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Happy Small Business Saturday, dancers! Did you shop til you dropped on Black Friday, or stay home eating Thanksgiving leftovers?

I was on a plane yesterday, flying home after spending a few days with family for the holiday. As predicted, I gained about two pounds, and not-so-predicted, I caught a cold on the way home. There’s nothing like being stuck on a 6-hour flight and every hour, no matter how much you believe in the “mind over matter” phrase on your t-shirt, your symptoms get worse. I didn’t have any tissues and my nose started running like a faucet. Flight attendants were seated because of bad turbulence, so I resorted to using my scarf. Don’t worry, it’s in the laundry now.

The week was really nice though. The fam and I didn’t do much aside from watch movies, chat, play with the new furry member of the family, and eat. But sometimes that’s all you need!

My own fur babies were happy to have me home (and very interested in the new smells on my clothes). Arriving with unexpected microscopic guests changes my weekend plans. I was looking forward to going to the studio tomorrow for my solo practice, but that has been moved to the “TBD” column. My backup plan is a gentle pilates workout video at home, so I still get my body moving but without hampering its efforts to fight off this cold.

Speaking of solo practice, did you see what I shared on social media? On the flight at the beginning of the week, I managed to get some practice in without even leaving my seat!

I finished writing out my Open Waltz routine in my Choreography Journal. If you notice in the photo, I made use of the left column by marking which wall I was on through the routine. Originally, I designed this column for those who prefer to number down the left side, so they can include more detail about the movement. But as you can see, even if you do your counts across the page like me, you can still use this feature. Just like in ballroom dance, it’s all about being structured yet flexible.

We only have one month left in 2019! Anyone else feeling a little pressure to do…something? I always get a feeling like there’s some unnamed goal that I still need to achieve before the end of the year, but I’m not quite sure what and I’m not quite sure why. I’m sure it connects back to my “not good enough” demon. It’s always coming up with another reason I’m falling short, even when I’m kicking butt (which I feel like I have this year).

The antidote to this nagging feeling is to focus on what I need to do next to move me forward to my already-established goals, like my next competition goal: California Open. Or on a day like today when I’m not feeling so hot, forget about goals for a second and just be. The end of the year is a good checkpoint, but if you’re not where you thought you’d be or wanted to be, it doesn’t mean you failed. It just means your journey took a different path than expected.

I think that’s enough babbling from me today! I do need to leave the apartment once today to drop orders off at the post office. Then I’ll be a good girl and rest.

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