Today was our county’s Buddy Walk. I organized a Zumba demo for it to help promote our upcoming Zumba fundraising party. Two of the instructors that will be teaching at the party came and we performed for the crowd while they ate lunch.

Some things I learned about organizing a demo.

1) Things may be totally different from what the organizers told you to expect. Plan to improvise.

2) When making a hand-painted banner use a ruler to measure and outline your words before you start painting. That blasted banner took me two hours to make, but it was better because I measured first.

3) Elmer’s makes a really nifty product called Squeeze ‘n Brush where you squeeze the bottle and paint comes out the brush. So you just squeeze ‘n brush. Like the name says.

4) Those Squeeze ‘n Brush paint bottle run out fast. But they are really fun to use. And totally washable.

The demo was good. We danced on the grass in the middle of the crowd as they ate lunch. A few brave kids jumped right in and grooved alongside us. We met some great people and passed around bunches of flyers.

Here’s the best part, completely unrelated to the demo:

Just before the demo started two ladies walked up to me and said, “Is this Wesley?”

I said, “Yes,” and they asked me if I remembered them. I stared at them dumbly for a few second but still drew a complete blank.

Turns out–get this–they were two of Wesley’s nurses when he was born. Paula helped deliver him, and Tamara was there a lot during Wesley’s twelve days in the NICU. They came over because they recognized him. AND they remembered his NICU nickname: Squeaker (because of his squeaky little cry).

Wesley hung out with them while we did our demo. I was so happy to see them again. It was probably one of the best parts of the day.

The other best part was the balloon Wes got at the Buddy Walk.

The only other balloon Wesley’s ever had was at his birthday a couple of weeks ago, and he wouldn’t go near it. It scared him.

For whatever reason, Wes is really into balloons now! He talked to it while he pulled it all over the house.

I’m helping to organize a fundraiser for the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. It will be a two-hour Zumba party with a Halloween theme.

Since I mentioned it, here’s the official promo:

Let me tell you, organizing a fundraiser can entail a lot of time-consuming effort. Some lessons I’ve learned so far:

1) Companies are really excited to sponsor an event for a non-profit organization (like the UDSF). Three words: Tax Write-Off

2) Companies frequently lose your faxes and forget to return your phone calls.

3) But when companies do help you out, they really help you out. Our terrific printer donated $200 worth of gorgeous color flyers and posters to help us get the word out about the party. We never could have afforded that.

If you live in the area, plan to come! Four terrific instructors, giveaways, food, fun, and Zumba in costumes!

I’m often dancing around the house, practicing for the Zumba classes I teach. Just this week Wes has found his own dancing feet.

Observe:

(Song: “Me Estas Tentando”)

Lately a few people in my Zumba classes have been asking how old I am. When I tell them they usually respond like this lady I taught on Friday (imagine Spanish accent): “Twenty-eight? You look like twenty. Or TEENager! No twenty-eight!”

But alas, it is true. Yesterday I turned 28. We didn’t have any candles except for the ones leftover from John’s 31st birthday, but John creatively made them do.

I admit I had low expectations for my birthday this year. I wasn’t terribly excited. But it turned out to be one of the happiest days I’ve had in a long time.

First off, John took me shopping on Saturday. At the mall. With Wesley. Who was Fussy. I mean, does this man love me, or what?

I didn’t know what he ended up buying until last night. I tried to argue that he didn’t have to buy me anything, but I lost that battle pretty fast. I ended up with two nice (and inexpensive) dresses. He also got me a shirt that has stripes because he says I don’t wear stripes enough. Problem solved.

As for the jeans… Long, long ago when I started trying to lose weight I told John my goal was to fit into the same brand and size of jeans I vaguely recall wearing in high school, which were Gap size 5. By the end of high school (after I started working nights at a cafeteria) I had gained weight and didn’t fit into those jeans anymore. And then I went to college and gained more weight. I know jean sizes vary greatly brand to brand, so sometimes the numbers are relative, but I think my biggest size was 11/12 in Juniors (which would be a 10 in Misses? Why are women’s sizes so complicated?). Anyway, after I lost a little weight I was a size 8 for a long time. Then I remember a couple years ago visiting Gap (I usually don’t shop there) and trying to squeeze into size 6 and ending up with baaaad muffin top, and I’m not sure I could even button them up. I probably blocked that memory. Since starting to teach Zumba my tummy has trimmed and toned up enough that I ended up with–Ta Da!–size 4 jeans. Now, it’s possible that Gap has done that size inflation thing that’s supposed to boost your self esteem (where they take a size 6 and rename it size 4). If they did, it worked. So this is how I ended up with two pair of Gap jeans for my birthday. Thank you, John.

