Mary Bellamy

Two things you should know about me.

1. I love to dance.
2. I love shoes.

Therefore, ballroom dance, which requires special shoes, holds a place in my heart. Yes, I could dance in regular shoes, but I have found a company that makes rather affordable custom shoes. You pick the shoe style, the heel height, any and all of the fabrics you desire, and you have your choice of a leather or suede sole. In other words, exactly what you want, for $60, most likely made by Chinese orphans.

I already have two pairs. As it turns out, one pair is not so comfortable. They press on the top of my foot and make one toe hurt. Naturally, I've been wearing that pair constantly. I figure if I make my feet hurt enough, I can convince myself that it's medically necessary to buy a new pair. And I was almost there. On Thursday I spent a few hours online with a dance friend in the Lower 48, sussing out my new shoes. I had already chosen the style, and we went back and forth over fabric selections. I may have made a mockup in Photoshop.

But my new shoes are not meant to be. Let's switch gears to sushi. I promise, the story will come full circle.

On Thursday, I not only debated shoes, but also went out on a date. I met him at a sushi restaurant for dinner. (Side note: He shows promise. I was not bored. In fact, I was entertained. As I recall, he sat there patiently while I ranted about Papyrus.) When we left the restaurant, he found that the inside of his windows had frosted. I wished him luck with that (and may have cackled over his misfortune) and drove home. After a few minutes on the road, I thought, "Gee, why don't I hear my vents?" Karma is a bitch. I blew my blower motor. (Pun not intended, but entirely welcome. Thus far, I have struggled not to make "blower motor" sound like a dirty thing.)

As an aside, last week it was +40. This week it is -20. And I have no heat in my car.

I skipped the gym on Friday in favor of calling my mechanic as soon as the shop opened. They had some free time! I brought my car in immediately! You may now cue the familiar Fairbanks chorus: "We don't have that part in town. We'll have to order it. It should be here by Monday." So my car is still driveable, but I have no heat and no defrost (which kind of means I shouldn't exhale in the car).

Oh, and the cost for parts and labor? Over $500. Frak me. So here the story comes full circle: No new shoes for me. I have to get my car functional again. Though it is tempting to just get this and use a space heater.

I decided I was going to give up shame for Lent. It was going to be the best 40 days (and nights) of my life. Then a coworker questioned how I could give up shame when I didn't have any in the first place.

I've decided instead to give up drinking for the month of March. This allows me a month without any alcohol, but keeps me away from the religious trappings of Lent that would make me feel bad if I failed.

Can I act sanctimonious when I offer to be the designated driver all month?

I have found the winner of "worst movie concept of all time."



It's all available on YouTube if you really want to watch it. But you don't really want to watch it, do you?

It's February - how are you doing with your resolutions? I'm not the sort of person to make (or keep) resolutions, but I've realized that I have made a few adjustments to my regular lifestyle.

• Gym changes. The gym fairy was good to me, and I got to go to the SRC almost every day during the University's holiday leave. I realized that I don't like feeling rushed in the morning, so I started getting up earlier so that I can put in longer workouts every day. Anything less than an hour of cardio feels like a waste of time, and I usually do a bit more than that. I've also started stretching after I exercise. Because I'm naturally flexible, stretching feels pointless, but since I've started doing it, my flexibility has increased even more.
• Less baking. I've only baked once this year - pumpkin whoopie pies for my mom's birthday. Of course, this doesn't mention the fact that I've started down the crazy road of candy. Homemade marshmallows, people! Also, I put monthly baked goods back up in a charity auction at work, so I'll be baking again this week. The bid is currently at $205, with a coalition of coworkers banding together to battle last year's winner.
• More water. I'm up to 96-120 ounces a day. I'd like to drink even more, but I'm starting to get weighed down with the amount of water bottles I'm bringing to work. I bring 3 full bottles (1 for the gym, 2 for my desk) every day, and have the option of refilling at the water cooler. UAF tap water tastes disgusting, and I don't want to tax the water cooler funds.
• More dance. Well, also different dance. I'm currently dancing a minimum of 5 hours a week. Lately I've been going to ballroom practice on the weekends too, adding another 2-4 hours of dance. I want to start going to Argentine tango practice when I can, and will continue to explore new avenues of dance. My time with American Tribal Style dance is winding down a bit. I can't commit to the additional time needed to perform ATS, plus the ATS and Cold Fusion performances are usually one and the same, and I don't want the stress of trying to rush costume changes to perform multiple numbers. But ballroom is picking up, and I may move back into hooping.
• Cleaning. My roommate and I have started watching Hoarders. It's great for keeping things in perspective (i.e. "we're not that messy!") and also for getting us off our asses to clean. On Sunday, we prepped ourselves with mimosas, then set a kitchen timer for one hour. We ended up only working on our bedrooms during that time, but it involved crawling under beds and vacuuming and sorting through clothes to give away. Later that night when someone knocked over a drink, it seemed logical to just move all the furniture and mop rather than spot-clean the floor.
  

I think that's about all the changes my life can handle right now. I'm still trying to work out the logistics of an overseas trip at the end of the year. My planning in advance is great, but I can't exactly price out tickets when they're not up for sale yet.