Hey! It's me!...

Sooo...it's been a while. Sorry about that. A lot has happened since the end of the semester. CT and AJ are both out of school for the Summer now. AJ graduated from preschool for the second and final time, and will be in Kindergarten next year (Not fair! Can't we slow things down a bit?) CT got through 4th Grade (also not fair), and walked away with some pretty darn good grades. Go chiddlers!

Oh, and speaking of great accomplishments, Ty was promoted at work! Yay Ty! He's now working for the corporate offices of his company. He's been working his tail end off, and now he's been promoted to this great new job and I couldn't be prouder.

My little brother got married a couple of weeks ago, and despite a number of setbacks with getting everything pulled together and some timing issues, it was a great day and he's settling in happily with his adorable new wife. And it was at his wedding reception that I had an interesting experience and learned something that I think everyone should embrace.

To preface this story, allow me to say this: I am not a good dancer. I can do some basic stuff, but when it comes to real life dancing, I have about as much skill as a baked ham in a washing machine. But I've enjoyed taking social dance classes, and had my fair share of fun at dances back in my high school days. In later years, however, not so much. I mean, when and where am I going to go dancing? Exactly. It ain't my thing, it never really has been, and I'm okay with it.

Well, at my brother's wedding reception, some impromptu dancing broke out, and my siblings and I started joining in. And as I was goofing off on the dance floor with my sisters, something funny happened. I forgot about everyone else in the room and just...danced. I mean, I've heard the phrase before, I think we all have: "Dance like no one is watching." I've heard it before, and I've always understood it to mean something like: Do what makes you happy, regardless of what anyone else might think of you, because in the end what they think just doesn't matter. It made perfect sense, and while I realized that it could be taken literally and mean basically the same thing, I never really considered trying it.

Well, at my brother's wedding, I did it. I danced because it felt good and it made me laugh and smile. And hey, the music was good. Afterwards, I realized that I may have looked a bit silly to any onlookers, but I also realized that I really don't care. I had fun, and I will always remember those moments where I threw social consciousness to the wind and set my barely-coordinated self free. I may even do it again in the future. So take a newly-written page out of my book of advice. If you're given the chance, dance like no one is watching. It's a great feeling!