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!

Do you know what I mean?

You know that old saying, that you should walk in someone else's shoes to really understand what that person may be going through? Well, you may say the same exact words to several different people, and all those people may interpret it in a completely different way (that's how misunderstandings get started), depending on their own experiences or just where they are in life at that point.

For example, my kids read the "Twas' the night before Christmas" book every night in December. There's a part that says: "The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, gave the luster of mid-day to objects below." I never understood that (cause really, it cannot be that bright in the middle of the night, right?!) till we were coming home from a friend's house after dinner, and didn't even have to turn on our headlights because the moonlight reflecting on the snow, made everything just that bright. OK, when we got to the main road we did finally turn it on, but not before we surprised a heard of 8 deer/does grazing on a field nearby. It's really that bright!

Another good one is from the "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" song. You know that part that says "And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again". Well, before motherhood, I always thought it was kind of mean for moms and dads to be that anxious to get their kids back to school. Let the little buggers enjoy their break. Now, however... I can so relate to the feeling :-)

And, leaving Christmas thoughts behind, something one of my Jazzercize instructors from Texas said one day. There's this routine we do to a Sheryl Crow song, Soak Up the Sun, and at the very end of the song she says: "I’m gonna soak up the sun, Got my 45 on, So I can rock on..." Her college age daughter asked why the singer needed to put sun block on to be able to rock and roll at all?! If you are of a certain age, you may hear "Got my 45 on" and think of a vinyl record. If you are of a different certain age, sunblock might be what makes more sense to you... And you could both be right, if, say, the rock and roll concert you're going to is during the day in the middle of the summer.

Know what I mean??

Sans Christmas card...

All right, I'll forgive you for not sending me a Christmas card (you know who you are) if you forgive me first :-) Well, the universe conspired against me this Christmas card season. Let me explain.

Remember how I told you that when I give my new home address out to people now I feel like I'm giving some Extra Terrestrial the longitude and latitude to come over and have Darjeeling tea with me? Well, to give you an idea, if you type in my entire address in a GPS it will not find it. If you omit the first part, it does. Apparently they changed the format of street addresses around here not too long ago and every now and then, delivery people have issues. Nothing major so far - they always call and eventually I get my stuff, but the prints I ordered for our Christmas cards didn't fare so well. Half of it arrived and half Lord only knows where it could be. They are reprinting them so I may still send them later, but unless you're family or someone who could die one day and live me an inheritance (ha, as if I know those people!) you did not make it on my first attempt.

I take comfort in thinking that perhaps you're keeping up with my blog and know what we're up to this Christmas season. DH & I had a wonderful time (champagne included) during our annual Wrapping Party which this year was relocated to a wonderful basement that has yet again proven to be very very handy (if you've read previous posts you know what I'm talking about :-)

We went to bed at 2:30 am only to be awoken by baby girl an hour later telling us she couldn't fall asleep. Well, let me tell you that a queen size bed is not big enough for two adults, a cat and a child! They were gracious enough to let me sleep till 7:30 am, when, with my trusty cappuccino in hand, the unwrapping ceremonies began. I'm sure you had a similar ceremony going on at your house, especially if you have little ones around. This year, even our cat got a gift: one of those drive your cat crazy circles where you can drop cat nip in the middle for them to scratch! Oh, joy!

A big hug to all of you this holiday season!

Let it snow, let it snow....

And yes, we got plenty!! Just about up to my knees - yikes! What have I done moving up here???? And before you go making wise cracks about it not being too difficult to snow up to my knees (in reference to my vertically challenged physique), I'll have you know that I've been told by none other than a medical professional, that for a short person, I mean, vertically challenged person, I have surprisingly long legs. So, there!

Well, it hasn't been all that bad. Then again, I don't have to drive anywhere to go to work, right? Today, DH left his car home and took the SUV because it has 4-wheel drive. The kids' school got canceled and they were very sad (mainly because this being the last day before Christmas break, they were supposed to have their Christmas party today which included a Secret Santa exchange).... So, cabin fever time! Baby girl is all for going sledding again outside but Baby boy has a nasty little cough at the moment and is not inclined to venture out, even as pretty and inviting as the yard looks from my patio door. It's a good thing they took their brand new sleds to a park nearby last week and had a blast! Hopefully that will hold them over till, in another few days, both kids will be up for some snowball fight. I can't wait... he, he, he!!!

Meanwhile, DH was told (by me) to go get his early Christmas present last week: a brand new, shiny red snow blower! How did I know, right? Well, I got tired of the neighbor offering him her snow blower (and no, that's not code for anything else - get your minds out of the gutter already! :-), him not taking it because he was afraid it would break in his hands, while freezing his cutie patoutie out there shoveling our long driveway. He finally took me up on the offer and got it. I'm sure he thanked me for my insight this morning when he had to use said snow blower to get out of the driveway..... After all, if nothing else, I am known to be a thoughtful person :-) But really, I'm loving it so far. The natives tell me that by February they are so sick and tired of all this snow mess, but this being our first winter here, like I said, so far, it's all fun and games.

