Saturday of Sweat and Strain

This past Saturday was Indirect Work Out Saturday. Everything I did ended up with me sweating and experiencing muscle pain the next day.

1) Helping lovely friends move from a house in Hamilton to an apartment in Toronto. I had romantic ideas of how this would be - it seemed like a movie scene or a rite of passage, helping someone move. Turns out: not that much fun! It didn't help that they moved into a place that looked like this:Stairs everywhere - stairs to get to stairs! However, their place is pretty retro-cute and in an absolutely fabulous location. I covet that neighbourhood. I'm looking forward to being that "friend from Hamilton we can't get rid of."

Sweat, blood, tears (no one saw, though) and strained muscles. And yes, people, my face was red - I was exerting more energy and effort than I have all month. And last month. Get over it.

2) Salsa dancing. Yeah. Everyone that I told about these plans wished me sincere luck...not a great sign. Salsa dancing isn't something I would normally do, but I'm a Yes Woman and I like the challenge. I wore a silk dress with a ruffle that I expected would do most of the work for me. Deep in the heart of Portugal-town at a place called Lula Lounge I met my peeps. I didn't know anyone except SB, but the men were actually professional dancers. One had actually been on Dancing with the Stars. Canada, I presume, but still.

It was like going to Havana in the 1960's - an actual supper club with raised tables and a centre dance floor. The type of place where you'd expect to find cigarette girls. And great mojitos. Didn't though, now that I think about it. Dinner was surpisingly unremarkable, but the wine went down nicely. Then there was the lesson. Me and my ruffle learned salsa, merengue, the cha-cha and some other dance that seemed pretty much like all 3 put together.

What happened after that lesson I can't really account for as it seems like I was in a dream sequence. I ended up dancing with the Wonderful Dancer to countless songs and it was an out-of-body experience. I was twirling all over the floor, shimmying, two-stepping, we even did that Saturday Night Fever move where you have your arm behind their head and then slide down. You know what I mean? It was phenomenal! I actually can't even believe it was me. I was just holding on for dear life and trying not to fall - it made such a difference having a great partner. I didn't need to know what to do, he just made it look great and so much fun. The ruffle didn't hurt either.

But again, lots of energy exerted. At one point I got that cramp you get after running down the block. I mean, not the block, down many more blocks than one. Many.

I love love loved the dancing so much I thought about getting into it, but the truth is I don't really care to learn, I just want to recreate that night and let someone else lead.

3) You actually thought I would divulge the final activity that could or could not have occured after 1am? Come on now.