I'm Official!!!

(…or is that “ofeisial”?!)

So, just how addicting is a MAID’s addiction, you wonder???

Beyond the obvious addiction to Irish dance, Irish music, and the trials and tribulations of parenting Irish dancers, scientists have recently diagnosed that many MAIDs also have a psychological dependency on message board humor, MoonPies, and men in kilts. (In extreme cases, Claddagh thongs have also been associated with the addiction. But that’s another story…)

Thanks to the tireless efforts of a Chicago-area MAID affectionately known as “Nutcase”, many MAIDs also have a unique artifact known as the “MAID’s pin”, which may be worn to feiseanna in order to announce their affiliation with the international conglomeration of MAIDs.

Sadly, the demand for these artifacts was greater than the supply, and the pins are now extremely difficult to obtain.

However, persistence prevails!!!

Thanks to the miracles of instant messaging and the forging of a new friendship, I learned that Nutcase recently discovered a few forgotten MAID’s pins tucked away in the corner of a closet. And after much pleading, I was able to negotiate a deal with Nutcase to obtain one of these pins!

With utter reliance upon the diagnosed severity of my addiction, Nutcase trustingly sent one of these coveted artifacts by post last week. I promptly photographed the pin in order to properly document its authenticity…





I then scrambled to keep up my end of the bargain…

Just what is the cost of such a rare and precious pin, you wonder? Thanks to Nutcase’s generosity, the fee for this particular transaction was all of the charms from a box of Lucky Charms!



Bending the child labor laws of several countries, I enlisted the assistance of my two dancing daughters to fulfill the obligation.



And voila! The charms were packaged and ready to be mailed to Illinois!



So now, I wear my pin with pride everywhere I go!

I’m not so sure the world at large is quite ready for that, though. Yesterday, after a delicious breakfast of Lucky Charms without the charms, I brought my youngest daughter to preschool. I was wearing my pin, of course, and one of the other mother’s said, “Oh, do you have a house cleaning service?”

A friend heard the question and laughed. A little too much. (She’s seen my house.)

Playing Hooky

I’m late publishing the May newsletter, my house has tumbleweeds of dog hair spinning across the kitchen floor, and my youngest daughter is still wearing her pajamas at lunchtime.

But it’s a beautiful spring day, I’ve just finished mowing the lawn, and my allergies are exploding, causing far too much congestion to be able to actually work on anything that I should be doing right now…

So instead, here I sit playing with the scraps of a few ideas for the blog... Ah, the life of a freelance contractor... I love it!

Blogger.com has this new cool reference tag system. (It’s not so new really. I’ve just been too busy to learn how it works yet. So I feel less self-inflicted guilt if I refer to it as “new”.) The system allows a writer to tag a post with keywords that link to other similar posts. Great system! If I had made a New Year’s Resolution of cool new things to learn, this would be on the list. (There you go – I also could have linked something in that sentence to my post mentioning that I refused to make a New Year’s Resolution. But, seeing as I haven’t, you’ll just have to dig into the January archives if you feel so inspired, until I muster the energy to learn the tag system…)

So, on to Irish dance related thoughts…

With the Spring Performances behind us, the current focus is competitions. As I mentioned earlier, Katie will be dancing at the North American Championships this July in Ottawa. (Note to self: insert link to “O, What an Experience”. Eventually. No pressure. It’s only May, the fifth month of the year, and you never actually made a New Year’s Resolution. So it doesn’t count. Right?)

Sorry… where was I? Oh yes, competition stuff…

Since my allergy-enhanced scatterbrained thoughts are wandering, let’s jump back in time to the end of March… (Hey, who says these posts have to be in chronological order? It’s my blog!)

March 31, we traveled to the West Virginia Feis for Katie’s first competition in 2007. Even though she danced very well at the Regional Championships, her TCRG would still like her to get firsts in all of her Prizewinner level dances before moving up to Preliminary Champion level. She needs only one more, so Katie will continue to dance Prizewinner level until she can get that final first in Slip Jig.

Nope, didn’t happen in West Virginia. In fact, Katie placed third in traditional set, but didn’t even make the boards in any of her other dances. Which led to some interesting discussions about motivation…

(Ugh, this post is torturing me!!! MUST learn tag system, and link back to “Is It About Winning?”…)

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but yes, I did say, “Tell me again why we’re traveling to Canada this summer???” Katie’s dances looked a bit flat. No noticeable mistakes, still a beautiful smile on her face, just… flat. Not enough energy, nor enough height in her leaps. Not championship level dancing.

Did I mention that this feis was March 31? Granted, she had just completed an extremely busy performance season. Maybe she hadn’t kicked in to “competition mode” yet?

Dancing at these high levels of competition requires a significant commitment to practice. For a nine-year-old third grader, that also requires significant support from parents and dance teachers to help plan and structure that practice time. Katie has started keeping a practice log, which she shows to her teacher every two weeks. On days that she doesn’t have class, she is asked to practice something that needs work for at least 20 minutes. She also logs the reason that she misses practice (sick, forgot, etc.), then discusses strategies for improvement with her teacher.

So, the plan is in place, the commitment is there, and you’re assuming that we’re heading to Canada because my champion dancer is going to “bring home the gold”, right!

Uh… no. Yes, I expect significant effort from Katie in preparation to do her best at this competition. And, yes, I trust her TCRG’s decision to allow Katie to go. Beyond that, I have no expectations related to her results. Period.

Here’s what I do expect: FUN! And the West Virginia Feis was a good reminder...

