Bear

(This post has nothing to do with Irish dance. It’s personal.)

Today is the last day in January and I still haven’t mailed the Christmas cards. And a new dilemma has arisen concerning one of the subjects in the photo card...

Bear died. Lots of tears in this house.

Scott and I have been married 17 years. Bear lived 15 1/2 years. He was our “first born”. We picked him from the litter when he was 3-weeks-old, and brought him home when he was 7-weeks-old.

He lived a very long time for a large male Golden Retriever. And for the most part his health was excellent. But the last several months he had more and more trouble with his hips, and often needed help getting up from the floor.

Then one day he just couldn’t get up. He looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, “Sorry, Mom, I just can’t do it anymore.”

The girls were at school. Scott came home from work and the two of us drove Bear to the vet.

We had the same vet for all 15 1/2 years. Through tears, we each said goodbye to one of the best dogs ever to grace this earth.

Many tears.

Then Scott and I went to pick the girls up from school, struggling with a strategy for how to break the news. We decided to bring them into the chapel. The girls knew that Bear was very old, and we had been prepping them somewhat with comments like “Bear may not live very much longer.”

So, with the four of us sitting in the back pew, I said, “Girls, today is a sad day. Bear died today.”

Katie (age 9) immediately burst into tears. Pure and simple grief.

Ellie (age 5) looked at her sister. She looked at me (also crying, but trying to hold it together). She looked at Scott (teary, too). She looked down at the floor. Then she looked back at me and asked...

“So... does this mean that we can get a cat?”

I love the practicality of my Ellie... and it sure felt good to laugh!

Happy New Year!

“Mom, why does our Christmas card say ‘Happy New Year’?”

“Because the ‘Merry Christmas’ cards were unavailable by the time I ordered our cards this year.”

Hope to get them in the mail by Easter...

Locks of Love

Big day for Katie today…

Each of my girls inherited their father’s blonde hair. They have thick, healthy, straight blonde hair. And until this afternoon, Katie had quite a lot of it.







Katie had been thinking about the possibility of donating hair to “Locks of Love” since the summer. A few of her friends had donated hair, and it is truly a beautiful gift to be able to help another child.

Unlike most children, Irish dancers are uniquely familiar with wigs. Wigs are OK for a special look at a special event, but it’s awfully nice to not have to wear one everyday. And if needed, natural hair wigs are much nicer than synthetic wigs.

Donating hair wasn’t an easy decision, and there were several moments of doubt, especially yesterday. It had to be Katie’s decision, not anybody else’s decision.

Christmas is a nice time of year to be generous.

Well done, Katie… That was a beautiful gift.

For more information: locksoflove.org

School Christmas Concerts

‘Tis the season.

Elementary school Christmas concerts are simultaneously endearing and… well... endured…



Katie is playing clarinet this year in the “Beginner Band”, who performed their debut concert last Tuesday evening. Our school (a parish Catholic school, grades K-8) is blest with an outstanding band teacher. The Beginner Band consists mostly of 4th graders (youngest permitted to join) who were first introduced to their instruments mid-September (yes, merely two months ago). The well-planned concert featured three VERY brief songs by the Beginner Band (which were met with genuinely appreciative applause by polite parents), and then continued with a few numbers from the Prep Band, and several very enjoyable pieces presented by the 7th and 8th grade Concert Band.



I’m not sure that we have a future star clarinetist in the family, but Katie sure does enjoy it, and band is a great experience.

But that concert was last week.

This week's adventure was the School Christmas Concert, in which the even grades participate (K, 2, 4, 6, 8). Ellie is in kindergarten and Katie is in 4th grade, so we had much to enjoy.

The school’s music teacher is equally as talented as the band teacher and prepared a very nice program with a lot of variety. That said, there’s really only so much one can do on a Catholic school budget with a group of rural-suburban grade-schoolers who are performing mainly because it’s mandatory. (It’s part of the music program. Odd year grades are required to perform in the Spring Concert.)

First up was the kindergarten class…



The song “Tiny Little Angels” was my favorite. In fact, in the spirit of generosity, I’m even willing to share our recorded version of this treasure!

Please excuse the slight camera shake. During the close up views, that shake can mostly be blamed on the zoom. During the rest, my barely controlled hysterical laughter is to blame. If you can hang on until near the end (or skip to about 2:25 on the timer, if you feel the understandable need to fast forward), there’s nothing quite like a group of 5- and 6-year-olds attempting “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”…



Note: Really, it’s OK to laugh (or cringe) as you watch this video! A kindergarten music performance is part of the “endurance” that all parents are required to develop. Think of this video as great training! These kids are so darn cute that it actually permits tolerance of the… er… “singing”!

