L for Limpid

I always liked the analogy, "Her eyes were like limpid pools of azure."  My favorite eye color has always been brown though.  My little sister had big blue eyes when she was little and so they were average to me since I saw them every day.  When we moved to El Centro all the Mexicans had brown eyes and I thought they were beautiful.  My husband has brown eyes.  At first I thought the word was "lipid" pools of azure, but that would be disgusting.  Who wants eyes like the chicken fat that was floating in my Campbell's chicken soup today at lunch?  Nobody.

L is for Mr. Limpit, i.e. The Incredible Mr. Limpit, a movie from 1964.  Don Knotts turns into a fish.  I loved that movie.

L is for 'limit' in the song "Take It To The Limit" by the Eagles in 1975.  It climbed to #4 on the Billboard chart.  I was 16.  I remember listening to it like it was yesterday. 

K for Kiddles

Okay, well I looked at Jules' blog and her word was 'Kids,' so I got stuck and Liddle Kiddles came to my mind.  I can't look at her blog because I can only think of the word she picks if I read it.

1968.  Mattel.  Kiddles were a teeny doll.  Mine was Lily of the Valley and she came in a plastic bottle, very small, and had a fragrance.  I got one for Christmas in December 1968.  I was ten years old.  I liked her very much.  I remember breathing in the delicious fragrance, but I don't actually remember the smell.

I couldn't bear to leave her home alone so I took her to school in my brown lunch bag on the first day of school in January after Christmas vacation.  Ate my lunch, threw the bag in the dumpster, and not much later it hit me.  I realized my Kiddle was still in the bag.  I had inadvertently thrown her in the garbage!  I was quiet so I didn't tell anyone.  Waves of sadness washed over me. I never got another Liddle Kiddle.  Back in the day, if you lost a toy you didn't get a replacement.  I've relived the internal trauma over and over again - realizing I'd thrown her into the dirty, filthy school dumpster.  I still suffer emotional damage from the memory of it.

She's alive!  She's on eBay!

J for Jump

I'm taking all the jumping out of the Zumba routines for the Saturday class.  I'm making it into a low impact Zumba class for seniors and anyone else who wants a gentler dance fitness workout.  I'm looking forward to it.  I have one new routine already but am now wishing I'd picked something else because I had to choose a version with about three edits for bad language, and there's still a section that I just don't like because it grates my ears.  Might try to delete that section myself.  I wonder if anyone will come on Saturday and I wonder how many will and I wonder if it'll gain popularity.  If I can get a steady ten people it would be very nice.

J is for jewelry.  I have blue owl earrings. They cost $1.00.

Zumba was good and not so good tonight.  I got my . last night and it threw me for a loop.  A mean one.  I knew I'd feel better once I started class, and I did, but I felt not so good for a short time too.  My cool down stinks.  Got a great song, but I can't improvise very well.  One night I was feeling the music and I did well with it, but I don't always feel the music.  My poor students.  I gotta fix that cool down for them.

I is for I

At church we do a confession before we study our Bible.  It goes like this:

This is my Bible

I am who it says I am

I have what it says I have

I can do what it says I can do

Today I'll be taught the Word of God
I open my eyes and my heart

To receive divine instruction

From this day forward

I will never be the same

Never, never, never

Because the entrance of God's Word

Brings

Understanding

It has six I's in it.

H is for Hair

Of course, of course. What else could "H" be for! I've been planning ever since "G" to take a hair picture. Didn't get it done. I took other pictures, but not the hair.

Last night had a big, shall we say, discussion, with son in which I yelled like a banshee. It's not my best look. It's not my best side. Then I watched stupid tv for half an hour with my husband, stewing all the time. Turned off my computer and went to bed. That's why nothing at all got posted last night. I did think about "H" though.

Updated:

My hair laying on the bed.  Olive oil lightly applied last night.  Scalp wash today.

My hair looking forward to wearing brand new Zumba winter jacket!

