Snow Day!

On February 23rd we had a snow day, and school closed for the afternoon!  It snowed all day, even though the temperature rose enough by afternoon to cause some melting.  The snowflakes were big and fluffy, and in places the snow was ankle deep.  I loved the crunch and squeak of the powder!  It's so beautiful to see this type of snow here.  The transformation was magical!

This picture has a fairy tale quality to me. Chiquita is busy investigating!

The wild garden doesn't look like this very often!

The back road by the wild garden

Spanish dagger

Coral honeysuckle

Texas buckeye

Redbud tree in front of the house

The mailbox garden

Red yuccas covered in snow

Agarita with flower buds

The neighbor's scarlet quince

Pansies 

Sedum palmeri the day after the snowfall

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been feeling a little "under the weather" lately.  I've spent the last two weeks training a new person at work, and I'm not used to talking 9 hours a day or being shadowed 40 hours/week.  It's been tiring, plus the weather's been bad, plus this is my first Valentine's Day alone.  Usually the kids are around, but this year I have no one to gift with chocolate.  :(

But it's nothing that a little sunshine, shopping, and dancing won't cure!!!  Yesterday I decided to actually leave the house (gasp) and go birthday shopping for my best friend and my daughter.  I hit the jackpot at a store called Brickwood Boutique in Temple!

 

Yes!  My daughter is having a boy, and since her birthday is coming up soon, I bought this for her!

The gift wrap is a free service at Brickwood!  This is my daughter's picture frame.

This one is a bracelet and pair of earrings for my friend.

And last but not least, a gift for me, from the clearance table!

I had a great time at the Friday night dance at In the Mood Ballroom.  On Saturday I got a last minute invite to the Stardust Monthly Ballroom Dance at the C.A.C. in Temple, so I went to that, too!  The dancer who told me about it used to teach, so it was wonderful to have the benefit of his knowledge and encouragement.  I'm discovering through the connections I'm making that there's an active community of dancers in the Temple/Killeen/Waco area.  Could have gone to another dance this afternoon in Waco, but I have class at 6:00 tonight, so I declined.  I have to save some energy for the cha cha tonight!!!

I got invited to a dance in Waco next Saturday, and there are some salsa lessons beforehand.  The instructors are from Harker Heights, so it will be fun to meet them.  Yay!

I'm getting a sense of what dancing means to people of all ages and abilities.  The most heartwarming people to watch are the old-timers who show up even if they are widows or widowers.  I think I danced with a 90-year old man last night, and although his steps weren't strong, he was having a blast!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  Let's dance!!!

Happy Feet

I just returned from a private dance lesson at In the Mood Ballroom!  Now guys, don't give me grief about the socks with my pretty dance shoes;  it's cold outside, and I just couldn't make myself wear a dress today.  I was planning on it, but the weather didn't cooperate!

The instructor was really good.  He was very patient, funny, and gave me a lot of insider information that I would never have picked up on my own.  My dancing has been limited to country and western styles at the local SPJST halls, and that was a long time ago.  Today's lesson was a sampler.  We danced foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha-cha, rumba, and tango.  I was just a wee bit nervous and tense, and Rudy developed a nice way to tell me that I was gripping his hand too hard and that his fingers were turning blue!  He blew on my hand, LOL!  Also, he told me to BREATHE!  I had a great time and he said I did well.  Besides the basic steps to all the dances, I learned some turns and promenades.

I'm signed up for the rumba group lesson on Tuesday night, then I'll go to the Ballroom Dance on Friday February 12th.  The package that I bought for $24.95 includes one private lesson, one group lesson, and free admission to a Friday night dance.  I'm not sure yet how many more lessons I can afford, but I know I'll enjoy being a student!  Who knows, maybe this will turn into a regular Friday night out!  I'm so glad that my friend talked me into this!

iMac Memory Upgrade!

I have a 17 inch, late 2006 iMac that's been running too slow since I updated to Snow Leopard and iLife '09.  Of course, having 10k photos and over 9k songs doesn't help, either!  And the hard drive is nearly full.  I had been shopping around for more memory and was looking at spending $50-$100 to upgrade to 3-4 gigs of memory. 

My son mentioned that he had two 1 GB sticks laying around from when he upgraded his MacBook Pro.  He offered to mail them to me, so I said sure!  Today I replaced the 512 MB sticks with the 1 GB sticks.  It was easy and didn't take long!

The patient!

"New to me" 1 GB sticks

Old memory sticks (had to use tweezers to grab an edge to pull out)

New sticks going in; old ones off to the side

They make a slight click when seated

RAM access door re-installed

Before and after upgrade











Yay!  It's not a huge jump in performance going from 1 to 2 GB memory, but it's definitely faster, and best of all, the memory was free and it got recycled!  :)

iPad Love

I &hearts the new iPad!  I watched the live feed today as this device was being announced.  Here's where you can read all about iPad.

Go to pcworld and ars technica to read some reviews.  Google has a live stream of links, too.

If I had the money, I would get the entry-level one for $499.   I think it's well-positioned in the market at that price, and it definitely fills the gap between smart phone and laptop computer.  I don't aim to replace my desktop computer, but I would choose iPad over a laptop in the same price range, just for the overall build quality and versatility.  It's built for couch-potato comfort and easy portability.  Nearly all the iPhone apps will work on it, and so will a new version of iWorks, if you feel the need to do some actual work with documents or spreadsheets or presentations!!!

Another way to waste my life on the internet!  :)

Epiphany in a Glance

Your disapproving eyes don't pierce me now.
My haste was no insult;
I was dying under another gun.
Oh, I would have crumbled once.
I floated you in an ocean of love,
but you saw it differently and sailed on.
I gave everything I owned and wanted to be
but it wasn't enough to earn your loyalty
or stem your careless self-destruction.

You said I would never find love,
that I would die alone and miserable.
Mister, you don't get to write my life.
My life is a gift I gave to myself,
an open-book test where I see the choices,
and they lead to peace in every step.
My leaving was the thing that saved me.

So let me be and don't judge me.
Don't follow me now with your hooks and barbs.
I loved you once and that should be enough.

In the Mood

Last night I went to a Champagne Guest Party and Dance at In the Mood Ballroom.  It's located in a beautiful restored building.  The owners, Rudy and Karen Gonzales, did much of the work themselves, and the result is quite elegant!

The hardwood floor is original, and it was found under another wood floor which was under shag carpeting!

This mural of the owners was painted by a friend.  I love how some of the original brick wall was left uncovered.  The ceiling is tin.

Rudy is telling the story of how he and Karen met, and how they began their business.  Of all the newcomers last night, he singled out me to illustrate the correct dance position.  I proved my status as a rank amateur!!!  :)

We learned the foxtrot, two step, merengue, and East Coast swing.  The evening was so much fun that I decided to sign up for lessons!  I'm actually sore from dancing.  I can already tell that this will be good for me!