The kindergarteners were followed by the second-graders who performed an interesting hip-hop rendition of some tune about reindeer. Their costumes were complete with sunglasses and antlers. The fourth-graders then performed two numbers, the first of which was a “North Pole” broadway song (to the tune of New York, New York). The 6th graders offered an interesting array of “Jingle Bell” rhythms on items such as pots and pans, brooms, (root) beer bottles, skateboards, jump ropes, and bouncing basketballs. And the eighth grade rounded out the evening with a beautiful reenactment of the nativity story.

Given as this blog is categorized as an Irish dance related blog, yes, there is a reason that I have shared this year’s Christmas concert with readers…

The fourth-grade class’s second number was a performance of the song “Masters in This Hall”.



Even the “mandatory” school shows give kids invaluable character-building experience of performing on stage. And then, when a music teacher asks a student to consider performing something special, sometimes that kid will have the confidence to give it a try.

Yep, I’m awfully proud of these two little miracles named Katie and Ellie… so much so that even school concerts are fun!

Merry Christmas!

Leaving Tracks

The grass needed to be cut today for the first time in a month. Most of it is dormant because of the drought. But there were some wild and woolly green clumps scattered throughout the shady areas of the yard that couldn’t be ignored any longer.

There were a myriad of other things on the to-do list for today. But instead I rode a tractor over two acres of grass, most of it brown.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Around a tree. Back and forth.

It felt like all I was doing was leaving tire tracks on the yard.

From the road in front of my house you can see row after row of neatly mowed brown grass. Much of it isn’t any shorter than when I began.

Why bother? Because the neighbors might be impressed? Or because I live in rural suburbia and I’m a stay-at-home-mom with two school age kids, therefore …cringe… I must have nothing better to do than to ride the mower back and forth, leaving tracks?

Why bother?

While riding the mower, I saw a butterfly. It danced in the breeze, keeping pace with me for an entire row.

A delicate little yellow butterfly, with a wingspan no bigger than two inches wide.

Its movements looked like a giggle.

It was so fragile and so beautiful that I cried.

I couldn’t see that butterfly from sitting at my computer, or from driving in my car on the way to the grocery store.

My neighbors couldn’t see that butterfly while passing my neatly mowed rows of brown grass.

I could only see that butterfly while it fluttered along side me as I continued the discipline of riding the mower back and forth, back and forth.

Just doing. Just breathing. Just being.

But there's so much to do.

This year Katie will compete in the Girls Under 9 Championships, her solo dance competition for the Southern Region Oireachtas. She’ll also compete with a 4-Hand Team, 8-Hand Team, and Figures Choreography Team.

I’m already tired of the drives to the studio for the extra dance practices, which lead to the late nights, which lead to the rushed mornings the next day. In the car to go here, and back in the car to go there.

Back and forth, back and forth.

So busy. So tired. Not enough dark chocolate.

For us, it’s Irish dance, but it could be anything.

Just doing.

And then...

My kids giggle.

And they flutter along side me as I continue the discipline of driving back and forth, back and forth.

Just breathing. Just being.

And suddenly I realize…

I’m not just leaving tracks.

I’m loving the butterflies.

Just loving.

Wow, It Actually Worked!

Ellie started kindergarten this year. Full day kindergarten.

She was ready. I was never really worried about her being ready for a full day of school. But I knew that it would mean tough evenings, at least at the beginning of the year. Last year she was in preschool three mornings from 9-11:30. This year she’s in school from 8am-3pm five days a week. She arrives home emotionally spent, and anything that would normally be a minor mishap instead seems a tragic calamity.

So I didn’t register Ellie for dance class this year.

Ellie is surrounded by Irish dance. I’ve often mused whether she will indeed develop her own passion for Irish dance, or if she only shows interest because she idolizes her big sister and is the sibling-in-tow to so many events.

Ellie is five. Look at these sweet eyes, equally excited and nervous about the first day of kindergarten.



But with a big sister to take her hand, to lead her up the steps, and to sit with her on the bus (OK, yes, at least for the first week of school), her confidence increases.



It begs the question, is Ellie just following where she is led in Irish dance?

Ellie started the “Teelin Tiny Toes” class for preschoolers when she was three. Last spring, at age four and a half, she had outgrown the Tiny Toes level and was ready for a Beginner class. So we tried a class that started in January and continued through June.

