Game set match!

Today was my second show with Borealis, and I think it went really well! Reasons:

• Travis came, and said that our new creepy piece made two children sitting nearby him cry. At least we had the children's attention :)
  
• Our costumes were awesome. Credit goes to Danielle for this one: she hand stenciled (and then 2nd-coated) five blue tank tops with different commands like PAY ATTENTION, SIT, and OBEY. (The piece was called "We Do What We're Told," to the Peter Gabriel song of the same name).
• Danny and Rocker, possibly Austin's most well-known teacher/choreographers (relocated here after years in New York) were at the show, loved Danielle's choreography, and would like to collaborate with us in the future (on a Nutty Nutcracker! How fun would that be?!). Danny gave us a big complement, too, when he said that it was obvious "we put in the work." We do put in a lot of work! I'm glad he could tell!
  
• We made some baked goods to put on a table out front, with a sign that said "Baked goods courtesy of Borealis dance- donations Welcome," and we made $58 dollars! And that was just on two batches of brownies (made by Danielle and Caitlyn) and two batches of butterballs (or Italian Wedding Cookies, made by me- they were reallllly yummy) at a small studio's show. So now our fundraising brains are thinking big: can we do the same for all 5 of the shows at Danielle's dance studio next weekend? It will mean baking every night this week, but it would be worth it if it meant we could rent a space for our show in October. And, in my mind, it beats a carwash, since at least cookies at a recital has something to do with dance. And I love cookies! Yesterday I invested in a really nice bronze cookie cutter from Capezio. It is a leaping dancer, and I love it. I just have to find a cookish morning or evening to bake sugar cookies, since you have to spend a long time with the oven on. It's supposed to be in the upper 90's all week (and it's not even officially summer yet!)

After the show we all went to Matt's El Rancho for dinner. I don't normally go out for dinner after shows (I really prefer to hang out with the few people I know well than network with a lot of dance professionals I've never met). but Travis was amazing and came with me and made it really fun. I had "ultra-lite" fajitas, which means a stir fry of beef and vegetables on a bed of seasoned rice. It may be the closest thing I've had to Korean food since I moved here :) Yummy! Makes me miss bulgogi though.

Okay, it is really time to get this crazy raccoon-eye makeup off. Some people can look really natural and normal with a lot of eye makeup on. I am not one of those people. Also, I should probably wash my feet, since they are black from the stage.

I love Regina Spektor AND sharing, so . . .

Dance Anthem of the 80s



Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Bursting with joy and music

Every time I hear a new Regina Spektor song it is my new favorite song. If you've known me long, you know that I love her like we're best friends. Her music makes me cry, sing along at the top of my lungs, and choreograph massive senior projects about things I'm thankful for.And her new album comes out on June 23! I just heard two new songs (Laughing With and Blue Lips) here on her myspace page, and I want to laugh and cry and choreograph and give and receive many hugs. There is no one here to hug (Travis is camping in Louisiana until Saturday night or Sunday morning), so I have to settle for blog sharing. Consider yourself hugged!

p.s. After you listen to those two new songs, go ahead and listen to The Call too. It is little and big at the same time, and perfect. Mom: Do you see the dancers?

p.p.s Oh dear. Ingrid Michaelson has two new songs out as well (All Love and Turn to Stone). They are beautiful, but then I listened to Winter Song again. Mmmm . . . I probably won't sleep much tonight, what with all the dancers running around in my head.

Victory!

My friend Kara doesn't burp very often, so when she does, she says "victory!" afterward as a little celebration.
Today, I did two loads of laundry, because Travis is going camping with his friend Jake this weekend and needs clean clothes. And then, after I did the laundry, I folded it. And then I folded the huge pile of laundry that has been residing in our armchair for the last several months. It took two hours.
VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is me, stoked!

Baking in Texas

It took 6 months, but I have finally figured out how to make non-flat chocolate chip cookies in Texas. This is probably my 11th or 12th chocolate chip cookie attempt here in Austin, and the secret recipe seems to be:
Nestle Tollhouse recipe, with 1/4 cup more flour, 1/2 tsp less salt, and baked at 350 instead of 375. I'm not exactly sure why these modifications work (or why they're necessary- the heat? humidity? altitude?), but the cookies I just pulled out of the oven aren't crispy on the edges, or flat in the middle, or dark on the bottom. Yay!
Most of my other recipes seem to work out okay here, though I haven't tried anything but cookies and brownies since it's gotten warmer (it's pretty consistently in the 90s now). I have noticed that I have to add a lot more powdered sugar and a lot less butter to my sugar cookie frosting here, or it breaks down and is totally runny and unusable in 20 minutes.
Now I just wish I had some Indianola berries to make cobblers and pies!

Apartments

Our neighbors woke us up this morning with very loud music. The kind that is shaking our apartment, and especially our bed, which is on the wall next to their apartment. And Wednesday is my one sleep in day, so I really didn't want to be woken up. I am aware that just about everyone who lives in an apartment has some sort of noisy neighbor. It's part of why you get to live there so cheap. But what does one do in such a situation? Do you just wait it out? Politely and sweetly knock on the door and ask them to turn it down? Report it to the office? I'm inclined to go ask if they can please turn the music down, but I have a feeling that someone who plays loud music in an apartment complex at 7:30am really doesn't care if they're bothering anyone else, and might be the kind of person to laugh or yell at me. And my parents never once yelled at me growing up, so I'm very sensitive to being yelled at, and would probably cry, and be embarrassed, and then be told by everyone that I shouldn't have gone and knocked on their door in the first place. What if I were to bring cookies? I'd have to bake them first, and I'd really rather be sleeping, but cookies do sound good right now . . .

