April 16th, 2009

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Farewell to Flamenco.

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Well, to my flamenco dress, that is.  Today I gave it to the George Mason dance department.  Wow…it was only eleven years ago (almost to the date!) that I was dancing Sevillanas (a form of flamenco) at the feria in Sevilla…only!!  The poor dress was in my closet all covered up in plastic for eleven years!  I thought I would wear it to Halloween or some fun costume party, but alas the moment didn’t arise for such an occasion.  The dress is in fact too big for me now, a good thing.  I really wanted someone to have it who would be able to show it off…I wanted to share its beauty.  As I walked to the car this afternoon, I caressed the fabric one last time, feeling the weight of the layers of material.  I thought about my time in Spain in the spring of 1998, I thought about the generosity of my parents in gifting me such a wonderful, tangible memory of my life there.  Yes, part of me felt quite guilty for giving that gift away to someone else, but I wasn’t satisfied just looking at it in my closet.  I felt sad, like the dress needed a new home so others could appreciate its beauty.  I have my memories and my photos, and the knowledge that someone else will feel the layers swirl around them as they turn.  Someone else will sense the magic that is the fabulous world of flamenco.

Speaking of magic, If you haven’t seen this, you need to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY …it is absolutely worth the seven minutes!  WOW!  I definitely got teary after hearing that.  I love “Les Miserables”, and “I Dreamed a Dream” is one of my favorite songs.  I felt so proud of her after watching it, and I don’t even know her!  I hope this brings wonderful surprises to her life, and I hope all who doubted her learned a little something from her remarkable performance.

OK, enough of my commentary.  I’m sure you’d love to know all about me and how I am, right?  The answer better be yes, by the way!  :)  We had a wonderful Easter.  Aunt Nancy, Uncle Bill and my mom’s cousin, Larry, all came over on Saturday.  Katie also came up for the weekend.  We ate lots of yummy food, and talked about pretty much everything you can imagine!  I treated myself to a glass of wine because I figured, if I’m allowed to have some sangría at Paloma’s wedding in a couple weeks, then I can have some wine on Easter!  It tasted good, and no, I did not get tipsy off of one glass.  :)  Please…I have Laura’s cells now, remember?!  hahahahahaha  Just kidding Laura…love ya!!  You’re my favorite “gift of life”.  :)

On Easter night, my mom and I went to Laura and Tiso’s place to let Indie out while they were at work.  I took her on a nice little walk, and we saw a bunny twice!!!  I haven’t seen a bunny in forever, so I figured it must be good luck to have one cross your path on Easter (and even better if it appears twice)!!!

I’m feeling well, although I have some marks that look kind of like pimples on my face.  I see new ones every day, and the thing that worries me is that they’re itchy.  It feels much more like a rash than a pimple, so I’m worried it may be GVH of the skin again, which is why I’m calling the doc’s office tomorrow to see if I should come in before next week.  For a little bit, I thought, “oh man…what if it’s chicken pox?!!”, but it’s only on my face.  I never broke out much, so I’m pretty convinced they’re not lots of pimples.  If it’s GVH, I assume I’ll have to go back on Prednisone for a while, which is disappointing, but if it works, then that’s all that matters.  I’ll keep you posted.

Anyway, it’s getting late (1:30 AM!), so I’m off to bed.  But before I go, I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHY!!!!!!!!!!!!  I hope it’s sunny, warm and beautiful!

Lots of love,

Julie