Musings from life in my fast lane

has anyone tried twitter?

Bibia — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:34:13 GMT

I just joined www.twitter.com . It tells everyone what you are up to in one or two line blurbs. For now, I'm kinda diggin' it. Something new to keep me distracted! The cloche hat that I had hoped to use in my dance does not fit my head. :( on to looking for another one that is a bit bigger. I didn't know I had a big head! LOL I'm needing a hat like this one in the picture above. I wouldn't mind having a haircut like that either!

Saturday

Bibia — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:01:42 GMT

My lilac bushes and peony are in the ground and the tall lilac is right under mom's window.....right where I wanted it. Thanks to my friend who helped me put them in. I'm so grateful! I went to the flea market and bought a ring. My other friend that I went with bought some jewelry for tribal looks (she will be joining the troupe that I'm in) and she had a great time with her first visit to the flea market. I went to the garage sale across the street and bought several things including an ergonomic desk chair, a beautiful photograph for my dining room, a magazine rack that I'm going to use for something else, but I'm not sure what yet, some shiny brites (replacement for some of my Christmas decorations that burned in the fire), some jeweled elastic headbands that I can use in a 20s look with some modifications, and a winter scarf. Less than $10! One of my friends came to the same garage sale and bought $72 worth of stuff! I did binge again last night but I'm feeling pretty miserable so that won't be happening again! I'm not all full of sadness and mourning.....I had a great day. Hooray for great days.

And the shed came tumbling down.......

Bibia — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:22:44 GMT

At around 2pm, the former shed in our backyard came tumbling down. The kids came down (stepdaughter and her bf) and did the work and now it's gone...... just a bitter memory of things that have happened while living in this house which I think is inflicted with stagnant chi or bad karma. At least I don't have a constant physical reminder of negativity staring me in the face everyday now. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we are going to make something decent in it's place......a small place to have a grill and some patio furniture.....and something that will keep the night people away (stepson and his ner do well friends). I am hopeful......it takes so little sometimes to make me feel hopeful.

Well, I did it.....and it didn't go as well as I had hoped.

Bibia — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:27:04 GMT

This is a whiny post and I make no appologies for it! My makeup class was only attended by members of student troupe. That was disappointment #1. Disappointment #2--one of them brought her teenage daughter with her who kept saying "mom, you look like a hooker." #3 the other attendee complained about everything and how her illness prevents her from processing information (I digress, but I think that maybe she needs to quit using her illness as an excuse for everything). None of the main troupe members showed up to help out and then my friend the makeup guru flaked out on me and couldn't show up. The makeup application itself wasn't too bad and they enjoyed seeing the DVDs of FCBD's and Ansuya's makeup application and tips. Of course, they tried to imitate the look with the wrong tools and products but they realized that and that was a good thing. I realized that I have the totally wrong color of blush and that the eye shadow I chose was maybe a little too intense....LOL.....waaaay too intense! So generally, I need to tweak things a little bit to get the information across to everyone and then everyone needs to show up and maybe the main troupe members need to show up and tell us what kind of "look" they really want us to have. I feel like I failed miserably. Then I forgot the 'before' pics. Took an after pic of one of the participants and someone took one of me. I will post them eventually. They want me to try this again next Friday or sometime next week when everyone can come (hopefully) and then makeup wise, we might be ready for our first performance as a troupe. I'm so disappointed :(

I can't believe I'm doing a stage makeup class tonight!

Bibia — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:09:55 GMT

My dance teacher asked me to show some of the members of the student troupe how to do performance makeup. So instead of thinking that someone might be singled out for not doing something "right", I decided to turn it into a class. I'm going to show part of the FCBD makeup and costuming video, Ansuya's part of her Magic of Bellydance on doing makeup and then we are going to try to do makeup together. Perhaps I can parlay this into a regular part of the the troupe's activities and maybe teach it at the college also. It would be fun, something a little out of the box for me though, although I do love to play with makeup and I'm not afraid to try new things. I'll be taking pics tonight too....so be prepared! Wish me luck!

I finished my choli!

Bibia — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:57:29 GMT

Well, as of 10:30 last night, my choli is finished and I did it all myself! (proud!) I'm not sure how exactly it's supposed to fit, but it fits fine, but I'm a little worried about when I raise my arms that I might have a spill <G> I'm sure once I get the right bra ready and all that, I'll be able to tweak things enough to have it fit just right! I will take pictures over the weekend during our makeup workshop that I'm conducting over at my house Friday night. I really feel like I accomplished something! YAY!

