Rumba Time

What a wild week on Dancing with the Stars and in Southern California. With so many people's lives affected by these fires and Marie's fainting scare it's been a tough week to concentrate on dancing. First and foremost my heart goes out to all of the people here in California who have suffered losses from these fires. I know firsthand what's its been like not knowing what's going to happen, the what if factor and thinking about how you are going to cope. I'm lucky enough to have wonderful supportive friends and family around me that help me deal with these stresses and I'm hoping that everyone out there has the same support to rely on because no one should ever have to be alone or feel like they are alone in times like these.

A lot of people have been asking me about Marie and I can say with all confidence that she's A-Okay. The air quality here is bad at the moment and it really wreaked havoc on her breathing. Marie has been the first to crack jokes about what happened and to let everyone know she's fine. She's an amazing woman and an amazing survivor. She's one of the toughest ladies I know!

Today, Tony and I start work on our Jive. Now not many of you know this but we were originally supposed to dance the Jive the week my mum passed away but everyone felt that it wouldn't be the right time for us to perform that dance so instead we were assigned the Tango before we started working on a Jive performance. The Jive is all-American and all fun! This is one dance that I've been anticipating because it's such a challenge but I can't wait to attempt it. Tony is a great teacher and I know he's going to come up with a great routine for us. It's a dance that immediately makes you think of soldiers and their gals, sipping sodas and having fun in the moment! And that's my plan for the week. I'm going to live in the moment and have fun!