Dancing Feet and Numb Fingers

One of the goals I've tried to set for myself (Noel has set the same goal as well, but he's doing a MUCH better job of it than I) is exercising on a more regular basis. it's been rainy weather, so I've not wanted to go out for walks (my usual form of low-impact exercise).

So instead, I've decided to try a new tack - something a bit more...rhythmic!

Some of you may know that I wanted to be a ballet dancer in my early youth. I was actually a pretty good dancer, performed with a small dance group for local schools and events (even dancing at the Biltmore Estate once!). However, I was too short to audition for the adult ballet in Asheville. So frustrating, especially when I grew about 5 inches within a year of stopping dancing. Sigh.

Anyway. Not to be depressing about failed dreams. The point is, I love to dance, even if I don't study it formally anymore. I've taken flamenco dancing, salsa classes, and dipped my toes into modern dance (not my favorite, to be honest). But sometimes it's fun to just put on music and dance! So for the last few days I've been doing dancing exercises in our tiny little living room space. I even got a DVD of different Latin dances. If only the cats would stay out of the way! :)

Ok, so now that you've got that rather amusing image in your head, you may be wondering, why am I telling you this? Because it gives me some motivation to know that others now know I'm working on getting back in shape. So thanks for helping me be accountable!

Dancing isn't really the most practical exercise for this living space. But my friend Lisa (Hi Lisa!) brought up a good point once - that people in New York City live in apartments as small as this RV and they pay a ton for the privilege! Then today, I saw an article on Yahoo that drove that point home:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/city_tiniest_studio_AF3nqD1kArYgpdyTyjNnXP?photo_num=9

The smallest apartment in NYC, a whopping 175 sq. ft. The interesting thing to me is that they don't cook at all in their space, and use the kitchen as storage. This is odd to me, because they aren't really maximizing their space, are they? It's funny that they have a bed and a desk, a kitchen counter, and a that's about it. In our space that's not much bigger, we have an actual functioning kitchen, a big desk, a couch, 2 chairs, a standing freezer, a bathroom, a bedroom, and enough space left over to samba. It's not a minimalistic as their place, but at least we have room to store our clothes and books!! (And all my yarn and fabric too!)

As for the numb fingers (in the title of this post), I'm knitting like crazy lately, trying to get everything done so it can be sent off in time! I'll post a few pictures in the coming days.

Now it's back to it - 2 hats on the needles that need finishing up!