Adventures in Babysitting

There are a lot of things I'm not good at. I'm a terrible singer, I'm not a very good driver, and I suck at spelling. However...despite all of that, I am a darn good babysitter. This is one area where I am more than willing to toot my own horn (toot toot) I am AWESOME at babysitting. I mean, I've had close to 11 years of experience. I love kids, kids love me. But it takes more than that to rock as well as I do at babysitting.

Tonight a co-worker asked me, last minute, if I could watch her two kids (ages 8 and 6) tonight. I thought, 'why not? I'm not doing anything, and it's easy money.' So when I got there, the kids were finishing their dinners, and I allowed them to finish the episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, and watch an episode of Good Luck, Charlie. Then...we turned off the TV. We played Freeze Dance for, like, 45 minutes. They kept bringing props and costumes out into the living room, so towards the end, my rule was every time I froze the music, they would have to put something away. Then they put on a show for me (I could tell they did this quite often, as they had as choreographed a routine as an 8 year old and 6 year old could come up with). Then the little girl asked if she could paint my nails (she was not at all satisfied or impressed with my clear nail polish) but decided after painting one thumbnail a kind of orange-y coral-y color that she would rather have me paint her nails. So I did. She wanted to be surprised, so I did each one a different color...she loved it!! Then we played hide-and-seek, Mickey Mouse Yahtzee, Crazy Eights and more freeze dance. We were having a crazy dance party when their parents got home. It was my first time sitting for these kids, actually, my first time meeting them...and they wanted me to stay longer. Why?

BECAUSE I ROCK AT BABYSITTING, THAT'S WHY!!

(Although, it helps when you have great kids, like I did tonight)

Red Velvet Cake and Harry freakin' Potter

Last night I went on a 'roomie date'...yes, I currently live alone, but the girls I lived with in college (though most are now married) will always be my 'roommates'.

Last night Kathy was in town, so we decided to take in a movie at the cheap theater...and I can say that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has actually gotten better with multiple viewings!

Looking at this movie, compared with the book, I think that the movie is paced better (even with all the depressing camping scenes.) I feel like in the book -and I could be remembering it wrong- that interspersed with all the camping and apperating and such that there were moments of 'Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts...things still suck royal hippogryff' and it's possible that, even with all it's flaws and inaccuracies, I might (gasp) like the movie better...that never happens to me.

Last night, my focus seemed to have shifted to wardrobe...how much fun would it be to design the costumes for the HP movies? Like who decided that Elphias Doge should look like he's wearing five coats at once? And who picked out Luna's sweet romper? And Hermione's wardrobe? Seriously, she gets the best clothes!! I also love that the Snatchers kinda look like they could be extras from a cross between Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (minus the SexyPants) and American Idiot...

Anyway...it was a great excuse to see the movie again and a fantastic chance to catch up with a great friend. We ended the evening with some red velvet cake at TGIFridays and ended up staying out until, like 11...whoa!

To dance again

Tonight I got to go to a high school dance recital. I love when my students invite me to their events...but I have a special place in my heart for dance recitals. They really make me miss my dancer days. True, some of the beginning classes were painful to watch (a lot of 'hamburger hands'), and some of the student choreography was pretty awkward as well (but who am I to judge self expression?) but I saw that stage and wanted nothing more than to lace up my pointe shoes and tour jete on up there with the rest of 'em.

Aside from the fact that it would be painfully awkward for all parties involved, I doubt I can even do it anymore. It's been almost 7 years since I've donned a tutu and stepped into the spot light, and I know I sound like a broken record, but I really miss it. I miss the freedom I felt when I danced. I miss how graceful I felt when I danced. I miss the absolute high I felt while en pointe and executing a pirouette. I miss being on a stage. I miss being back stage. I miss dressing rooms, and stage make-up and costumes and tights and glitter...

Pity Party

A few weeks ago I decided I was going to throw a little Halloween 'get together'. I invited all friends that live within an hours drive of my place. I thought it'd be fun to have friends over and play games and hang out and have an excuse to wear a costume. A good handful said they'd come...some were even bringing friends/husbands/etc. Some didn't say anything (which I think is kinda rude, but whatevs) and most said they wouldn't be able to make it. One of the friends who couldn't make it said it was because they had already made other plans. I just found out the 'other plans' were for tonight. My thing was supposed to have been last night. Unfortunately, one of my 'yeses' had their work schedule changed, so I ended up going out to dinner with some girlfriends.
Which was better, because I got to see one of my former roomies from college (I would've seen her anyway, but we were able to catch up a lot better in this setting). I am glad that we got to hang out, I hadn't seen her for nearly a year and a half, since she and her husband moved to Italy and just recently returned...and some with HUGE news!!
I'm just bummed out and feeling sorry for myself because I don't have any friends that actually live in Simi...they're all over the place: Costa Mesa, Camarillo, Northridge, Frasier Park, Thousand Oaks, Visalia, Washington...but none in Simi.
B/c none of them live nearby, I have no one to call when I'm bored, and I know some of that has to do with the fact that I'm probably the world's least exciting person ever...
It's another "chicken/egg" scenario. Am I boring because I'm under socialized, or am I under socialized because I'm boring?

