Well, we had a few more dancers on Friday. Mike and Teresa are back, as are [the other two who’s names I can’t actually remember]. Teresa seems to be suffering with a bit of a chest infection, and indeed, Lois was chatting to her when I arrived. No sign of Paul & Pauline all night though.

Fortunately for me, the Dutch couple were there. I say “fortunately” because I arrived to discover I had no cash on me. Were it not for their generosity, I couldn’t have been able to get in the door!

I happened to still have the photos of my sister with me, so I showed them to Lois. No specific reason. And I also waved the flier for the new Rock & Roll class at her. It seems she’s no longer interested. She likes Jive better. (She’s changed her tune… not so long ago she seemed really up for it. Maybe the real problem is that Stephen can’t come with her, I don’t know.)

Eventually Mavis came over and prodded us to get on with the Waltz. I think I was still chattering about something (probably Tiger Feet!) Lois complained that she wanted “more turny stuff”, but just then the music finished anyway. We spent most of the lesson doing the new thing with the Samba. This time, we hold hands during the eight Travelling Voltas, and let go for the eight Pivot Voltas. I must admit, I’ve been rubbish at this stuff for a long time, but I think I’m finally starting to get vaguely good at it.

I notice during the Botafogos that my feet seem to be sliding around a bit, so maybe I need to take the brush back to my shoes again. The first time I used it, there seemed to be quite a marked improvement, so…

Lois seemed to be in one of those moods where she wants to learn new things rather than go over old stuff. But still, in the final Waltz I managed to twirl her around sufficiently I think. The Whisk and Chasse didn’t work out brilliantly, but the Reverse Turn didn’t seem to phase her.

And then the class was over, and Lois went home. There was some debate about who (if anyone) was going over to the pub. Initially it looked like just me and Val. Then Val changed her mind and went home. I sat and watched as a couple of private lessons happened; one of which was the daughter of [no, I still can’t remember their names]. By the looks of it, she’s learning the Waltz ready for her furthcomming wedding. I did feel kind of mean watching them; like they didn’t look nervous enough already! Still, she had asked her parents to watch, so…

Eventually that finished, and we did in fact all head over to the Black Horse. I was last in line at the bar, and by the time I got my drink [which I just about had cash for] there was no room at the table. I grabbed a spare chair and parked myself at the end between Steve and Mike. Unsurprisingly, long thin tables aren’t very conducive to talking. But I managed to have a bit of a chat with Steve. He asked about my exam and stuff. And Teresa was talking about the new kitten they have.

After Steve left, Mavis started complaining that he seems to be in a mood with her. I can’t say I noticed. But hey, I’m not Mavis I guess. A few of the people mentioned something about a dance happening at the church hall tomorrow. (Isn’t that usually the last Saturday of the month, not the first?) Anyway, eventually we all went home.

Saturday found me feeling fairly bored. Eventually I ended up going shopping with my mother. We had planned a long quest around the city, but in the end all we actually did was visit Stoney Stratford highstreet. And we managed to purchase [uh, I managed to purchase] most of the items for my grandad’s birthday. I also paid a visit to Sole 2 Sole and… bought myself a pair of Rock & Roll shoes.

They actually felt really comfy in the shop, but we’ll see. They look like ordinary trainers, but they’re far more deformable. It feels like having your feet in a floppy sack. They had quite nice traction on carpet, but we’ll see what happens on a real dance floor. Unlike my ballroom shoes, these don’t have suede soles, just plain plastic. (I’m sure it’s specially-selected plastic though.) As I say, we’ll see. £52, ouch.

While I was in Hubbards, George walked up to me and said hi. And a little way behind him was Linda, looking a little more friendly than is customary. Apparently they live over in Great Holm. Was nice to see them, albiet briefly. I pointed out my shoebox to George. I don’t suppose he was impressed, but at that point I was still excited with my new purchase.

Also that day I bought myself a few cheap CDs from Amazon. Adam Faith and the like. I can’t remember precisely what I bought, but I guess it’ll be a nice surprise when it arrives.

That evening I did in fact pay a visit to the church hall. There was indeed some kind of dance happening, but with far fewer people in attendance. The end of the hall was closed off, in fact. I looked around and couldn’t see anybody I recognised, and I got one or two looks from the little old people wondering who that weird guy hiding in the corner was, so in the end I just went home again.

On Sunday I finally went out into the back garden and filmed myself dancing. This is harder than you’d think; it turns out placing the camera behind mum’s car means it’s still far too close. I had to open the back gate and move the camera to almost the neighbor’s fence to get it far enough away to get all of my body in shot. And then of course you can only see the bit of the drive through the gateway, which rather limits the available space if you want to stay in shot.

Anyway, I did one runthrough of Tiger Feet. Note to self: Do not ever do this on an empty stomach ever again! Christ I was destroyed after that. I took the DVD out and dragged myself upstairs to watch the playback.

Newsflash: I look like a total freaking moron when I dance! Hoookay, so I won’t be showing this to anybody soon. Oh well!

Later it rained, and both the CD player and my camera got rather damp. (This despite the fact that mum assures me it didn’t rain. I guess I imagined getting wet bringing the stuff back indoors…)