Author: eaumaison (Page 15 of 210)

Jack turned 12 years old this year, and he is looking every bit his age! He’s become a sweet, gangly, smart kid. He’s made many new friends this year and grown so much with his middle school experience.

He agreed that a low-key party sounded fun this year. He had two friends over for the afternoon to play video games, watch cartoons, and eat pizza. That may not sound very exciting, but I think it’s the first time he’s had a friend over since his outdoor party last year. Everyone took a covid test in the morning, so they could relax mask-free together.

He asked for the same cake as last year – chocolate with strawberry frosting 🙂

I mentioned the musical briefly earlier, but I wanted to post just a little more.

It was such a joy to make and teach dance again this year! In 2020 we were working on Rock of Ages before everything shut down and the performances were canceled. 2021 there was no show. This year Amanda and Becca invited me to return to work with them on Bye Bye Birdie.

It’s a lot of work for little pay, but so much fun. I love to teach kids to dance. I love working with Amanda and Becca. I love coming to class and hearing “It’s Ms. Mason! Hi Ms. Mason!!” over and over. The kids are so excited to see me and I try to return their energy.

This year the kids did pretty good with dancing. I probably made the choreo too difficult, like usual, and I need to remember to scale back. I always wish I had more rehearsal time (and a mirrored studio)!

Here’s some in-action pics that a parent took during dress rehearsal:

And here are two songs I thought turned out the best:

Last week I went to my second k-pop concert – P1Harmony! I’m not a big fan of them (or, I’m not a “P1ece”). But I knew their latest title track and they are good dancers. Most importantly, they were coming to Denver!

They are a newish group, formed in 2020. They are total babies – three are 20 years old and the others are 18, 17, and 16. Weird, but very talented. The youngest one actually impressed me with his rapping. Overall they were immature in their stage banter and the show was obviously lower budget than the other groups I like.

Their fans were just as fierce as the fans were at the Ateez show. My favorite performance of the night was “Scared.”

Here’s an HD steady cam version from Music Bank last year.

I didn’t realize that my ticket level came with some perks – a fan engagement “Hello Session,” and “Tangible Benefits” including a signed poster, random tour exclusive photocard, and Denver specific slogan sign to “cheer up the members” during the encore.

I didn’t actually care to see the boys in the Hello Session. It seems weird being so much older than them and not a true fan. But I was curious how these things work, in case another group comes through I want to know if it’s “worth it.” I had read about these post-concert meetings and knew I would basically be ushered quickly by them behind a partition as I exited the theater. I know some fans hold up signs and I decided to try it:

Translation: Awesome show! From this American Mom.

(I dunno, maybe that made it more awkward. It was the best I could come up with in a pinch.)

I ended up waiting FOREVER for the Hello Session. Thumbs down. The show started on time at 7:30 and went until a little after 9. They announced we should wait for further instructions. It kept looking like it was about to start, but the lining up was actually for a higher level perk – a small group photo with the members. So I kept waiting, because surely that would be done soon. After many more lines were formed and shuffled, the real line finally started moving at 10:35. Because my seat was technically in the ADA section they had my group go last. I was literally the last person in the theater to leave at about 10:45. Don’t they know how old I am? This is way past my bedtime! But seriously, not worth the wait if I ever get this perk on a non-favorite group. Even a favorite group I might skip out.

Anyway, here’s my video. I started taping early because I heard they rush you so fast that many people failed to get cameras out in time. At 0:32 you can see my “engagement” with the group.

Ben very very kindly was my ride to and from the theater. Poor guy was circling for almost two hours waiting for me to come out. I’m so grateful that he did that. It was much less stressful than if I had to deal with downtown parking and traffic.

I had a fun time, for sure. It was a great mental break from a stressful week. I wish I had a local friend who would have come with me. I learned that concerts are not as fun alone. I hope my next one is great. (Fingers crossed, manifesting Seventeen tickets! Wish me luck!)

Link to original photo.

I realized I have several photos on my phone that I meant to share. So here’s a big dump of what’s been going on at our house!

Kid Shenanigans:

Jack’s school posted pictures from their week at Outdoor Lab on this google site.

