Belly rolls annoy my cat

Day 39 of practice.

I'm getting lazy and falling into a bad habit of considering breakfast shimmies and evening belly rolls as acceptable practice even on days I'm not working at a gem show. I'd like to blame it on being unreasonably tired, but I really should have practiced earlier in the day when I had energy.

There's only a little over a month until my next scheduled performance at a local hafla, and since I want to do a veil piece, I should really be practicing with my veil. I think I'll do some daytime practice tomorrow, even though an hour and a half at Dance Loft will more than fulfill my daily practice obligations. I think that getting back to class will also help me get back to practicing, as I'll be learning new things that I'll want to drill between classes.

As for the title of this post, my big fluffy Maine Coon mix decided to get into my lap while I was practicing belly rolls, then proceeded to twitch irritably whenever I pushed my belly out into his fuzz. But he's still less disruptive than the dogs!

The perils of practicing in my living room

Day 11 of practice (I probably identified yesterday as day 11, because it was after midnight).

I envy people with a dedicated space to practice their dance in. I really do. When my husband and I went shopping for a house, I had dreams of having a room to bead in, and someplace wide open for dancing. Somehow I didn't get either of those. Oh, someday I'll have them, if we ever finish renovations, but for now I have to content myself with dancing in the living room.

The main problem with my living room is that it was designed for a short person. Despite the fact that it has regular ceilings, the ceiling fan is drop-mounted. Tall friends have to duck to walk under it. I routinely hit it with my hands when I'm dancing (during the summer, I of course turn it off before I dance!). For some inexplicable reason, my two dogs cannot stand the sound of the pull-chains clanging against the glass fixture. So tonight's practice went like this.

Warm Up.
Start dancing.
Accidentally hit pull chains, summoning the dogs from the bedroom. Try to keep dancing while telling the dogs to be quiet.
Dogs return to bedroom.
I hit the chains again. I'm now dancing faster, so the excited, barking corgis decide this means I must want to wrestle. I tell them to be quiet, to no avail. Maggie decides to bite my pants to try to get me to join their herd dog games.
Give up and lock dogs in their crates (it's cold, so I don't want to put them outside to play).
Decide to play more with my veil. Discover that veil layers nicely over Maya Hip Bump and Maya Box.
Run out of veil moves. Toss veil onto the couch. Watch in dismay as cat decides that my veil is his new bed.
Chase cat off of veil, put veil in dance bag, and struggle to hold onto my sense of inner happiness as I wrap up my practice.

I love my pets. I really do. But they are not very compatible with my dance life! Don't even get me started about the orange corgi hairs on my black dance pants...