I did it! I'm actually sewing!

Bibia — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:56:02 GMT

I can't believe this.....I've actually been sewing today! I think the saga of the sewing sessions over at my house and instead of practice last Sunday is beginning to pay off. I have almost finished a pair of harem pants and then that damn stretch velvet choli! <G> And this is from someone who until yesterday didn't even know how to fix a bobbin and thread the machine! I'm thrilled! Just had to brag on myself a little bit.....pictures to come when I'm finished! Woooo hoooo! I know my mom is smiling down on me right now :)

My favorite words

Bibia — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:03:42 GMT

Synchronicity and Serendipity Serendipity: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for Synchronicity: the coincidental occurance of events and esp.psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality Which leads to synchronous: happening, existing, or arising at precisely the same time. Which leads to happenstance: a circumstance esp. that is due to chance. Sometimes, I just don't make things happen.....things just happen and they are good. I think it means that I'm living my life in sych with the universe and the universe opens up and gives me the things that it thinks I need or sometimes even that I want (most of the time a wish or desire that is a fleeting thought in the back of my mind). That's how I ended up at my first bellydance show and how I traveled that path to my first class and the rest is history. Something happened to me the other day......serendipity. The Fourth grade teacher came to me the other day and wants to hire me to be a dance instructor (not bellydance) for the Back to the Fifties dance at our school and will pay me $100 for two hours work! I will be teaching Electric Slide, Macarena, YMCA, Bunny Hop, and other dances that would be fun for our upper elementary kids at their first dance at the end of the school year. I actually will get paid to dance! Wowowowowowowowowowow! Now if I could just get paid for doing makeup for people (a friend of mine and I played around with our MAC addictions yesterday), wardrobe consulting, and personal shopping, I would conga out the door of my school and never look back! To me, life is about serendipity, synchronicity, and happenstance. Three very important words in my life.

I'm sick :(

Bibia — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:45:28 GMT

I have not done the awesome eyebrows yet because I'm sick.....again. I just finished up some antibiotics and meds for congestion last week for a sinus infection and now I'm down with whatever this is. I'm not working today. I'm bored. I'm glad I'm not at work, but I want to be doing something......anything. Yes, I'm whiny.......I'll be fine. AAAAAAAAACHOO! AAAAAAAAACHOO!

How Not to Look Old

Bibia — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:46:50 GMT

I read all things about beauty and fashion I get my hands on. I picked up a book called HOW NOT TO LOOK OLD by Charla Krupp. She has a whole book dedicated to looking "Y & H" (young and hip) rather than "OL" (Old Lady). She has 10 Rules for not looking old, 10 Things to do to look 10 years younger and 10 Things to do for less than $100 to take off 10 years. Among her rules are: Less is more, Stay away from nude hosiery, slim silhouettes, rather than heavy, bring everything up (brows, eyes, butts and boobs). Use shapewear for a smoother silhouette. Exfoliate. Among her 10 things to look 10 years younger: Wear pink lipstick, arch brows upward, cover your gray brows, make your eyeliner line slimmer, don't use dark lipliner. Slip on heels or high heel boots. 10 Things to do for less than $100: Cut some bangs. Wear the right bra, Switch from powder to cream blush, Whiten your teeth, polish your toes any color, pick up a hip accessory. I agree with some things, disagree with others. I don't believe in rules. These things she wrote for women across the board from ages about 35 to whatever. I believe that we should all be ourselves. I have a friend and co-worker who has the most eclectic style of anyone I have ever known. Would she change? Hell, no. She does what she wants the way she wants.....people think she's "quirky". But that's her. She's the hippest 64 year old I know! I've been giving it some thought and I wanted to share My guidlelines: Be yourself. Wear the colors you love. Dress comfortably and appropriate for the situation. If you want to use glitter on your eyes or body, do it! Just don't drown in it! Switch foundations if your old standby is too heavy. Less IS more in foundation. Wear shapewear when needed. Add highlights or lowlights to your hair to hide gray or soften your hair color if it's too harsh. Wear fewelry to give you a lift. Use accessories to your advantage! Going overboard isn't cool! SMILE! Feel free to give your own guidelines, agree or disagree, or any other opinions on this subject! Coming soon: Awesome eyebrows!

