely kayak ride and just keeping my head up was a challenge.

Tomorrow we head for VT. I'll be surprised if I could get out of bed or bend over. Dancing should be a blast!

Countdown to Vacation

The workday is almost done . . . and that means vacation is so close that I can taste it. I don’t think I ever needed a vacation more in my life. Lots of people are asking me if I’m excited about it and although the answer (up to this point) has been ‘no,’ I do think I’m getting excited. Perhaps not so much to pack, drive, and take our actual vacation, but I’m excited to NOT COME TO WORK for a week.

I am so incredibly burnt out. Completing the book nearly killed me – sucked most of the life right out of me. And whatever life was left, work is beating out of me. I’m just plain tired of working.

It’s ironic that our vacation is going to be more work, and stress. I don’t think I even mentioned it before, but part of my birthday present is this ‘dancing vacation.’ We are going up to Killington Resort in Vermont for a week of ballroom boot camp. This has been a dream of mine for many years. Actually, it’s on my Bucket List. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Provided Karlo stays positive and happy, it should turn out to be a fun week. And if we come home knowing how to actually dance, that would be a huge bonus!

There is Internet access at the hotel so I’m planning to post vacation updates and dancing photos. Stay tuned.

I Couldn't Resist

My beauty queen in a museum!

Happy Birthday Peanut

I let her borrow my birthday tiara and, being the Princess that she is, Peanut was in heaven. Today she turned 7 which officially makes her older than me! I like being the youngest one in the house.

She survived all the scary thunderstorms over the past couple of days and managed to be in quite the playful and chipper mood this evening. She was all set to celebrate. A pretty crown, some bites of pork chops, toys galore, lots of hugs & kisses from me, a play session with Daddy . . . what more can a dog ask for?

So Much For My Jewelry Making

Last night did not go as planned – to say the least. I was all set to have the house to myself and spend some time in my much missed “studio” being crafty and creative. But Karlo had other plans. I’m still not quite sure how he pulled this off, but he lured me outside with the promise of a good workout. Well, he was right about that!

I actually got dressed into the grubbiest clothes I own and headed into the woods with Karlo, armed with an ax. And not just any ax. Many of you may have remembered seeing Karlo’s chainsaw . . .


Everything Karlo owns has to be over done. Hi ax weighs about the same as his sword and I spent an hour swinging it. I think Karlo just wanted to give me a finer appreciation of our “free fuel.” The thoughts of paying excessive amounts of money for oil actually didn’t seem like such a bad idea after about 30 minutes of this hard labor.

I’m happy to report that I didn’t inflict any injuries upon myself. Looking back on it, swinging an oversized axe near my shins probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do days before our dancing vacation. And bringing me out there after the rain, when all the trees and logs were at their slipperiest, was just plain cruel. But at least I got my workout for the night.

Wood Widow

I have officially become a “wood widow.” Karlo will be spending just about all of his spare time playing lumberjack and harvesting wood. We have no reserves for this coming winter and with oil prices where they are, we will be burning an awful lot of wood. Karlo is consumed with his mission of gathering firewood. That’s all he even thinks about, preparing the ‘snake house’ (Lisa may be the only one that understands that term), marking the dead trees, building new logging roads through the woods. I not only lost him after work, but his mind is chopping wood even when his body isn’t. What’s a girl to do?

Wait, I know . . . go to craft store and buy some beads! Today was my first trip to Joann Etc in so long I can’t even remember the last craft store run I made. My heart was filled with joy as I fondled all the pretty beads. I could have stayed there all afternoon. What better thing to do on a rainy day? Only this pesky thing called a job motivated me to drag myself from the bead isle and get back to work. Rain or no rain, I’m kicking Karlo out of the house tonight so I can make some jewelry.

Catching Up With Photo Blogs

Seems I've been slacking with the postings of Dig Our Pics photo themes. Sorry about that. Here are some links to the past three weeks to bring you up-to-date.

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Enjoy

You Know You’re a Hick When . . .

You spend the night country line dancing in somebody’s backyard barn, surrounded by farm animals, as your husband stays home to play with his chainsaw. Yup, that sums up my new life in the boonies. Last night I truly marveled at how it came to be that I’m dancing with a bunch of strangers in the coolest barn I ever saw. If you asked me two years ago if I could picture myself in that scene I would have thought you were nuts.

But the truth is, both Karlo and I are truly loving it. All weekend Karlo was eager to start harvesting wood for the winter. He’s been buying spray paint and scoping out dead trees all over our land. For some strange reason he finds great joy in chopping wood. And I really got a kick out of my line dancing party last night. The instructor of my spring class invited everyone over to her house. It was amazing. My first question was, “Is there any type of animal that you don’t own?” and the answer was “a cow.” Pretty much everything else was covered. I had a ball petting the horses and watching the llamas and goats run around. I still have a burning desire to own a goat, but perhaps I should just go and visit them when the urge strikes. I can’t even imagine the amount of work involved in living in the zoo they call home.