G is for girls

I like pretty girls.  I like the saying that pretty is skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone.  My favorite saying is, "Hoo-rahed by a little girl," a line from the western movie True Grit.  If my husband is watching a movie I ask, "Are there any girls in it?"  Because movies with all guys are usually boring.  I do like one oldie movie that has all guys, The Treasure of Sierra Madre. My daughter-in-law and I were talking about how we always take notice of what female Fox News commentators are wearing and how their make-up and hair look and we have to comment about it before we listen to what they're saying. Haha!

Candid shots.

There was a 14-year-old girl at the lake.  The daughter of a friend of a friend.  She was quiet.  Serene.  An unusual quality for one so young.  Her profile was classic.  Big nose.  Indian.  American Indian.  I surmise she'll be an exceptional beauty when she's older.  She had gorgeous, silky black hair which she never tucked behind her ears.

She saved one of the babies from a bad water experience.  My granddaughter, the fearless three-year-old, boldly stepped toward the deep, then ran forward, and, unable to stop her momentum she went under not understanding that people cannot breathe underwater.  The older girl saw it.  Without hesitating for a moment and ran/swam through the water to the rescue.

F is for furry

I'm doing the alphabet challenge with Jules of New Zealand. I missed A through E so will start from F and advance forward from there.

F is for Furry

Firstly, F reminds me of Angel's fur.  She is the sweetest cat I ever knew.  She gets into everyone's lap.  If you sit, she will climb up to your lap.  She especially prefers our son, but if he's not here she'll get into my lap.  I'd like to let her into the house but son is allergic.  Plus, she rolls in the dirt.  I've often contemplated the question, "Why does Angel roll in the dirt?"  I googled it since Google searches are known to uncover a treasure trove of information.  The best answer I found was this one, word for word, letter by letter, begging for punctuation and proper choice of article:

"She might have a itch. Cats exhibits all kind of strange behavior that no one can explain. If we knew boy could we make money."

Is that an answer or is that an answer.   

She's a great huntress and has no tail.

F reminds me of fairground and number fifteen, our son's number this year.  

The fair barn.

Getting ready for the horse show.

Dawn breaks.  Kids work preparing animals for show and will get to enjoy the carnival tonight.

And fuzz.  One day I saw a fuzz stuck on a piece of grass.

I trimmed my hair and like it so much better.  Today I ordered some Spectrum unrefined coconut oil.  In the past I've used the refined and liked it.  My monoi oil went rancid so I had to buy something.  I hope the fragrance isn't overpowering.  I read that it dissipates quickly.  I got such a nice hair compliment today and she asked me how I grow my hair.

Church was good this morning.  

I'm opening a new night for Zumba in a couple weeks.  I'll be doing Tues/Wed/Thurs evenings.  The new Wednesday night class will be a later one - from 6:30-7:30pm.  Hope people will come.  It was requested so somebody better come!  I'm changing the Saturday class to a low impact class and will market it as Zumba for seniors.  I am looking forward to it very much.  It'll be easier for my body and still fun.  I've already found a cute Zumba Gold routine that I'm learning.  I don't know why Zumba isn't offering Gold training very much.  Seems to me a good demographic.

I am liking Herman Cain very much. But I think the political machine will only accept Romney or Perry. If the election was today I'd cast my vote for Cain. I don't see how Obama can win again. Even his democrats aren't behind the new jobs bill stimulus. They see how the first stimulus went and there's little chance the new bill will get through. I fail to understand why Obama doesn't let parts of it get through. He's all or nothing to his own detriment. My husband and I are gonna have a big party when Obamacare gets repealed. My health insurance, which Obama promised I could keep, unchanged, went up again. Yeah, thanks for that. Maybe the Supreme Court opinion will be that it's unconstitutional.

I need an attitude readjustment for my Zumba kids class. Half the kids like Zumba, half don't. Usually, as in normally, you only have people signed up for Zumba who want to be there. It's, how do you say, a challenge. And today an older girl, who surely knows better, came to class in socks. You can't do Zumba in socks. It's been announced. P.E. clothes, they know, are required. So I tell her she needs shoes. She says, "I know. I didn't bring them today." Okay, I say. You'll get a minus for today then. She sharpens up and says, "I have softball shoes I could wear." I asked if she'll slip in them. I'm thinking of softball shoes with nubs or cleats on the bottom. She says, "They're in the car." She comes back in regular tennis shoes.