Cat Shenanigans:

My things:

Not pictured – going to see Doctor Strange this weekend. Amanda took Jack to see it the same morning and I totally regret it – it was a straight-up horror movie! I didn’t think they would let Sam Raimi go that deep. Jack is happy he saw it, despite feeling worse and worse as the day went on (he brought home a cold from Outdoor Lab. Several kids came back with covid, but Jack has had daily negative rapid tests since then and his PCR on day 4 came back negative too). Ben and I loved the movie. I wish we could have eaten dinner there too. Sigh, someday we’ll do a classic Marvel/Alamo combo again.

*Ben came with me to watch a k-pop concert movie Seventeen: The Power of Love. Now, the movie wasn’t anything weird. Normal performances and interview clips. But the theater didn’t have the subtitled version, so I had to use my weak Korean skills to figure out what they were saying. I was pleased to understand the gist most of the time! But the really weird part is that we saw it in 4DX at the Regal in Denver Pavilions. It’s a Korean movie tech usually used with action movies, like in this trailer. But for our movie, the chairs were violently dancing in sync with the choreography. It was utterly bizarre. Tiring too! I was relieved every interview portion to take a break from gripping the armrests. I know the choreo really well, and I could tell someone put a lot of effort into replicating the movies through vibrations, rotations, tilts, and mechanical prodding. But. . . why? It was so distracting and odd. There were floral scents, mist, strobe lights, and bubbles too. It was the strangest thing I’ve done in a long time.

We took a quick visit to Grand Junction for the kids’ spring break. Jack had a cold, so we all made sure to take rapid tests and have him mask up until his nose stopped running.

I enjoyed the time with my family, and even snuck in a quick zumba class at the local gym. Andy and I made some good progress on a puzzle, which is the most important thing 😉

Some days are a bummer. Yesterday I got rear-ended; my first car accident since getting my license at age 16. It was a very small bump. Jack and I were coming home from getting him a PCR test for the fever/sore throat he brought back from Outdoor Lab (it came back negative btw). No injuries to us or the other guy, and the cars look fine (yes, I have an inspection scheduled just in case). But it shakes you up, right?

So I was very glad that I had a couple small indulgences tucked away today.

I took an extra dance class in Boulder and had a ton of fun.

I’ve started a delicious habit of bringing home a sandwich from Daikon after morning classes.

Right now, Ben has the boys at piano lessons. So I get the house to myself for 45 minutes of quiet solitude!

A little treat from the Korean bakery that I picked up yesterday:

Enjoyed while watching some dance, of course – Ateez present!

Joshua, The8, Woozi, and Mingyu are whispering “Darling you hoo hoo, you better take a third dose of lactase.“

I’m definitely feeling a little calmer now.

Still my two favorite hobbies, branching into new forms.

Friday night I put in some hours machine knitting. It takes just as much math and hands-on concentration as hand-knitting does. I’m still learning techniques for this craft. This is my first time doing intarsia on the machine. I’ll tell you more about the project when I finish it. You can see I get a groove going with the basic stockinette. Then when I switch to the colorwork, I get very slow and cautious!

Post-omicron wave, I’m back to once-a-week trips to this great studio in Boulder, Alchemy of Movement. Before last year I’d never take a hip-hop/pop/jazz class. Ever. Crazy! They are so fun. I always loved the Zumba routines that were more hip-hop style.

I usually pick one of Alchemy’s dance fitness classes, Werq or Hyped AF. Like Zumba, they are 60 min of non-stop dancing, each song a basic pattern you learn as you go. But these are hip-hop and jazz instead of latin dance-inspired.

This video is from a different class, Party Hip-Hop, where Ayla teaches a short choreographed routine. While I prefer dance fitness classes, learning choreo can be fun too. Today was the second time I’ve taken this class. After reviewing the video I can see that I am still a stiff ballerina! I thought I doing ok with the style, but man, I could really loosen up. Chalk it up to my formal training and my arthritic joints!

Our cats loved the enclosed patio we built for them in July 2019. I spent a lot of time reinforcing and repairing the structure over the last few years. Sadly, the materials could not survive the sun, wind, and snow. Freddy also became more aggressive in his attempts to escape, with occasional success! He kept tearing at weak points and I couldn’t trust them. Last fall, with supporting zip ties now brittle from UV light, one of the ledges broke and collapsed. I closed the catio and made plans to built a stronger model in the spring.

Spring break came and it was time to commit. I made some blueprints and ordered wood and hardware. I don’t know what I’m doing! My plans had many problems I didn’t anticipate. I have little experience in carpentry, so the first day was a slog.

