Superstars!

It's true! Doug and I were superstars on Friday night.

For the past few months we've been taking a Performance Lindy Hop (aka Superstar Lindy) class from Naptown Stomp. Our instructors (the fabulously great Kathy and Aaron) choreographed and taught a very snazzy lindy routine to 8 dance couples. Last Friday night at the Fountain Square Theater swing dance, we managed to not fall on our faces as we performed during one of the intermissions.

This class ended up being a great idea. I think it was the first time I ever took a dance class that really required a lot of rehearsal outside the class to make it a success. We definitely learned some really slick moves--we haven't quite figured out how to fit into our regular dancing, but we will soon! It was a great way to really get to know the other Naptown Stompers a whole lot better. Our only complaint was that the ultimate goal of the class, the performance, was only 2 minutes long! We want to do it again!!

Many, many thanks need to go to Kathy and Aaron for the tons of time they put into making this a success. They did a great job with us. And to Sandy for giving us a place to rehearse on the weekend. And to all the Superstars for working so hard! And one final thanks to Debra, for taking the video of the performance for me!

One of my favorite comments from a friend afterward the performance was "Fiona, you looked like you were having a great time, but Doug looked like he was concentrating very hard." :)

Crazy Pets

Early last spring, I was thrilled and surprised to find out that one of my $.30 goldfish had survived the winter in my little backyard pond. He was enormous, at least compared to his starting size! I bought a few more friends for him over the summer and fully planned on bringing them inside for the winter. With the craziness of our fall traveling last year, I never did get them indoors.

So, for the past few months, I've been anxiously waiting for signs of gold through the murk and leaves floating in the pond. I had pretty much given up on any signs of life until this Sunday, when Doug spotted the big guy! Thrilled, I tossed in some fish food and we found that four fish (out of five, I think) survived the winter. Yay! After I worked in the garden last night, I tried to take some pictures, but they are very twitchy little guys. These ones are pretty blurry, but the video clip below is better.

In the house, Agatha has become completely obsessed with getting the fishies in the new indoor fish tank. For years, I've been trying to get some cute pictures of her perched on top of my favorite gargolye (technically a grotesque, I know, but then most folks wouldn't know what I was talking about). Who knew that all I needed to do was add some fish into the household to get that picture!?!

Since this post seems to be all about pet pictures, here's one last of Agatha investigating my finished knitting project. The Amazing finally finished 14-foot DOCTOR WHO SCARF! After more than two years on this project, I finally gave it to my sister Deirdre, who has been longing for one of these since she was a teenager.