The long weekend was great. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures to document it. I even brought the camera on our bike ride (which was fabulous) but we never stopped pedaling to snap any shots. To recap: We met some new friends from Germany that live nearby and are excited to get to know them better. We went for a great motorcycle ride to our friend's farm for some blueberry picking. I think my skin is starting to turn blue from all the blueberries we’ve been eating. We had a couple of great kayak rides. We shopping and went out to dinner (big event for us). It was a busy and fun weekend. Next time I’ll take pictures.

Help, I Can't Decide

This is worse than deciding what shoes to wear in the morning and I need some opinions. I'm about to make some new t-shirts for my YogaDudes business and I can't decide on a color. I adore my new design . . . I'm launching "Yoga Chicks" by YogaDudes and I drew some cute yellow chicks in yoga poses. That design won't change. It's the color of the shirt to put it on that's in question.

Please use the poll to the right of this posting to select your favorite shirt. I really appreciate the input. Where are Clinton and Stacy when I need them?

The Weekend is Getting Closer

And I'm counting down the hours. Last night didn't end on a good note. Our tenant in Maine called with some sob story about not being able to pay next month's rent on time. Although this is not a disaster (yet) I was still stressed enough to not sleep all night. Few things are more aggravating than being completely exhausted and not being able to sleep.

Then this morning got off to a really bad start. I don't even think I have the heart to explain the horror that I witnessed, but it included a young deer mother, her adorable baby fawn, and the asphalt. Broke my heart to pieces and I won't soon forget that terrible scene.

But on a brighter note, there were no book publishing nightmares today. It was a pretty quiet day on the book front. Work was long and hard, and after not sleeping all night, I nearly fell asleep on the back of the motorcycle on the way home. I insisted that I was too tired to kayak and swore I wouldn't row, but the night was so perfect and the lake was so beautiful, I got caught up in the moment and rowed my little heart out. I was very pleased to discover that my forearms were sore from my sword exercises. Now I know why Karlo has Popeye arms!

Woe is Me

I'm sitting here at my computer trying really hard not to blog and complain about my super stressful day (life). But I truly can't come up with anything else to talk about. How sad.

My job has been unusually demanding and I'm still not sure if it's humanly possible to do all the work that I need to do by my deadlines. But that seems to be the least of my concerns lately. Karlo's book is still causing me more grief than I care to explain. Silly me, I thought it would be easier after I sent the files to the printer. Now it's much worse and getting more stressful by the day. THANK GOD my contact at the publisher is a sweetheart. I swear, if it was anybody else dealing with me, they would have murdered me by now. I wonder if Hallmark sells a greeting card that says, "Thank you for not killing me." If they do, I need to buy one and send it to him.

I keep thinking that things have to start getting better. Maybe tomorrow will be less stressful than yesterday. So far, it ain't happening, but there's always tomorrow . . . I'm going to keep on hoping and praying for better days to come. Thankfully vacation is right around the corner. I so need it.

Just Another Day in the Apro Household

I forgot to mention another purchase I made this past weekend. I also bought myself a sword! Believe it or not, I've been wanting one for a couple of years and hounded Karlo to buy me one. Seeing as I know nothing about them I knew it would be hard for me to buy an appropriate one online. But because of some strange Hungarian tradition, or maybe I should say superstition, Karlo refused to buy me one. Something about not ever giving a loved one a sharp object. I once bought Karlo a Swiss Army knife for a gift and he flipped out. He insisted on giving me a few bucks to essentially "buy" the knife from me so I didn't curse him by giving him a knife.

Anyway, we happened to walk by a strange store at the Crystal Mall that sold swords. Who knew there was a sword store at the mall? So we strolled in and proceeded to ask a dozen questions about the swords. I asked if I could "test drive" them. The sales girls thought I was certifiably nuts and questioned what on earth I would be doing with the sword.

Karlo has been doing his sword exercises for years and I've always been jealous. Now it's my turn to join in. Tonight was our first session and holy cow – it's hard. I'm thinking we should market and sell this new routine. Karlo, on the other hand, is actually hoping that we can do a little sparing. Can you even imagine this? His sword weighs a good 20 pounds (at least). I would be dead in a under a minute. I'm just hoping to not slice either myself, the hounds, or the house.

Blissful Long Weekend

Sorry for the lapse in blog entries. Last week was nuts at work and then I took a few days off from the computer. We took Friday off (actually, today too) and FINALLY had a chance to have some fun. I didn’t have to do any work on the book. I didn’t do any work for my business. I didn’t even clean the house – well, laundry doesn’t count.

