I heart dancing

I always know it's going to be a good night when I bounce out of work on Friday - and when I left the building Friday evening, I was already excited, and the babysitter wasn't even coming until 8:30 p.m.



But first, I had a stop to make - at my local gym (read: near the house, not near work) to meet a couple of friends who asked me to teach them my strength-training routine.



I was happy to help them, but I didn't realize until I was almost done that I *really* liked it. I mean, I got to lift, too - for the first time in probably six or eight months, I lifted three times in one week! (This has been my goal, but not often accomplished). But what was even more fun was teaching them new exercises they hadn't tried before, and helping them do the routine with the correct body positioning so as to avoid injuries. Oh my goodness, I see so many people at the gym doing things that will inevitably cause harm, so proper form is just so important. And sometimes it's just nice to have someone else check you out - the other day, Nancy saw me doing part of my strength training routine and commented that I needed to pull my elbows in or something, and she was totally right. It's helpful to lift with friends!



So anyway, hopefully I didn't annoy my friends by being bouncy and happy, but I actually had a blast teaching them what I do. I tend to do a lot of combination exercises - overhead press with a squat on a Bosu ball, for example, is one of my favorites - and they all work upper and lower body at the same time, plus balance. I hate when people say, "Oh, I'm such a klutz" or "I'm just clumsy." I used to say those things, too, and they're just not true. I may not be naturally the most agile person in the world, but agility can be learned and is not a function of body weight!



After the strength training, I got ready to go out. And I was so happy to find that my latest purchase from 15dollarstore.com had arrived! I'm trying to not wear pink every single day, so I bought this shirt that looked cute online - it's blue and yellow. Oh my goodness, I just love it! Here's a picture of me and John at the club (taken by someone I pseudo-met online; he posts to the nwtekno.org forums, and I figured out who he was by his posts and the fact that we both have attended the same shows recently).




Anyway, it's a little hard to tell, but the straps of the shirt are gold chains. Too fun!

The music was incredible - and amazingly, the club had no cover charge for 21+! And water, which is all I drank all night, was a reasonable $2 per bottle! So not only was this my best night out at a club in Seattle, it was also the cheapest.


And no, there was no trouble, so I didn't get into any fistfights with drunk idiots. In fact, people were pretty respectful and there was actually room to dance all night. Nice nice nice.

We saw two DJs: MarQ, who opened for George Acosta. So we pretty much danced from around 10:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m., when the club shut down. We were (just about) the first on the dance floor and the last to leave it; I only took one break from dancing to drink some water, and then returned to front and center.


I should have been tired, but I couldn't sleep. We got in bed around 3:30 and dozed until 7:30, then got up for a seven-mile run. It was actually better than I thought it would be - we were slow (11-minute miles, I think), but I didn't care.


When John and I finally crashed, the kids were staying over his parents' house and we were supposed to have date night again. Lucky us! But...instead, we started napping at 5:30 p.m. and didn't wake up until 7 a.m. :-) Thirteen and a half hours of sleep - I think that's a record for me. Seriously. I don't think I've slept that long even when sick! (Then again, maybe I did when I was pregnant.)


Anyway, all that dancing and skipping dinner last night made my weight today a lovely 139.4, and I fit into my smallest jeans with no problem. So goal #1: get to 140 again has been met, and I'm thinking about goal #2. I am considering focusing on mini-milestones - like, by October 19, when I go to Scottsdale for the 20/20 weight loss program conference thing, I should be 138 consistently (meaning, three days in a row my weight is 137.5 to 138.5). Then by the Seattle half marathon, maybe 136....then January 1, still 136 (holidays are a horrible time to try to lose weight, I'll be more successful if I realize that and plan to maintain).


Yeah, I think I'll do that. And I'll keep dancing all night every few weeks, too. I'm sure it helps. :-)