YAY ME!

Bibia — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:27:49 GMT

I'm totally makeup and hair challenged. All weekend I've been obsessed with makeup and hair tutorials on youtube and different blogs I've found and I've been triying out some of the techniques. I can make my hair into buns AND now I can do my eyebrows too! YAY ME! So now every weekend I am going to practice doing something NEW and DIFFERENT and perhaps I'll have some great tips and ideas for performing! I'm learning japanese anime buns, 40s freedom rolls, bangs when you have none. I'm doing some contouring and sculpting of my face and highlighting my eyes besides practicing my eyebrows (I virtulally have none--very light ones--it's hereditary). This may not be much to some of you, but it's a whole lot for me! Next on the agenda, learning how to sew so I can make some costume pieces! Things will be great in 2008!

I'm sick

Bibia — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:22:40 GMT

I get back from Phoenix (waving to Sasha! I enjoyed talking to you, I'm sorry I didn't get to call you back!) with a respiratory infection. Thank goodness troupe practice was cancelled tonight. Thankfully, my house was still standing when we got home. The weather held out.....no snow here. Wednesday was recital. I finally have some pictures of me performing. I will have to put them on the computer. Thursday I had a party to go to, Friday was the troupe party....fun! I got home at 1:30. Saturday I had a party to go to. This boy scout Indian dance group came and danced for them. Two of them were former students of mine. Today I went to the Dr. Next week is the last week before school is out for Christmas break. I am so needing this break. I don't know if we are going to go anywhere. I don't want to be home......I am not sure I can handle it this year. I'm doing ok, though....all things considered. All the relatives have scattered again. I don't really care, but they sure were underfoot when everything was happening to my mom. They didn't used to be that way. Oh well......I have friends and other family (the other side) that seem to be around. I'm rambling now, which I tend to do when I'm tired. I'm just 'blah' right now. This time next weekend I'll be relaxing and not thinking about school!

What to do....what to do!

Bibia — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:41:55 GMT

I just got a call from my dance teacher and troupe director who told me that we (the student troupe) NEEDS to be in costume and ready for PICTURES in the next few weeks. Well, I thought that we had more time to get ready for anything but NOOOOOOOOO! The troupe will be doing tribal fusion choreographies and I don't have much stuff that's tribal fusion. My hair, ack! My makeup, double ACK! Up to now, the classes' recitals have been "dress up with emphasis on cabaret". What do I do? Where do I start? I can't sew! HELP!!!!!!!!!

YAYYAYYAYYAY! I am now in the student troupe!!

Bibia — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:44:45 GMT

I'm really excited because I tried out for student troupe and I got in!!! I was so afraid to do it, but what did I really have to lose? We will be doing primarily tribal fusion, but some cabaret as well. The troupe has no name.....I'm kind of partial to LES ETOILES DE NUIT (I think that is how your spell it), but I think the main troupe is actually going to name it.Is that a dumb name? Does the name of the troupe necessarily have to be something related to arabic or the middle east? I just want to dance. Ideally, I would like to find someone to be dance with that I'm compatible with so that we will "jell". Realistically, I don't know if that's going to happen, but matters not at this point. Has anyone ever tried to choreograph a dance with steps and picked the music later? I have this vision of a dance I would like to do, but I can't find a song yet. It's so frustrating! I am excited though! I feel so giddy!

School starts Monday and I'm dealing with.........

Bibia — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:52:02 GMT

my mom. The new normal has changed again. Yesterday morning, I found her in the backyard. She told me she got "lost" and couldn't find her way home, meaning her old home. She said she was out there all night long. Nobody heard a thing last night. My dog "protected" her.....she got my attention to go outside to see what was going on. So I called Home Health and the nurse came out to look at her arm and to assess things. I spent most of my day in the ER with mom. Miraculously, her CT scan of her head showed nothing and the Xray of her arm showed nothing as well. The time has come......she's going to have to go somewhere where she is safe. She's just not safe here. Even when we are here. I'm ok with it......I did my crying yesterday.....I have to do what I have to do. This time, it's not quite so hard, but yet, it is. I'm sorry if I'm being whiny and stuff. Writing about it helps me deal......Just send us some positive thoughts and prayers if that's what you believe. We need it.

You will never believe what I saw on my porch tonight/this morning!