Well, where I come from we call that a L I E. Either you have shoes or you don't, but don't make me stand there and listen to a lame lie. I love Zumba, but I do not like repeating the same things to the same teenagers over and over. That. Is lame.

But then tonight I felt a little sorry for her. She's not doing well in school I gather. I gather she doesn't apply herself. Hmmmm. Who does that remind me of. Me? Unfortunately, that's a big, fat, yes.

I feel behind in Zumba. I'm not ready with a new routine this week because I haven't practiced for two weeks because of company. I'll catch up though. I hope.

I'm dog tired. Today was the fair. Son's horse, Bella, came in third. I was so sure she'd do better than that but the competition was stiff. A grey came in first. It's a gorgeous grey. And a black horse came in second. Next year he's going to sign up for halter, and showmanship, and one other thing.

Tomorrow at 7:30am is the piggy show. Hope little Petey places. He weighed in today at 275 pounds. He's kind of sad being at the fair. We hate it too. He looks beautiful though. And he was super easy to clip. Everyone can tell son has spent a lot of time with Petey.

The babies are gone. And our son and his wife. It's terribly quiet here now. No babies! Boo hoo!

I made a video today.   Of our son's toenail coming off. 

Now my eldest son and his wife and children are here.  I had a Déjà vu moment.  It's a piece of heaven at my house now.

My dad is here.  And Ann.  It's been such a nice visit.  I hate for it to end.

Went to first football game.  Been meaning to go for six years.  I don't really understand why people go to high school football games as I was never into sports in school.  But this night I watched and experienced as if outside myself.  It was sweet.  Kathy said, c'mere, c'mere, and we all stood in long line on either side of a giant Tigers banner.  The high school boys, the football team, came tearing through the banner running at top speed, all full of testosterone.  The people on each side hollered and cheered and let go of their balloons.  I clapped and smiled and accidentally started to cry.  It's something like what the sound of bagpipes do to me.  Chokes me up with emotion.  I don't know why.  I don't even like football.  But I do think it's wonderful that people go a support the team, watch their children, watch the neighbor's children, playing football.  The stands are so small.  They don't even extend half way around the field.  Only about an eighth of the distance I suppose.

The team got skunked.  Zero to 42.  It's not fair really - pitting a tiny school against a school that comes from a much larger city.  

The men are doing pre-algebra in the Zumba room.  Son will also be reading more of "The Light In The Forest" for school.  He rode someone else's horse tonight.  They've been having trouble with their horse and wanted to see how our son would do on him.  He said the horse gave him trouble only one time, and to top it off he encouraged a girl to ride uphill with him.  She was afraid to, but he helped her do it.  I'm glad.  It's good to be an encourager.

My friend and I talked a long time today.  I was of no help.  I felt bad about that. 

I dreamt of a large beautiful tree.  The air was crystal clear.  Green grass.  Keen horizon of blue and white.  Perfect clouds.  I kept trying to catch it with my camera but someone bumped me.  After that, I could not get the elements framed rightly no matter which way I tilted my camera.

Is there meaning to it?  Or is it one of the Microsoft desktop photos that came with my laptop.

I got two new tops for Zumba.  I like them both.  Discountdance.com.  One is blue (basically) and the other orangeish with purple.

The bottom one is my favorite.  They fit perfectly.  Snug but not tight.  I needed some tops with a crew neck for my kid classes at the Christian school.  I noticed the handbook says no cleavage allowed and almost all of my Zumba racer back tank tops show cleavage when I bend over.  I wish they'd stop making the necklines on the Zumba clothing bigger and wider and deeper.  My very first Zumba top that I ever bought is just fine.  All that I've ordered since that one have gotten lower and lower in the neck line.  I might stop ordering Zumbawear tops.

The order turned out so well that I went to dancewearsolutions.com and ordered a few more crew neck styles.  They were cheaper and I hope they'll fit since a couple were on sale and therefore, nonreturnable.

