Guess who just taught her first Jazzercise class??

Yes, yes, little me is a Jazzercise Instructor now!! Can you believe it??? Check out the new pic at the end of the blog!

Well, as you may have noticed, my blogging hours have been dramatically curtailed recently because I was using all my available time to train for my Jazzercise audition, which took place last Thursday. My mentor and owner of the academy where I'm teaching now, got me the instructor's only jacket the week before because she said she was so confident I was gonna pass. I was feeling pretty confident too, but asked her to hang on to the receipt -- just in case! Then, I spent all day Friday and Saturday learning the ins and outs of owning a Jazzercise Franchise. Oh, my gosh! And I was under the misguided impression that all I had to do was get up on stage, shake my cutie patoutie and look adorable (which, as you know, is really second nature to me :-). Well, let me tell you, there's a lot more to it than that!!

So, yesterday, I taught my first class ever and it was awesome! Not to say that I didn't have a senior moment (or two), but as I recently learned, the best thing to do when that happens is to use the new instructor motto, which is "fake it till you make it" and all ended well. Now, I'm again using all my available time to learn new routines because I don't want my students to get sick and tired of doing the same songs over and over again. You know, I dearly miss all my Texas jazzing buddies, but the ladies here are also a terrific bunch (must be a Jazzercise thing). They all have been so very encouraging and so supportive all along the way, that it went a long way to help me calm my nerves. And, you know me, I love to cook, so the night before I baked some Black Bottom Cupcakes and brought it to class to help my jazzing peeps feel extremely forgiving of any of my routine faults.

So, that's the scoop on my new career! The kids are so excited for me! On my first day to teach, as my sweet boy was leaving for school he says to me: "Have a wonderful first day, Miss Instructor!!". And then, when I picked them up, my baby girl asked: "How was your first day, Mama? Did your boss like it? Are there any cupcakes left?" DH has also been the most amazing supportive person! Of course, he had to be since I had to borrow money from him to buy my franchise :-) Then again, he owes me big time for giving him twins! Well, not really, but I'm entitled to use any excuse available, right? I keep telling him that I'll buy this or that with my newly earned money. However, as it was pointed out to me during the seminar, if I teach only twice a week, it will take me over a year to recover the money I've spent so far... Unless I become a superstar teacher overnight and make tons more money for being so awesome (I wish!!).

But you know what, I didn't decide to do this to make money and retire in the Bahamas. Although, that would be just cream-cheese icing on the Black Bottom Cupcake! I decided to do it cause it's something I love, and I'm good at (apparently :-). And you know what else? Shortly after we moved up north, we were having dinner at a local restaurant that happened to use as decor for their walls, several inspiring quotes. From my first day of Jazzercising here, the teacher kept talking to me about becoming an instructor (deja-vu from my Texas days, I guess). So, when I saw a particular writing on the wall (sounds biblical, doesn't it?) I paid close attention to it. It asked: "If you knew you couldn't possibly fail, what else would you attempt to do with your life?" Well, it took me another week to take the plunge and commit to training to become an instructor. Now that's is all said and done, I'm inspired to be more open to other new opportunities.

Of course, I won't go crazy with this and start too many things going, because as I said before, I have tons to learn to become a better instructor. But I'm very happy I took on the challenge and I hope you take that quote to heart and that it may inspire you to do something exciting that has been idling at the back of your head (you know what I'm talking about - feel free to share the details with me later!).

Patoutie shaking time! Gotta go!

Happy Ground Hog Day!!

I hope you had a wonderful Ground Hog Day! The official word is that the legendary Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we have six more weeks of winter. Or, as the locals around here say, it's a win-win situation for everyone in the frozen tundra area, if, at worst case scenario, all we had was six more weeks of this cold weather :-) If you go online and check for related stories, you might get lucky and catch a photo of poor Phil. As one sharp reporter mentioned, Phil appeared to be a rather nervous wreck when yanked from his burrow (he did not rise on his own) and there was no evidence that he paid the slightest attention to his shadow. Ah, the silly things we "believe"...

And speaking of that, I was surprised to find out that my new hair dresser had never heard of how the phases of the moon can affect how fast or slow your hair grows after a haircut. Please tell me you have heard about it too! And before you go saying that this is just silly astrological mambo-jumbo, think how the phases of the moon affect the tides (high and low) which is scientifically proved to relate to the earth's gravitational pull. If it can affect the tides, it's very possible it works for hair too. It seems to be right on the money for me. You can look it up for more detail (or talk to your hairdresser) but basically the belief is that, for faster growing hair, it's better to cut it around the time of the New Moon Phase. And, for thicker and fuller hair, it needs to be cut during the Full Moon Phase. Dare you to try it and let me know how it worked for you!

Now, if you want to talk silly, I'm really ashamed to confess that it took me 22 years (that's how old I was when I figured this out) to realize that eating cake right after you get it out of the oven will NOT give you a tummy ache. That's just what some mothers say (Marylou, are your ears burning??) to keep the kids from eating the cake before company gets there! And, ants in the sugar bowl will NOT improve your eye sight if you happen to ingest them - that's just what some mothers say so they don't have to remove each ant out every time you reach for the sugar bowl(somebody send the fire department to my mom's house NOW!!).

I'd love to hear what other beliefs each of us carry out there and why you do or do not believe in them. Let me hear from you!