Archive for the year 2011
Good Friday was a Great Friday
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Ching under Life, Zumba.
Brian was worn out from the hectic week he had last week. The week of the National Sales Meeting always drains him. While it’s fun and exciting, the long days are exhausting. We talked about taking last Friday or Monday off, but we both had stuff going on and couldn’t miss work. The first day that we both could feasibly take off was Friday, April 22 (which happens to be Good Friday).
Since we were both off work, we figured we could clean house and do some chores. The house specially needed attention because Brian and I have been so busy the last few weeks that it’s been messier than usual. Brian had invited his ex-girlfriend (from almost 15 years ago; the one he was with right before we got together) over for dinner so we really needed to tidy up the place.
Anyway, something came up and she couldn’t make it. Other than making too much spaghetti (and having to eat the leftovers the next day), things turned out okay. Brian and I actually work better on a time crunch. I didn’t want dirty clothes all over the laundry room when we had guests over so I didn’t do laundry in my usual leisurely way, which usually takes all weekend and sometimes carries over into Monday night. I got all the laundry done (all four loads) before 5 PM. It was quite a productive day overall.
Brian and I ended the evening at Lizards Lounge. We were mostly there to see Skrapyard, but the first two acts (Kingshifter and Death Valley Wolfriders) actually weren’t bad. Brian really liked Kingshifter. I appreciated Death Valley Wolfriders for their Black Sabbath cover. Both bands had some good original songs, but not having seen or heard of these guys before, it was nice to hear a familiar song.
Skrapyard was amazing. This was Brian’s first time watching them perform live. I’d played some of their songs for him before and he really liked it. “Deeds of Man” was the highlight of the evening for me. I love the mellow part of the song toward the end.
Charlie Withers is awesome! I told Brian that we’ll have to drive to the West side Granite City to watch him perform solo one day.
Since Danielle bailed on us, I falsely assumed it was going to be just the two of us (Brian and me) all night. We were just lounging around the house (killing time before the show, letting our spaghetti dinner digest), when I got a call from Doug. He and Tammy were already at Lizards Lounge. Brian and I were both like, “Crap!” And then we scrambled to get cash (it’s a “cash only” bar) and head out there. It’s a good thing that the bar is pretty close by. I think we were there in less than ten minutes.
I’m not sure if the bands were too loud for them, but they were both really good sports and seemed to have a good time. I feel awkward inviting people to Lizards Lounge because of its bad rap. I’d never been there before until Jenni invited us to see Surphace there a few weeks ago. I had heard so many bad things about the place before, I was totally surprised that I liked it. I think it was really bad before when people smoked inside. I had such low expectations of the place that they were quite easy to exceed. Then again, I’m pretty easy to please. I’m not a “bar snob” like Misty. =P Give me cheap drinks and good music and I’m all set. LOL. I could totally add LL to our regular rotation.
Brian said he figured out why I liked their fuzzy navels there. He watched the bar tender make my drink and he said they put some vodka in it. Instead of just using peach schnapps and orange juice, they do peach schnapps and orange juice and vodka. So it’s like a cross between a screwdriver and a fuzzy navel. I’ve decided to call it a fuzzy screwdriver. LOL.
The two glasses of coconut rum and pineapple juice that I had at home after dinner and the fuzzy screwdrivers I had at the bar made me feel quite fuzzy the next day. I never really get hung over, but I wobbled to the restroom when I got up the next morning. I still made it to step class, though. I even had enough energy to spare for Zumba, but decided to skip it (since Gina is out of town). I’ll tell you more about Saturday later today. Check back in a few hours.
Anyway, we had a really great Friday. I love, love, love Skrapyard!
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S&M by Rihanna
Posted on April 20, 2011 by Ching under Videos, Zumba.
This was the first song that we danced to in the Zumba Master Class last Sunday. Click here if you can’t see the video.
P.S. Amie, Gina — you guys need to add this one to your list of Zumba songs!
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Zumba Master Class
Posted on April 18, 2011 by Ching under Events, Health, Zumba.
