My last weekend of training in two parts

This past weekend marked the end of my basic training in a system of acupuncture which is new to me, a training which has changed the way I look at acupuncture, certainly, but also the world.
It took place in Seattle one weekend each month for all of this year.

Part One: Sparkly Warrior Princess
My dear friend of many years, the esteemed and crazy Sparkly Warrior Princess, she lives in Seattle. Each time I would have weekend trainings, I stayed at her house. I broke a bunch of her wine glasses, and a ceramic coaster. I never break shit at my own house, so I don't know why I was breaking her shit. This last weekend, her stereo mysteriously stopped working as we were dancing in her livingroom. The following day, her DVD player also went south. She blames me, naturally, even though I did not touch either of those things.
A word about staying with SWP: we almost always end up dancing in her livingroom.
Dancing in SWP's livingroom to ABBA? Awesome.

Part Two: Class
I am pretty comfortable being a solo flyer when it comes to going to work and going to classes. I have a firmly established MO at classes--I sit in the back, nearest the door, in case I have to leave. I also do not care to be noticed, and generally feel safest where nobody can see me except the instructor. When I arrived at this class for the first time, I sat in the second row. I was soon joined by a friendly woman who is older than I am, and the guy who was videotaping the class for the association. Given that when I first arrived at acupuncture school I was sorely disappointed by who else showed up there, I was wary of these new people. The woman who had joined me at my second row table asked me what brought me to this class, and I don't remember what I told her, but I remember exactly what she told me. She told me she was looking for community. In my little head I dismissed that idea. I sure as hell wasn't looking for community. Still, I had to play nice and get comfortable working in small groups in hands-on situations with these people, so I did. The next thing I knew, I had joined a small cadre of like-minded people with kind hearts and smirky faces and shiny souls. This last Friday, when I showed up for class, one of these people actually said "YAY!" as I entered the room.
Nobody ever says "YAY!" when I walk into a room.
So even though community was the last thing I was looking for when I started this new thing, it was exactly what I got.
And I am damned grateful for it, too.