Bibia — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:26:02 GMT

I went to a wonderful local event called "Femme III", which celebrates local female artists. Sahara N'ar performed (the local troupe) and it was a good time. As I was driving up in the driveway, I saw this silver/grey thing on the porch. I thought it was a cat, since we feed a stray cat that hangs out on the porch (and a couple of others!) When I saw it move I saw that it was a possum!!!!! A possum in the middle of the city! It must be used to being around people because it didn't move too much from where it was when I was trying to get in the house! I couldn't believe it!! Sometimes, you never know what you will see in Amarillo TX! Someone told me not too long ago, they had seen a mountain lion somewhere on the outskirts of town. We don't live anywhere NEAR mountains!

I'm not smiling :(

Bibia — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:33:55 GMT

Here's the deal. I'm really angry at the Texas Legislature that we can't start school before Aug 27. As a result, our part of the state ( I don't know about other areas) have to have school on LABOR DAY in order to get all of our instructional days in. This really SUCKS!!!!!!! Average daily attendance will be really LOW because that's the last hurrah (so to speak) of summer and I had plans!!!!!!! Yesterday at work, teachers are back getting classrooms ready and going to inservice meetings and so forth, my administrator comes up to me and says, "Bea, you really do need to smile more." I thought she was just kidding around, as she sometimes does. Then she told me the story that some parent of one of my students told her that I always look so serious and I never smile. I'm really not one of those people who have a perpetual smile on my face :):):):):):):): Sometimes, when I concentrate on what I'm doing....I look.....serious, always have. Sometimes I have things on my mind and believe me, I spend a lot of time being preoccupied about stuff at home. So anyway, she went on to tell me that she told this person that I have a really good sense of humor and that I'm a lot of fun, etc. She said, don't really give it another thought. What have I been thinking about????????? NOT SMILING ENOUGH to suit everyone. This issue has come up before. I made an effort to smile more (which seemed kind of fakey to me) and I truly believe that I don't have a problem with smiling. The last way anyone would describe me is dour, not happy, or uninteresting!!!!!!!!! This just sucks and I'm working on letting it go.........sometimes, even for the unflappable, I get flapped. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR............

I need a pair of Khaki pants

Bibia — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:38:40 GMT

As some of you may know, my day job is teaching a montessori kindergarten prep class. School starts for me on Thursday (teachers only) and kids on the 27th. I need some khaki pants because we are getting yet another T-shirt with the school logo in khaki and brown. How many school spirit shirts can one person have or does one need?? So yesterday, I decided to go shopping for khaki pants. I went to our local (ewwww) mall. I went to several stores. Very few khakis to be found. I looked in the plus size dept. Everything in my "old size" was too big (YAY!) and the lower sizes didn't fit in the waist (always a problem). So I went to the petite dept and checked the larger sizes.......about 2 more inches in the waist/tummy and one of the larger size petites will fit....that was a good thing actually. But I STILL need some khaki pants! HELP!!!!!!!!!! It's so unfortunate that I have to be such a conformist at my work........<sigh> Where does one find khaki pants?????? this is making me crazy!

the day before my birthday

Bibia — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:36:00 GMT

I'm just rambling on the day before my birthday. Today my mom fell trying to "help" with the laundry. I called Home Health and took a look at her. She seems to be ok, but time will truly tell. I really do believe that this is the beginning of the end. It's amazing to me that you can see someone you haven't seen for 25 or 30 years and see them today and see a glimmer of the person they were when we were kids. That happened to me tonight. I kept looking at this guy and I knew who he was. We've known each other since 5th grade. As soon as I spoke, he remembered me and not only that, one of my mom's nurses is someone I also went to school with since 8th grade. We were family back then, we were all tightly knit in my class. It's as if time stood still for us. It just amazes me.

This and that

Bibia — Sat, 26 May 2007 22:42:51 GMT

WOW! I didn't realize that I hadn't written anything since January! Well, let me catch up a little. I performed for another recital April 27. That was really the first time I really felt like a dancer! School's OUT for the SUMMER! We had our last day yesterday.....a couple of hours of maintaining order. I made it fine through the 5th grade promotion ceremony, but to say goodbye to my kids....that was tough and yes, I was boo-hooing just a little! <G> What am I going to do this summer? Cleaning my house and trying to get this stuff with mom straightened out. Learning how to sew.....painting the family room and redoing the floor. Maybe getting my nose pierced, but hubby is not real crazy about the idea. Dance classes begin in two more weeks. Mom came home from the nursing home April 30. It's a long story and very complicated. We hired an elder law attorney to handle things. Meanwhile, mom is getting home health care services three times a week. In spite of the fact that she's recovered from the fractured hip, she's walking and trying to "help" around the house, she has declined since the fracture and needs the walker or wheelchair to get around. She wants to take a trip this summer....Not sure about that. Anyway, that's all from my world.

