Chi-Bal

On Friday I took my first personal day ever off from work.  Despite being allowed 2 per year since I started teaching, I have never used them because I don't need to and arranging for a sub and missing a day is a pain.  I did it this time so I could join Collyn at a dance event in Chicago that she has gone to a couple of times.  It's a balboa centric event.  Balboa is a swing dance that was originally developed and danced in Newport Beach California at Balboa Pavilion, right near where I used to live.  It's a cousin to Lindy Hop.

The event was well attended, with about 150 people.  There were social dances Friday and Saturday night and classes on Saturday and Sunday.  The Friday night dance was in a sword fighting studio which was a very interesting environment.  Saturday night was in the South Shore Cultural Center in a great ballroom.

I stayed out too late, as there were also late night dances, especially considering the 1 hour time change, and had to start the work week tired.  If I do it again I'll take Monday off instead of Friday.  I'll miss a little of the Friday night dance, but have all Monday to recover on sleep.

The weather was very un-spring like, cold, windy and wet.  Or maybe that is spring in Chicago.   Tjings are in full bloom in Louisville but just starting in Chicago.  As we drove North on Friday, the trees slowly regressed to brown and leafless.

We entered the Jack and Jill contest, where you get randomly paired with a partner.  We both made the finals where we ended up being paired with each other.  We took 2nd place and each got a nice looking art glass trophy.  You can watch the videos of the finals below:

It was a fun weekend, and I even got to eat some deep dish pizza.