We played all weekend. We took two great bike rides; we kayaked; we hiked with the dogs; we drove our motorcycles; we went to a party at the beach; we saw the spectacular fireworks at the New London Sailfest; we went to a barbeque with friends; we shopped and I scored big time with lots of new clothes and three new pairs of shoes. That was not a typo. I found THREE pairs of shoes that fit me – all in one day. I normally can’t find three pairs of shoes that fit in one year’s time. The planets were aligned just right for shoe shopping I guess. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Here are a few pictures of the highlights:

A break at the top of the hill on our bike ride . . .

So I could take a picture of the horses.

Goofing off on our way to the beach. Flexing next to Karlo is just depressing.

I'm so coordinated. Look at my pretty bag (that Lisa made!) next to my beach chair.

Another buddy joined the 40-club. Welcome Sheryl. It was a long week waiting for you to arrive.

Karlo and "Fitness Sue" at Stoggy Hollow. This is what biking is all about . . . stopping at the General stores for snacks.

Glimpses of our Old Lives

Tonight I got a glimpse at what it will be like to go back to our former (normal) lives. It's been two years since we got back to our old routine. Last year we spent all of our time moving, homeless, and then working on our new house. This year our lives have been dedicated to that thorn-in-my-side book. I keep telling myself that we are so close to getting our lives back, but it seems like the carrot just keeps getting moved further and further out.

Yesterday had to be one of the worst, if not the worst day of 2008. I literally had to leave my desk, walk outside and cry. Luckily it wasn't my 'real' job (the one that pays the bills and feeds my Mini addiction) that brought me to tears. It was the details of that darn book that is putting me over the edge. I guess the timing is just plain bad because I'm finding it very hard to juggle all the demanding duties of my real job with the never ending book job. And the real kicker is that Karlo thinks the book was done two months ago! Soon, soon . . . . that's what I keep telling myself.

Add a terrible sinus headachethe to the stress of the day and I was literally unable to function when I got home. I collapsed on the couch and couldn't move for hours. I'm STILL disguested with myself for wasting the night. I hated it. I slept and watched TV. Pitiful. At least I got to see some of the Tour de France and that returned a little bit of my spark.

So today I needed to make up for wasting last night. We jumped on our tandem the minute we got home from work and it was bliss. This was the first after-work ride in TWO YEARS. I can't believe how much I missed it. I wanted to ride all night. Well, it's off to do more work on the book and then more Tour to watch. I have to pick a new favorite this year. I'm thinking it should be an Italian . . .

Reflections After the Big 4-0

I’ve been officially welcomed to the “40 club” and I’m not too happy about it. I think I’m still in a state of denial. You know how the saying goes, “You are only as old as you feel.” Now that I think about it, that can go both ways right now. On one hand I still feel very young. After all, half of my birthday presents involved Snoopy clothing! I guess I’ll always be young at heart! But at the same time, since the big turn, I’ve been exhausted and sore. What the heck is going on? Is it purely psychological? I did a short new workout on my birthday and I’m still sore! Very depressing.

But on a brighter note, I did have a very nice birthday. As planned, I did positively no work on the big day. Karlo treated me to a relaxing day of sightseeing, shopping and a fancy-pants dinner. We spent the day in Mystic and you can view some of the photos from the day here.

The party on Saturday was not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course, I was completely stressed about everything and the weather certainly didn’t help. But all in all, it seemed to be a success. Thanks in part to our very popular dumb waiter! Who know that would be such a big hit with the kids? My biggest and only regret is that I didn’t take any photos. I had the very best intentions of taking pictures of everything and making a fabulous movie to share. Well, I never even touched the camera and now I’m bummed that I can’t look back on the day.

I do want to thank everyone that came out and braved the dreary weather. I feel like we didn’t have nearly enough time to visit with everyone. That’s the worst part. I would also like to give a big shout out to Luke & Lisa for sticking around and making the clean-up a million times easier. I know I said we would never have another party, but I’m already changing my mind about that. Perhaps we’ll try this again next year and this time hope the picnic actually takes place outdoors.

007-03-08

I feel like I’m living out a James Bond movie today. At least that’s what Karlo said about my day so far. First thing this morning I went to pick up yet another birthday present. Here it is:


I spent a few hours driving around in heaven and then decided that I deserved a new outfit. I stopped at the Eastbrook mall and strolled through with no idea what I wanted to buy. How I decided upon a full length red dress, I’m not sure. I did need something to wear for the ‘formal night’ of our upcoming vacation so I thought it was perfect.