UPDATE: I baked the cookies, but of course it is hours later now and the music has stopped. I will have to save some cookies in case it happens again :)

Tuesday recap

• Our water is back on! I am very grateful today for running water.
• I have my first Texas sunburn. I put on SPF 50 several times yesterday, but it was no match for my pasty white skin. I have a perfect triangle on the front of my neck, and a little collar going around. Travis has quite the farmer's tan too. We make a very cute couple :)
• I am excited about the new Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I watched the video of her appointment on cnn.com so I could pronounce her name correctly and sound smart. It is so-to-my-OR.
• Travis is watching Driving Miss Daisy on TV. And laughing. Okay he just turned it off.
  
• Our new Jetta TDI gets 45 miles per gallon. And diesel is 20 cents less than regular unleaded right now! I was really nervous about spending the money, but it looks like we will save in the long run. Now I just have to learn to drive it. Also, you know how diesel trucks sound? Well, our car sounds like that, only pretty quiet. If you stand outside it while it's running and close your eyes you can picture a tiny little semi truck (just like that Burger King commercial with the mini cows). So cute! Inside it is almost silent- Travis says there is some kind of double wall between the passengers and the engine.
  
• Comic of the day:

Decisions

I am terrible at making decisions. Freshman year of college I had a sign on my desk that said "make a decision; it will be okay." When it's time to make a decision I try to remember that no matter the outcome I can probably handle it (or, okay, I might be a mess, but God can handle it), so I should just pick one and get over with the agony of deciding.
What really helps me make choices, though, is asking for advice and input from my family and friends. My mom has spent years encouraging me to make choices without consulting her first, or at least to feel free to abandon her advice if I must ask for it. That's hard to do, since my mom is really wise and wonderful, and has great advice.
And now, a decision: should I audition for So You Think You Can Dance? Season 5 just started, but Fox has just announced that, instead of waiting another year, they are going to have another round of auditions this summer and air season 6 this fall. There is an audition in Salt Lake (there's one in Phoenix, which is closer, but I'll be in Washington for Phil and Katie's wedding) that both Danielle and I are available for, and we've both thought and joked a lot about going in the past. What if we just did it? I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near good enough, and I don't have any big tricks, but it would be such a fun experience. And Danielle is good enough. For reals.
My argument against going is primarily financial, but also rests on the fear that I will make a fool of myself on national television and no one will hire me to teach their students dance ever again. Actually that's the #1 reason I wouldn't go. And I loooove to teach. But I've seen people audition who are totally delusional, and probably shouldn't be teaching, and I doubt myself all the time when it comes to that. If there was a show called "So You Think You Can Choreograph," I would feel more confident about auditioning. My boss Wakelyn's point, which I think is valid, is that by going for it I would be an example for my students, helping them to have the courage to get out there and audition. Of course I wouldn't tell my students that I was going until I got back (and maybe not even then if it didn't go well).

Yikes/Yipee!

Get ready for exclamation points:

Yikes! The water is off at our apartment. When we drove into the complex at 2am we saw a spout of water shooting up from the ground, and I didn't think anything of it until we woke up with no water!

Yipee! We are lucky to have family in town who will let us use their shower, and in the meantime it's all about hand sanitizer and brushing teeth at work. Hopefully they'll get it fixed soon!

Yipee! We went the Rangers/Yankees game in Arlington yesterday!

Yikes! The Rangers, who have the best record in the American League right now and the most home runs, lost 11-1. It was more than a trouncing.

Yipee! Even though I'm not a fan of the Yankees, we got to see them play some really good baseball.

Yikes! Professional sporting events in Texas are crazy! I have been to dozens of Mariners games in Seattle, but even when the Mariners are doing really well and the game is sold out it is nothing like a game at Rangers Stadium in Arlington. First off, in Seattle about half the fans get dressed up for the game. In Texas, all the fans get dressed up for the game. Joe and Travis both knew to wear red, white, and blue (Rangers colors, of course), and I was wearing all white but at least I had my red Capezio bag. Secondly, during the national anthem three big military helicopters flew over the stadium. The cheering was like I've never heard before. People were jumping and screaming. I was completely caught off guard. Travis just turned to me and said "welcome to Texas." I'm glad I didn't have to see what the crowd is like when they're winning. We'll save that for next time.