I quickly decided the 2x4s were too heavy and thicker than I needed. I wanted to split them myself, but we only have handsaws and a jigsaw. Luckily Ben has a co-worker with a well stocked woodshop. I whipped up some lemon poppyseed muffins to send along with my trimmed pieces that required splitting.

My second mistake was thinking that nails are useful. I tried to have the kids help me nail together the box frame. We got frustrated with each other, having trouble holding the large (and still heavy) beams in place. No matter how well we placed and augments a joint with nails, it slipped apart easily. Ugh! Ben helped me again later, and we gave up on nails. I bought a box of screws and we were in a whole new game. Dang it, I wish I hadn’t bungled around with nails for a half day.

So here’s my progress picture after a long day of struggling.

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The next two days were fun and fruitful. I figured out how to build a “docking tunnel” that connects the pet door to the enclosed box. Initially I wanted the box entirely closed with chicken wire and attached to the house door too. But the catio was so heavy, we think it’s ok to leave the bottom open, and the tunnel wedged close to the door.

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Time to release the kitties!

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So far it seems secure and solid. The tunnel hasn’t budged from the door portal and I don’t see any new gaps. Before attaching the wire, we took a sample clipping and pushed it on Freddy’s head. I figured he could get neck deep, but it won’t go over his shoulders. Sure enough, one morning this week I noticed Freddy was naked. On a hunch I looked outside and found his collar, outside the catio borders. I think he pushed his head through and it came off when he pulled back in. I’ll keep an eye on him, but I’m not too worried. I hope he learned his lesson.

(He also sneaked into the clothes dryer this week. When I shut the door to fluff for a few minutes, I heard clunking. It was only 2-3 rotations. Freddy hopped out when I reached in, looking healthy and mad. So that’s TWO lessons Freddy needs to learn.)

Freddy definitely spends more time outside thank NImbus. He’s the first out in the morning. He favors the top shelf for sleeping. I’m glad we had this stretch of warm weather to complete the build. But spring snow and chill returned. Freddy doggedly asks to go outside anyway. I think when the sun comes back it’ll be Nimbus more often.

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This month I turned forty years old. Ugh. I thought I was ready, but it was hard. I’m still not happy about it.

I probably should have planned for a big celebration to offset the emotional toll that comes with this particular milestone. Alas, I had a plain but pleasant birthday.

On Saturday I went to a morning dance class. For lunch Ben and I tried Meta Burger. The oat milk shake was ok, and the fries were good, but the vegan burger gets a big thumbs down. Ben thought the brioche bun was great at least.

I went shopping at Flatirons for some new clothes that fit. I found a couple pieces, and some more things the next week at other stores. It’s hardly worth shopping in real stores anymore – they don’t stock all their sizes and colors so you end up ordering online anyway! I was able to try things on and figure out my size at least.

I got tacos for the family on the way home and Ben picked up Thai food for my dinner Sunday night.

Sunday, my actual birthday, was quiet and nice. The boys got me flowers and made a banner. I had a lot of great presents to open. Family and friends called to wish me a happy day. I played loud music in the kitchen and baked myself a carrot cake.

I had my fav Thai pumpkin curry for dinner while we watched the first half of Thor Ragnarok.

After dinner we played our family campaign of the Cuphead card game. Then they served me the carrot cake and sang the classic song.

I had a great 39th year. I hope to keep the good vibes growing in my 40s.

The next morning I donned my tour hoodie and put on more music while packing up. I couldn’t leave without taking advantage of this large mirror to practice the Wave choreo!

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By some amazing luck, our flight was mostly empty. We each got a row to ourselves to spread out and relax.

I felt so selfish going on this trip. For two years I’ve said no to most everything. We’ve been so careful and so sheltered. This trip was liberating on so many levels. Great to do something fun and adventurous. Great to travel. Great to spend time with Andy and Amanda. Great to see a concert. Great to get nerdy about my love for pop music dance. I’m so happy that I decided to indulge for once.

Like I said, so many things could have gone wrong. We or the group could have gotten sick and had to cancel. The European leg of their tour was postponed in January, so I was checking every day to hear if ours was canceled too. Then there’s the Colorado weather to maneuver. We had a big snow storm two days prior to the trip, and another one waiting for us the afternoon we came back. Either of those could have messed up the trip.

Instead everything was perfect. The only sad part was it coming to an end.

PS: I tested daily for 8 days after coming home, all negative for covid! Hooray for vaccines and masks!