George Strait

He's always made me feel comfortable, like I'm close to my dad and everything is just right.  I love listening to George; he's literally been playing in my life since I was born.

His music is so varied...it always sounds "typical" George Strait, but he's managed to keep up with the times while holding fast to the old style country ballads.  I am always impressed with his career and longevity, and how each and every one of his songs strikes some chord in me.

I was walking around Target with my iPod today (Thanks for the giftcard, Ellen!), listening to his 50 number one hits, when "Today my world slipped away" came on, followed by "Round about way"...talk about my last week!  That's when it hit me:

If a man makes me want to listen to George Strait, I'm in love.


"Well I don't want to be the kind to hesitate, be too shy, wait too late, I don't care what they say other lovers do, I just want to dance with you"

Play me George Strait, sing along with him...yep, I'll be melting in a sappy little corner.

I have a feeling I'm going to meet the man of my dreams in my cowboy boots.

Sway With Me

I've been listening to the jazz tunes playing at my parents' house the last few hours, Christmas themed big band jump and rat-pack crooners singing about the spirit of the season.

I love dancing.  I've never had any real practice, but it is one of my favorite things to do.  Listening to Frank Sinatra sing about love, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington blow their brass, and Michael Buble echo the classics with his AMAZING voice makes me want to dance.  I want to grab onto someone and swing around, twist and sway to the rhythm, laughing and smiling the whole time.

Dance has also given me an outlet, a way to focus, much like gymnastics has.  It's beautiful, graceful, and requires precision.  Dance molds into my life, even the non-practiced kind I do.

So I've been in the mood to go out in a dress and step out, shake my booty a little...it doesn't matter how I'm dancing, just that I'm dancing.
I also want to see "Black Swan", a psychological thriller with Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman as competing ballerinas.

The movie has a quote I Stumbled upon:
"Perfection is not just about control; it is also about letting go."

I guess that's what this is all about: learning when to control and when to let go.  When to analyze every step and muscle twitch and when to just feel the rhythm and go for it.  Gymnastics, rock climbing, love, dance, life, work...everything needs the same balance of control and free-falling.

I went out last night, even though I had misgivings about it.  It made me realize what great friends I have, the wonderful women and men in my life, and the amazingly supportive people I'm going to be living with.

Everything is working out, maybe not how I planned, but it's working.  Like I told Adam, "Nothing always works, but everything works for a while."

Even when everything isn't perfect in my life, I've been lucky enough to have a perfect life full of love.