Yipee! Six Flags was so fun! By the time we got back from the game and lunch, around 4, the park had thinned out a ton, and by 8 we could get on almost any ride in just a few minutes. So we went on a lot of rides. If Disneyland is like a Major League Baseball game in Seattle, Six Flags is the equivalent of the Texas game we went to. The rides are not cute and fun, they are crazy and exciting and a little bit terrifying. My top picks for a little terrifying/mostly fun are Tony Hawk's Big Spin and Judge Roy Scream. In the a little fun/mostly terrifying category are the Texas Giant and Titan.
Let me tell you about Texas giant: at one time it was the world's tallest wooden roller coaster, and to this day it is rated the world's best wooden roller coaster. It is huge, like everything in Texas, and the bumpiest ride I have ever experienced (though Travis said it was worse because we were sitting in the very back car and I didn't fill out the restraint very well so I was getting throw around a lot). I was very glad to get back on solid ground afterward, and very glad to stay on the ground while Joe and Travis rode it again that night. The Titan is similarly terrifying, but for different reasons.
It is the tallest roller coaster Six Flags (the Texas sporting event of the theme park world) has ever built. It takes 37 seconds to go up the first hill, and then they actually send you underground so the drop can be bigger. It gets going so fast that they send you up in a big spiral, and then still have to slow you way down before the next drop.

Yikes! About halfway through the awesome day at Six Flags, I started losing my vision on the rides. It would go gray on any big drop or loop, and then take 10 or 20 seconds to come back. Apparently this is common; wikipedia tells me that "The Titan has been known for causing blackouts in the carousel turn." But it did scare Travis a little bit, and it reminded me that I need to find a doctor here and get a check-up.

Here's a video I found online of Titan. This was taken from the first row; we were sitting in the second:

Another video!

More Bullet Points

• Tonight Travis helped with the 6:30 service at church. He did the call to worship, opening prayer, confession prayer, and assurance of pardon. It was really cool!
  
• After church we went to Rudy's with Trey, Joe, Chet (who I just met), and our friend Devin, who just got back from Whitworth for the summer! I am so excited that she's back. We already have plans to watch So You Think You Can Dance, and to go to the premiere of Harry Potter. Rudy's was good, but I have decided that the extra moist brisket (read: extra fat) is too moist (fatty) for me. Or at least it is when you buy and eat it by the pound. But the conversation was good!
• Tomorrow is a full day off for both Travis and I, which I can't remember happening in months. We are going to get some use out of our Six Flags season passes and go to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. Joe is coming too (and another friend if we can find one in time)! The park is right across from the Rangers' stadium, and they're playing a 1:05 game against the Yankees tomorrow, so we're going to cross the street before the game and see if there are any good deals out front. I feel like you're not really supposed to buy tickets from scalpers, but there are no cheap seats available online, so it's worth seeing if anyone has any extra tickets.
• The tap steps I am working on this week (recital is in less than a month, and the teacher tap dance is still about 10 notches above my skill level) are the Shirley Temple and part of the Shim Sham Shimmy. I filmed Adele doing the Shim Sham at rehearsal today and watched it over and over while I was waiting for church to start. I was definitely tapping in my seat during the service.
  

Fun at the capitol (video edition)

It has taken forever to upload this video. I waited two hours this morning, and it never uploaded, so I just published the last post without it. Then I tried again this afternoon, came back three hours later, and still no luck. So now I have created a youtube account in order to upload videos there. This post could be filed under things that seem like they should be easy in 2009, but aren't. I have another video from the capitol, too. It will come later.

Fun at the capitol

Last night Travis and I went on a date to celebrate six months of marriage. We can't believe how quickly it has gone by! On the other hand, it's hard to imagine how I ever got by without Travis. I think I just let things stay broken for a really long time :)
Our first stop was Mozart's, a coffee shop on the lake, for dessert. Travis had strawberry cheesecake, and I had mango gelato with raspberries. There are a ton of decks where you can sit outside there, but since it had rained earlier in the day (more like a monsoon than rain, in my opinion), everyone was crammed inside and under the one little covered area. That included a trio of jazz musicians (guitar, electric bass, and a female vocalist), who filled the little space with loud scatting. It was pretty funny. Also, we were sitting right next to a couple on their first date. At least I think it was their first date. They were probably high school seniors. It was really cute, and a little awkward that we were sitting so close I felt like I was on their date with them :)
Then we headed to the Capitol building. I'd never been before. It's beautiful at night! Even though it was 10:30pm, the building was open, so we went in and explored a bit as well. Travis is pretty excited about Texas history (you will not meet a Texan who isn't), so he told me all about the building. There used to be a rule requiring all state capitol buildings to be shorter than the U.S. capitol, but after that rule was repealed the dome of the Texas capital had to be restored. In the restoration process, they decided to make it a little taller, so now the Texas capitol building is the tallest capitol in the U.S. by 7 inches. That is totally something people in Texas would do. Travis was so proud and smiley when he told me that story. (Note: Travis has just informed me that a few other states had the same idea. Louisiana is now the tallest.)

Texas history makes Travis smile. Exploring new places makes me smile! Here is the inside of the dome. I felt like I was back in Italy, taking straight up pictures of intricate domes! Sorry Texas, but your dome is tiny compared to the Duomo in Florence. Also, it has way fewer graphic judgement day frescos. I am so sneaky! I just took a picture of a guy sleeping in front of George W Bush's portrait :)Whenever we take a picture like this, I am standing waaaay up on my tippy toes, more like on pointe really.
The whole building is made of granite. I'm not sure why that's impressive, but Travis ensures me that it is.

Picture of the day

I took this picture today in the Texas capitol building.