Did I mention that I finally gave in and decided to start training to be a Jazzercise Instructor? They've been hounding me since Texas, but I never felt motivated enough to welcome the added responsibility. I enjoyed the freedom of just going and having fun too much to feel inclined to turn it into a job. Now, not knowing too many people and having nothing better to do with my time (well, there's always house work & other little projects, but that's always gonna be there), I decided to start the training and if all goes well, in mid-February I go in for my certification. I'm loving it, but I've had a problem with my right foot for the last few years (Morton's neuroma) that gets aggravated when I exercise too much. If I can only get past all the heavy training I could possibly just pace myself afterwards, but that's always easier said than done. We'll see. For the time being, DH feels sorry enough for me that I'm cashing in on foot massages every chance he offers to do it. Yeah, I'm shameless, I know, but that seems to be one of my endearing qualities... Let's just go with that!

Stay warm!

Cookie Exchange Party

Well, most of you who know me, know that I love to cook. That being the case, I often peruse through web sites in search of new and yummy recipes. One of my favorites is the Nestle website. They even encourage you to write reviews for the recipes you've tried, good or bad. Well, I guess I've done enough of them that a while back the Nestle people invited me to be in their Advisory Panel for the new chocolate chip line they were launching. That was a lot of fun. I basically tried new recipes using their new products and share the opinions of my family and friends who tried it. But that only lasted a year.

So then, a couple of months ago, they contacted me again asking if I'd be willing to host a Cookie Exchange Party. I don't know if you've had a chance to ever go to one, but basically this is how it works: each guest bakes several dozen cookies of one kind of cookies (however many dozens depends on however many guests are coming). Then at the party, each person walks away with a dozen of each variety of cookies that were brought.

Needing an excuse to put a deadline on certain house projects around here (I'm shameless, I know) I set it up for the last possible option the Nestle people gave me, which was December 6. That worked out great! My dining room tile floor got done by none other than DH, which saved us a ton of money and looked fabulous! I tell him, I cannot recommend him to my friends only because I cannot afford the time, but he does fabulous work! It took him a week (well, in all fairness there was a Thanksgiving weekend in there that we needed to go to IL for and also he does have a regular job he must attend to) but it was done just in time. I had a small group of 5 ladies coming which meant each of us baked 5 dozen of one kind of cookie but went home with 5 different kinds: Russian Tea Cookies, Peanut Butter Kisses, Molasses, Sugar & Candy Cane Cookies. We had a great time just sipping coffee and cider and trying a few samples and having good conversation. By the way, it was during that conversation that I learned about fleece lined jeans and remote control starters (to warm your car) among other things I wish I had known before we moved :-) Now that I'm not a newbie anymore, I think I'm gonna have a bigger group next year! For all my trouble of hosting (as if!) the Nestle folks sent me several cookie tins and recipe booklets to distribute to my guests. That was a nice touch.

If you ever want to host one, it is a lot of fun. It doesn't even have to be Christmas but that is as nice a time of the year to host as any. And don't worry about going home with too many cookies that you can't possibly eat. You can always take them to the office or send them to your kid's school, or even a nice treat for Sunday School. It's just as much fun passing it forward as it is to eat them! Another great reason to do it is to also make someone's day by shipping them to distant relatives, friends, kids who are away in college or even in the military overseas (just remember to pack them well and ship priority mail)!

Go ahead! Nibble time!!!!!

Who invented glitter?

Well, it may be obvious to you (right?!) but I finally realized today that although the credit for coming up with glitter, as we all know it, goes to an American cattle farmer named Ruschman during the 1930s, the credit really should go to God.

This week, as I was driving the kids to school, we looked at all the fields that are now blanketed with snow as white as white can be (have I mentioned that by now we've had two snow storms that brought around 6" of snow each time?). When the sun hits it, it's amazing how beautiful it shines! Seeing that, I told my kids: "Look how beautiful the snow sparkles with the sun!", to each my daughter says: "It's like someone dropped glitter all over it!" And that's when I had this amazing epiphany that God is the one who invented glitter in the first place. OK, like I'm fond of saying: "I am a genius! A slow genius, but a genius nonetheless." Yeah, I know that basically God really invented everything, but you know how we, humans, tend to get sidetracked by patents and all.

And then, when you look a little closer at how glitter is actually made, I can't help but think that old man Ruschman must have had a little divine inspiration to come up with it. While some may assume that glitter is produced by simply crushing the source material (very tiny flecks of glass, stone, paper, plastic or polyester), that is simply not the case. Commercial glitter manufacturers use various dies to cut out individual pieces in bulk. Even though pieces of glitter can be as small as 50 microns in size (and again, let me remind you that I belong to the SLOW variety of geniuses, so I had to go look up what 50 microns would actually be in my world, and that turns out to be 0.002 inches), each piece has been precision-cut in the shape of squares, circles, rectangles or hexagons.

Which led me to my next epiphany (this has been a prolific week for epiphanies around here!): we have all been precision-cut into the beings that we are today, by none other than God... while we were still in our mother's wombs. I find that amazing!

Didn't mean to get all preachy on you. Just wanted to share. Maybe there's hope for me yet!

Now don't go saying you didn't learn something new today (I'm assuming that, like me, you never heard of Ruschman before).

Have a wonderful day!