The other thing he surprised me with was a box of hand-picked chocolates from See’s Candy. No one has ever given me a box of chocolates before. Ever. I know it’s a small thing, but it just made me feel kind of special. And, yes, that’s a bite taken out of the piece in the middle. Because it’s my own box and I can do that.

Plus my big brother sent me flowers. I don’t remember ever having flowers delivered on my birthday. Again, I felt kind of special.

Lastly, I made my own birthday cake (which is different from the one in the picture above). I made a yellow cake mix in two round cake pans, split each layer in half so I had four layers, and then layered the cake with ice cream and frosted it with whipped cream cheese frosting (store bought). The piece pictured has chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was dee-lish-ous.

John made me feel like his most valuable person in the world, I got lots of love from family and friends, and now I can say I’m 28.

Last night was the long-awaited Zumba master class with Beto (creator of Zumba) in Salt Lake City, UT. I went with two of my Zumba friends, Desree and Kate. Desree teaches Zumba regularly, and Kate is newly certified.

First, we waited in line outside Studio 600. We were there about an hour early. It was a good chance to chat with other Zumba students and instructors. We met two gals who flew in from Indiana.

After we found our spots we waited more for the big Beto reveal. When he came on stage we all went nuts, screaming and clapping. Beto is a big celebrity in the world of Zumba. Here he is on stage with our ZES (Zumba Education Specialist), Lindsey. She certifies instructors in Utah, Colorado, and Indiana.

Then class started. Warm up lasted about twenty minutes, and then they started filming. The main cardio portion of the class was taped to be included as the “live class” section of the next DVD release that goes out to all Zumba instructors across the world. That will come out in August. It was funny to have the cardio part filmed, because occasionally they had to stop in the middle of a song if the sound wasn’t right, or if Beto messed up bad (which, surprise!, he did several times), and we would restart the song.

Class was AWESOME. No exaggeration. It was awesome. The only tricky part was how mushed together we all were. It was hard to move freely for fear of whapping the person beside you.

Here I am during class with Beto on stage.

And me snuggling close to The Man himself.

It was a great night of fun, music, dancing, sweat, and yes–I am SORE today. Especially after teaching another Zumba class this morning at 6. I deserve a break today.

So here are some scintillating happenings in our household of late.

1. Wesley is getting his second tooth. And he turned 21 months old today.

2. John was laid off last month. He’s writing a novel.

3. I’m trying to save money but don’t feel successful yet.

4. I teach Zumba four days a week and can’t live without it. I love teaching but sometimes I like to drop in to other Zumba classes to relax a little in the back, unnoticed.

5. When I teach Zumba I’m a walking billboard for Zumba. I saw one of my students today outside of class and she was like, “Wow, it’s funny to see you in normal clothes.” I.e., she was shocked to see me A) not dripping wet with sweat, B) not sporting a sexy headband to absorb the sweat, and C) not wearing clothes trumpeting the Zumba logo all over.

6. I signed up for the Freedom Run on July 4th. This week my goal was to run three times a week (instead of just once like I have been) to get ready. There’s one day left in the week and I still have to run two more times. Hmmmm.

7. Walk into our house and you’ll notice the trash cans are on counters and bathroom doors are closed. This is because Wesley cannot, canNOT resist the temptation to take the lids off trashcans and root through their contents. Ditto with bathrooms and toilets. Yesterday I got home from getting groceries, set Wesley up in the kitchen with some toys, went back out to the car to bring in more groceries, and came in to find Wesley had disappeared. I wondered where he was–and then I heard the water pipes from upstairs. In the minute it had taken me to go outside and come in again he had abandoned his toys, gone upstairs and beelined for the master bathroom (door was open), popped open the seat cover, and flushed away. I’ve also seen him using the bowl-like protective cover for the toilet brush like a drinking cup.

8. I have five hanging baskets (mostly petunias) outside the front door. One of them has already apparently died, but I keep feeding it water in hopes it will miraculously spring back to life again. Seeing flowers die depresses me greatly.

9. I’m reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer, and John is anticipating the release of Brandon Sanderson’s new novel. Wesley likes books, too, mostly to turn the pages and to stack them on top of each other.