April 2013 Activity -- Firehouse Tour and Firefighter Drill

Vienna Volunteer Fire Department (VVFD) is well-trained in handling crises.

 

I know this personally as the last time I had a speaking engagement and decided that the perfectly functional podium at the venue where I was speaking would simply not do, my husband called several places in the community and ended the search when VVFD came through with the best podium, ever.

Lifesavers, indeed.

Also, my very good friend volunteers there so when he learned that I was planning to attend the VVFD-sponsored Taste of Vienna with the Dilettantes and my 7-year-old daughter, he offered a personal tour of the fire station, ambulance and engines and the opportunity to participate in a drill where we would try on firefighter (turnout) gear.

We began our tour by meeting Deputy Chief/Firefighter Snow and many other Vienna firefighters and EMTs -- including one woman who was totally in the bag. (Keep your shirts on – I don’t mean she was drunk -- I mean she was delivered into the station in an equipment bag and popped out to surprise us. That is someone who knows how to make an entrance.)

It is obvious this group works well together. They were each knowledgeable, friendly and patient in answering the eight thousand questions we asked about how everything worked. We learned about the canteen that travels to fires that take many hours to extinguish to provide sustenance to the firefighters. We learned about career and volunteer team members and what kind of training is required. (And even saw the career staff run some calls while we were there.) We learned how this station works with others in the area when there are major disasters. And we learned that it takes a special kind of person to put him or herself in harm’s way on every shift.

In fact, the only thing we did not learn is what type of illness we’d have to fake to get a prescription for the good stuff. (And that was not for lack of asking. Why so stingy with the information, buzzkills?)

The group ran a drill to show us how they get dressed in their gear – something they must be able to do in less than two minutes. Deputy Chief/Firefighter Snow and firefighters and EMTs Hanna Mitchell, Stephen Baldassari, Zack Smith and a couple of others ran the drill first – with us and several others in the audience watching. We cheered on the participants and may have also placed a few bets. (The smart money was on Hanna.)

Then it was our turn. My friend told us that we didn’t have to be timed during the drill, and I let him know that we are nothing if not freakishly competitive with each other, and to bring it on. (For the record, the gear weighed about 60 pounds, and we each carried 10-12 pound tools). (I've never felt more like John Holmes.) The firefighters and EMTs let us start with the advantage of taking our shoes off, and also provided us personal coaches to help us before and during the drill. Wanting to throw off my competitors with a psychological game, I exclaimed loudly, “I know you said we could take off our shoes, but was it necessary for Dilettante Amanda to take off her underpants?” Dilettante Amanda parried back, “Funny. But I’m not wearing any.” (Please see “competitive” above.)

As this was a friendly competition and the real reason for our visit was to learn about all the VVFD does for our community every single day, it’s really not even worth mentioning who won the turnout gear competition. Let’s just say that next time I will delay my showboating until I am absolutely positive I have secured my belt and put on my gloves. (Insert sad trombone sound effect here.)

When we were done, Dilettante Amy handed back the hood and helmet and a firefighter joked, "Well, now you've got lice." Dilettante Amy responded with a straight face, while handing back the fire pants, "Well, now you've got herpes."

Immediately after the competition, which was held in the Sam Savia Apparatus Bay, we met VVFD Chief John Morrison. My daughter handled this honor by burrowing into my side and refusing to look at him. Awesome.

We finished our visit by enjoying the food, music and drinks at Taste of Vienna behind the fire house that along with the spectacular weather, made for a pretty amazing day.

Coincidentally, on Monday morning after I dropped my daughter off at her school in Vienna, I saw flashing red lights in front of someone’s house near the school. As I came closer, I realized it was from 402 (the VVFD). All fun aside, I am so extremely grateful that these fearless firefighters and EMTs are there for our community.

By the way, Taste of Vienna is not the only awesome fundraising event sponsored by VVFD. They are also sponsoring an Auction (July 12, 2013 at 6:00pm) where you can bid on a date with a firefighter to a formal ball which will be held July 20, 2013 at 7:00pm. (And you can attend the ball even if you don’t buy a firefighter.) If the hour we spent with them is any indication, these events will be a blast. For more information or to buy tickets, visit VVFD.org.

March 2013 Activity -- DC Environmental Film Festival Screening & Discussion

DC Environmental Film Festival

Carnegie Institution for Science

Elihu Root Auditorium

1530 P St., NW

Cost: Free

We look pretty happy for people who just learned that
every single product they use is rife with aluminum.

Let's just say that March's activity was interesting before it even began. We initially planned to attend a pickling class at the Living Social building. (Opening lines for the post about Pickling: Prior to tonight's activity, if someone had asked if we liked pickling, we would have answered (with coquettish laughs), "We don't know, you naughty boy...we've never pickled.")

However, after deciding on a date and buying tickets, Dilettante Amy had to cancel as she had a retirement party to attend the same night that she had forgotten about. Then, Dilettante Amanda received a notice that the pickling class had been cancelled, although Dilettante Kathleen did not. After approximately 87,436 e-mails and calls to Living Social, Dilettante Kathleen finally talked to a human being who confirmed that, in fact, the pickling class had been cancelled. (Though, not yet refunded. Living Social customer service is awful.)

Anyway, in a rush to find a replacement activity on a Wednesday night, we actually came up with several, and settled on the DC Environmental Film Festival, because this movie sounded really interesting:

LA SOURCE (USA, 2012, 71 min.)
Presented in celebration of World Water Day
Each day, the villagers of a small, rural community called La Source in Haiti must choose between enduring a long, treacherous walk to retrieve clean water or drinking contaminated water from a nearby river. Since he was a teenager, Josue Lajeunesse, along with his brother Chrismedonne, have dreamed of remedying this problem for their people. In 1989, Josue moved to New Jersey where he found employment as a custodian at Princeton University and as a taxi driver, allowing him to send money home to La Source so that he and Chrismedonne, a bricklayer in La Source, could properly channel the water from the mountain into their village. The film follows
the Lajeunesse brothers as they work together to rally the support of a group of Princeton students, a Los Angeles-based charity called Generosity Water and the people of La Source to fulfill their dream of improving the conditions of their impoverished village. The film captures the story of one man, empowered by a vision, who was able to ignite the passion of people thousands of miles away to change lives in La Source forever. In Creole and English. Directed by Patrick Shen. Produced by Patrick Shen, Brandon Vedder and Jordan Wagner.

