Dancing Granddaughters

What greater joy for an arthritic old dancer grandmother than to have both granddaughters taking dance classes. One is thirteen, taking 5 classes a week, mostly ballet, way out on the west coast. I don't get to see her much but she reported today that she was so happy to be back in dance regardless of the aching legs she has after that first September class. How well do I remember that feeling - the agony of descending the stairs at school the morning after the first class, thighs afire. It is definitely good pain, though. You know you are alive and have once again connected with the ecstasy of dance. I can't wait to see the DVD of this years concert.

Closer to home, it was my great pleasure today to accompany granddaughter number 2 to her first modern dance class. I have enrolled her in Modern 1 at Canadian Children's Dance Theatre School so I know that the technique and teaching will be exemplary. It is the first indulgence of my retirement after going to TIFF on school days. I will come to town each Thursday to take her across town to the school and bring her home afterwards. The 30-40 minute trip each way will give us a chance to have a good visit. It was a bit of a gamble, since she wanted to take 'pop' dancing which I interpreted as the 'popping' done during hip hop. Too young for those classes. So I told her that Limon technique was very beautiful, with a lot of circular motion, fall and recover, suspend and release - kind of like a pendulum. Needn't have worried - she loved it and we had a good time on our travels. She will be ready to go back again next Thursday. I am so proud of my granddaughters and happy that we have dance in common.

No Back to School for Me

Yesterday everyone went back to school. I did not. In fact, I slept in until 10:20 and after groggily making a cup of coffee, I sat and watched the last half hour of the Marilyn Denis Show. Then I watched Murdoch Mysteries and played solitaire until noon. I managed to get showered and dressed and was finally beginning to consider my To Do list by mid-afternoon. First: call the Canadian Children's Dance Theatre to find out how I can enrol my granddaughter for a class. Second: visit a neighbour to pick out a few films for our first day at TIFF next Monday. Hmmm. Dinner time. Cooked so much for the neighbourhood contra-ribfest that I really didn't feel like preparing food. At all. I put some potatoes on to boil and raced up to Longos for a BBQ chicken. We had it with the new potatoes, leftover green and yellow beans from the garden, leftover marinated salad and the last of the pies I had baked for the fest. The leftover pulled pork will do for tonight. Later, having tea in front of the TV, I got out my iPad and logged onto TIFF. I found out that, although I can buy up to 4 tickets per film on-line, most of those we chose are Off Sale. But if we get tickets for one of the evening performances, we can work backward from there and will probably end up at the box office taking our chances that morning. Checking my gmail, I was sad to learn that the Edible Arrangement I had sent to CALC for the Ed-Vance staff meeting had not arrived on time. It was waiting for the principal afterwards. That shop will hear about this from me. I did want to send a tasty little greeting to the staff to wish them a good year. Just so happy that I did not have to be there and could simply laze the day away.

Last 2 Days at CALC

I was happy to go back to CALC on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, to lend a hand to my replacement and help out a bit with registrations. It gave me a chance to share a few insights with the new VP regarding the way things work at the school and to share a few docs that she will need over the next few weeks. I had offered to come in for the entire week as I don't mind giving a little back. But I was really needed only for the two days. What a relief! As much as I enjoyed helping out, seeing some of the staff and students, and managing a bit of a visit with some colleagues, I went home exhausted at the end of the day. If I learned nothing else, the experience confirmed for me that my decision to retire had been the right decision, meaning both correct and best. I was so glad that I did not have to go in today or any day in the future. I slept in, watched CityLine and the Marilyn Denis Show while playing a lot of solitaire, and then went for a pedicure and got my hair cut. By the time I got home it was late afternoon. Just time to harvest the ripe tomatoes and tidy up the flower arrangements before going to get the seniors special at the fish and chips shop. Tonight, I kicked back in my recliner and watched movies on TV while I played another dozen hands or so of solitaire. Husband is busy in his office prepping his college classes for this fall. He starts on Tuesday. I don't. I almost felt retired today. Oh, wait. I forgot. I picked up some information on Tango lessons after my hair appointment. Yeah. I am retired.