(#19) Latin Dance Lessons

Hi All,
I start 6 weeks (6 Sundays) of Latin Dance lessons on Jan. 29th. My friend Bernie (Bernandette) is taking them with me and hopefully there will be some unattached men there to dance with too. I'll let you know how it's going and post photos when I get them. Have a great week! Sue
Well today is Jan. 29th and I made it through my first dance lesson, CHA-CHA-CHA!
It dosen't seem like excercise, but it feels like it when the class is over. We learned basic Salsa steps (Quick-Quick-Slow) and basic Merrengae (sp?) steps (side together-side together-side tap) and then we danced around in a circle and luckily got to change partners (since I didn't have one). It's a lot of fun and I think I'm catching on. We'll see how much I remember next week. Have a great week! Sue
Today is Sunday 2/5/06 and I made it through another class. Whew! Today we learned how to spin our partners and that was fun. I'm still catching on to the Latin beat and trying hard not to look at my feet :). It really is a lot of fun and dosen't feel like excercise at all, until your walking to your car. Then it's more like Oh-Oh, Whoa, instead of Quick-Quick-Slow.
Have an awesome week! Sue
Today is 2/12/2006 and I had my 3rd Salsa lesson. Today we did Cumbia (side tap, side together,then reverse). Also getting good and turns and I'm almost ending up in the right spot on the correct foot most of the time. It's getting easier, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go dancing without the Instructor calling out "1-2-3-4" "1-2-3-4". It's a lot of fun and good exercise. I recommend you all go out and try it. Or do something different and fun this week. Have a great one! Sue

(#18) The USS Midway

Hi All,
Today was an interesting and educational experience! I learned more about Aircraft Carriers today than in my entire 49 years previously. Of course I've never been on one before either. Today I went to the Aircraft Carrier "Midway Magic" museum in San Diego, Ca. I was given a tour by a retired Navy Lt.Cmdr Steven Griger, who served 9 years (of 28 years in) on various different Aircraft Carriers and some of the time people would take off their headphones and follow us around and listen to his tour. He was very informative and I'm grateful to have a friend like him who served our country with such dedication and honor. Thank you Steve!
The USS Midway is permanently anchored in San Diego, cemented in place. The Museum has been active for 2 years and they have a Audio Tour with 35 stations that tell about the ship. There's a whole new vocabulary that goes along with Aircraft carriers too. A "Berthing Space" has nothing to do with maternitiy, "SINS" are computers not something you're sorry for, a "Phathometer" (sp?)tells you how far you are from the oceans bottom, "Quarters" are not small change, but a living space and a "Forecastle" I have no idea what that is, but it is pronounced Folk-Sal. They have "Charts" and not maps and "Hangars" are for planes and not Clothes.
There are lots of different aircraft on board from different periods in history. They have an A-4 Skyhawk, T-2 Buckeye, F-14 Tomcat, F9F Panther, to name a few and quite a few different types of Helicopters also. There are models of different Aircraft carriers and the history of the Aircraft carriers. Carriers are about 8 stories high. Lots to see, and to really see it all it will probably take about 5 hours.
It was very interesting to see how they eat, sleep, shower, etc. within such tight quarters. It's a huge ship, but there is so much crammed on it that the spaces are all limited. I got to sit in the Captains chair on the Bridge (the tour guide was a little irritated with me when I kept saying "Captains Log" in my best Capt. Kirk voice) was the hightlight of the tour. If you are afraid of heights or tight spaces I don't recommend the tour. Going up and down the "stairs" (that are more like ladders I think) was a little scary. Very vertical and very tight!
They have a great cafe there too! The best pastrami sandwich I've ever had, bar none! So there is something fun for everyone :)

Have a great week! Sue