We go to a lot of movies

So the movie I really want to see right now is The Brothers Bloom. I was convinced by this article, which makes it out to be the best movie I'll ever see. It's probably not that, but I bet it's fun. Did you see Rachel Weisz breakdancing and playing ping pong in the trailer?


However, last night we went for something with a little more mass-market appeal: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian. The trailer is kind of cheesy, but it ended up being mostly fun and awesome. My least favorite part, unfortunately, was Amy Adams' annoying Amelia Earhart voice (I normally love Amy Adams!). My favorite part was probably the one scene with Jonah Hill. It's way funnier in its entirety. I promise.

Saturdays

It happens every week. I'm doing great, working, going to rehearsals, and spending time with Travis, and then Saturday morning comes and boom: I hit a wall. On Saturdays, I get up at 7:30ish to go teach dance to the little bitties (3-6yrs) for four hours, then I dash to Capezio and work for 6 more hours until close. It's a marathon day, and it's not made any easier by the fact that I'm teaching classes that are half tap, and I don't tap. Also, have you ever tried to get 11 3-year-olds to all do the same thing at once, while their parents are watching you from a window? Also, I'm required to get up early on my husband's day off, when he is sleeping in, and put on tights, a leotard, and a ballet skirt, when all I want to do is put on sweats and crawl back in bed.
It actually starts Friday night: I get bad headaches, I get weepy, I'll feel nauseated or have a sore throat or both. I honestly think that my mind dreads Saturday mornings so much that it tries to make me sick. I often get up on Saturday wondering what it would take to find a sub at such short notice. Would any of the other teachers even be awake yet? Then of course I realize that I'm not really sick, and that people who are not really sick have to go to work.
I just calculated it out: there are 4 more Saturdays (including today) until recital, and then I will be done teaching for the summer. I requested to not teach Saturdays in the fall, so really there are just 4 more weeks that I have to do this, ever. Of course, once I'm not teaching Saturday mornings I'll have to work all day at Capezio on Saturdays, but I can't even express how relaxing the store is compared to teaching, even on busy crazy Saturdays.
Four more weeks. Four more weeks. Four more weeks.
Time to go put on my leotard and tights!

Dinner with friends!

This evening Travis and Joe swung by my work to ask if I could meet them for dinner at Trudy's after I closed the store. Then they told me that two of our friends from Whitworth would be there! It was great to see Julie (now living in Seattle), who I've known since freshman year, and Kaitlyn (now living in Houston), a very close longtime friend of Travis. They are so sweet, and it was nice to talk to people who missed Whitworth. Since Kaitlyn and Julie both work in youth ministry (Julie's at University Pres in Seattle!), and Joe has been a youth ministry volunteer for 9 years, the four of them had a lot to talk about. Meanwhile, I got a phone call from an unknown number. I meant to ignore it, since we were out at dinner, but I accidentally answered. I was so glad I did: it was my best friend Amy calling from Australia! She's studying toward her PhD in Philosophy at the University in Melbourne, and I miss her like crazy. All in all, it was a great night of reconnecting with friends. And my burrito was delicious:) I am addicted to burritos (minus the cheese, sauce, and sour cream, naturally) since I moved to Texas.

From left: Travis, Joe (doesn't he look handsome bald?), Kaitlyn, and Julie. We went to Trudy's, which is really busy on Friday nights. They have a great patio where you can sit outside, though. It has fans and trees, and it's fenced in so you can't tell you're right by the freeway!

Sometimes Joe does this.

Lovely ladies.
Travis is very serious about Dr. Pepper. On the way back from New Mexico this morning he took a detour to Dublin, the home of Dr. Pepper, to buy a case of the original pure sugar Dr. Pepper. And then he ordered a Dr. Pepper at dinner!
We love you!

New addition

Travis and I are adopting a car! Or at least it feels like an adoption, what with all the applications and payments and the long trip to pick it up. Plus, it's already six years old. Travis is on his way home from New Mexico (loooong story, but that's where the best deal was. Travis is all about the deals, and he calculated it all out, including mileage, airfare, etc.), and he and our 2003 Jetta TDI will arrive tomorrow afternoon.
I have to admit I'm nervous about making such a big purchase, but I'm the kind of person who gets nervous about spending money on toothpaste and waits for two months to buy tap shoes even though they are teaching multiple tap classes without tap shoes (true story). And it's true that in order to maintain Travis' car any longer we would have to spend more each month than the monthly payments on a new (used, but new to us) car.
So this morning Travis embarked on his journey! I will include an itinerary below, solely because I know my Dad will appreciate the amount of gyrations required to accquire this vehicle.

Sidenote: "gyration" means something very different in the Sibbett family than it does in the world at large. I tried to write a simple definition, but no luck, so I will give an example:
1. Dad takes truck to mom's work, swaps it for mom's car
2. Dad picks up a friend, we'll call him George
3. Dad leaves mom's car in some secluded port town with George, who will borrow the car for two days because he needs a car with 5 seats to take his family skiing
4. Dad takes George's surfboard, gets on a boat, and does a tugboat run
5. Dad uses George's surfboard to loan to a crewmember so they can paddle around together while on tugboat run (I know this isn't realistic, Dad, since you have many surfboards, but this is an example)
6. Two days later, George and his wife drive to my parents' house in two cars, drop mom's car off in Indianola, and drive back home together in his truck.
7. The next day, mom and Lisa drive in two cars to some secluded port town to pick up dad so they can leave him his truck.
8. Mom and Lisa drive home in mom's car
9. Dad uses truck to drop off George's surfboard, then goes to pick up a load of boomsticks.
10. Everyone is happy; Jeannie is confused.

