Dress like every day is a photo shoot

A friend of mine owns an advertising business. He contacted me about six weeks ago and told me he had shown one of his clients my photo. I have no idea what photo he showed them. He says they loved me, that I was exactly what they were looking for.
I was like "wait a minute...me?" So he says.

My friend contacted me this week. Says the client is going to contact me. That we are going to do the shoot sometime this week, maybe Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I told him I was free on Wednesday or Friday.

This morning I got up and thought "are they contacting me today?" Would they do that? Just send me and email and say "c'mon over, we're doing the shoot today."

How would you dress if you thought there might be a photo shoot at the end of the day?
I wore my new Dansko heels, a skirt with matching top and a white jacket. I carried my new satchel purse. I straightened my hair. I did my makeup. I had polish on both toenails and fingernails.

Sometime during the day, the client contacted me and said we needed to post-pone the shoot.

After work a woman turned to me as we got off the elevator and said "your nails match your outfit."
I smiled and said "well, I thought there was going to be a photo shoot today."

She probably thought I was crazy.

Nia

Recently, a friend of mine recommended a class to me.  She said "you have to go! you have to try it!" When I asked her what it was, she described it as a "free movement dance class."  The class was being offered at a local Rec Center, Twin Lakes. Previously, I took kickboxing at the Rec Center and had a positive experience. We had a great instructor and kickboxing helped to strengthen my core and help me with my balance.

We belonged to our local YMCA for several years- but I wasn't satisfied with my experience.  Despite being members for several years, I knew very few people- including instructors. In my opinion, the instructors didn't make an effort to meld the class in any way. The last class I took at the Y had an awful instructor. I'm sorry, but this is true. It was a dance class and she could never remember how to do the dances. We should have had to pay for the class, but we did. For several reasons, we made the decision to leave the YMCA.

 

Twin Lakes Rec Center is offering free classes this week. Tonight, Nia was offered and we decided to give it a try. Before we left, Doug said "you do know you do this class barefooted."  I nodded.  I knew this.

 

All of my life, others have considered me to be a strange duck. I do not like to go barefoot. First of all, I am a germaphobe. Secondly, I am allergic to bees. I don't want to step on anything and get hurt. I do not like my feet to get dirty. I like to wear my shoes and socks. I don't understand why this is considered to be strange, but people have always made fun of me because of this.

 

For me to take a class barefooted is a big (bare) step for me. Because I don't go barefooted, my feet are soft and tender. I greatly enjoyed the Nia class, but at one point I looked over and saw my friends, my shoes and socks and wanted to run over and put them on. I'm sorry, I have an aversion to being barefoot...may I please wear my shoes and socks?

 

The class was wonderful. In the beginning, we all formed a circle and introduced our selves to one another. This is great- the first step to getting to know others. Part of the class was structured, part of it was not. The instructor would say "anything goes!" and we would dance about on our own. The class was made up of people of all ages - I would guess from people in their twenties to mid-sixties. Everyone works to the best of their own ability. It was in the 80's outdoors today and I'm certain they had air on in the studio, but I was sweating buckets. There was a lot of jumping and dancing and stretching and some poses similar to those in Yoga. At the end of the class, we rolled about on the floor and I realized why little children roll about on the floor. It felt great. Kind of like a self massage. We stretched and rolled and wiggled. Similar to how I feel after a Yoga class, I felt very relaxed. I have a "bad" ankle that was broken in '97 and still gives me pain. After class, my ankle felt good.It felt relaxed.  My entire body felt good.

 

Free or not, I predict Nia will be a new joyful discovery.

 

Read more about Nia here.http://www.nianow.com/practice

Monsoon season in Indiana

In the summer, my attention turns from the house to the outdoors.

I garden until dark.

Until past dark.

I garden in the rain.

I'm certain people who drive by think I must be crazy.

If I am crazy, gardening is wonderful therapy.

When the ground is soaked, the weeds pull easily from its grasp.

 

It has been raining each and every day.

Yesterday, thunder and lightening overhead

as I pulled grass from the sidewalk's edge.

 

 The cat lay nearby under a bush.

He and I both dry beneath the dense leaves above.

 

Finally, after several strikes of lightening, I decided it was time to go in.

 The rain fell in sheets.

 

When I turned to look back at my garden, 

I went into the house to get my camera.

 

 When I moved here five years ago,

I claimed this patch of yard that was once grass.

Now, very little grass remains.

I love the rain.

My plants love it, too.

I don't understand why people often complain about rain

 when without it,

we couldn't grow crops

or have beautiful gardens.

 

The rain to the wind said,
You push and I'll pelt.'
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged--though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.”
― Robert Frost