And We're Gonna Let It Burn Burn Burn

So, I taught my first class on Monday! Other than a bizarre stress dream around 3 a.m. where I was teaching a class and no one liked it and then the time ended before I got to do anything but warm-up, I wasn't overly freaked out about it, particularly once I woke up and realized I still had the opportunity to not be terrible and went back to sleep holding on to that positive thought.

I got to the studio early, only to be locked out because I don't have a key yet and the woman who was supposed to open up and check everyone in was running late. She arrived only 5 minutes before class started, so my plan of hooking up my music (I agonized over the playlist for approximately 3 hours the night before; first the songs, then the order, then a lot more agonizing over the order, then memorizing the order so I could use it as my pacing mechanism), carefully laying out my cue lists, and meditating until I reached a zen-like state where my voice wouldn't shake was completely shot.

Instead, I ran in, shedding my boots and slipper socks, threw my mat down in the position of power in the front center of the room (ahh!) and came to a stop at this sweet note from my fave teacher and barre mentor:

It made me smile. I more calmly took off a few other layers, greeted my students, confirmed that yes, I'd be teaching today (they're used to me being in the back), and got this party started.

barre segment; written with my new and necessary barre teaching school supplies

And you guys, it was SO. MUCH. FUN.

It was a bit surreal... doing the moves, counting out loud, having no idea if I was doing too many reps or too few because it was all a whirlwind and I couldn't tell if I was winded because I was counting or because I had crafted a really hard class (probably both). I did have one moment where the whole room spun upside down and I had to grab onto the barre while telling myself very sternly you will NOT black out goddammit you will NOT, and then I grabbed my water and decided to check everyone else's form for a little while. I sweat all the way through my top and I hardly ever sweat in barre anymore, so I think teaching kicks everything up about six notches.

I ended exactly on time, having completed almost all my choreography (I chopped part of my barre section because my legs were shaking too hard and I felt I wasn't giving off the proper air of authority, plus we were running out of time), and my students clapped for me and told me "that was really hard!" So yay! I was kind of high from that point forward, all day.

high! with my new barre binder!

Then I went home, took a shower, did my still-under-construction "quick" makeup look and raced off to work where I sent a memo up to the Commission which is basically the biggest deal thing we do. I capped off the day singing loudly to my new barre playlist while sipping white wine and chopping all the vegetables for my beloved Greek Quinoa Salad. JP and the big kids were at Claire's soccer practice and Cora was dancing at my feet. It was a really good day.

Friday casual look: shortcut makeup, jeans, boots, hair on head;
giddy grin not pictured b/c selfies are serious

So thank you for your encouragement and song suggestions! I marked 3 years at the SEC on Thursday and I think marking 3 years + 1 day by taking an hour to teach an exercise class pretty well captures how much this job has changed my life. It was just 2.5 years ago when I walked into my first barre class and promptly blacked out (full circle!). It's been a journey, a fun one, with abs and confidence and Lululemon along the way, and I can't wait for the next step!