Each of those steps is a gyration. Together they are gyrations. Whew.

So, anyway, the car-picking-up process has way fewer steps than that, because I am generally resistant to gyrations, and also don't own a surfboard or have a friend named George. Here goes:
1. Travis and I drove the 1.5 hrs this morning (up at 5am!) to San Antonio so I could drop Travis off at the airport there-- not the nearest airport, but, again, it's all about the best deal with Travis :)
2. I drove home another 1.5, took a nap, then went to work.
3. Travis flew to Denver, then Albuquerque.
4. Travis took a bus to Santa Fe
5. Travis is now currently driving the 12ish hours from Santa Fe back to Austin.

Now that I look at the limited number of steps in comparison with my previous example (which is not in any way exaggerated- ask my mom!), the whole process seems way too simple. We really should have tried to leave a boat or a co-worker somewhere.

Hey look!

It's a river of teeny undies!Because that's how we roll at Capezio.
Hint: you put them on your toes.

Oops!

I seem to have pulled a muscle tonight at rehearsal. I don't recall pulling a muscle before, or at least like this. It hurts real bad every time I bend my left leg, to walk, sit, stand, or change positions. I am very grateful it's just a pulled muscle and not a broken something, but it still makes me think about how fleeting my dance "career" could be. In heaven, I am going to dance so much, and never worry about it being my last day dancing. And I will dance with Hedgemon :)

For tomorrow, though, when I teach 7 classes in a row, I will not dance. I need to rest up, since we (Borealis) have a show in a week and a half. Also, I really can barely move my leg. Regardless, it will be very difficult not to teach by doing, especially since my teaching assistant will be gone tomorrow. I don't know how to lead a warm up without dancing! At rehearsal Wakelyn, Danielle, and Bethany were suggesting that I have students lead warm up. It thing I will do that with my older students, though I'm skeptical that it will work with the 5-7 year olds. I'm also not sure about my private lesson.

On the plus side, our (Borealis') new piece is finished and it is really creepy and cool! I had to just sit and watch the last 30 seconds or so, but it shouldn't be too hard to learn. Also, when I was icing my leg the icepack got all melted and it looked I had peed my pants. So good times.

Surprises

Last week Travis surprised me by buying us a new cd on itunes. You'll never guess what it was. . .










The soundtrack to Magagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa! We both really love Madagascar, especially the penguins. And I like King Julian. And apparently Travis decided the music was great too! Which it is! I would really love to choreograph a fast-paced running all over the stage dance to Zooster's Breakout next year. But my favorite track is Alex on the Spot, featuring the vocal stylings of the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am (who did a bunch of the songs and plays Moto Moto in the movie):

Okay, that Alex on the Spot song is real awesome. I'll probably just choreograph to that one.

Bullet points, remix

• Travis and I are watching Transformers, and Megatron just called Sam a "fleshling." Fleshling. What did they call the hobbits in LOTR? Shireling, or something like that? Awesome. I'm kind of little. Maybe someday someone will call me "danceling" or "redheadling."
  
• I really don't want to wade through the next several weeks of getting ready for recital at ADC and our Borealis performance May 31. I want to start picking music and costumes and choreographing for next year! Really I just wish I could choreograph all day long :)
• The car that Travis is looking at getting for us is a manual. I have enough trouble driving an automatic! But he says I will learn. More car news to come as soon as my little brain can recover from the last several weeks of non-stop car talk (okay not really).
• It seems like everyone is having beautiful little babies. Just saying.
• The 90's hits station at work is my favorite. They play Boys II Men, and Janet Jackson, and Sinead O'Connor, and today they played "Your woman!" (See video below, which is really just the song, but it's a great song so you should give it a listen.) Radio hits from the 90's are at least 10 years old now, and many of them are almost 20 years old. When I was a kid, they played 20-year-old songs on "Good times, great oldies: 97.3 KBSG."
  And now, for your listening pleasure, the song of the day:
  

Obamanos

You probably know that I'm a big Obama fan. I don't think he's my savior, or even that of my nation, but I do think he's intelligent, compassionate, hard-working, and sincere. Most of all, I think he's as fed up with American hubris as I have been, and believes that everyone and every nation should be treated as equal, precious, and worthy of respect.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a sense of humor. I loved watching his speech from the White House Correspondents Association dinner last week. Maybe you will, too:

World's best

I love you, I love you, I love you so well.
I love you as much as a clam loves its shell.

This morning I got an email from my sister Lisa, including this valentine that my mom wrote. I think mom wrote it as an example for her kindergartners one year. This morning I really wish I could fly home for a day and give mom and Lisa the world's best hug. I wish we could go for a walk on the beach, then do fake ballet in the kitchen, then drive 45 minutes to Port Townsend for the world's best ice cream. It is wonderful being here in Texas with my amazing husband (he cooked us a surprise salmon dinner Friday night!), and our life here is full of blessings from God. But I'm often aware that, no matter how great the fake dancing or the ice cream, the world's best is in Indianola with the sisterhood.

