Pool karaokoe, Getting to work, Missing the festival again...

I love my hydro fit classes on Tuesdays. It's one of those great combinations of a hilarious instructor to makes us cheers at the beginning of the butt kicking. She plays great music covering Johnny Cash, The Beatles, ABBA and others great songs at the public pool. Tonight she made us sing "Sweet Caroline" (she does karaoke) - while doing ladders in the deep end. (You're actually sweating in the pool.) I've rarely had an instructor of a class where you had so much fun and so look forward to it. So much so that you want to go to hydro fit after an exhausting day at work which is quickly becoming an exhausting quarter.

I find myself taking the bus religiously these days - like I did when gas was $4 a gallon. I would rather be 20 minutes late than deal with the cost of parking which had nearly doubled since February (from $1.50/hour to $2.50). If you don't want to park on the street and go to a paid lot, they're slowly sneaking up to $12/day - $22/day. I've been taking the bus late - I've got the schedule memorized. Unfortunately all of this is going on when they're talking about cutting buses routes - hundreds of them - to deal with the all of the budget crises. Which begs the question of how am I going to get to work...

Today is Mardi Gras - Carnival - the festival before Ash Wednesday - before Lent - celebrated all over the world from the oldest in the US (in Mobile, Alabama) to Brazil, Italy to Trinada. There are costumes, beads, king cakes and other types of fun. When I dance with the samba troupe, we celebrated Carnival with a huge performance at a hotel in downtown Cleveland. Since moving to Seattle, I've managed to attend two festival here in town, get dressed up and dance like crazy. These last two years I've barely noticed Mardi Gras come. And when I did realize it was up on me, I didn't have time to get anything figured out. So here I am at home, after hydro fit, watching a documentary on Public Television about the Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama - the black Mardi Gras and the white Mardi Gras - and there is a substancial difference. It's not the same as heading out on the town but it gives me some inspiration to hit the road.

* Hey Peas by Nataliedee.com

** I think our new President is awesome - just an FYI.