Isn’t that CUTE?!?!

Get it?

“5-6-7-8” as in the count off which dancers use to start dancing and then…

…TahDAH!  “Update”  Woo Hoo.

I think I shall keep it and use it as a standard “Quickie” header for a four point update post.

Whatcha think?

Five…

You may have noticed a theme in the last few posts and a flurry of activity…

Yes, you have correctly noticed that I’m kinda freaking about about MONEY! It is because I need it and I don’t have it.

Why? Well we are in the Fall.

And “Fall” is when I have to do an oil change on my truck, a tune up on my truck, get my truck inspected and pay the annual registration taxes/tags to the State.  It is also when my AAA (American Automobile Association) membership renews each year.

AND it is one of two times a year (every six months) when my auto insurance renews.

And this time $#@#$@@##$@@!!!!! Progressive, which is otherwise a pretty good insurance company, RAISED MY FRIGGIN INSURANCE RATES FOR NO APPARENT REASON other than the money sucking fat cat capitalists want to GET EVERY LAST penny out of people like me who live below the poverty line!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!

Yes, I’m stressed.  And I need money, so I’m trying to sell some stuff and yes, I’m begging for donations (which no one has ever actually done…) sigh

Want to be the first?  The donate button is always over there in the right hand column…

Or you can buy a cool design from my online store: TxCowboyDancer Designs

And check out “My Online Garage Sale” — There will be more stuff added to it over the next little while.  Most of the stuff will be dance related in one way or another.  — No, I can’t have an “actual” garage sale.  The complex I live in has rules against that kind of thing.  SIGH

Six…

2010 Worlds – Line Dance World Champion! — Yes, that’s me in the top spot! Graduating into the Advanced Division!

However, the “once a year bills” are not the only money stressor.

There is a bigger one that is directly related to my long-term goals of getting fit and healthy.

(By the way, I use big words – once a gain my spell check had no idea what a particular word was.  In this case — what a “stressor” was.  I had to add it to the dictionary on my computer.)

I admit defeat.  There.  I said it.  I will never ever “exercise” for the sake of “exercise.”

I hate exercise.  I will. NOT. Do. It.

But I do love to dance!

Dance is not exercise.

Dance is fun.

Dance is passion.

Dance is what I miss MOST from “before” my health went to crap.

Dance is what I love to do — which my body “thinks” is “exercise” but which my mind and my heart sees as “fun”

Cycling is the other one, but DANCE has the potential to also enable me to MAKE money eventually and dig myself out of this financial hole that I’m in because once I get to a certain level of fitness, I can start TEACHING dance again!  So Dance gets priority over cycling.

And, “dance” is what will help me become physically fit and healthy again!  Who Hoo!  Woot even! and YeeeeeeeHawwwwww!

But for now, at the outset, Dance is also a money-stressor.  sigh

Why?  I’m glad you asked.  🙂

I need choreography…

One thing that is adding to my stress levels is that I need money to pay for Choreography.

As part of my (1) return to dancing and competition dancing and (2) as part of my efforts to become fit and healthy, I want / am planning to / strongly desire to compete in Showcase Line Dance next year.

I can choreograph, but my choreography, compared to a talented professional choreographer is like a child’s finger painting compared to a Picasso or Monet.

I have only begun to play around with choreography and that is what my choreography looks like – a beginner’s efforts.

And folks you don’t “win” at Worlds with choreography that looks like a beginner’s efforts!  A major portion of the scoring for Showcase Line Dance is the quality of the choreography!

I need the help of a Pro!

I have my first choreographer lined up.  She has agreed to do it for $80 per hour.  She is an amazing dancer and choreographer with years of experience.  She has even choreographed for Hollywood and Broadway!

She thinks it will take 3-4 hours do to it which means that I need between $240 and $320 to pay her for the choreography.