I love you, I love you, I love you to mush.
I love you as much as a tooth loves its brush.

Fun with camera (work edition)

Here are some amazing pictures of my co-worker Danielle yesterday at Capezio. This is not really what dance belts are intended for:But, you know, it's important for us to try out the merchandise if we're going to sell it.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I have the best dad in the world. He is funny, and knows everything about slugs, and has great taste in music, and is the person that 1000 people go to when they need a hand, a favor, advice, or just someone to talk to. Most of all he is passionate and loves so deeply you can see it shining through him. I like to think I take after my dad in a few of those ways (I certainly know more than I should about slugs). And tomorrow (Saturday, so probably today when you are reading this) is his birthday! I love you dad!

Help wanted (part 2)

When we were kids, Donald and I had those long plastic tubes that would make a sound when you whirled them around in the air. Today some wiring equipment was sent to the store, including a coil of orange tubing that looked exactly like those toys! You can't really tell in this picture, but it had all those little ridges. I really wanted to uncoil it and whirl it around. And now, I need to remember . . . What are those things called?

Dream come true

Tonight my cheeks are sore from several hours of non-stop smiling. That is because tonight I got to get all dressed up, crash the volunteer banquet at church, and SEE TRAVIS SING AND DANCE! Other than standing next to me in church and joking around with Trey on the guitar, I have never really heard Travis sing. I knew he could sing, since he was in show choir in high school (surprised? I was too!), and men's chorus in college, but tonight I got to hear it for myself! I still can't stop smiling. Many audience members told me I was lucky to have such a great husband. I agree :)
Travis will probably make me take this down when he sees it, since he doesn't think he did that well, but here is a video of one of his solos (words changed to honor youth committee volunteers). Also featured is the beautiful new building at church. Watch it quick, mom!

Reading

In response to my previous post, my mom sent me a great book! It's called Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome, and was written by Luke Jackson, a then-13-year-old with AS. So far, It's really engaging, and informative. I should go to bed now, since I may have accidentally stayed up too late and watched Castaway on TV with Travis (tomorrow's like his Saturday, and more like my Tuesday). But I will definitely post my thoughts later. My favorite thing about it so far is that all Luke's stories are about his family, and the way he relates with his 6 brothers (one is autistic and one has ADHD) and sisters. Thanks mom! I love you.

Fun with camera

The camera that Crystal gave us for our wedding (almost 6 months ago!) continues to come in handy almost daily. I pretty much carry it around in my purse all the time, which I feel like you should do when you have a blog and live far away from your parents. Today was another great reminder to always be prepared with the camera, because the Obama Art Car was parked outside Capezio as I was leaving to go on break! Here are my shots:

I wonder if the owner was getting her eyebrows threaded at Hair it Is (that's right, mom/dad/Lisa! I keep waiting to see Sandy's blonde hair inside) next door . . .
Close-up of the hood
And I found this picture of the back online. People are so creative!

And speaking of creative, Danielle ordered hideous (it's true) blue sweatpants for Borealis and plans to make them into cool black shorts with words on them as a costume for our new piece. Tonight we cut off the legs, and then (naturally) made them into princess sleeves, etc.

Danielle, sporting a floppy turban. Wakelyn said that Danielle reminded her of the Cat in the Hat, and now that I see her striped legwarmer in the picture I have to agree! It's like an abstract homage.
I made a neck warmer, for skiing or for looking trendy in the city. I had to cut off the ankle to get it around my head, though. The pants were that tapered. Behind me is the pink and blue studio where we rehearse.

Lost?

We just watched the season finale of LOST. I'm not excited about waiting 9 months to see the next episode. I'm also not excited that nothing was explained. (And five points will be subtracted from LOST's cool point reserve for gratuitous use of the word "destiny." For shame, LOST).

And I'm also also not excited about performing a tap dance in front of hundreds of my students' family members next month. Fun fact: I have never taken a tap class in my life. Never ever ever. One of the first things I told Carissa in my interview at ADC was that I don't tap. Sure enough, a month later I was teaching 3 combo classes, which include . . . tap! At least the oldest students in these classes are 6, so I can keep it to shuffles and flaps.

But now we're chin deep in teacher dance rehearsals, and I am discovering that tap is not one of those forms of dance that you can fake your way through. See, you've got these really loud things on your feet, and they make noise every time you mess up. Also, tap is hard. I can't quite get my ankles to move quick enough, and even when I can get the steps right I'm always making the dreaded "terrified dancer" face. The teacher dance is really fun, and Adele is a great teacher, but I have a lot of work to do. My goal this week is to master the buck single time step, as demonstrated here:

Dinner with friends

Tonight the Covenant youth volunteers had dinner at Waterloo Icehouse near the dance studio. My students go there all the time, so I was excited to eat a delicious meal there. Turned out the meal was so-so, but the company was great.

This is the best picture I was able to take of this table. Thanks Matt :)

Heather leading the wayMost of the youth volunteers lead Wednesday night d-groups. I teach Wednesday nights at the dance studio, so it's great to see them and hear about the kids that go to d-groups.One of my favorite smiles in the world.