Discussion with filmmaker Patrick Shen and Raymond Joseph, Former Haitian Ambassador to the United States and Founder, A Dollar A Tree For Haiti.

And yet, when we walked into that theater at the appointed time and sat (and gagged over what the woman behind us brough to eat during the movie), this movie began playing:

THE AGE OF ALUMINUM (Austria/Germany, 2013, 90 min.)

World Premiere Aluminum is a fascinating metal: light, stainless and easy to process. One hundred years ago, it was still so exotic that it was presented at world expositions. The metal has become an essential part of our daily lives. We drink from aluminum cans, use aluminum-containing deodorants and sunscreens and it increases the effectiveness of vaccines. But, currently, critical voices are being heard about this metal. Large amounts of resources and energy are needed for the production of aluminum. The extraction can lead to environmental disasters of considerable dimension, as happened in Hungary almost one year ago. Furthermore, scientists suspect that the toxic effect of aluminum could be having an influence on diseases such as Alzheimer’s and allergies. Directed by Bert Ehgartner. Produced by Kurt Langbein.
Panel discussion, moderated by Claire Dwoskin, child health advocate and Founder, Children's Medical Safety Research Institute, with filmmaker Bert Ehgartner; Dr. Jim Olds, Director and Chief Academic Unit Officer, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study and Krasnow University Professor of Molecular Neuroscience; Katharine Redford, Esq., Co-Founder and Director, EarthRights International (ERI) and Dr. Christopher Shaw, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia.

February 2013 Activity -- Gin Distillery Tour and Tasting

                                                

Ready to make martinis. And sloe gin fizzes (sloes gin fizz?)

Gin Distillery Tour & Tasting
New Columbia Distillery
1832 Fenwick Street, NE (da hood)
Washington, DC 20002
3:30-4:30pm
COST: Zero for tasting/tour
$36 per bottle of gin








In the car on the way to this activity, the following conversation took place:

Dilettante Amanda: "So this is a gin activity. Is it gin rummy?"

Wannabe Dilettante Tim: "I think it has to do with a cotton gin."

Dilettante Kathleen: "And here I was thinking it was a tutorial on bathtub gin. I'm pretty sure I've been making it wrong. Also (and probably unrelated) my daughter seems kind of listless after her baths..."

Turns out, it was none of the above -- it was a tour and tasting. We met Dilettante Amy (and another Dilettante wannabe, Pete) at New Columbia distillery in the section of NE near all the dance clubs that we planned to patronize after getting all goofed up on craft gin.

This was initially going to be a tour and tasting in conjunction with the alumni group from Dilettante Amanda's alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. However, it turns out that the JHU web site continues to accept reservations even after events are fully booked, so we discovered about a week ago that we could not participate in this as part of the alumni function. (At least that's the story Amanda gave us. I'm willing to bet it had something to do with the state schools on our resumes...) Anyway, the distillery suggested that we just come earlier and do an independent tour and tasting. So we and every-single-hipster-in-DC did exactly that. (Craft distilleries are obviously big with the skinny jean set.)

We began by getting a small tasting of the gin. Straight. And it was really deliciously spicy. Gin is not everyone's "thing" but we certainly all appreciated how complex the layers of flavor were, how you could pretty much taste the artisanal process in each sip, and how badass this was gonna taste with some juice in a crunk chalice.

Our tour guide (and only New Columbia employee) Sol gave us a ton of great information about the distilling process, the history of the company, and informed us that New Columbia was the first distillery to open and operate in DC in 103 years. (And Marion Barry calls himself a former Mayor. Sheesh.)

The gin is already served in some local restaurants and they are working on getting it into MD and VA, and may also begin distilling seasonal gins and other types of spirits.

It was a very interesting tour and a great product -- they already cannot keep up with demand and they do no traditional advertising. (Thanks to social media...and hipster word of mouth.)

Dilettante Amanda bought one bottle of gin. Dilettante Amy bought two. And Dilettante Kathleen bought a fedora and looked disinterested.

Dinner at Ethiopic on H Street followed.




Some of the ingredients.

January 2013 Activity --

December 2012 Activity -- Geocaching

We did this one in reverse - beginning with brunch and then ending with our activity.

Brunch was provided by Dilettante Amanda and her husband, Leon, at their house. After discussing many inane things and finishing each other's sentences over good food (pretty much the hallmark of any Dilettante activity) we segued (but did not Segway) into our annual Dilettante Christmas gift exchange.

As per tradition, Dilettante Amanda gave the other Dilettantes "D" ornaments. As per losing her mind, Dilettante Kathleen gave the other Dilettantes "Cards against Humanity" -- a game that Amy not only gave Amanda last year for Christmas, but which she also presented to Amanda right in front of Kathleen's fat face.

Dilettante Amy provided the others with their gifts -- Dilettante martini glasses. The same glasses that Dilettante Kathleen also purchased as Christmas gifts for them this year. And finally, Kathleen got a Yeti ornament, which was identical to the one she had just given her Yeti co-owner as a hostess gift.

Next year, we'll just donate more to charity.

After the exchange, we tried geocaching. Dilettante Amanda had the forethought to download a geocaching app that located caches near her house. As she lives in snooty-toot-ville and there was a cache at the National Cathedral which is approximately a two block walk from her house -- we decided to start there.

National Cathedral. Where Dilettante Amanda
worships. The almighty dollar.

Following hints about the approximate location from the geocaching app, we ended up in front of the Cathedral after passing a gentleman lying supine on a bench, who was eating a sandwich and wearing a t-shirt proudly announcing, "Body by Pastrami." We loved him immediately.

For the first cache, all we needed to do was enter names and dates on two corners of the Cathedral. Kind of anticlimactic. So, we followed up with another cache. This one at Saint Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church just another 1/3 mile away. There was a Christmas tree sale in the parking lot of Saint Sophia's, which added to the intrigue. (No, it didn't.) It just made us feel more like the asses we are as we wandered aimlessly around the parking lot for twenty minutes while people buying trees and wreaths looked at us suspiciously. At one point, we thought that maybe a dirty rag in a tree was our cache. It was not. But it also did not give us tetanus -- so kind of a bonus.

We finally discovered the cache in the base of a lamp post -- we had to lift the metal apron on the bottom of the post and there it was.! And we had to admit -- it gave us quite a feeling of accomplishment. We proudly signed the geocaching log, pimped the Dilettante Club blog, and put it all back in place for the next 'cachers.

