6.29.98

    Well, T. and I finally made it to The Derby for swing dancing lessons and had a blast. It's a really nice club with great lighting and really cool booths for munching and people watching. Apparently, their dinner fare comes from the restaurant next door, La Trattoria, and is rumored to be quite good. We didn't get to eat, though, since we showed up a little later than planned and there was already a crowd gathering in the ballroom.

    I was surprised that so many people were there for a Sunday night but, as it turns out, these dance lessons are really popular. There were people from all different experience levels but many were beginners. It's nice to know that you are not the only ones stepping on each other's feet. I have two ugly welts on the back of my ankles where I was kicked by thick, rubber girl shoes. Each time I was completely stunned and had to limp to the edge of the floor. I think pants are in order for our next round.

    I was very impressed with T. and a bit disappointed in myself. This whole dance lesson thing was my idea but I found myself getting really nervous and cowardly as we got closer to the club. It took me a while to warm up to the whole dancing thing but T. seemed very much at ease. He is just so cool.

    T. started out with a beer and I loosened up with a cosmopolitan. A cosmopolitan is pink and comes in a martini and makes my lips numb -- perfect. In case you were wondering:

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2 ounces vodka
2 ounces cranberry juice (from a concentrate)
1 ounce lime juice (real, please)
3/4 ounce Cointreau
Stir vodka Cointreau, and juices with ice; strain into a chilled tumbler filled with ice. Pour into a martini glass with lime garnish and serve.

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    So, now that we're all a little silly -- let's dance.

    ~/~ put on your red shoes and dance ~/~

    The first thing that the instructors had us do was line up girls on one side of the room and boys on the other. Then he demonstrated the first steps which are a step to the right (for the girls) and then a "rock-step" to the back. He instructs the boys on the opposite motion and lets everybody get this down before proceeding. I only thought afterwards about how much difficulty and confusion there might have been with two beginners trying to get this basic step down as a couple. Brilliant, I tell you, brilliant.

    The rest of the dance hour was spent learning fun little spins and attempting to stay together and on beat. The couple teaching the class was wonderful. They were young and dressed smashingly. He wore a white button up with a black vest and pinstriped black pants and she wore a floating, pink, short dress with rhinestone accents and sparkly, silver heels. When they would dance the expression on her face was priceless; her smile was like the Mona Lisa. I asked if they had a studio where we could take further lessons but, alas, they teach Salsa. Salsa will simply have to wait.

    After the lesson, T. and I hung around and watched everybody dancing. The beginners were just as much fun to watch as the advanced. There was one couple who did this whole thing where they'd press up against each other and just move their feet all around. It was hilarious and looked like lots of fun. The energy in the room was great, everybody was happy. T. and I danced a bit more, drank a little more and then headed home. Waiting outside for the light to change at the crosswalk T. explained a few of the moves he thought I was missing and we danced right there on the corner.

    Last night I could barely sleep because I dreamt constantly of, guess what, swing dancing! So, I woke up exhausted and hot. Our apartment is getting so hot lately that it is, at times, hardly bearable. My dreams consisted of endless seminars on the history of swing dancing, on proper etiquette, on the various steps involved, et cetera, et cetera. And then I would wake up, roll around and try to go back to sleep. All over again the seminars would start.

    T. fared no better for sleep and had a dream about the wedding. I have been having wedding dreams/nightmares off and on for the last six months so I'm a little surprised that it has taken T. this long. Well, his dream just shows how much the stress is getting to him and how much members of our families could do to make things easier. He dreamt that since we are having our wedding in the mountains (we are) that someone in the family decided the day before that we needed to have snow. The solution was to cart 8 tons of flour up the mountain and dust everything. He said that the hardest part was getting the flour to sit properly on the grating around the lodge. This is a pretty truthful representation of what has been going on lately.

    What is the cost of a marriage license in Vegas?