Favorite Dance Week 3

This week's favorite dance was Chelsie and Mark's hip hop routine, which was choreographed by the same people who choreographed my favorite routine from Week 1. This style seems to be a new cross between hip hop and lyrical and I really like it!

Now that we're three weeks into the show, the dancers' personalities are starting to come out and the audience can get a better feel for how consistent their dance ability is. So far, the three couples I've chosen as my favorites have been consistently the top dancers for me each week. Courtney and Gev are also in my top group so maybe you'll see them up here next week!

Favorite Dance Week 2

(Fast forward the counter to 2:22 to watch only the dance)

This week's favorite dance was Twitch and Kherington dancing the Viennese Waltz. I thought the dance was really beautiful and went perfectly with the song. The lifts are incredible and the story behind the choreography made it that much more meaningful. The choreographer's daughter has Rhett Syndrome, which causes the individual to lose all/most motor function. He said that when his daughter sees movement, a light comes on inside her. I thought the dancers did an excellent job of expressing the emotion that accompanied this dance.

Oh...and did I mention Twitch is a HIP HOP DANCER?!? Yeah.

Open Letter to Inspirational Sports Movies

Dear Inspirational Sports Movies,
I can't help it, I love each and every one of you. It doesn't matter that you all follow almost the same exact formula, I am a complete and total sucker for the underdog. An interracial football team coming together in Remember the Titans, opposing gang members coming together in Gridiron Gang, an interracial basketball team coming together in Glory Road, the too-small player making the game winning touchdown/sack in Invincible and Rudy..the list goes on and on. And even though I can predict how you'll end from a mile away, that music swells and those actors emote and I just can't stop the smile from spreading and my eyes from welling up.

I wish I could quit you Inspirational Sports Movies, but as long as you keep beating the odds to win the game, I'll keep giving up 2 hours on a perfectly beautiful Saturday afternoon to watch you do it.

Favorite Dance Week 1

In case I didn't adequately express my love of So You Think You Can Dance in my previous posts, it should become quite clear as I will now be posting weekly clips of my favorite dances (as long as I can find them and have internet access).

This week my favorite dance was Katee and Joshua dancing to No Air. Loved the choreography, loved the story, loved the dancing, loved it all!

(Can you tell I'm on vacation with a lot of time on my hands but nothing interesting to write about?)

Why I Love Having a Camera Phone

Because driving around in your convertible just isn't the same without a snazzy silver sequined hat.

On a related note... my oh-so-stylish grandmother gave me a hat exactly like this only in RAINBOW STRIPES for my 16th birthday. Seriously. Apparently she mistook her 16 year old granddaughter for a gay pride parade float.

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

Say hello to Ann Rose Bautista!!

On Thursday afternoon I got a call from Ashley that our friend Meredith had officially gone into labor! She was due on May 23rd and was going to be induced on the 30th if Annie didn't decide to come out on her own. Ashley and I threw Meredith's baby shower last month and I went on the "Stork Tour" at the hospital with her a few weeks ago, so I was so excited the day was finally here! Meredith had said she wanted company while she was in the hospital so I headed over around 6:30pm. Meredith was such a champ! She was 6 cm dilated and having contractions pretty close together without even breaking a sweat or uttering colorful expletives. Finally, after about 3 hours, she started feeling the burn and (politely) requested the drugs. Luckily for me, everyone had chosen that moment to get snacks so I got to be in the room with her while she got the epidural. Again, total superstar!! Didn't scream, cry, or move a muscle while they jabbed a giant needle in her spine. A few minutes later, girl was feeling gooooood!

At around 1am they informed us that since she still wasn't feeling any pressure to push, the baby probably wouldn't be born until around 3am. They had also said that only 3 people were allowed to be in the room for delivery and for the hour afterward when they let the mom bond with the baby. Taking into account that there were currently 7 people in the room (besides Meredith and the hospital staff) and guessing that Mer would probably choose her husband, mom, and mother-in-law to be the 3 chosen people, I decided to head home and get a precious 5 hours of sleep before work. The next morning I called to get the skinny on how the rest of the birth unfolded and found out that Annie was born at 3:45am... and everyone got to stay in the room and help/coach during the birth!! I was so bummed I had left! Who needs sleep when I could have helped a baby be born?!?

So, after my last day of work before summer vacation (woo-hoo!), I headed over to the hospital to greet the new arrival. She is so precious!! She weighs 7lbs 10oz and is 19in long. She has a round little face, brown hair, and really long feet!! She is determined to have her hands up by her face at all times. I can't believe that this amazing little person is finally here! I know she is going to be such a lucky little girl because she's already got so many people who love her.

Happy Birthday Annie!!

Tiana Who?

Ahhhh...who am I? One of the existential questions we all face at some point in our lives. I may never fully know the answer to this question, but I do know who I'm not. I feel I can say with 100% certainty that I am not Rose Marie Balandran and I did not attempt to obtain a credit card for people with lousy credit, although my recent bank statement might indicate otherwise.

On Tuesday I happened to be perusing my online bank statement when I noticed an unfamiliar charge in mine and hubby's joint account. Now, I am not a spending Nazi and Bryan is free to spend money without clearing it with me first, but I am the one who manages the finances and pays the bills so I like to have a general idea of what we are spending so I can budget accordingly. When I asked B about this charge, he did not recognize it so I called the bank to find out where it came from. It turns out that the charge was an online application fee for a credit card that neither of us applied for. When I called the credit card company, I discovered that someone had used our bank account number and routing number to pay for the application fee online. How did someone get this information you ask? It turns out that a check we had mailed to our handyman was stolen out of his mailbox a few weeks ago. The culprit did not try to cash the check but instead used the account numbers and routing numbers to charge purchases to our account online. Needless to say the account was compromised so I had to report the charges to our bank and close the account. Bryan and I then had to go into the bank together and open a new joint account... a process which took a good hour and a half :(. When I got home, I checked the now-closed account and saw that another purchase had posted before the account was closed and this time the person had used our account info to draft an electronic check WITH THEIR OWN NAME AND ADDRESS ON IT!! Luckily for me, my bank scans all checks and I was able to see the copy with the fraud's name and address, at which point I promptly called the police.

Life lesson: If you're going to get your identity/bank information stolen, it helps if the thief is also an idiot.