Sunday Morning: I am excited about our Tango dance lesson tonight, even though Mr. Man seems really worried about stepping on my feet with his size 15 shoes (not size 14, as I had previously incorrectly remembered..hmmmm). Anyway, I got up this morning not feeling like getting dressed for church and watched Joel Osteen on my DVR instead. I was delightfully surprised that his sermon was about “Not Panicking” when the enemy is bothering us with unexpected troubles…. Was Joel in my mind, did he know that I had been panicking about gaining weight for the last few days? He explained the devil is mad that you’re helping others, making a difference and trying to discourage you! The Bible says no weapon formed against us will prosper, it doesn’t say no weapon will form …you may go thru difficulty, but because you’re a child of God, he will bring you out better than you were before. Your test will become a testimony….I was sitting on my couch waving my hands and clapping like I was in a real church service. Joel always knows how to put things in perspective. He’s coming to St. Louis on Jan 7th, and you know I’m there!
Sunday Evening: Time to Tango. We were dressed and ready to go. My Little sis snapped a quick pic of Me and Mr. Man with the just because rose and bottle of sparkling Moscato he bought for me.

We went to the Ritz, and got there just as the dance lesson was starting. I’ll be the first to admit that the stereotypical “black people got rhythm” gene skipped me. But Mr. Man, my bi-racial teddy bear…… he was like…well….what’s a nice word…ummmm….a concrete block. My sweetie is totally lost when it comes to dancing. The teacher taught us each step to the tango, and we rotated partners. One guy I danced with was a really good leader, it felt like I was actually doing it right. Then there was this older guy, maybe about 60 years old, and I think he was trying to kiss me. He was SO close to my face. I know it’s a sensual and even intimate dance, but I don’t know you dude, I do not need an up close view of your grey nose hairs. Finally, I was back with Mr. Man, we were having a fun time, but so far from dancing the tango. He told me he did step on one lady’s toe, and nervously held another lady too tightly. After the hour long lesson, we watched the 2 teachers, one of which was a 12 year veteran to dancing. All I can say is “WOW!” they were amazing, so in sync with each other. Towards the end it was so sexy that Mr. Man and I looked at each other like, are we even supposed to be watching this?

I have a completely new appreciation for dancing. I took Jazz, tap and even ballet as a little girl, but it was all choreographed. The teacher compared their dance to poetry, they wrote each line as a they went along, he moved and she gracefully followed, it was beautiful. I told Mr. Man, we can do this. As we sat on the fancy little hotel couches, I told him, let’s start back at the beginning. We looked into each other’s eyes, and sort of practiced the moves while sitting down, learning each other’s cues. Once we were ready, we got back on the dance floor. He thanked me for my patience. We were both so much better.

We didn’t do the fancy spins and turns, but we certainly got down the basics. It was a new experience and we both agreed to come again so that we could get better. Afterwards, we took the bottle of bubbly over my parent’s house and shared with them. My Dad gave Mr. Man major cool points for recommending the dance lessons, and for cutting my grass, making it no longer look like “no one lived there” and relieved that he wouldn’t have to “buy me a goat.” My mom was shocked when I explained that my generation did not learn how to “properly” slow dance as they did. Anyway, it was a fantastic ending to wonderful weekend. Before you know it, I’ll be the “Weight loss blogger superstar on Dancing with the Stars!”


What Did Carli Eat Today?
B– Bowl of Cereal
L– Salad topped with the steak I made
D– Applebee’s 2 or $20 with Mr. Man – Spinach Dip and Chips and Oriental Chicken salad (Only ate half, stopped when I got full)

7 Comments
  1. I was wondering when we would see pics of Mr. Man??? You all make a lovely couple….KUDOS for doing the dance lessons Carli.

    Linda

  2. Thanks Linda! There is also a pic of us at my Sister’s Sweet 16 party on 7/17/10

  3. great blog entry! good for both of you! keep dancing 🙂

  4. Helen, depending on our schedule, we might go again on Sunday,

  5. I LOVE NEW THINGS!! HOW ADVENTUROUS!!! YESSSSSSSSS!!!

  6. Aunt Cleo, I love trying new things too, and it’s that much more fun to have someone to try them with. Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog!

  7. I did ballroom dancing for 5 years…it’s an amazingly fun way to increase your stamina…and you meet a lot of nice people. You also learn to overlook sweating…

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