I succumbed to peer pressure and decided to attend the Zumba Master Class at North YMCA yesterday. I’m glad I did because I had a lot of fun.
With Amie, Andrea and Gina
Gina, Hideki and Andrea
Obligatory photo with Tony, the Master Zumba Instructor.
Our post-workout picture.
I’m really glad that Amie talked me into going. I was reluctant at first because I was worried that there would be 200+ people there and it would be way crowded, which I hate because then I can barely move. When I was in Amie’s Sunday Zumba class at West Central Genesis earlier that day, though, she told me that there were only 40 or so pre-registered at the time that she signed up. It makes sense, because how many people would really pay $20 to take a Zumba class?
It was a decent turn out, but not as big as I feared. I’m glad Gina Ann and her friends got there early and secured a great spot. I hate being in the back because I’m too short to see over other people.
So anyway, Amie’s class ended at 2:00 pm. This gave Brian and I time to meet the family for ice cream at Orange Leaf. I just took a few bites out of Brian’s ice cream. I was good and didn’t have my own. Anyway, I was really sloppy in Amie’s class in my black Zumba cargos and a white t-shirt so I wanted to come home, shower and change into a more colorful Zumba outfit for the Master Class.
Brian was like, “Why are you showering? You’re just going to sweat again!”
Channeling my inner five-year-old, “I have to look presentable. This isn’t a REGULAR Zumba class! This is a MASTER class! This is an EVENT!” I was quite indignant. LOL.
I’m glad I changed because we took quite a few pictures. I’d hate to look losyang compared to everyone. =P
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David’s Birthday Weekend
Posted on April 17, 2011 by Ching under Events.
We started David’s 57th birthday celebration by taking him and Donna to Tanganyika Wildlife Park. Neither of them had been there before.
Donna got to feed a giraffe.
It was an absolutely beautiful day!
I was quite impressed with the quality of the pictures from my old camera.
Donna got to feed the lorikeets.
A beautiful kookaburra bird.
A red panda.
Donna, David and Brian at the penguin exhibit.
David and Donna got to feed the ring-tailed lemurs.
It’s our favorite exhibit.
This giraffe was quite friendly.
Brian liked this one.
After Tanganyika, we treated David and Donna (and Misty, who joined us also) to dinner at Pacific Coast Pizza. It’s their favorite pizza joint.
We gave David his birthday gift at dinner: Close Encounters of the Third Kind 3-DVD boxed set on Blu-ray. He was surprised because he thought the trip to Tanganyika was his gift. It was actually a trifecta: the Blu-ray, Tanganyika and dinner at PCP. 🙂
The celebration continued on Sunday afternoon at Orange Leaf. David and Donna’s treat.
A rare picture of the Brubaker men together.
I thought it was an awesome birthday weekend. I hope that David had as great a time as the rest of us. His opinion of the weekend is ultimately what matters most, since it was his birthday weekend. 😉
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Zumba Power Couple: Justin and Mandy
Posted on April 17, 2011 by Ching under Health, Things to Do, Zumba.
I have no idea how Mandy did it, but I bow to her persuasive powers. She is the only one who has managed to convince her husband to join us. I’ve been trying to get Brian to do it for months. The only thing I’d ever been able to get him to do is come and shoot video.
Well, I did get him to try Amie’s class once. That might have been my mistake. I think that scared him off. Maybe I should have eased him into it instead of starting with the most challenging Zumba class. I just figured if Raymond and Colt could do it, then maybe Brian could too. Besides, we had the videos for him to watch so he could learn the routines. How wrong I was! Now the mere mention of Zumba makes Brian shiver. I think I’ve scared him off for good.
Gina Ann suggested perhaps coercion would be the way go to. She said I should offer him fellatio in exchange for doing Zumba with us (but not immediately AFTER, unless a shower is involved =P). He’s getting that quite regularly now, so that would mean I’d have to withhold it until he does Zumba. After much consideration, I’ve decided that would be more punishment for me than it is for him so that’s not going to work.
I’m thinking maybe video games might be the ticket. He’d have to Zumba with us in order to buy new video games. Do you guys think that would work? Any other suggestions?
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