When's the last time these ladies had this much success
in a parking lot? (Rhetorical.)

Look how seriously we're I'm taking this.

Apparently, when one really gets into this hobby, they come up with a "handle." I wonder if anyone else already has "Johnny Cache"?

Pimpin'

November 2012 Activity -- Sign Language

Jazz hands. Universal sign of something. 

Dirty signs. What? You expected us to sign bible verses?

October 2012 Activity -- Re-blooming our orchids

Hillwood Museum
Washington, DC
Saturday, October 13th
(Dilettante Amanda's birthday - woot!)
10:30am-12:00noon
Cost: $25

When Dilettante Amy proposed this activity for October, Dilettante Amanda and I had the same reservation: that it sounded like a cute name for an activity that would involve a bunch of women sitting in a circle holding hand mirrors. Which would be particularly awkward since her brother, Steve, was our guest Dilettante for this activity. And because Amy was diagnosed as having a "dry orchid"...

Fortunately, the class description was literal and the workshop did actually aim to help people bring orchids back to life. We were all supposed to show up with an orchid that needed to be resuscitated, but as we are Dilettantes who replace rather than revive orchids, Dilettante Amy stopped by Trader Joe's and purchased four brand spanking new orchids for this class. (For a brilliant blog post on orchids, read this.)


Beautiful orchids in the green house.

The instructor was surprisingly young and passionate, and he made this class very interesting for both the botanists and non-orchid fanatics among us (read: the Dilettantes). Pretty much everyone else that showed up for this class on a Saturday morning was pretty invested. Which became obvious when the instructor told us that many people move their orchids into the bathroom in the evening and leave the lights on all night to keep them thriving, and that if we wanted our orchids to be healthy, we had to fertilize them differently during growth and bloom phases. Apparently he did not realize that I sometimes forget to eat breakfast and recently left the (indoor) cat I adore outside for several hours before he meowed and scratched at the door to remind me he was out there. (Oops).

Other interesting things we learned: it helps to sterilize cutting tools with a blow torch to prevent infections from spreading among orchids; that ice orchids are a marketing gimmick; and that many orchids can grow on trees and rocks, fertilized only by rain and monkey poop. (Which is when Guest Dilettante Steve noted, "Oh great. Now I'll have to get a monkey.")

We learned the difference between monopodial and sympodial orchids, how to water and fertilize all types, and that the cat-to-orchid ratio of our classmates was probably pretty high.

The instructor also used the words "turgid", "moist", and "spagma" moss. And for those of us whose orchid is not dry and is fully in bloom (huffs on closed fist, rubs against chest), that kind of talk is simply unnecessary. The class ended with one man whispering, "I hate to mention it...but "mealy bugs." Which was frankly, pretty offensive. Not because of the mealy bug reference, but because it was not really a sentence and also because it was half an hour after the class was supposed to end.

We ended our day with a delightful brunch at Ardeo on Connecticut Avenue and a pear tart for our birthday tart:

Best photobomb, ever.

 

September 2012 Activity -- Cotton Candy Making

Saturday, September 22, 2012
5:00pm-5:13pm
Dilettante Kathleen's House, Oakton, VA
Cost: Free

Hopefully you've missed us these past two months -- God knows we've missed each other. (Which is shameful considering we took a shooting class and learned how to aim properly.) "Keep coming up with those horrible puns. They kill us." Said no one, ever.

Dilettantus Interruptus was caused by many things: work travel, fun travel, time travel, births, funerals, commitments to do-gooder organizations, commitments to institutions, and general over-bookedness.

However, because we never miss what's hip and happening (Avett Brothers phenomenon aside), the Dilettantes are reuniting at my child's seventh birthday party. When the party is over, we plan to drink Avery beer (in honor of my spawn) and hijack the cotton candy machine we purchased for her county fair birthday party to work on our mad cotton candy makin' skillz.

We're easing back in. Which is what he said.

Cotton candy making was fun! Dilettante Kathleen demonstrated the technique, as she became something of an expert while twirling the floss (not a euphemism) for the kiddos at the party. The other Dilettantes made the rookie mistake of creating hard balls of cotton candy that were at first wound too tight, but then got into the rhythm and created the softer, fluffier (correct) consistency.

Time to realize our Collective Dream of becoming carnies. And not just dating them.......Amy.

Carnies-to-be.

Like McKayla, Amy is not impressed.

June 2012 Activity -- Laughter Yoga

Thursday, June 21st
6:30-7:30pm
Arlington Central Library Auditorium
1015 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA  22201
Cost: Free

Instructor: Diane Cohen
Coaching2Connect

Oops:

Dilettante Kathleen found this activity through the DC Web Women listserv to which she subscribes.

The description asked, "Stressed?  Need a laugh?" And we replied, "Yes. Always."  We signed up to learn the 5 key points of laughter yoga; the 3 reasons to practice; and the 4 steps. After e-mailing with Diane who told us to wear something comfortable and to come prepared to laugh, the Dilettantes and guest Dilettante Liz headed into Arlington.

Dilettantes Kathleen and Amy met at the Central Library to discover that at the last minute, the class had been moved from the Auditorium to a room in the children's section of the library. Tres appropriate.

We got started right at 7:00pm by going around the room and making introductions. Everyone would say, "Hi, I'm {state your name}" and then the rest of the people in the room would laugh. Then, we went around the room again, this time stating where we were from...and again, everyone in the room would laugh in response. This was as funny as it sounds, and got even funnier when stragglers (ahem, Guest Dilettante Liz) came in after the exercise and got to participate in it with no introductory context. Dilettante Amanda was even later (thanks, public transportation) and really walked t

Apparently, your brain registers laughter whether or not it is authentic, and your body begins to feel all the benefits of laughing for an hour after you do this.

May 2012 Activity -- Dilettante Speaking Engagement

Thursday, May 10, 2012
Vale Schoolhouse, Oakton, Virginia
7:30pm-9:00pm
Cost: $10 donation per person

A few months ago, Dilettante Kathleen was approached by a local charitable group to speak at an evening event to raise money for the charity.

Never one to back down from doing something for which she has no experience (see "Dilettante: definition of"), she happily agreed. Which is how this came to be.

April 2012 Activity -- Sippin' and Paintin' (and Counterfeitin')

Sure, the other Dilettantes had better paintings.
But I did mine left-handed.

