This little dog taught me to always appreciate a warm pillow & blanket.

This little dog taught me that pasta and chicken are the very best dinner.

This little dog taught me that colorful sweaters are fun in the winter time.

This little dog taught me that a few gray hairs can be cute.

This little dog taught me that sitting quietly with your pals in the sunshine is a great way to spend the afternoon.

This little dog taught me to always be excited to see the ones you love.

This little dog taught me that accepting love is as important as giving love.

This little dog taught me to always give a kiss and a hug good night because you never know when it will be your last time to say I love you to someone who is very special and plays an important role in your life.

This little dog’s name was Aretha Gladys and she was 13 years old. She was sweet, loving, patient, and very polite. She was bow-legged, pigeon toed, and loved spaghetti. We will be missed by her people and by her partner, Atticus.

RIP Aretha July 1998 - December 7, 2011

My ballet teacher has had some truly awesome teachers himself and he does the best imitations… apparently there was a French teacher who hollered “écouter, écouter!” when they were off the music.

Ballet class revelation!  Don’t you just love it when a light bulb goes on above your head and ta-da! So here is my latest… I have a background in music so why have I been challenged with musicality in ballet class??? Because when I’m learning something new, my brain switches into laser focus mode and I concentrate on the physicality of the movement that I’m trying to learn. My brain begins to translate what I see into geometric shapes and mathematical concepts of force, torque, and balance. That’s my brain on data… it’s almost impossible for me to switch it into monkey-see-monkey-do mode, in fact, I may not have one of those! Sometimes, I swear to you, I don’t even hear the music, I see the dimensions of geometry. That’s fairly fast but doesn’t mean that I can mimic the movement, I’m still just a scientist, not an athlete of god! Once the mathematic sequencing makes sense then I can count through the exercise. But guess what, guess what!!! Last week, I heard the music! I heard the music and danced to it. There is life beyond counting to 8! Now I still can’t do it to everything because if I don’t know the step or there are challenging bits to the exercise or combination, then I’m back to counting, but knowing that the music is there just waiting for me is an enormous relief and a delicious beckoning… come listen, come hear, come dance!