Then I came home to find a package on the front porch. It was from our publisher and I simply could not believe my eyes when I opened the package. Check this out:

La te da!!!! All of you picnic goers, don’t get too excited . . . you’re not getting any. I’m not sure if I’ll ever bring myself to breaking the seal on the box.

Now I’m just waiting for Pierce Brosnan to walk through the door. That would be the ultimate end to my James Bond day. I’m not doing too bad considering my birthday hasn’t even arrived yet. Karlo’s taking me to see the fireworks tonight. What a perfect end to a perfect day.

I'm So Torn

I'm trying to decide which story to tell tonight . . .

I am compelled to continue the saga of the cheese. Just when I thought the darn cheese caused me enough grief . . . what do you think happened when I went back to Big Y this evening? You guessed it, nobody could find the cheese. I had to wait in the customer service line for the girl to look through her book of notes. I was promised that a note would be left — no note. The she had to call the deli. Nobody could find it. I was told to walk over to the deli department and have them cut me more. I got over there and it was a mob scene. It was past 6 PM which was prime grocery shopping time I guess. I can't tell you how close I was to walking back to customer service, demanding my money back and posting a big "NO Cheeseburgers For You" sign at the picnic. But I took a deep breath and waited there for all of eternity to get my new 4 lbs of cheese. I think Karlo feel asleep in the parking lot . . . although he did debate calling the police because he was convinced that I killed somebody inside. Please enjoy those @#$%^& cheeseburgers.

My other story of the night is that I JUST finished sending the final press file of the book to the printer. It couldn't have ended in a more frustrating or anticlimactic way. I didn't even do my Snoopy happy dance. What a let down. I think this is because I'm still not really done. I still have more tasks to complete and now the dread of hearing about potential printing problems will be looming over my head. Soon, soon. That's what I keep telling myself. I should have gottten and drank that bottle of champagne that I planned. That might have helped my night. Oh wait . . . I didn't get the bottle because I wasted my night at Big Y . . . AGAIN!!!!

After all the errands tonight, the book details, the packaging and shipping of YogaDudes order, I'm exhausted. Is it the long weekend yet? I'm ready.

Please Enjoy the Cheeseburgers

Karlo reminded me the other day that we needed to buy cheese for our party. I would never have remembered this because I haven’t had a cheeseburger in over 10 years. I was dreading the whole cheese buying business because I never have the patience to stand in line at the deli. It just pains me. But last night I was a trooper and took my little ticket and waited my turn. I had time to examine all the cheese options and of course I scoped out the best deal. With my Big Y silver coins I could get Land o Lakes for $4.98/lb. When it was my turn I specifically asked for Land o Lakes, sliced with a number 1 cut.

Instead what I got was some other brand with a number 3 cut. I grabbed the packages and realized that my $30 worth of cheese is not going to cover half of the burgers, but at this point I just wanted to move on.

So we get to the register and after everything is rung up I hand the clerk my silver coins and she questioned what they were for. I said, “the cheese” and she explained that was only good for the Land o Lakes cheese. I could instantly feel my blood pressure rising. I told her that is exactly what I ordered at the deli. By this time Karlo has already made his way to the car and packed all our goodies into it. Now I’m standing there at a standstill with the clerk. All she could say at that point was to bring the cheese, and my receipt, to customer service for help. I was ready to scream. I had to run outside to get the piles of cheese, go to customer service and explain the whole story. As IF standing in line at the deli was not torture enough for me.

Cutting to the chase, I got my $5 stinkin’ dollars back and left in such a huff that, are you ready for this? I left the darn cheese on the counter. Karlo assumed that I was ticked off and RETURNED the cheese and never questioned why I walked out of the store empty-handed. What a nightmare. I had to call the store when we got home and explain what happened. They supposedly have my cheese in a cooler waiting for me. Just looking at those cheeseburgers on Saturday is going to upset me. And I’m not going grocery shopping for a month after this ordeal! Sorry Karlo.

Oh Deer

Well, it appears that deer fly season has officially started – just yesterday as a matter of fact. Up until yesterday I was still going for hikes in the back yard with no bug spray. My best bug repellant is Karlo. All I needed to do was stand near him and all the bugs were attracted straight to him. He must be must tastier than me! But last night I took one quick dart out onto the grass with Peanut and I got attacked out there. If you're on the grass, you are fair game for those buggers. Can somebody please tell me why God invented deer flies? What good are they? What purpose do they serve? Do they eat other insects or is their sole purpose on this earth to annoy humans?

Please keep in mind that I used to live in Andover and my only previous experience with deer flies has been biking in Vermont. This is very new to me and for sure it will be new to you (if you are planning on visiting this weekend). I've been told that they won't come up to the house so staying on the driveway and deck should be safe. But if you are planning to venture to the grass, trails or pond, be prepared.