Tuesday, April 10, 20127:00-9:00pm
LivingSocial HQ
918 F Street, NW
Washington, DC
$29/person included canvas, paint, brushes,
instruction and three wine tickets

This class made us feel like kids again. Well, except for the wine. That made us feel like kids when creepy uncle Joey visited and gave us cups of "don't tell mommy" juice.

Although this was not our first Living Social activity, it was our first time at the Living Social HQ, which is a very cool building. Dilettante Amanda had plenty of time to check it out and reserve some seats because Dilettantes Kathleen and Amy were running red lights late getting there.

We got situated at our easels, put on our aprons and began receiving instruction from local artist Emma Steinkraus, who gave us tips on mimicking the brush strokes, colors and movement of Van Gogh's "Starry Night". (We each had a color printout of the painting taped to our easels for reference.)  So, after a moment of silence for fellow artistic genius Thomas Kinkade who passed this week, we got right to work channeling Vincent.

(And Dilettantes Amy and Kathleen may have tried to convince Dilettante Amanda that she should fling herself into traffic to make her piece worth more. And that she should lop off her ear -- you know, to really walk in the artist's footsteps up Mt. Crackers.) (Totally stolen phrasing.) Dilettante Kathleen also focused on making the others crazy by singing Don McLean's "Starry, Starry Night" on a continuous loop.

There were about 25 other people in the class whose talents ranged from worse than us (ha! ha! I really had you going there for a minute, didn't I?) like Captain Retentive, who got to class early and sketched out a framework for the entire painting before the rest of the class even got there -- to awesome, like the woman who replaced the dark tree in the painting with the Seattle space needle, and another person whose inspiration took her somewhere very orange.

The two hours went by quickly, even though Dilettante Kathleen stood for the entire class in her sittin' shoes. (Had to get the "tortured" part of "Tortured Artist" in there.) Afterward, we met Dilettante Amy's lil sis from her sorority days at Pi (appropriately) right next door for some decent  food and beer and some oddly schizophrenic service.

Dilettantes with their (mostly finished) masterpieces.
You Gogh, Girls! (I'm so sorry....)

March 2012 Activity -- Falconry

Saturday, March 10th, 1:00pm-2:30pm
Wild Bird Center of Bethesda
4611-c Sangamore Road
Bethesda, MD 20816
www.wildbird.com/franchisee/bet
Cost: $40 (half price through Groupon)

Imagine our surprise when we learned that this class was going to take place inside a store housed in a strip mall, and not outside where birds of prey could actually, you know, fly.

We met for brunch in advance of class at a place called Praline, that was about five shops down from the Wild Bird Center in the strip mall. And somehow, because of gabbing over cappuccinos and some great food, we still managed to be late to the class.

We did get there just in time to hear Mike, the instructor, go on and on about how there was a documentary being created about him and shown at some kind of "Sundance-y film festival" and that he got to travel everywhere because of his falconry including the UAE (which, when no one responded, he then said slowly, "United. Arab. Emirates."). He was quite impressed with himself, though he tried to disguise it with some false self-deprecation.

Ick.

We did get a little bit of information about birds of prey and how to train them, and even though these birds have a greater life expectancy in captivity, we were not all completely sold on the quality vs. quantity of their lives. We were also not completely sold on paying $40 for this lecture, which seems like it is something that should have been given away for free as a store promo. (Particularly since we were standing and/or sitting on bags of bird seed right in the center of the store for the entire thing.)

At the end of the lecture, we did get to have a bird perch on our arm while wearing a protective glove. The bird was on a leash and both birds that we got to see struggled to get away and there was a lot of upside-down flapping. It was a little scary.

Also scary? After I held the bird, I looked at the glove where she was perched and noticed fresh blood. I notified the instructor who didn't seem at all concerned. He said, "I think it is from the last time we went hunting." Which it was not, because it was fresh blood. Dilettante Amanda suggested that I lick it and then confirm, "It's fresh all right." (Her photo to the right is beginning to make a lot of sense now, huh?)

Anyway, not something we would recommend, but parts were interesting and this may be the first time in any of our activities that we drew blood. (Nevermind. I'm forgetting about the Segway debacle.)

February 2012 Activity -- Static Trapeze

Dilettante Kathleen and what may be her new LinkedIn
profile picture.

Trapeze School of New York
Sunday, February 19th
7:00pm-8:00pm
4th St & Tingey St SE
Washington, DC 20003
www.washingtondc.trapezeschool.com

Cost: With the application fee, it came to $46.666666 per person.
Dilettante Amanda (who registered our group for the class) requested that we reimburse her with exact change.

Call us perceptive -- we assume that the Trapeze School has had a lot of people showing up for class and thinking they were going to participate in a completely different class:

Please Note:You have signed up for static trapeze. Please note that static trapeze is very different from flying trapeze. The trapeze bar doesn't move, and you don't swing toward a catcher. What you've seen on TV is flying trapeze. If you meant to sign up for flying trapeze, please call the office immediately at (410) 459-6839

>sigh< as much as we love any activity that involves "swinging" and "catchers," we decided that static was the smarter option for our first foray into the circus arts. (Well, for most of us it was the first foray, there was that drunken "summer o' Carnies" for Dilettante Amy when she was in college, but she really doesn't like to talk about that.)

Dilettante Amanda doing a very graceful "mermaid." Interestingly, after
she performed this, she saved a handsome prince from drowning and
then gave up her beautiful voice to become human. It was odd.

Walking into the tent was pretty cool. There were different areas for all of the different activities that are taught there -- static trapeze, flying trapeze and silks (long silk panels you use to perform acrobatic stunts like in Cirque du Soleil). Dilettantes Amy and Kathleen drove together and arrived first and got to sit an enjoy the stunts being performed by the flying trapeze class.

(Aside: What's the difference between a circus and a sorority? One is a cunning array of stunts... You're welcome.)

Dilettante Amy doing a very nice "Moscow Angel."
(As far as we know, that is not also the name of a cocktail. Though, it should be.)
This was by far, the most difficult stunt we did. It took Dilettantes Kathleen and Amanda
two tries. Only one for overachiever Amy.

Dilettante Amanda walked in a few minutes later and our instructor, Jess, got us busy right away doing a warm up on the mats and then jumping right into trapeze. Our first stunt involved us pulling ourselves up on the bar, kicking our legs through and then doing the splits upside-down. Yes, the first stunt. It only got more challenging from there. And more fun. The more complex the stunt, the more exciting it was and the more we felt like Superstars when we had done it.

