Tuesday:) Time For Tunes and a Tank Top Kinda Day

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” 
― Osho

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Do you love life? What do you do to enhance its beauty? What do you do to bring pure joy into your life?

Music, movement, dance, singing, creating art, and writing, all these things bring me joy. I take classes at the McKinney YMCA, usually kickboxing Monday and Friday, then Zumba Tuesday and Thursday. The music, movement, and dance is sheer exhilaration. Walking every day and taking photos are good for my soul. Then, I love to write. I write this blog, I write poetry and stories and letters and emails. Sometimes I paint, teach others to paint, and share my artwork with others. When I hear music, I dance or I sing, or both. 

Yes, I’m in love with life. So many things to love, so many things to do, so little time. 

A short snippet from Zumba class today. So, “Shut up and dance with me.”

After a long afternoon walk, I parked my bottom in a chair, sat in the sun, and watched the world go by.

  
  
A beautiful tank top kinda day.

Theme Song Thursday: Dance for…

We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.
~ Angela Monet
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I love Zumba, I love dancing, I love music. The music and motion and beat courses through my veins and I just start dancing. You can’t be sad or mad when you are dancing and wiggling around like a nut.

But alas, the music eventually stops, and the dancing slippers are put aside. Keep the music in your heart and in your head. Dance in your dreams.

What do you dance for?

Theme Song Thursday: Shake Señora

Dancing and running shake up the chemistry of happiness.
Mason Cooley
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Another early morning walk, another spectacular sunrise to paint the dawn with a glowing paint brush. Very poetic, huh? The amazement of nature will do that to you.

Immediately after an hour walk, off to Zumba at the YMCA. The music, the dancing, the comaraderie, and all that shaking it all around, loosens up all tension and anxiety. I’m ready to tackle the day. I stopped at the grocery store, came home and went for another quick walk.

Always good to shake up the chemistry of happiness. GO DANCE SEÑORA!!!

Theme Song Thursday With a Side of Thankful

The one thing that you have that no one else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.
~Neil Gaiman
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My morning started out with a super-charged Zumba class. Johnny was subbing for the class today. We never had a guy instructor, so I was a little dubious. OH MY!!! Johnny Got Moves!!! It was such a fun hour of dancing, hopping, grooving, and sweating. So fun!

I had to look up the song. We’ve done this one before, but I never knew the name. Plus, we never moved like that before. Shawty Got Moves:Get Cool.

After Zumba, I came home, did not pass go, did not collect $200, and went for a long, long walk. The dancing and the walking gives me such motivation and energy. After a late breakfast, I paid some bills, made some calls, and checked my emails. It’s funny, I was looking at my Linked In page and saw my friend Becky Hill’s page saying that she celebrated three years at the bank. Becky is also an intuitive and motivational speaker back home in Barrington, Illinois. We’ve been friends for over twenty years. I clicked on “LIKE” and thought, “I wonder how Becky’s doing.”

I decided to go upstairs and tackle some more unpacking of boxes and bins in the “crap room.” I just turned on the radio and the phone rang. It was Becky! Whoa! We’ve only talked a couple of times in the past few years. She said, There are NO coincidences.” She was thinking about me too and felt compelled to call.

So, today I am thankful the gift of dance, music, and friendship. AND last but not least, I am thankful a well needed refreshing rain this afternoon.

I am thankful for my voice, my mind, my story, my vision. So I write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only I can.

Theme Song Thursday: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

“Just remember, there comes a time when the party isn’t a party anymore; it’s your life.”
― Doug Cooper, Outside In
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What’s your definition of partying? There comes a time in your life when you realize that partying is not about getting drunk and acting stupid. It’s doing fun, happy things that brightens your spirit, and doesn’t harm anyone. It’s your life.

I love going to Zumba. We dance our little booties off, laugh, sweat and get a great workout. That’s my idea of partying. But then again, I’m getting kinda old. “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.” Nope, a little party should be totally awesome. Here’s a snippet of today’s partying at the YMCA.

That’s another great idea. After a lot of good, clean, healthy partying, time to take a nap.

