2012 - Week One - Let's Do This2012 - Week One - Let's Do This I'm starting off 2012 with a positive surge of energy and eagerness because I know this is going to be a great year!  This year, although I don't set new year's goals or resolutions, I am looking forward...

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Week Fifty - GiftsWeek Fifty - Gifts This week's post is all about gifts.  First I'll start with the gift of an amazing husband who cares for me way more than I could ever deserve.  This past week, my laptop that I use for doing my job...

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Week Fourty Nine - Lessons LearnedWeek Fourty Nine - Lessons Learned One of the things I have learned about blogging over the past years, is that the very thing that you most want to write about generally keeps you from writing. That thing is called life. When I get busy,...

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Week Thirty - Rabbits Reborn and Sharing the Game of SoccerWeek Thirty - Rabbits Reborn and Sharing the Game of... This week has been a long one.  Scott has been in Africa all week and does not get back until Wednesday.  Although I have missed him greatly, I have been able to accomplish much with the quiet house...

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Week Twenty Nine - Missions and MittensWeek Twenty Nine - Missions and Mittens Scott left for Uganda yesterday on his first mission trip, ever.  He will be gone for 10 days and is part of an all male (testosterone rich) group of coaches and active guys.  He was excited, nervous,...

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Czech Kroj – Men’s Vest

Category : Fiber Arts, Journal

Finally, I am off and running on this year’s costumes.  I have been procrastinating about the construction of this year’s costumes, partly out of a lack of time and partly out of a lack of enthusiasm.  But now I have the first finished piece to show you and I’m back baby!!

Here is the vest that I asked you all to help me with choosing the trim colors and configuration.  I went with option #2 and then spiced up the configuration to give the vest a “look at me” quality, an essential quality when involved in a dance contest.  Let me know what you think…good or bad, constructive critisim is always welcome!

Front of Dad's Vest

Front of Dad's Vest

Back of Dad's Vest

Back of Dad's Vest

Dancing With The Stars

Category : Journal

So, who are you voting for?  Not in the political arena, the ballroom one.  There are still too many couples in it at the moment for me to decide, but, who knew Warren Sapp could dance?

Wow!

On a sad note, I was really looking forward to seeing more of Misty May Treanor, and it is just not to be.  She tore her achilles tendon in a practice and is going in for surgery tomorrow.  Bummer!

So, who are you voting for?

National Polka Festival 2008; Ennis, TX – Day Two

Category : Journal

Day two of the festival began with a grand parade complete with Bud girls, Clydesdales, firemen, and even a marching band. Following the parade, it was a quick visit to the vendors (especially those vending food) and then off to the dance halls for the remainder of the day and evening. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.

The Parade

William especially liked the parade. He said “Hi” to everyone who passed by and even caught the eye of a fireman who stopped to visit with him.

William and Bryan William talks logistics with the fireman

2008 Polka King and Queen Clydesdales

The Food

Scott and his future daughter-in-law, Sara, can really put away the food! They spent most of the time at the festival eating. Here is a sample of what they consumed from the street vendors.

Turner doing what she does best! Father and daughter (in-law) bonding

Saturday afternoon the kids left to head back to Colorado. Dad took the rest of us out to dinner at Bubba’s as a belated birthday present for me. This was an interesting place, to say the least. They have a “convenience store” type refrigerator as you walk in filled with steaks. If steak is what you came for, you literally pick out your raw steak (wrapped in plastic wrap) and take it to your table where your wait-person will take it from you and bring it back, with sides, cooked to your specifications. Yum, Yum!! The steaks were great!!!

Steaks at Bubbas

Scott and DK Baleigh and DK

The Dancing

The evening was topped off by dancing to the music provided by several very good bands. One of the bands that Scott likes a lot is the Academy Award winning band Polka Freak Out. They play everything from Bach to Tex-Mex to traditional Czech polkas. The accordion/trumpet player, Alex Meixner, is a 4th generation musician and is truly one of a kind. Every time I watch him play I think he is going to have a heart attack because he jumps around so much. Way more energy than I will ever have!

Polka Freak Out

The Oklahoma Czech Dancers were at the festival again this year and they preformed beautifully. We always look forward to seeing them.

Oklahoma Czech Dancers Oklahoma Czech Dancers

National Polka Festival 2008; Ennis, TX – Day One

Category : Fiber Arts

The first day of the festival was actually a half a day and a night. Most of the day was spent settling into the hotel and going into town to look around and take pictures. The evening was spent at the Sokol Hall dancing to the sounds of the Jodie Mikula Orchestra and dancing with my father in the Polka King and Queen contest.

Family Photos

Family photos were at the top of the agenda for day one. We took the kids downtown to take some photos of them in “costume”.

Bryan, Sara, and William Bryan, Sara, and William

Bryan, Sara, and William

We managed to get a 5 generation photo at the hall that evening. These photos are quite rare and we actually have been lucky enough to get three different ones so far in this family. The family members are listed from left to right and there relationship to William is noted: William Fillmer, Bryan Fillmer (Dad), Deborah Fillmer (Grandmother), Grace Dubuque (Great-great Grandmother), David Platt (Great Grandfather).

5 Generations

We Are Famous

Wow, I couldn’t believe it when a reporter from the Ennis Journal called our house in Alabama and conducted a 30 minute phone interview with me about the costumes and the upcoming contest. The article she wrote was very in depth and I was tickled when some of my family members came up to me at the festival and said “hey, we saw you made the paper”. Too cool! You can read the article online through the newspaper link above or here.

Contest Photos

Last, but not least, here are some photos of the contest that evening. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t win, but there were 20 couples to start with, so we were not sure of our chances right then. Apparently the number 5 is not a lucky one for us. Any suggestions for a number choice next year? Enjoy the photos and leave me a comment if you can.

Signing Up

Let's Polka

Taking The Floor

Polka Time

National Polka Festival 2008; Ennis, TX – King and Queen Dance Contest

Category : Fiber Arts, Journal

Too Much Fun

There will be no knitting content this week. Instead, I will be updating this blog with several posts throughout the week about the festivities throughout the 2008 Memorial Day weekend. If you are interested in Polka music, Czech culture, or Costume design, you may be interested in these posts.

The weekend went by way too fast. We all had such a good time and, personally, I wish the fun could have continued for several weeks, months, or years. We are researching the possibility of going on the Polka Cruise, or even attending one of the other “national” festivals, like the one in Wilber, NE in the near future.

The Contest

Dad and I entered the contest and, although we did not win, we made it through the second round and had a blast! We have already made plans to try again next year. The new costumes are already in my head and you can watch their development this year on this blog. My father and I are the couple in the purple costumes, in case you didn’t know. Many thanks to my aunt Twina for taking the video. I hope you enjoy it.

National Polka Festival 2008 – King and Queen Contest