(Highlight: we got to put talc on our hands before every stunt. It all felt so official.)

In the first half hour, we did a lot of activities that required us to pull ourselves up on the bar and then pull our legs through. For the second half of the class, Jess lowered the bar (literally, not figuratively) and had us perform stunts that had us starting from a seated position and then standing and doing some progressively more difficult positions. We all were able to do every stunt and got much better from the beginning to the end of class -- a class that was the perfect length of just one hour.

Ta-dah!

Jess was an amazingly patient instructor who instilled us with confidence and made every single stunt look ridiculously graceful and simple.

After a cool down, we headed out to dinner. And because Dilettante Amanda had spent the prior two days at a Belgian beer festival in Baltimore (because she loves alliteration) and Dilettante Kathleen had gone to a Belgian beer garden for brunch (it's addictive), all of the Dilettantes decided that Belga Cafe would be the best place to go for dinner and drinks after. Over some fantastic beer and mussels, we all decided this activity (and evening) was easily one of our favorites.

January 2012 Activity - DietBet Progress Report (Amy's version)

Dear Friends, Fans and Stalkers of the Dilettante Club—

Greetings from Amy… “the quiet one,” (ed. Ha ha "the quiet one") as I have never in my life submitted a blog post.  Hey!  That should count as my January activity, instead of this stupid Diet (dear DietBet, she is only saying that because she's hungry and cranky. DietBet is awesome.) I got roped into.

If you are following our blog, you know that the three of us are participating in a weight loss challenge through the DietBet website.  For someone with a firm 50-minute attention span, this four-week challenge has been extremely tough. With 2 1/2 weeks into this diet, I have made three important discoveries.

1.       Unlike my summer diets in college, eliminating beer from my diet no longer has an effect.  I am not sure whether to be happy or discouraged about this.  Over the years I’ve been on so many diets that I have slowly eliminated many of the “bad foods” from my daily meals.  Butter—long gone.  Cokes and diet cokes—not in years.  Rolls of raw cookie dough—nada.  Beer is my last diet vice—in that I am drinking my calories.  And I like real beer—not that watery Bud Light crap. (ed. the Dilettantes bond over a love of good beer.) So my original strategy was to cut out the beer for the four weeks, and watch the fat melt away.  Nope!  Two and half weeks in and I weigh the same as I did the day after Christmas—and the 24 beers of Christmas challenge (which was way more fun than this stupid diet).

2.      DietBet sends daily suggestions for losing weight during our challenge.  As I mentioned, I’ve tried them all—Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, marathon training, Cindy Crawford’s  workout video—and they all boil down to the same thing: eat less, exercise more, drink lots of water.  But yesterday I learned a new tip—the 3-day juice cleanse.  I wonder if a three day beer cleanse would work just as well? (ed. If it does, I've found my new weight management tool that I will be able to maintain for a lifetime.)

3.      Stephen Hawking will want to explore my third discovery.  After having a baby in late August, the remainder of 2011 raced by.  Visitors, holidays, parties, work—I wished I could slow down the days.  Well, I now know how to slow time—dieting.  I can’t believe it is only January 20^th!  I have never before looked forward to the month of February.  But bring it on, extra day and all! (ed. February 1st will be the best day of our lives. with the exception of Oktoberfest 2007. That was a great party.)

So with 12 days to go, I am not confident I am going to successfully complete this Dilettante activity by losing 4% of my body weight.  Here is my final stretch strategy:  3 day beer cleanse, diuretics, and a new scale.  Wish me luck!

January 2012 Activity -- DietBet Progress Report (Amanda's version) -- Of course she had to go to Chile -- though perhaps Hungary would have been more appropriate...

Anyone who has seen me in person or is friends with me on Facebook is keenly aware of how pleasant I have been during this little weight loss “competition” between the Dilettantes and 4 other bloggers to lose 4% of our body weight in 4 weeks. 
 

Trying to maintain a 1,000 calorie daily deficit means lots of working out, and not very much eating. I’ve been doing pretty well, despite the temptations. As Kathleen noted in an e-mail to me and Amy recently—“everything looks like a turkey leg to me!” So true. I’m convinced the restaurant next door to my office has installed extra exhaust fans to make sure I am enveloped by the smell of burgers every time I walk out the door. We’ve had a birthday cake sitting in the office kitchen this week—its inch-thick frosting calling to me seductively every time I head in to refill my water bottle. It’s torture.

Maintaining self control is one thing surrounded by the comforts of home. On the road is a different story.  Yet, on the road (to Chile) is where I found myself last week.  Weeks like this usually throw my normally healthy habits way off. Lack of sleep, airplane food, and jet lag are a lethal combination. I should also add that Chile is home to one of my favorite beverages, the pisco sour, and the food is amazing. On those nights when I am able to have dinner with work colleagues, we typically over consume all of those.  Guess what this does to my motivation to wake up early and work out?

On this last trip, I knew I had to make a conscious effort to maintain my good habits.

It started with my layover in Miami. My flight was delayed 1 hour, so since I couldn’t drown my sorrows at the airport bar, I chose to walk the airport—logging about 3.5 miles in an hour (while dragging my suitcase). In addition to the strange looks I got as I passed gates 3, 4, and 5 times, I managed to get several all-pro blisters on my feet. Awesome.  The things I do to win.

The town where I was staying was on the beach, and the temperature stayed between 75-78 degrees the entire time. It’s pretty hard to come up with an excuse legitimate enough to avoid exercising in those conditions. I managed 2 runs while I was there, enjoying gorgeous sunsets and waves crashing on the beach:

taking in a little bit of the historic town:

and hanging out with the local wildlife:

It’s very glamorous.

In the middle of all this consistency, I had two overnight flights coming and going, about 2347234083 cookie breaks that I had to resist, and a road trip up to 14,000 feet, where I was barely able to walk 5 feet without collapsing. On balance, I think I broke even, but I’m glad to be back home to finish this misery competition.

I hadn’t mentioned it before, but the Dilettantes have some pretty stiff competition.  Foodie City Mom has already met her goal, as has Angie from Blessed Beyond Words.  Selfish Mom and Dusty Earth Mother aren’t far behind, and are well over halfway to their goal. The Dilettantes are bringing up the rear, although Kathleen is maintaining the mystery and not weighing in until the finale.  Applause to our competitors (I will be posting their addresses later so that you can send candy and cookies to congratulate them!). The Dilettantes have to kick it in gear—stay tuned!

