First Feis of 2017

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and new year! I got my book offer like 6 days before the holidays started, so while there was excitement about all of that, It was still a super relaxing time. (If you are one of the few people who still hasn't heard. My book Enshrine is going to be published by Solstice Publishing and it's been a bit of a whirlwind. I guess I can talk more about that later,)

Okay so Saturday was the Fairfield County Championships. Last year it was in May. I like this feis for a lot of reasons. It might not be the closest, but they always have it in very nice, large venues and they always give out trophies in the grades which I love. Unfortunately, I seem to have this bad luck where just before a significant moment in my dance career happens I get stupid sick and the week before my first prizewinner feis was no different. I had a fever, really bad cough, and had aches and chills. I had to miss two days of work and my normal dance classes. When I finally got to a make up class I felt nauseous in between dances because I couldn't breathe. Truth be told, I probably should have skipped Saturday but I was too excited about feising again to not give it an honest try. It went about how you would expect but I guess if you have to have a feis like that it's better to get it out out at the beginning of the year.

I did my novice dances first and I got thirds in both slip jig and treble jig. I thought that my slip jig was really good but I guess there were others who were better. In my treble jig I had a collision and I also did new steps so I feel like it wasn't my most confident go so I feel lucky that I got a placement at all. I was disappointed that they will linger in novice for a bit longer but with how I've been feeling and all the mishaps and very small stage (Is there a rule about this? Because even two at time is rough when they are that small)

Somewhere during the day, the stage got behind so my prizewinner dances didn't start until almost three O'clock and because the groups are so much bigger it takes a lot longer to get through them. I feel like I was really starting to feel crummy around this time of the day. I kept on telling my class mates that I wanted to nap and my heels were getting sore from waiting. Either way, Prizewinner was not a complete disaster...well I should say reel was not a complete disaster. There was a near miss, but I felt I danced it pretty well for it being the first time I did those steps out. No placement, but when I got my scores the next day I was pleased to see that I got a 4th. One place out from placing my first go when I wasn't completely healthy? I'll take it! Hornpipe however was a completely different situation. At that point it was nearly 5 o'clock and not only were my feet done, my brain was done. It was snowing. My husband was out of work and had no idea where I was because I had no service. I was a bundle a nerves. Not only that but can we talk about how some of these girls WERE SO GOOD? I had this moment where I was dancing and I was like "Did this dance actually qualify for prizewinner? Because I am pretty sure this is the worst hornpipe I have ever done in my life." I ended up getting 8th. Not really surprised but still hoping to do SO MUCH BETTER NEXT TIME!

In summation (because this post literally has taken so long because of work and feeling like I need a lung transplant...) I'm looking forward to what the 2017 feis year will bring me. I can't wait to get more comfortable with my steps and I can't wait to finally have those moments where the hard work pays off!

See you soon,

I feel like my wig looked better in person. Let's blame it on a little person taking my picture and the angle of my face. Right? RIGHT!