I'm thinking about taking a dance class. My sister takes an adult hip hop dance class and she has been asking me to join her. Our daughters all take dance classes at this same studio and this is my sister's second year to be involved. At the end of the season all the students take part in a major production for the public. I went last year and it was awesome. Eveyone appeared to be having a good time and the adults really did a good job, i.e., they didn't look like a bunch of old people trying to look young. The dance was definitely age appropriate.

I think I want to give it a shot. I love to dance and was actually on the Praise Dance Team at my church for several years. It'll get me out of the house and I could use the exercise.

This is a good time for me. This is the season of self-exploration. I think about this dance class and I remember seeing my daughter on that stage and cheering her on. I remember seeing my sister up there doing her thing and I secretly wished that I was up there too instead of sitting in the audience with my then boyfriend. I didn't participate last year because I felt it would take too much time away from him. I thought I needed to be available for him. I also took on activities that I normally wouldn't have just so I could be with him. Like singing and playing the piano. I've been singing since I was a child but I never contemplated singing for an audience (outside the church) before I met him. However, since he is a musician I felt that if I got involved in what he was involved in it would make us closer.

That's all good in theory. What I failed to accept in the beginning was that he was willing to take advantage of my talent to make the music better. My goal was to take advantage of the music to make our relationship better. We just didn't want the same things.

So now I want to dance. Why? To fill up time. To get out of the house. To get my mind on something positive. To give me something to look forward to. To share a common interest with my daughter. To shake my behind in front of an audience and fulfill some twisted Solid Gold Dancer fantasy.

All good reasons, I think.