January 2012 Activity -- DietBet

[Guest Post by Dilettante Amanda, though we all plan to chime in throughout the month.]

If this post ends abruptly, it’s likely because I passed out from hunger and exhaustion as a result of Day 1 of the DietBet competition I and my fellow Dilettantes were conned into happy to join for the month of January. Kathleen described the key details on Brutalism, but the basic idea is that each of us has to lose 4% of our body weight in 28 days. For me, this means losing 7 lbs, or almost 2 lbs per week. If we are successful, we win a share of a $5,000 pot for charity. The Dilettantes are playing for a very worthy charity, DC Central Kitchen.

This would have been a great competition for me last year, when I was looking to lose 20 lbs. This year, 20 lbs lighter, this is going to be a challenge. After running the numbers this morning (Captain Spreadsheet has nothing on me), I realized that in order to “win”, I will need to burn about 1,000 calories more than I take in each day. Translation: work out like a fiend and eat celery. I’m not happy. Nor is anyone who’s had the misfortune of having to interact with me in the last 24 hours…it’s going to be a long 28 days.

While I’m being Princess Whinypants right now, in truth, I’m happy for a contest like this. The Dilettantes have previously bemoaned the fact that all of the weight loss shows out there focus on people who need to lose a ton (har!) of weight. Makes sense—more dramatic transformations and what not. We’ve entertained the idea of fattening ourselves up to “earn” the opportunity to rub elbows with Bob Harper. I even tried to call in a favor with a friend of mine who knows the Biggest Loser trainer to pitch a “Medium Loser” (Not Quite the Biggest Loser? Not Much Left to Lose? –it’s a work in progress) competition for those of us with just a few pounds to lose. DietBet actually provides this—short, 4 week competitions designed to help you lose those last few pounds, or jump start a bigger weight loss program. As Dilettantes, it fits well with our attention spans and ability to commit (although it would be great if we could do it in under an hour and then go for beers).

That brings us back to what it will take to sabotage the other competitors successfully lose 7 lbs. My current plan:

• Track my food every day (stay within 1200-1500 calories)

• No drinking (yet another reason I am super pleasant these days)

• Burn 500-1000 calories per day through exercise (mostly running)

• Strength train (assuming I have any strength left)

This grand plan will be put to the test when I head to Chile for work next week. Wish me luck (and steer clear of South America if you don’t want me to bite your head off)!

December 2011 Activity -- Holiday Peeps Diorama



The traditional airing of grievances, feats of strength and the Festivus pole.
The easily explainable event that we are calling a Festivus miracle is that
we actually pulled this together in one evening.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Amy's House, Arlington, VA
6:00 - 9:30pm
Cost: A few dollars in materials, dinner delivered from Lost Dog and some seasonal beer

Dilettante Kathleen is not a Peeps neophyte. However, the other Dilettantes are, and this is the first time Dilettante Kathleen ever attempted a winter-holiday-themed diorama, so we were all new to at least the genre.

Knowing what goes into constructing one of these (as Dilettante Kathleen and her partner, Hillary, came in SECOND in the Chicago Tribune Peeps diorama contest this past spring), Dilettante Kathleen did a lot of prep work in advance. While this saved a lot of time, it did not necessarily leave a lot of room for creative input from the other Dilettantes. (As Dilettante Amanda stated, "I might have an idea, but I'm scared to say it.")

Well, put a glue gun in my hand and call me Martha...I didn't mean to come across as a tyrant.

It actually was a creative team effort -- and it came together really quickly.

The "learning" portion of this activity entailed researching Festivus on Wikipedia, and Dilettante Amy finding out just how hot modeling clay can get when dabbed with hot glue (ouch!)

After completing our diorama, we submitted it to the "Deck the Peeps" diorama contest -- you can view our diorama and vote (once a day!) for us here.

November 2011 Activity -- Power Stilts

Sunday, November 27, 2011
http://www.dcpowerstilts.com/
Cost: $65/person

Price includes a one-hour private lesson for our group with personalized instruction, stilt rental, protective gear (they must have read about our Segway activity), and refreshing drinks. The lesson will consist of structured learning: a mix of demonstrations, fun exercises, goals and challenges and continual interactive feedback (oh, goody.)


And comes with this guarantee: By the end of a one-hour lesson, you will be as balanced and confident atop spring stilts as when you are walking normally. You will have mastered some key skills and most likely be jumping. We'll also get you started towards learning some impressive tricks. (And one would show these impressive tricks off where, exactly? Parties? Networking events? )

Amanda and Kathleen decided that a great idea prior to this event would be to go for a six-mile run. Because, hey, when you are expected to balance steadily on stilts and walk around on a hard surface, you may as well make sure those muscles are good and fatigued, right?

Amy met us there at 6:00 and our instructor met us there shortly thereafter. We assumed that we'd be starting at 6:00 and had budgeted the one hour our attention spans will allow, but the instructor began setting up at 6:00. After setting up a bench, getting out all of the equipment, having us fill out release forms and pay...it was already 6:30. Which means that the activity would go until 7:30...not a good start.

(Also, when scheduling this activity, we tried to schedule it during the day -- something we were specifically told by DC PowerStilts when we first looked into this last year was a requirement. Turns out, it is no longer a requirement (safe?) and we were fortunate that the basketball courts in the park where we were had lights.) Amanda kiddingly said, "Just watch -- the lights will turn off mid-activity -- let's make sure our instructor knows where the switch is to turn them back on so we don't have to try and make our way over there on stilts."

The instructor did a brief demo where he ran, jumped and boing-ed so high, it looked like he was jumping on a trampoline. Then it was our turn. We strapped on the stilts and took turns standing, walking and then jumping, while holding on to the instructor's hand...and then some of us (Amanda) on our own.

And then this happened:

Dilettantes Amy and Kathleen were a little terrified of getting back up on the stilts, considering ourselves lucky that we had not been injured, but with a little coaxing and the promise of an obstacle course, we did. However, we never got as comfortable as Dilettante Amanda. (Then again, we also did not fall off the bench onto our knees at the end of the activity...)

Dinner and some great beer followed at Mad Fox Brewery in Falls Church.

UPDATE: Dave (Owner of DC Power Stilts mentioned us on his web site. Cool.)

Sweet Jesus, where does the time go?

So, there haven't been any offical Dilettante activities for the past two months.

Why? You ask...

Well, nothing major...just the usual:

One Dilettante gave birth to her second (adorable) child:

Was I lying?