She was the youngest in the class, and although capable of the skills, she started to resist. Several times, right before class, her shoes suddenly felt horribly uncomfortable, or her outfit just wasn’t what she wanted to wear that day and how could I possibly ask her to participate in class if she was wearing purple when she wanted to be wearing pink.

Mean Mommy that I am, when my kids are registered for an extra-curricular activity, I expect them to stick it out and to attend the entire session. We always discuss this ahead of time, and I emphasize that they don’t ever have to participate in that class again if they don’t want to after the session is over. But they do need to give it a fair try.

Not every week of class was a struggle for Ellie. She still flitted and fluttered around the house showing off her hop-1-2-3’s and her pointy toes, and she loved dancing in the Spring Performance.

But there were enough questions in my mind, on top of the kindergarten factor, that it seemed best to not register Ellie for dance class for this year. I was NOT going to make it a battle, and make Irish dance become something that Ellie HAD to do.

So I asked Ellie if she would like to take Irish dance again this year. I reminded her that it was her choice, but that if she decided yes, she needed to commit to attending all of the classes without complaining.

She very wisely said, “Maybe I’ll take a break from dance class.”

Yes, I was disappointed. We’re at the dance school at least three days a week anyway for Katie’s classes. Wouldn’t it just be easier to have Ellie in a class one of those days instead of waiting in the lounge?

Evoking the wisdom of other mothers, I did not register Ellie for class. I was hoping that she would miss it and then would ask to return. It had to be her initiative.

Guess what… it only took three weeks!

Our Trip to Ottawa – Part 1 – the Competition

Our family traveled to Ottawa, Canada July 3-9 to attend the North American Championships. I have severely procrastinated posting stories about this trip, so I’ll skip to the main event first, then fill in the fun details of the family vacation later… eventually…

The North American Irish Dance Championships is an event that is also known as the “Nationals,” which baffles me because first of all Canada and USA are two separate nations, and secondly the competition is open to (and well attended by) dancers from any nation in the world.



This was the first time that our TCRG, Maureen Berry, has taken dancers to Nationals, and Katie was one of the lucky four to represent Teelin School of Irish Dance. (Three of the four are pictured above – Katie, Mollie and Bridget.)

Maureen is a fantastic teacher. She competed at Nationals many years herself, so she knew well how to prepare her dancers. The extra practices that Katie attended in preparation for this competition were at times grueling, but have certainly brought her dancing to a new level.

Training for Nationals was not without a few bumps in the road. As I mentioned in a previous rambling, asking a nine-year-old to commit to the time and self-discipline required to train at this level requires almost equal commitment by her family. More than once tempers flared, tears flowed, and long discussions ensued confirming that yes, indeed, this was worth the effort, and no, we would NOT let this experience scare us all away from any future Irish dance competitions. (And if you assume that all of those tears were Katie’s, think again.)

Once the trip began, there were no further opportunities for second-guessing therefore some of the stress level actually diminished.

Attending this event was definitely a “wow” experience! We arrived in Ottawa on Tuesday and competitions began on Wednesday, so we were able to see quite a lot of amazing dancing before Katie competed on Saturday.

When watching such advanced level dancing, there is a fine line between being inspired and being intimidated. Thankfully, Katie was inspired. She saw a level of dancing that she hasn’t seen very often. Sure, her teacher dances that way, but that’s different – she’s a teacher, she’s supposed to be that much better of a dancer. But to literally see hundreds and hundreds of dancers of all ages doing such difficult steps with precision, confidence, and beautiful execution is quite an experience.

There are some negative aspects of any high level competition event, and yes the “greed to succeed” can bring out the worst in some people. It is unfortunate, though, that the negative aspects of the greed, the glitz and the glamour often get more attention than the positive aspects of these big events. Some “glass-half-empty people” may look at top-level Irish dancers and see only a view of eye-of the-tiger dancers attempting to claw their way to the top. But truly, at the heart of every champion dancer is a kid (regardless of age) who LOVES to dance. Looking beyond the fancy costumes and the sometimes intense quirky competition behavior, what I saw in the eyes of each and every dancer at Nationals was a spark that shone so bright it sang. The light from their eyes shouted, “This is why I’m here! Let me dance, let me soar, let me do what I love to do!” That indeed was inspiring!