Note: If you are a business person and you’d like to sponsor me for 1 line dance ($320), I will post an ad here on my blog for 12 months.   If you want to sponsor two dances $640,  I will also post an ad on my store: TxCowboyDancer Designs.  Contact me using my contact form if you are interested, and we’ll work out the details.  I can even help you create the ad.  Between subscribers here, my store, Twitter, Pinterest, and on Facebook, your ad would be exposed to approx 3,000 potential sets of eyeballs

I’ll spare you the long “connect the dots” between here and there…

Ok, ok, I’ve got to connect the dots — I gotta!  Because, for this to make sense for you, my loyal readers the dots must be connected!

Take a deep breath, because this involves translating into “English” some very complicated “rules” from UCWDC, the governing body which regulates Country Western Dance Competitions, as recognized by the IOC (International Olympic Committee).  Whew! Try saying THAT 10 times after a shot of Tequila!

However, for those with very short attention spans…

..the “take-away” of the connect-the-dots section down below, is that IF I am to meet my goal for Worlds 2017, I HAVE TO START NOW!  Right now!

For those who are curious and have some time (SLURP – coffee is good!) here are the details — In reverse order, from the ultimate goal to “here &now” here are the dots:

• Jan 1-8, 2017 – Win Showcase Line Dance at Worlds 2017 — which is the FIRST half of the two “required” division wins to “graduate” me into the Crown Line Dance Division which is sort of like winning the Oscars to draw an analogy for non-dance folks.  Crown is the highest level of competition available for Line Dancers over the age of 40.  Showcase line dances are original choreography done to special cuts of ONLY the music released by UCWDC. — You have to come up with the steps.
  ..
• Jan 2017 – Win “Classic” Line Dance (in one of 3 possible age divisions) at Worlds 2017 — which is the SECOND half of the the two “required” division wins to “graduate” me into the Crown Line Dance Division.  “Classic” line dance is where UCWDC releases both the music AND the steps.
  ..
• Nov 2016 — No 3 of 3 required UCWDC Events — in Dallas, TX – Dallas Dance Festival – where I plan on entering:
  • Male Diamond Showcase Line – Full program of five dances (showcase is by definition “advanced” so the word “advanced” is not in the name)
  • Male Advanced Silver Classic Line Dance – Full program of five dances — “Silver” is for dancers aged 50+
  • and if I have enough money, I’ll also enter:
    • Male Advanced Crystal Classic Line Dance – Full program of five dances — “Crystal” is for dancers aged 30+
    • Male Advanced Diamond Classic Line Dance – Full program of five dances — “Diamond” is for dancers aged 40+To “graduate” I must win BOTH the Diamond Showcase and 1 “Classic” division in any age division 30+.  The more “classic” divisions I enter, the greater my chances of wining at least one of the “classic divisions.”  The competition is TOUGH in the advanced divisions!
      ..
• April 15-17, 2016 — No 2 of 3 required UCWDC Events — in Oklahoma City, OK — Oklahoma Dance Rush – where I plan on entering:
  • Male Diamond Showcase Line – 1 dance
  • Male Advanced Silver Classic Line Dance – 1 dance
    ..
• Feb 20-21, 2016 — No 1 of 3 required UCWDC Events — in Dallas TX — Big D Bash – where I plan on entering:
  • Male Diamond Showcase Line – 1 dance
  • Male Advanced Silver Classic Line Dance – 1 dance
    ..
• NOW – End of October — The music for No 1 of 5 “showcase” line dances has been JUST been released!  There are four more showcase music releases to come. I need to have the first one done by the end of October.I’ll figure out how to pay for the choreography for the other four later!  *sigh*  Actually I have some saved choreography from previous years which may work for the others four.  But the first one is a completely different style of music and nothing I have already can be adapted.  So.. I have no choice but to get something completely new choreographed!  Eeeek!

Why the “deadline” of “end of October?”