Two Dilettantes traveled to Indonesia and China for three weeks

One Dilettante, who is President of the DC Net Impact chapter, just accepted the "Professional Chapter of the Year" award in Portland, Oregon

So excuse us for taking a couple of months "off". We are coming back strong in November with lots of exciting new activities for the coming months...

August 2011 Activity -- Twelve Mile Run

Too bad this photo is not scratch 'n sniff.

Saturday, August 20, 2011
W&OD Trail at East Falls
Church Metro Station
Arlington to Vienna, VA (and back)

The time and consistent training that is required for a half marathon pretty much goes against all that being a Dilettante is. However, the impulsivity of training for a half marathon after not running more than a few miles in three years (Dilettante Kathleen) is pretty much the foundation of the club.

This is all Dilettante Amanda's fault. She got into the best running shape of her life this year by giving up beer (I know, it's like we don't even know her any more) for a few months and getting very serious about running. We have all promised an intervention if she goes one more step toward "crazy runner" status. (She already claims to "enjoy" running and has even recently done a run in Chile where she was chased by a wild dog. This has not deterred her.) Her enjoyment of running prompted me to get back into it -- knowing that the only way I would do it is if I had a race to prepare for.

Dilettante Amy was excused from this activity as she is 9 3/4 months pregnant, and we really did not want her to give birth on the trail. (Although midwifery is one of the few activities we have not done in the five years this club has existed...)

Dilettantes Amanda and Kathleen met at the trail at 8:15 and headed off shortly after. There was lots of running, a couple of GU and Chomps breaks, and more running. We finished in a little over two hours and then immediately headed to a 7-11 to disgust all the other customers with our stench get a cold beverage.

While not "fun" (for Kathleen anyway -- superfreak Amanda probably found it delightful), we felt like (hot, tired) rock stars after.

July 2011 Activity -- DJing

The fake guitar, Minotaur heads and machine gun are all relevant to the activity.
No, they're not.

Saturday, July 9th 12:00pm-1:30pm
2524 Guilford Avenue
Baltimore, MD  21208
Cost: $39/person

The Dilettantes and Guest Dilettante Amy headed north to work on turntables (e.g., "Kick it old school") with instructor Aran.

While arranging logistics to travel to Baltimore, Guest Dilettante Amy sent us the following e-mail:

"I’ve been practicing my mash-up skills and wearing my pants backwards (it’s what all the kool kids are doing), albeit a little hard to walk around but I think I’ll manage tomorrow and look totally fly doing it. I’m just sorry Ke$ha took the only usable symbol from the keyboard, @my, doesn’t really do it huh? So I think I’m going to go with “Duchess” as my moniker as it really should have been me and not Kate, remember how great I looked at the Princess Party? In any case I think I’ll plan to meet you all in Baltimore tomorrow, too many in my entourage. It’s the way I roll!"

Peace.

Duchess

Dilettante Amanda scored the DJing lesson on Zozi - a site similar to Groupon. It differed in that as soon as she purchased the DJ lesson, her credit card was used to charge up a whole mess o' stuff all over tarnation. Discover took care of the charges and she notified Zozi, thinking they may want to be aware of this. It was certainly a less than auspicious beginning to the activity...

Dilettantes Amanda and Kathleen drove to Baltimore together, arriving first in the gentrifying neighborhood where the activity was going to be held. As we walked up to the porch, a gentleman in a hoveround with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth drove by. Walking up the front steps, we noticed that there was a a huge heavy-metal-looking throne on the front porch of the row house. We knocked once on the door -- no answer. We rang each of the two available doorbells -- no answer. Just then, Guest Dilettante Amy joined us and Dilettante Amanda called Aran. He answered with a "Hey, what's up?" and she said, "We are waiting for you on the front porch." He said, "Ok, I'll be right there." And he was -- about five minutes later. Aran did not look anything at all like what we were expecting a hip-hop DJ to look like. (We hate to stereotype, but it does save time.) He totally looked like Richie Cunningham...with a rat tail...

He invited us inside and mentioned that he was still not fully set up for the lesson (it now being about 1:10 when the lesson was to begin at 1:00). So he worked on moving equipment to the basement while we looked around the house at decor that included (in addition to the rock throne that he mentioned was from a recent rock opera): a Darth Vader Mr. Potato head, a fake machine gun, a fake guitar, two giant minotaur heads, one red Lady Gaga-looking costume (which was not from a recent rock opera but "from life" he clarified),  and a bunch of other random paintings and stuff. It was awesome. Dilettante Kathleen was not shy about picking up every single thing and asking questions about it while taking photos.

It was also at this point that we met Hubert. And the moment that I was about to wet my pants (from laughing), so I asked to use the restroom. The restroom was at the top of the death stairs to the basement. The bathroom also had a square hole in the wall above the toilet which led to the stairwell, so the other Dilettantes heard my goings-on as they made their way down the steep stairs that looked as though they led to a serial killer's hangout.

Dilettante Amy had still not made it to the activity, so I texted her with a "if you see a rock throne on the porch you're at the right place -- no one will answer the door". So she came in a few minutes later, and as she made her way down the death stairs, she assumed that my message was some kind of code and that we had all been killed.

We hadn't. We had just started learning some DJ stuff (such as Aran having an album collection that included everything from Redd Foxx's comedy classic You Gotta Wash Your Ass (I could not make this up), Sesame Street singalong, En Vogue, and some albums that were designated as "scratching" albums or had one tone per track. Dilettante Kathleen noted, "Can you imagine winning a Grammy for the one-note album?" and Dilettante Amanda shot back, "Can you imaging LOSING a Grammy to the one-note album?"

We learned to count beats, "drop in", adjust knobs for different tempos and to drop out and increase bass, and how to the hold the ear phones to our ears like real DJs.

(Here's Duchess below, kickin' it old school and scratchin':)

We spent about an hour taking turns learning how to do this stuff and then thanked Aran, took a group photo with some of his props and headed to lunch at Dogwood (or something...)

Then, a couple of days ago, Dilettante Amanda got the following email from Aran:

Hi, Lois,

Just writing to let you know I have the final payment for the wedding. I will be depositing it today. The bill for DJing the August 13th wedding is now paid in full.

Thank you very much!

Aran K.

A perfect end to one delightfully random activity -- and a perfect one for Guest Dilettante Amy to join.

Dilettante Amanda on the throne.

