Zumba

I’m learning to Zumba in a class at the community college – free to senior citizens!

Now this is the kind of workout I’ve been looking for…

PARTY in PINK, Beto & Fanny, Milan, Italy 2012

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Here’s what WebMD says about Zumba…

Zumba

By Jodi Helmer

How It Works

Grooving to the beats of salsa, flamenco, and merengue music feels more like a dance party than a workout, which is exactly what makes Zumba so popular. The Latin-inspired dance workout is one of the most popular group exercise classes in the world.

The high-energy classes are set to upbeat music and feature choreographed dance numbers that you might see in a nightclub. You don’t need to be a great dancer to feel welcome in a Zumba class. With the tag line, “Ditch the Workout, Join the Party,” the classes emphasize moving to the music and having a good time, no rhythm required.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

 

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Here’s a story about…

The world’s youngest Zumba instructor

Crocheting an Afghan

at www.leisurearts.com

Today I started to crochet an afghan following a pattern in a Leisure Arts little book (#75104) titled Luxurious Afghans.  Of the 4 patterns in the book I chose the first, Simple Times, which is pictured on the front cover.  It’s a design by Barbara Shaffer.  It’s evaluated as easy so I’ll be able to listen to music while I’m making it.

I like this pattern for a several reasons:

• Each row is worked across the length of the Afghan Body so you get the appearance of strips without having to sew them together (a big plus in my opinion).
• The pattern repeats six different rows that use a variety of stitches including a pretty picot making it very interesting and visually pleasing but not too difficult.

After chaining 222 on a size J crochet hook I started Row 1:  half double crochet in the 3rd chain from the hook and in each chain across for a total of 221 half double crochets (hdc).  Since it’s been quite a while since I’ve crocheted I wanted to double check on how to make the stitches so for reference I went to:

https://www.dummies.com/crafts/crocheting/stitches/how-to-make-a-half-double-crochet/

I’m using inexpensive Red Heart worsted weight 4 ply yarn, Linen color, machine washable and dryable, mothproof, colorfast, and shrink-proof.

My Aunt Barbara taught me how to crochet when I was a kid.  Barbara was my father’s youngest sister.  She had an easy laugh and was fun. She was left-handed and I’m right-handed so we had a slight disconnect but we didn’t let that deter us. She taught me how to Cha-Cha too. Good memories!

 

 

A Great Song

Click here to hear the song.

and/or

Click here to hear the song (same song, different video)

Who wrote the music and who wrote the lyrics?

Click here to find out.

Related Stories:

In My Life History

 

Birthday Dinner at Azzurro’s

We celebrated my birthday, as we celebrate most of our special occasions, by going to Azzurro’s on River Road.

We were shown to a our favorite table.  There was birthday confetti sprinkled on the pristine white tablecloth.

The waiter arrived and we ordered two glasses of Pinot Grigio. The wine arrived soon after with a bread basket and some butter.

Then the waitress came to tell us the specials and take our order.

For an appetizer we had …

CALAMARI
Fried and served with hot marinara, garlic aioli, lemon

It was delicious.

For an entrée I ordered …

LINGUINI PESCATORE
Sea scallops, shrimp, clams, mussels, dried red pepper, white wine and pomodoro

It was perfect!

My husband ordered pasta too…

LASAGNA AMODO DI MAMMA
Meat sauce marinated in cabernet, bechemel, pomodoro, mozzarella

He said it was wonderful.

We both had dessert…

AMMARETTO AND CRANBERRY CHEESECAKE

My dessert had birthday candles, a nice touch!

We each took home half of our entrees and half of our desserts.  The portions were very generous. 

We’ll have leftovers extraordinaire tonight!

Creating Webpages

I’m taking classes on website design and learning how to use HTML5 and CSS3 to make a variety of different types of webpages.

I’m looking at tutorials to learn about website themes, plugins, widgets, etc.

Today I added some pages to a website for shopping for great bargains at Amazon.com.  The website is greatbargainsunlimited.com.