The Next Best Thing!

I just remembered the other day that I said (many times), that if anything ever happened to Ted, I would get a dog.  Well unfortunately I cannot have pets in my condo, so I have embarked on The Next Best Thing:  I'm doggie sitting!
Yep, my new job. 
It is quite amazing how things come your way when you are at peace.

  I heard of the Yorkie-sitting job through a friend. Well!  I got on with Bella & Roxie's owner like a house on fire.  Bella sat in my lap the whole time . .  which turned out to be most of the afternoon.  In addition to puppy cuddling, I will be house- sitting as well . . . in a mansion on Crescent Road.  My room overlooks the ocean.  Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE IT HERE?????

The CRASH Sisters

This week was a doozy for the Two Pooch-eggs, otherwise known as the Crash Sisters.  I'm the crash-cart sister and Mom, the crash on the floor sister.

Monday afternoon, I found myself in the ER at Peace Arch Hospital in Whiterock, hooked up to all kinds of machines and setting off alarms readily.  Four hours of monotoring revealed I have Bigeminy pvc's, which are quite benign they say.  I feel a " thump thump" in my chest when the abnormality appears

The abnormal rate continues for some time:  I think I counted 62 normal sinus beats in a row during my stay in the ER. 

I was discharged about 9pm and my normal heart rate returned sometime during the night and I finally fell asleep.  Of course I have follow up appointments with a Holter monitor and a cardiologist later on.

Enter Crash Sister #2  with a black eye and stitches. 

It happened at the Golf club house when she caught her foot on a chair (everyone was getting up to leave) and fell & knocked herself unconscious.  She woke up in the ambulance later, on the way to the Peace Arch ER!! She needed monitoring for concussion and stitches. They discharged her at 11pm.

What a pair of Pooch-eggs!  We are so much alike in so many other ways, and now it seems we copy each other!!

Finding Your Passion

It's almost impossible to believe I only started ballroom dancing lessons in April this year.  It has been quite a journey and is FAR from over!

(The MOSTEST fun I've had since riding Goldwing motorcycles on summer trips!!) 

I started out with group lessons once a week, followed by a practice party.  I felt like I had 2 left feet and no brains!  I could hardly remember the steps!

There's a thing called muscle memory and one is supposed to keep at it until it comes naturally . . . like breathing. 

In May, I started private lessons in Whiterock at the Arthur Murray dance studio.  Wow!  One on one attention is so cool!  I got to go over & over a sequence of steps until I "got" it, not to mention getting to dance with a handsome, young man!! 
Too bad that I forgot everything I learned the minute I left the studio!!

 

I also just "happened" to sign up the day before the Spring Festival began!  What a hoot!  Eight weeks of Friday night dance parties, bonus dance lessons and oodles & oodles of fun with the Themed costume parties!  The Fesitval included a bus trip to Harrison Hot Springs for live music & dinner/dancing! 

You would think that after nearly 3 months of all THIS, I would be a great dancer!!  hahaha!  I still feel like I'm half brain dead & have 2 left feet!  The instructors keep assuring me that this will continue . . . like . . . . forever! 

So back to weekly group lessons &  dance parties to practice, practice,
practice!  

It's important to find your passion and keep at it!  Whoohoo!

Game of Thrones Extravaganza of Music

First of all, I drove myself down to Roger's Arena . . . found a parking spot, and found my seat nice & easily. Win #1.

The concert knocked my socks off.  As in any cult favorite, there are those who dress up.  Varis, Kahleesi and Melissandre were sitting right behind me.  Well done!
The musicians & singers were also in costume. 

Getting started, the fog rolled in and filled the floor and guess what emerged??

The Throne, in all its glory!

The audience was made up of fans and it was so much fun to hoot & holler together.  It was so, so, so good!

The violinist came the length of the arena to stand on the stage right 20 feet from where I was sitting.  An  electronic screen projected pictures of the White Oak changing with the seasons. 

The leaves first emerged, then became very large, then the tree shed its leaves and red tissue leaves floated down all around us.  It was magical!

 If you have watched the show, you have noticed the cello music, especially this last season. 

He was incredible.  The score was so forceful at times, that he had to put on an arm brace a bit later to make it through!!

The woodwind player, and that's a very broad term, was out of this world.  He played all sorts of indigenous instruments . . . pipes and hoses and who knows what else.  I've never heard anything like it.

Even though this was a concert, it was a visual feast.  Fire, snow, smoke, huge screens projecting parts of the series that matched the themed score.

The orchestra was at the other end of the arena from my seat. But the soloists made their way to either side of the center and the other end of the bldg as well.

The Vancouver Symphony was included in the orchestra as well as the singers, who were all in costume.  Well done Vancouver!

Ramin Djawadi is the brilliant composer of all the music.  He played the haunting theme of the last episode right there in front of us.  I couldn't capture the wildfire and the heat . . . happened too fast!

All I can say is that I am glad I didn't miss this!  Such a mixture of music, talent, performance, digital imaging, fire, smoke all combined to equal one thrilling experience!

A Little More Salsa Please!

Friday night was the 2nd salsa lesson I participated in: the Merengue, which I found to be much easier than the Cha-Cha;  that's because I made a big effort to remain RELAXED!  Add to that the skilled teacher who goes one easy step at a time, plus the huge circle of people that you navigate as you practice over & over & over!  Such fun!

 The dancers tell me there are at least 5 groups of dedicated dance followers in the Lower Mainland:  Ballroom, Latin, Jazz, Country & Line Dancing.  I'm sure  there are more styles, like Seventies Style wigglers.

Conclusion:  Dance is HUGE on the West Coast!  Count me in!

Blooming and Gloating . . .

 Ever have to eat crow?  I have secretly (and not so secretly) gloated over the better weather here on the West Coast as opposed to the Alberta climes I left behind.
Well, it has been a long winter and the forecast for Spring is cool, wet and late.

Lucky for us, the grocery stores and greenhouses are full of blooming baby daffodils, tulips and other bulbs.  So we can pretend that they are growing outdoors, instead of in our kitchens.  

No matter.  They make me happy.  Inside or out.  I'm loving their bright happy faces and pretty colors.

Nothing we can do about the weather, so might as well enjoy every day!  (And I'm still gloating a little bit that winter in Alberta is at the half way mark . . . )

Cruise Control . . .

My cruise control has been OFF for ten days however I made it through The Common Cold.  I mentioned before that my Word for 2017 is RELAX and that's what I did.  I relaxed and napped and took care of myself.  

 
I'm ready to press RESUME on the cruise control.  Back to circuit training this week.   It will be lovely to go for lunch with my Grannies.  Yes, and dates.  Resume dating. The new phase of my West Coast Adventure.

If the snow would go away, we could soon resume our Facebook Friends Hikes.  Probably need long-johns for that right now!