Sneaky critter! And here I'd thought you'd been possessed by aliens or something.

Best advice I ever got regarding this: If you want a good back, put up a good front.

A lot of the folks who weighed in said the same. Your lower back muscles (which is what I believe you're referring to as being sore) share the support of your torso with your abdominals. Work them with both strength building moves and stretching exerises. Don't neglect things like standing or lying leg raises (on your tummy and your back), lunges, kicks, etc. Everything that engages your core will, to some extent or another, work your back, as well.

The other thing you'll find that will help is balance exercises. Take what opportunities arise to walk along low beams like curbs or some landscaping fencing, even imaginary lines in a pinch. Incorporate pivots and turns and spins. Balance is a key aspect in both the dance itself and the strengthening of the muscles needed for it.

My mom was a competitive dancer and I used to laugh at her all the time as she did little pirouettes and the like all over the place. When I started playin' sports (and at the dances after games) , those lessons served me well.

Good luck and keep dancing.

Sure. Take cynicism, for instance. Or maybe, pedanticism? pedantry? I don't know.

At the end of the day, folks ask questions to get an answer. It's the answerers that determine the outcome.

^^^That's the reason my favorite coffee cup says, 'Don't mess with Texas women.'

The best wisdom I can offer is this: That's ALL you're up against? I'll trade places with ya, in a heartbeat.

Uh-uhhhhh! Men don't fib! C'mon. You've gotta be kidding, I really am a baby cat with two ducking appendages. Honest!

Nutz, I'd settle for learnin' how come this thread is labeled 'Thug'.

Nutz! I've already named my dog! Timing is ever'thing, I reckon.

That's sooooo cool, Suz. I've never jumped a horse in my life, let alone trained one to do so. I'm impressed.

This works. I love to share. If nothin' else, we can lick icing off one another's lips 'til she gets tired of me teasing.

I'm leanin' toward the one on the bottom right. Sort of resembles the 'Yin-Yang' symbol a bit and I'm abso-positively a li'l of both. I might not even eat the thing - just shellac it, name it Jeff and put it on the nightstand. If nothin' else, it'll be a great 'what the hell is that doin' here?' conversation starter.

C'mere, Lady. I'll be the judge o'that!

Woooooffff! Woof!

'Appearances can be deceiving' and occasionally 'Skip the lions, tigers and bears, let's go straight to 'Oh, my!''

There are lots of younger folks around in the Zoo...errr, Forum. They just don't hang around for long. When they see that they're expected to put a coherent sentence together to shoot the breeze - POOF! - like magic, they're gone.

Good luck and hang around a bit here; they'll show up (for a minute or two, anyhow.)

My entire life is full of tiny little short-lived rebellions - status quo somehow equals dead in my eyes. The first, and my fondest, was as a timid li'l Catholic school, altar boy on Sunday, closet member of Led Zeppelin.

We'd practiced and put up with the threats of dire consequences should we screw it up, our school's first appearance at a multi-jurisdictional musical performance/showcase. Our little piece o'the pie was an old Folk standard...something about 'sail on the sloop John B, my grandfather and me.'

I hated it, but was the only accomplished guitarist in this 7th grade class and I had never performed live before and was dyin' to do it.

The day of the show, my acoustic 'mysteriously' got broken and I had to play my electric or we'd have no guitar.

While we were fooling around before the show, I met another guitarist and we traded licks back and forth and he said 'You oughta throw a solo in there.'

Long story short, I gave our chaperoning Penguins a collective heart attack and got a standing ovation from about 1500 people who weren't expecting that. Too much fun!

a leftover 3-alarm turkey breast ~ stuffed breast with jalapenos and sharp cheddar, topped with crushed red and regular old black pepper, bacon and maple baked beans and backed by an ice-cold Ziegenbock.

Being immune to heart-burn is such a blessing.

Good stuff, partner.

No sweat, MB. My wife was 28 for 5 years. Just pick an age and stick with it.

Yikes! I was 32 and after bein' out of the Marines for a decade, joined the Army. Some folks never learn. *sigh*