Hello from my new apartment! There are still a few things left at the old place, but I’ve been officially living in my new home since Sunday. What a week so far! My body hurts everywhere and I keep finding new bruises. I must have taken 1,000 trips between my car and the new or old apartment by now. Thank goodness the new place has an elevator (I’m on the third floor)! I slept surprisingly well my first night here. Guess I knew I was home. Or I was so physically and mentally exhausted from moving for two days in 90-degree weather that it didn’t matter where I laid down to  sleep!

I was back at the day job right away on Monday, though I worked from home. One of my dogs in particular has been having a rough time with the move, so I got permission to work from home at least part of this week while my boys get settled in their new surroundings. I’m sure they miss Roomie and her dog too. Moving to a new home AND losing two pack members is hard! They’re adjusting though, and I think it will get easier as I unpack and get the place actually looking like a home instead of a storage unit.

So this is the start of a new chapter for me. I can’t say I feel happy or excited; I’m still too tired from moving for that. I do have hope though, and I’m looking forward to finishing this transition so I can refocus on my writing and dancing.

Before all of the cardboard boxes are even put away though, I will be competing! I requested an extra lesson with Teacher last week after the “square one” lesson left my ego bruised and my confidence wavering more than usual. He was able to turn my normal single lesson on Friday into a double.

We reviewed the choreography that I didn’t feel sure about and worked on an arm styling sequence I was having trouble with. He proposed a new approach for tango, which I balked at initially (new ideas two weeks out? I don’t think so!). It turned out to be easier to get into frame though, so I accepted it.

It doesn’t seem like the competition is only a week away. I’ve been so focused on the move that I haven’t had time to think much about my dancing. I’m trying not to think about it now because if I think about how much I haven’t been thinking about dance, I’ll start panicking. My Wednesday lesson was moved to Thursday, so I’m going to wait until then, when I’m with Teacher who can tell me to chill out, to think about it.

I do feel I’m getting to that more peaceful place where I’ve prepared as much as I can and there’s no time left to prepare anymore, so now it’s just rehearse what I know and hope for the best. And have fun! All this stress over finding a place to live, moving, starting yet another new chapter in my life, and not feeling ready for the competition has blocked the happiness dance brings me. Not cool, Stress.

I know I put a lot of pressure on myself for these competitions too. For people who compete regularly, this comp is just another one in a series. What doesn’t go right this time, they can get right next time. I look at each comp as if it was the last one, because it easily could be. I’m tapped out with this move; I even had to make arrangements with Teacher to split what I’ll owe him into multiple payments. That’s the story of my dance life though.

So the whirlwind continues! I have to finish moving everything and clean the old place by Saturday. Then I compete next Thursday! I did have the foresight to request Thursday and Friday off from the day job. I will definitely need a long weekend.

I hope everyone else is having a grand old time on their own adventures! If you’re going to be at Desert Classic, keep a lookout for my tattoo and stop and say hi!

Random end note: I found the best shower curtain ever for my new bathroom. Check it out! You can get your own here: http://amzn.to/2shEnlI