I had 16 students in my adult class Tuesday!  That's a jump up from the eight or so regulars that have stuck it out with me all through this miserable hot summer.  Finally the weather is decent and some peeps I haven't seen since May have come back.  Sold more toning sticks.  I'm so happy for that.  The toning routine addition has been a hit.  I want to add another one - the African song one.

My sis got to attend my class last night.  She was a hoot.  Noisier than most of my regulars and she made the class so fun with her clapping and woohooing.  She loves Zumba as much as I do.  She burned 500 calories.  I was disappointed I didn't make her burn more.  I wanna second chance!  I can do better!  She did say her bum is sore today and so I think I can take credit for that.  Yay!

Maranatha.  I looked it up.  It occurs only once in the Holy Bible at the end of the book of 1 Corinthians.  It means "Our Lord has come" or "Our Lord, come!"

Took my sister to the airport today and now we miss her a lot.  I have to sleep without her tonight.  I don't want to.

Son is excelling in horse lessons.  I think he's doing fair in school but has an Eeyore complex.  He's down talking everything about it. 

Saw the pills my dad is taking.  There are so many of them.  So many bottles.  Looked like a dozen bottles in a large Ziploc.  It took him an hour to get his pill box ready for the coming week.  The chemo pill is making his hair thin.  Gave him nausea one day.  His feet are swollen.  Today he feels fairly well though.  It's good for him to be up and about as much as possible.  Our son gave him a new, cool hat and he liked it especially since he forgot to bring his own hat.  Made me happy that our son did that and did it all on his own. 

My dad.

Today my husband drove with my sister to pick our new horse trailer! It purty.  It's pewter colored.  He said in the time they traveled my sister talked more in five hours than I did in the entire six years we were on the road.

How did all these dust bunnies get in?  Is there a secret entry somewhere?

My niche

I think I've found my niche.  The Zumba with kids went super duper well today.  It was a joy to have such a big group - about 25 kidlets age 9 to 13.  I think they liked it.  I heard the principal is pleased with it.  She was outside with us for a bit and when I saw her sit down I completely forgot my train of thought.  I had to change the subject.  I talked at length about good posture - head straight, shoulders down, chest open, abdominals held in, pelvis tucked under.  I named and demonstrated some dance steps and they did them with me.  I will review posture and steps next week and see if anyone remembers.  I need a little oven timer so I can watch the time.  My husband told me what time it was and I didn't realize I was talking so long!  The kids all listened well.  Oddly, none of them got antsy or looked bored while talked.  The principal did have to separate two teeny bopper girls.  I couldn't tell why but they did ignore me while I was lining them up at the beginning of class.  I had to say, "Yoohoo, you need to move."  I did perceive some attitude in that corner when I began class. Hehe!  I was ready for it.  I think their hearts softened a bit by the end of class.  It's nerve wracking, I know it is, when you're a teen and you're told you have to do Zumba.  I hope the teen chickadees will end up enjoying it.

When I entered the building to collect the kids everyone was talking about Zumba!  I could hear a general murmur going on about Zumba.  I couldn't see them but heard some girls saying, "Zumba isn't dance.  It's just shaking your butt."  I bet it was the talk of the school when I brought them back after class.  Several of the children on the way back told me they loved Zumba.  Bless their hearts.  Made me feel so good.  So good.  Especially the 10 and 11 year old age seemed to be very positive about it.

My wonderful husband put a cover out for me so I didn't have to stand in the sun.  Good thing too.  I don't think I could have done it in the sun.  That reminds me.  I need to instruct the kids on how to jump correctly to ease the impact on their skeletal system.  We're outside on cement.

I had a case of the almost-throw-ups before class.  Sheesh.  I had to lie down on the bed and relax myself.  It's just kids and I still got nervous.  Me and Adele.  I read she throws up before a performance.  I hear she's a very good performer too.  I've never actually thrown up though so I'm not exactly like Adele.  Haha!  She's very beautiful too.

I think I've found my niche.  Pastor says when we are older, kids are raised, we should be teachers.  Everyone has something to share, experience to pass on to younger people.  It resonated with me.  I think he's right about that.  Although I'm 52 and husband is 70 and technically we're not done raising the last one.  :)