Driving to West Virginia was a hoot. We connected by cell phone with Molly, who was headed to the feis with her dancer and 6-month-old son, and stopped together at a Cracker Barrel for dinner. It made for a later arrival than intended, but started the fun of vacationing early.

After dinner, having passed through several zigzagging interstates in Pittsburgh, we abruptly landed on the back roads of West Virginia. In the dark. Forty-five minutes of small curvy roads had us wondering exactly where in the world this feis was being held… and whether or not the hotel would actually have running water. But, lo and behold, a very nice Holiday Inn Express magically appeared on the horizon, complete with indoor pool!

Quite unfortunately, the winding roads had taken their toll on Molly’s daughter, who threw up all over the minivan. So while Molly heroically cleaned out the car, the kids enjoyed the hotel and I held baby Liam while reconnecting with my friends Jasmine, Brooke and Heather. With a tendency to hide behind her camera (much like her friend ZandB), Jasmine snapped this photo…



Don’t worry, Molly. I’m sure that the beer was much less detrimental to Liam’s growth and development than the chlorine fumes we were all inhaling…

Yes, there’s nothing quite like a hotel swimming pool to brighten a dancer’s weekend!

And there’s nothing quite like a good meal to brighten a dancer’s parents’ weekend…

Saturday night our friends had gone home, so we ventured out to dinner on our own. After asking the hotel manager for a recommendation, he sent us across the bridge to Ohio (less than two minutes away) and down a back alley near the train tracks. Never in a million years would someone find this restaurant by accident, but my oh my was it ever worth investigating! Casa D’Emilio’s has a welcoming, casual atmosphere, excellent food at very low prices, a nice selection of wine, and (drum roll please…) Guinness on tap! Yep, great way to end a feis day...

Sunday, we drove home a different route, following the Ohio River south toward Wheeling and then picking up I-70 East back toward Baltimore. The scenery was breathtaking, and we had a glimpse of a part of America with interesting “living history”. We saw more vibrant, thriving Main Streets in the handful of small towns we drove through than I thought existed anywhere in the States. We also passed right through the middle of a huge steel plant... which made me feel like an extra on the set of Flashdance. (No, ZandB, we didn’t see Jennifer Beals.)

All in all, a wonderful family vacation.

Which is what our trip to Canada will be this summer, too!

Balancing responsibilities and rewards, we’ll continue to travel this fascinating path of competitive Irish dance, loving every minute of it…

But if we’re going to be able to eat dinner at fun restaurants in Ottawa, I had better stop playing hooky and get back to work…

Second note to self: Next time you “play hooky”, teach yourself how to do blog tags…

Daddy's Dancing!

The Teelin Spring Performances were this past weekend, April 27 & 28, and included a "Father/Daughter Dance" debut!

A recap…

Friday, 3:30pm: Dancers arrive at the theater for tech run through. A few hesitant Dads show up holding a kilt on a hangar, and casting furtive glances at other Dads, wondering who will be the first to don the dreaded garment…

Friday, 7:00pm: Approaching show time, half a dozen Dads are walking around the theater wearing their kilts, heads purposefully lowered to avoid eye contact with passersby. My two favorite kilt clad men seem to be seriously contemplating their camera equipment, which remains hung from their necks regardless of whether the cameras are actually in use.

Friday, 8:00pm: Showtime! Scott and ZandB busily distract themselves through the first act photographing the show from opposite sides of the theater.

Friday, 8:45pm: At intermission, all participating Dads head backstage to connect with their daughters for a quick rehearsal behind the closed curtains. TCRG and her two sisters lead the group with their Dad.

Friday, 9:00pm: Curtains open for the second act to a stage full of Dads (a handful of them in kilts, the rest in jeans) each wearing a matching t-shirt with their daughter(s). The girls are all grinning. The Dads are not quite grinning yet. Loud applause and catcalls rise from the audience!

The music begins... Dads and dancers take hands, point a toe, listen for the count… and the stage erupts into a colorful cacophony of well coordinated choreography! Everyone dances a simple step together, then Dads clap while girls dance a circle around their Dad, and girls clap (and audience chuckles appreciatively) while Dad dances a circle around daughter. Then all Dads for a ceili circle, daughters dancing around outside; reverse!

Friday, 9:10pm: Dads return to audience seats (or photography perch), and throughout the remainder of the show, there are more cheers from male voices than previously. The weight had been lifted! Fait accompli, the Dads seem to breath easier… and certainly have newfound appreciation for what their children are doing on stage…

Friday, 10:00pm: The show has ended, and the kilt-clad Dads now proudly strut their attire through the lobby, encountering many congratulatory remarks!

The next day…

Saturday, 6:00pm: Hangars be damned, Dads arrive at the theater wearing their kilts, eyes raised and smiling!

Saturday, 8:45pm: At intermission, the Dads who had participated the night before seem to be leading the rehearsal, joking comfortably with each other and with the TCRG!

Saturday, 9:00pm: This time, I temporarily abandon my duties as a backstage assistant, grab Scott’s camera and run to the audience, right as the deafening cheers arise……

Back home...

Saturday, 11:30pm: Exhausted dancers are all tucked into bed, and exhausted parents sit around the kitchen counter enjoying an adult beverage or two, recounting the weekend’s events. When asked about the pictures that I took during the Father-Daughter Dance, Scott and ZandB assure me that it will require quite a bit of work before those photos can be… er… properly formatted for viewing by ANYONE other than themselves. (Blasted male solidarity.) Instead, they plug a fresh memory card into a camera and start playing with photos of their current focus: Booker’s bourbon.



After two nights of dancing, I believe the thought of pouring a bit of bourbon directly on those tootsies was seriously contemplated…