Well, I just finished watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" for the second time this Halloween season, so I think it's time for bed...

Trick-or-Treat!

After weeks -nay- months of deliberation...I have finally landed on a Halloween costume!! I don't think it has ever taken me this long to come up with something. Mostly because when my mom used to sew our costumes, my sister and I had to come up with our ideas pretty early so mom could be sure they were done in time, and this is a habit that has stuck with me even since mom stopped making our costumes. When it comes to dressing up, I have definitely run the gamut, using both my mad sewing skills and my arsenal of dance costumes. I have been pretty much everything from a hobo to a princess, from a sock hopper to a hippie, from a mouseketeer to a drag queen (yes, I was a girl dressed as a boy dressed as girl). Last year I was Sleeping Beauty, but the Brier Rose version. For a brief moment I thought Marge McDougall from Promises, Promises would be fun, but very few would know who I was. Then I kept bouncing between a Harry Potter version of myself (a.k.a. if I were a Hogwarts student), a candy corn (since I already had a yellow skirt), or just 'I dunno' and wear my pink wig and top hat...like an extra from Moulin Rouge or something. Then Saturday, like a bolt of lightening, it hit me. The perfect costume...
Lucy van Pelt!!! I am so excited! I'm sure I could run the risk of people not knowing who I am, but some might, and I will...so I don't care. I got this black wig and I'm working on styling it kinda curly-ish on the ends, I bought socks at Target yesterday that have ruffles on them, and a blue dress with some black buttons and I'm good to go!

What I Did For Love

"If today was the day you had to stop dancing..."

I stopped dancing 6 1/2 years ago...and I miss it so much. I started taking dance classes when I was in elementary school. Tap, Jazz and Ballet. I eventually quit tap, I was the one tapper who couldn't quite sync up with the rest and made the piece sound like crap. I had to perform a tap number for a dance class I took in high school and I took the taps off my shoes so the audience couldn't hear me. Jazz wasn't my favorite, but it was a lot of fun and the costumes were awesome (except for the unfortunate crushed velvet unitard of '99). But Ballet was my favorite. When I was in 7th grade I got to start en pointe, and even though my feet hated me, I couldn't stop loving Ballet. Every Christmas we would perform a piece from 'Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker'; to this day I can't hear Tea (Chinese Dance) without thinking échappé, échappé, possé, possé in my head. Plain and simple, I miss Ballet. I never thought I'd be a professional dancer when I grew up. I knew that this was just a hobby and form of exercise. I wasn't going to be the next Anna Pavlova. I never had aspirations of joining the American Ballet Corps. But I still miss it. I miss my pointe shoes, and my custom made tutu, and pliés, and battements, and tour jetés, and pirouettés, and the absolute high that comes from doing them on a stage with bright lights shining in your eyes.
I miss the perceived grace that came with being a dancer. I miss using that as a way of identifying myself when I was in high school. Michaela was the 'tennis player', Emily was 'the band girl', Natalie was 'the choir girl', Whatsherface was 'on the honor roll', I was 'the dancer'. Whether or not I was all that great (I wasn't), that's who I was. I loved inviting my friends to my recitals. I loved being 'the dancer'.
I remember we were doing a re-fitting my senior year, since none of us had worn our tutus in about a year. So I had my tutu on, and my pointe shoes. I was also wearing some pretty grungy tights (we used to have races with the runs in our tights. We would pick at them and see how long we could get them to go in one pull). But I was beaming. I didn't realize I was beaming until one of the girls in my class pointed out 'Lauren's got her stage face on'. I couldn't NOT smile, even there at the dance studio, no audience, no stage, no lights, tights that were more run than tights, yet being in costume, I couldn't help it. I loved the way I felt. I wish I could wear my tutu every day. It was lightly boned, so not only did it have a nice corset effect on my tummy, but it gave me incredible posture. And while pointe shoes are definitely not the comfort footwear of choice for most, I miss those too. It makes me sad that my feet are all pretty now instead of callus-y and blister-y from my shoes.
I think I might dance around my living room when I get home...with the blinds closed, of course