Some of the best networking opportunities among dancers occurred in the practice rooms. Each hotel had a designated practice room, usually an empty conference room. The few days that I took Katie to our hotel’s practice room we met dancers from Illinois, California, New York and Alberta. Amidst well-disciplined rehearsals dancers chatted amicably, shared iPod speakers, and wished each other luck.

On Friday, Maureen called a rehearsal to work with Katie, Bridget and Joe who would all compete on Saturday. (Mollie competed on Thursday.) Because we were all staying in different hotels, we met in one of the competition halls after that day’s competitions had ended, hoping to practice on an actual competition stage. It didn’t quite go as planned…



So many dancers were practicing at the same time! For the most part, dancers waited along the back of the stage looking for an opening to run their steps, but still there were at least seven or eight kids dancing at any given time. That just seemed frighteningly dangerous for anyone, especially my small nine-year-old who looked half the size of most of those kids.

Check out the expressions on Katie and Bridget as they observed some of the activity from the edge of the stage while stretching…



So instead Maureen found an area along the side of the room to practice. We then took an obligatory picture of Maureen and her four dancers in front of the Canadian flag...



The next morning was the big day.

Katie and I arose before Scott and Ellie and walked to the Congress Centre. (It was GREAT not having to drive anywhere the entire time we were in Ottawa! More on that in another post….) I purchased my daily entry wristband that morning from my friend FeisMom Denise who was volunteering at the admissions stand.

Speaking of friends, do you remember me mentioning the “Three Katies” in my post about our Oireachtas experience? Well one of the most exciting parts about this Nationals experience is that “Katie, Katie, and the emergency back-up Katie” all competed together again!



Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of all three of the girls in their dresses.

Upon arrival at the event, each of the girls were handed a Canadian flag and a promotional-size zipper make-up bag with glitter eye shadow enclosed. (Propaganda, sayeth I!!!! Yikes.) Well, after a brief discussion with the other Katie-Moms and a nod of solidarity, we each did succumb to the tender pleas of our daughters and allow them to wear glitter eye shadow for this big event. But ONLY for this big event!



Along with a bit of lipstick, it was very glamorous.



Zipped up and ready to go, Katie headed off to the stage… (Do I look nervous? I was!)



Katie danced beautifully! On stage she smiled and looked confident, her treble jig dances were loud and clean, and her reels were gracefully energetic! Many of the dancers in her U9 competition had been dancing Open Champion level for quite a while, and even though Katie was still dancing Prizewinner level, she certainly danced as if she belonged on that stage. Maureen was so proud of her, we were so proud of her, and most importantly, Katie was thrilled with how it felt to get up on that stage and dance her best. It was a very positive experience!

The recall experience, unfortunately, was not so positive. Not wanting to dampen her confidence, I apparently did not prepare Katie quite well enough to not hear her number announced for an invitation to the third round. Katie was crushed.

As with everything, this too was a learning opportunity. Katie’s sobs and her inability to accept praise from her teacher for approximately 10-15 minutes after the recall announcements was poor sportsmanship. It’s alright to be disappointed, and it’s alright to have a good cry now and then, but there are times and places when the fortitude of good sportsmanship must prevail.

Katie and I have had many conversations about this experience and we’ve both learned a lot about handling some of the pressures of championship competitions. Some of the first discussions were whether or not Katie was ready to move to Preliminary Champion level. Scott and I certainly were NOT going to allow her to, when she qualified, if she was going to have these kinds of reactions for not placing. Other discussions involved hypothetical role plays of appropriate reactions for friends placing or recalling when Katie did not, and vice versa.

When our Katie finally snapped out of the doldrums, the three Katies enjoyed some more time together in the hall before hugs goodbye. By the way, neither of the other two Katies recalled this year either, and although disappointed, they each handled the announcements gracefully. All three of the Katies danced very well and overall had a very positive experience. We had hoped to connect in the city later that evening for some celebratory dessert together, but unfortunately we were unable to make that happen. (Lack of cell phone use was a struggle in Canada.)

Before leaving the Congress Centre on Saturday Scott managed to get a group photo of Maureen with her four Teelin dancers. Mollie was even convinced to wear her costume again for the photo! Joe had already changed, but his current Guinness t-shirt “costume” met with great approval from the photographer.



There are many more stories to be told from our week in Ottawa, and I hope to find time to write again soon…

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…

Kilt Shopping

There are certain pleasures that only a true MAID can appreciate. The honor of a kilt shopping expedition with two Feis Dads is one such occasion.

