Unofficial 40.5 Birthday Celebration

Had I paused to think about it, I would have brought my camera with me on Saturday.  Yet, I was in the midst of juggling several activities, starting with writing, filing my on-line sales taxes then dashing off to school in order to water the school garden and prune the spice plants, both to keep them from growing wildly and to use in my turkey casserole. 

But once I returned to my apartment, I slowed down and painted for nearly an hour. I’m nearly done with the geometric design on the 12 x 12 box that I had to repaint.  Yes, I was morally obligated to repaint over the atrocious oil painting that originally covered that innocent wooden box and go for something that a painter with my questionable ability couldn’t mess up too badly.  From across the room, it actually looks beautiful with its square and triangle design in my signature bold colors. I don’t even notice the flaws until I’m an arm’s length away and when I stray that close, I just have to snatch it up and take my .5 brush and clean up some of the lines. I  learned a few years ago that the most challenging thing for me to paint freehand is a straight line…and yet I still try.

I cleaned up remarkably well, put on some jean shorts and a fun, colorful top that had beaded work (one person commented that I looked particularly “ethnic”), and took 2 hours worth of tango lessons followed by a “Salsa on 2” workshop, then scooted over to Central Market to enjoy one of their tasty dishes, shrimp and mango over rice along with an even tastier Malbec just before Ritmo 3 played.

Initially, I was worried since some girlfriends had showed up to join me, but no leaders.  I don’t mind being the early bird to get the table for the group, but I would like to have a reason for changing out of my regular shoes and into my dance shoes.  After the first song finished, the first of several male friends finally appeared and we cautiously got on the dancefloor, careful not to collide into all the little kids who were enthusiastically dancing.

Things definitely picked up after the band break.  The sun had gone down, the latecomers had arrived and I nearly danced the soles off my shoes.  Nonetheless, I felt wonderful and when I got home around 9:30 I saw the radiance in my face.  I thought back to my 40th birthday celebration back in September where I’d spent the whole day dancing.  Although I’d just done it on a smaller scale, I think I should make it a point to do that more than twice a year.