Because in order to have enough time to (1) learn the choreography and (2) practice enough to have it ready to compete with at the Feb 2016 event, it takes a minimum of four months.  So Oct 31 is my deadline.  No choreography = no Showcase competition.  Eeeeeeekkkkk!

Why these three events?

The short answer is “It is the cheapest possible combination for me to qualify to attend Worlds 2017.”  To qualify for “Worlds 2017” …

• …I must attend three events to “qualify” for Worlds
• …I must compete a “full program” at least ONE time at ONE of the three events to “qualify” for Worlds
• …I can go to any three UCWDC events, but these three are the closest to my home which means they are the cheapest.

Two of the events are actually here in Dallas – which means almost ZERO travel costs.  No hotel.  No airfare.  No car rental or shuttle or parking or subway fares.  Only the couple extra dollars in gas into my own vehicle to get there.  No extra food costs because I can eat at home.   The third is an easy 3 hour drive from where I live.

IF I’m not ready to compete at Big D Bash in Feb, then I’ll have to replace that event on the schedule with one further away and that makes it more expensive to attend and to qualify for Worlds which makes it highly unlikely for me to make this work at all.

Also, these three events which are close to home, which means I know the event owners, are the MOST likely ones where I’ll be able to get “on staff” or to “volunteer” which will get me a free 3-day/weekend pass which competitors are REQUIRED to purchase.

My only cost will then be the entry fees for the individual dances.  Which explains why I’m only doing 2 dances at each of the first two events.

See?  I’m trying my very best to make this happen at the lowest possible cost.   Check out my “Calendar” for a complete run down of the possible dance events for the coming competition year.

So…  I need to raise the money for the choreography NOW! 

SEVEN…

I am almost at a major threshold / goal on the losing weight front.  For the past week I’ve been within spitting distance of 300 lbs.

My weight has been bobbing up and down but holding steady around 303.  Arrrgggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Wish me luck — scratch that!  (get it – cute photo of a cat… “scratch”)  LOL  Anway… wish me “success!” not “luck”!

With the added physical activity that is going to be happening this week, I should drop below 300 lbs sometime in the next seven days.  Yay!  Stay tuned!

EIGHT…

Today is being devoted to three things…

1. …writing this post, and doing some other “online work” to earn a teeny tiny bit of money.  Did I mention I’m stressing about money?  Oh.. I did.  Ok.  moving on…
2. …continuing to clean up the house and de-cluttering.  Watch out for more “Garage Sale” posts!
3. … prepping for my first day back on the practice dance floor — which is tomorrow – watch for a “how I did” post from me tomorrow after I get back from practice!

What’s in my “dance bag”?

It is surprisingly complex to get ready to get back into the routine of practicing on a regular basis.  All my bits and bobs needed to make the dance rehearsal happen are scattered all over the place and have to be gathered:

• gym bag
• dance shoes
• dance boots
• practice cowboy hat — a really beat up hat that I use for practicing moves that require hatwork.
• shoe brush
• iPod – which needs to be charged – which has all my dance music
• headphones – which are around here somewhere — I have no idea where though…
• music play list which needs to be updated and synced with the iPod
• Water bottle – which needs to be washed
• step sheets for the new “classic” line dances to be used in competition
• step sheets for the “just for fun” dances that I teach when I have a line dance gig.  It has been ages since I’ve taught them so I need to “refresh” my memory of the steps and run through them a few times.
• iPad – which needs to be charged – which has all the videos I’ve downloaded from the net which I use to learn new choreography or to work on a specific technique.

And that is just off the top of my head.  So, today, I ‘gather’ stuff.  Tomorrow I dance.   Kinda scary…  This “done got real!”

Wish me success!  Better yet, send me cash.  I really do need it.  sigh

See ya on the dance floor!

Check back late tomorrow for my post on my “first day back in the studio” — I’ll try to take photos.

Oh Crap! That means I need to add my camera (which needs to be charged) to my dance bag!

Woo hoo!