Two weeks from now, our Irish dance school will have its Spring Performances (end of the year shows) which will premiere a Father/Daughter dance. For a description of the chosen apparel for this performance, please read ZandB’s post entitled “Beer and Loathing in Picayune…”

Well, my dear MAID friends, the stage is set!

This afternoon, we took a trip to the Falls Road Running Store in Baltimore, Maryland. Yes, running store! Believe it or not, this shop is a secret treasure for anyone interested in purchasing a kilt. Several years ago, the owner was able to purchase a large shipment of high quality kilts at a great price in preparation for a race that the shop was sponsoring: the Men in Kilts 5K Race. There are still many different tartans and sizes left that are being sold at below market value.

While in the basement of the shop, where the kilts were shelved, ZandB and Scott were trying on various kilts while my daughters played on the steps. One of the guys working in the shop was heading upstairs and said, “Excuse me girls.” I’m sure that he was addressing the girls playing on the steps… right?

Nevertheless, the kilts have been purchased! ZandB looks fetching in his kilt of a lovely Campbell tartan, chosen in honor of his wife’s family name. Scott looks equally fetching in his purple kilt, chosen less sentimentally in honor of the Baltimore Ravens football team.

Sadly, I did not have a camera with me on the shopping expedition. However, I managed to take this picture here at home, while my two favorite kilt-clad men were leaning against the back of the sofa toasting the accomplishments of the day:



Yes, indeed, I have the signed documents! Bring on the fun!!!

A Passion for Performing

Irish dance is a performance art. Yes, Irish dance could be considered a sport, as it certainly requires significant athletic ability. And yes, aspects of Irish dance could be considered a hobby, particularly the cultural interests which are an intrinsic part of Irish dance. But first and foremost, Irish dance is a performance art.

One of the most significant benefits that I see my daughter gaining from Irish dancing is the poised confidence that she is learning from various performance opportunities. I first noticed this quality when Katie began to compete at feiseanna. My normally shy child stepped onto the stage of her first feis at age 7 and stood in front of a judge with a smile that said, “I know how to do this – watch me, and you won’t be disappointed!” Her quiet yet confident body language spoke volumes, both while she was dancing and when she was waiting her turn in line.

Competing can be a lot of fun, and it is a great way to encourage the discipline required to develop advanced skills in Irish dance. But dancing for typically stoic judges at a competition is very different than dancing in a theater, or at a festival, or for a senior center, or in a parade. Performing for an audience at a show allows a dancer to hone the subtleties of stage presence. An eager audience fuels a dancer’s energy in a way that a judge keeping score cannot. What the dancer chooses to do with that energy is the essence of developing a performer’s stage presence.

Notice the slight “deer in headlights” look on Katie’s face in this picture taken at her first solo performance in April 2006.

The Teelin Irish Dance Company had a performance at an Arts Festival and needed a little more time between numbers that required shoe changes, so Katie was asked to join the performance. It had a different “feel” to it than dancing the same thing on a competition stage, and gave Katie a taste for performing that she now craves.

The Teelin Irish Dance Company is a “team” for which students of the Teelin School can audition to join. Katie auditioned last spring and was invited to participate for the 2006-07 school year. It has been a wonderful experience, and performing with the company is offering Katie a way to be a “team player” in a broader arena than competing on a figures team does. As mentioned earlier, it’s a different energy. (Director Maureen Berry is truly a gifted choreographer, and the larger venues that can accommodate more dancers on stage is where the Teelin choreography really shines!)

This past Saturday, March 17, was St. Patrick’s Day, notably the busiest time of the year for Irish dance performances. My workload as the school’s webmaster is about to explode because of the high volume of fantastic pictures from these various events. But before it does, proud Mommy that I am, I’ve chosen a few fun pictures that show the development of Katie’s passion for performing. Her comfort with a wide variety of performing opportunities continues to amaze me. So, if you’ll forgive the fact that this blog is turning into more of a photo album than a written journal of late, here are the photo chronicles of a young girl who loves to dance… anytime, anywhere!

August 2006, performance at the Teelin Open House:


September 2006, performance at an outdoor Renaissance Festival with ZandB’s daughter:

(There’s a video clip of this performance, too!)


