I know I haven’t posted at all lately, but I’ve been busy.  Work and dance essentially.  Last weekend, my dance partner and I took part in the Chicago DanceSport Challenge and did pretty dang well. 

In American Rhythm we received 5 first place finishes (0nly 2 of which were uncontested, the rest were against 2 or more other couples) and one 2nd place finish (0ut of 3).

In American Smooth (our first time ever competing in this category) we received 1 first place tie (out of two), 2 third place finishes and one 4th place finish.  I’m actually very proud of the 4th place finish because it was 4th out of like 17 couples.  We danced in the Semi-Final andwere called back with 5 other couples for the final and then placed 4th out of those.  Pretty good I think.

Maybe I’ll post pictures or video clips later when I have some time.

For Christmas, my SIL gave me a lovely cheesemaking kit.  So far I’ve made several batches of Mozzarella cheese and it’s quite yummy.  It’s also very easy which makes it dangerous for the waistline!

No more making cheese unless I have somewhere to bring it to share with others!  Next I should try the Ricotta and make some lasagne with it!

I have a "Forgotten English" word-a-day 2009 calendar so I have some daily fodder for postings, at least during the week since the calendar is on my desk at work.  Since I’ve been sick this week today’s word is fairly appropriate:

tissick - A tickling faint cough; called also a "tissicky cough." (Rev. Robert Forby’s Vocabulary of East Anglia, 1830)

And a Happy Birthday to my nephew, The Evil Genius, who turns 5 today!

Oh my goodness!  These poor poodles, I know poodles often have fairly ridiculous haircuts, but this is just cringeworthy.  Imagine seeing these poor fellers out for a walk.  Can dogs feel humliation?

Link via geekologie.

I barely made it through NaBloPoMo this year.  It started out okay, but things fizzled at the end.

Some of the scramble was due to connection issues at home.  I do believe my wireless router is sputtering and dying so I’ve had to use my desktop instead of my laptop for internet stuff.  To top it off, my network security subscription on my laptop is running out any day now ( I have an "in" for renewing it so I have to wait).

Hopefully I won’t let things languish in the coming months like I did before November, but with the holidays, lots of work stuff and a dance competition in February, it’s going to get crazy.

I had no desire to go shopping at all this weekend, but now I have to brave the crowds and the weather in order to get some more lights for my tree.  It’s only halfway lit with the working strands I have.  Since I’m hosting a couple of holiday parties I need to get the tree done this week and have only a couple of days to do it.  At least the store isn’t that far away.

I guess it was inevitable, I lucked out last year and all my Christmas lights were operational.  This year I have four strands that won’t light.  I’m going to have to make a trip to replace the broken ones *sigh*.

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Originally uploaded by Viola Zuppa (aka Kimari).

Connection issues AGAIN so meet my holiday monster friend.

I had a plan for a nice Thanksgiving post earlier today, but my connection was totally hosed this morning.  Now it’s 25 minutes until the end of the day and I’m wiped.  It was a chaotic day today, my Uncle M collapsed in my Aunt K’s kitchen (he’s 73) and they called an ambulance.  They had to convince him to go with the paramedics to the hospital and they’re keeping him overnight for observation.  His heart rate was very low but they haven’t figured out what happened.  My mom, Aunt H and cousin went to the hospital with him, leaving me, my Aunt K, my dad and my great aunt to get the dinner out.

My mom and my Aunt H went back to the hospital with my parent’s car after dessert and I took my dad home on my way home.  I’m very tired but very thankful my Uncle M seems to be doing better now.  I’m also thankful for the way my family steps up and mobilizes when things like this happen.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  This is what I was trying to post earlier today….ENJOY.

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

My computer is acting up again!  I’m in the midst of trying to get my holiday iTunes library up and my wireless router keeps crapping out.  *sigh*