Over here Mentor Lady....can you pull that knife out of my back?.......Ha, Ha, now I am the victor......than again, maybe not so much

Someone once told me that the industry of aerobic instruction is ever changing.........and quickly at that.

I have only been a part of this revolving world for the last few months but have never been more convinced of the truthfulness of this statement.

And the whirlwind begins as outlined..........(inhale and "GO")

**Rob and Melanie move to the South Hill..... join hole-in-the wall "Gold's Gym"

**Melanie meet's aerobics instructor and expresses long term desire to teach "someday"

**Teacher is burnt out, gets permission to mentor Melanie and allow Melanie to teach portions of her interval classes while Melanie works on getting certified

**Mentor lady tells Melanie that after she is comfortable teaching portions of classes, she will take over entire class as a "sub", then Mentor Lady will suggest to Aerobics Coordinator that Melanie takes over classes completely and Mentor Lady will slowly begin her retiring process

**Melanie works butt off teaching portions of mentor ladies interval classes and studying for her certification

**October.....Melanie begins "subbing" whole classes for Mentor Lady........AND GETTING PAID FOR IT ($12 an hour, baby)!

**November.....still teaching two classes a week and preparing to take certification test

**Weekend before Thanksgiving.....Melanie flies to Utah to attend certification workshop.......after 5.5 hours of working out and 3.5 hours of studying/test taking, workshop is complete

**Melanie has 4-6 weeks to wait for results

**December......Mentor Lady calls and says she wants her classes back.........Does Melanie want to alternate weeks? One week on, one week off?.........(What ever happened to retiring?)

**Melanie agrees.......What else can she do?

**Four days later, Mentor Lady calls and says she wants class #1 back completely but will continue to alternate class #2 (WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)......Mentor Lady says, "You weren't counting on the money for Christmas were you?).......Melanie says, "Oh no..........(in head: husband has no job and we have no income but.........NO, we had NO plans for the $)............that will be fine

**Melanie is now only teaching one class every other week............(SO I JUST SPENT $400+ FOR WHAT?)

**December 27th.......Melanie get's mail.........YEAY! I PASSED!......leaves for Utah

**Melanie get's a phone call while in Utah......Will she be at "BIG CHANGES" meeting on Sunday........NO, out of town......OKAY........ Does she want to teach Step class on _____ night? Sure, but wasn't Mentor Ladies #1 class on that night?.................YES! OKAY........(guess it's just all part of "BIG CHANGES")

**Home from Utah, takes certificate to gym, receives an $8 hr pay raise

**Mentor Lady calls (she's injured from shoveling snow).......can Melanie sub #1 class for last time (remember......next week it will be Melanie's Step class anyway)..........YES!

**Awesome.........They LOVE Melanie! Class was so glad to have her back!

Now......we enter the present

Yesterday (Tuesday) I was at the gym at about 11:00AM preparing for my new Step class that starts tomorrow (Thursday) night. I get a phone call from Aerobics Director. She wants to know if I want more classes to teach. Of course I say "yes." I ask her when and she tells me and I'm shocked. They are Mentor Ladies classes. I ask........."So where is Mentor Lady?........Is she still injured?.....No.........An ATTITUDE PROBLEM?" From there, I changed the subject. I don't want to know what's going on. I try not to get into the gossiping politics that are so rampant in this business.

So.....I was asked to take over her pilates/yoga classes as well as her interval class (which I was teaching a few weeks ago anyway). One things for sure, I am not a pilates/yoga instructor.....I'm too hyper active.....not enough Zen in my blood. I need loud music and bright lights.

Not to worry.....the class will no longer be pilates/yoga......as of now it is a Core, Stregnth and Flexibility class......just try to incorporate SOME pilates or yoga to make the transition smoother. Oh, by the way....Can you start tonight?

TONIGHT!........(how the heck do you expect me to start tonight).........um sure.

6 hours and counting..............and I still have to go grocery shopping.

To make this saga shorter, I stressed and stressed and stressed and then went to the gym. The class actually went well. I was really nervous at first because the whole dark/relaxed/quiet music thing and I was trying to be something I'm not (centered). I relaxed a bit and decided to just be myself and things went much smoother (did I mention that 24 people showed up.....I have NEVER seen that many people at this gym at one time let alone all in the aerobics room.....it was CRAZY!). I got a lot of positive feed back (although,naturally, some people were really miffed about Mentor Lady leaving ("but I have been taking her class for two years"......."Is she coming back?")........and they were ever more miffed that there would no longer be any CERTIFIED pilates or yoga classes at the gym.

"Sorry....I dont know where Mentor Lady went.......I don't know when they will be able to add Yoga/pilates back on the schedule......I do understand that every gym needs those classes.......Sorry.....Sorry......Sorry.......I know that change is hard.......Let's try to make it good"

I really did feel for these people and their anger/annoyance and I really wanted to make the transition smooth for everyone so I spent a lot of time (a crazy amount of time) last night, after I got home, and all day today preparing for both the Core/Strength/Flex class and the step class tomorrow (which are taught back to back)..............and just when I think my life is spinning so out of control that I may never be able to sit down again.......I get another phone call......

It's Aerobics Director.

Do I want the Good News or Bad News first? (Does it really matter?)
Good News.........I got really positive feedback from all surveyed participants of the class yesterday. Everyone really enjoyed it. Unfortunately...........
Bad News..........Big Manager man had to call in back up from a "certified" Yoga/Pilates instructor that used to teach at hole-in-the wall Gym....I mean, Gold's (apparently the phone was ringing off the hook today with complaints about the sudden disappearance of Yoga/Pilates.....not with me, mind you, just the class being gone)

"That's okay......I understand", was all I could say (after I rolled my eyes) to Aerobics Coordinator. (Interpretation of the eye roll: why could they not have just asked me to sub the class until they could come up with a better solution instead of offering me the class before they really thought it through?)

Man, did Aerobics Coordinator really appreciate that I handled the news so well instead of freaking out on her. She mentioned it over and over.....something about being really "cool about it all." (It's funny. I remember an almost identical conversation with my first boyfriend when he called me on the phone and broke up with me. I guess I knew, even at 16, how to handle myself with dignity in front of people. Although today, unlike the time where the boyfriend was concerned, I did refrain from bursting into tears once the phone was hung up). :)

So......goodbye 4 classes a week and all the extra $ I would have made.

I'm okay with it really. Relieved even. Doing a semi pilates yoga class really did make me a little nervous and scared and is totally out of my groove.

But......on the other hand, I am a little disappointed. It would have given me the opportunity to learn something new and become more comfortable with a different class format......and again, the $ would have been nice (especially since husband still does not have a job).

So.....Aerobics Coordinator promised me, on her life....not on her childrens' lives mind you ("because [she] never swear[s] on THEIR lives") that the Step class and interval class are mine....all mine.

So she says.......at least for now.

Tomorrow could be a whole new story................I'll try to spare you.......or at least try to tell it in a lot less words (My dad always teases me about saying so much, so fast that I never come up for air.........I guess he has a point)


(And.......BREATH........Inhale.......Exhale..........)