Riot and Frolic

a mostly ballroom dance, but also a bunch of other stuff, blog

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about

I own and rock people’s faces off teaching ballroom dancing at Dancers Studio in St. Paul, MN. My husband and I compete professionally in American style and wrangle eight children in our spare time. I’ve been teaching and competing in ballroom dancing for over 25 years and have lots of opinions on it. I am an expert by any means, but there are quite a few dancers who are better than me and I have a solid knowledge of basic technique, so suck it.

Category: Domesticality

  • Leaf Week in Review

    Let's review the simpleness that was Theme Week #1: Monday Leaf Magnets: a fairly fool-proof craft that included enough exercise and education to look like a school thingy. Tuesday Placecards: in case the girls got lost around our huge dining room table, I made (the ladies were too busy playing outside/helping pick up construction material from…

  • Bullet Journal 202

    Things have gotten REAL since my last take on ye olde bullet journal.  Not that this summer wasn't totally filled with adventures and expansions, but now there's school and more working and still feeding the people and cleaning the shelter.   Plus, there's this whole blog thing.   I needed to change up my weekly…

  • Debt and The Mastery Thereof

    I've been teaching ballroom dance at the University of Minnesota Ballroom Dance Club for a few years and at the beginning of each year, they have a really big shindig where the veteran club members demonstrate their skillz, crazy people teach group classes, everyone can try out some social dancing, and there's watermelon.    And…

  • Food Things I Don’t Buy: Sort Of

        It's Tuesday-ish and Monday was about a C-.  (Homeschool started sort of for reals today and we've been working on medal tests at the studio, so I'm in grading mode.) I was going to write a retort to myself about the food things I don't buy at the store anymore, but that will have…

  • Books That Won’t Make Me Smarter

    I've been sporadically plowing through The Classics on my list of Books to Make Me Smarter, like Atlas Shrugged and Anna Karenina.  But now people think I know how to read, so they give me books.   It all started with The Fault In Our Stars.  While it was a good (and relatively fun) read,…

  • Stop Looking at Me, Schwan

     This is a sponsored post. No, don't stop looking at me.  Because you're delicious.   Let me explain. Recently, I had the opportunity to try some food from Schwan's.   I mean, really, the only things I could think of (until now) when "Schwan's" was mentioned were the scene from Billy Madison and the trucks…

  • Q&A, and The Rules

    Hey y'all, happy Friday.   This is how you announce these things nowadays, right? Have a great weekend! Two years ago: Running Advice for Idiots, in which I give myself advice. One year ago: Going Bananas, in which I bribe nurses.  

  • Danger Zone

    To me, dancing has always been pretty tame.  The teaching, the performing, the competing; it didn't rate high on the fear factor scale.   Until recently.   The G and I have had a lovely reputation for being "clean", "technically sound", and "classic" as professional dancers.  AKA, boring. Tired of holding our teacups with our…

  • LLLL

    – Zoo has twirled her hair into dreds since she was little, hence her relatively short hair.  After having a bald spot pointed out by a friend, we decided to shave her head. She giggled through the whole process, then didn't like it while she was in the bathtub ("I don't want this hair."), then…

  • Happy Birthday, Mae Cake.

    Aw, Mae.  You're my favorite.  (Don't tell your sisters.)   I know Mae Cake is my child because the majority of her photos can be categorized like mine: mouth wide open or eating.     She is an adorable old man, often falling asleep with her pants upbuttoned, and a bottle nearby. She is the…