So. I live in Virginia and am going to be hit with this hurricane pretty soon. Over the next few days, actually. And I have a way out if I want. My dad has offered to fly me home to New Hampshire. Hmmm tempting.

Reasons why I don’t think I should go:

I will miss work on Friday and Saturday. I am currently hurting financially because the man I’ve been caring for for the last couple of years passed away on Saturday night. It feels so weird to say that. It still doesn’t seem real… So because he is gone, and I haven’t found another job yet, I think I should stay here and work at the other job I have.

I love flying. I love adventures. I love spontaneity. I especially love flying for free. I love vacations. I looooooove New Hampshire. And my family. I could fly up for a few days and spend time with my sister, my parents…. my brother! And friends. Friends <3

The decision is coming down to the money though. That hussle is real. I should probably do the responsible thing and stay here and work. Heck, I could even work more than I’m scheduled for since other caregivers may not be able to make it to work in the storm. That would be a major inconvenience to my boss if I dipped out and left, and then he couldn’t find coverage for his wife.

I’ve made up my mind. I’m staying here. Buckling down. And going dancing tonight.

Yep. Tonight I’m going dancing. Ooooh ooh yes it’s going to be fun! Salsa and bachata here I come!

Last night I went bachata and salsa dancing. Mostly bachata TBH because salsa is difficult and I didn’t pick it up very quickly. One of the reasons why it’s so difficult is because there are different counts. There is “salsa 1” and “salsa 2” when you emphasize certain steps. I was getting all sorts of mixed up last night on the dance floor as to whether or not I should be going forwards or backwards, and whether or not my partner was doing salsa 1 or 2…. It was disastrous. Okay, maybe that’s a bit too harsh.

I danced salsa with like 5 people last night. The first person, total flop. He didn’t know how to dance salsa very well himself, and certainly was not in a position to be leading me. The second dude was a little more confident, but our steps were not matching up, and I told him I wasn’t sure what I was doing. So then he proceeded to bring me literally right next to the large speaker so I could “hear” the music, since apparently making yourself go deaf is a good way to do that, and then he began explaining footwork right next to the speaker. I couldn’t hear a word of what he saying, and the only thing I could tell that he said was “do you understand now?” to which I shook my head “no”. So then he brought me over to the DJ table to the dance teacher and said “she doesn’t get it” and so the teacher started to walk me through the steps and he said “nahhh she’s got it, she’s got it!” and then luckily the song ended. And the fellow asked me to dance again, and I said I’m going to go sit down for this one.

The third guy that asked me to salsa was pretty good! He led me and I followed pretty well! It really helped that he didn’t hold back with me because it was my first night. He simply danced. And I followed. It was fun! The fourth guy was the same thing. The fifth guy, I actually danced two bachata songs with him first, and then we tried a salsa song. He kept apologizing, which was pretty cute. Though I was like yo, it’s probably not you. But he wasn’t focusing on what was wrong. He kept moving forward and we had fun!

At the beginning of the evening, there was a little lesson for newbies. First bachata, and then salsa. I made it for some of the bachata lesson, and all of the salsa. Though the salsa lesson seemed very short. Probably because it was all new to me. Immediately after the lesson, I had dude after dude hmu to dance. I danced like five songs in a row and was having lots of fun. But I got spun around like forty times in a row, okay maybe 20…  it was excessive — and then I had to go to the bar and drink some water! I got hot and sweaty real quick.

Those were all bachata, and I didn’t even try the salsa for a while. And so when I finally did and the first two people were a flop, I got a little bit discouraged. But honestly, I didn’t learn how to do it all. Didn’t know about the two different counts. It was hard to just feel the music and try to figure out the dude’s footwork without verbalizing it. I’m a verbal kind of girl. Like, if my dance partner would tell me “okay, I’m starting with stepping forward, and we are doing salsa 1” I would’ve been a lot better off (After learning about salsa 1 and knowing how to do it of course). Lol

I think I’m going to practice salsa 1 and salsa 2 today in my room. I want to get good! There were some amAZing dancers there last night. Including a friend of mine and her sister. They were rockin’ the floor! It was beautiful to watch, and very inspiring! It really made me want to learn.

I’m excited, y’all. There are so many fun parts of life that bring life to us, to me. Dancing is something I’ve been craving to do. I remember in 2014, actually right around this time, I was backpacking the John Muir Trail and was going through this open expanse of desert after coming down from a rocky summit. It was very windy and I felt like I sortof had tunnel vision as I followed a narrow, dusty trail across the land, that didn’t seem to be getting any shorter. And I got a word about dancing. I should dance. I knew I should.

That fall I looked into ballet classes. I actually went to a beginner adult class or two. It was super fun. I should dig out my leotard and ballet shoes just for kicks… Oh wait, I think they’re in NH. Hmm.

Anywho, here we are four years later, and I’m beginning a journey of bachata and salsa. God is so good. He gives us what we need! I was praying to him weeks ago asking for an opportunity to dance. And here we are! Beautiful. Fulfilling. Fullness of heart.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

And now we await the storm! Hurricane Florence……. But no matter what the storm brings, I am confident that God will take care of me and continue providing for all that I need; including what I THINK I need, and things that I wouldn’t have thought I needed, but that bring so much joy and hope and life.

He is the giver of life!

xxxx <3

V