Happy New Year

Hi all,

So, Jen and I drove down to Virginia on Christmas Eve--listening with crappy reception to twelve different renditions of Oh Holy Night on whichever Christian radio station we passed, given that they were the only ones playing carols. We stopped in at every third coffee shop we could to get hot chocolate and/or coffee, and got in about 1130PM.

We spent Christmas there, and drove back on the 27th.

New Years, meanwhile, was spent here in Toronto, dancing until 2 or 3 in the AM at Dovercourt House for a night of Swing and Jive. Jen and I, having danced for about 9 years, both love to go out this way for New Year's. It's a great way to relax, meet new people, and to work out any stress. I bumped into some old friends from the Waterloo Swing Crew, the troupe I performed with in Kitchener-Waterloo, and it was great to see Angie, Martin, and others.

It's weird being an old hand at something like swing. People ask me during lessons "have you done this before?" and usually follow up with "you're really good." At which point I have to point out that I've been dancing for a darned long time. I'm actually not that good for 9 years of dancing on and off, or at least I'd prefer not to brag about it or show off. Still, it's weird to be on the other side of the learning curve--I used to really look up to those who'd been dancing for a long time.

I remain a very relaxed swing dancer. Some people use a lot more flashy moves than I do, but I prefer to just throw a few neat moves together in between lots of easy, basic steps, so I can actually chat with my partner while I'm dancing with him/her. Heck, it's supposed to be a social dance, so why not?

Otherwise, back into the swing of things (argh, the puns!). Report cards come around often, and I'm slogging away at that this weekend (it should only take me an hour or two, but I'm procrastinating. Might as well get into it. :P

Happy Birthday to my wife, Jen, and Happy New Year to all of you!

Chris