Sometimes I have the best day ever.

Once upon a November, I had the best day of my life. For 3 reasons.

1. Savion Glover (THE best tap dancer alive) in real life in front of my face. This number has two parts.
Part A: A workshop. Savion agreed to come and teach us a workshop. My friend Justin Kelly said it well in his Facebook status after the event when he said "Still in a stupor after one of the coolest dance lessons I have ever had the privilege to attend. How awesome is it that Savion can achieve that distinction without even teaching a single step?" 


That's right, all he did was talk. He did eventually put his tap shoes on about 45 minutes after everything started, but he barely did anything in them. He just talked. 


About time, and groove, and the pocket, melodicizing, tapping your life, reminding me that tap isn't just a dance, it isn't even just an artform, it is a way of life and a philosophy. But really. Anyway, I'm going to write more about this in its own post later on, because I have a lot to say in this post. 

Part B: Savion's concert that night. Him, two other tappers, no music, three miked platforms. Genius.



2. I was helping a professor move out of his office (which by the way, is my job, I get paid to help theater and media arts professors) and he was getting rid of some of his books. 


He turned to me at one point and said "Do you want a nice new copy of the Complete Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings?"

Um. Why yes Eric, I would.

10 minutes later.
"What about these leather bound books the university gives me for Christmas"
Now people, I put these white boxes in the professor's mailboxes for Christmas every year and I always covet the beautiful leather bound Church books hidden inside and want to steal them from people that never pick them up. But I don't. So the good karma is coming back to me.
Yes! I want those too!

My loot ended up being, the Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings, and leather bound copies of an LDS hymnal, The Bible, and Jesus the Christ. Especially cool because Jesus the Christ was totally on my Christmas list. Now I have it. In fancy form.

3. Whilst I was helping Eric in his office I had a missed call on my phone from my sister, which was interesting. I checked the voicemail when I was done with work and it was from my niece Ella. She looks like this  Ella and I get along pretty well. She's a lot like me, only she happens to be younger and a lot cuter than I was. Believe me.

Anydangway, she left me a long voicemail about an essay she wanted me to help her write. I figure it must be a history essay or something, until she said they were supposed to write about their hero, so she chose me.
!
I almost cried a little bit. I definitely had that "awwwwww" face on

This is an example of the "precious" face with Michelle even though it kind of looks like a disgusted face. It is very similar to the "aww" face I had except mine registered more surprise, so think this with an open mouth. Not necessarily attractive, but effective.


So there you have it. Savion Glover, free wonderful books, and my niece calling me her hero. This is a perfect Thanksgiving post. Yes?

Goodbye to the Haines

Well, my first year of college was survived, and I would like to propose in this post that can be attributed very much to the Haines family. So this is my post of thanks to them! Not only did I get to talk about life for hours and hours on end with my amazing and gorgeous sister Patti (seriously, if I can look as good as she did pregnant with Brooke I will be amazed), and get my life analyzed by Howard (as hard as it was to come up with answers to his questions, once I did I usually learned something about myself, which was very helpful), but I got to babysit the most adorable children in the world.








Dalan, this stud-muffin you see on the left, is amazing. He is probably the smartest little boy I know. He is also so full of love! I have learned a lot from him and am sorry I didn't wrestle with him as much as he always wanted me to.





Ella, is QUITE the little girl. She actually, in some strange ways taught me a lot about myself. Patti told me a few times that Ella reminded her of me when I was younger, and after awhile I could see why. Ella is headstrong and knows what she wants, and while that can be infuriating to deal with when a 4-year old just wants chocolate, that is really going to help her out when she is older and she keeps those values her parents have been teaching her. Ella is so sweet and full of love just like Dalan, even though she sometimes shows it in a different way.

And last, but certainly not least, is Brooke, the happiest baby alive. She just loves people and is so alert. Her brother and sister can make her laugh even when she's crying, and her little laugh is just so real. This whole family is just full of such love! They all love each other so much and are so ready to give love to others! I absolutely am grateful that Howard and Patti taught their kids such love and are such good examples themselves.
Thanks for the free laundry. Patti and Howard thanks for the free therapy sessions. And Ella, Dalan and Brook thanks for being such great examples of love! I love you all and hope you enjoy Kentucky as much as I'm sure it will enjoy you!