Ay mi madre

I just took a quiz on facebook. Do you know what a patronus is? It's a Harry Potter thing, and it's awesome. However, the results were troubling, in light of my past discoveries re: dolphins.

Your Patronus is a Dolphin

You are someone who is intelligent, yet humble, and you always put others first. You’re a rare sort, someone who everyone wants to be friends with and are often admired for your talents.

They should include, "also, you are terrifying." Just saying.

Woo hoo!

As of 3:45 this afternoon, I am a two-job woman. I taught my last acting classes at the Jewish Community Center yesterday and today, and now I am done! I loved the kids and the families there (and especially my awesome boss!), but I will love having more time with Travis even more. From now until mid June I'll only be working 44ish hours a week, and then, after recital at Austin Dance Company, I will have only one job for the whole month of July! Fortunately, the summer isn't super busy for youth ministry at Covenant, so Travis will have time too. We are looking into fun excursions, possibly including going to Tennessee for a family reunion. A year ago, I never imagined that I would be going to Tennessee! It better be awesome. My expectations are very high.

This is what Tennessee looks like in my mind, and also on google search.

Whitworth, one year later

The last few weeks my facebook home page has been full of photo albums of Whitworth theatre parties, Broadway Unbound (the spring theatre and dance concert), the spring Jubilation show, and the senior projects of some wonderful (and very talented) friends. These events were my life for four years. And now I'm missing them, and especially our friends and professors, something fierce. I dance with Borealis, and it's challenging and wonderful (and I almost have a six-pack for the first time in my life), but it's not dance class with Suzanne and shows on the main stage in Cowles with ten quick changes backstage.

Travis and I were talking tonight, and we decided that the only downside to having an amazing college experience is that it's really hard to let it go. Travis' cross country team went to nationals last fall, and they just opened the dance studio of my dreams in Whitworth's new building. And even without nationals and a real studio, our time at Whitworth (or should I say times, since we didn't spend any of it together) was a dream come true.

Oh Cowles Auditorium, you never looked so good!

I can see now why so many parents try to get their kids to go to the college they went to. Well I don't have any kids right now, but I do have a new brother who's almost 17. And after mother's day lunch/dinner with Travis' family, I have a dream: to convince Stephen to go to Whitworth and be a theatre major. I mean, only if he wants to. But he's so funny, and he's always making up songs, and everyone would love him there, and he would graduate and get jobs right away!
Stephen, if you're reading this: seriously.

One of my favorite things

I just woke up from a 2.5 hour nap. Normally, if I woke up from a nap at 8pm, I would feel all kinds of groggy. I absolutely hate the idea of sleeping through life, and even though I love naps just about as much as it's possible to love naps, there are rules. First off, after you wake up in the morning, you make the bed and sleep on top of the covers. Second, lights on (or at least windows open). Third, you must be wearing regular everyday clothes. No changing into pajamas to take a nap. Fourth, you never lie down for a nap without setting the alarm. These rules ensure that I don't fall into a year-long sleep haze and wake up, Rip Van Winkle style, having missed out on spending time with the people I love. I am so endeared to these rules that I actually shudder at the thought of taking a nap in the dark, or under the covers, or for 2.5 hours . . .

But I must have reeallly needed the sleep, because I feel great. The past week has been go go go, and even though a lot of it has been fun, and Travis and I went on some great dates (plus Joe, naturally), I have spent the last few days counting down the hours til Sunday afternoon when I could rest. And I am really grateful for the opportunity, since often we rehearse Sunday evenings with Borealis, but Danielle is out of town this weekend.

This will not be me someday.

Lollipops!

Just wanted to show off the foam lollipops Travis and I made for my Jazz I class. They needed to be big enough to cover the dancers' faces :)

It's a bird, it's a sheep!

Tonight Travis, Joe, and I went to a Round Rock Express (minor league baseball) game. It was great to just sit and relax, especially after a busy week of teaching (we had final performances at the J), work (it's recital season, so it's been real busy at the store), and rehearsals (Borealis is performing a new piece at the end of the month). And today was picture day at the dance studio, so I spent 8 hours there posing hundreds of students and moving them through their group and solo shots as quickly as possible.
Anyway, baseball. Yay! Baseball games have always been the thing I do with my dad, so I missed him a bit, but it was really fun. The Dell Diamond, where the Express play, is way nicer than Cheney Stadium, the local minor league stadium back home. It's almost as nice as Safeco, actually, just much much smaller. There is a pool. We actually considered getting married there, way back in the day. The Dell Diamond. In front of me: grass seating. Behind me was a "fun zone" complete with basketball court, climbing wall, and a bounce house.
We were sitting right by the field. In fact, the place was so compact that a lot of foul balls went out of the park, into the parking lot. The first time this happened, they played a glass breaking sound effect. After that, the sound effects got goofier. A cat, a cow, an elephant, and my favorite, a sheep. Apparently the foul balls were hitting all those things in the parking lot? The guy in front of us suggested that maybe someone was up in the sound booth pulling the cord on one of those farm animal toys with the wheel in the middle that spins around. You know what I'm talking about- the one where the arrow stops and says "The lion says . . . [roar]," etc.
Travis brought his mitt just in case any foul balls came toward us. I am very glad he didn't have to use it. We were definitely in the line of fire on the 1st base line, and a woman on the 3rd base line had to be taken out by field medics after a ball hit her in the face. Or so Joe says (Travis and I were at the Fun Zone at the time- Travis threw a 70 mph ball in the speed pitch cage). I'm not quite sure whether he can be believed . . .

