Arrrgh!!!

Elegante Mother and I go to an exercise class three days a week. We started this tradition about seven years ago, when I wanted to help her get ready for a trip to the Chelsea Garden Show in England. I was concerned that she needed to be prepared for a long day on her feet, so off we went to exercise.

Three years ago we had a change of instructors. We didn't quite know what to expect. This new leader had a back round in Asian exercise forms, and we were exposed to Tai Chi for the first time. I have to tell you that our Dragon Lady has grown on us, and I hate to miss a class with her. She's become our exercise "guru."

Unfortunately, our guru's mother is seriously ill, and she needed to find a substitute for several weeks. She had all but one day covered, and she asked if I would do the class for her. My response was...."If it's a case of no class, or my leading the class, I'll do it."

Dragon Lady gave me an outline of the music and which exercises she does to them, and a copy of the music. I've had it for two weeks, easily. Each day, I listened to some of the music, and started counting the beats to see how many repetitions of the exercises we would need to do. I think this is where I have to tell you about my bad habit of leaving things until the last moment...

Last night I finished planning the number of repeats for the exercises, and then started to write the movements on poster-board, so that I would have a "cheat sheet." I finally finished close to midnight. It would have been MUCH wiser to get this done earlier so that I could have had a good night's sleep, but I am a confirmed procrastinator, I'm afraid.

Dear Husband woke me at 5:00 this morning. I showered and dressed, read for a bit, answered some e-mail and had a banana before it was time to leave for class. I took extra music for those who come early to walk, and got the room set up.

I was beginning to get a little nervous, and the term "flop sweat" flashed through my brain. Right on time, I welcomed the class and told them I hoped they would all help to make the day a success. And it was!

Despite a few miss-cues, we got through the session. The class chortled when I stood still at one point and asked..."What the heck does THAT mean?" in reference to a description of an exercise on the cheat sheet. I was astonished at how fast the time passed. I decided that we would use the Tai Chi balls rather than poles for the arm exercises, and inadvertently saved myself from the class pranksters. They had rolls of duct tape and masking tape, and were planning on taping me to the poles and stuffing me in a closet. Neener, neener, neener!

The class was very supportive. They worked hard, and had kind things to say when we had finished. I have GREAT respect for Dragon Lady, who can do this, facing the class, cuing us to travel left when SHE is actually traveling right. And, she can do it without notes! My hat's off to her. I'll be very glad when she is able to return to us.

I plan to maintain my "Apprentice Guru" status, but I hope that it will be a long time before I do this again.