May 2011 Activity -- Sailing

Sailing Teacher (and LLPOF) Amy
and Dilettante Kathleen

Annapolis Sailing School
Severn River
Saturday, May 28th
12:00pm-2:00pm
Annapolis, MD
$79/person - half price through Groupon

There are worse ways to spend a few hours on a gorgeous holiday weekend than sailing the Chesapeake Bay. (Trying to get to Arlington on Route 66 to meet people for a run on Sunday morning would be one of those ways.)

Dressed in our nautical and maternity best, we met our sailing coach, Amy, on the dock of the sailing school and went aboard.

We spent the next two hours learning a little about how to sail and a lot about how much we enjoy being on a boat that someone else is steering while we sailed by the U.S. Naval Academy, a beautiful schooner and an osprey named Rupert. We did learn about different types of sailboats, types of sails (jib, mainsail, spinnaker), sailing terms (come about and tack), boat parts (tiller, rudder, cleat) and of course, the one part that made us laugh every time Teacher Amy mentioned it -- the winch. Because of the context in which it was stated, "Now, wrap the rope around the winch" the Dilettantes would (obviously) try and wrap it around the Dilettante seated nearest to them.

God, we are juvenile.

Dilettante Amanda getting ready to wrap the line around the winch.

Teacher Amy also taught us about the Poop Deck after Dilettante Amanda brought it up (see "juvenile" above). The teacher swore to us that the poop deck really was the vessel's bathroom, even though I said, "are you sure? I always thought it was just a name that meant something else on the boat." She assured us it was the bathroom, so at a cookout later that evening I happened to mention this and someone did a quick Google search on their iPhone and revealed that it, in fact, is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the aft (rear) part of a ship, and the name comes from the French word for stern, la poupe (ha ha ha ha ha snort).

(Our teacher was probably telling the story to people at a cookout she attended that night, explaining how gullible newbie sailors were...)

My future partners in sailboat ownership.

Lunch followed at Pusser's in downtown Annapolis with a table overlooking Ego Alley. Summer rocks.

April 2011 Activity -- Shooting

Our poor target. Please note the one shot perfectly placed
between the guy's thumbs (if you know what I mean).
Amanda totally showed him who's boss.

Thursday, April 21
6:30pm
Silver Eagle Group
44620 Guilford Drive
Ste 100
Ashburn, VA, 20147
Cost: $70 for three people (almost 60% off regular cost through Living Social)
http://www.silvereaglegroup.com/

I ask you...what could be better than a night of shootin'? Why a night of shootin' and swingin', of course. (Class was held in Ashburn, so I am forced to make my obligatory swinger joke.)

All of the Dilettantes have some experience shooting, except Dilettante Amy. Which is unusual because she is from Kentucky and I thought that is how they hunted the squirrels for their supper. (Indulge me...I believe that is the very first Kentucky joke I've ever made...and I've known Amy and her brother/husband for more than ten years now.) Dilettante Amanda once shot an M-16 in Vietnam (true story) and Dilettante Kathleen has shot handguns, shotguns, rifles and a fully automatic machine gun on a range in Indiana (she worked for the ORGANIZATION THAT DOES NOT HATE FREEDOM for a while and it just comes with the territory). So, although we normally select activities that none of us has tried before, it had been such a long time since we've shot that we figured this counted. (Besides, if you disagree, remember that we now know how to handle firearms.)

Before class began, the Dilettantes filled out extensive release forms while sitting in a lounge area outside the range. It was outfitted with couches, coffee tables and a television set. It really felt like someone's living room, with the exception of the booming AR-16 in the next room. (That made it feel like someone's living room in Kentucky.) (I can't stop myself.)

At the gun range, you must go through a metal detector to use the restroom.
This may be my favorite picture I have ever taken.

Dilettante Kathleen used some of the waiting time to explain to the others how she had once owned a Smith & Wesson .38 Special. And that when she began dating Tim he said to her gently at one point, "you know...you drink a lot and you're kind of moody...I think it would be best if you sold the gun." (ed. I did. You really can't argue with that.)

The class was an hour long and included an introductory lesson by an NRA-certified instructor, handgun rental, protective equipment, one target, and one box of ammo for the three of us. Our instructor, Seth, was very excited to teach our class...the noticeably pregnant Amy, the noticeably wearing-a-dress-and-high-heels Kathleen and the noticeably terrified Amanda. If ever there was a group of people that looked ready to bust a cap, it was definitely ours. (As Dilettante Amy set her purse down, I noted, "I bet they don't see a lot of Kate Spade bags around here.") Aside from two women who worked there, there was one other woman at the range. And about twenty men.

Seth was really very good and patient with us and the three men in our class while he went over safety, the parts of a gun, how to load and unload and the proper grips and stances. (No one uses the "Weaver" anymore. Duh.)  And he played along when we made comments like "okay, so loading the magazine is a lot like loading a Pez dispenser?" (It is!)

After our classroom instruction, we selected the gun we wanted to shoot (we went with a Glock .9mm - go big or go home, right?), our target, and our ear and eye protection and proceeded the range.

You'd be scared to death if you met these two in
a dark alley, huh?

We got our target up and got ready to shoot, while simultaneously flinching every single time the AR-16 a few lanes down was shot. It sounded like a cannon and was a little unsettling. Amy went first -- loading the magazine and gun and then firing a perfect bulls eye with her first shot. But the fire and the recoil and the several brass casings flying down her shirt took away a bit of the fun in short order.

(Aside: Seth mentioned that sometimes the hot casings might fly down our shirts after the gun was fired...and it happened in a disproportionate amount to our group. To our credit, we all stayed calm and kept the gun pointed down range whenever this occurred. That was not the case with the beginner men next to us, one of whom did some sort of ridiculous dance trying to get a casing out of his shirt and caused our instructor to calmly and quickly bolt over there and get the guy's gun pointing back in the correct direction.)

Amanda aiming low. (See target above.)

Amy's gangsta stance.

We all took turns shooting and loading and felt like we had all shot enough with about 35 of our 50 allotted rounds. However, our instructor good-naturedly pushed us and said that we needed to finish the box of ammo and even loaded the magazine for us the final time. So, we all took a few more shots and then Amy stepped up and popped off the last four rounds like she meant business: Blam. Blam. Blam. Blam. It kind of put an exclamation point on the activity.

Kathleen getting loaded.

We followed our night of shooting with dinner and drinks at Shenandoah American Grill.

And regrettably, no swinging.