Are you lying, Joe? Because I know where you live.

Travis and Joe, being good sports and turning away from the 9th inning to let me take a picture.

And now, a video:

To boldly go . . . to the movies at 11:30pm on a Thursday

Okay. The new Star Trek movie is really really good. It has a 95% rating on rottentomatoes.com, which is sort of unheard-of. It's that good. And, there's a little alien that comes into the film about 3/4 of the way through that is my new favorite! He doesn't say anything- you'll know him when you see him. And you should see him, because you should see this movie!

Accidents

Yesterday morning I was getting out of my car at work when I saw a car slam into a tree across the street. It must have been going 40mph, and the car was wrapped around the tree all the way back to the windshield. I ran across the street, opened the door, and was beyond relieved to find the driver okay. She was probably in her late teens, very shaken up, but not injured. A man who had run up behind me called 911, another told her to turn off the car, and I helped her out and let her use my phone to call her mom. I waited with her for about 10 minutes until the police and her parents arrived, gave my statement, then went back to work. After that, it was just a normal day, but I still can't get those few seconds of running up to the car, not knowing what I would find, out of my head. I hope her parents are able to be as grateful as I am that their daughter is safe.

destiny

I am about to give up on television. Well actually probably not (So You Think You Can Dance premieres May 21st!!!), but I am about to give up on any show that makes any mention, ever, of "destiny." Maybe the word is used too much, or maybe it doesn't quite mean enough to Christians who believe in an intricate balance of God's fore-knowledge and man's choice. Either way, I am over it. Whether it's Hiro on Heroes (the worst offender, probably), or Locke, Jack, and everyone else on LOST, the word destiny is thrown around to justify just about everything. And now LOST is resorting to building plot tension by having characters (for apparently no reason at all) tell other characters that something they are doing is not their destiny.
To me, it's a word that rings empty, and means just about nothing, like synergy.

Also, all that time spend talking about destiny could be spent explaining why the statue only has four toes!!!

It is my destiny to figure out what the heck is up with this statue!

Charity . . . denied!

This afternoon my creative drama class performed The Three Billy Goats Gruff for their parents, and now I have just one more week until I'm down to 2-job status! I was in a wonderful mood on the way home, and when my car stopped right next to a man holding a sign at an intersection, I took a second look. He was probably about 60, had only one leg, and was sitting on a guardrail next to the freeway holding a sign that said "anything will help." I don't feel right (except in very rare cases) about giving strangers cash, but I did have my lunch bag next to me, and in it was a nearly untouched box of Wheat Thins. He was only a few feet away from my open window (95 degrees today. No AC.) so I turned to him and asked if he was hungry. He looked very grateful and said "yes." Or he did look grateful, that is, until I held up the box of wheat thins. His face turned immediately to disgust, and he said "Oh, no thank you," before turning away. Apparently, "anything will help," except for wheat thins!

I spent the next minute or so sitting in my car next to the guardrail in awkward silence, but as soon as the light turned green I burst into laughter, and it continued most of the way home.

Poor wheat thins. Don't worry. I will eat you.

Bullet Points

Here is a quick rundown of what's new in Huskisson-land:

• Travis broke 80 playing golf. Yay Travis!
• Both of us now have health insurance through work. We are so grateful and relieved to have made it okay!
  
• A week from tomorrow I will be done teaching theatre classes at the Jewish Community Center. I have learned a ton, and looove the children, the families, and my boss at the J. But I can't wait to only have two jobs! It will make it a lot easier for my boss at Capezio to do schedules, and for Travis and I took make plans with our friends and Austin family.
• I was up several hours in terrible fear that our final performance today in my Theatre I class would crash and burn. I wanted to postpone it, but my boss Trisha wisely told me to relax and remember I was teaching kindergarteners, not college students. One student didn't know his lines, one decided to sit and watch, and one had to be led on and off stage several times, but of course it was delightful and the parents loved it. Now I can only imagine how I'll feel the night before Austin Dance Company's recital. I have 11 dances and about 75 students . . .
• The Mariners (Go Mariners!) are currently 1st in the AL West, Rangers (Travis' team) 2nd. Good will abounds in the Huskisson household. Unfortunately, they are playing right now and the Rangers are up 6-4.
• The new Fellowship and Education Building will hopefully be opening at church these next few weeks. The gym is right next to the youth room. Travis will have a place to play basketball at work, and the youth will no longer share a space with AA!
• Details pending, but I am looking at picking up 10 more hours/week at Capezio starting in Ausgust. Not teaching at the J will help, but we are still praying about what other adjustments we might need to make in order to actually see each other once in a while.
  

Freedom!

I donated my hair! Here is proof:Also, Travis has a bit more color than I do (which can easily be attributed to the amount of time Travis spends golfing or playing frisbee vs. the amount of time I spend inside a dance studio):
Greetings from Austin, where hopefully my new haircut will help me endure the 92 degree weather we're supposed to have tomorrow. Yikes!