07/22/2009 Oh my achin' dogs

Recently I encountered a sad fact- my body is no longer the spritely being it once was. Now, I know by saying this, many of you are thinking, "what in the heck is she talking about? She's still in her twenties! Silly girl! " But please let me explain. Growing up I was always in some type of a dance class or another and competed in highland dancing in my teens. It was great fun, and still to this day I spontaneously go into some highland step while stirring risotto on the stove or brushing my teeth (my husband's gotten used to the sudden thumping from the next room, and I'm sure our downstairs neighbors love it). Back in March of this year, I started taking lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Irish dance, a new style of dance for me that is similar to Highland in some respects but also very different (and at least my arms get a break). New steps! New dance shoes! Well, at dance 3 weeks ago, I pulled a muscle. Badly. It wasn't too sore afterward, but a few days later I irked it further by whatever goofy way I got up off the couch (typical) and OWIE it hurt like crazy! I tried jumping on it and just couldn't, and as a result had to miss 2 weeks worth of classes (which I paid for in advance, so it's painful in more than one way). Anyways, my realization is that I probably should no longer be doing random highcuts without stretching first. I am slowly becoming the tin man, and need extra oiling.