October 2006, Teelin Irish Dance Company performance at the Notre Dame-Navy Pep Rally held at Oriole Park in Camden Yards:


December 2006, performance at a Maggie Sansone Christmas Concert held at the Cellar Stage in Baltimore:


February 2007, Teelin Irish Dance Company performance at Glenelg Country School:


March 10, 2007, Teelin Irish Dance Company in Portraits of Ireland:






March 11, 2007, the Baltimore St. Patrick’s Day Parade:


March 16, 2007, Teelin Irish Dance Company performance at Congressional Country Club:


March 17, 2007, Teelin Irish Dance Company at a senior center:


March 17, 2007, Teelin Irish Dance Company at a church parish's St. Patrick’s Day party:


And a March 18, 2007, performance at a Sunday afternoon Maggie Sansone concert:

(Um, ignore the “other dancer” for now… more about that story another time…)

Yep, I love this world of Irish dance and what it has to offer my daughter and our family!

A MAID Moment

Today is Katie’s ninth birthday. Early this morning we sat ceremoniously upon the kitchen floor so that Katie could open some presents which had arrived by mail from out-of-state relatives.

One very special gift from Grandpa was an American Girl doll Irish dance dress. Katie gently opened the lid of the American Girl clothing box, parted the delicate tissue paper and proceeded to remove each item with reverence.

“Look how beautiful her dress is! And her headpiece! Oh, and look, there’s one for me, too!” Slight pause to try on the headpiece…

“Her dress even comes with a hangar! And, oh, look at these ghillies! And the little poodle socks, how cute! And what’s this?”

Katie had picked up the small white silica gel pack that companies place inside shoe boxes or such to keep the items fresh. I was about to answer Katie’s question when 4-yr-old Ellie suddenly said,

“Sock glue!”

Late For Everything These Days

I’m mailing our Christmas cards today. My smart-mouthed sister asked, “For which year?” She does have a point. I debated waiting a bit longer and calling them Valentine’s Day cards or St. Patrick’s Day cards, or even Easter cards if the procrastination continued so severely. But this year’s cards are picture cards, so I suppose it would be nice to send them whilst the subjects in the photo still resemble themselves.

If you’re not on my Christmas card list, here’s a peek…
Meg, Scott, Katie (8), Ellie (4) and Bear (14)


January is the typical month for people to diligently address their New Year’s resolutions, right? Well, in an attempt to avoid guilt, I decided not to make any New Year’s resolutions. I am, however, doing some soul searching and taking stock of my priorities. It feels a bit like spring cleaning. (Wow, does that mean I’m actually early for something, since it’s still winter?!? Nah, probably not….)

IF I had made any New Year’s resolutions, one would have been to post something on this blog at least once a month. My original intention of creating this blog was to journal our family’s involvement in Irish dance through the years, and to share perspective with anyone else interested. That intention still stands. I’m just having trouble keeping up. Irish dance has managed to infiltrate every aspect of my life, which creates great fodder for writing. But unfortunately, finding time to write seems to consistently get squished out of the schedule… and Irish dance, itself, is most often to blame! Go figure.

So, dear readers, thanks for stopping by every so often even though new posts on this blog are rare. Next on my list of blog-worthy posts is the story of Katie’s first Oireachtas experience. It’s a rather large project, though, thanks to the gazillion-and-one photographs of her that Scott and ZandB managed to take at that regional championship competition event. But I will get to it eventually. I’m just… (yes, you guessed it)… late for everything these days.

Thanksgiving

Reason #2 why people don’t read this blog: because so few people actually know that it exists.

Reason #1 why people don’t read this blog: because there are so rarely any new posts here.

For over a month I’ve had a half-written story which I do plan to post to this blog. It’s on the “To-Do List”. It’s just not “to-done” yet. I miss writing. I enjoy playing with thoughts and shaping them with words. Maybe during Thanksgiving vacation I’ll find some time to write. Maybe...

Time sneaks away so quickly. One of the assistant instructors at my daughter’s dance school gave birth to her fourth child on the 16th of October. Because she’s a friend (and likely because I seem to live in the parent lounge of the dance school, as I’m there almost every day), I’ve had the great pleasure of cuddling baby Liam while his Mom teaches. He is so small, so precious! Last night, while the warmth of this newborn was still fresh on my shoulder, I tucked my own children into bed. How did they grow so big so quickly?

This Thanksgiving vacation, I’m going to take the time to jump in the leaf piles with my girls instead of working on the Irish dance school’s website. I’m going to cuddle under a blanket and read some mind-numbing novel instead of stressing about the “To-Do List” growing longer. And I’m going to appreciate every ounce of the nervous excitement in Katie’s eyes as my eight-year-old prepares for her first Oireachtas experience! Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was a small newborn on my shoulder?