like any of you didn't know about the pole dancing already..

hello, friends! oh internet, i've missed you. you know how you read about bloggers who get addicted to the internet, and their friends and family are pissed at them because they've got an open laptop on their knees at all times and can't disengage enough to enjoy family functions or whatever? yeah, i am so NOT like that. on weekends, evenings, vacations... i check my email every once in a while, or if i have my work pda handy i'll make a couple of twitter updates, but i am pretty much only present online if i'm at work.

uh, i mean i do nothing but work VERY VERY HARD while i'm at work. obviously.

so between dewey beach, the outer banks, a week in california and then a long holiday weekend? umm, hopefully nothing too important has happened in your lives because i totally haven't read about it. i'll catch up today though! or maybe mark all as read. one or the other.

so! onwards! i didn't end up going to st maarten this weekend after all, which i'm really highly ok with because HOLY HECK did i need a break from all that travel. it was awesome to have a nice 3 day weekend at home, where i could sleep in my own bed and have my own things and not be on a plane ever or in a car for more than 30 minutes at a time. i saw friends, had a bunch of drinks, and went to a nats game.

and, um, also continued with the ol' pole dancing classes.

i realize most of you already know about this since i twitter about it every 35 seconds, but for those of you who aren't my twitter buddies? there you have it: i take aerobic pole dancing classes once a week, AND I LOVE IT. the classes are super fun, really difficult, and i'm building far more upper body strength than i've ever had in my life. and believe you me, it makes an EXCELLENT talking point at parties.

anyway! i've been doing this since january now, and have just started level 5. apparently this is the level where we go from "fun" to "insane." case in point? please to see the following highly skilled artistic rendering of what i was supposed to do last night:

that is someone HANGING UPSIDE DOWN from a pole, using only their INNER THIGHS to keep them from crashing head-first onto the hardwood floor beneath them. you may have also noticed my personal thoughts on the matter. some of you are probably thinking "yeah, but thighs are a pretty strong muscle group! that's probably not as hard as you're making it sound."

well. i'd also like to remind those people that most of our inner thighs aren't out and about in public all that often, which means we have soft little tender baby skin there. and holding up your entire body weight using, in large part, the friction of that skin pulling against a pole...? NOT AWESOME. i'll, uh, leave you with that image now. you're welcome.