The new girl....

Last night when I walked into step class I had a momentary irritation that someone had set up their bench in "my" spot.  If you take any kind of group fitness classes regularly, you'll know what I mean.  All the regulars always have their spot.  And I don't know about everybody else, but if I'm not in my spot, I always feel a little off....

So, I set up my bench behind her, and really I'm ok, because this is my old spot.  I soon find out that the spot taker is a new person.  A young woman, Asian, long luxurious hair.

The other regulars and I exchange eye contact with little smiles behind our eyes regarding the new girl.  It's always interesting when new people wander into our master step class.  The choreography is quite complex, and if you don't take the class regularly you will not get most of the steps.  If you have stepped before you may get about 70% of the steps after coming for a couple of weeks.  If you've never stepped at all before, you'll be hopelessly lost.  I can only say this because I have been in every one of these situations myself.  That, and observing the behavior of the newbies is very telling.

There is about 5 minutes before the class starts, and the new girl is arranging and re-arranging her bench.  When she does stand up right, she has a slight nervous twitch in her leg.  The instructor gets ready to begin class, and asks if there is anyone new noticing the new girl right away.  She asks her if she's ever stepped before.  "no"  and the new girl's legs go from slightly nervous to full on nervous.  She is really bouncing around while listening to the instructor encourage her to keep coming.  Letting her know in advance that she will likely be very lost..

I feel bad for the new girl, recognizing her anxiety right away.  Her nervous legs are just like my 7 year old niece who in her anxiety has trouble holding her legs still.

The instructor starts with the warm up, and the new girl is having trouble catching the rhythm.  It can be very distracting to have someone in your line of vision who isn't in step with everyone else.  And when taking this class, you have to be paying attention every second.  A couple of weeks ago an older lady fell and broke her leg in class.  I have fallen several times.  I have a friend who fell once and cracked a rib.

People usually last about 10-15 minutes before they give up.  Pack up their benches and leave.  I assume that the new girl will be the same.  But after the usual time that people who aren't quite getting it leave,  she takes off her jacket.

I start to be a little impressed.  The class continues, and the new girl is all over the place.  If she happens to be in the right place at the right time it happens seemingly by pure accident.  At the first water break, she surprisingly is still staying.  After the 2nd water break, I do something that is uncharacteristic for me. I walk up to her and tell her she's doing a good job.  Most people leave by now, and I encouraged her to keep coming.  The new girl never gave up.  She made it through the entire class.  I so admire her for staying.

The new girl has made an impression on me.  I give up too easy sometimes.  Don't we all?  Even if we are stumbling and terrible at something at first, if we keep at it, we'll finish.  And the next time, we'll stumble less, and before you know it, it might even be something that we become really great at.  And if you give up to soon, you may not ever find out that you could be truly great.....I hope she comes back next week.

Two new rings...

Hypnotic: Fine and sterling silver

Flora: Carnelian and sterling silver

I just had some fun today creating these two rings. The Hypnotic ring got its name due to the fact that it reminds me of the villan in old cartoons trying to hypnotize the hero with a rotating swirl...."Look into my ring, you must obey my every command"....think it will work? If it does, I'm trying it on my kids for sure. Maybe I can get them to clean their rooms without complaining! :)

This one sold pretty quickly after I listed it, so it is available as a made to order now....I really had fun with this design, I'm thinking earrings and pendant next!

It has been raining here almost everyday for the past 3 days. I really can't complain too much as it cools things down considerably. We were able to sneak off to the pool for a couple of hours when the sun decided to show it's face. The girls swim so much, and the chlorine is wreaking havoc on their hair. It feels so dry and straw like. I hate it. But they love to swim, so what am I to do?

I just got home from the gym. For those of you who have been following me for awhile, you know how much I love step aerobics. Tonight we did double step. We lined up two steps next to each other, and instead of doing the routine spanning one step, we had to get all the way over to the other one quite quickly. It kicked my butt, but I burned a ton of calories. Lucky thing, because I plan on hitting the ice cream after the girls are in bed! :)

Have a wonderful night!

I love step!

I do my best to make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. I don't lift weights, or swim, or do the stairclimber, or treadmill. I take Master Step classes. It is advanced choreographed step aerobics. I love it.

I am quite uncoordinated, and I have fallen at least 4 or 5 times in class, and I am not what you would call graceful in the least, but I love to step. For that hour I can forget everything and pretend that I can actually dance. I started going regularly about 2 1/2 years ago.

Yes, I lost a few pounds since I started, but that isn't really the reason I go. I have found that, for me, cardio makes my life better. I sleep better, my mood is better, my body feels stronger. I still have that nagging feeling that I could be doing more fitness wise, but for now this is good.

My Aunt and my Mom both have problems with their sciatica. Something about nerve damage in the lower back that results in a shooting pain down the leg. My poor Aunt has been on crutches for years, can't stand, sit, or lie down in any one position without excruciating pain. My Mom recently started having problems, about six months ago. When I saw her at Thanksgiving she was having the excruciating pain.

I'm scared that I am heading in the same direction. I've had some periodic numbness in the toes of my left foot off and on for the past few months. I don't know if there is anyway to stop it, or if it is something that is going to come no matter what I do, but my Mom told me that if she had any advice on the subject, it would be to keep moving. So I do, and I notice the numbness is worse when I slack off on going to the gym. It is horribly time consuming. It takes 2 hours out of my day every time I go, but I have to make it a priority.

If anyone is interested, I found a video on You Tube of an advanced step class. Click here to view video If you like what you see, give it a try if they offer a class at your local gym. I will warn you, it takes some time to catch on, but once you do, it is so much fun!