I am still a spring chicken, so I need to get a spring in my step

Today I tried a water zumba class (this sample is soooo not my teacher or classmates from today!!!)
Overall, I give the experience and workout a 7 out of 10 for several reasons. First, I definitely worked out so I feel accomplished (hence the number is above a 5). I used muscles and got my heart rate going so any movement is good movement. But... I was disappointed for many reasons. First, I was the youngest person in the class. There were a few thirty-something people, but I was clearly the youngest. This  made me feel like a failure and an uncool person. Because I was in a class with a bunch of old people. Now there's nothing wrong with older people, I am almost thirty for goodness sake! But being surrounded by them for my workout made me feel inferior amongst MY peers. Even though I really enjoy water exercise, I felt old prematurely and embarrassed for younger people to see me in that class. The second thing that made me uncomfortable is that many of my classmate had some sort of medical issue or injury. Even the teacher had a brace on her knee. This annoyed me but it also scared me into wanting to do even better for my body because I don't want to get diagnosed with an illness or add unnecessary pressure on my joints because of excess weight. Again, this made me feel embarrassed that I was doing exercises that injured people were doing. Everyone was also morbidly obese like myself and this too made me feel bad about myself. There was one lady who appeared to only be about 50 pounds overweight, but everyone else, including myself was at least 100 pounds over. I kept thinking "what's wrong with me that I can't do the really hard workout stuff, like running, hiking, weight lifting, biking, etc."  During the class I also felt silly when the teacher encouraged us to sing along to songs like "Everyday I'm Shuffling", "I Like to Move it Move It"  and something by Pitbull. First of all, those are not my favorite songs to listen to and I didn't sign up to sing. I signed up to work my body! Lastly, the movements were definitely dance moves and it was hard for me to execute them properly because of the resistance of the water. This is good because it makes you work your body harder, but I was mad that I couldn't do simple dance moves like I know I can on dry land. Despite these disappointments, I did work out and think I got a pretty good one in.  Tomorrow I am going to try another type of water aerobics class, so we shall see...

In the area of work, I've decided to start crafting again. I crochet, paint and make invitations and scrapbooks, make jewelry, cake pop stands, and anything else I can teach myself!  I started a business a few years ago but it was on a part time basis. I've decided to use the money I earn from creating (something I absolutely love) to fund my other consulting business. I am excited about creating again. It truly doesn't feel like work.  In the past year, since being pregnant, I scaled it back a bit, only making a few things for my son. I thought I would have gone overboard since I usually do for other people's baby gifts. But surprisingly I felt an enormous amount of pressure to make his stuff bigger, better and more beautiful than anything I had ever made. I attempted 4 times to make a neutral blanket for my child while pregnant, but each design didn't seem cute enough so I would start over or just plain stop. Now that I've met my son, I think it's easy for me to create things especially for him and not a unisex baby. I have a few friends who have expressed interest in some winter items (scarves, hats, mittens, etc) so I hope to get some more orders in the next few weeks. I plan to use twitter, facebook , this blog and word of mouth as my marketing tools.

In the mom department things are cool. He is 2 1/2 months and we need to start working more consistently on a routine/schedule. I have attempted here and there, but it's real easy to fall off since I stay at home. If I were going to work everyday he would have to adhere to a schedule too. I am letting him cry more and don't run over and the first sign of crying.  He can definitely see more and notices when I am not in the room. He wants to be able to see me all the time, so I am working on teaching him to self-soothe. I read "Babywise" by Gary Ezzo and it gives a guide to how you can successfully fed your infant, place him on a schedule and get him to sleep through the night at an early age. I love my son! He is such fun! I love it when he sees me and starts smiling! He is holding his head up more, blowing bubbles and cooing up a storm. It feels really good when he enjoys playing with me and listening to me sing or talk. He prefers adult talk, not that baby stuff!

So I have a plan: This weekend I'm going to dinner with my girlfriends and I plan to get thier help on a few things. First, some crafting orders for the winter and holiday season. Secondly, I am going to propose we workout together in some way. Of the 8 of us, 1 person is very active but everyone else has highs and lows or doesn't do anything at all. 1 person used to be an athlete, 1 dances, a few cheered, so I think this will be good for all of us to get healthy with each other's help.  We have done some group thinsg in the past like a cycling class, but nothing on a consistent basis. We are all too young (and too cute) to not be healthier. I've had some individual conversations with a few of the girls, so  I don't know why I didn't get this idea sooner! I have some ideas so we'll see what they are intersted in doing...