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.
Etty Hillesum
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It was a dark, dreary, rainy day. I was going to go for a walk when I noticed the rain drops starting to dance against the window panes. Don’t get me wrong. I was thankful for the rain. It’s been so dry and the local lakes are down so much that water restrictions will be inevitable. But, rainy days still make me moody.

The day was such a blur. I did a little reading, laundry, paid bills, etc., but still couldn’t shake the blahs. So, I decided that maybe a nap would help. I never take a nap, and for good reason. I don’t sleep, but rather lay there thinking of all the things I should be doing or thinking about things that I shouldn’t be thinking. The rain finally stopped, so I put on my walking shoes and went for a double walk.

The fast pace and brisk air lifted my spirits a bit, but not quite enough. Then, I remembered that there was an evening Zumba class at the Y. I think it was at 6:30. What time was it now? I looked at my phone, only 6:10, so I scurried home, changed quickly and zipped off to Zumba. I never went at night before. It was pretty fun. I’ll have to remember that next time I have too much energy, negative thoughts and nothing exciting to while away the day.

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Friday: Holiday Fun and Friends

The pursuit of beauty and truth is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
Albert Einstein
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Another fun video from my Zumba class yesterday at the McKinney YMCA, getting into the holiday spirit. Such fun!

We celebrated Della’s birthday at Towne Creek today. Her birthday is Christmas Eve, and that’s a heck of a time to have a birthday. But, hopefully we made it a special day for her. We worked on making some crafts, had a little feast, and sang happy birthday before digging into red velvet cake. My favorite part was when we held hands before our celebration and said what we were thankful for. Funny, everyone mentioned the wonderful friends we had made and shared our days with. That’s what it’s all about, my friends!

Our little feast.

Della loved her special birthday celebration with friends and red velvet cake.

Krys Watson brought fabulous appetizers. Look how cute!

We made a bunch of these crafts to share with friends and family.

Tuesday: Tips for Toning…or Toni…ing.

There’s a lot of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven’t the time to enjoy it.
Josh Billings
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If you’re gonna exercise, make sure it’s a lot of fun, you make friends doing it, and you go out to lunch afterwards.
Me
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I love Zumba! Not only is it a good workout, but it’s so much fun. I’ve lost some weight and all that wiggling and jiggling has significantly toned up those “jello” parts. Thus, the toning tip. Since my name is Toni, I’m going to coin the phrase “Toni…ing.” I’ve always wanted to dance and never had the opportunity. Now, I can dance, sing, and jiggle to my hearts content. I’ve also made some great friends in the process. Especially, my friend Karen who offered to call 911 for me on a couple occasions. Today was a fun day!

Theme Song Thursday: A “Thrilling” Halloween

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Happy Halloween! It was a fun day, starting with a “Thrilling” Zumba class at the YMCA in the morning, watching my friends play the last tennis match of the season, followed by lunch and sitting with a group of neighbors outside to pass put candy to the trick-or-treaters. All in all, a fun day.

Thrilling Zumba class.

The real thing.

The girls trick-or-treating.

The neighbor boys.

Tipsy Tuesday: Sideways Zumba

Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (Brainyquote.com)

No, sideways Zumba is not the newest exercise or dance craze sweeping the country. What it entails is, a ditzy camera person, (yours truly) an iPad, and a room full of energetic women in a Zumba class at the local YMCA. I never know when the iPad is going to switch directions on me, or how to change it in movie mode afterwards. I did figure out though, how to pick out stills from the movie and turn those right-side-upways.(I made that word up too. Feel free to borrow it.) So, that’s not too ignorant, is it?

OK, I’m sure a 9 year old could explain all this techno-editing-enhancing mumbo-jumbo to me, but I’m old and I don’t have any 9 year olds around. Consequently, I will be forced to stumble around through the cyber world totally confused and alone. Thank goodness most of my friends are in the same boat without a life jacket, so they will understand.

If anyone knows how to fix this, let me know, or just tilt your head sideways like the rest of us.

I LOVE ZUMBA!