It's snowing again

Bibia — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:51:32 GMT

This is the fourth weekend in a row we've had bad weather. Now it's snowing......we have probably 8 or inches at 12:45 pm. Last weekend and the weekend before we had ice......not the really bad ice like in Austin, San Antonio and D/FW. So I have my magazines, my blankets are ready in case we lose power and everyone is in. Last time it snowed like this we had 22 inches of snow. I don't want any more snow days off from work......I can't believe I'm saying that! Bellydance II class started on Thursday night. Oh boy.......we started off with belly rolls.......I can't believe that......BELLY ROLLS! I've been practicing them and they are still eluding me! I'm glad to be back in class....it's going to be a fun class this semester! not much else going on in my life......I read a book called THE SECRET. It really spoke to me in ways that nothing else has in a long time. it's about the Law of Attraction and positive thinking, etc. I needed an attitude adjustment. I loved it.....now I want the DVD.

I'm performing for the first time and other comments

Bibia — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 15:00:22 GMT

I'm performing on December 7 in two songs with my classmates. I'm excited and I'm scared because this is the first time I've ever bellydanced in front of anyone besides my classmates! I'm a little nervous with the second song because I'm in front and I really don't want to be but when you are vertically challenged, that happens! I'm so grateful for this past week because I know now that my mom is exactly where she needs to be. She went on an outing with family members on Thanksgiving day and she's not able to handle very long excursions yet. She has kept saying she wants to come home, but we all know now that she can't because she's physically not able to walk long distances yet......this is something I've been wrestling with for a long time, whether I did the right thing. Yes I did.....with no doubts in my mind. I'm so relieved and I'm so grateful for this knowledge! I always kind of dread the holidays because I want my to be picture perfect, "we are the world" type celebrations and something always seems to go wrong. Why? Because I seem to be on a different page than everyone else I guess. So this year, we are going to go on a trip for Christmas, where we aren't going to be around any family and no expectations but to enjoy where we are. Maybe that will be our new tradition. That's all from the flip side......I'll report back on the performance!

It's hot and I'm tired

Bibia — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 16:06:28 GMT

It's hot and I'm tired. Too much stuff to do and I don't want to move from my house! This running back and forth to the hospital is getting me down, I can only imagine how my mom feels. She wants to come home so badly. She's working hard to do that. I'm nervous, but I guess things will work out ok. Nuff said........

Back online!

Bibia — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 14:01:51 GMT

Well, I'm back online after a two week absence due to my computer dying and my mom's accident. I'm still practicing 6 days a week for about two hours. This will last until I go back to work on the 8th of August and then I will have to readjust my schedule and about the same time, my mom will come from the rehabilitation hospital. This should be fun......well, maybe not LOL Anyway, I'm here and I'm catching up on tribe biz now!

My first public blog

Bibia — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 18:04:41 GMT

Ok, I'm going to join the blogging world. I've never done this before, maybe it will be fun. I have a lot of ideas and opinions that perhaps someone will be interested in reading, and maybe I'll even vent a little, ok a lot! LOL Sometimes, I will let the reader take a glimpse into my life. I just got back from a short vacation with my mom, who is 93 years old. We went to San Antonio. I'm still in shock that she was in good enough shape to make the trip. Vacationing with your mother, however, can be an exercise in frustration at times. As much as I love her, she does have this ability to make me crazy. Next time I decide to do this, someone please remind how crazy she drove me! Overall, it was good a trip. Mom got to visit with family and I actually took a couple of bellydancing classes at Karavan Studios. That was fun and gave me a different perspective on the way others teach, etc. I'm ready to go somewhere again, I do wish I could go by myself, but my husband wouldn't see the humor in that! LOL Next week is my birthday. A friend is trying to talk me into getting my nose pierced or maybe even a tattoo. I'm a total baby about pain. I had a hard enough time getting my ears pierced, much less getting either the nose pierced or the tattoo. I'm sure either one of those would go over really well at my workplace......but might be kind interesting at the same time!