Episode #201 — Ballroom Dancer Lynn Poling

The days after a momentous occasion can be a bit of a letdown. Five days after your birthday no one’s going to show up at your office with a balloon bouquet. Firework aren’t going off for three hours straight two weeks after the 4^th of July (unless you live in my former neighborhood in Chicago — then it’s all fireworks, all the time). If you walk around town by yourself, wearing a veil and a “wifey for lifey” T-shirt nine days after your bachelorette party, you might get some unlooked-for feedback. (Who cares? It might not be our look of choice but express yourself!) If you keep your holiday lights up three months into the new year, you might get a passive aggressive letter from your HOA. You get the point: big events, inevitable letdown, bummer.

Luckily (or is it Lukeily), we’re here to break the pattern. Yes, last week was our 200^th episode and we were thrilled about it. Sure, the lead-up was a big deal and we may or may not have worn Speedos under our clothes with “200” written across the butt. But we’re so completely thrilled about getting this far in the gritty world of podcasting that we’re still in celebration and thanks-for-your-support mode. So, cue Kool and the Gang, because this 200^th episode party is still going strong!

This week is doubly special because we got to talk to Lynn Poling, who just happens to be Luke’s mom, and because we got to witness Luke being extremely anxious in the process. It’s all about the audio for our show, but Luke’s voice sounds so strained about us possibly talking about his life that you can visualize the verbal tension. It’s fantastic!

What’s even more fantastic is how great Lynn is. She handles Luke’s one-liners and asides with aplomb — we can picture Luke as a preschooler, throwing out sarcastic quips about nap time while Lynn takes it all in stride. And striding is only one of her many talents, as you’ll discover in this week’s episode. She can also do the quick step, tango, Viennese waltz, and bolero, among many other dances, because her hobby is ballroom dancing and she’s not messing around.

Lynn will tell you in her own words what led her to ballroom dancing in the first place. But it was a Groupon for Arthur Murray and a fortuitous pairing with a dance instructor that kept her going. Side note to Groupon: We haven’t heard about you in a while. Might we suggest an add campaign featuring Lynn in a spangled and feathered costume, talking about where her Groupon led her? Hearing Lynn talk about ballroom dancing sells it for us and could do the same for you!

She’s modest about it, but Lynn is a very successful ballroom dancing hobbyist. Her room full of plaques is just the start. She breaks down for us what being in a competition is all about, including the scoring system and whether there’s actually a first place. And while we’re admittedly disappointed in the Arthur Murray trophy stance, Lynn is too busy killing it on the dance floor to worry about it. What does she wear and what does she dance to? You’ll have to listen to find out!

Thanks so much to Luke’s mom, Lynn, for talking with us about ballroom dancing. And beyond that, we really appreciate all the support she’s given us these first 201 episodes. It means the world! We’ve run out of mothers of the cohosts to interview, so next week we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming — unless we decide to interview Captain and Izzy about their travel modes of choice.